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I kinda like it. Thanks man.

Make sure not to put your whole game in the critics lounge though 

Why not ?

Anyway, I've had a shot at working that in. My problem now is that the fore and background are full, but the middle ground isn't really. I wanna fill that sucker up!!!



How is it looking?

I agree that mandatory changes in gameplay can be better than optional ones.  I think the combat becomes a puzzle, and I like having a clear goal. Which is more frustrating - trying again to beat the robot guard in battle, or spending three quarters of an hour combining inventory items with every single object in the game only to realise that you haven't picked up the 2 pixel wide 1 pixel tall thing on top of a barrel which is 3 shades different in colour, hidden in the corner of some room and right dark in the background? At least with the robot you know exactly what you have to do.

I also think that a slight shift (heck, even a big one) in gameplay can keep a game refreshing. Sure, I'm not saying that adventure titles can't be refreshing, but what is wrong with replacing some of the "Combine fossilised sandwhich with irate octopus" puzzles with an action sequence - whether that be in the form of a minigame or a combat sequence, I'm for it.

For example, the 'Hock A Loogie' challenge in the Beavis and Butthead: Virtual Stupidity game. Now, I realise this is not a perfect example as it is not combat, however it is a change in gameplay, and you have to complete it in order to get further in the game. I found it an enjoyable change from the rest of the games puzzles, and so I think it added to the game.

Another example would be the circus game in Sam & Max: Hit The Road where you must bludgeon small, furry creatures in exchange for a prize. Again, this is only combat in a sense, but it still is a refreshing little game. Neither of these "puzzles" made the games any less enjoyable.

If I had to name combat in an adventure game, I'd head for Gladiator Quest. The combat in this game made very much sense as it fitted in with the context of the game. I'd have been disappointed if there wasn't combat - how often did gladiators spend the days solving wacky puzzles, as opposed to fighting? The combat in the game worked well and thus it added to the game.

In my opinion.

MrColossal, if you have combat in your game, I am unlikely to use it as a basis to rate your game badly. Unless it is ridiculously hard or poorly implemented, which I doubt will be the case.

Just for notes, on Nine Toes's example, RGB values are the following:

Main: R 239 G 165 B 140

Outline: R 214 G 148 B 115

I think another reason they're "glowing in the dark" is because you have them against a dark coloured background. Try them against something with middle saturation and brightness.

Hey again everyone.

Been working on this background for a while now, keep changing things, but am kinda happy with the shape it is taking.

However, I think it looks lame because it doesn't look like it is in a city, when it is supposed to look like it is in a city. The big dark orange rectangle - that's meant to be a building. I kinda have no idea how the background of the background should look. A lot of it is still just a sketch, but I would like to get an idea of how the whole composition should look.



I'm sorry I keep filling up this joint with requests for advice but things stay lame if you guys don't help me.

And nobody likes lame.

Oh, and also any other suggestions you have would be appreciated.

EDIT: Have done a bit more work, so I thought I'd put it up:

...There are five of them....

You're more of a man than I'll ever be, man.

Alright - I went a bit further than I probably should have, but I'll try and explain everything I've done. Not that much has changed from the original, pose wise. I just kept pushing pixels until it made more sense to me:



Ok, so, from the top down:

The head I redid completely. It was actually the last thing I did, trying to get a sort of pretty yet mean thing going on. The hair colours were kinda drab, so I scrapped them. Same with the skin colours.

The dress colours you got nearly perfect - I only added one and that was the highlight one. Tried to make it look bright and vibrant by giving he heaps of shading. Basic top down light source. Dropped the shoulders - women have shoulders that are kind of rounded, as opposed to masculine square ones.

Gave the breasts an appearance of being higher by shading them, and made her stomach slim, because I'm male, 19 and am force fed by the media into thinking that slim stomachs are beautiful. See how underneath the breasts the shading kinda follows the ribs, as opposed to the stomach in your version?

The arms were fairly good - changed the right hand a bit.

The legs... well when fabric stretches, it is rarely taught. You can expect to have folds and shadows and stuff. I've tried to capture this here. Basically figured out where the gap between the legs is and shaded that in, then added shadows and highlights as I saw fit. Altered the right leg a little as it looked like she had a really short calf.

The shoes I changed colour, because I felt like it. It seems as though you are trying to avoid using too many colours - that is certainly a good thing, but sometimes I find it easier to just chuck a few more in. This has 24 - maybe too many, but I'm not overly fussed.

You may find it useful to have a look at some anatomy pics (this is the internet - damn place is loaded with pics of the female anatomy) to get a better idea for it. Mine doesn't follow the rules strictly - I always make a point of making it a little cartoony - but still looks better for checking reference pics.

Ummm... I think that about covers it.

The bouncer still doesn't look that tough to me. How about something along these lines:



-Made face manly (bum chin, lantern jaw, manly frown, dark eyes)
-Made man boobs manly (less saggy)
-Made shoulders manly
-Made various other things manly

About the woman....

...she could kinda benefit from a bra. Those are some saggy knockers. Give them some shading to make them look supported. The pose is good.... wait a minute! I can see her belly button! I don't think I should be able to.

I'll do an edit if I'm sufficiently bored.

EDIT: And why did you give the dude a green mouth?

The leaves need more shadow, the grass should be darker seeing as it is under the trees, and the path ends rather abruptly.

I like the blue on the rocks and tree trunks.

Mmmm...

I wan't implying I was a better player of the steel drum than you. I was implying that comparing yourself to Jimi Hendrix was a big call. And no, I've never listened to any of those 'Caribbean' cds.

Back on topic (if that is at all possible) I am very amused at the YTMND site.

Nice game - stylish graphics, cool concept, especially the placing yourself in the PDA (reminds me of a certain puzzle in the second Apprentice).

Puzzles all made perfect sense (+ points for that).

Looking forward to seeing some more stuff from you.

(Oh, and I liked the little game of pong on that computer screen in the last scene)

I'm practically the Jimi Hendrix of steel drums.

This thread keeps getting funnier.

OneDollar - Main character can be found here.

A bit more tweaking:



Changed inventory buttons, filled in holes.

About the colour of the cursors - they used to be brighter. The characters are all really brightly coloured, and I think it makes everything stand out nicely from the background graphics - draws focus to what the player should be concentrating on.

I could be wrong but.

Let me know.

Thanks for the comments all.

Have done some changes:



I think I prefer the darker colour scheme as it contrasts nicely with the background style:



Still not sure with regards to the exit and save/load buttons. I don't really want to move them too much because it will leave a big empty space there...

The eyebrows look kinda thick to me. Perhaps something like this?



She looks kinda angry now though...

NEXT: A man and half a donkey walk into a bar....

A nice sprite to begin with, and Progz man - that edit is awesome!!!

Am I the only one who thinks there should be some more purple tones in the wood to help it blend in?

You're right.

Hopefully I've fixed it a little bit:



Is it just me or do the legs look funny?

Thought It'd be a fun sprite to try editing.

I don't think there's any plan for an options button yet. The subject hasn't really come up.

I wanna keep the words for save load and exit buttons, so I can't really squish them into little buttons. I also think the little circles look cool when the background shows through.

Lemme know if I'm wrong.

Vince Twelve - I've tried a quick rework of the cursors. Is this a good fix, or a not good fix?

Hudders - Regarding the exti button - I'm an idiot. Regarding the 3 circles - I thought they'd be cool and aesthetic and stuff. Like they lead up to the about button.



Let me know what you dudes think.

Thanks all.