Messages

Wow!
Nice dark gothic mood. Just how I like it.

Your background are very good.

Anyway, back to playing the game...

Grtz,
Stefan Z.

I don't think creators of games should answer questions about their own games, but I'll answer this since it's a MAGS game.

Hint:

Spoiler

What's the one thing the bunny told you she hasn't got (anymore)?

[close]

Another hint:

Spoiler

You'll have to travel across the map to another location to get it.

[close]

More obvious:

Spoiler

At this stage of the game, you probably have coffeebeans. Have you found a place where you can get the beans grinded?

[close]

Giveaway:

Spoiler

The bunny will trade you the glue for the coffeepowder.

[close]

Glad to hear you're enjoying the game!

- Stefan

That second bug you found seems really serious. If you can't get into the house you can't finish the game.
I'll look in to it and try to fix those things tonight.

Thanks for the bugtesting though!

[Name:]

Well, if I have to..... I don't have to? Well, I'll do it anyway.

Name: Stefan Z. (real name: Christiaan Timmer)

Age: 24

Female/male: Male.

1. How long have you been involved in the AGS community?
I downloaded the program in 2004, but didn't get around to use it until november 2005.

2. Why did you get involved in AGS?
I stumbled across NORM one day, and after playing some of those games I followed the trail to adventuregamestudio.co.uk. When there is such an easy-to-use program to make my own adventure games, why not give it a try?

3. How do you feel that the fact that AGS is a freeware programme affect the community that has built up around it?
It created a very dynamic communicaty; it's very easy to just 'jump in'. The mood is very relaxed I think, because people don't have to earn their living with it. Of course the downside is that people might not have enough motivation, but any freeware engine that's behind games like Ben Jordan or a concept like NORM easily overcomes these negative points. But being kind of a newbie, I might be wrong ;-)

4. How big a part does the AGS community play in your life?
It's a hobby. I check the boards 5, 6 times a week. I like to follow the discussions and occasionally add my own thoughts and opinions.

5. Have you been involved in making any games using AGS? You may list them if you want.
Yes! I just finished my first game: Snake. So that's one.

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?
I have programmed some small applications in Pascal / Delphi. But that was a long time ago. As said before, stumbling across AGS unleashed a formerly unknown part of my brain. After downloading AGS, I briefly tried out some programs to make text-adventures, but because I never played text-adventure, I found it boring to make one.

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

Probably not. But most things find their way.

c. Do you make games using other programmes, either freeware or not? How does the eperience differ?
I did use some programs to make text-adventures. I can recommend HUGO. But I can't really comment on this.

d. Has AGS inspired you to try and take up game design professionally?
Ha! No, it's only a hobby.

7. Do you feel that there is a gender divide in the AGS community?
There do seem to be more men than women, being a newbie I don't know if there is a 'divide'. I did find it strange to read that DragonRose got reactions from people being 'shocked that's she's a girl'.

8. Are you likely to feel differently about a game if you discover it's made by a female? In what way?
I have a slight preference towards games made by women, since they generally, I'm speaking in general here, tend to have more emphasis on characters instead of plot (I'm thinking of Gabriel Knight).

9. Do you feel that AGS makes it easier for females to get involved in computer game design? In what way?
Seeing that most schools offering computer courses still have 90%+ male students, I think any program that makes programming a game easier will make it easier for females to make games. But I'm on the brink of being a sexist here, so I'll shut up.

[/b]10. Do you feel that there is a difference between the types of games created by males and females?[/b]
Can't think of anything. When a game kicks ass, it kicks ass, right?

11. Any other comments?
AGS forever!

Nostalgia? One game immediately springs to mind:

When I was eight or something (around 1990) I had a NES 8 bit and I bought a game called just 'Tennis'. It was 40 euro's (that's around 40 dollars for all you Americanos!) I remember playing it for months in a row.

Some while ago I discovered that almost all NES 8 bit can be downloaded from the Net. So I got Tennis again (and even legal!)

To my surprise I still found it really good. The gameplay still is very good, the graphics and sound are so bad they actually are very funny.
Only thing bothering me is that I remember beating it at the hardest level with one hand on my back, while now (13 years later) I'm having a hard time on the medium level. Maybe I am getting older :-(

- Stefan

Hm, you're right, it's not obvious where the exit is.
It's buried underneath the status bar.
When you enter the the house you're standing near the exit. If you click on the status bar to the right of the word 'snake' you should leave the wizard's house.

I'll update that in version 1.0 ;-)

Hey, that's really cool. I can't really compete with my entry against that ^^ But you should also place the link in the April MAGS thread. Nice game!

Thanks for the kind words!  I forgot to put it in the MAGS thread, but now I did.
Can't wait to see your entry.

- Stefan

[S N A K E]

Finished it!

S N A K E

When Holden opens his eyes, he notices he still can't see anything.
His head feels foggy, his body numb - like it belongs to someone else.
The boy feels a sense of importance, like there's a
big choice
to make...

Get it here!

I should thank InCreator for his excellent tutorial on background making! (which I forget to add to the readme.txt) !

Grtz,
Stefan

[S N A K EÃ, Ã, v1.0]

Well, it seems that I am the first to finish my MAGS game.

