Messages

Yarr, AGSin' is the habit that doesn't stop.  The reviews just have to keep coming.

http://yesterdayssalad.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/my-god-its-full-of-stars/

Dualnames,

I really like the backgrounds, particularly the top one.  The use of color is pretty arresting throughout all of them, although the perspective is a little wonky towards the top of the middle one (it seems to lose consistency with the bottom 2/3 of the picture).

As for the characters, they look interesting, but I'm not sure how well they fit in with the backgrounds.  You seem to have a pretty strong talent towards using polygons with solid colors (ala "Another World"), and it would be neat to see the characters in the same style.  More specifically, they look a little pixel-y now by comparison to the backgrounds, which will make them look flat when they are combined.

Moving a little back on-topic, the tutorial is very interesting, but I can't help noticing that the sharp combo of bright white and blue making the whole scene seem a little unreal. Is it just my imagination, or is there something to it?

It does look unreal, or kind of like it came out of a story-book, which might be Andail's aim.  To look more "real," the image would need a little more contrast between light and dark within colors.  So too, a little more weathering on the docks/walls would make it look a little less pristine.  But again, it depends on what you're trying to evoke.

Have you considered eschewing pixel art?  It's clear from the concept drawing of Ivory (and art you've posted elsewhere in the forum) that your line-drawing skills are quite strong, and you might be able to parlay that into a faster development time from your concepts.

Spoiler

Have you tried looking around for something to smoke with the pipe?  Given that it's titled "the Crackwell Legacy," perhaps looking around on the floor might yield a little crack rock.  Maybe a soggy one.

[close]

This is a pretty tremendous background to start a tutorial with, Andail!  To echo the others here, any chance that you could add a few more interim images?  Or go a little further in-depth about the transition steps?

At long last, the Spooks review is up.

http://yesterdayssalad.wordpress.com/2007/10/13/death-becomes-her-but-first-a-retrospective/

Having completed most of the reviews that I set out to do at the start of this thread, I sadly must needs bow out for now.  While I hope to return to the AGS community sometime in the future, and complete more of the reviews that folks have asked for (and hopefully with a game of my own, for once!), I am happy to have sparked some small measure of outside interest in the excellent work that you all have been doing.  Given how much I've enjoyed your games, it really was the least I could do.

Yours in the consumption of coffee,
-Not with a bang.

----
Make sure to visit Yesterday's Salad, where "smart" isn't a four-letter word.  That would be "smar."

Also, a split-brain review of "What Linus Bruckman Sees When His Eyes Are Closed" is up.

http://yesterdayssalad.wordpress.com/2007/10/09/art-and-gaming-unabashed/

(The review is now updated thanks to constructive comments from the AGS community.)

(Brief) Review of ATZ is up. -nwb 

http://yesterdayssalad.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/atziens/

P.S.
Cool people link to Yesterday's Salad on their web pages.  Those in the know also get it on RSS feed.

To remedy a long-standing neglect on my part, I am happy to report that a review of Happy Ducky Adventure is now up.

http://yesterdayssalad.wordpress.com/2007/10/02/aux-champs-elysees/

However, given the brief nature of the game, I had to make it part of a double-review.  AGSers, I beg your continued patience and forgiveness.

La Croix Pan review, finally up.  Sorry about the lag.

Hey hey, can I get a Mod from the congregation?

Back from holiday torpor, reviews of Nelly Cootalot and Mind's Eye are up.

Le Croix Pan, WLBSWHEAC, HDA, and Spooks soon to follow. 

From here on out, I will restrict announcing reviews to PM-ing authors when I review their titles -- much as I'd like to keep bumping this thread whenever there's a review, I'm not sure that's really an appropriate use of the forums -- as opposed to, y'know, info that helps people make games or what-have-you.

Cheers,
-Notwithabang.

http://yesterdayssalad.wordpress.com

Working on those reviews, will have them out soon.

Someone kindly brought to my attention that I didn't mention much about the audio in either my review for Blackwell Unbound, or my review for A Tale of Two Kingdoms.

As it happens, I am a few steps away from being tone deaf, and thus, I really am not able to comment intelligently about audio (especially music). The only aspect of it that I really can say much about is voice, as there are characteristics of it (such as pronunciation) that I can more readily discern than tone.  However, I did not mean to ignore the considerable work (both in terms of time and quality) that went into the audio for either of those games.

After getting someone to walk me through the two games' respective music, it is clear that both Thomas Regin (for Blackwell Unbound) and the team behind AToTK's audio (Nikolas, Kole McRae, Ricardo Ferreira, and Love Fagerstedt) did truly excellent (if very different) work.  In the future, I will get someone with a better ear to help me out with that portion of the review.

Cheers,
-notwithabang.

Alright, it would seem that the list may need to be adjusted somewhat to make room for ducks and Allied snipers.

Alright, a review of "A Tale of Two Kingdoms" is up.

http://yesterdayssalad.wordpress.com/2007/09/09/i-for-one-welcome-our-new-goblin-overlords/

Next up: Anna, Mind's Eye, META, What Linus Bruckman Sees When His Eyes Are Closed, Reactor 09, Nelly Cootaloot, Cirque De Zale, Spooks, and... your game!

More to come!  Send us games!  Recommend games for review!
-notwithabang...

Hello, AGSers!

Our blog, Yesterday's Salad (http://yesterdayssalad.wordpress.com), is expanding from being a "lit-crit and society" blog to also cover AGS games.  We recently reviewed "Blackwell Unbound" and "Ben Jordan Case 6," and the articles were remarkably well-received by our non-video-gamer readership. 

So, if you've got a *finished* game that you would like to expose to a different and/or wider audience, please let us know.   Our reviews are generally quite positive (we like AGS games and would like to aid in their proliferation wherever possible), and we'd like to think that our (slight) criticisms are entirely constructive.  We can't really review betas or otherwise unfinished games (and correspondingly, we're posting on the general forum and not the critics' lounge area) because we write primarily for a non-technical audience, and furthermore, we don't really have the know-how.

Let us know, and keep up the good work!
-Notwithabang...