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I also like bigbrother's icons, but seeing as I did some (in the meantime) I'll share anyway.

Emotions aren't rational, or prone to objective analysis, they can't be.  By the time someone's done quantifying, categorizing, or comparing them, they've changed anyway.  Emotions are simply a means of coping with situations and communicting what we need to effectively deal with those situations.

I see the chain of ANY emotional reaction going something like this:
     STIMULUS -> OBSERVATION -> INTERPRETATION -> JUDGEMENT -> LIMITATION -> EXPRESSION[/size]
Example:  Someone overhears a piece of conversation.  Depending upon how much they see or hear, they will come to a conclusion.  Their actual reaction will be a product of personal experience, physical ability to communicate, and the hundreds of bio-chemical factors that make-up their mental state.  Let's not leave out education, culture, religion, or mental illness. (and I'm summarizing horribly, so please don't be too critical.)

Now, this discussion has been mostly centered on the other side of emotions.  What others observe, and how 'they' interpret the reaction.  I see it following the exact same path as above, with one notable addition:
     SEMANTICS[/size]
What one person may call 'happy', another may call 'content', or 'silly', or 'manic', or 'in denial'.  'Sad' can become 'depressed' at any moment (especially in our pharmaceutically driven advertising world, at least in the US).  How does the observer interpret the emoter's interpretation?  How much did the observer see of the original stimulus, and what's their reaction to it?  Where did..... this can go on ad nauseum, so I'll stop.  I think everyone should get the point.

Anyway you try to divide it up, it's messy.  But good luck on the PhD.

...The only thing their good for on this is for finding people to help you make a game..

AGS==Adventure GAME Studio :o

Isn't that the whole point (even though I disagree)

Very nice BG indeed, Andail!

Only a few minor points though:
- Your footpaths, behind the central building, are outlined a bit much and don't match the forground path.
- The paths would level-off some as they entered the doorways, or gates, just from foot traffic.
- The well could use just a little more contrast, to seperate it from the shadow.

Tuomas:

I would suggest putting mic2 on pin2, and ignoring the gnd wire.  Sounds odd, but should work.

As far as your USB goes, I'm assuming that you have only one port on the front of your case.  If so, the red wire should be your 5v.  If you have two ports, you're missing some wires.

btw. I downloaded the latest copy of and that mobo manual is crap.  No wonder you're having issues.

Aside to CJ:  We have guys working at our helpdesk that are nearly as helpful

[Name:]

Name:
Jim Everett

Age:
39++

Female/male:
Male

1. How long have you been involved in the AGS community?
I stopped a year-long lurk just over 2 years ago.

2. Why did you get involved in AGS?
Game design, drawing, and story writing were already separate hobbies of mine.  This type of forum seemed a natural fit.  But the thing that made AGS the 'one' was the general community attitude.  I haven't seen a more encouraging, or constructive, Critics Lounge ANYWHERE!  Amateurs can post their creations without fear of all-out attack.

3. How do you feel that the fact that AGS is a freeware programme affect the community that has built up around it?
With money comes a hidden agenda.  Always!  It's human nature.  But by this product, and more importantly the support, being free to use, it tends to give us a better cross-section of people along with their talents, and ideas.  When there's little chance of theft, sharing becomes a much easier thing to do.

4. How big a part does the AGS community play in your life?
I poke around daily, although I don't post much.  I've made it part of my morning routine, along with checking the news and weather.

5. Have you been involved in making any games using AGS? You may list them if you want
I have one project, in the works, that's not yet ready for the Announcement forum.

6. Answer these questions if you have been involved in making AGS games:
     a. Were you interested in game design/programming before you started using AGS?
     Yes, I was.  I started with pencil/paper/dice games, to board/card, and actually some old Doom levels.

     b. If no, do you feel that you would have got into game design without AGS?
     NA

     c. Do you make games using other programmes, either freeware or not? How does the experience differ?
     Not computer-based, so there's no real comparison.

     d. Has AGS inspired you to try and take up game design professionally?
     No, I already work as a database programmer.  I'll keep the game design enjoyable, thanks.

7. Do you feel that there is a gender divide in the AGS community?
Not at all.  I've been lucky enough to have never read a disparaging remark about gender, nationality, or personal philosophy here.  Hopefully, I never will.

8. Are you likely to feel differently about a game if you discover it's made by a female? In what way?
No.  And with most games produced under nicknames, it's all-but impossible to really tell anyway.

9. Do you feel that AGS makes it easier for females to get involved in computer game design? In what way?
I feel it makes it easier for everyone.  Why?  Silly questionaire.  Just by being here you've answered your own query.  People here tend to listen...(most of the time)

10. Do you feel that there is a difference between the types of games created by males and females?
No more so than games made by people of different ages, or different cultures.  So I suppose; Yes there must be, but I'll be damned if I can tell them apart.

11. Any other comments?
Not at this time.

Is the bust line the measure of a woman?

Well..no, just one of many

.... Are you a sexist?

Nope, married and have two daughters.  And it's all I hear about, FROM THEM! :o

It does not make a girl poor if she doesn't have a "bust line", I have meat plenty beautiful girls without big boobs!!!

I agree! 

