Messages

It's about time you released it!    I like the new sound effects, and the light beam addition.
Excellent work, Ben.  Keep on making games!

Hmm, didn't know that was possible.  Thanks Terran.

Also, I noticed something again this morning.  I'm not sure if it has been mentioned before (and I still haven't played with the AGS Beta yet), but if you make a large GUI (for example: 1024x768), the viewable editor doesn't have scrolling.

tzachs: I think you made a good observation to point out a mistake that people often make, however, I don't agree with your proposed solution.

That was me actually who suggested that.

Anyway.. This morning would be the second or so time now that I've needed to check if an int is odd or even.  I haven't found anything in the manual, so I was mainly curious if it was possible to add.
I know there is a way to get past this, which would be to get the remainder of the int.  Eg:

if ((i%2 == 1) || (i == 1))  //the number is odd.

I blame Turbo Pascal.  I used to use  odd(int)  all the time with my old shooter games.

I've noticed that quite a lot of games get released with Beta mode still activated when they compile their games.  I believe that most people must not know that there is a Debug mode, or it's just a matter of forgetting due to the excitement of releasing a game.

So I was thinking, perhaps when someone clicks the Build Game EXE button and when the "Your game has been compiled" message pops up, another message under that could say something along the lines of: "Remember, Debug mode is still on", if it was still on.

Or even the option of turning off the Debug mode for the EXE Build before it's built.  But turning off the Debug mode is already easy as it is, so perhaps a reminder is all that's needed.

I quickly scanned through your code and saw this comment:

Code: ags

x=x+3;//every bullet takes up 3 places in the array. X, Y and Angle.

To make things easier on yourself also with less chances of programming errors, would be to use a struct and array.
Like this:

Code: ags

struct sBullets {
  int x;
  int y;
  int a;  //angle
};
sBullets bullet[100];

Then you can call the variables like so:

Code: ags

bullet[i].x = mouse.x+8+Random(18);
bullet[i].y = 185;
bullet[i].a = Random(2)-1;

Then when you run a while statement you don't have to add 3, or whatever amount, each time.  Just one.

[Edit:]

[..]use characters instead of objects since you can have an infinite number of them and they're room independent.[..]

There is also a 40 character limit per room.

But to get more than that, you'd have to use drawingsurfaces.  And for an arcade game, you're best off with using drawingsurfaces anyway.  That way you can go from room to room if you keep your scripts in globalscripts, without need of creating objects for each room or changing all the characters rooms.

Edit:  I've actually drawn 400 'characters' at once, and with each one animating, using drawing functions.  It barely shows any sign of lag (just don't animate every game loop (obviously), since a game loop is very quick, you'd have to have an int used as an animating timer for each 'character').

I kinda like the lines on the nose of the characters (not so much on the girl's nose though). 
You know how an alcoholic has a dark redish/purple nose?  Well those hatching lines make them look like alcoholics, which I feel fits the two male characters nicely.

Terran, it would be cool to have an AGSDb (IMDb-like) website, but I can't see too much information being placed on each game.
A few voice actors possibly, maybe the artist(s), musician(s), the programmer(s) or programming help, etc.  But not too much information.  Curious, what else did you have in mind that would differ from what IMDb has for movies, to keep the AGSDb interesting?

And my use for the middle button is a secondary scrolling option (for ease of use).  Instead of only moving the mouse to the sides of the screen, you could instead press the middle button to scroll (that is if you wanted to / or had the button).

Alright, curious question then, what happens if someone uploads a game.  Then after a few weeks/months of people playing it and discovering bugs, what happens to the old version when they upload the newer one?  Will the old version stay on the server hogging up space?  Or will it delete the old version? 

If it deletes the old version, what happens if the new version was a blank/fake file so they could use that to 'delete' their game?

I will also make it possible to upload several game files so if you want to keep the old versions too you can.

Actually I just noticed this.  What happens if the blank/fake file was uploaded and they chose to delete the 'older' version.

So you'll definitely need to give the user the ability to 'hide' the game from the public, or they'll find ways to remove it.

Thanks Monkey. 
Oddly enough I was searching the forums for the answer to this for myself, for my own game, and was directed to this newly created post.  Now that's luck.

.inventory is not a public member of player/character.

If someone makes a game and doesn't want it known/hosted anymore, I believe they should have the right to delete the game.

