Topics

[WHAT?]

WHAT?
Make a SONG in an HOUR, with a THEME.
WHEN?
6pm UK time.
WHERE?
In this THREAD and ON IRC.
WHO?
YOU, not ME. I'm setting the THEME.
WHY?
For FUN and the FUTURE.
WHORE?
Please CAMWHORE or BLOG.
WEB?
TerranRich's SHUTUPLOAD.
WHEE!


Ok, ok, some fine print. The theme will be set by the previous winner (that's me!) and announced here and on IRC at the beginning of the hour. You will have an hour to make the song, plus 15 minutes to render/mix and upload it. Making a song from scratch is strongly encouraged, but you can use at most one element used by other artists for instance a riff. Covers or songs you've made earlier are not accepted though. I can make a song too but it won't be voted on. I can make trophies though. Please don't use one of those upload sites with 30 second waiting periods and crazy popups. ShutUpLoad works, so just use it, unless you have your own hosting.

If you are busy on saturday and want to have an "early subission", post here!

[WHAT?]

WHAT?
Make a GAME in an HOUR, with a THEME.
WHEN?
7pm UK time.
WHERE?
In this THREAD and ON IRC.
WHO?
YOU, not ME. I'm setting the THEME.
WHY?
For FUN and the FUTURE.
WHORE?
Please CAMWHORE or BLOG.
WEB?
TerranRich's SHUTUPLOAD.
WHEE!


Ok, ok, some fine print. The theme will be set by the previous winner (that's me!) and announced here and on IRC at the beginning of the hour. You will have an hour to make the game, plus 15 minutes to debug and upload it. Making a game from scratch is strongly encouraged, but you can use a pre-made template and music from one of the hoursong competitions. I can make a game too but it won't be voted on. I can make trophies though. Please don't use one of those upload sites with 30 second waiting periods and crazy popups. ShutUpLoad works, so just use it, unless you have your own hosting.

If you are busy on saturday and want to have an "early subission", post here!

[Download v1.2.1]

AGS Joystick

Want to use a joystick or gamepad in your game? With this plugin you can, check it out!

Download v1.2.1

or

Tutorial with examples v2 r2

20 October 2010
v1.2.0
Tutorial v2

20 September 2010
v1.1.0
Tutorial v1

20 Augustus 2010
v1.0.0

Have fun!

- cheers

Hourgame!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Hourgame!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Hourgame!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Have I mentioned Hourgame?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Well... Hourgame!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Hourgame!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Yep... Good ol' Hourgame...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Gotta love it...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   like Magma loves moving text...
What's an Hourgame competition?
The purpose of Hourgame Saturday is to encourage amateur game-making, or to put it bluntly, to make you plant your ass in your chair and finally make something.
In this activity your task is to make an AGS game within a strict and very short deadline (i.e. one hour).

When will it take place?
This Hourgame session will take place on Saturday 21th August 2010. Starting at 19:00 BST (14:00 New York, 20:00 Hamburg) participants will have an hour to make their games + 15 minutes to beta test / upload (i.e. the deadline is 20:15 BST).

How do I participate?
A theme is set by the previous week's winner and by the contest's host in event of his/her absence. It will be announced on IRC (3 simple steps to IRC) and here.

Why should I participate?
Because it's FUN!
Research shows that Hourgames get the creative juices going and will aid for healthier game building skills.

Additional info:
- While it is not forbidden for the theme-setters to participate in the activity, their games cannot be voted for (to prevent accusations of cheating and to discourage regular participation).
- Instead, theme-setters are encouraged to draw trophies for the contest's winners.
- Making your game from scratch is strongly encouraged, though it is not forbidden to use music or artwork from public sources if you are allowed to (e.g. using public domain music tracks in your game is OK, but not really necessary). It is also possible to use a pre-existing AGS template for your game (e.g. the Verb-Coin GUI template).
- You cannot use stuff you've made earlier, because this competition is about making something new.
- You are allowed to use previous Hoursongs (Should we create a list somewhere? Yes we should! why? because!).

Camwhoring:
If you have Camtasia or Camtasia-esque software, it would be great to see your "Making of"! Or blog about it, or just open Notepad, do something! No twittering.

Uploading:
Suggested hosts to upload your entry to are:

Recommended:
TerranRich's ShutUpload
DropBox (Recommended by Magma42, referral link)

Not recommended:
http://www.mediafire.com/
http://www.sendspace.com/
http://www.rapidshare.com/

Or your own place.

