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I would just use an all-black object the same size as your room, and fade that in and out (fade it in for the fade-out effect, and vice versa). That's how I'm doing it in my game. Especially using the Tween module.

[hole]

The reflection has to be another, identical character, and the mirror must be, in essence, a hole peeking through the other side, where the identical mirror character is. Then, have him follow. Look up the Follow() command in the manual. (I think that's what it's called.)

I was wondering about something for a while.
Would it be possible to make the background animation have some more options?
Like-I always hate that you can enter only I think 5 different backgrounds for the animation.
If there was more of them(like-really more)there could be a possibility to make better background animation while
the character is doing something.
Let's say a character is walking over a meadow and in the background there is this cool animation of a big airplane
accident.
And if there were a lot of slots for the background animation-more could be done.
Just thought i could share my thoughts... 

People will simply tell you to use an object instead, which I would as well.

The only good reason to increase BG frames that I can think of, is for games with day/night systems, a la Quest for Glory. But even then you could use overlays and such.

That's Tarren to you!

So HP is hoarding this great AI technology to themselves and purposefully annoying its customers, and we haven't read or heard about it? Sure, I'll believe it.

The lady had a poor grasp of English. That's it. No AI system is that good that hasn't been in some top-notch science demonstration or competition.

Look at some of his previous posts, and you'll understand, Colin.

This seems like the kind of thing that would only be useful for business purposes. Otherwise, it's like putting a toddler in a full-sized video game arcade; there's only so much the toddler can do with what he sees.

[Foreword]

Hello everybody,

I'm currently working on the first game in the By the Sword series, titled Foreword. I am planning on creating some videos to help generate buzz and interest (kind of like a viral campaign). They will be personal log entries, telling a little bit of the backstory of the series before the first game is released.

Two people will have personal log entry videos: the main character, Ronald Garner; and a Mystery Woman character that Ron will meet in the first game, Foreword. I am personally doing the voice of Ronald Garner, but I need somebody else to do the voice of the Mystery Woman.

(Click the below thumbnail to enlarge)


Here is some information about her:

• She is a Castorian. Castorians are an alien race in the BtS universe, very (and almost eerily) similar to humans in appearance.
  
• Since English is not her native language, she speaks it with an accent. The previous voice actress I had set up had a combination Russian/Australian accent that lent a very alien feel to the character, and was perfect for the role. If you could come up with a unique accent (or already have one) for the character, that would be awesome.
  
• She is about 28 years old and works in an underground movement fighting against her own government, which is planning on acting against United Earth in a preemptive strive. She is a very mysterious woman and we don't even learn her name until the 3rd (full-length, commercial) game, By the Sword.
  

If you require any other information about the character, let me know. Please come up with one or more voice samples and upload them (I'd suggest using my own personal file upload site, http://shutupload.com), then send me the link(s) via PM, or email (TerranRich82@yahoo.com).

Thanks a ton!

[one]

Let me try to explain. I have a taxi cab GUI, which is (obvioulsy) a global thing, so the script for the "Hail Taxi" button is global as well. However, in only one room, I will be using an animation of the taxi cab driving up to the player's position. In all other rooms, the player is just transported there instantly. Therefore, if the player is in that particular room (room #3), I want to show the SkyCab animation. Then, regardless of the current room, the selection is looked at, and the room changed accordingly.

However, I managed to work it out using a global boolean, like so... First, the _OnClick event for the GUI "hail cab" button:

Code: ags

control.OwningGUI.Visible = false;
sSkyCabChoice = lstSkyCab.Items[lstSkyCab.SelectedIndex];
if (player.Room == 3) {
    // Ron is at his home, so show the cab actually pulling in (via on_call script)
    CallRoomScript(1);
}/**/
bJustChangedRoomViaSkyCab = true;
// Now control is handed off to the global repeatedly_execute() function, which handles the changing of the rooms

And then the on_call() script for room #3:

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.Walk(440, 710, eBlock, eWalkableAreas);
        player.FaceDirection(eSouth);
    }
}

Finally, the global rep_ex:

Code: ags

if (game.roomscript_finished == 1 && bJustChangedRoomViaSkyCab) {
    if (sSkyCabChoice == "Ronald's Home") {
        player.ChangeRoom(3);
    } else if (sSkyCabChoice == "Gryph Cafe") {
        player.ChangeRoom(4);
    } else if (sSkyCabChoice == "Richter Demolition") {
        player.ChangeRoom(8);
    } else if (sSkyCabChoice == "Police Station") {
        player.ChangeRoom(9);
    } else if (sSkyCabChoice == "SouthCoast Savings") {
        player.ChangeRoom(11);
    } else {
        Display("You chose a selection that was not accounted for. This is a game error and should be reported to the programmers as soon as you see this.");
    }
    bJustChangedRoomViaSkyCab = false;
}

This works perfectly as desired. Thanks for all your help guys!

[game.roomscript_finished]

OK, new problem. I have the following in my rep_ex function:

Code: ags

if (game.roomscript_finished == 1) {
    if (sSkyCabChoice == "Ronald's Home") {
        player.ChangeRoom(3);
    } else if (sSkyCabChoice == "Gryph Cafe") {
        player.ChangeRoom(4);
    } else if (sSkyCabChoice == "Richter Demolition") {
        player.ChangeRoom(8);
    } else if (sSkyCabChoice == "Police Station") {
        player.ChangeRoom(9);
    } else if (sSkyCabChoice == "SouthCoast Savings") {
        player.ChangeRoom(11);
    }
}

Thing is, once the room changes, it keeps changing, repeatedly. Can I change the value of game.roomscript_finished?

[sChoice]

I guess I could make the sChoice string variable a global variable and do it that way. I'll try as you suggested, Rick. Thanks!

I own and run http://shutupload.com, which people are also more than welcome to use for their games. Unlimited bandwidth and 1GB storage per file. Since it's not a huge operation, I can afford to have no limits on anything at the moment.

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?

I think I'll be going with this design then. Thank you everybody for your thoughts and suggestions!

Thanks for all your suggestions, guys. I've fixed up the header background a bit, changing it to a lens blur and lowering its opacity, and changed Ron so he's not staring directly into your soul. The glow behind the magnifying glass was from before when several other elements had a glow behind them, so I fixed it to match the rest of the icons. I also set the wide font that was there before to the same font as the body text (Segoe UI). Let me know how it looks now.

Funny, I didn't see Britney Spears until you guys mentioned it. Now I can't see anybody else. LOL

Now you've got me worried that my main character might be too bland. I hope that won't be the general consensus when people play the game. My intention is to have him wear an off-duty type of outfit instead of his usual uniform, since the first game takes place on Earth. I suppose I could display him in the uniform he'll be wearing in the other two games.

How does it look now?

To differentiate the gates from the backdrop, perhaps a pixel or two of darker shadows to the gate bars, to give a sense of an outline. Otherwise, it's very washed-out and it all blends together.

How is this? I used a collage of several backgrounds already done for the game, with an effect over them, and I solidified the characters.

[The Creature From Beneath the Sea]

My vote is for AngelicCharon's game, The Creature From Beneath the Sea.

But shouldn't this be in the Competitions & Activities forum?