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HI everyone, I hijacked Snake's name since he always says you are all the smartest  people he knows.  I have a bunch of stuff that I'd like to sell on ebay, but after reading the first few pages of selling tips, I needed a drink and it's barely afternoon.  I just thought I took some pics, posted them with a description and had to mail it to the person who paid me.  I don't understand insertion fees and final price fees, and actually how or where to post where I can get the most for a product... Any help that you could provide would be appreciated!  Thanks a lot!  Snakette

I recently played Bicilotti's hour game, The Firebird Island. I suggest you download and play it if you haven't. He says it's crap, but it's actually quite fun!
It is in the style of a CYOA book, which appealed instantly to me since I love those books and any game that plays like them. I was amazed that, even though there were a few spelling mistakes, one bug (which I found anyway) and one nit-picky thing of mine (Display command being used when I felt all text should have been on the "page" like everything else), he still managed to get a little story and multiple branches all done in an hour.
Like I told him on IRC, it would take me the entire hour just to think of and decide on what I was going to make. Which is why I never join such events.

But anyway...

See? I can never just ask a question. I told him over an hour ago, when I asked for permission to link to his game's download, that I was posting a thread in a few minutes. Gah.

This game of his inspired me to make a small CYOA style game out of a little CYOA book I made when I was a kid!
So I found the book and read it through. I figured, it needs a little fixing up but I've got a pretty good visual of what this game would look like and play like.

This was the first time I sat down and figured out how many of "this and that" I will need. What I've done in the past was make the graphics and animations as I need them and go back later on to add more. But it felt pretty good to get it all down on paper and see it.

So here are the statistics as they are at the moment:
14 BGs
23 Sprites
37 Animations
* I haven't thought of how I will handle branches yet, so I'll hold off on GUIs/hotspots/objects for now.
Also, these numbers aren't concrete at the moment since I may add a little more or decide I don't need something after all.
Come to think about it I forgot to count up how many sounds I will need. SFX will undoubtedly be one of the last things I do anyway.

The game will be in 320x240 resolution. All graphics (with the exception of sprites) will be scanned and then finished in MS Paint. The style of the graphics are somewhat cartoony, but not silly. There will also be a small bit of shading involved as well. 

I'm going to pretty much keep the branches the same, but it is in need of a fix here and there. So instead of doing a complete copy of the pages, it'll take me a little extra time to think of what I want to put in place of the actions/branches I take out.

It's a simple game. There will be no items, inventory, puzzles or dialogue.
Only branches made by the choices you make and animations to go with what you are reading.
And of course, basic scripting.

So with the given statistics and above info, how long would such a game take you to create into a fairly polished product ready for play?

With distractions? (kids, work, etc...)
Without distractions?

With or without distractions is completely up to you, being that everyone's home environment is different.

Also, how many of you plan the statistics out beforehand?

I'm wondering if there are any programs out there that I can make a selection (or select the entire image) and rotate it smoothly?

What I mean is, say I make a selection of a character's head and I want to tilt it up slightly. After making the selection, I can "grab" one of the corners and move it around in a circle, resulting in getting the exact (or near exact) degree I visually need.

The only example, and only thing I've ever experienced to do this, is the default program that came with my old Hewlett Packard all-in-one scanner. After scanning the image you could grab one edge of the image and rotate it at will.

Is there any free program out there that can do this? I hate having to manually type in degrees. I want to move the selection/image myself.

For the record, I have not searched for any such program yet. I chose to go directly here because if any one knows a program that can do this, and which one is the best and or most simple, it would be the AGS community.

I hope this isn't a silly question.

I'm nowhere near ready to physically try something like this, thus saying "Something to Ponder", but is something that I think would be a good idea - especially since the multi-player AGS games era is dawning.

The reason for making output files hidden and/or inaccessible would be to try and help prevent cheating. Output files hold a lot of information that is vital for continuous play after previously closing the program/game. If one file is being created from within the game to stop the player from doing something they shouldn't be doing anymore, the player could just simply erase this file or open it and tamper with it.

For example, let's say an on-line non-adventure restricts a player from using an easier setting after winning X amount of online games. Upon figuring out they can do this, the player can simply erase the file holding that variable and so enabling them to use the easier setting whenever they wish.

