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Congratulations! You have been installed as part of the new government of a small, West-African state following a military coup by foreign interests. The country has been mismanaged for decades, undergoing successive regimes of corruption and personality-power. It is minerally-rich in platinum, uranium, and other valuable deposits, but has been underutilised in the past. The population are small, and the armed forces now down to a handful of private contractors whom the corporations used to support the coup. Financial supporters in the West have seen fit to bankroll the experiment of this state, to see if it can be run better.

So, the questions are these -

- What position in the new government do you have for yourself? Aside from president, that role is being kept for a local figurehead.

- What projects do you want to pursue in this capacity? Considering you now potentially have a lot of wealth at your disposal.

I just love a good icey thread, don't you?

Just an update since the last report. It's all going swimmingly, and I now have a functional game - i.e. if I were struck with incredible apathy, I could release it as a half-drawn but fully working two-player hotseat turn-based strategy.

But of course, I'm not going to do that! Now I just have to teach the AI how to do its thing, finish up all the multitudes of drawing, build the singleplayer campaign, playtest/balance it to death, and find some music for it. The hard part is already over!

I dug mine out recently because I had a strange craving for Sonic Adventure and Code Veronica. I think while the Windows ME on it could *possibly* be made to do something with AGS, the overlap between "people who play AGS games" and "people who still use their Dreamcasts reguarly" is so small as to make it unviable to use the Dreamcast as a platform, when there are other more-used media that haven't been explored yet.

I'm au fait enough with making the computer think I'm in the UK (I'm a licence-fee payer, damn it) but the downside is that the only computer I've taken with me on my year-long job overseas is nowhere near capable of running this - I'm stuck without Doctor Who until April 2011!

Ah well. At least my parents posted in Saudi Arabia can play it.

[are]

As someone who's seen a lot of trolling, I'd have to say that Icey is one, but is often a funny one. A skilful parody of the overzealous fanboy unaware of the gulf between their aim of making the next Final Fantasy, and their abilities.

On the other hand, there's always people like Chris-Chan who prove that sometimes, there really are people who plumb those depths. Which gives me an idea...

*pens idea for Sonichu/Oceanspirit Dennis crossover*

I suppose if you can count Operation Forklift as a sim game, I'm in the process of building Sim Warmonger!

[From: MilComCenLONTo: FieldComTacFORKLIFT]

From: MilComCenLON
To: FieldComTacFORKLIFT

!EYES ONLY! Authentication Lv. Required: Blue with stripey bits

11 August 1997

Congratulations, <insert rank and name here>!

You have been activated and deployed to the League of Nations peacekeeping force, in accordance with the treaties signed by <insert member state here>. Rest assured that your participation in OPERATION FORKLIFT will help to better ensure the security of the region. If you believe you have been incorrectly assigned to this mission, please advise your nearest senior officer, who will doubtless treat such activity as seditious, and see that you receive the appropriate disciplinary action.

If you have chosen to stay with us, then congratulations! While you are here, you may find it useful to familiarise yourself with this guide to military units you are likely to come across. By a bizarre coincidence, SPUDD appears to have been able to procure military hardware comparable to our own. We wish to take this opportunity to remind you that selling your equipment to locals will result in severe disciplinary measures.



UNITS - A SPOTTER'S GUIDE

- Infantry
The basic unit of any army, whether conscript or professional. These are one of only two types of unit capable of securing positions, and also carry the added benefit of versatility, being able to conceal themselves in forests and scale difficult mountains.

- Sappers
Trained in specialist areas of demolitions, sappers can be extremely deadly against armoured vehicles and targets. Unfortunately, their heavy gear precludes high speed, meaning they're likely to be caught by swifter infantry. Can also repair vehicles on the go.

- FAV (Fast Attack Vehicle)
This sporty little number? Only 4993 on the clock, one previous owner, a little old lady who only used it for shopping runs. For you? Well, since you're such a great customer, only $26,000. After all, where else are you going to find not only the fastest car around, but one that can spot infantry in cover?

- IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle)
Does what it says on the tin - particularly good at dealing with footsoldiers and aircraft, but has a distinct weakness to tanks. In order to cut laziness among the ranks, the IFV's priorities have been changed from carrying soldiers to logistics and resupply. Its main role now is to refuel/rearm units out of reach from cities, and to provide air-cover.

