Messages

Name: Taavi Viikman

Age: 20

Female/male: Male

1. How long have you been involved in the AGS community?

Ugh, some two or three years maybe? Don't know exactly, been on and off from the forums.

2. Why did you get involved in AGS?

Through a friends project, he needed help with graphics.

3. How do you feel that the fact that AGS is a freeware programme affect the community that has built up around it?

Its a new step to free society. But ofcourse, this nifty freeware programme allows people to try out game making. people can now see if they are suitable for it or not, they don't have to pay 300 bucks anymore to buy some engine or game creating environment. Now everyone can try.

4. How big a part does the AGS community play in your life?

I don't know. There aren't actually very many people I know, here... Community itself is very very small part, but projects take some time away, yes

5. Have you been involved in making any games using AGS? You may list them if you want

I am currently working on 3 projects. My first AGS experience was with the 2My little real life adventure" which is now abandoned.

6. Answer these questions if you have been involved in making AGS games:


a. Were you interested in game design/programming before you started using AGS?

Definately yes. I gathered up with a programmer several times to make a game. But all the times project died. Now I have several engines laying around without source code.

b. If no, do you feel that you would have got into game design without AGS?

I know I answered yes to previous question, but AGS has definately improved my game designing ability since with this I have gotten further into game design.

c. Do you make games using other programmes, either freeware or not? How does the eperience differ?
Currently no. I have always wanted to try out flash though.

d. Has AGS inspired you to try and take up game design professionally?

Yes, i have thought about it, but in that case I have to finish something big first, which probably involves lots of time and money.


7. Do you feel that there is a gender divide in the AGS community?

No, not exactly. However, I think boys and girls do make different games. Boys like to experiment more, for example, girls just take it more easier.

8. Are you likely to feel differently about a game if you discover it's made by a female? In what way?

I don't know. Probably not. Why? I fould feel different if it were super awesome game, though.

9. Do you feel that AGS makes it easier for females to get involved in computer game design? In what way?

Probably yes. It makes it easier for them as it makes it easier to everybody else.

10. Do you feel that there is a difference between the types of games created by males and females?

I answered that question in 7'th question.

11. Any other comments?

No.

Officially, Friday is considered the bad day, but as for me, it is Tuesday. Always the Tuesday, the day you feel most tired, have some important jobs to do and bad news come to your way, the time where you stay longer in all kinds of annoying facilities like school etc.

As for today. khm, yesteday, the day went quite easy... Except my mom yelled at me for two hours because I still havent taken about 100 bottles, a huge pile, to a specific bottle recycling center which is located some 100 meters from my home... Finally I gave in and took the bottles.
I woke up early and planned to do some work but instead I've been writing e-mails and stuff almost all day. Went into city to buy my stuff, but that was regular, had a bike trip afterwards.


A normal day, i guess, nothing overly spectacular.

Nice pic.

Very well done, better than I am capable of. However, if you want nitpicks, here are few:

There seems to be certain line between background hills and hills in the horizon, like there is nothing in between. Too layered, perhaps.

The second thing is that the airship and castle seem to share focus. One needs more detail, sharper colors. Or, since the ship is moving, a bit of motion blur or something....?

Does such massive graphics have any benefits for strategy game? Seems like waste of space, blocking the view, very unstrategical.

I am more into serious games, so my answer is yes. I am sick of those wannabe Monkey Island clones... its just so unoriginal. All there seems to be in AGS community are games with some random thing, which is supposed to be humorous, a shitty sequel to some classic or some idiotic parody... No serious games...

However, a serious game should be serious, not some overhyped fear game, that has same sounds and same kind of 'creepy' graphics all over, like blood on every god damn wall...

A serious game should be real.

Maybe its a stolen money that laid hidden all those years?

And some blokes do a whole quality game from scratch and make it freeware....

They were naive.. maybe, but clearly they wanted to make money with that game, easy money I'd say to that. And it took them 10 years to make such game, wtf??? Sounds like plain stupidity.

It depends, what do you need your laptop for?
Gaming? Just internet surfing? Some more serious? 3d?

