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Okay, I seem to have a huge problem with my computer.  I want to set the S-Video out to go to my TV, since viewing movies and games on a 21" TV is much easier for two people to see and interact with than my 15" LCD screen which is most useful for sprite art.

I have a RADEON 9550, with S-Video out. Unfortunately, the TV I have only has SCART sockets, so I rigged up an S-Video-Component Video-Scart setup, set my computer to use a secondary monitor, flipped the channel over to EXT-1 (Which is the scart port.). Nothing. EXT-2. Still nothing. EXT-3. Again, nothing.

What was I doing wrong? The switchbox certainly worked, as it played my PS2 and DVD Player perfectly. The SCART input on my TV worked, as I had Freeview working on it a little while ago.

So, I unplugged my monitor, and left only the S-Video cable in. Again, with the TV on and connected. Restarted the computer and... nothing. Then I got throughougly confused.

Is there some archaic and cryptic way of getting the video to come out of the S-Video port instead of the VGA port? Or are the S-Video and DV-Out just little fancy things to fill space?

Will I have to make a VGA-Component video adaptor to force it to comply? (Not recommended. I can solder and wire stuff, but I suck at making prototypes. And I have too many bad memories of the electronics factory.... *shudder*)

Any help is welcomed! ^^

I was thinking, due to the nature of the art style I'm using in UTD (ie, easy), I could do close ups of the characters. But, the problem was that closeups need backgrounds, and I didn't want to bother my background artist TOO much. So, I thought up a way to make backgrounds for the closeups easier.



All I did was take a relevant section of the test BG, blurred it a LOT (until the pixels weren't noticable anymore), and added the character over the top =P. Does this look good? Professional, even? And if not, can you suggest an alternative?

And does anyone know which character I ripped off the design for the character shown? XP

[Remember him?]

I bet most of you don't remember me, but I was here long ago, a fledgling game designer wanting to make a game. I realised, however, my ability wasn't up to scratch, in any of the areas involved, so I fled away to hone my skills a little. And back I am, because you guys are the best people for adventure game sprites!

Remember him?

Man, nostalgia. I remember making the very first version of him, long ago. This isn't DOTT style. It only uses the palette and some of the simple 'shading' or lack thereof. I hope I've cleared up any confusion. You'll notice he's been redesigned ever so slightly, for example the blonde hair, dungarees instead of trousers, and he's a lot smaller >>

..

CHIPMUNK BEARS =D

C+C?

(Edited to stop people pointing out it isn't DOTT)

I've been attempting to create a few video game sprites for an animated series I'm planning, but unfortunately I cannot seem to get past the 'Concept' stage. I kinda need some advice on how to transpose them from Hand-Drawn to Sprite form.

Here is the art for three of the characters:

I'm quite surprised at how well they came out. I'm not usually good at humans...

And here is my attempt at Invincible:


For some reason, I can't get past the style of 'Little Kid uses MSPaint' in my opinion... even though I'm using the Nintendo palette and PSP!

Also, any comments on the designs themselves? Too bland? Too complicated?

First one: Main lead. Generic platform hero (female). Uses glitched (bad-code) projectiles and basic kicks and punches. Shy, reclusive, and compassionate, though everything she touches is 'destroyed' or at least somewhat broken.

Second: Supporting Castmember and fighter. Uses martial arts and is able to create illusions of himself with very basic AI. Calm, collected, strategic, he places his companions above whatever noble cause they ultimately strive for.

Third: Supporting Castmember and platform hero. Uses energy blasts, weapons, the blade on his back as a kind of shrukien. Absoloutely reckless due to the Game Jinn codes that were fused with him when his game was first played. Doesn't care if he is hurt, and righteously thinks that every enemy should be wiped out.

Once these are done, I can start on pixelling the Game Jinn!

