Messages

The limit could easily be increased to 32767 sprites, but the problem is that the AGS Engine internally uses a 16-bit int in various places when dealing with sprite numbers. So to raise it higher than that or remove it completely, would require the engine to be changed to use 32-bit ints for sprite numbers.

So basically, yes it can be done, but it's a non-trivial change.

So do you have plans to change the engine to 32-bit ints in the future ? I don't care how long it takes, i would be very satisfied even if you would do it 3 years later 

Thanks Buckethead, that's a good idea and i should do it. Wish i had a motion capture device

Forget about episodic releases dkh, use my idea  Divide your game into sections. Give a password to player at the end of each section to play next. I will do it that way so i can have 100 K sprites easily Player can't know password unless someone tells him

This way you don't split your screnario which shouldn't be indeed.

Oh i'm sorry, this image is more clear so you can see legs :



If i lower his shoulders a bit would he stand more relaxed ? Should i do something with hands ?

Some people keep saying that character stands like a robot. What do you think ? is it true ?

As far as using 3D models..why the aversion to using the 3D plugins that would allow for 3D backgrounds or characters? That's what I don't get really.

Because plugins you mentioned or any other 3d game engines don't provide quality graphics compared to pre-rendered. They just provide plain lighting and shadow systems which can never compete with 3d Studio Max. Additinally, don't forget anti-aliasing and texture filtering issues. In fact, there is a solution to that called "texture baking". It is an illusion that displays pre-rendered background images in real time render to make viewer think background is illuminated real time. I'm not defending anything against your question, i just told that as an info.

I don't want to be misunderstood. I respect you monkey_05_06 and grateful to your helps. I don't want to be seen a trouble maker, i'm just asking questions about things that i don't know. Obviously you have a deep knowledge of programming and nobody can say the opposite. I just wanted to know whether this limit is removable or not and i got the answer thanks to you. I think discussion about sprite limit will be useful to anyone who wants to make a game with lots of sprites, and thank you for joining discussion to share your experience and knowledge.

I came up with an old school idea. Do you remember Flashback ? The game was giving player passwords between levels and if you start a new game and type any pass given, you would continue the game from beginning of desired level. How about we adapt it to AGS.For example, divide your game to 5 with each one has 30k sprites. Give player a password at the end of each section and if the player starts next section, he must type correct password to continue game. What do you think ?

There is only a small issue about it. Passwords you give should be random in case player find it from somewhere i.e. internet. Is it possible to make some plugin-module about creating random passwords between sections ? I think sections should be connected to each other somehow to recognize passwords. If it is not possible, it is still a good idea don't you think ? You wouldn't mess with variables at least.

Just one thing, I wonder if having like 60k sprites in one exe would alter the performances compared to 30k, but regardless of the method or the difficulty involved, I think it would be nice to split the resources.

Regards

As far as i know, AGS loads sprites only the game needs in real time and delete them from memory when they are no more used. I don't think any PC has at least 1 GB RAM would be affected no matter how many sprites the game has.


If sprite limit won't change in the future, i think General Traitor's same perspective for each room and reducing frames ideas may be solution to make a long game, and you shouldn't have very much NPCs though  

As Calin said, i use different perspectives for each room and character views and sprites have to be different to be looked physically correct angle and lighting . Calin also has a good point there that why don't we use another engine.

I will explain my personal reasons why i continue with AGS. There are great 3d engines like DX Studio and Unity3d to make 3d adventure games. Because of 5 reasons i don't want to use them.

1- If you make commercial games using them, you pay lots of money as a licence fee. AGS is free.
2- When you export your skeleton systems of your characters from 3d Studio Max to a 3d engine, it causes some technical troubles and some character animations don't look right.
3- You can't use high poly 3d models in 3d engines because they use lots of RAM. Even if you use, your game has no more than 10 FPS.
4- I'm really used to AGS scripting so i don't know if i want to learn other engines' scripting languages.
5- You can't use 'indirect illumination', 'displacement', 'refraction', 'caustics' features in 3d engines, so your game's graphics will eventually look bad if you are not a professional artist.

AGS has too much missing features compared to 3d engines but they don't bother me, except 30K limit  

...and i'm actually doing it in my project in development : Bizarre Earthquake. I have 31 walking frames for each direction. 31x8=248 sprites for one room, just walking. If you have 20 rooms for example, walking sprites take 4960 of 30K. Nearly % 16,5 of total. Think you have 1000 sprites for each room for player character. You would easily reach the limit and you wouldn't have a big-long game.

I hope CJ aready think to fix this issue in his long term plans.

