Topics

https://mark_billy.itch.io

So what did you all think? Are you stuck on any puzzles? Are there any nasty bugs? Does the story make sense?

I've not thought about the game properly for a few years now so I'd be really interested to know what you all think. I learned an awful lot making it but it got to the point were I stopped believing I could ever really do my ideas justice.

Any feedback will also be really cool for if I ever go back and explore these ideas again on another game project.

Thanks.

Hi,

I have this function, which I want to be able to repeat in a loop. It needs to do its thing without blocking - so the player can click on things at the same time.

Basically all it's doing is moving a line of text down the page - 1 pixel every second - until it gets to a certain y value.

This is the code I tried to write so it didn't block:

Code: ags

function ScrollSentence(int speed = 40)
{
  int timer = 0;
  sentence = Overlay.CreateTextual(134, 36, 80, Game.SpeechFont, 15, "Sentence 1");
  while (sentence.Y < 108) {
      timer++;
      if (timer == speed) {
        sentence.Y++;
        timer = 0;
      }
  }
  sentence.Remove();
}

Except that doesn't work just locks the game up. The only way to fix it is to add a Wait(1) - but that destroys the point.

Code: ags

function ScrollSentence(int speed)
{
  int timer = 0;
  //determine what "sentence one" from lists
  sentence = Overlay.CreateTextual(134, 36, 80, Game.SpeechFont, 15, "Sentence 1");
  while (sentence.Y < 108) {
      timer++;
      if (timer == 40) {
        sentence.Y++;
        timer = 0;
      }
      Wait(1);
  }
  sentence.Remove();
}

Help - this is integral to getting the game working! Thanks, Mark.

[DOWNLOAD PAGE]

DOWNLOAD PAGE



Do your Wednesdays feel joyless and empty now Parliament’s in its summer recess? Does 12 o’clock pass without event, leaving you deflated and depressed?

Prime Minister’s Questions is every political nut’s favourite time of the week and we all deserve to enjoy it whenever we want.

With that in mind, Pixel Politics has come up with PRIME MINISTER’S QUESTIONS: THE GAME. Play as the prime minister in this satirical, retro style game as he faces his weekly grilling from Her Majesty’s Opposition.

With sound effects by Matthew Brown.



Go to the Games Page.

DOWNLOAD PAGE

I have written, with the help of a few threads on the forum, a function for typewriter-style credits.

Unfortunately, when I re-use the function for the next line of the credits, the line before disappears because I've written over it.

I tried having the Overlay* credit as an argument of the function, so a new Overlay is created each time a use it. This didn't work though, for some reason, and it was also really messy. I was declaring an Overlay for each line of the credits and exporting/importing them all. Eurgh!

Here is the code for the function and then how it's use in the room script. Any ideas how I can tell it to make a new Overlay for each use of the function and have it stick around so the credits don't disappear.

Code: ags

function CreditsMessage(String message, int y_coord)
{
  Overlay* credit;
  int cred_colour = (Random(51000) + 9000);
  int i = 1;
  while (i < message.Length) { 
    String cred_part = message.Truncate(i);
    credit = Overlay.CreateTextual(10, y_coord, 300, Game.SpeechFont, cred_colour, cred_part);
    Wait(2);
    i++;
  }
  credit = Overlay.CreateTextual(10, y_coord, 300, Game.SpeechFont, cred_colour, message);
  Wait(20);
}

Code: ags

  CreditsMessage("XXXX",50);
  CreditsMessage("XXXX",55);
  Wait(20);
  CreditsMessage("XXXX",65);
  CreditsMessage("XXXX",70);
  Wait(20);
  CreditsMessage("XXXX",75);
  CreditsMessage("XXXX",80);
  Wait(20);
  CreditsMessage("XXXX",85);
  CreditsMessage("XXXX",90);
  Wait(20);
  CreditsMessage("XXXX",95);
  CreditsMessage("XXXX",100);
  CreditsMessage("XXXX",105);
  CreditsMessage("XXXX",110);
  CreditsMessage("XXXX",115);
  Wait(120);
  RestartGame();

Thanks (again!)
Mark

Is there a way of checking if all array elements are the same?

i.e. ask the condition "Is every element in the String array questions the same value?" but in code.