After spending my morning looking at sprite comics and other strange things, I suddenly had the inspiration to draw sprites of my own. Again. These two, in fact, are probably the two most generic characters I've ever seen. The one on the left is the hero, and on the right is the learned warrior.



Two versions - 8bit, and 16bit. I'd like some critique on the bottom one in particular...

I made a short, 30second looping theme imitating the Game Boy/Nintendo. Can you critique it?

Tense/Evil theme:
CLICK

Corrected URL.

Here's something I drew for fun, and to see if I could do it. All totally done in MSPaint, w/ reference pictures. Can I get critique on it?



Subject 1: Spotted/Brown Hyena.

Somethings up in the land of hyenas. It seems like everything in the AGS editor is disaligned and not in the right size. I'm running 1024x768x32bit, but I don't think that's the problem. Here's a screenshot:


Here's the problem. Anyone got any suggestions?

If this is the wrong forum, please feel to move the thread to another. Then beat me. With sticks.

I've been theorising a dialog system close to that of Albion. (For all of you who don't know, Blue Byte, 1996, RPG, I'll try and scrounge some screenshots.) Basically, it is a pop up window with a semi-transparent background, and there is a LOT of text in the middle. Almost the whole pageful in height and 1/3 the width of the screen. What I'm wondering is - How do I get a lot of text onto the screen at once easily (i.e using GUIs.) since labels can only have a certain amount (I think its about 500 characters). I know it can be done with multiple labels, but I need to be able to scroll the text. Is there any way of doing this? If there isn't, I'll find a work-around.

I've been working on this map for my game for... a while now, and I hope t'is finished. Its only the base, though instead of pictures, there will be sparklies =) Comment, critique, anything to make this sceen better =P If you're wondering how I coloured in all the hills, and stuff, I'll tell y'all later =). Its amazing how staring at a game for hours could make you pick up it's style. Oh, and I forgot. Deluxe Paint. Again.

[Vurt (17):]

Yo, and so on. I've been working on my fun (and cliché) filled game 'Once upon a Time' for a while now, and I've decided to come for advice about characters. I give you five completed (and concepted arted, I'm not done with the in-game graphics yet) ones and their brief profiles. I'm never gonna give away storyline to people who aren't working with me, but rather what you would find out anyway in the first two minutes of playing:


Vurt (17):
A weakling ogre, with an unneccisarily high IQ (for his species, who would find it hard to outsmart a turnip). Outcast, scorned, and generally confused with trolls, he soon learns that his clan has abandoned him, so he can't rely on others to help him anymore. In short, the complete opposite to most introvert protagonists. After helping an imp/bat with a simple task, he finds a new 'friend' for life. He finds Oso very familiar, and as the story progresses he finds out just how familiar. Due to his outcastness, he has grown up to be a tall, thin guy, unlike the other ogres who are extremely short and muscular. In animal culture, the smallest and shortest is called the runt, but in ogre culture, the runt is the tallest. Due to this, Vurt had to learn to walk stooped, Hence the bad posture.

Oso (15):
Oso is an imp. Although he doesn't look it, he definately is. He isn't a cowardly bat, nor a pleasantly innocent imp. He's a self-centered, malicious little brat who bites the ankles of people who get too close to him. Though sometimes he is able to show empathy and sometimes even help out in tough situations, mostly he's just out for himself. There is a lot of dialogue and interaction between Vurt'n'Oso, as they find out who they are and the strange familiarness that they see in each other. (and no, it won't end in a love scene. Its just too corny) Prepare for a lot of one-liners (in appropriate places) and see the imp get beaten up a load of times!

Ema (n/a):
What or who is Ema? She is an ethereal being, consisting mostly of clothing and interwoven magic, who serves only one person - Agnwhutsethyngi. She is evil, but only if someone continues to pay her. Ema is the only one of her kind, and has the ability to summon up one sidekick at a time. It soon becomes a running gag. She is also the prototype of the mysterious 'Knights' who are threatening to destroy all magical and mythical beings. Ema, although a prototype, is sidetracked into following the footsteps of Vurt and Oso, trying to kill them and stop their progress. Agnwhutsethyngi seems to favour her doing the dirty work over the Pygmees, mostly because her Holy Paladin type luck and her inability to die.