Theme:
funfairs

Trophy:


Voting:
Just tell us your favourite game. You don't have to enter to vote!
(If you want to tell us what you liked and disliked about all the entries, that would be super nice of you!)
After all games are in you are encouraged to vote, again, you don't have to enter to vote. Voting closes the next Saturday (August 28)

Please post below if you're interested in participating, if the change in time will/won't work for you, or if you have any other questions.

If you are unable to make the scheduled time, but wish to participate anyway, say so in this thread and we can work out a scheduled hour at your convenience to make your submission (Earlier that day for instance).

Hope to see you there!

[Installing]

AGS embed PHP

When I was tinkering with the php source for some project yesterday I thought, why not Well yes, php is foremost a server-side scripting language, but I've used it for all sort of things in the past. It's quite good for messing around without being washed down with complex libraries. I don't know a purpose for it yet but I think others will. It's not recommended to use it for high-end stuff. Well, that said, here goes:

Version 1.0.0  -- PHP version 5.3.3
Download  (2,6mb)

Installing
Copy 'agsphp.dll' to the same path as the AGS editor. Copy the other files (phpts5.dll and php.ini) to your debug and build directory.

License
As far as I understood the php license (I'm not a lawyer) you are free to ship these files (even in commercial projects) as long as you include the php license (which can be found in license.txt) to it.

Issues
- if it complains about 'msvcr100.dll' you need to install service pack 3. If you're worried players will have problems with this you can include the dll to you project.

Documentation

There are two ways in which php can be invoked:
 - evaluation of a string
 - execution of a script file

Php on its turn can interact with AGS in two ways:
 - send input through its output stream
 - raise an event within AGS

To optimize the interaction between AGS and PHP it is also possible to read and write (global) variables from/to PHP.

Functions:

bool   ExecPHPScript(String file)

   Executes a php script file. The file can be located in the same directory 
   as the executable, or you could specify a path. It is even possible to 
   specify a webaddress as source, though I've not tested it I know PHP can 
   do this.
   Returns true if file was loaded, false otherwise (file no found)


void   EvalPHPString(String code)
int    EvalPHPStringInt(String code)
float  EvalPHPStringFlt(String code)
String EvalPHPStringStr(String code)

   Evaluates 'code' and returns the indicated value type. If a error 
   occured, a empty value is returned.
   Note: Always use EvalPHPString is you are not returning a value.

 
void   SetPHPValStr(String name, String value)
void   SetPHPValInt(String name, int value)
void   SetPHPValFlt(String name, float value)

   Sets 'value' to a global variable '$name' of the indicated value type.

  
String GetPHPValStr(String name)
int    GetPHPValInt(String name)
float  GetPHPValFlt(String name)

   Returns the value of a global variable '$name' of the indicated value 
   type.


Events:

void   on_php_input(String input)         /* global script */

   Raised when something is printed/echoed from php.


void   on_php_error(String msg)           /* global script */

   Raised when an error occurs in a script file or eval string.
   'msg' contains the full error message.
   (better to not have to use this )

void   on_php_call(int code, String msg)  /* global/room script */

   Raised when php calls (see below)
   PHP can specify a number and a string for whatever purpose you need.


PHP functions:

function ags_call($code, $msg)
function ags_call_room($code, $msg)

   These two function can be called from everywhere in the php scripts/code. 
   ags_call will raise the event in the global script
   ags_call_room will raise it in... well erm room scripts 


Well thats it!

Have fun!

[graph]

I don't know if there already exists a place to post useful pieces of script , if not then I'm creating it now.

A wrote a function that can turn any dynamic sprite into a graph:

Code: ags

void Graph(this DynamicSprite *, float value1, float value2, bool smooth)
{
  int y1 = (this.Height - 1) - FloatToInt(IntToFloat(this.Height - 1) * value1);
  int y2 = (this.Height - 1) - FloatToInt(IntToFloat(this.Height - 1) * value2);
  int y3 = ((y1 > y2) - (y1 < y2)) * smooth;
  
  this.Crop(1, 0, this.Width - 1, this.Height);
  this.ChangeCanvasSize(this.Width + 1, this.Height, 0, 0);
  
  DrawingSurface *surface = this.GetDrawingSurface();
  surface.DrawingColor = 15;
  surface.DrawLine(surface.Width - 1, y1, surface.Width - 1, y2 + y3);
  
  surface.Release();
}

It can be used like this:
(assuming that sprite is a dynamic sprite)

Code: ags

float last;

function room_RepExec()
{
  float current = IntToFloat(mouse.x) / IntToFloat(Room.Width);

  sprite.Graph(current, last, true);
  last = current;
}

You could also play with these:

Code: ags

  sprite.Graph(current, last, false);
  sprite.Graph(current, last, -1);

  sprite.Graph(current, 0.0, false);
  sprite.Graph(current, 1.0, false);

  sprite.Graph((current / 2.0) + 0.5, 0.5 - (last / 2.0), false);

[Saturday the 31th of July at 18:00 BST]

Well can you? Why don't you give it a try then at Saturday the 31th of July at 18:00 BST (17:00 GMT).

