Messages

Right-o.

I've canned the Gift of Aldora Mirror since you can get it from Kinoko's site without problem now.  Kinoko, let me know if you need some extra bandwidth, I'd be happy to mirror!

Liar!

Trust me, I'm merely trying to make up for talent with time and style.  ("All my drawings look sloppy... HEY!  That's my style!")

Thanks Steve and Mordalles.  I hope you try out the demo and let me know what you think of the gameplay!  It's fun, really...

Vince: I've uh, told you twice already ^_^ TAB key

Uh...er... 

I can't read or write...

Ah, I didn't know that you could change the keys.  How do you do that?  Or is it not in this version?

Or better yet, make a setup option somewhere in the menu GUI where you can decide wether you use A for running or walking.

Ding!

Kinoko:

The pre-demo was really great.  As you warned, there were a few bugs here and there (it may have been my crappy laptop keyboard, but the diagonal-down movement wasn't working; the reporter spat out a random "H" at one point; and I managed to imbed myself in a wall once and had to restart), but you replicated the old-school feeling really well.  Very nice!  One thing bugs me about the old-school formula though.  Why make the A button the "run" button?  Why not make it the "walk" button.  Walking is painfully slow, so people will play 98% of the game holding the A button to run and only let go when they need to be very deliberate about where they're standing.  Why not let run be the default so we only have to play 2% of the game while holding down the A button?

Also, I thought the keyboard layout should be tweaked a bit...

Just my $0.02 USD.

The things that I loved:

-Using reporters to save.  (Will there be a random reporter standing at the entrance to Evil Boss' lair trying to get the scoop on the final battle?)

-Singing to the plant.

-Everything.

a lot of people think that things like ghosts and spirits will never be explained by science.

They'll be explained by psychology: Everyone who's seen a ghost is a nutjob.

-Vince Twelve, settling issues via generalization and trivialization since 1958-

If Kinoko doesn't mind:

here's a mirror for Nik

http://www.thexiis.com/media/giftofaldora.zip

Again, I don't think it should have been added to the pledge.

It's not a big deal to me because I don't think saying the pledge in any way affects me or makes me profess my devotion to any one god.  "Chill"

I'm tall, she's short, and the doorway is short.  Plus my little niece took the picture from a low angle, which makes it more difficult to judge heights.  I'm six foot three inches, or roughly 190 centimeters.  Pretty tall.

Hope that puts the argument to rest. 

Let's see some costumes!

Your wish is my command!  Here's Vince (not to be confused with Kinoko) and his very beautiful and very preggers wife:



I've just realized that the mushroom shirt makes me look chubby... I'm actually crazy thin.

Happy Halloween!

First of all the same people think nothing of forcing Christian children to make their own prayer rungs and practice using them in the name of cultural diversity.

Again, I wasn't saying that the objection to such things was justified.

I do agree that there is a double-standard here.  Since Christianity is the most practiced religion in the US (a country that supports freedom of religion), a Christian "forcing" a non-Christian to try something Christiany is often seen as bad while a non-Christian "forcing" a Christian to try something non-Christiany is often interpretted as cultural diversity.  Again, I think people should chill out on the subject.

Secondly neither Santa Claus and nor the Easter Bunny can be seriously considered religious icons.

Super agreed!  Another reason why this "banning" of religion thing is silly.

Thirdly why should muslims be so intolerant of a host culture?

*screech* we're not hosting them.  They live here.  They are just as American as you are.  I don't want to get into a semantic argument about whether or not being the predominant religion makes you the host culture, but I do think that thinking this way is a bit indelicate. 

First of all the term "separation of church and state" does not appear in the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independance, or the US Code.

I'm aware that separation of church and state is not, as such, a law.  I was merely professing my strong belief in the idea behind that statement.  I personally don't believe that the word God should have been added to the pledge, but I'm aware of why it's there and don't really have a problem with it.  Again, I stand by my 'chill out' proposal.

Again, I just really think everyone should keep their religion quietly out of everyone else's lives.

Yeah, especially muslims eh!

Ah... err... no.

Yarrr...