The Pygmees:
A race of blue, furry semi-sentient animals that follow whoever impresses them most. And nothing impresses them more than an upturned fishbowl with glowing red eyes. The Pygmee chieftan is the smallest of these savages, but rumour has it there is a Pygmee Guardian, and nobody knows anything about that monstrosity. The Pygmees, as everyone knows, live in an abandoned fortress of doom, in the mountains past the village of Innocence (pop: varies), where they practice voodoo and culinary magic. They are also allergic to tea.

Overlord Agnwhutsethyngi
Noone can pronounce his true name properly, so he is known by his current alias. The ultimate sorcerer of evil magic defeated in a battle long ago by a Hero Of Pure Blood, he lives only in a crystal ball of amazing power, sustaining himself with the souls of sacrificed chickens. He never laughs, as he thinks that is a sign of distraction. His ultimate goal is not world domination, but instead to make others dominate the world, so he can control their every thought and action. He also has a lisp, which stops him from casting the ultimate mind control spell, which has more than a day's worth of s's in it.

Anyway. C& C! Sorry for the long post o.o I drivel, don't I?

When I was young and nieve I thought,
The computer that my dad had bought,
Was indeed a piece of master art,
When in fact, it was a donkey cart.

It had two huge 5 inch drives,
And less than a mega of ram,
And when it turned on, the trouble arrives,
Half the time it would crash, flash, or even go BLAM!

My childish ignorance stopped me from saying,
That more advanced games it couldn't be playing.
My parents would had burnt me alive,
(If it hadn't had been 1995)

The next computer, we had slightly moved on,
From the clunky old disks and the monitor (wooden),
Win three one one, I was happy to see,
That olde dosse prompte did really bug me.

It didn't stop us from not having a soundcard,
But this time (obvious) we had a disk that was hard,
And a 14.4 old rickety modem,
Compuserve that Dad used to check on his E.M'.

Years later, we got it together,
Installed sound, Win95, as we prancéd in heather,
I remember me and Dad installing it now,
(If only because I dspaced it before, and it was so slow!)

Today, I have only one major qualm.
That stops me from being, uh, ever so calm.
Recogise that old two two three,
A pentium two measured in M H and z.

Remember when you complain of your tools,
Who's got to wait until he's old and he drools,
On his dialup modem to download files, and some finish in may...
Me, the unwilling AOLer, on a 56k.

Ha! Beat that for a poem! Anyway, this post is actually about those people WITHOUT flashy PCs. They can go away and play footsie with their precious machines. We're talking the people with old, old, and decrepit computers. Those who can't even run 640x400 on AGS =(.

Who has the slowest computer? What was your slowest computer? Do you still own it? And finally - did it fustrate you enough to want to do what I did and drivespace the harddrive so that they HAD to upgrade? Hehe =) Stories?

And the winner will get this beautiful ASCII art trophie, since it is of low filesize.

@|@@@|@
@ \@@ /@
@@\ _ /@@
@@  ][@@
@@  ][@@
@    _][_@
WINNER OF THE "POOR OLD DEAR" AWARD

[SIBIDS - Scavenger's Icon Based Interactive Dialog System]

No, no! I know what you're thinking. But no. I am not in need of CJ to install needless add-ins to AGS. I have just created one myself =) Want to see?

SIBIDS - Scavenger's Icon Based Interactive Dialog System
SIBIDS is my system, and it does Icon based conversations. At the moment it can do up to 129 individual dialogs, with custom title bars showing the name of the Character you're talking to, up to eight options, and an ambiguous way of coding. Now comes with a NON EXISTANT (wow!) manual!

