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So glad to see you here .

Can I help you improve your TV drawing? Perhaps. When I want something drawn, and I want it done quick, here's how I do it:



Cartoony .

I've done this all in MSPaint seeing as you've used it too.

First step you've mostly got. Jump into your line tool settings, select the third width setting, select the boxy thing with curvy corners, and draw the TV and it's screen. Then, switch to circle tool, draw one small circle, copy it and paste it 3 times underneath. You might want to use the magnifying glass to zoom in here. Then, hit the sharp cornered box thingo tool, draw a small rectangle. Last step, draw a small circle up top, then grab the line tool and put 2 lines going to it.

This is your basic outline.

Second step: Double click on any colour and change it to a mid saturation purple. Fill. Grab another and change to mid saturation brown. Fill. Repeat for rest of image.

Third step: Double click all your custom colours and adjust the brightness to make highlight or shadow. Then use a circle tool for the screen, knobs and antenna bobble and a line tool for the case and button. I like to break the lines on the case up a bit.

There you go - a television set, quick, easy, and in MSPaint.

If you're looking to use the Gimp to make something a bit flashier, let me know .

EDIT: Just for notes, this took me less than 10 minutes. Not the flashest looking machine, but it's quick and easy.

Rock Chick,

I suck at drawing on paper. I've been practising a lot lately, but the honest truth I am awful at it.

How did I manage to do it before the critic's lounge?

Badly .

But I stuck with it. And wasn't afraid to ask for help, and more importantly, listen when help was offered. To my eternal shame, I still ignore good advice to this day, although not if I can help it. I'd like to think that if I listened properly everytime I was offered advice, I'd be good at art by now.

I've drawn my fair share of absolutely horrible sprites - still draw plenty of them. But the more I tried, the easier I found it to make them a little less horrible. I'm not ashamed when I draw something bad. I see how far I can take it on my own, and when I cannot take it any further than that, I ask for help. I keep in mind that nobody can draw well overnight, but a bit of advice from someone more experienced can help me step in the right direction.

Never mind about appearing condescending - you've a right to say how you feel. If you want help, I sincerely recommend the critic's lounge, once again.

Oh - just noticed CJ posting while I was typing this. I agree - enter the MAGS competition. The time I did it, I had loads of fun and emerged with a great deal more experience.

Sorry if I seem to be dragging this thread WAY offtopic.

@RockChick

I feel that I have never actually seen a tutorial on how to draw a sprite that has helped me draw a sprite at all. The times I have improved have been through practising and through posting work on the critics lounge, and then listening to people's advice. This hasn't made me into a pro artist, but it has taken me further than just looking at tutorials would have.

With regards to drawing in the Gimp and such - it is rarely your equipment that holds you back. I use the Gimp and GraphicsGale, and hey, I love those programs, but when I draw sprites, 90% of the time I draw them in MS Paint. I have no idea why, either. But I cannot draw better in the Gimp or Gale, so I don't feel that MS Paint (as annoying as it can be at times) should ever hold back the quality of your sprites.

With regards to being embarrassed to enter a competition - why? Your art, if you put the effort in, is a representation of your current skill, and people will respect that. They might offer criticism, and that can seem harsh at times, but generally we all want you to get better. If you truly want to get better, I strongly recommend the critic's lounge. I learnt pretty much everything I know when it comes to graphics by posting in there.

Mods: If this seems inappropriate or offtopic, I'll gladly take it into PMs. Just say the word.

  @ the Space Girl thing. That is hilarious!

Hmmm....

I don't want to sound rude or anything but I don't see the real point of either of these.

The point of entering the sprite jam and the MAGS competitions is not to solely to win - it is to have fun. Sure, a winner is decided, but a bit of competition makes people try a bit harder. As much as I love it (and have only participated in one thus far), the mags competition doesn't get a heap of entries. My concern would be that having a "kiddie pool" (not intended as offensive, ps ) version of these would pull away entries from the main competition. If you want to make a short little game in a month, make one, without relying on a group of others doing the same thing. People will play it. You won't be in the draw to winning a competition, but you'll be a winner because you've released a game.

With regards to the sprite jam - if you really want to learn how to draw better, post in the Critic's Lounge. If you just want to have a bit of fun and draw sprites to a theme, enter the sprite jam. You mention you feel that some rulesets are quite complex, and I'd like to point out that you can draw simple versions of practically anything, should you choose.

I don't really see how any of the competitions are not "Beginner friendly" - unless of course you wish to win, which I don't see as being the point of the activity.

This may have been slightly longer than $0.02 pays for, but I like to get my money's worth .

[COLOURWISE]

It's coming, I promise!

...I just keep adding things in... 

Oh, and COLOURWISE

(at least a single level demo )

Ben, the small snipet in the video, is part of the game, but it's only 5 secs in the video (while it's 1 minute ingame). There are various tracks already, so after I get back to London and speak to Vince we'll arrange something, I'm sure.

It was a cool little snippet, and when I first watched the video I thought "Cool, there's music in it " but the snippet left me hungry for more.

Sorry for being greedy  .

Ben, if and when I make another video, I'll show off the dialog system for ya!