The Deflus tech demo is extremely nice!  It's a slick and easy to use interface.  Can't wait for the real game.  One suggestion though:  somehow have the game predict if a word will need to go to the next line before it's displayed on the screen.  The way that the word starts on one line and then jumps to the next when it becomes to long is distracting.  Kinoko had this problem recently:
see this thread
Nice stuff!

Edmundo, fantastic idea!  I can't wait to try it out.  This must be really fun to code!  You'll have to organize a RON film festival when you're done!

Edit: Speaking of Kinoko... where the hell is the playable Gift of Aldora Demo?!?!

I don't think it's the fact that other people celebrate it that offends, but the fact that someone might be forced into participation.

Such as a muslim kid having to write letters to santa or draw pictures of the easter bunny because their third grade teacher made everyone in the class do it.

(Note that I'm not saying I agree with this kind of objection.  I think everyone needs to chill out about religion in general.)

It's the same thing with the pledge of allegiance.  In America, all the kids used to have to start the day by saying the pledge which includes the words "one nation, under God."  A lot of schools don't say it now because the parents don't want this "God" (whichever one it is) being forced upon their kids.  I think the real issue should be about the enforcement of the separation of church and state (which I strongly believe in), but a lot of people are offended by this pledge for religious reasons.

I just really think everyone should keep their religion quietly out of everyone else's lives.  I hate people who try to force their religion upon others.  I almost flipped shit when the first Jehova's Witness knocked on my door here in Japan.  Those bastards are everywhere!

Dang Bernie, that's some nice art.  The game looks and sounds amazing!  Really nice work there!

And Puddin', Drugbust looks awesome.  Great art.  I love the little touches like the inventory folding out like the pictures in a wallet.  And the fact that each screen is populated and active makes the gameworld feel really alive.  Nice stuff! 

Sinitrena, can't wait for an English version so I know what the hell I'm doing!  Looks like a good start though!

Can't wait to try yours out Barbarian!  Looks very atmospheric.  I'm assuming that the light is coming from the lantern and will move around the screen with the player.  If so, wow! If no... still neat. 

I'm off to bed, but I look forward to waking up to more Released Somethings!

Well, my wife doesn't speak English, so I can say whatever I want.  Right chubby?

(okay, totally kidding there... she'd kill me!)

And great idea with the song thing. 

The demo is released for Release Something day!

Download the demo here: domcon.rar -- 3MB

The demo shows off the stylish graphics, the unique inventory system, the very cool menus, and a number of challenging puzzles!  But, it's been stripped of story to prevent spoiling the plot.  So, enjoy!

This project is still being worked on, albeit very slowly.  I'm not a big art guy so it takes me a long time.  Plus, the code for this game is so dirty and difficult to add to and debug because it was my "learn to use AGS" game.  Every once and a while I get a burst of energy and finish a new background (there's a lot not seen in this demo).  I don't know when I will finish this game.

I'd love any comments you might have!  If you need hints for the challenging puzzles, PM me or post in the H&Ts board.

Again: Download the demo here: domcon.rar -- 3MB

[Dwight of the Living Dead]

These look really good so far!

I have two contributions to this Release Something!

First is the demo for Domestic Conspiracy, which I announced at the last Release Something.

Download the demo here: domcon.rar -- 3MB

The demo shows off the stylish graphics, the unique inventory system, the very cool menus, and a number of challenging puzzles!  But, it's been stripped of story to prevent spoiling the plot.  So, enjoy!

This project is still being worked on, albeit very slowly.  I'm not a big art guy so it takes me a long time.  Plus, the code for this game is so dirty and difficult to add to and debug because it was my "learn to use AGS" game.  Every once and a while I get a burst of energy and finish a new background (there's a lot not seen in this demo).  I don't know when I will finish this game.

If you have comments on this demo, please leave them in the Domestic Conspiracy thread.  If you need hints for the challenging puzzles, PM me or post in the H&Ts board.

Download the demo here: domcon.rar -- 3MB

The second contribution is the alpha version the project that gets all my free time, Dwight of the Living Dead.