HOW TO SET UP DIALOGS:
In ProcessDialog, put your dialog code in the following way:
if (UsedDO (PLACE_DIALOGNO_HERE, PLACE_DIALOGOPTION_HERE)) {
DisplaySpeech (EGO, "This is the way you converse.");
DisplaySpeech (MAN, "Cool, huh?"}
Make sure you put Dialog Option 1 as the Greeting, and 8 as the Leaving. To leave the dialog, use QuitDialog (), and that will ensure you quit. To set icons, in game_start, set:
dialog[DIALOG_NUMBER].buttonpic[DIALOG_OPTION] = (The sprite slot number)

ADVANTAGES/DISADVANTAGES to SIBIDS:
Pro's -
Easy intergration of real code into dialogs.
Pretty Pictures!
You can make non-blocking GUIs.

Cons -
UNMANAGABLE.
Hard to grasp.
Un-user friendly.


HasPlayerQuitDialog ()
Returns 1 if the player has quit the dialog.
QuitDialog ()
Used to kick the player out of the current conversation. Useful for those times when the NPC gets annoyed with you, or you click the bye button.
SetDialogIcon (Dialog Number,Dialog Option,On or off?)
Sets dialog icons either on, or off.InitiateDialog (Dialog Number)
Sets up the conversation, eg by opening the Dialog Gui, setting the current conversation to the one you specify, makes the dialog gui say the right buttons and the name of the character you're talking to, and so on. The most important initiation function!ProcessDialog
The backbone of the SIBIDS. Although, on transit it may seem like its the smallest function, but believe me, it can easily be the largest function IN YOUR ENTIRE GAME, even though you must never ever run this function. One disadvantage to SIBIDS is that the whole of the games dialogs are stored in this one function, making organising a messy business. But, if you organise right, you could be in for a winner, here. (I could create a program to generate the dialogs like the AGS dialogs can... but I don't know C++, so what good I'd be is a mystery)UsedDO (dialog number,dialog option)
Short for Used Dialog Option. Returns 1 if the dialog option selected is available to click on. Used IN ProcessDialog.
The other functions are too insignificant to name, and their use is obvious and uneeded by the user.

Below is the code needed by your game to run. You also need:
THIIIISSS GUIIII!!!!! (Save Target As, remember.) to use the dialog system to it's potential

char quitdialog;
char currdialog;
char isindialog;

struct Cdialog {
char button[8];
short buttonpic[8];
string chartotalkto;
};

Cdialog dialog[129];

function InitiateDialog (char dialognum) { // initiates a conversation, ie, sets up the display, and which dialog it is.
    char buttonnum;
while (buttonnum <=7) {if (dialog[dialognum].button[buttonnum]) {
SetButtonPic (DIALOG, buttonnum,1, dialog[dialognum].buttonpic[buttonnum]);}
else { SetButtonPic (DIALOG,0,1, 0);}
buttonnum++;}
SetTextBoxText (DIALOGGUI, 9, dialog[dialognum].chartotalkto);
GUIOn (DIALOGGUI);
isindialog = 1;
currdialog = dialognum;}

function UsedDO (short dialognumber, char dialogoption) {
  if ((dialognum == dialognumber) && (curopt == dialogoption) && (IsDialogOptionAvailable(dialognum, curopt))) return 1;
  else return 0;}

function IsDialogOptionAvailable (char dialogn, char optionn) {
  if (dialog[dialogn].button[optionn]) return 1;}

function ProcessDialog (char dialognum, char curopt) { //the dialog engine, DO NOT RUN THIS COMMAND! It's a raw function, like on_key_press, or on_mouse_click.
  GUIOff (DIALOGGUI); //turns the dialog gui off, so the user can't touch the dialog options
if (UsedDO (0,0)){ // The Kind of thing you should do.
}
  if (HasPlayerQuitDialog () == 0) { //If the player HASN'T chosen the quit option, or hasn't been kicked out of the conversation...
   InitiateDialog (currdialog); //Reruns the dialog.
else {
    quitdialog = 0;}}

function HasPlayerQuitDialog () {
  return quitdialog;}

function QuitDialog () { //Quits the current dialog
  quitdialog = 1;}
function SetDialogIcon (short dialogn, short buttonn, char moden) {dialog[dialogn].button[buttonn] = moden;}

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! Um.. whoops. Caps lock =(.

