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[Part 1:]

I'm not sure if anybody's posted this before, but I came across this and laughed my ass off the first time I watched this... and the second time, as well. Part 2 is a LOT funnier than Part 1, but I've included both for the sake of completeness.

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6so9A3v5caU

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xDOavWuNMM

http://kotaku.com/5559234/telltale-takes-us-back-to-the-future

Perhaps through some sort of clever time manipulation, an episodic season of Back to the Future games will be the first fruit of the partnership, coming this winter to multiple gaming platforms.

How come none of you bastards told me!? Assuming the game will be good, this will be EPIC.

Why isn't there an AGS twitter account? Somebody should start one up. Somebody important. And no, I can't do it... I'm far too busy. But if there were an @AGS account, I'd definitely follow it.

So Gravity and I have been talking lately about starting up a site. At its core, it would be a social network, but don't think to yourselves, "Facebook clone," or anything like that. This would be a site directed at both indie game players & fans, and indie game developers.

The players (regular users) would sign up to the site for free and be able to add friends, chat, send messages, upload pics -- the usual social network stuff. They would also be able to become fans of indie games that are either in development (you'd be "watching" these), or have already been released (you'd be "fans" of these, or something similar).

The developers would sign up (with multiple tiered memberships, including a basic free option, of course) and have their own profile for their development company, or themselves (if they're just a guy making games). Developers would be able to create profiles (maybe mini-profiles or just pages) for each of their games, which users would then favorite/watch and be able to rate, review, discuss, etc. Developers could even host their games directly on the site, and even sell their games right through the site. The site would act as a host and a store in that regard.

Overall, the site has two goals in mind, which would work together: (1) to allow indie gamers and fans of indie games to come together and interact in a setting geared toward their love of games; and (2) provide a platform for indepdent developers to reach a target audience, as well as interact with their customers (or non-paying audience), and ultimately release their product to eager fans.

The site would categorize games into various genres, such as adventure, casual, arcade, puzzle, etc. and would limit developers to small-scale companies at the most, and individuals who have released a single free game at the least.

What is your general opinion of such a site? Would such a site be appealing to you personally? Would you join up? What other features would you want to see added if you did join up? If you are a developer (or say you were one), would such a site be a useful tool for you to utilize, given there were a large number of members on board? Do you feel that such a site would be able to fulfill the above two goals to both side's satisfaction?

I'd like to know what you guys think of this idea, as it's something we've been discussing for quite some time now.

I had what I thought was a reference in "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People". At one point I thought Simon Pegg's character mentioned Laura Bow, but in fact he said "Clara Bow". Then it dawned on me... have there been any references to adventure games in movies or television?

Those of you who have already celebrated the New Year are now in a different decade than those of us who have not yet celebrated it. Congrats!

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2009/12/brittany_murphy_dead_at_32.html

Seriously, what the FUCK? Dead at 32? I had never heard anything about her in the news having any sort of drug-related issues or whatever, so if she had any, they were kept a secret very well.

[Custom character base coordinates/frame offset]

Here is something that I'm surprised hasn't been implemented yet:

Custom character base coordinates/frame offset

If I have animations of my character bending down to pick something up from the ground, the animations don't align and there's this jerking effect when the "bend-down" animation starts and also when it finishes. I tried adding padding to compensate, but in one case I'd have to take away from one edge of the "bend-down" animation, and that's just not possible.

If we could set the character's base coordinates at the beginning of each animation view, this would solve the problem completely. Additionally, if we could set base coordinates on a per-frame basis, we could also eliminate the hassle of cropping/expanding our walk cycles, etc. to match center coordinates!

Please, Chris, consider this for a future version of AGS!

I tried searching for this, but couldn't find anything, and I feel like I"m experiencing a mental block with this...

In the global script, I have a CallRoomScript() function that deals with objects in a particular room as long as the player is in that room. Then, the player changes room to a new one. (This is essentially a "taxi cab" system, where the taxi is shown arriving only in one particular room, and then the player is whisked away to a new room.)

Thing is, the script in CallRoomScript() (the room's on_call() function) never gets run, because the player.ChangeRoom() command is activated almost immediately. Is there a way to force the script within the on_call() function to block?

Here is the on_call() function code:

Code: ags

function on_call(int iValue)
{
    if (iValue == 1) {
        // This is reserved for showing the SkyCab driving in, and facing Ron toward it (south)
        oSkyCab.X = 1040;
        oSkyCab.Y = 1028;
        oSkyCab.Visible = true;
        oSkyCab.TweenPosition(1.5, 60, 950, eEaseOutTween, eBlockTween);
        player.FaceDirection(eSouth);
    }
}

As you can see, this sets the initial position of the SkyCab, makes it visible, then animates its movement using a blocking function. Once the SkyCab arrives, the player faces south (using a custom function I made).

