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One would hope that you will be around to one day make a 2000th post...

Seriously, congrats on being an AGS old timer.  I recall you PMing me with a few nice thoughts (talking about historical game ideas) after I posted in a newbie thread, which then caused me to play a few of your games.

Densming's Tutorials were first for me, followed by looking over the old AGS demo game source code, and then is was on to SSH's modules.

For game graphics and music resources, I like www.opengameart.org.  I stumbled across some great music there which fit perfect for my game, contacted the author for permission, and he was more than happy to lend his work for just credit.

  There are a lot of night missions it seems, and that bugged me more than anything else so if it was Far Cry 3 full price I wouldn't have gone for it.  For 15 bucks it was a deal.

I pre-ordered as well.  A few in-game screenshots, and that awesome live action short movie sold me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnuJyJBM_J4&feature=player_embedded

  Looks good!  Maybe the cutest character and walk-cycle I've ever seen.  Put that little dude in a game please. 

Good stuff, more!

[-]

Write a short story or poem about invading aliens.  The aliens don't have to be the "bad guys", or look hideous, or meet any other of the alien genre stereotypes.  So make them out to be however you want.  The only requirement is that the aliens in the story have invaded, are in the process of invading, or will invade a human town/city/settlement of some kind.

- 1st place: The Happy Golden Alien and if you have a Steam account...
XCOM Enemy Unknown!  I received an extra copy by pre-ordering another game, and this is a fun way to give it away.  If you are not on Steam and/or don't want it, XCOM goes to the 2nd place finisher.

- 2nd place: The Somewhat Pleased Silver Alien

- 3rd place: The Unhappy Decapitated Alien in a Jar


Forgot to mention the deadline...Writing contest ends April 27th!

Cool, I'll start a new competition in a day or two.  I've got a fun idea, and the big prize will come with a game on Steam (Was given an extra copy when I preordered another game).

I call heads

...but why do the leprechauns make Jeff into their king on the spur of the moment?  Was it the liquor smell of the costume -only a king could afford to waste such a variety of booze?  Just wondering....

Once the leprechauns got a good long look at Jeff (after he is frog marched over to the others), they recognized him as king.  I was thinking that they had never seen a midget human before, and also since he is dressed as one of them, this leads the real leprechauns to believe that Jeff is the "chosen one" spoken of in the Leprechaun Bible that I just invented as I write this. 

I vote for Baron.  Movie 43, which is hit and miss, has a fun "kidnap the leprechaun for his gold" scene:  http://www.flix66.com/2012/10/26/gerard-butler-is-a-creepy-leprechaun-in-new-photo-from-movie-43/

I'm rooting for you: Go nads!

 Congrats to the winners!  Definitely a great, profilic year for AGS games.

Jeff O'Aeron tossed the shillelagh on his tattered couch, unfastened his belt buckle, and removed his leprechaun costume.  The outfit had seen better days, and so had he.  Jeff was tired of working kiddie birthdays and the local theme park.  The only boom time for his profession was around St. Patrick's Day, but in return for the extra paychecks he had to deal with rowdy drunks at bars who would try to throw him around and basically humiliate him.  Roughly once a month Jeff will call on a house for a highly paid “private” show, which can be just something simple like dancing around singing Irish jigs while a couple gets it on.  Or it could be something that requires Jeff to break out his spiked shillelagh.

The next day…Jeff ate breakfast, chugged half a bottle of Jack Daniel's, and donned his leprechaun outfit.  Looking out his front window he noticed that the sky was intermittently dark and sunny with a slight drizzle of rain coming down, but none of this warranted an umbrella in his mind.  Jeff opened the door and headed to the main road.  As he walked to the bus stop he could hear stifled giggles and one passerby said to his group of his friends, “Hey, look a midget!”  The bus was crowded, and Jeff was forced to squeeze into a 2-person seat that already housed two normal sized people, both were attractive women in their early 20s.  Jeff looked at the girl closest to him and smiled; the response was a grimace.  The other girl sniffed and said, ”Hey Debra, this little person's mascot's outfit smells like old liquor and broken dreams.” Debra chuckled, Jeff sighed, and he moped off the bus at the next stop.