What's an Hoursong competition?
The purpose of Hoursong is to encourage composers and test them under a trial of fire. In this activity your task is to make a song within a strict and very short deadline (i.e. one hour).

When will it take place?
This Hoursong session will take place on Saturday at 18:00 BST. One hour before Hourgame. Participants will have an hour to make their song + 15 minutes to put in finishing touches (maybe mix) / upload.

How do I participate?
A theme is set by the previous hoursong's winner and by the contest's host in event of his/her absence. It will be announced on IRC (3 simple steps to IRC) and here.

Why should I participate?
Because it's FUN!
The more the merrier, and it's great pactice for the ol' music-making skills.

Additional info:
- While it is not forbidden for the theme-setters to participate in the activity, their songs cannot be voted for (to prevent accusations of cheating and to discourage regular participation).
- Instead, theme-setters are encouraged to draw trophies for the contest's winners.
- Making your song from scratch is strongly encouraged. Cover songs will not be accepted. However, participants are allowed to use one (1) element maximum that has been used already by other artists (like a riff). Just don't steal a whole chorus or something like that.
- You cannot use stuff you've made earlier, because this competition is about making something new.

Camwhoring:
If you have Camtasia or Camtasia-esque software, it would be great to see your "Making of"! Or blog about it, or just open Notepad, do something! No twittering.

Uploading:
Suggested hosts to upload your entry to are:

Recommended:
TerranRich's ShutUpload
Your Newgrounds account
http://www.mediafire.com/
http://www.box.net/

Not recommended:
http://www.sendspace.com/
http://www.rapidshare.com/

Or your own place.

Song formats:
Please use .ogg or .mp3. Given the fact that you must create something pretty fast, MIDI is allowed, but not quite recommended, since the result may vary from listener to listener. If a participant doesn't have time to convert the tune in either ogg or mp3, they are allowed to post it in whatever format they have, just make sure that the format can be played with either Windows Media Player or Winamp. This is to ensure that absolutely anyone can hear the tune.

Voting:
Just tell us your favourite tune. You don't have to enter to vote!
(If you want to tell us what you liked and disliked about all the entries, that would be super nice of you!)
The voting will end when all the entrants have voted, or on Wednesday, whichever comes sooner.
Again, you don't have to enter to vote!

Please post here if you want to participate, if you´d like to start an hour sooner/later ect.

Hope to see you on saturday.

[Saturday the 17th of July at 19:00 BST]

I'll try to get the alternating week thing back Although it might be a bit soon,
I'll host the next hoursong Saturday the 17th of July at 19:00 BST (20:00 GMT).

What's an Hoursong competition?
The purpose of Hoursong is to encourage composers and test them under a trial of fire. In this activity your task is to make a song within a strict and very short deadline (i.e. one hour).

When will it take place?
This Hoursong session will take place on Saturday at 19:00 BST. Participants will have an hour to make their song + 15 minutes to put in finishing touches (maybe mix) / upload.

How do I participate?
A theme is set by the previous hoursong's winner and by the contest's host in event of his/her absence. It will be announced on IRC (3 simple steps to IRC) and here.

Why should I participate?
Because it's FUN!
The more the merrier, and it's great pactice for the ol' music-making skills.

Additional info:
- While it is not forbidden for the theme-setters to participate in the activity, their songs cannot be voted for (to prevent accusations of cheating and to discourage regular participation).
- Instead, theme-setters are encouraged to draw trophies for the contest's winners.
- Making your song from scratch is strongly encouraged. Cover songs will not be accepted. However, participants are allowed to use one (1) element maximum that has been used already by other artists (like a riff). Just don't steal a whole chorus or something like that.
- You cannot use stuff you've made earlier, because this competition is about making something new.

Camwhoring:
If you have Camtasia or Camtasia-esque software, it would be great to see your "Making of"! Or blog about it, or just open Notepad, do something! No twittering.

Uploading:
Suggested hosts to upload your entry to are:

Recommended:
TerranRich's ShutUpload
Your Newgrounds account
http://www.mediafire.com/
http://www.box.net/

Not recommended:
http://www.sendspace.com/
http://www.rapidshare.com/

Or your own place.

