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Kids are generally getting smarter.

However, this kid has probably been pushed. Nature/Nurture doesn't matter. If you nurture a kid towards becoming a nerd when they're little (the biggest development changes mentally start between 2 and 6 or something like that), then it's eventually going to be a natural thing for the kid to be a nerd.

It sounds great that the kid can do all this stuff as a kid. Languages are not really an achievement, to the extent that it's well documented that young children find it easier to pick up and learn languages than fully grown adults. The one thing people overlook with this stuff is that there no mention of that kid's social life. I bet you he has very few friends, what friends he does have he spends far too little time with, and as a result his social skills will be poor. As a result the kid may become a genius, but he won't go very far if he can't interact with people.

Furthermore, If he does stay in school, life is really going to suck for him when he reaches secondary school.

And now Happy Birthday to Al_Ninio, whose been celebrating early, tut.

Also a milestone Happy 40th to Leon.

Enjoy

[story]

Well so far, I've only read Sci-Fi. I'll update this thread when I've gotten through all.

For Sci-Fi, Im voting for The mission. The story I felt was excellent, and I'd love to have read more (maybe your group would like to carry the story on after the comp? I'd love to have worked on this if I had the time). I also liked the twist at the end, and could see this working quite well as a game with a few tweaks.

I felt a little lost reading Be Quiet, It was too fast, it felt like one of those book to movie versions where the movie cuts a ton of crucial points out to fit into the 2hr slot. I wasn't sure what was going on throughout the story, and it didn't really grip me.

Sorry If that sounds like a harsh critique but thats what I felt. Both of you did excellent jobs, and I look forward to seeing this crop up again.


Update to come once I've read the parodies, and a further one after the fantasy articles have been released

Update:

This was really a difficult one. I enjoyed both stories pretty much equally.

Shpritz 2000, was funny, reminded me a little of Intense Degrees Colin Simpson leaves Employment. It fitted in well with the parody concept.. a parody generally is meant to be funny and it ticks the boxes on that front. It did however feel more like a script for a game than a story. Like a game it did get repetitive when you die, and the **click** all the time did ruin the immersion a little bit.

A Hero's Tale on the other hand was quite entertaining. I noticed influences from Elder Scrolls Oblivion in there. It made me think of The Apprentice Games (I think it was those its been a while), as there isn't many ags games I can think of in that setting. The story ran smoothly (I'd almost hazard a guess that a good chunk of those writing The Mission, worked on this too) and was immersive. I could also associate with those timer puzzles - I hate them and they always get me killed, especially if I'm gaming in bed on my laptop. The only major problem I had there was that it wasn't a parody. It was a story based on being in a game, but it focussed on seriousness rather than comedic value (check the definition of parody, you'll see what I mean). I did however really enjoy reading this, the ending reminded of certain Red Dwarf episodes (avoiding spoilers, if you're a Dwarfer you'll know what I mean).

I honestly can't decide. I think I'm going to have hold off for a little while

Ok, My Decision: Personally I was going to abstain my vote for this since I don't feel either fits the rules. However considering they both break the rules to the same extent I felt it was fair to make a vote (since it doesn't disadvantage any competition).

So based on that I'm afraid my decision sits solely with A Hero's Tale, simply because I felt involved in the story. Even though it was more a Fantasy/Sci-Fi Hybrid set inside a game than an actual parody.

Not to take anything away from any of your hard work. Congrats guys on making some interesting reads.

Happy Birthday Miez and Pablo.

Miez, Your roughly twice the age of me now 

Hope you guys have/had a great day

How do I vote. Do I just pm you vince?

Might want to switch to a more stable provider. Like gmail perhaps. Never had problems with gmail

I want it NOW!!!   

Good luck, there seems to be an ton of sexy games being developed at the moment!

So when you call his office you say "Hi there is that Professor Robert Smith?" or Do you say "Hi there is that Professor Robert Smith??" Because the second one suggests an element of confusion.

Besides this is what happens when society puts pressure on generally anti-social nerds, to socialize. We should've kept them locked in the basement.

Alternatively, you could look for some free scripts that do what you want to do (offer automated digital downloads by the sounds of it) and tweak them. Kind of what I did with TinyTool a few years ago.

This is quite weird. Saw this topic after reading an ancient topic at abandonia about Discworld 1 &2 becoming freeware. I guess they "still haven't got round to it. Was browsing scummvm to see if I wanted any classics on my iphone.

