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Messages - straydogstrut

#461
Nice!=) Glad you remembered the air holes ;)


EDIT: Not my entry, just practising my animation. SpacePaw can claim as his own if he likes, otherwise no harm done=)


#462
I have a Mac but I would agree that PCs are better for gaming: you get more bang for your buck. I flip between Windows and Mac OS X, but I have to admit it wasn't until I got a Mac that I really started trying lots of demo software (installing stuff on a Mac is just SO quicker and a lot of stuff is completely free).

I don't like timed trials generally. They either limit you to so many days usage or the length of an individual play session. I remember playing the Black demo on the PS2 years ago and the frustration I had with the timed trial there. It only lasted about 5/10 minutes and then kicked you out to the main disc menu, meaning I had to reload the entire game every time. It didn't help that I tend to take a fairly cautious playstyle in FPSes, so I never really got anywhere. I did buy it, but only years later when I remembered it.

I much prefer to have a whole area of a gameworld to explore. It doesn't have to be full level: the Tombraider 3 demo had a stitched version of the Area 51 level that was much larger in the full game. For things like sports games, half a football match, for example, is fair. Same for adventure games, i'd prefer no time restrictions so that I can wander around at my leisure.

I agree with Ben when he says it depends on the nature of the game though. Again, a slower paced game just doesn't work well as a timed play session for me, whereas in a shoot 'em up or something it would probably add to the frantic pace. In general i'd rather avoid it, but if a game has to have a timed trial, then a couple of weeks play time would be okay. But if like me you get easily distracted by the eye candy that is the web, then it's very easy to have the trial run out before you get back to it=(

I also agree that the full version should add something - unlock more features, open the rest of the game, something - rather than just allowing you to play the game beyond the expiry. I wouldn't be put off by either approach, but it's always nice to see more content and feel you've been rewarded for buying. A nice approach i'm seeing a lot now is preorders for beta access. Or in the case of The Dream Machine - which i'd highly recommend - a free demo and optional free beta access. If the developer gets a good dialogue going with the players, it removes the corporate image of buying/selling.

Buy Me screens don't bother me much. It all depends on the delivery. A splash screen that can't be skipped would get annoying but if the price is right, i'd probably have bought the game long before that happened. A lot of things contribute to my buying decision overall: the game itself, the website and my opinion of the developer. I like developers who come across as quite quirky and unique in their own way.
#463
It's obviously just me then, but I find the original post highly offensive.

Rap or not, it is clearly hate speech and discriminates against various peoples on the grounds of sexuality and gender, amongst others. I don't appreciate seeing abuse of this kind on an otherwise friendly forum (especially one where the minimum age is 16!). At the very least, it violates the first two golden rules.

I have already asked for this to be removed, but I will leave it up to the mods to decide if this is necessary. I am simply putting my opinion on public record.
#464
Hi Mods,

Let me know if these are suitable:

imadethis.mp3

imadethislong.mp3

graciefilms.mp3

xfilesintro.mp3

xfilesoutro.mp3


DIC Logo - No luck so far, sorry. Unfortunately we don't seem to have any of the films/shorts listed as being produced by DIC (now Cookie Jar Entertainment), so unless you can suggest another film, it's a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack, sorry. But I haven't really looked online yet, so maybe you could get it off YouTube?

Cheers
#465
@ddq I think it's meant to be Love - The Adventure as that's what's on the blog, and you could read all the 'love is about..' sentences as talking about the game itself. So the main title of the game is simply 'Love' as I understand it.

Nice idea goldensox, I really love the graphics=)

Just messing around with Scribbletoo is very easy on the eyes. Very zen.
#466
Surprised you haven't had more response. Though if like me it's taken all week to come up with an idea, that could explain it.

I'm going to attempt this one. Just to double check: If I have another character in the animation, can that count as my custom 'object'?

Cheers
#467
Quote from: NsMn on Fri 18/06/2010 13:47:54
So, these two weeks, we're having a Mandela Memorial Sprite Jam [...]

- Ends July the 30th.


Think you're a month early. Unless you meant June 30th? I'm a little confused..

Ah I see what you meant now I think=)

Good theme tho. I have an idea already so will try to enter this.
#468
I don't have any past experience of OROW to draw on so you can safely ignore my ramblings, but I have to agree with ProgZmax.