- L-41 Boudica Armoured Fighting Vehicle
Also known as a "tank", this armoured fighting vehicle provides the cavalry backbone of the forces, with a force that can overpower most land-based combat systems. Suffers against helicopters, but will wipe the floor with anything that can't fly.

- Artillery
Do you really, really need something blown up, but don't want to get your hands dirty? You need ARTILLERY, from Technocrat Armament Solutions LLC. The only unit that doesn't need to be in direct proximity to fight, they will unfortunately be rendered helpless if something gets within the inside limit of its firing range.

- Helicopter Gunship
Using arcane sorcery to levitate above the battlefield, the helicopter combines swift mobility with deadly firepower, hunting its prey across any obstacle on the battlefield. The only unit that can cross water, but it possesses only a limited suply of fuel. It must be returned to a city or base after each sortie, or you're going to find an awful lot of fields of parked helicopters, manned by lazy pilots.



We hope you enjoy your time in the Vontinalys combat theatre of operations! If you are in any way unsatisfied with your wartime experience, please complete a customer satisfaction form, available by the exit.

Lots and lots of love,

League of Nations Strategic Command
<insert current secretary general here>

~~TRANSMISSION ENDS~~

This is a strange one. Every time I try to compile, it complains about this one bit of script -

<222> if(UnitSelected>-1){
<223> if(SqContent[50]==5) Display("Hello");
<224>}
<225>

The game claims that, in line 223, there's an unexpected } but unless I'm going blind, I can see no such thing. I have many other similar instances of code all over the script, but this is the first time it's started complaining, even if I copy/paste it from other parts. What on earth is it complaining about, and how can I fix it?

The exact message it gives is:

GlobalScript.asc(223): Error (line 223): Unexpected '}'

I have so many stories I want to get out of my head, and so many games that never got beyond "a room and a character", because I felt that my art sucked.

So, I switched to different styles that were a bit less intensive. Once I stopped making adventures in AGS, I'm now able to get games finished within a couple of months, because all the tedious drawing is broken up by intellectual challenge of wondering how to make adventures behave like puzzle or landing games.

Of course, I intend to resume making adventures later on, but for now I'm using my non-adventures as a way to practice the art side that I need to improve on!

Do you have a background image imported in your room? It can be black, it just has to be there.

Indeed I do, a big black grid underlies it.


And it may look retro, but I'm trying to go for a NES feel, rather than a Sinclair Spectrum feel!


EDIT: Ah, that got it. The background thing gave me an idea, and so I reimported the background after going to 32 bit, and now the landscape draws correctly on top of it. Thanks for the inspiration!

My game started as 16bit. Using different kinds of sprites as tiles, it would draw an entire room as a landscape, and work fine and dandy - it looked like this.



So far, so good. But then, when I upped the colours to 32 bit so I could make some of the characters partially transparent, the landscape started looking like this:



It's only the stuff on the drawingsurface that's come out weird, not just the wrong colours but a little warped too. I tried reimporting the sprites, but that just changed the colour of weird. Does drawingsurface have issues at 32 bit?

The positive reaction so far is encouraging! Now I just need to make the game work a lot more sensibly than it does at the moment. Being editable is all well and good, but when the computer acts like a lemon, things need fixing. And drawing. Right now, the artillery is an enormous square rolling around the battlefield.

@ bicilotti -
I'd hardly say I can draw properly! Just functionally, and I'm trying to pay attention to lighting sources after being yelled at in the critics lounge about it. Plus, I'm trying to go for a "1980s army computer" motif.

@ ShiverMeSideways -
It'll definitely need music, I can only use my "Now That's What I call Open-source Midi '95" CD for so long. It needs something that conveys both "martial" and "light hearted". Sort of "our army will crush you, but in a cuddly way".

@ abstauber

Well, I was considering using an array of different generals (on either side), and/or taking the AGS Football route and using people from the forum as the commanders, for variety's sake, with special abilities/strengths/weaknesses for each. Kind of like in Advance/Famicom Wars!

Because I'm extremely lazy, and can only make a campaign game -so- long, Operation Forklift will include a map editor. With it, players can customise the ultimate battlefield, bigger than they could reasonably need.





Includes:
- Five custom level slots (at the moment, I'm sure I could add more in)
- Painting any of the landscapes, in 1x1 or 3x3
- Bears
- Starting off with an overbalanced, cheating army
- Starting off with an underbalanced, easily squashed army
- The ability to modify the singleplayer levels for your own multiplayer/skirmish use
- Send the maps to a friend, and see if they can fight their way through!