Thing is, this script never gets called, even though I know it is supposed to. This is the global script that calls it:

Code: ags

if (player.Room == 3) {
    // Player is at home, so show the cab actually pulling in (via on_call() function)
    CallRoomScript(1);
}
if (sChoice == "Some Location Name") {
    player.ChangeRoom(3);
}
. . .

Or is there something else I'm missing that's causing the on_call() function to not run?

So because I'm a web developer first and a game developer second, I've been working on the home page for my By the Sword series of games, partly as a portfolio piece, and partly as a legitimate home page for my games.



What do you think? I've gone over this with a fine-tooth comb, altering details here and there, and I've come across the block where I can't find anything else on my own and would like outside help on this. What needs to be changed? Added? Taken out? Moved around? Shaken, but not stirred?

Thanks guys.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/patrick-swayze-dies-pancreatic-cancer/story?id=7634240

Now I'm just waiting for the people who go "So he was famous, who cares? Big deal! We gotta mourn someone's death now?"

Did you guys know that the YaBB forums are viewable on a Blackberry device, and probably other mobile devices?

I'm probably slow in discovering this. But it's neat... The forums are numbered and it's a very minimalist design, optimzed for the small screens of mobile devices.

That is all.

It started out as a request for ideas for an addition to my web site portfolio, but now (I hope) this thread has evolved...

Have you ever had an idea for a great web site that would (in your opinion) be popular/useful and do well, but just haven't had the know-how to do it yourself, nor the money to pay someone else to do it? Do you think your idea would be wasted if it weren't made by somebody?

Then post it here! Perhaps I'll make your web site a reality. Hell, if it made any profit, I would share it equally with the original person who provided the concept!


Hey all. I'm making a web site, mostly for portfolio and demonstrative purposes, but I'm having a little trouble.

You see, I have an entire list of ideas of things to ADD to a site... but no ideas for an actual web site on which to combine them. I have a list of features such as: instant US ZIP code/city-state lookup, custom RSS feed (where the user can add an RSS feed of their own choosing, much like iGoogle does), a URL shortner (like TinyURL), file storage (for small files), document creator/editor (much like Google Docs), domain who-is lookup, etc.

I'd rather not make a plain page and stick all these tools on it... I wanted to make a functional, useful site. Something like a social networking site with more tools than the soc-net sites out there (Facebook, etc.).

If anybody has some ideas, it would be greatly appreciated. I once had an idea for a Facebook clone, complete with Twitter-like updates, etc., but with additional features such as personal blogs, file upload space, etc. But I wanted to make a site that was more original than Facebook-on-steroids. Any ideas?

[iYesNoResponse]

This is a bit complicated, so I posted it here.

I made a custom Yes/No dialog GUI. One example of its usage is when the player clicks on the "Quit Game" button. This calls the following script:

Code: ags

bool bConfirmed = Prompt("Are you sure you want to QUIT? All unsaved progress will be lost.");
if (bConfirmed) {
    QuitGame(0);
}

And here is the custom global "Prompt" function I have created:

Code: ags

function Prompt(String sMessage)
{
    iYesNoResponse = -1;
    lblDialog.Text = sMessage;
    gYesNo.Transparency = 100;
    gYesNo.Visible = true;
    gYesNo.TweenTransparency(0.4, 0, eEaseInEaseOutTween, eBlockTween);
    while (gYesNo.Visible) {
        Wait(1);
    }
    if (iYesNoResponse == 1) {
        return true;
    } else {
        return false;
    }
}

I have a global variable iYesNoResponse that stores -1 when waiting for a response, 0 for "no", and 1 for "yes". The GUI itself is named gYesNo. And I'm using Edmundito's custom Tween module, which works perfectly.

The problem is, whenever gYesNo is called up, everything halts. I know it has to do with the Wait(1) command halting all scripts indefinitely... but how else should I do this? I want the gYesNo GUI to pop up, and I want the custom Prompt(...) function to return a boolean value depending upon the player's response.

Is there another, perhaps better, way to go about doing this? I can't seem to figure out the "right" way to do this.

