Messages

If you make the default game it should start out with a main character "Roger" which has a full blown animation, and such. You can also load up the Demo game (which I believe is packaged with the software), compile it, and see how the animation works.

Some suggestions:

If you're looking to make a full blown game that will be released as a finished product, it really is better to make your own character animations. If you use pre-made animations, the default AGS character, or rip something from another game, your game will tend to get less respect. However, if you're simply trying out the engine to see how things work, by all means, use pre-made animations, and more power to you.

Be warned though: it's better to make your own animations and get experience with it now, than to start working on a REALLY awesome game idea only to realize that your animating skills are sub-par.

If you could give us a rundown of the code you're using, or a description of the interactions you're using, we could be of more assistance.

Unhandled Error: Occurs when saving:

Error: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
Version: AGS 2.8.0.9

System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt. ---> System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
   at ccCompileText(SByte* , SByte* )
   at AGS.Native.NativeMethods.CompileScript(Script script, Script[] headers, Game game, Boolean isRoomScript)
   at AGS.Editor.Components.RoomsComponent.SaveRoomOnThread(Object parameter)
   at AGS.Editor.BusyDialog.RunHandlerOnThread()
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at AGS.Editor.BusyDialog.Show(String message, ProcessingHandler handler, Object parameter)
   at AGS.Editor.Components.RoomsComponent.SaveRoomButDoNotShowAnyErrors(Room room, CompileMessages errors)
   at AGS.Editor.Components.RoomsComponent.SaveRoomAndShowAnyErrors(Room room)
   at AGS.Editor.Components.RoomsComponent.AGSEditor_PreSaveGame()
   at AGS.Editor.AGSEditor.SaveGameFiles()
   at AGS.Editor.Components.FileCommandsComponent.CommandClick(String controlID)
   at AGS.Editor.GUIController._mainForm_OnMenuClick(String menuItemID)
   at AGS.Editor.MainMenuManager.MenuEventHandler(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.RaiseEvent(Object key, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.HandleClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.FireEventInteractive(EventArgs e, ToolStripItemEventType met)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.FireEvent(EventArgs e, ToolStripItemEventType met)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem.ProcessCmdKey(Message& m, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripManager.ProcessShortcut(Message& m, Keys shortcut)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripManager.ProcessCmdKey(Message& m, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Form.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessCmdKey(Message& msg, Keys keyData)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.PreProcessMessage(Message& msg)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.PreProcessControlMessageInternal(Control target, Message& msg)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.PreTranslateMessage(MSG& msg)

Seems rather serious, because of the potential for loosing work. :o

So Recluse, I hear you like ponies...

Don't believe everything you hear...   

Here's a problem I've come across in many "dynamic dialogue" engines that I've found to actually accentuate the game's computer logic more than a simple "choose your answer" engine. If an engine is looking for a particular word, and doesn't have sufficient logic to ignore the surrounding words, it will eventually become easier for a player to simply type in words prompted from previous discussions and hope for the best.

I've had to deal with this in Exile 3, an RPG that uses a dynamic engine, I would get something like the following:

"Tell me about the stone."
"Huh?"
"What about the stone?"
"Huh?"
"Stone"
"The stone is an ancient artifact that will help you complete your quest..."

Having to find exactly the right word to type is one of the biggest issues I have found with these sorts of engines. It's currently a burden on the user to provide all the synonyms, but perhaps you could supply a function that searches the entire sentence for the synonym, perhaps with a second part (such as a question-word, or question mark) and ascertain that the player wants to know about that noun.

Or got certain... compromising... photos from the last Mittens

Well this should boost Mittens attendance! 

AGS: Because we said so.

Next: Heavy Metal

[cannot]

At the moment it cannot do the following things:

Recognise pronouns, particularly 'it' and interpret them to mean the key subject of the previous line.

Gather information about the player.

Encrypt the data file.

I'm never good for code, but I can help with the general concept of how the above COULD work.

The pronouns thing could be solved by having the dev assign each noun a gender (male would look for he, him, his, female she, her, her's, and neuter would look for it, it and it's.) It would be helpful if this could also be extended by having synonyms for each noun as well, so if I had a dirty old pirate named Bob I could refer to him as either Bob, or dirty pirate, or old pirate, or perhaps just pirate.