Nothing tempting really. I don't really play a game over and over again once I've completed it unless I'm testing. Or if the "alternative endings" supplied with some actually intrigue me.

Does AGS not support switch/case statements?

I thought it was basically c++.

Time for a suggestion methinks, if it's not already in the todo list

EDIT: nvm just noticed Gilbets link

6-cup? Explain please?

I assumed it was the amount of released titles, but Dualnames has a lot more than 6 (you have at least 4 lone cases)

Paint it? I guess

I don't trust Scottish politicians anymore than I trust ours (US). 

How do you think the English feel? We have one running our country!

Hey Nacho/Farlander,

I know we've never met/spoken to each other, so I suppose theres not much worth in my comments.

From what I've seen from the Mittens photos, you've always both seemed happy and come across as a typical and established couple, so based on that (I know thats a vague thing to base on), this slightly baffles me.

From what you've said, it's clear there are insecurities that lie with her, whatever they may be (a rough childhood by the sounds of it).

It appears that she's slowly become dependant upon you, the security you provided her eventually became her relying upon you for everything.

It's a shame this came to end, as I always so you as the AGS couple. I feel for you mate, breakups aren't nice and 9years is a long and difficult chapter to close.

On a brighter note, theres hope that maybe the removal of this dependance upon you will make her stronger within herself (she's going to have to become independant and self reliable I guess) and hopefully she will get to acheive what she wants to do, become a stronger and more self confidant person, and I hope soon you 2 will be back together happy as larry.

I really feel for the both of you.

Good luck guys. All the best

Stee

Hope you guys have fun. Maybe next year I will enlighten you with my presence.

What an ironic topic in these healthy economic times 

Im posting from home, or what will be home for another week before I move back in with my folks, since I am a bum and have no job.

I also have some quic revision to do for an exam at 130 so laters

Russell Brand's disease ridden penis
Lara Croft's bra strap
A spaceship (at least I don't think so)
Leisure Suit  Larry's gimp costume (unless it's been worked into one of those crap new ones)
A steel sky
A meerkat
CJ

Inventory items NEVER USED(I think)

-the Energizer Bunny
-a monkey
-an iPhone
-and a portable door

The energizer bunny was used in Full Throttle to get over the mines.
A monkey was used as a lever for a pump (if I recall) in monkey island
An iphone was used in the iphone adventure game 1112 to take an upskirt photo of some rough looking woman
Technically a portable door hasn't been used, but the concept has, as an inventory item.

Happy Birthday Radiant!

[one]

Unfortunately I can't name one favourite game.

Although my essentials would be:

Monkey Island series (1-3)
Broken Sword 1&2
Space Quest 6 (The only other one I played was IV and I really thought it was a let down)
Full Throttle
Day of the Tentacle
Blade Runner

Everything else just simply didn't cut the mustard, although I enjoyed larry 5 and 6 (I think it was those 2), I suffered a walking dead in one of them (you leave a walking dead in a commercial game, I'm not going to complete it).

The "Mum do farts have lumps in them?" award goes to Phantasmagoria. I remember not being allowed anywhere near it when my dad was playing it as a kid, and eventually talking him into letting me play it when I was about 13 (what the hell he was thinking I don't know. I got to chapter 4 I think, and got so scared I didn't even want to play the thing. I remember 7th guest (and there was a sequel 11th hour I think), but I never got to play those.

Gabriel Knight is one of those I missed. Apperently the first one is so rare its a collectors item now. Im not  sure whether it was the first one or the 3rd one I played (I know the 3rd one is still in the cabinet at my folks house) but It never really gripped me. Some bullshit story about a werewolf or something at the start and I lost interest.

I'm probably one of the few people that never completed Grim Fandango. I probably will one day, but the thing that pissed me off about that game was the fact that they went through the effort to make it 3d, yet didn't spend the time on the control system, making it a mess to play. Otherwise it was a pretty good game.

To me, Myst was a load of bollocks. I think it was the photo style they incorporated into the game, I couldn't get to grips with it.

I have tons of games to get through that I've just never played. Syberia 1 and 2 (I saw syberia was made in virtools which put me off slightly), and The longest Journey games (ie TLJ and Dreamfall). I should also probably consider the sam and max episodic stuff too, I played a few of them and I didn't think the episodic style worked (some of them work well, some of them seem more like they're there to fill the story) The original was awesome, however having seen what's happening with the monkey island series now, I'm tempted the spend my time on other things.

Also, I have never played The Dig, does that make me less of a person  

EDIT: I forgot Blade Runner, How could I forget Blade Runner?