Song formats:
Please use .ogg or .mp3. Given the fact that you must create something pretty fast, MIDI is allowed, but not quite recommended, since the result may vary from listener to listener. If a participant doesn't have time to convert the tune in either ogg or mp3, they are allowed to post it in whatever format they have, just make sure that the format can be played with either Windows Media Player or Winamp. This is to ensure that absolutely anyone can hear the tune.

Voting:
Just tell us your favourite tune. You don't have to enter to vote!
(If you want to tell us what you liked and disliked about all the entries, that would be super nice of you!)
The voting will end when all the entrants have voted, or on Wednesday, whichever comes sooner.
Again, you don't have to enter to vote!

Please post here if you want to participate, if you´d like to start an hour sooner/later ect.

Hope to see you on saturday.

Hi there,

If you'd like to compile plugins for AGS using Dev-cpp, I made this template you can use! I hope it will save you some time.

http://wyz.agser.me/dl/templates/agsplugindevcpp.zip

Recently I've been working on some plugins, and because I really like Dev-cpp I've built a template for myself.  Well there is not need to keep it to myself, if it might be useful for others. I hope it will be!

Questions or suggestions? Spill it!

-Wyz

Ps.
I've included the agsplugin.h header in this archive, I hope it is ok. If not, I will remove it.

Is there anyway to read the commandline string used to execute a game from within ags?

No it's not. (...)

It would be nice if AGS could fetch the commandline within the game. That way you can specify switches or arguments to the game which can be useful in some occasions.

Code: ags

Game1.exe -slow

I've made a plugin that returns the commandline (GetCommandLine()) for now. It can be downloaded here:
http://wyz.agser.me/dl/plugins/agsGCL.zip
But native support would really be swell.

[What's an Hourgame competition?]

*yoink*
HOURGAME SATURDAY!
What's an Hourgame competition?
The purpose of Hourgame Saturday is to encourage amateur game-making, or to put it bluntly, to make you plant your ass in your chair and finally make something.
In this activity your task is to make an AGS game within a strict and very short deadline (i.e. one hour).

When will it take place?
This Hourgame session will take place on Saturday 26th June 2010. Starting at 19:00 BST (14:00 New York, 20:00 Johannesburg) participants will have an hour to make their games + 15 minutes to beta test / upload (i.e. the deadline is 20:15 BST).

How do I participate?
A theme is set by the previous week's winner and by the contest's host in event of his/her absence. It will be announced on IRC (3 simple steps to IRC) and here.

Why should I participate?
Because it's FUN!
Research shows that Hourgames get the creative juices going and will aid for healthier game building skills.
And a for the shiny trophy ofcourse:


Additional info:
- While it is not forbidden for the theme-setters to participate in the activity, their games cannot be voted for (to prevent accusations of cheating and to discourage regular participation).
- Instead, theme-setters are encouraged to draw trophies for the contest's winners.
- Making your game from scratch is strongly encouraged, though it is not forbidden to use music or artwork from public sources if you are allowed to (e.g. using public domain music tracks in your game is OK, but not really necessary). It is also possible to use a pre-existing AGS template for your game (e.g. the Verb-Coin GUI template).
- You cannot use stuff you've made earlier, because this competition is about making something new.
- You are allowed to use previous Hoursongs (Should we create a list somewhere?).

Camwhoring:
If you have Camtasia or Camtasia-esque software, it would be great to see your "Making of"! Or blog about it, or just open Notepad, do something! No twittering.

Uploading:
Suggested hosts to upload your entry to are:

Recommended:
TerranRich's ShutUpload
DropBox (Recommended by Magma)

Not recommended:
http://www.mediafire.com/
http://www.sendspace.com/
http://www.rapidshare.com/

Or your own place.

Theme:
size=6]Football[/size]

It can be world cup related but it does not has to be.

Voting:
Just tell us your favourite game. You don't have to enter to vote!
(If you want to tell us what you liked and disliked about all the entries, that would be super nice of you!)
After all games are in you are encouraged to vote, again, you don't have to enter to vote. Voting closes the next Saturday (July the 3rd)

Please post below if you're interested in participating, if the change in time will/won't work for you, or if you have any other questions.

If you are unable to make the scheduled time, but wish to participate anyway, say so in this thread and we can work out a scheduled hour at your convenience to make your submission (Earlier that day for instance).

Hope to see you there!

[Concept:]

A dark secret

A friend and I have been working on a game for two months now, time to show it a bit. It is a puzzle adventure with both dark and comical parts. The story revolves about a bumbling cleaner whose life has just been put upside down after his employer is found dead. Or as Larry puts it:

My name is Larry.  I'm just a regular guy with not much of an education. I clean houses for a living.  It's a simple job, but I like it. Until a few days ago.
My boss, some sort of professor was found dead! I found him when I opened the closet. Now I'm a suspect. So I write you to ask for help. I have no one else to go to.
So please help me! I need to find the real killer! And clear my name!! You gotta help me out here!!