I am planning to get myself an XPS also, 15* is a bit high on prize, I think I'll do with 13* Still, laptop prizes are quite high here in Estonia, compared to the US or GB. I am hoping maybe someone can buy it for me and send it to me (I will transfer you the money of course)?

You think Dell XPS 13* is good enough for some little 3D and Aftereffects?

I have always been somewhere in the middle in exams scoring. 9'th was the easiest, 12'th was.. harder but well managable, no way you could fail those....

I am an ex smoker.

I did some 5 cigarettes in seventh grade, then I quit. But damn, quitting is hard, I did two cigarettes again a few weeks back.

But it was disgusting enough, so I don't think I will be doing it any time soon. But I am something like vertigo described.

Help with programming needed!


I have several projects on hand, but you would need to help me out with only one of them. I will provide all the graphics and need an experienced AGS programmer so I could concentrate on graphics. My portfolio is: http://www.clicksandbleeps.com/pixels.html

The programmer must be familiar with the AGS programming environment, while most of the stuff would just be marking hotspots etc, there are quite some non standard things to make. I let you choose which project you like the most, currently I have two, which some of the graphics have already been provided by me, and one in starting position. I'd just like to finish one of them and I find the best way to do it is to have some help with the programming so I can be sure that my stuff gets implemented into a game and can work full time on it.

You won't be required to work full time since obviously I can't pay you. But you have to have enough time to put some effort into the project. Hopefully we can make a good team, work together on puzzles and storylines and finish the stuff when needed.


If you are interested, drop me a PM or e-mail taavi.viikman@gmail.com

The longest Journey is just a big joke - just a commercial effort to increase sells by including every story genre there is out there... sci-fi, fantasy, medieval,  etc... UGH, what a mess! Purists like me want to puke on that.

Just want to say that I think genre "purism" has about as much merit as arguments for "racial purity"; i.e. none. Sci-fi and fantasy (like all pulp genres) have been miscegenated from their very beginning, and TLJ is just a latter-day example of a tradition that goes back to Edgar Rice Burroughs and beyond. You're free to put as many restrictions as you want on what you personally enjoy, but don't kid yourself into thinking you're protecting the "purity" of something that was never pure in the first place.

What exactly do you mean?

The reason why SF hasn't been pure is merely because of the types of BS!
Oh, are you talking about the old days eh? The times when Captain Nemo ruled the world? Well, those days are over, and it was sort of science fiction in those days, you know. Although Asimovs masterpeces can never be compared to such pieces.

I hope that is a lesson for you to never trust electronic compaines. it was your own naive mind that decided to buy printer and a scanner in one piece -- in my opinion, that is just redicolous. You can't just hope anything good from it, especially if the price isn't anything either. How was the quality at least?

I also have a printer, used it to its fullest, now its out of ink and I have no plans to fill it up. i once tried, but they sold me an old ink cartridge -- damn bastards!!!!

I was not joking. When i don't feel the rust eating away the metal rack that is blocking my way, or crusting down paint on the walls, dusty and smoked bricks, ashes collected in the corners, half rotten wood pillars etc, its all in vain. If there are areas of useless exploration, there has to be at least something worth the effort to keep players going.

You do realize, that graphics has to be really good if you want the game to be fully enjoyable Since urbex is 60% gfx.

I am a veteran of WW1, what do you want to know?

Me too have my own website. But you have to find it!

Are the BGs 3D, does the program allow it to turn and add more complex rooms than just squares?

Heh. One could do a nice Urbex game, where you have to explore every possible room of an old building and solve the mystery by finding a secret tunnel

I love exploring, be it useless or not. I am curious type, and I am always wished that if something is interactable in real life, the game should allow me to interact with it also. I just start crippeling when some room is left unexplored.

I have never been a true fan of BS, story is just.. odd fantasy... Too childish in my opinion.
In fact, most of the good games are. The longest Journey is just a big joke - just a commercial effort to increase sells by including every story genre there is out there... sci-fi, fantasy, medieval,  etc... UGH, what a mess! Purists like me want to puke on that.

But GFX is really good though.