Awesome! If it's anything like how the STM has been implemented, consider me excited. Dialog trees frustrate me with how much they limit us when we create a game... any new take on this will be welcomed eagerly by myself. From what I have read in your development diaries, you've got some excellent plans; I'm very much looking forward to seeing this in action .

But the word out is that... you and me are in love, isn't it?

...I think I just found out why people always say that indie games are made with love .

I like the idea Rui mentioned with pressing a button and the hotspots appear onscreen. I remember playing other games like this (RPGs such as Icewind Dale II) and it gives the player a choice. For those who like to figure it out by themselves, the button need never be pressed. However, for those who are a little stuck, showing a hotspot can instantly help get them on the right track. The amount of times that a game has had me frustrated because I didn't realise something was clickable or a room exit was poorly defined leads me to think that this could possibly help prevent similarly frustrating situations in your game.

[Resonance]

There are, of course, others. But for now, I'm putting down Resonance as the one that has me the most excited.

I do believe I've never felt the urge to post in here before...

To answer Peder and Ben, I can't say anything for certain about the distribution methods of the game, but I definitely would want to sell both a download version and a physical CD version, even if it's only a limited-edition kind of deal.

Cool - as one of those strange people that prefers to own something that takes up shelf space, a cd version would make me just that bit happer .

And Ben, sorry I didn't release more of Nik's great music in that video!  If I do another one, I promise to show off more of the soundtrack!

Please do another one

I MADE that interface with love and 8000 revisions.

Is there nothing you cannot draw!?

Also, Vince has done some extremely creative things with the dialog system.  You will like it.

I returned to this thread to ask about the dialog system . I look forward to perhaps a demonstration video showing it off

I just noticed this line but it is by far my favorite in the entire thread.  I am love you.

And Vince, save the foreplay for later 

Nice to see you've established a.... healthy working relationship...

I've been keeping an eye out on this one over on your blog, and it is easily the AGS game that has me the most excited.

Artwork that is incredible (both background and character art is jaw droppingly stylish), a concept that is great, and a soundtrack that we all know is going to be superb. Just looking at the screenshots and reading your ideas about the game's style makes me feel that this is more than just some adventure game to play and forget about.

After Linus and Anna, I have complete confidence in the quality of the story and the puzzles. The "team" of characters that has to work together and the memory based inventory system - who can not be hopeful of an interesting and enjoyable gameplay experience after hearing this?

Whilst I've seen all these screenshots before, the new video is great. You have an object label thing that fades in and out! Fantastic! The inventory looks ridiculously good, flashing lights, shiny panels... it's fantastic. The drag and drop inventory has me... interested. I'm sure it is an intuitive process, so good stuff .

The animation is smooth and very cool - we all know ProgZ is the master anyway - and the background graphics are superb. My favourite is still the laboratory background, of course, with it's ridiculously atmospheric design, but this one is gorgeous as well - reminiscent of a Deus Ex style setting, except with a bit more character. There is a train animating in the background!? HELL YES!

The way you drag the door up to the STM - YES. That's perfect!

Wow. If I sound like a drooling fanboy, then yes, that is what I am. I was a little disappointed we didn't get to hear music during the video, but I am confident Nikolas will give us a soundtrack that will take our breaths away.

This may be the longest, most disgustingly drool filled post I've ever written. I honestly do not care. I love the graphics, the ideas, everything. I will buy this game. My only question is - will you have special editions of the game (leading on from Peder's question about the cd version)? I'd feel like less of a fanboy if I didn't purchase a soundtrack cd, etc .

EDIT: Oh, and Cellfish Networks =

(hope there's a bit more of this sort of humour through the game )

Awesome. Look forward to it

Thankyou MashPotato and InCreator for your edits . I've done some changing, trying to make it darker and less daytime, as well as adding rocks, straightening the tower and adjusting a bit of water that was annoying me. I hope I have improved it:



Thankyou very much for your help

It is really weird - I was thinking about the moving thread this morning, then I check here and find it's been thought of before me.

Kinda cool.

I went to town today and bought some new shoes, some new drumsticks and guitar strings and talked to some old friends. I realised how long it has been since I've gone to town, which is a long time.

I wore my jacket, which I like wearing.

And I met a girl who seemed nice. She smiled when I made a little joke, which made me smile too.

I think I need a haircut.

Bye moving thread, thanks for listening .

I got the crash when I look at the window:

In line 18 of room 5

Error: SaveGameSlot: cannot run this command, since there is a NewRoom command already queued to run.

Other than that, looks nice. I like the little verbcoin gui a lot .

I agree with Domino.

Good luck, and come back soon .

I had considered buying a Bamboo, but a friend of mine who studies art at university urged me to consider the Graphire Bluetooth, which is what I ended up going with. Rather costly. but I'd been putting funds to one side for a while in the hopes of getting one, so I didn't mind.

Yes, it works very nicely. Pressure sensitivity helps with shading a lot .

"Zombie-dwelling chlamydia is no joke"

I shared this with a friend, who found it most amusing as well. Thankyou .

Looks great, even if they are very low res. Keep it up!

Aside from the fact that the whites of his shoes show up as transparent, I'd like to see a little yellow flare on his shirt and skin when he's lighting up the cigarette, to indicate the flame is a light source. I guess this depends on how dark your room is though.