For some reason, if my player characters has AdjustSpeedWithScaling set to true, and he is walking on a walkable area with continuous scaling (gradual change from top to bottom), his walking is a bit... jerky. It looks as though he jumps in height (by a few pixels) with each step, or is being shifted around in position (again by a few pixels) with each step.

What could be the problem? I could capture some video and post it if that helps.

If he's walking on a regular fixed-scale walkable area, he walks just fine, no jerkiness. It's only on continuously-scaled walkable areas, with AdjustSpeedWithScaling set to true, that he jerks around slightly, but noticeable, while walking.

What does that mean, in regards to this piece of code that the error points to?

Code: ags

import function Fade(this Object*, FadeDirection fdDir, float fSeconds = 0.5);

I'm guessing it's having trouble assigning a default value of 0.5 to the float variable fSeconds. What's going on?

This is the imported function in question:

Code: ags

function Fade(this Object*, FadeDirection fdDir, float fSeconds)
{
    if (fdDir == In) {
        // trans from 100->0
        this.Transparency = 100;
        this.Visible = true;
        this.TweenTransparency(fSeconds, 0, eEaseInEaseOutTween, eBlockTween);
    } else {
        // trans from 0->100
        this.Transparency = 0;
        this.TweenTransparency(fSeconds, 100, eEaseInEaseOutTween, eBlockTween);
        this.Visible = false;
    }
}

I was designing the GUI for my game in progress, and to my horror and shock I saw that there was no eMouseMiddleInv mouse button state! I can middle-click objects, hotspots, and characters, but not inventory items. Would it be too much trouble to include this in a future version of AGS? Pretty please?

[WEB SITE]

Yes, you read that right! This is a By the Sword game. In other words, this is a mini-game that takes place before — and gives some back story to — the main By the Sword game. This, and one other free mini-game, will be released first, in order to generate some interest and "buzz" around By the Sword, which I'm also working on.

You are Lieutenant Ronald Garner, an officer in the United Earth Star Force. After your captain grants you some much-needed (albeit short) shore leave on Earth, you return to your home to find that things aren't as they should be.

WEB SITE
You can now find the game's home page at www.BTSgame.com. Check it out!

UPDATES
12 Jul 2010: New screenshots added!
24 Jul 2009: Added a third screen shot.
16 Jul 2009: Replaced all screen shots with newer, updated versions.
27 Aug 2009: Added wallpaper (in different resolutions) and teaser poster below.
02 Jul 2010: Added a much-needed update in terms of progress; added web site URL.

PROGRESS

Story: 100%
Dialog: 30%
Puzzles: 70%
Graphics: 40%
User Interface: 75%
Sound/Music: 10%
Programming: 5%

IN-GAME SCREENS

Click to enlarge:

July 12, 2010


July 24, 2009


VIDEO

First official teaser video - Ron's personal log #1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFNM_5ohulI

NOTES

For those of you who have ever played the old 2003 demo of By the Sword: Conspiracy, this is a prequel to that game. I will release Foreword first, in order to tell more of the back story, as well as to generate interest. This will be a freeware game with a very unique GUI.

For more information, visit http://www.btsgame.com/about.

COMING SOON

While working on Foreword at the same, I have been compiling a demo reel/teaser trailer for Foreword in my spare time, consisting of animations, game play clips, and an exciting musical score. That will be coming within the next few days.

RELEASE DATE

I've finally decided on a tentative release date sometime during the Fall of 2010 (this year). Stay tuned!

So I'm using a custom function to display subtitle-type speech (on a 1024x768 screen):

Code: ags

function SaySubtitle(this Character*, const string sText)
{
    this.SayAt(5, 730, 1014, sText);
}

It's simple enough. If the speech text takes up one line of text, it shows up fine. However, if there are two lines of text, it moves upward. Basically, the bottom line of text is fine, but the top line is moved upward. It looks more like the X/Y coordinate is the bottom-left corner of the text, instead of the top-left, as specified in the manual.

And if I increase the Y value (to something like 735), ONLY text with two lines shows up, while single-line text is invisible.

What is going on here? Is it something I'm missing?

EDIT:

Some images to help with illustration:

Hi all,

So I was thinking of creating a shortcut to fading in/out objects, like so:

Code: ags

function ObjectFade (object oObject, bool bFadeIn, int iWaitVal = 1)
{
    int iTrans = oObject.Transparency;
    // etc.
}

However, (1) does AGS support passing parameters by reference yet? and (2) if so, how would I specify that? Or is that already the default action?

I've been out of the AGS loop for quite some time, and so I've forgotten quite a bit. (I used to be a mod on this forum, and now I know less than most newbies .)