Jeff made his way to “Shamus O'Malley's Jewelry Emporium” for the morning gig.  Several minutes into his walk, he saw a luminous rainbow that appeared to end near his destination.   Jeff thought this was both beautiful and curious, but soon lost sight of it as the sky was blocked from view by the large shop awnings as he got closer to the city center.  He looked down at his old green shoes with aladdin style toes, and thought to himself that he would need to get another pair cobbled soon.

The main door to the jewelry store was guarded by one of the security goons who chuckled at Jeff, but surprisingly withheld comment.  ”Where's the boss?  I'm here for the sale… said Jeff.  The goon barked  ”Your early, anyway go inside!”  while opening the door to let the most famous working leprechaun in Shamrock, Texas into the most notorious pawn shop in all of Texas.

Frankie O' Malley was in the process of hanging up a sign that proclaimed, “Madman O' Malley's GOLD Giveaway!” at the top and “Actual prizes are gold plated” in fine print at the bottom.  Frankie turned to look at Jeff with a confused look and said, “Why do you walk around in the outfit?  You should wear normal clothes until you get to your gig.”  Jeff replied, “I'm out, laundry day.”  Frankie shook his head while hammering the sign into the wall and joked, “Well luck-o-the-Irish for you, I heard the Baby Gap nearby is having a sale.”  Jeff sighed in his usual way, twirled his shillelagh around from hand to hand, and asked, ”You want me stationed at the door trying to bring customers in or inside playing to a crowd?”  Frankie, while shining the newly affixed sign, replied, “I don't care little man, do whatever you think will make these suckers lay down some moolah.  The kids liked that four leaf clover parlor trick you did last time, so be sure to incorporate that into your schtick.”  Jeff thought to himself that he would like to incorporate his shillelagh into Frankie's rectum.

And then the goon stationed at the front of the store screamed bloody murder.  Both Jeff and Frankie turned towards the door as the security guard staggered in, and collapsed.  Frankie checked on his employee while Jeff carefully walked over to the window in the hopes of at least catching a glimpse of the attacker, and he noticed a dense fog outside that allowed zero visibility.  Frankie examined the now dead security guard and removed a sharp green object from the victim's face.  Jeff, while keeping his eye on the front door, crept over to Frankie to get a look for himself.  The object appeared to be a metallic four-leaf clover with sharpened leaves.  Frankie and Jeff exchanged nervous glances and quietly mouthed in unison, “a four leaf clover throwing star…” and then scrambled to hide behind the cashier counter just as unintelligible squeaky voices drifted in from the front door.  In his haste, Jeff noticed that he had lost his shillelagh.  He could use it as a club if needed, and debated going back for it when Frankie elbowed him.

Frankie carefully removed an old rusty Colt .45 handgun and an X26P Taser stun gun from a drawer underneath the register  He checked the action on the handgun as quietly as possible, and gave the stun gun to Jeff.  Frankie asked Jeff in a nervous whisper, “What do you hear?” Jeff replied, ”It sounds like they are speaking Gaelic.”   Shuffling footsteps could be heard entering the store.

Butch Jefferson, Frankie's store clerk, strolled out of the stockroom blissfully unaware of recent events due to the fact that he was listening to music loudly through large headphones.  Frankie looked at Jeff and said, ”Butch is out there now…Jeff, you should warn him.  Jeff shook his head and mouthed, “Your guy, you handle it.” while pointing a stubby finger at Frankie.  They both heard Butch loudly proclaim, “Hey, we only ordered one of youse midgetfolk…” before his sentence was cut off by strangulation noises.  Frankie peered over the counter in attempts to see what was going on, and Jeff could see him recoil in horror.

Frankie watched as Butch Jefferson, recent winner of employee of the month at Shamus O'Malley's Jewelry Emporium, was force fed a shillelagh by what looked like a larger, mutant version of Jeff in his costume.  The mutated leprechaun cackled and queried, “Where's me gold?” as it shoved the shillelagh further into Butch.  Frankie slid back down to hide in cover, only to be pulled up and over the counter by a pair of meaty hands.  As this happened, Jeff army crawled over to a small glass display case that housed various gold ornaments.