I wanted to see what would happen if sprites overreach 30K and that's why i prepared a test game. I created 2x2 pixels 1000 sprites and imported them in AGS 30 times. Here is the result when you overreach 30K :



...and when i try to save the game with 30002 sprites, i get this error :

Error: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
Version: AGS 3.2.0.103

System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt. ---> System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
   at save_sprites(Boolean )
   at save_game(Boolean compressSprites)
   at AGS.Native.NativeMethods.SaveGame(Game game)
   at AGS.Editor.NativeProxy.SaveGame(Game game)
   at AGS.Editor.AGSEditor.SaveGameFilesProcess(Object parameter)
   at AGS.Editor.BusyDialog.RunHandlerOnThread()
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at AGS.Editor.BusyDialog.Show(String message, ProcessingHandler handler, Object parameter)
   at AGS.Editor.AGSEditor.SaveGameFiles()
   at AGS.Editor.Components.FileCommandsComponent.CommandClick(String controlID)
   at AGS.Editor.ToolBarManager.ToolbarEventHandler(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.RaiseEvent(Object key, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripButton.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.HandleClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.HandleMouseUp(MouseEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.FireEventInteractive(EventArgs e, ToolStripItemEventType met)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.FireEvent(EventArgs e, ToolStripItemEventType met)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mea)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

...and what if a clever player tries to open second game in the folder ? He would start the game not from the beginning, from the half of it. monkey explained it well but i still have suspicions someone manage to break it.

Chris says "If you think any of these limits is a serious problem, contact me and I can probably increase it." We have to trust Chris  

Hi folks, i'am having problem with my game in development. I guess my sprites will exceed 30.000 and i don't know what to do. I PM Chris but he didn't replied back, may be he is busy. Is there anyone knows how to remove this sprite limit ? Or how to raise it ?

New screens :

poltergeist, thanks for the explanation. Size difference between foots is incorrect. Foots are identical i can assure you, T-Pr As poltergeist said, it must be an optical illusion.

Man, i'd really love to make this game with AGS 3d. Please Chris, try at least ! For me ?  :o May be you'd like to anounce AGS 3d on the first of April ?  :

I'd like to share Julia's screen shot :

Looks like fun, I like the 3d backgrounds. It'll be interesting to see how you do the exterior locations! Good luck with the game.

Thanks. Exterior locations consist of trees, grass, road etc. They are not as detailed as interiors so don't expect much. I will publish them soon.

Thanks PuNKKoMmANDO77 

@sterlingsmith; I used 3d software to generate those models, added them textures and rendered it to image output so AGS can use it. Like any other AGS games, i'm using old technique that you import sprites and backgrounds into AGS and animate them. The difference is my graphics look 3d, but the truth is they are 2d indeed, that's all

@Kiwi; i sucked at the very beginning of using 3ds max, but you know you level up when time passes and make things better. 3d Studio Max has a very detailed help file for so i'm sure you'll get used to it 

Hi, thanks for comments. I want to show what AGS is capable of. Hope my game and other 3d projects will change Chris's idea to continue to develop AGS

I'm using 3d Studio Max 2009 and ArtGem for post effects. There is currently 3d Studio Max 2011 available. Most popular 3d modelling software in the world. Highly recommended.  You can visit Autodesk's web site if you're interested : http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?id=13567410&siteID=123112

I will update the thread with new screenshots soon.

[Release date :]

  Bizarre Earthquake is a third-person point & click adventure game. The story is about a seismologist and her assistant who try to uncover the mysteries behind a bizarre earthquake they encounter. Cansu, the seismologist, is very ambitious. She will do anything to discover the truth and share it with the world to further her career. Her assistant, Bora, reluctantly assists her in this mysterious adventure.

FEATURES

* 2 playable and switchable characters.
* Each character has their own puzzles to solve. This means the player always has two options to progress through the story.
* Awesome graphics.
* Better animations than the indie standarts.
* Cinematic cutscenes.
* Large variety of bonuses await to be unlocked.

Planned release : February 2016. 

   Release date : 2016 February

Thanks for your support to be Greenlit : http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=572234923

   Features :

   * 2 playable and switchable characters.
   * Each character has its own puzzles, issues to deal with. It means player has always 2 options to progress through the story.
   * Awesome graphics.
   * Amazing animations.
   * Cinematic cutscenes.
   * Adventurous player statistics.
   * Large variety of bonuses depend on how adventurous you are.


   
   Download demo (old version) : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3R2BuE1oqRYZl9aOGx6am5yNVE/view?usp=sharing

   Screenshots :

Congratulations on your first commercial try my friend. I will sure buy it when i get my credit card back from my mom this evening She went shopping you know