Do you mean, a game with such "pencilmated" characters, or a game where you can change enviroment by drawing it?

A game where you're playing, and the world is drawn and changed around you (by the creator and his 'pencil') just like you see in the video.  You get stuck in a room, the creator draws a door for you.  You see a pretty woman and you're walking towards her to ask her out, the creator draws a rock in front of you causing you to trip.  You'd obviously have to make the creator a kind of helper, or comedian.  As though the creator is just sitting back and watching the show, adding a few details here and there.

I think it would be a great and funny adventure game.

On a semi-related note, is there a reason Mouse.IsButtonDown doesn't work for eMouseMiddle?

Has this been added on the AGS beta?
I have a purpose for IsbuttonDown(eMiddleMouse), so I was mainly curious.  It's for a non-adventure game. The middle mouse isn't for anything serious, just for scrolling while held down, but it would be nice to have.

If only someone would make an AGS game like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjnCDvqMlB8

[EDIT: Compatibility Issue with Vista and 7]

Oh, wow.  You know what I just found out today?  I kept seeing all these Starcraft 2 vids on YouTube in the past few weeks, and always assumed that sc2 had already been released.  It's not!?
 Now I feel like a fool.



EDIT: Compatibility Issue with Vista and 7
Soon one of you will be running StarCraft on Vista or 7.  I think it's mostly 7 though, and not so much with Vista.  Anyway, there is a compatibility issue with the colors.  Something to do with the taskbar running on top of everything.  I've searched a few forums talking about this issue.  Finally I found a way to disable your taskbar while running StarCraft!

So if you're having the color issue, use this to help fix the issue until a patch is released:

Open Notepad and type in the following:

taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
C:\"Games\Starcraft"\"StarCraft.exe"
start explorer.exe

Save the file with a   .bat  extension.
I haven't the slightest clue why there are quotes around the game directory for the game, but it works so I haven't tried it without.
Some people were putting   pause   between running the game and starting up explorer again.  So if some reason the taskbar is starting up on you before you're done playing StarCraft, perhaps this is where the Pause comes in handy.

Like this:

taskkill /f /IM explorer.exe
C:\"Games\Starcraft"\"StarCraft.exe"
pause
start explorer.exe

I'm happy that I can now play StarCraft on my new laptop.

Hey MT!
I got laid off on Monday!  About freakin time.
Ok, I know you're supposed to be angry/upset when you get laid off, but seriously, it's about time.  I've been there for 5 years and have wanted to quit for years now, just didn't due to the convenience of having a job and enjoying the people I worked with.  But now that I'm laid off, I have no excuse but to find a job.

I applied for EI (employment insurance), but I won't see a penny for 4 weeks minimum.  I'll probably find a job before then, but it will at least cover the few weeks that I didn't have a job.  But who knows.

Anyway, he who now has no source of income, and rent to pay, should not be buying things.  But I couldn't sit at home for a week with the (literally) crappy computer I had.  So I bought myself a new laptop!  HP Pavilion dv7-3080ca  It was $100 off, and I had been checking up that computer since it was released, just turns out it went on sale.

It's not a completely irresponsible move on my part.  I have been saving my money for a few years now with the intention of buying a computer and a down payment for a house.

Anyway MT, now I can start working on my new adventure game once I get the setup stuff out of the way and the tablet hooked up.  I have thought of a great storyline, one of which I'm surprised hasn't been used yet (to my knowledge).  And I'm hoping for it to have exceptional cartoony graphics.  We'll see, MT, we'll see.

Thanks MT, for listening about my new hobo status, and laptop!

Well I'm a mean guy! 

I didn't buy any candy!  My plan was to turn the lights off and close the front curtain.  Well my brothers gf came by with my niece and without thinking I turned the lights on.  No more than 10 minutes later, there goes the doorbell.

I couldn't not answer it, the kids could clearly see me.  I was standing in the hallway bugging my 2 year old niece with her little tiger costume on. lol  I had to open the door telling the kids I didn't have any candy, I 'forgot' to buy some.

Oh well.  Maybe next year I'll pay the little kiddies back with some cavity causing goodness.


Anyway, funny video, Mark.  Too bad it had poor compression, I would have enjoyed it much more.

If anyone gets GameRanger  (www.gameranger.com), feel free to add me as a friend.  Ryanb84
I'm not up to playing StarCraft this weekend, but perhaps during the week.