Still can't quite decide whether to make it "Left click does land, right click does units" or make two individual cursors for it, but I'll see which I'm most comfortable with first.

Atteeeeeeen-tion! Listen up soldier, VFP shows it's FUBAR out there, and we need you on the DZ ASAP. No more R&R for you - stock up on AA&E, get in touch with CINC.

After its first free elections in decades, the tiny island-chain republic of Vontinalys has been overwhelmed by seditious elements of its own army and a dictatorial political movement, the "Socialist People's Union for Democratic Democracy" (SPUDD), leading to the most brutal military dictatorship the region has ever seen.

As a last resort, the civilian government has appealled to the League of Nations. To put an end to the crisis and help restore democracy, the League has agreed to deploy its elite peacekeeping force, the legendary White Helmets, to the islands. Commanded from the nearby HMS Tactless, the White Helmets must return control to the legitimate government - and investigate rumours that SPUDD have been stockpiling weaponised Explodium, to unknown purposes. Prepare to commence:

OPERATION: FORKLIFT

As part of my ongoing campaign of completely ignoring the "A" in "AGS", Forklift is a turn-based strategy and a shameful knockoff loving homage to certain other favourites (Nintendo Wars series, Endwar, and a bit of Cannon Fodder thrown in), putting your tactical skills to the test.
Featuring:

- Incredible AI!
- Turn-based hotseat mode! (requirements - at least one (1) friend)
- Play-by-mail mode! (if I get enough people telling me this is the kind of thing they'd make use of)
- Seven (7!) varieties of combat unit!
- A riveting campaign storyline!
- Surprise bear attacks!
- Fully-functional map editor, for if you feel I'm just not good enough and you want to build your own custom battlespace environment.




Being constructed as part of a test of all sorts of elements for the next game I plan to make, Forklift is currently well underway, and helping avoid all this "socialising" nonsense my coworkers are trying to compel me into. At this rate, it should be complete by July/August. In fact, I guarantee August at the latest, since I'll be extremely sick of it by then anyway.

Graphics: 90%
Plot: 100%
Editor: 100%
AI: It will now make more reasonable choices of targets.
Bears: 100%
Levels: 40%, now just the campaign ones to do...
Sound/Music: Wonderfully appropriate music being cooked up by Shivermesideways

July 1st: Looks like I'm still on track for a July-August release. Skirmish testing will commence this weekend, provided I can get the demo up and running. Mostly to test for fatal errors, and balancing issues.

August 19th: Did I say July-August? I meant September-October. This whole "building the campaign" thing is deeper than I thought.
Further SITREP to follow at later date...

As Badger mentioned, the sides look fine, but the fronts look like they're tap-dancing. From the sprite sheets, it looks like they're a little out of order, but I can't place in my head which should go where.

Welcome to the wonderful world of spriting, then! I'm certainly no expert by any means, but I'm sure I can give a few useful pointers as a fellow noob at sprites.

My first impression was that it's a very nice drawing, it looks and feels mostly right for the context he's going to be in. If I was using it, it'd be the idle frame for "Right" rather than "down". A lot of people like to have a 3/4 image as the idle for left/right, since it lets you see more of the character.

Since there's nothing particularly asymmetrical about him, I'd say flipping him is fine and dandy. Otherwise, it's a whole lot more unnecessary work!

As I say, it's a very nice drawing, but there are just a couple of things I'd do - at first, I thought his hands were in his pockets, so I'd probably try to do something to alleviate that impression - maybe lengthen his arms a bit? And since I've forgotten the second thing I was going to say, I'll just add another "nice job".

A few years back, I saw an episode of The Avengers that seemed to me to have a plot that would slide quite neatly into an adventure game.

That, or The Saint.

Yeah, I watched far too much ITV4 back then.

In my lander game, it was the first time I'd been exposed to the wonderful world of things like floats and such. While the initial stage, making the spaceship go up and down, was easy it suddenly became a lot more complex than I expected when I had to make things collide. As it was, I just decided to scrap ship-ship collisions in the end and relegate it to the ever-growing pile of "deleted features".

The only pattern I've been able to discern is it having started since I moved up to Windows 7 (didn't happen on Vista), and if I recompile it usually doesn't produce the same error again. I had a suspicion that it was to do with if I had the exe highlighted in the compiled folder when I recompiled it, but further tests seem to dispel that.