While writing this I realize that there are other ways that this can be done of course, like maybe making the file hidden manually before packaging. Even going as far as, upon game boot, detecting whether or not this specific file exists or has been tampered with, resulting in a consequence of the game erasing any other saved information that the player had achieved previously, making it a fresh game.

It was only something I had thought of moments ago and wondered if anyone else thought it would be a good idea or had other ideas as to try to prevent tampering with saved files.

Hello there.

I am having trouble with perspective and I need help
Below you will see three pairs of red lines. These represent the size of the character. I'm trying to create backgrounds that require as little scaling as possible. In this scene there are three doors. When the character is up against the door next to the clock and the door in the hallway, scaling looks fine.
The problem is I need a door on the left wall between the two columns.



As you can see, the character being up against a door on the left wouldn't look right in conjunction with the other two doors. I suspect that the hallway has something to do with this mess.

Please help me.

Don't get too excited!

I've decided to fix up and recompile the near zero progress I made with Leitor's Edge back in 2003.

I figured I'd release this version as a gift to those of you that are STILL patiently awaiting this game after all these years.

It includes the unfinished intro sequence and the unfinished first "playable" scene.
Besides fixing some spelling errors, adding in some hidden "Fun Facts" and additional information about this original version, it is still intact as the same version I worked on back in 2003.

Nobody has ever seen this, including David Olgarsson... so enjoy!

SCREENS:

No... she's not naked, there's a towel there



DOWNLOAD


\\--EDIT--\\
This is NOT an early April Fools... I promise

Boy, the How to make badass awesome backgrounds for your AGS game thread blew up rather quickly, no?

Alright, I've finally got this game after waiting since last May when my wife borrowed it from a friend at work. She said she was going to get it for me for Christmas, but since then it had been sold out EVERYWHERE. Didn't get it until last weekend. the whole househole got the flu a couple days later. Long story.

Anyway, I've been a huge Mario Kart fan since Super Mario Kart. Any AGSers have MKW and want to swap friend codes?

I know Boyd's got it at least. Please PM me with your codes!

(Posting from Knoppix Live CD)

So around 2:30 this afternoon, Windows had an update. After installing, it wanted me to restart and so I did.

Now I'm getting this blue screen:

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent
damage to your computer.

It this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your
computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to be sure you have adequate disk space. If a driver is identified in
the Stop message, disable the driver or check with the manufacturer for
driver updates. Try changing video adapters.

Check with your hardware vendor for any BIOS updates. Disable BIOS memory
options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove
or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced
Startup Options, and the select Safe Mode.

Technical information:

STOP: 0x0000007E (0xC0000005, 0x8050ED93, 0xF8ACE3B8, 0xF8ACE0B4)

I've googled until I can't google anymore and nothing seems to help. I've looked all through this site but it keeps assuming that I can access Windows through what ever process, like Safe Mode.

I cannot access Windows what-so-ever. Not through Safe Mode, Normally or Last Safe configuration. Every option leads me to this blue screen.

The last time this happened (about a month or less ago) it actually gave me a messege, the one that went something like: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL_TO. So I was able to fix it, but this time I cannot. A couple years ago we got this same problem and had to bring the computer it to get it fixed. We figured they would have to format and reinstall Windows, but they didn't. I'd rather not have to bring this back and get it fixed again. I would like to do it myself with your help.

Please help!

Yeah, I know, another one of these threads by me.

I'll try and get to the point and not drag on like I usually do:

I've got a Maxtor (now they call themselves Seagate) hard drive that I want to access my old files on.

I've hooked it up to the computer as the primary slave, changed jumper settings and BIOS and started it up. Slow as all hell while it's recognizing the drive and so on, not a problem - I've got some patience left over in my reserve.

I click on it and every time it wants me to format it. Grrreat.

So I did some googling and found that sometimes the computer will give "removable" drives the same letter as one already installed and that may cause a problem. So I renamed it, like it said in the document, to Z instead of F from within Data Management.

This didn't seem to do anything. At first it says that the drive cannot be found, but then it finds it. Then the same routine with it wanting to be formatted.

