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As I read the initial post, I had the thought : "Does anyone have a tutorial on writing a tutorial?" 

-Bill

Now she's bow-legged

I love this stuff.  You guys are amazing sprite artists.

The right arm's movement doesn't look quite right (the character's right, the screen's left).  Also, on the final version in-game, you might want to put a delay in there when the shovel hits the ground and then slightly slow the rest of the 'tossing' animation, simulating the resistance of the added weight in the shovel.

-Bill

Thats it!  Thanks so much!  I need to check it out, maybe I need to get a copy again or something.  Its odd how after so many years, something odd like this will just pop abck into your head.

Thanks again,

Bill

Recently I've found myself thinking of an adventure game from the early-mid 1990s that I loved.  I can't remember the name, the publisher or much about it, but I do remember it was some kind of sci-fi thing.  If I remember correctly there were 3 monsters or mutants or something, but they were detectives or police..  I remember one was a vampire, and the guy could turn into mist.  I am probably wrong, but the name Psysomething has been coming to mind, like Psylocks or something, but I can't remember...

I have no idea why this game has been popping into my head lately, but its been driving me nuts not being able to think of the name..  Anyone remember this game?

Thanks,

Bill

Thanks guys. I read the books and now am at the cave. I let out the girl but how do I stop that evil guy at the pentagon?

Well, the book on demonology mentioned something about how to control demons..  Its how the robed man is controlling him.

The book also mentioned that there was one thing in particular which will allow you to control a demon..  One thing which happens to be more powerful than the thing mentioned above.

You need to begin by stopping the spell which is underway, then be careful and think quickly..


If you need more help :

First :

Spoiler

Use the iron rebar on the nearest stone to break the spell.

[close]

Then:

Spoiler

When the robed man sends the Jersey Devil after you, use the metal rebar on it as it advances.  Remember the one book said a Demon Stone could be used to control a lesser demon, but iron can be used to control any demon..  Iron beats neclaces.. Kinda like rock->paper->scissors

[close]

Hope it helps!

-Bill

I thought of her as a young girl.. The art adding the breasts is a little disturbing lol

-Bill

Leon has it right.  I put the bottle, ash and the resulting info in his spoiler code as extra stuff to do in the game.  Its not required, but will give more info on the story.  It also changes up some wording in the endgame.

Also..  You can get an alternate ending sequence by:

Spoiler

Not saving the girl in the cage.  Just leave her there.

[close]

-Bill

Love the Dr. Who.  I am definitely going to download this one when done.  Looks like Sonny Bonds: Alien Adventurer

BTW I like the timeframe of the game..  Loved Martha, didn't like Donna..  But thats just me. 

-Bill

I spent the past 2 days with about 6 hours of sleep total, working almost exclusively on the character sprites for my game (which I think came out amazingly).  I have the side-walkcycle and front-walkcycle done, and then moved onto my back-walkcycle...  Many hours staring at little dots on the screen with little to no sleep (my wife has been sick and I took vacation time from work, so I have nothing to do) have put me in a sort of stupor..  When I went to sleep last night, I was satisfied with this back-walkcycle.  When I opened it this morning, I almost choked in surprise.  It is simply attrocious..  Notice the rapidly changing crazy shading/shadows, notice the difference in the arm and leg widths, notice the difference in armpit and pelvis heights, notice.. just .. how horrible it is.. 

It really is amazing how skewed your perspective is when running on no sleep and with really tired eyes..  I had to post this just to laugh at it..  I have since re-done it properly



-Bill

That is really really amazing.  I envy you sprite-artist types..  It is so difficult yet you guys make it look so natural.

Kudos on a nicely done sprite.  I like the animated one too

-Bill

I caught that and fixed it  

-Bill

Hi Bill,

I think it might be best if you work on getting your shapes a bit nicer, and then worry about shading and colouring later .

Being pretty rubbish at high resolution sprites, I only had a go at the face, but I think this might be a direction you could consider taking the sprite:



Notice how I've tried to give the face a more realistic look? I noticed that your character had a very small forehead (one thing I learned drawing is that foreheads are HUGE compared to how I thought they were ) and also common things like googly eyes and an under-defined jawline. I tried cleaning these issues up with a simple set of colours, just trying to get a basic idea of shapes (which is the head on the left) and then I tried fiddling with the colours and adding some shading (the one of the right). As I said, I'm pretty rotten at anything higher than 320x240 res, so the shading is a bit terrible, but I think it's something you might be interested in .

