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[AGSteam-disjoint.dll]

To be clear, if you're replacing "agsteam.dll" from a game which uses "AGSteam" in the game scripts (e.g., AGSteam.SetAchievementAchieved(...)), then make sure to grab the AGSteam-disjoint.dll and rename it to "agsteam.dll".

I didn't get this comment. What's the non-disjoint alternative then?

(and Radiant you referred to was speaking about Linux port).

Yes, I don't recall any reports about this happening on Windows.

1. Caesarcub's #4
2. Caesarcub's #5
3. Selmiak's #14

"[Codename:] Iceman was the worst designed game ever."

Yes, yes it was. Good read.

Let's make one thing clear: AGS savegames are not savegames, they are *savestates*.

Not necessarily.

For several years now I have managed to do updates to Heroine's Quest without breaking savegame compatibility. It's hideously complicated and you need to know exactly what you can and cannot change, but it can be done. For instance, adding an additional sound effect to your game will cause saved games to fail to load, and there's no technical necessity for that.  AGS can otherwise deal with missing (or surplus) sound effects just fine; there just happens to be a line like "if (game.sound_effect_count != savedgame.sound_effect_count) abort_game ();"

Anyway, that was a tangent. Looking over the above discussion, I entirely agree with the goal of making games playable on as many computers/platforms as possible; and I also agree that being fully backwards compatible is neither desirable, nor entirely possible in the first place. Again for example, using DX5 you can set up three layers in your room so that A appears above B, B appears above C, and C appears on top of A. This doesn't really make sense but it's possible; but in DX9 it is not. Nor should it be - breaking compatibility with uncommonly-used things shouldn't be a problem.

To be clear, would the developers require .NET 4.0 or would the players require it?

Windows XP has a market share slightl bigger than Windows 8...

That's not necessarily related to what I did, they released them using editor that already existed.

Yes, that is the point. The fact that you've been supporting this relates to having substantially more games released.

[577 AGS games]

Seriously, does it? It will soon be FIVE years as I work on it, and haven't yet reach much of the goals we set up when we started

In the past five years, your work has enabled people to release at least 577 AGS games. That's how much of your goal you've reached; do not underestimate it.

Yeah, KISS principle definitely applies here. As tempting as it is to overwhelm new users, that just can't be the goal

Maybe as a MAGS?

Actually I rather like that idea.

I suggest that there is no great need for a demo game, because even years ago when it wasn't outdated yet and there weren't quite so many great AGS games, I don't recall anyone talking about using it. But anyway it is good to include some basic material with AGS. So how about picking one of the Oceanspirit Dennis games, at least one that is an adventure game (which most, I think, are not)? They are all open source and some have quite decent graphics, and they fit with the forum community.

The game Minion Masters turns out to be free for the next 24 hours or so. Enjoy!

Aww, I didn't notice this contest

Well, congrats to all who participated, and I hope we do it again some time!

so yeah, let's not pretend these are clear-cut terms and labels!

They are clear-cut terms; the part that you're missing is that cliches are a subset of tropes (specifically, a cliche is a trope that's overused to the point of being trite or irritating; that mekes it somewhat subjective but nonetheless clearly defined).

"Zombie" is not a trope. "Zombies that act in such-and-such manner" is a trope, and several of those are cliches (whereas other writers can create a non-cliche story that uses different zombie tropes).

I'm a bit wary of calling things tropes and cliches, since it's hard to draw the line between unoriginal genericness and hallmarks of a genre.

"Hallmarks of a genre" is pretty much the definition of a trope. The word "trope" is not a negative term or an insult (although "cliche" may be).

For the record, Laura Bow is not a professional detective.

Clearly. She is, however, also an everyman with no backstory or character development.

Before you argue that these are not in some way generic, the point is not that the backstory is "s/he's a detective" and that's it. (Admittedly, Darkside Detective comes close.) The point is that most of the backstory is covered. The authors don't delve much into the character of these people outside of their detective work. There is also little in the way of character development. Basically, exactly what Mandle outlined. The game is set up and ready to go. You can jump straight into the action.

To be fair, adventure games in general tend to have little or no character development, or indeed backstory. This is pretty much expected of the genre, and not just limited to detective stories.

For example, the premise of King's Quest is "you are a knight" and that's it. Monkey Island goes with "you want to be a pirate" and that's it. Yes, in most adventure games the protagonist is effectively the Everyman, or AFGNCAAP.

Frankly the only adventure game I can think of where the protagonist starts with amnesia is Planescape Torment, and the only one I can think of with a generic detective is the laura bow series. Are those tropes really as common as this thread suggests?

A POIsonous question! But Navi has two distinct advantages over Cedric.

First, Navi will warn you before the danger hits, whereas Cedric will warn you afterwards. Second, Navi is capable of something useful during the game (e.g. giving directions and helping you target), whereas Cedric does not (you have to keep helping him during the game).

I think this is an important point. Back in the '90's there just weren't that many games to play. You went to the actual store and bought one that caught your eye for say $50 or more, and took it home. You felt committed to the game due to the lack of options and the time and money invested in the purchase. Also there were no walkthroughs easily available so you really had no option except to keep trying on your own.

Yep. I remember opening King's Quest I in a hex editor to try and find the name of that #&*$&#$ gnome. Of course, not being a native speaker, I had no idea what his fairy tale was called in English in the first place.

The Monkey Islands were tough, but annoying in my opinion. I don't think the solutions were as logical as Sierra,

Really now. Would you like a refresher on the vast amounts of illogical Sierra puzzles? (such as KQV's yeti, Gabriel Knight's fake ID puzzle, the entire good-ending sequence of Laura Bow...)