Now, from within Data Management, it shows that the drive is healthy and that it is active. Why does it want me to format it? I want to get files off the drive, not erase them.

The drive:
It is a Maxtor n256 with 60GB.
Windows ME installed (I'm thinking this is where some problems are occuring?)
I have also experimented and changed the jumper to cable select and that didn't do anything either.

I'm thinking the drive is simply damaged or I'm not setting it up right to view the files.

Any help out there?

I'm going to be starting a very small business, not even sure if it qualifies as a business, but I'm stumped at how I am supposed to price.

What I'm going to be doing is custom business cards. I want to offer business owners in my town (and abroad) another option when it comes to advertising on their cards. All I see in the paper (or at stores) are the same generic clip-arts (if there's any graphics at all), nothing really distiguishes them from each other. So I am offering custom hand-drawn designs.

Here are two examples of what I have already done:
Construction - For a friend of mine. This card design was featured in a magazine last year.
Tailoring - My mum's business.
(Both have a front and back)

I've called several different companies around the state asking what they charge. On average they will charge $50 for 500 cards (with color). Each company also varied with options. Some had the option for black and white or full color, others would go by how many colors you want, ie; 2 colors, 4 colors, etc... and the price goes up the more ink you use.
They all had a minimum of either 250 or 500 cards.

I'm just one person with a printer and Avery business card templates. I don't know how to go about figuring out how much to charge. At the moment I've got Ivory Matte cards that were like $6 (I think) for 150 cards. They are good quality cards, nice and sturdy. My mum found the good ones at Staples the other night and these are $14 for 200 (which is only about 6 or 7 dollars more for 50 more cards) with a semi-gloss finish.

Basing prices off the companies that I've contacted it would be around $10 for a hundred cards. I didn't get too personal with these companies, so I don't know if they would do a custom job and not use a computer for art, so I'm going to guess it would be more money to go that route if I were ordering 500 business cards with a custom design/setup.

I think that, since I'm not a big company, that I shouldn't force the customer to buy at least 250 cards, for around here, I think that would be a bit rediculous. I'm thinking of a more reasonable amount of a one sheet minimum, which is ten cards. I can certainly picture a customer calling up saying they need an extra 20 or so. I should probably have a maximum as well. 500 would probably be enough for around here.

Would $10 or $20 for a hundred cards sound correct (for either black and white or color)? Should I charge more since it is custom work? How do I base these prices?

Alright, hang on. If someone orders 500 business cards, I would have to buy three packages of cards at 200 cards a package. Each of these packages are $14. If I'm spending $42 and charging $10 for each hundred, I'd only be making $8... (what's the bus driver's name?)

This is why I need help

 Matthew Pike has gotten himself into quite the predicament this time; He's managed to inadvertently create a zombie apocolypse on Christmas Eve!
 To make things worse, Matt gets bitten and is slowly turning into a zombie himself. Being the only one who can save Christmas, and the demise of human kind, Matt must travel back in time and prevent himself from making this horrible mistake... before time runs out!

This is the Christmas gift I made for my stepson. I planned on a full game but since I only thought of this after Thanksgiving, a demo is all I could handle completing.

I posted the demo here in the Announcements forum because I'm not sure this game will ever be a full game. It all really depends on what he thinks. He played it last night and completed it with my help. He's not really into adventure games and I pretty much walked him through it, but he loved it anyway (which is the only thing I was really looking for). It is infact a COMPLETE experience though, it's not just a demo with one room and no ending. It's an actual completed piece of work, so I'm hoping it's not a big deal if it stays here in this forum? The game includes the intro and initial puzzle.

Beware, it's got a few minor bugs here and there - time was running out VERY quickly - but they are nothing that will deter or stop progress completely.

-------------------
SCREENSHOTS
-------------------

It's not like...

Ah, crap!

----------------------------



CREDITS:
Everything was done by me (story help from my wife) except for the MIDI music and SFX.

Check the Music credits text file for the info.

The MTTF title theme was created by me.

Thanks Chris for AGS!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOWNLOADS
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• Games Page
  
• Matt to the Future DEMO (RAR 2.2mb)
  
• And 3 cool wallpapers! (RAR 421kb)
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  WALKTHROUGH
  A walkthrough is now available on Leon's site, Ultimate Game Solutions
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  
  Thank you for downloading and playing
  PLEASE ENJOY!