Hope this helps!

WOW Ben, that is amazing.  The face looks so nice..  The forehead does look much more realistic, I didn't realize how bad mine looked in comparison.  Just, wow...  Thanks so much for the help with this.

I am using 3 colors, dark-mid-light for the shading.  Its come along nicely, I will post a screenshot when all is done (probably of the walkcycle).

Thanks again,

Bill

Thanks for the reply.  I appreciate the feedback!

It is intended for a 640x480 game. 

The face was (and probably still is) badly shaded.  I am having issues with it..  I think in the re-do below it looks a bit better, but still rough.

I desaturated the clothes, and re-lighted it as if a source were off to the right of the screen.  I think it looks like the light source is really strong now..  I am not sure..

I re-did the lines in the shoulders, trying to make is non solid-line (except the side-view, where I needed to differentiate between torso and arm and I didn't know how to do that..)

Please let me know any other ways I might clean this guy up and make it look nice.  My game screens are rather dark in a lot of respects (coloring and ambience), so I am afraid this might be a little too bright.



Thanks,

Bill

That pic of red with the background added gave me a REALLY strong feeling of nostalgia for King's Quest 1 and 2 for some reason..

-Bill

Was bored before bedtime since my wife is sick as a dog, so I re-tooled the image a bit. 



-Lowered the jacket length so that it looks a little nicer (in my opinion)
-Tried reworking the hair a bit
-Shaded the pelvis region
-Adjusted shoe height on side view
-Re-shaded as if light source were more above, casting deeper shadows down.

Again, and advice and tips welcome, I am a bit happier I think, but still not satisfied.

Thanks,

Bill

CHARACTER VIEWS:
------------

Edit: Fixed the picture link.  Sorry for the confusion




I am working on Episode 2 of my series, and wanted to re-do my main character to make it look a little smoother.  The old one was a little rough in retrospect. 

I am overall satisfied with how the proportions and 'feel' of the character came out, but I feel it is missing something.  I did this with the help of the tutorials out there, and tried to make a conscious effort not to have the shading be "pillowy".  The light source is above and south of the character for this.

I am not satisfied with the hair either..  It looks a little.. wormy I guess is the best description.  Anyone have any suggestions for how I can spruce this up?  The pants around the crotch area also..  I was unsure how to add detail at the pants-crease without making it look.. pornographic I guess is the best word?  I am also worried the legs are too short, as the pelvic area seems aweful long..

Finally, the face.  I want to add more detail to it, but am unsure how to go about doing so. 

Any help, suggestions, tips, etc will be most appreciated.  I am excited to try out this whole pixel art thing.

Thanks!

-Bill

Hey everyone.  I am currently working on the Murran Chronicles Episode 2 : Talons of Terror (shameless plug)

Anyway, I have the plot, story and dialogs all mapped out and am doing the actual game.  I realized that as it stands, I only have 3 puzzles in the entire game.  All are logical, well thought out and not just a simple "get A and use it to get B" type puzzles. 

I realized though, that without more puzzles, it really feels more like a detective type game where you are unravelling the mystery by talking to people and investigating the scenes..  It feels like less of a standard adventure game..

So as adventure game players, how do you feel about putting puzzles into a game just for the sake of having more puzzles?  I would do my best to make them well thought out, or make them at least fit the context/flow of the game, and not be random puzzles for no reason.

So my question is, should I add more puzzles, or just go with the very few puzzles as it stands?

Thanks,

Bill

Nice game! Well done.
It crashed for me consistently if I use something on the tombstone, say the crowbar.

I never figured the password and I had a bottle with water & ashes - never used. During the end dialog it was saying saying - ahh the bar is doing the trick as it said in the book - I never read a book; I guess finding the passcode and the book is optional

I enjoyed it, thanks.

Sorry for the confusion and the glitches and such.  I have since updated the game correcting all the issues you mentioned, the crashes, the book, etc.  You don't need the book to finish the game, and now the dialog reflects that instead of assuming you did.  (There is of course dialog if you do).

Glad you enjoyed it   Part 2 is under way now.

-Bill

There is also a program called DOSBox which might help.  I've run some old programs on XP and Vista with it in the past.

-Bill