The mutated leprechaun now held Frankie in a bear hug, though he managed to wiggle the handgun towards the creature despite its iron grip.  He pulled the trigger and when nothing happened, the evil leprechaun cackled gleefully and said, “Misfire tee hee hee.  Can't shoot me.”  Jeff watched while crouched behind the display, and through the leprechauns grin he could see what appeared to be sharp teeth.  Jeff really didn't care for Frankie, so he watched with morbid curiosity moreso than real concern - though unaware that another leprechaun was sneaking up behind him.

Through gasps Frankie begged, “Let…me…go…and…give you…Gold.” and the leprechaun dropped him like a sack of potatoes, just as Jeff was frog marched from his hiding place by the other leprechaun.  Jeff was released, and both leprechauns tilted their misshapen heads and stared at him.  The one who had been crushing Frankie said in an awed tone, “Luprachan abhaic dia.” Frankie glanced over at Butch, who was twitching but alive, and at the body of his security guard.  And then he looked up at the murderous leprechauns that were now transfixed by Jeff, who began aiming his stun gun back and forth from one leprechaun to the other.  More leprechauns filed in from the outside, which stopped Frankie in his tracks as he had started crawling towards the exit.  It was a sea of green, and evil grinning faces.

Jeff said, ”There is enough gold for all of you in this store. “ All of the leprechauns went to one knee.  The larger one, who had been crushing Frankie, looked at Jeff and said, ”We have been waiting for you.  Lead us master.  Lead us to gold and giggles!”  Jeff nodded, and thought to himself that it has been a while since someone treated him with respect â€" much less reverence.  He thought about the cruel World and how people have treated him throughout his life…They look down on Jeff for his size, limited intelligence, and for being relatively poor.  He wondered if these things considered him a leprechaun general, or perhaps, a god?

Frankie said, ”Stop daydreaming short stack, they seem to think you are the boss.  So order them to drop dead, or at least march them out of here back to wherever they came from.”  Jeff queried, “Do you recall that little person joke you made the last time I was here?” Frankie replied, ”Which one?”  Jeff answered curtly, ”The one about the midget psychic who escaped from jail?” Frankie said, ”The small medium at large, yea I remember…Look I was just goofing.”  and he trailed off mumbling while starting to fumble with his now unreliable hand gun.  Jeff surveyed the room of kneeling leprechauns, pointed at Frankie, and commanded, “Take gold, and restrain him” They set about looting the store of gold, and one of the leprechaun minions grabbed Frankie in a full nelson.  Jeff walked over to Frankie, who was trembling, and shot him point blank in the groin with the stun gun.  The leprechaun who was restraining him giggled and continued to hold Frankie as he violently shook and wailed in pain.  Jeff walked towards the front door, and picked up his Shillelagh.  He could see more of his minions coming in from the fog to gather as if he had summoned them, and a grin started to form on his face.  The newly crowned leprechaun king lifted his arms in the air, and declared, ”The world is ours!"

Chef!  I like length, the Moon mythology, and orcs.

[February 1st, 2100 AD…Near Bio-Dome 23662-A on Earth]

February 1st, 2100 AD…Near Bio-Dome 23662-A on Earth
After enjoying a quiet moment watching the green night sky with his daughter, Craig Newhouser looked down and said, ”Naomi, Honey, please keep the carbon filter on when you talk”.  Naomi put the Soot-Away 2000 filter back on, glanced up at her father, and begged, “Please Daddy!  I'm 10 years old now!  I want to know how it happened.  Everyone at school makes fun of me because my classmates know you were up there.  They say you are bad, like a Death Star.” Craig sighed and lamented while pointing at his face, ”Back when I was a kid, these stupid masks were optional…and we at least had enough power to get through the day. “ Craig changed the direction of his finger-point towards where the Moon used to be visible (on the rare night when the sea of polluted green haze allowed it) and said, “Honey I promise, my â€" no OUR â€" intentions were noble.  We wanted clean power for you and the generations to come.  My group underestimated other companies that blatantly disregarded the Moon Treaty signed by their home countries and eventually resorted to dastardly and later deadly, tactics.” Naomi asked, “What does ‘dastardly' mean”. Craig looked at his daughter and said, “Evil, basically.  Look honey if I tell you about that day, do you promise to keep it a secret?” Naomi replied, “Yes!” while nodding enthusiastically.