I had no idea where to ask this question, as it's basic programming more than scripting, so apologies if I've broken the rules.

Cheers,
Mark

I am having to use character.Think instead of character.Say in order to display the text on some kind of background.

This, unfortunately, throws up some issues:

1) Because I am using a custom GUI for Thinking Bubble, the text does not display in the character's speech font colour, which I'd like it to.

2) The character's ThinkingView only loops once when using character.Think. It need to loop continuously, like it would under character.Say.

Any ideas, people?

Many thanks,
Mark

Basically, I have a list of questions of the which a character will say one of them at random.

I was thinking of setting up a load of strings at the beginning of the script, which are obviously the possible questions and naming them so:

Qnm - where n is the category number and m the question number within that category.

i.e.

Code: ags

String Q00 = "How are you?";
String Q01 = "Do you like the weather outside?";
...
String Q21 = "What are your hobbies?";

The problem starts with getting that into the .Say() function. I could have:

Code: ags

n = Random(5); //There are 6 categories
m = Random(2); //There are 3 questions in each category

How do I then get the n and m I have defined to relate to the Strings?

I'm a lousy coder, I hope someone can help!
Thanks


EDIT:

I found this online:

Code: ags

#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
void main() {
  clrscr();
  char arr[3][12]= { "Rose", "India", "technologies" };
  printf("Array of String is = %s,%s,%s\n", arr[0], arr[1], arr[2]);
  getch();
}

It is some direction for setting up an array of Strings, which I didn't think you could do. So, I suppose the question now is: How do I implement this in AGS, or is there an better alternative?

Thanks again.

Anyone interested in UK politics as well as pixel art may want to take a look here.

Let me know what you think. Hopefully I'll be updating it a few times a week.

Hi everyone,

I have set this little survey up to help me with a game project I have going on...

It's only four questions and will probably make no sense unless you live in the UK or you are VERY interested in British politics.

Anyway, take a look: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TY8FBJN

Thanks

It should perhaps be glass glass glass, but anyway:

I'm having trouble making the large windows in my backgrounds look like they have glass in them. I think I've cracked the 'background windows', but this one scene has glass in the foreground. What do you reckon?

Background glass:


Foreground glass:


They are both x2 resized. The second background is unfinished, in fact, the foreground for that one I'm having trouble with in general. It is supposed to be from outside the building, looking in. The building is VERY high up, and a bit shabby, so it's going to need more detail and some sort of fog layer.

Two questions in one thread, I know, but it's getting close to the end for backgrounds in TLG and these are my last few issues.

Thanks, everyone!

How do I find out how many items the player currently has in their inventory?

I found out how to get the total number in the game but that's all.

I'm sure this must be somewhere in the help/manual. I just can't find it for the life of me.

Cheers,
Mark

For some reason, the dialog option GUI (I'm using my own) is the only GUI with which you can't use the "gui.Visible = true/false" feature... It just doesn't work.

Is there a way of detecting when it's visible?

This also came up as part of this issue for which we found no solution.

Basically, I want the ShakeScreenBackground to keep going indefinitely until I abort it manually (by setting length to zero) how would I do this?

I have looked through a few threads but nothing has come up...

I'm using this bit of script:

Code: ags

function on_event(int event, int data) {

if (event == eEventAddInventory) PlaySound(50);
}

...to play a sound when the player picks up an item.

The problem is, it doesn't like being blocked so the sound ends up playing after the 'pick up' animation has finished.

Any ideas on making this a function (or event) impervious to blocking?

I've got a GUI (gdialog_backgro) that I want to appear behind my custom text-window GUI (gdialog) that I am using for dialog options.

This obviously means I want gdialog_backgro to re-position and re-size when the dialog options (gdialog) appear, so it appears behind it nicely.

So, I have this in repeatedly_execute_always:

Code: ags

if (gdialog.Visible == true) {
  gdialog_backgro.Visible = true;
}
else if (gdialog.Visible == false) {
  gdialog_backgro.Visible = false;
}
 
gdialog_backgro.X = dialog_topleft.X;
gdialog_backgro.Y = dialog_topleft.Y;
gdialog_backgro.Height = gdialog.Height;
gdialog_backgro.Width = gdialog.Width;

Where dialog_topleft is the top-left corner graphic used in the text-window GUI (gdialog).

