Messages

Looks like fun, and I love the mad scientist sprite!

The Ice Pirates?

Yup.

Uh-oh.  John Matuszak heard you as well.

Wild guess, Krull? It looks pretty bad, whatever it is!

No, not Krull.

Pretty bad?  Ron Perlman and Anjelica Huston are not pleased to hear this.

Looks like it, but nope not that one.

The Grand Budapest Hotel?

  I was half-listening to a gaming related podcast on Nerdist last week, and the folks on there were talking about Cart Life and how unique it is compared to other simulation style games.  Roughly once a month I'll stumble across something AGS related outside of the community.

  Depends on your requirements for the game.  If you have a very specific, exacting vision for your game, well then you may need something more tailored and have to hire artists.  If things are more vague, then you can scour some open source game asset sites like (opengameart) and if you see something you like that would work for you, then contact the author and tell them about your game idea to see if they will let you use their work.  For my experience, which is similar to you in that I'm a better programmer than true "artist", I simply had help in the music and art department and the awesome folks who worked with me only asked for credit.  Still, you will become familiar with a pixel editor and probably have to learn basic animation techniques - which isn't a bad thing at all and can be quite a fun process.

  Oh also, heed the sage advice of the guy above.  He's an AGS Lifetime Achievement Award Winner now dontcha know. 

 

Just noticed that my comments were branched off into in the other thread, so again congratulations to AGS Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Ponch, and everyone who took home an award!  I recall being jaw droppingly impressed with The Art of Dying the first time I fired it up, and it is probably my favorite AGS non-adventure game.  Also, additional congrats to anyone who made it far enough to even have a game nominated. Good times were had playing the entries!

  Congrats to Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Ponch, and the other winners!  Really great entries overall, and The Art of Dying might just be my favorite AGS non-adventure game period.

  I don't see a lesbian kiss being on par with a minstrel show, but regardless I'm sorry to hear you felt uncomfortable Kiira.   Lots of dudes around here and we would do well not to, even for a second, turn it into some kind of Mad Men locker room.

As far as I know that theme hasn't been done.  Sounds good to me!

As for the next contests -- how long do I have to come up with a topic? Also, where do I find a list of topics previously used so that we avoid repetition?

After a couple days of mulling it over post about it in this thread, and then we can tell you if its a new idea.  It is doubtful that you would choose a topic/theme that has already been done.

Fun game and I liked the theme, though wow there really wasn't much participation.  I was in rush myself and barely had time to put something together, as things are super-busy for me until June-ish.

688 Attack Sub?

[Best Character:]

Best Character: Fitz - The Great Dispensator: Ok there wasn't much exposition, but that's coolest character idea and name I've come across in a while.  I see this guy on a throne saying things like "you are deemed worthy of dispensation!" and "dispense resources to that province!".
Best Plot: Sinitrena - The age old inner struggle/conflict.
Best Atmosphere: Fitz - Confusing in parts, but damned interesting.
Best Setting: Fitz - Strange man, but I dug it.
Best Word Choice/Style: Fitz - The descriptions of the characters were well done
Most Opposite Pairing: Sinitrena

[Ghost]

  Ghost

  Cat

  Hobo

Fred Sackamano, known in many circles as the greatest pest control specialist in Southern California, tossed the bug bombs and bait traps into the back of his company's humongous station wagon and walked around front to be greeted by Vincent Shysterelli who had a giant grin plastered on his face.  Fred shook his head as he sat down in the driver's seat.  Vince plopped down in the passenger side and said "Let's go partner."  Fred was a miracle worker when it came to killing varmints, but he was horrible at upselling clients into pest insurance packages and basically add-on sales in general.  Vince was bad at exterminating, but as the saying goes he could sell ant-be-gone to an ant.  Fred had resigned himself to the fact that this pairing was inevitable.

Fred, being an old squeaky clean honest sort, hated young Vince with a passion.  He knew several instances where the sleazy salesman had introduced invasive species of scorpions and locusts at the houses of big-name celebrities. Fred himself cleaned up after one of Vince's schemes where diseased bats had been flying around inside of a top movie director's beach house.  The director had done some research and asked Fred how a species only indigenous to Africa made the voyage across an ocean.  Fred had feigned surprise and had replied that he didn't know as he cleaned horribly pungent bat guano off of his boots.  Fred was the kind of exterminator that precisely deployed the right amount of non-toxic pesticides (when chemicals were absolutely necessary) so as to limit harm to both the customer's wallet and, more importantly, the environment.  He also would use humane traps to catch and later release animals into the mountains when that solution made sense.  Vince, however, would maximize damage to everything and holds the record as being the only individual on both the Environmental Protection Agency and Better Business Bureau watch lists at the same time.  He once bug bombed a twelve story orphanage and the surrounding area over the course of several weeks to (supposedly) eliminate a small colony of black ants; the older children were forced to sleep on the streets during the fumigation and the large vegetable garden was rendered useless after some of the kids fell ill from poisoned tomatoes and strawberries.  The blow of the resulting fallout, both literally and figuratively, was softened in the eyes of the company due to hefty profits reaped from that venture.  True old school pest control professionals, like Fred Sackamano, were disgusted with this kind of reckless behavior.

The other path crossing between Fred and Vince was when the latter played the old “stinkbug to the face” joke on him as an April fools prank at a company picnic.  Needless to say, Fred was not amused and advised top management to "keep that immature, exterminator wannabe away from me and my customers.".