-Larry

The game started out because we needed a bit of practise, for my co-conspirator () getting to know AGS; for me getting the hang of something that isn't pixel art .

Screenshots



(I hope the screenshot size isn't a problem, I like them the actual size.)

Progress
Concept:   100%
Story:   100%
Dialogue:   5%
Backgrounds:   75%
Puzzles:   25%
Characters:   75%
Interface:   75%
Sound:   50%
Music:   50%
Intro/Outro   0%

Updates
...none so far

-WYZ

ps. We don't have an expected release date yet, we wanted to finish it in two months but things are a bit slow lately (school/work) we are a bit at the end of our tether. I hope we'll get some new spirit soon.

This odd Feeling

Gary and his girlfriend are on a camping trip
when their car nearly hits a deer and needs gas.
They set up their tent and Gary looks for help the next day.
What he finds are even more problems;
Mystery, conflic and deceit.

An old school game with a lot of humor,
mystery and adventure.

The intro can be skipped by pressing Escape.



Download (1.3 MB)

All questions, comments or tips about the game or the game play are welcome.
Expect spelling error's, I made this game under great time pressure.

I hope you'll enjoy it.

[Sea Shanties]

Sea Shanties
I'll take the definition very broad, anything inspired on folksongs, the sea or sailers will go.  

Competition ends on February the 2nd, 23:59 GMT.
Good luck!  

[Electrifying personality]

Well, since the last Sprite Jam was already Christmas themed I'd better go for something else. I gave it a big thought and came up with something so crazy it might work.

Electrifying personality
Pick a electronic device / system and give it a personality. Whether it's a photocopier with a grudge, a computer that walks around or even something that lives on someone's harddrive in a cybernetic realm.

For bonus points:
- make something that is not a robot.
- describe the personality of your sprite, and it's life.
- make use of pixels, to give it a digital look.

You may make use of cliches, as long as they are well put.

Extra:
- make a group or family of beings or species.

Deadline:
December the 27th

Good luck, and have fun!

[Tune contest]

Tune contest
Think of your favorite book or story and imagine it's converted into a game. You are assigned to write the title song.
As an extra condition: it must be something completely new.
Furthermore: The story does not need to be know widely, if it's a short impression what it is about will be appreciated.

Also, don't forget to mention which story you picked.

General rules
All entries should be in before 21 September
If your entry is not yet finished, you may still enter the incomplete version anyway.
After the deadline has passed I will pick a winner.
The winner thinks up the next tune contest.

Good luck!!

Update:
By request: If there are enough entries I will make throphies, otherwise I will make a throphy.

This Fortnightly will be dual hosted by AtelierGames and me.
Good luck all!

You are deeply asleep when you suddenly hear a strange noise. You think by yourself: `it's nothing, it's just the wind.' And go back to sleep.
Not much later you hear it again, this time it is more clearly. It is almost as if it comes from your wardrobe. You turn around in your bed and wait a little while. There it is again! You step out of your bed and open the closet to see its...


Rules:
You may rotate and flip the image.
You may not resize or crop the image.
You may color the outline
You may include a background, but the outline must be clear.

Have fun!

[Tune contest - Commercial]

Tune contest - Commercial
The last two tune contests were not a great success, so I hope this one will have more entries.
For this contest you are given a melody you have to implement in your entry in some noticable form. I don't take it very precisely, hence you can move it around to some extent.
There is one more condition: you have to make it a certain genre. You can choose any you like, as long as nobody else picked it first. You are allowed to claim one, but you can't switch after that.

General rules
All entries should be in before July
If your entry is not yet finished, you may enter the incomplete version anyway.
After the deadline I will pick a winner.
The winner has the honor curse of thinking up the next contest.

Melody

Download as midi file...

Good luck!

[Tune contest - Commercial]

Tune contest - Commercial
For this contest I want you to make your own tune for a (TV) commerical.
- First you come up with a product. This product may exist or be imaginary.
- Include a image of the product, and/or write a short description.
- Write a tune that would play during the commercial
- You don't need to make an actual commercial, just the music would be fine.
Bonus:
- Accompany the music with a voice over.

The length and style is all up to you.

General rules
All entries should be in before June the 12th
If your entry is not yet finished, you may enter the incomplete version anyway.
After the deadline I will pick a winner.
The winner has the honor of thinking up the next contest.

Good luck!

ps.
I noticed this month MAGS has somewhat a similar theme, that is actually coincidental. I hope nobody is bothered by this.