Having worked on non-AGS games as part of a team a few times before i've found it can actually be harder the more people that are involved. There is the benefit of a larger skillset/shared workload of course, but it's harder to maintain a creative vision unless someone really takes charge.

I have no problem with team entries being in a OROW if it encourages them to finish a game.

Time to take my medicine..
#469
lol, thanks=) I spent the most time on that one, so if I had to pick one, that'd be it. Based it on actual in-game footage too=)
#470
My computer should be back up and running by then so i'll definitely have a go at entering this. A focused exercise is just what I need to get me moving. Good stuff.
#471
Looking good Indieboy=)

Here are mine:

Sunflowers creep me out (seriously)






watching the world go by - the last one I did but I was tired and rushed it=S






sports channels in a t.v. store






mariokart 64!






Finders keepers - Jim's entry gave me the idea ;)






If only one counts I/we can pick one. They could be vastly improved but I don't have any more time right now.

This was really fun=)
#472
Sound for me is most affective. It has the power to completely transform whatever you see on screen. The mere suggestion that 'something' is there is far more scary than actually seeing it. Visuals often can't compete with your imagination.

I scare very easily, I have to say, so I tend to avoid horror games=S
#473
These are all really great entries! Yours is especially beautiful Ilyich=)

Are we allowed to submit multiple entries? I have quite a few ideas i'm working on.. first attempt at pixel art tho so they're equally as bad as each other=S
#474
Haven't done this yet so I guess I should introduce myself here.

I'm a 27 year old guy from Scotland, now living in England with my partner, her family, and our three cats (aww!). I've just recently finished a games design degree so hopefully i've managed to remember a thing or too, but no promises!

I go by the alias 'straydogstrut' now, though I still show up as 'Rambo' on some sites (No resemblance! A friend gifted it to me years ago). It's also the title of my near-five year old blog and a reference to my all-time favourite anime: Cowboy Bebop. I absolutely love anime, and animation in general, as well as anything sci-fi. Oh and i'm always on the look out for recommendations so feel free=)

I'm a complete newcomer to adventure games reallly. I can count the number of commercial titles i've played on both hands. Honestly. In fact, despite the many games i've played in other genres, there are whole swathes of games that i've missed out on thanks to my humble gaming origins (no Nintendo consoles *gasp*). But thankfully my love of retro games means that there's a banquet of past titles for me to feast on, one game at a time, so i'm now making up for lost time. (That and I don't have any next gen consoles!) My gaming tastes are changing too and i'm now opening my eyes to adventure games (and my jaw's already on the floor seeing the stuff around here).

I was bitten by the adventure bug in my first year at uni when we had to design an adventure game for the DS, and became enraptured with the reviews and articles over at Quandaryland (now hosted at http://www.metzomagic.com). I think i've known about AGS for longer than that, but i've never actually sat down to learn it, and i've also messed around with Inform7 and TADS on and off. I've used other game making tools before too, such as DarkBASIC, Director MX 2004, and most recently Unity.

Now I have more free time (unemployment, woo!) I want to make some adventure games, one of the first being that DS game, with another to follow. But before that i'll be starting small. My strengths - or at least my main interests (i'll let the community be the judge of my strengths) - lie in storytelling and (non-AGS) scripting, although i've dabbled in most things except audio really. Puzzle design is probably going to be one of my weakest areas given my inexperience with adventure games.

I considered using Unity for this, since i've been using it all year, but why reinvent the wheel? AGS has been on my 'to learn' list for years anyway. Plus, the community here is one of the best i've seen, and hopefully I can prove myself a worthy part of it eventually.

I'd like to think i'm genuinely friendly and approachable, but i'll leave that for you to decide. I'm always keen to meet new people anyway, so feel free to say hello.

Uh, yeah. So that's me.
#475
Quote from: markbilly on Sun 06/06/2010 17:22:10
I just wrote a little post about this game over at HardyDev.com

http://hardydev.com/2010/06/06/3-day-month-developing-a-short-game/


Hope it's all right to be bumping this thread; it's not THAT old but still...I didn't get around to playing it 'til now, sorry=(

Really enjoyed this game. I had some problems with the sled too but other than that it was very straightforward. The animations were great, especially making the cubes. Does seem to be aimed at children, but nothing wrong with that given the subject matter. I'm a big kid at heart anyway ;)

Good article (and comments!) on hardydev, glad the process was helpful=)
#476
Ha, that video looks great Mods=) Personally i'd like to see a more story driven game, more exploration and puzzles, as opposed to action-based, but the little snippets in your video look awesome.
#477
Completed Game Announcements / Re: rein
Tue 15/06/2010 18:35:43
Ha, I loved this game. It's very short but totally worth it.