Gathering information about the player is more difficult, and therefore more fun. I would have the interpreter look for any personal pronouns referring to the player, such as "me", "I", "myself", and then have a way to parse it. The parser would then look for verb-noun pairs that can be attributed to the player. For example, if I said "I like ponies" The parser would store this information in the format "Player likes ponies." This could then be retrieved, and would be a good way to have gossip spread about the player. Other NPCs could randomly state, upon being introduced to the player, "I know you, you like ponies!". It would make the player more cautious about the random things he/she tells NPCs, because he/she knows that it could very well come back to haunt them.

Encryption is more of a code thing, like I said I'm not really keen on that. However, I know there are some encryption modules that you could possibly make use of.

Next: "Aye, sir, 'tis a rock."

The only problem I see with this is that the player could very easily type: "15" and automatically get to the end of the sequence.

Also, make sure you've added all the strings to the parser. I've recently worked with the parser in 2.8 and it won't let you save until this is done, but I'm not sure if that's the case with the version you're using.

What KhrisMUC said is that before you call any Parser.Said functions you must first call Parser.ParseText.

If you're only calling Parser.ParseText once, and it's not called each time the player enters various commands, there will be problems with ALL of your code.

Here's another suggestion, while you're mucking about with another new release.

Currently in order to run real "script" from the dialog editor we have to pass a parameter down into the global script. I find it rather annoying and troublesome to have to send an integer to the script, as the integers are hard to keep track of.

Is it possible that we could get rid of the run-script dialog function, and instead simply have some sort of escape sequence that tells the compiler to "run this as AGS script, not dialog script" like the following:

Code: ags

@S  // Dialog startup entry point
return

@1
PLAYER: Why don't I have my barnacles?
CAPTAINBLACKBEARD: Oh, sorry, I have them right here.
<script>
   cCaptain.Walk(cEgo.x - 10, cEgo. y, eBlock, eAnywhere);
   cEgo.AddInventory(iBarnacle);
   cCaptain.Walk(cEgo.x - 15, cEgo.y, eBlock, eAnywhere);
   cCaptain.FaceCharacter(cEgo);
</script>
PLAYER: Thank you very much!
return

I feel that something like this would really help make the whole dialog process much simpler to use.

In lieu of this, perhaps we could pass a String to the global script instead of an int, this way we could have some sort of a logical identifier to what dialog the following code goes to.

I'm having humongous issues with the sprite importer. I like to use tiled sprites in my games (they're much easier to animate) When I go to import a sprite, the yellow overlay rectangle is off, it often seems to cover half a pixel, but never a whole one. It's very difficult to get the exact portion of an image because of this.

I think it may be an issue with the rectangle snapping to the edges of the pixel in the zoomed and imported bitmap, there may also be some fuzzy math involved in the conversion from the rectangle on screen to the pixels taken from the bitmap after it's imported.

On a side note, I would much rather have the negative rectangle we had before. It's much easier to tell when you haven't selected exactly what you wanted.

At the moment I don't have a public website. Only a development website which I use to communicate with the other developers. For the moment THIS is my website. Once the game has passed the demo stage I will create a full blown website on which I'll host the demo and other resources.

I just tried to save a room whilst loading another and I got the following error:

Code: ags

Error: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
Version: AGS 2.8.0.8

System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
   at load_room_file(SByte* )
   at load_crm_file(UnloadedRoom roomToLoad)
   at AGS.Native.NativeMethods.LoadRoomFile(UnloadedRoom roomToLoad)
   at AGS.Editor.Components.RoomsComponent.LoadNewRoomIntoMemory(UnloadedRoom newRoom, List`1 errors)
   at AGS.Editor.Components.RoomsComponent.LoadDifferentRoom(UnloadedRoom newRoom)
   at AGS.Editor.Components.RoomsComponent.LoadRoom(String controlID)
   at AGS.Editor.Components.RoomsComponent.CommandClick(String controlID)
   at AGS.Editor.ProjectTree.ProcessClickOnNode(String nodeID, MouseButtons button)
   at AGS.Editor.ProjectTree.projectTree_NodeMouseDoubleClick(Object sender, TreeNodeMouseClickEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.TreeView.OnNodeMouseDoubleClick(TreeNodeMouseClickEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.TreeView.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

So I'm being a good little beta-tester and posting it. Have fun!