Oh, and by the way... it's my
[drum fill]

FIRST COMPLETED GAME!
you can get it here! It's about 1 Mb.

S N A K EÃ, Ã,  v1.0

When Holden opens his eyes, he notices he still can't see anything.
His head feels foggy, his body numb - like it belongs to someone else.
The boy feels a sense of importance, like there's a
big choice
to make...

Ã, 

I wonder which puzzles will prove the most difficult?

*** EDIT: Uploaded a new version without the 4 bugs reported below. ***

Happy gaming (and game-making)
- Stefan

You've got talent!

* love the bridge with the triplets! very haunting. (Kind of reminded me of the musical intro from Legend of Zelda - starting off happy and easy and suddenly turning dark when night falls)
* brilliant wandering melodie by the piccolo on measure 4

I don't know what kind of mood you were going for, a picture of a small town instantly pops to my mind, but there's something wrong in town. There's something sad about the melody.

Although uninvited, I did a quick 'paintover'. I'm not claiming to be an expert on orchestral stuff, these are just suggestions which of course come totally from my own taste in music.

Changes in my paintover:
* connected the notes from the French horn in measure 1
* doubled the length of the last piccolo notes in measure 20
* while I was at it, I played around a bit with the panning. Put the string & drums in the middle and the woodwork and horns to the sides.

Well, those were my two cents.

There is an excellent article written by Nikolas here: http://www.gregjazz.com/index.php?page=Articles

Wow! That intro for A Tale of Two Kingdoms: I'm drooling on both sides of my mouth! (wrong threat maybe, but I had to say it)

Grtz, Stefan

Like the look on his face. I imagine him thinking something like: "Ooh, another 1000 blocks to drag all the way up here and we only have 50 years to finished that pyramid..."

One thing though: IMHO the toes shouldn't be lifted when his foot is on the ground.


Having seen a few samples of your work I've got a high opinion of you and are disappointed to see you haven't finished any game - no pressureÃ, intended

Hey,

I was thinking about doing a detective story where there are 7 characters you can talk to and most of the game depends on how you talk to people - whether you're nice, abusive etc. Kinda like Laura Bow - Colonel's Bequest.

After looking into the Finite State Machine module my first response was 'This module seems nonsense - I can do everything this module does by using variables'.
Not being a real programmer, i wonder if I overlooked something really helpfull about this module.

So my question is this: has anyone used this? Why? And what did you use it for?

Thanks in advance for any experiences shared,
Stefan

DO NOT drop your entry cause of that

My whining wasn't serious, I've already completed more than half of my game, so I'm going to enter my game no matter what (if I finish it in time ).

Decline in what way? It's of course possible to say "I don't want to set up new rules at all". (...) It's always the winner of the previous month's competition. An exchange isn't possible as noone knows who's to win of course. You can also make suggestions for the themes list. But this is not limited to winners - everyone can do this and there's no guarantee if it is ever taken as a topic then.

I saw that Peder made the rules, but I didn't know that it was a rule that the winner sets the new rules.

(blush)Ã,  I now see that it says that the winner may choose the rules right on the first page of www.mags-competition.tk. Forget I asked.

hi, I'm not really a forum-kind-of-guy (more Silent Jay then Bob) but i'd like to drop a note.

I'm busy working on a mags entry too, but since nihilist was kind enough to inform me i'm up against not one but THREE (maybe more, who knows) former winners, my hope has kinda vanished.

Anyway, I also have something to ask: If I win (maybe hope not totally vanishedÃ,  ) do I have to set the rules for next month? Or can I also decline?

Why don't you remove the black outline on the rooftop? You did it on the right one, but not on the middle and left.

My advice on the grass is: make it one colour and then add noise (4 or 5 %).

I think the style of this picture fits the mediterreanean theme very well. Keep it up!

Grtz, Stefan.

Thanks for the kind words guys!

thankyou very much, You're hired

Hope you don't pay the wages of 15 years ago

This is my stab at some old sounding tunes. Thinking back at the NES 8-bit, I tried to emulate that sound. It broke my heart a bit having to butcher the beautiful Monkey Island themeÃ,  :'(

Ok, so I removed the URL's. You'll just have to wait till the game's official

They look good, nice style. But the chewing gum is too big, IMHO. Maybe you could make it a little bit thinner.

Wrong thread perhaps, but I would like to add the school template is a great idea!

- Stefan Z.

Thanks for the replies guys! Really helpful.

Judging by when the legs bend and when they don't, I think you may have the frames of the side-view animation in reverse order. If you imagine him to be walking backward it suddenly looks more realistic.

T'hat's right! Actually kind of funny to make such a mistake. When I reverse the animation it looks better.

Thanks for the color advice, ProgZmax. This does look better. I've made a new walking down animation (sideways will follow):

Theoreticaly I'm against using one template, but here with the school uniform I think it looks allright.
Ron and Hermione have a zombie-like stare in their eyes, maybe you should make the black edges on their eyes a bit smaller?
But bear in mind I've never read any Harry Potter book 

And I agree with you, SBsLoVeNiA that Dumbledore should be taller.