Edit by strazer:

See following posts for template link.

Also, be sure to check out HeirOfNorton's script modules.

Well, I've been working hard on my game and I've finished a third version of my ogre guy thing. You can see the three stages below:

Hmm... he seems to get shorter and wider. Anyway, critique the third, as it is the newest. Though, how I'm going to animate him is beyond me.

"Sou like, whut's dis den?" BLAM!

I'm not expecting (nor am I even hoping) these to be intergrated into AGS at any time, but, I thought they might be useful to some of us. Though, I appreciate some matters are more urgent than others. Plus the fact that nobody wants to hear me whine on and on... about 8bit functions

1) Sprite - Pallette slot allocations (ala The Dig, FOTAQ)
I was thinking, why not have certain sprites take up certain sprite slots? I tried doing it by changing every other colours apart from the ones I wanted to use to Room Dependant, and imported the sprites. But, unfortunately, the 16 locked colours got in the way, and when I tried my TintPalletteSlots function, it just messed up the charactor. Also, if a sprite is imported and the slots allowed for it are too far down the table, it is stuck using the 16 locked colours. And thats the end of that suggestion.

2) (I know I keep bugging people about this, but...) Pseudo-Transparency in 256col
Basically, its just darkening certain parts of the screen, making it look like its transucent. Only black can be translucent, or white. Examples: Discworld, Albion (This did a great job of adding translucencies, even if it WAS 8bit ), The Dig (Inv System)

Finally, a question. Why does 640x400x256 (hires paletted) run really slowly on my comp, while 320x200x16bit doesn't, even though they have the same system requirements? I think somebodies been misleading us again o_O

But anyway, if these things are intergrated, I shall be forver in your debt, Pumaman! But, if not, C'est la vie, it happens! You have better things to do, I'm sure

[Placeholder Name: Minion]

Placeholder Name: Minion
I'm not quite sure what possessed me to create this charactor. Maybe I was sick of all those Evil Minions which are dragons, ogres, trolls, etc etc. Why not RABBITS? They are EVIL, after all. But I'm set that this creature, however much that it looks like one, is NOT a rabbit. For starters, it's green.


C+C on this pic, maybe? And suggestions on names would be very appreciated. I'm failing to think of one.

I was just wanted to know, how is it again you create 3D arrays like:
character[CHARID].inv

• 
  Which proves they do exist. Insofar I can only make part of the variable an array, not both. Sorry for the inconveience and n00bish posts, but I searched both the manual and the Tech Forum but I could find nothing on structs, arrays etc. Maybe someone should add it?
  
  Example:
  struct test {
  short text;
  int whatever; };
  test array;
  Produces:
  array[].text
  array[].whatever

I'm trying to run my game, using room 200, and testing out credits and my new interface. But as soon as the background graphic loads, a small pause, and without even running the enter room script...

An exception 0xC0000005 occured in ACWIN.EXE at EIP = 0x0043C28E ; program pointer is +5, ACI version 2.56.627 gtags (14, 15)

I would try and sort it out myself, but I don't know how to decipher this foreign message. *pokes it* If only someone could saved me from this programming hell... I'm only a lowly artist!

Thankye in advance!

I decided: "Hey, can I draw canines in Deluxe Paint?" The answer is right here: Plain and symple.


By the way. It's partly a play on words Please don't kill me if you hate furries! I'm innocent, I tell you! Innocent!