Also, could we at some point have an option to open AGS with all the nodes on the right closed? It's kind of annoying to have to scroll through everything, I'd much rather open up to what I need.

... And another thing... could we possibly have the limit to the number of room backgrounds allowed in an animation removed? I've got several backgrounds that could look a LOT better without this limitation.

[August 19th 2007]

might I make 1 suggestion, you need to make the floor patterns look like thay are going the same way as the walls.

Apart from that, great game

I am in the process of fixing this, actually. I'll post new backgrounds once I get the chance.

As far as an update goes:

August 19th 2007
Decided to go back in and work on some of the backgrounds some more, fixing perspective, that sort of thing. One of the first encounters is completed, about six more (along with a few cut scenes) and day 1 will be completed. After day 1 and the first part of day 2 are complete the demo should be ready. I'm on vacation this week, so I should be able to get a LOT of stuff done for the game.

• Graphics - 60%
  
• Storyboarding - 50%
  
• Scripting - 10%
  
• Music/Sound - 9%
  
• Programming - 17%
  

If you want a global string, you'll need to declare a new string in the top portion of your global script, export and import it.

I'm glad this piece of software is becoming more and more like a REAL programming utility. It's easier for those of us who program, and it introduces newbies to a very new idea.

[August 13th 2007]

UPDATES:

August 13th 2007
We are almost through with all the backgrounds (Only 1 Left!). The character animations are also completed to the point that all the characters can be created and displayed walking around. Now all that's left is to finish the programming (hard part) and get this demo ready to go!

• Graphics - 60%
  
• Storyboarding - 50%
  
• Scripting - 10%
  
• Music/Sound - 9%
  
• Programming - 15%
  

Ah! You're using dialogue! Not dialog. Apparently Firefox's spell check has nearly eliminated one spelling and in the process has confused me. I'm not exactly a fan of the dialog scripting process, it has yet to grow on me. I wish that we were able to choose between the extremely watered down dialogue scripting and the more complex regular scripting (with a few added dialogue specific functions). At any rate...

Could you possibly post the code you have so that we could have a better idea of what exactly is going wrong?

By using a Dialog list box?

Here's my pseudo-code "this is what you do" way of doing this:

CODE:
Create your password strings, and assign each one a number. (either create a struct, or stick them in an array).
Create a variable to store the number of the random string chosen to be the password, and assign it a random number.

ROOM:
Have the hotspot show the string assigned to the number.

GUI:
Have your strings appear in the list box in a FIXED order (always the same).
On the submit button, code the following:

Code: ags

if(passwordNumber == listbox.SelectedIndex)
   Unlock the door

If this doesn't work, I've got no other solutions.

The first thing that catches my eye is not the couch, but the floor. The pattern is way out of perspective.

Yes, I know. I'm not bothered enough to fix this just yet. I've attempted to fix it, yet nothing good has come from it. Later in the game's development I'll probably attempt to fix it. For now, I'll call it part of the game's "style" and let it go from there, who knows, by the final version it might be fixed!

Personally I think you should ditch the foreground couch that's facing away from us, and maybe just have a coffee table there or something.

Good idea! It WOULD free up more space. I was originally trying to make the room look more functional by having two couches facing each other.

Why not make the room a little bigger. Who would place 2 couches in a small room like that? 

We're on a space station and space is scarce... this is all that was allotted for recreation, which as you can see, isn't much (or very fun).  I do get the point of not needing two couches. We only really need one.

I suggest making the floor a little bigger. Also, seeing as how this is a futuristic location, why not make something out of the ordinary? Instead of the back couch, why not have a floating table? You could even ditch the couch together and have floating chairs near the left corners.

I love the idea, but it doesn't fit the setting. There's too much of a depressed economy to waste power on such things, and this space station is supposed to have a very specific purpose. I will add a futuristic table, though.