The backgrounds were great and the animations were superb. The opening caught me completely by surprise. Brutal.

The timed sections were fine, though i'm glad they weren't in every room as I wanted to look around. It was fair and so were the puzzles. I would just have liked to see more of them.

I didn't have any problem with the music myself, it was a little unsettling but I thought it set the mood well. However i'm not that musically inclined so Dualnames critique is probably more relevant. I really liked the ambient sounds as they suggested what was going on elsewhere in the building, and overall the sound effects themselves married well with the animations.

Domithan's Let's Play cracked me up, lol. My own playthrough was similar but I spoke to Henry. It was one of the highlights for me, though I felt the protagonist's dialogue was a bit heartless, lol. It would've been nice to see more of the characters' personalities, maybe a bit more interaction in the last room. Also, I agree that it was a bit strange that items disappeared after you used them (I mean the ones which you should still be holding).

Great little game, this made my day=) Oh and make a prequel/sequel!
#478
Lyaer covers some extremely good points, and all condensed into a single, readble post - I could never do that! - so i'd advise you to pay close attention. THere's plenty suggestions there to get the wheels turning.

As was said, just look around you for inspiration, there's a ton of every day objects that come across differently when you look at them in a new way. Puzzle Bots is worth a look, it definitely had The Borrowers feel for me and I lovedf that series. You might also want to look at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids movies. Really silly, preposterous entertainment but they might give you some ideas.

I'd be very keen to see a game centred around little people, but I don't have the experience with AGS to offer any help at the moment (or the hardware, heh, since my main pc died), but you should take Lyaer's and Baron's advice and make a start on it yourself, then ask questions in the relevant forums/recruit some help when you have something to work with.

Sounds good, I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
#479
Quote from: Vince TwelveSo, is it better to have these options even though they add more words, or to not have the options even though you loose the choice of getting a deeper understanding of the game world and its characters?

I'm fairly new around these parts and to adventure gaming in general so i'm not too put off by reams of dialogue. I actually savour it: being able to walk up to characters and while away the hours (okay, minutes!) exploring their personalities and further expanding the story still gives me a buzz. For me, the gameworld would be quite shallow without this extra depth. I love seeing how different characters interact or how the main character describes the world around him/her.

Quote from: GarageGothicRather, the problem as I see it, is that many designers use it as an excuse to dump every single bit of character backstory and history of the game's setting from their design document onto the player.

Very true, and one of the first things they flag up when you do writing classes. I'm the kind of person who appreciates that stuff, but I do agree that you can sometimes get away with just suggesting rather than filling out all that extra info. Personally though, I'd like it to be there if I happen to look for it.

Just make it optional - especially if I have to play through again and I don't want to sit through all the dialogue again - so yeah, you need to make it clear to the player what can be skipped. Consistent placement or colour is probably the easiest way to go, although colour is a little too jarring for my liking. Your suggested method of introducing new options after the important ones is nice. I'm sure some gamers would still feel the compulsion to go through all these optional branches, but I don't think that's such an issue (the content should lead them to realise that the branches are consistently optional). Oh and I like your train stop method - it's plausible and neat.

Quote from: Vince TwelveThe other alternative I'm considering is hiding most of this dialog behind STM/LTM interactions, which people following Res's development will understand.  The player will have to specifically be seeking out the information to find it.

I'd also like to see the split centred around the STM/LTM system. It's already looking really exciting, and maybe if it's so central to the game, players will find using it for dialogue quite natural.

Heh, sorry my rambling probably hasn't helped much. It's definately an important decision, you just have to find the balance. Both Dave and Joshua give good guidance: cutting whatever isn't fun and subtly feeding the player information, allowing their imagination to fill in the details. Showing not telling.
#480
Amazing! I'm one of those 'learn by reading' people so this is really great news for me and the good kick up the backside I needed to really get started with AGS. I can see myself using this in tandem with your videos. Oh and I'll definitely pick up a printed copy from Lulu when it's available=)
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