December 18th, 2079 AD…Serenity Sea Base on the Moon
“Newhouser, get in here!”, barked the head of Serenity Base Security.   Sargent Craig Newhouser walked into Captain Jernegen's office and sat down directly in front of his boss's desk.  “Newhouser, the situation just went from bad to worse.  Thanks to that stupid fluke asteroid strike which was mistaken for an attack, we've now officially lost Outpost Tycho to Deepcrust Lunar Corporation. Craig nervously flicked the charge toggle on his hand laser back and forth.  When he studied geology back in college, he had no idea that learning how to shoot a gun would have been more useful as a career move.  He was always interested in Space, ever since his Dad first explained to him that looking at the Moon, planets, and stars was technically a window into the past.  So Craig jumped at the opportunity to combine his love for geology and Space by going to work for a non-profit which staked a few small claims on the Moon.  Shortly after management learned that he was an expert in hand-to-hand combat thanks to years of practicing a variety of martial arts, he was moved from the survey teams to security and trained on how to use a Vickers Direct Energy Autolaser.  There was no use mining for helium-3 and other valuable resources if staff couldn't be protected.

Captain Jernegen suddenly ordered, “Wake up from your daydream Sleeping Beauty!” Craig returned full attention to his boss, who went on, “The more immediate problem for us at Serenity Base is that new conglomerate formed from the remains of Happy Power and Green Hugs Electric.  Contrary to those sweet commercials they run back home, Green Hugs are the most sadistic bastards this side of Mister Sparkie Energy.” A shudder went through Craig's body as he thought about Mister Sparkie Energy and their claim that murderous plundering is simply a “hostile takeover” on the Moon, where apparently no international laws apply.  The “Green Hugs Thugs” were notorious as well, though at least Green Hugs Electric would take prisoners when “taking over” a mining settlement or outpost.  Captain Jernegen continued, “Happy Green Hugs Power, the new mother company, is expected to launch an attack on us very soon.  They claim, just like every other power company on this rock, that they made the first bid on all of the Helium-3 on the Moon and therefore have property rights.  Since we are the only non-profit company here, they think we are weak.” Jernegen lit up his smokeless electric cigar by pressing the butt-button, and said, “What they don't know is that we also have a stockpile of nuclear weapons sent  to us by the U.S., Russia, and China for disposal…”  Craig interrupted, “Boss!  I thought that they had been rendered inert and buried deep in the Plato crater?” Captain Jernegen warned, “Not all.  Look…I'd like to say that we will fight them with everything we've got, but it's not realistic considering half of our security force is made up of former scientists and miners. “

December 22nd, 2079 AD…Serenity Sea Base on the Moon
The Serenity Base security force was nearly wiped out from the surprise attack.  Laser turrets and man-traps were disabled with ease by the enemy, and the majority of those who resisted the onslaught were quickly dispatched.  The handful of remaining survivors retreated further into the base, Sargent Craig Newhouser was amongst them.

Hand laser at the ready, Craig stealthily crept towards the executive suites.  He couldn't believe how quickly the base defenses broke down.  The enemy promised to give severance packages and a trip home to those that surrendered, and many (including most of his squad) donned suits and walked out the front door believing this to be true.  Craig glanced through a corridor window and saw their bodies floating around outside, just as he bumped into a Green Hugs Thug who had apparently rounded a corner.  Craig grabbed the newfound opponent's gun and jerked it sideways while crushing his instep with a low kick.  The Green Hugs Thug went down on a knee, took a hard palm strike to the nose from Craig, and promptly passed out cold.  Craig was about to finish off his would-be attacker, but he heard some noises nearby and decided to make his way further down the corridor.