Anyway, I hope you realize I'm not serious about that.

Yes, I do

What Seleceus did made a big difference, more towards feminism. But the bust line doesn't look very much like it should, but that's something to give you a clue.

Yeah, I'm not a very good pixel artist, and I didn't spend any real time on it either, but I thought the illustration would mean more than me just sitting here and nit-picking someone elses work.

The style is nice and simple, I like it.  You just have to keep in mind that it's fine to draw men with lots of straight lines, but ladies have curves.

A quick paintover to illustrate:


EDIT:
-Gave the poor girl a bust line
-Dropped the shoulder, and neckline
-Made the hair a little bigger
-Added some shape to the forward leg, for hips and calf
-Gave the blouse a little extra detail

Hope this helps.

Much better stance, but drop the forward (his left) arm down.  He looks like he's lop-sided.

Other things you may consider:  Human eyes, are more or less, vertically centered on the head.  Move them down a pixel.  His hips are just a bit too low, and this makes his legs look real short.  Lastly, you've got a fairly large range of colors (16) that gradient out from the center of each object.  This isn't doing your pirate any justice and it's a waste of color.  Try using them to highlight/shade the details, and create better depth.

I know you're using this for a comp, so I'll quit there.  You've got more to do than spend hours on one sprite.  Good luck.

I'm not sure how cartoony, or stylized, you are shooting for, but at first glance his arms are too short, and skinny.

  For space fillers, that won't take over, you can use signs, lightposts, guardrails, fire hydrants, trashcans, public phones, or if it's truly abandoned trash.  Lots of trash.  Maybe rail tracks, if those are tanker cars.   I they are, they could probably be longer.
  The only other critique I would have, at the moment, is on the building.  Your windows are not consistantly sized, or in perspective (oh no, it's THAT word again).

... Elaine needs some work I think though, she doesn't look like herself exactly.

I see your point, Ginny, so I went and looked at a decent photo of Julia, and made a couple changes. (see above post)

Better?

Hmm, interesting.  Planning the 'Game about Nothing'?

Some minor notes to consider:

Jerry:  Rarely wore his hair over his ears, oval hair line, darker brow line, and almost alway showed teeth
George:  SteveMcCrea hit this perfectly
Kramer:  Nothing to say.  You got it great in one go.
Elaine:  Little more feminine jaw line, smaller eyes, and bigger hair




Hope this helps.

(edited gif, see post below)

To the entire Prodigal crew:

I've just finished the game today and must say; "You've done a fantastic job!"  Thank you all for another great AGS game. 

Agent X IN...

"Doing the Filing"


Double X:

No, you added hat bob. The head still dont move at all. You need it to be much more fluent than that if you want it to look good. But otherwise, it was a great character!

Point taken.  Changed the 'Edited' ani-gif.

Thank you folks, for all of the great feedback.

..., but when i see the perfil pictures i think that the first one should be darker than the third one, just like the front picture the left side is darker than the right side...

Does the light scource change with the angle of the character?...

The light source is at about waist level, to the right, and fairly bright.  I'm toying with the idea of making loops with different light sources (direct front, left), and then using the appropriate ones for each background.

... You could also double-loop the animation and throw in a blink to make it more alive...

Oh, and I have a full story and puzzle design written out for a character and world just like that which will blow your mind if you have any interest...

Good idea.  I'll see how much it impacts the size.  I don't want to bloat the loops, too much, I'm already working at 800x600, and don't want to build the first ever 3GB AGS game.

I'll PM you about the ideas thing.  The world design/puzzle philosophy may not be what you expect.

It's great art, but it seems like the animation could be more dynamic. That's the hard part about having very detailed, large characters, is that unless you are willing to redraw them completely for some frames, it's hard to make their animations look very dynamic.

It's not as bad as all that.  I've created layers for each moving object, in PSP 8, and just 'Copy Merged' for the correct visible objects, then paste into Animation Shop, for the frame.  So not everything needs to be redrawn, for every little change.  Thinking of which, I'd better get to work.

Spot on, ProgZmax!  A studio still of Mitchum was indeed the inspiration, although the name came from a joke I made, while presenting the original idea to my wife.  Let me see what I can do with those legs.  -Thanks.

Edit:  The eyes are drawn that way, on purpose, for reasons that will become evident when the story is revealed.

I'd like to pre-introduce Slate Gray, the not-quite-ready-for-in-production character.  I've been fussing over setting, style, and oh so many other details, that I needed to put a face to the idea.  Here's the face, and it wants feedback.  So I'm throwing myself to the mercy of my peers.

This is my first walk-cycle animation, and I've fiddled with this for long enough (a couple of months).   It's staying greyscale, for obvious reasons, but other than that does anyone have any suggestions for improvement?
We're walking... Edited: ..and then a static pose

Shouldn't be more than another couple (9?,10?) of months to finish the side movement, maybe even diagonals.

Then, if this wasn't enough...

Something isn't quite right with these, and I can't seem to put my finger on it.

EDIT:  Added head bob.

EDIT2:  Fixed head/hat bob.  Shifted Rear leg placement.  Added slight torso movement.  Added blink (it doubles the loop so it may not make production, but it looks cool here).  Fixed some odd shadow movements.

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