Throughout the day Fred and Vince were tasked with the standard assortment of pest control jobs, and they had just finished clearing a basement of rats when Fred turned to Vince and said, ”Good job today.  You surprised me.” Vince nodded and replied, “Wait here a sec.” and left Fred to gather up the equipment by himself.  Fred dumped everything in the company car, headed up the driveway, and managed to catch the tail end of a conversation between the client, a Mr. Jeffrey Steward, and Vince.  Vince had said, ”…just wouldn't want anything unexpected to happen.” Mr. Steward appeared to think, as Fred walked up and folded his arms, and replied, ”This sounds like blackmail moreso than extermination coverage.”   Vince smiled from ear-to-ear and said, ”Sir, those pesky rats were sizeable.  But they aren't as large as the Gambian pouch rat. It would be most unfortunate if you were to have a giant rat infestation. Or perhaps mosquitos buzzing around that carry dengue fever. Or maybe skin burrowing botflies.  Or God forbid your sleep is disturbed by bloodthirsty bedbugs. Sir, you should STRONGLY CONSIDER buying some traps from us along with a package…” Fred gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.  He sighed and remembered what his boss had told him.  BlightBustersâ,,¢ Corporate (Slogan: I ain't ‘fraid of no host!) wasn't going to waste Vince's skills on cold selling, and would need capable exterminators to bring him to client sites for upselling and insurance.  Fred felt responsible and interrupted with, ”Vince!  Let's discuss these concerns in private and then…” and was himself interrupted when a loud boom sounded from their company station wagon.

Fred and the client were ushered into the house by Vince through the open door, which was abruptly closed.  The client looked out the window at the car, but didn't see anything, and asked, ”What the hell was that?” Vince ran his hand through his hair and sheepishly looked at Fred, who queried, ”What kind of bugs were you storing in the car?”  Vince glanced out the window, looked back at Fred, and was backed up against the front door as Fred exploded, ”I am a classically trained entomologist who actually cares about properly doing my job without ripping people off!  You were hired to work a street corner as the company bombardier beetle mascot, and only thrived in this line of work by fleecing and taking advantage of customers!  Guys like you give professional pest control a bad name!” Fred grabbed Vince's neck with both hands and throttled him back and forth just as the client pulled them apart.  Mr. Steward then brushed himself off and said, ”I should call the cops on you idiots.  This has to be the most pathetic attempt at running a protection racket they have ever seen.” and then a Japanese giant hornet rammed into the front windows causing them to rattle.

The three of them now heard a loud buzzing, and Fred asked, ”Is that what I think it is?” Vince said ”Yes, that boom was them escaping.  All of them it seems...” and began fishing around in his backpack.  Fred studied the swarm of giant hornets which moved around as one big humming mass in the front yard, and took particular notice of the abdomen colorations.  He turned to the client and said, ”If you have any family members or pets around, they need to stay in the house.” and then he turned to Vince, who was still fumbling with his pack, and declared, ”I know you are a connected guy, but I don't care.  If we get out of this in one piece, then I will have your head on a platter.  Even if they don't sting us to death, do you know what those little monsters will do to the ecosystem here?”  Vince said, ”Alright Sackamano…I botched this one, but if you make any kind of move on me then I promise you will regret it.” Fred glared in response.

Mr. Steward's cell phone snapped shut and he said, ”I tried animal control and the cops.  Both contacted the fire department. Also, and I guess this goes without saying, your rip-off company will be hearing from my lawyers. You can both thank your lucky stars that my wife and kids are out of town or else I would feed you to those things myself.” Fred looked around and sighed as his phone rang, and he answered knowing it would be the fire department on the other end.  He was their go-to guy for situations like this.  Meanwhile Vince was busy loading what appeared to be some kind of tear gas launcher with shells that read DDT in large font.

Fred looked out the window at the swarm and explained, ”The trees in the front yard are corralling the hornets somewhat; they appear to be looking for a hive or nest. We should sneak out the back. Short of using a flamethrower there is nothing that will really stop them, and besides the last thing we should do is threaten…” and was interrupted by Vince who dramatically threw open the front door and proceeded to do exactly what Fred was about to advise against.

The large chamber on the DDT gun revolved and made a loud “thunk” sound each time Vince pulled the trigger firing DDT into the swarm. Fred donned a beekeeper's mask that he pulled from his large backpack and yelled, ”You knucklehead!” as their former client wisely retreated into his house.

Fred swatted and flailed his arms as the hornets attacked and started for a closet, but collapsed from anaphylaxis brought on by the sheer number of stings.  He could hear loud buzzing noises which were intermittently interrupted by the thunking noise of Vince's DDT gun before passing out.


A dull ringing resonated in Fred's ears as he slowly awoke in a hospital bed.  He looked down and saw that his arms and legs were swollen.  Bandages and plaster dressings peppered his upper and lower body.  As his consciousness began to fully return, he could hear a voice coming from his right.  Fred slowly turned his head and saw Vince, who was also laid out on a bed with swollen limbs, talking to a nurse.  Vince's voice came into focus, his body involuntarily tensed, and he heard, "...termite damage in the wall there.  We'll do an egg sweep and then set traps..."  Fred calmly detached his IV and, despite the extreme pain in his arms, staggered over like Frankenstein's monster to Vince's bedside. 

Vince looked up and managed to say, "Nurse call security!  This man is dangerously unstable.  He is obviously envious of my skill at exterminating pests and..." before being cut off by Fred who began awkwardly strangling Vince with his own IV tube. Fred hissed through gritted teeth, "I'm going to exterminate the biggest pest of my career!" and then was tackled to the floor by an orderly.

I believe we had Teenagent a long while back; not that it really matters. 

Not only were Syndicate and Syndicate Wars awesome, but they had great intros. 

I've got 75 percent of a story finished.  I'll submit around noon Hong Kong time (GMT + 8) on Friday, the 28th if that works Baron.

I really like Brazil and 12 Monkeys, though Time Bandits is by far my favorite Terry Gilliam movie.