After walking for about a minute, he stopped to wave his hand over a door security scanner so the device could match his DNA.  He then carefully entered a small control room which he had never seen before.  He heard enemy soldiers approaching, and one of them said, “If our mole is right, this room controls the nuclear arms containment area.  Use that executive's hand to bypass security and see what you can figure out.  Watch out for that Sargent, he's the only one left that could be a threat.”  Craig ducked down behind a large desk, and could hear what sounded like three men enter the room.  He checked his gun's charge, and noticed it was so low that there was only enough juice left for one taze.  He could see two of the men wave a disembodied hand over a scanner, and one of them walked towards where he was crouching in an effort to secure the room.  The enemy just passed by Craig, his eyes fixed on a large panel covered with switches and buttons.

Craig struck.  He grabbed the man from behind in a half nelson with his left, and put the hand laser to the man's temple using his right.  Craig slowly turned to face the other two men, who were laughing at him.  One of the men said amidst chuckles, “I can see your charge meter from here.   You've barely got a jolt left. “ Craig nodded, and in the blink of an eye turned the gun on the man and shot him in the chest.  He then moved his left arm around his captive's neck, who began struggling furiously in a futile attempt to prevent from being choked.  The man Craig shot was writhing on the floor, and the remaining unharmed enemy rushed him.  While strangling with his left, Craig dropped his latest attacker with a vicious front kick to the jaw.   He let go of the now limp man who no longer had an adequate blood supply to his brain, and stomped the windpipe of the enemy who had attempted to rush him on the way to walking over to the man who had taunted him.  Craig took the enemy taunter's gun from its holster, looked down, and said, “That seemed to cure your case of the giggles.  You guys should have spent less time in the shooting range and more time in the dojo.”.  The man, still in pain from being shocked, slowly rose to his feet and said, ”After we merge with Mister Sparkie, we will control nearly all of the Moon's resources.  You might as well…” and was cut off by a point blank laser blast to the face by Captain Jernegen as he entered the control room.  Craig said, ”Boss, you're alive!” Captain Jernegen turned his gun on Craig and said, ”Get to an executive escape pod.  It's been updated to accept your DNA signature, so go…Now! “ Craig, with a confused look on his face, replied, ”Why do you have a gun on me?"  Captain Jernegen declared, ”Look kid, this rock has been nothing but trouble…” as he waved his non-gun hand over a scanner and continued ”…and now that those Green Hugs bastards are in control of it…” Craig's boss was now punching in a series of codes, ”…I say we leave them a Tsar Bomba style going away present.  This…” Captain Jernegen motioned towards his hand laser, ”…is to prevent you or anyone else from stopping me.”

Craig hurtled through Space in the obscenely posh executive escape pod towards home and his beautiful wife.  He wondered if this is what mankind is doomed to repeat on every object in space larger than an asteroid.  Craig had tried to reason with his friend and former boss…”What about the tides?  Or the Earth's rotational speed?  Or even the Man on the Moon?” He had just entered the Earth's thermosphere when he saw the explosion through the porthole window.  Craig shook his head slowly and wondered if Mars, or its moon Phobos, would be next.

February 1st, 2100 AD…Near Bio-Dome 23662-A on Earth
Craig thought back to all that was lost on the Moon, both in terms of lives and wasted resources that the human race now desperately needs.  Naomi asked, “Daddy, why are adults so silly?” Craig had tears forming in his eyes when he softly replied, “I don't know honey.” Naomi went on, ”They are like children, fighting over toys and breaking them on purpose.”

Just want to say that this a great idea; especially for those new to AGS.

Awesome...Looks crowd-fund worthy for sure.

  Will there be another tweaked version in the future?  A sequel perhaps?   

Oh there is interest...We've seen 1920s Chicago and Atlantic City, but not much of Miami around that time.  Sounds cool and looks great based on those screens!

Sorry Baron, I fixed it 

...and unfixed.