The first problem: With this code, gdialog_backgro NEVER appears.

The second problem: If I just set gdialog_backgro to always be shown, the re-sizing and re-positioning doesn't work either. It just stays in same place on the screen, at the same size regardless of dialog options appearing.

i.e. like this (where the GUI in question is the semi-transparent rectangle thing):



This is a long and annoying issue, so I hope I've put it clearly.

Thanks in advance,
Mark

I've got a puzzle I need to (finish) scripting where you have a certain amount of time to do something.

I basically need:

1. You cause char to move (done this bit)
2. Have 20 secs to do something whilst they are gone.
3. After 20 secs, the char moves back.

Haven't got a clue where to start, because Wait() blocks other events and all the solutions to a "non-blocking wait" involve something repeating over and over - which this doesn't.

Thanks in advance for the help, everyone!

SEE BOTTOM FOR NEW PROBLEM

Got this for DOS and using DOSbox to play. Unfortunately, after finishing the second job in New Washington I need some "protection codes" to proceed or the game gets stuck.

I've searched and searched on the internet for these - no luck. Plenty of people have the same problem, though.

Would appreciate any advice you people have, I'm sure someone here has had the same problem. It's a beautiful game and I want to be able to finish it.

Cheers

So, I'd like to be able to have an animated inventory item cursor hotspot marker sprite. At the moment, the ordinary cursor will animate when over a hotspot/object. I want to have the inventory cursors to do the same.

Any ideas?

Have I missed this somewhere in the help file/manual?

Thanks,
Mark

My first time entering the MAGS competition and my first completed game!

It's a bit short but I hope people enjoy. It's also very very easy! I started marking this for my girlfriend over a year ago, so decided to finish it off for MAGS. Unfortunately, I only found out about the compo on Saturday!

Wall-E and Eve have returned from their adventure on the Axiom but there is still plenty of rubbish to sort out back home on Earth!

Download!

       

Zombie Cow Studios, the lovely people who brought us Ben There, Dan That! and Time Gentlemen, Please! have just officially announced their new project, Privates, with Channel 4.

Go here for Zombie Cow update. Go here for the press release (text below).

Super excited about this, I've not seen a game quite like it!

London, 11th of May 2010

A BIT CLOSE TO THE BONE: Zombie Cow Studios and Channel 4 offer FIRST LOOK at new game ‘Privates’, which aims to poke a little light where the sun doesn’t shine.

BRITAIN. Land of Hope and Glory-holes. Where pregnant, waddling teenagers take up the full width of the pavement with their oversized triplet pushchairs, unaware that their rampant, perpetual humping has filled them to the brim with all manner of grotty infections.

Privates is a platform twin-stick shooter in which you lead a teeny-tiny gang of condom-hatted marines as they delve into peoples’ vaginas and bottoms and blast away at all manner of oozy, shouty monsters. It’s rude, funny, bitingly satirical and technically pretty accurate if you don’t count the tiny people or the germs with teeth.

“Privates is a totally crazy concept. It’s very exciting to finally be able to reveal what we’re up to,” said Dan Marshall, founder of Zombie Cow Studios. “We’re exploring some pretty unique gaming environments and themes… I can honestly say I can’t imagine you’ve ever played anything quite like it. These first five screenshots should give you a pretty good idea of what we’re up to, but there’s a hell of a lot more to come soon.”

“Channel 4 have been awesome in giving us a load of money and then keeping pretty quiet no matter how filthy and objectionable the content became. It’s gone really well.”

Privates boasts five whole levels of bug-busting action across a variety of gorgeous 3D locations, with a fully-voiced comedy script and a nutso soundtrack. You never know, you might even learn something handy about your downstairs-department.

Privates contains the word ‘merkin’ and is a PC and Xbox360 download developed by Zombie Cow Studios, creators of the critically-acclaimed indie title Time Gentlemen, Please!

The PC version will be available to download for free from Channel 4 and E4 websites this summer. The Xbox one will probably cost a little bit of money, we’ll see.