Media: Deluxe Painted (Jez Chroost on a Stick, I love that program )
No. Colours: 16

Hehe. Fun. C+C at will, AGCers!

Edit: Thankye Minimi for noticing that. I couldn't not see it o.o Fixed the link.

Edit by strazer:

AGS v2.62 introduced the SetFadeColor function.



I was writing a custom function for fading into different colours, but when I tested it out it hung the game with the error:
500001 while loop iterations without a response. Or something. Anyway, here is the script I'm using:
short fadecolour;
function Fade (short colour) {
  short bleh;
  if (fadecolour == 0) {
    while (bleh < 256) { //store the palette in these arrays
      br[bleh] = palette[bleh].r;
      bg[bleh] = palette[bleh].g;
      bb[bleh] = palette[bleh].b;
      }
      }
   
  if (colour == NORM) {
    palette[bleh].r = br[bleh];
    palette[bleh].g = bg[bleh];
    palette[bleh].b = bb[bleh];
      }
     
  if (colour == RED) {
    while ((palette[bleh].r <63) && (palette[bleh].g >0) && (palette[bleh].b >0)) {
      if (palette[bleh].r <63) palette[bleh].r ++;
      if (palette[bleh].g >0) palette[bleh].g --;
      if (palette[bleh].b >0) palette[bleh].b --;
      if (bleh <256) bleh++;
      else bleh = 0;
      UpdatePalette();
      fadecolour = 1;
      }}
  if (colour == BLUE) {
    while ((palette[bleh].r >0) && (palette[bleh].g >0) && (palette[bleh].b <63)) {
      if (palette[bleh].r >0) palette[bleh].r --;
      if (palette[bleh].g >0) palette[bleh].g --;
      if (palette[bleh].b <63) palette[bleh].b ++;
      if (bleh <256) bleh++;
      else {bleh = 0;}
      UpdatePalette();
      fadecolour = 1;
      }}
  if (colour == GREEN) {
    while ((palette[bleh].r >0) && (palette[bleh].g <63) && (palette[bleh].b >0)) {
      if (palette[bleh].r >0) palette[bleh].r --;
      if (palette[bleh].g <63) palette[bleh].g ++;
      if (palette[bleh].b >0) palette[bleh].b --;
      if (bleh <256) bleh++;
      else {bleh = 0;}
      UpdatePalette();
      fadecolour = 1;
      }}
  if (colour == YELLOW) {
    while ((palette[bleh].r <63) && (palette[bleh].g <63) && (palette[bleh].b >0)) {
      if (palette[bleh].r <63) palette[bleh].r ++;
      if (palette[bleh].g <63) palette[bleh].g ++;
      if (palette[bleh].b >0) palette[bleh].b --;
      if (bleh <256) bleh++;
      else {bleh = 0;}
      UpdatePalette();
      fadecolour = 1;
      }}
  if (colour == PURPLE) {
    while ((palette[bleh].r <63) && (palette[bleh].g >0) && (palette[bleh].b <63)) {
      if (palette[bleh].r <63) palette[bleh].r ++;
      if (palette[bleh].g >0) palette[bleh].g --;
      if (palette[bleh].b <63) palette[bleh].b ++;
      if (bleh <256) bleh++;
      else bleh = 0;
      UpdatePalette();
      fadecolour = 1;
      }}
  if (colour == WHITE) {
    while ((palette[bleh].r <63) && (palette[bleh].g <63) && (palette[bleh].b <63)) {
      if (palette[bleh].r <63) palette[bleh].r ++;
      if (palette[bleh].g <63) palette[bleh].g ++;
      if (palette[bleh].b <63) palette[bleh].b ++;
      if (bleh <256) bleh++;
      else {bleh = 0;}
      UpdatePalette();
      fadecolour = 1;
      }}
}

I'm hoping to use this for 8bit screen tinting too, though I don't know how to do that. You know, colour balancing and stuff I'm a newbie at.