DotLD is possibly the first TBABCRPG (Turn-Based Adventure Board Card Role-Playing Game).  I won't go into the plot at all, but basically you play as Dwight and you fight a bunch of Zombies.  Do you really need more?

Download the alpha here: dwight.rar -- less than 1MB

Note: all the graphics present in this alpha should be considered place holders.  I'm currently focused on getting the game engine in place.

DotLD is played out on a randomized board, so each play through will be different than the last.  Dwight uses his deck of Attack, Defend, Item, etc. cards to navigate around the board and do battle with the zombies.

It's been a fun challenge to code so far.  The whole game as you see it here is made using one room, zero objects, a few characters, and two GUIs.  Everything else is done with RawDraw functions!

I had hoped to include the battle system with this alpha, but I didn't get far enough with it to be able to release it, so here, you'll only be trying out the movement system.  Coming into contact with a zombie will kill it instantly rather than launch a battle.

I've given the player a few rooms (each room has it's own randomized board layout) to mess around in.  The rooms are populated with zombies of various levels.  A higher level zombie has a larger movement radius and is more likely to be smart (i.e. go straight for Dwight rather than stumble around randomly).

Errr... and it's really a lot more fun than that screen shot makes it look...

I'd love it some people could toy around with it for a while and report any bugs to me!  Thanks!

Download the alpha here: dwight.rar -- less than 1MB

Nik, I didn't know your wife was pregnant!  Congratulations!

My wife is due to squirt one out in the next few weeks too!

And by-the-by, I've used SSH's star suggestion before.  It works like a charm!

Awesome pumpkins!

My mildly-AGS-related Halloween story:

I planned a lot of Halloween activities for the Japanese kids at my school.  They have never made Jack O'Lanterns before, so we did that.  We also made masks and let them trick-or-treat the teachers for candy.  It was a lot of fun!

During all of this, I was wearing my Halloween costume which I bought last weekend.  Halloween costumes in Japan are hard to find in stores and I'm not much of a seamstress, so I ended up buying this funny mushroom costume that I stumbled upon.

So, I wore the mushroom costume (which looked a lot like a penis costume, I later realized) to school.  All the elementary school kids would point at me and shout "Kinoko da!" or "Kinoko sensei!"  I was confused for a few minutes until I remembered that Kinoko means mushroom in Japanese.  Until they started shouting it, I hadn't thought of that.  But it was kind of weird when all the kids started calling me the (fake) name of someone else that I know.  (even if I only know that person through her posts on an internet board)

So... yeah... I guess there were two Kinoko-senseis in Japan on Thursday...

Previously, on Photoshop Phriday:

Photoshopping isn't drawing a completely new image -- It's editing images to create a new image, such as editing one image or combining several images. The contest usually lasts for a fortnight. Also, you don't have to specifically use Photoshop -- Paint Shop Pro, MSPaint, or any other programs can be used. Please make sure your image doesn't exceed the width of the screen.

See this link:
http://www.somethingawful.com/photoshop/

And for other examples, see here:
http://www.worth1000.com/

-------------------------------------

My main man Jack Thompson, crusader against videogame violence and sex, has finally done it!  He's convinced the governments of the world to give him free reign over the video game industry!  His first act as Lord of the Games is to dissolve the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) and form the new JTRB (Jack Thompson Ratings Board).  In order for any game to be released, it has to comply with his rules:

1) No sex or nudity of any sort
and
2) No violence of any sort (unless it is the brutal slaughter of a video game executive)

So, you've been called upon to help save your favorite violent/sexy game by adapting it to fit JT's rules.

Modify the box art or a screenshot from a game to make it comply with the new JTRB standards.  (Don't forget the new JTRB rating!)

I single handedly saved the Mortal Kombat series with this image. 



Jack Thompson almost threw it out but then I revealed the ending to him:

Spoiler

Jesus wins!

[close]

Next (because I thought of it over lunch) I rescued the Max Payne series and invented a new genre in the same stroke of genius.



Now it's your turn.  Strip all the evil from a game and let's see what's left!

Good luck, and thank you for joining in His fight.