I've finally finished my Christmas AGS game gift (we are finally celebrating ours tomorrow, #6 out of 6 Christmas' this year - I'm about done with it all together).

So I'm going to burn an installation EXE to a CD. We've finally got a new scanner/copier/printer that actually has color ink and I want to make a "sleeve" (or booklet) for it (not sure if that's what you call it, but that's what I'm gonna' call it I guess).

I was wondering if any of you have any tips on how to go about this without software to do it. I used to have Easy CD creater 5 which came with a jewel case graphic creater thing, so I don't know how to go about it without it. Even better, are there any free programs out there where I can slap a picture on it and print? I'd google right now, but it's 12:14am and I'm drunk. Thanks in advance!

I'm sure this is childsplay to the rest of you, but for the life of me I cannot get this to work. I've tried several different versions of scripting this, but the sound plays once and stops.

So the thing is, I have probes with electricity flowing between them. I have a "bzzz" sound that I want played as long as this object is animating and then stops once the objects stops animating.

From rep_exec:

Code: ags

if ((IsSoundPlaying()==0)&&(object[9].Animating==true)){
  PlaySound(11);
}

That was the last bit of code I tried, which was a LAST RESORT idea, after several attempts. I'm too frustrated right now to rewrite all the different tries I did.

If you could plese point me in the right direction and tell me what I'm NOT doing, it will be MUCH appreciated.

I can't seem to find where I can change the graphic for the inventory item's cursor when over an object, hotspot or character. I remember, or at least I think I do, there being an option for it like for the default cursors do (Animate while over hotspots, etc...).

Where am I missing the answer to my question? Would I have to change the inventory item's cursor manually in the script when over these objects? I wonder if I can do this in unhandled_event...

I'll be honest right off by saying I really do not know much about Sherlock holmes and his cases/stories. I've never played any of the games, which I would like to at some point. I have, though, seen a handful of episodes on TV with my Grandmother years ago.

From what I'm getting out of the trailers, it's seems to me they've turned him into some sort of martial arts wielding action hero.

Any thoughts from Sherlock Holmes fans?

For some reason AGS games turn the MIDI Synth control on Windows' Volume Control all the way down at game start.

I've got two questions:

1.) Why do they do that?

and

2.) Can I prevent this from within the script and make it stay on at least 50%?

I've looked through the multimedia functions but I've found nothing for controlling, I don't know what you'd call it, external volume control.


\\--EDIT--\\
Sorry, I forgot to mention that it doesn't do this every time, it only seems to be the first time I run an AGS game.

I've been searching and searching and cannot for the life of me find a midi of the Monchichi theme song.

Here's the song on YouTube.

I was wondering if any one has any tips on how they go about drawing their characters (it probably doesn't matter, but preferably 320res) and backgrounds so they match every time?

I seem to have a problem with this. The perspective in one BG might not exactly match another, so the character might have to be slightly scaled, or the background remade.

Any tips out there?

PS
Sorry if this sounds confusing, I'm having a hell of a time trying to write what I mean...

I was wondering how I go about this. I've got quite a few old recordings of me playing guitar (captured by external microphone) and I would like to be able to seperate the audio so I can hear what is going on in the background (such as birds, planes and people talking). Is there a way to go about this in audition? All I can think of is when they do it in CSI, heh. I know how to eliminate the noise from the audio by capturing a noise reduction profile, but from there I'm stumped. Is there a special plugin that does this?

Thanks in advance, I've actually been meaning to ask this for over a year now. I've thought of it now since I'm fiddling around with some old files as I type this.

Sorry to ask such a silly question, but I can't play either Trilby's Notes SE or 5DAS SE without the option to choose Direct 3D9. I get those god-forsaken horizontal lines all over the screen which makes reading descriptions near impossible.

Is there a recompiled version somewhere that has that option? Or is there any way I can "jury-rig" it? I just tried copying a setup from another game that has that option and renaming "notes_se" to the name of the game, but it reverts back to not having the option.

Thanks for any possible insight.