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this is a little out there, but I know some of you guys dabble in 3d, so...anyone know of any good free or trial plugins animating clothing in max?  I have got clothfx but my version is buggy.

if something like this exists for another 3d program like blender or cinema 4d that will work for me also.

This computer generated image is what I would probably look like were I to remove my shirt as well.



So who else is going topless?

Thanks.  I know what you're thinking --  puzzle, adventure, RPG, arcade...which is it?

The mechanics were chosen for a specific reason.

Mainly I want it to be an adventure game, but my definition of an adventure game is more of just a relaxed game where you can search around and find clues and use logic to put them together...not something where I'm wandering around aimlessly without direction, or find apuzzle with no logical solution.  It's going to be based around logic pure and simple...so if you need a walkthrough, it's because you weren't smart enough, not because you didn't happen to find the randomly hidden skull for example.

I only put in the RPG elements such as statistics, customizeability, and equippable useable weapons because I want the player to become attached to their character, and I find this only happens when you feel you have had a part in developing who the characvter is.  I don't feel this in KQ, but I do feel it in QFG.

Also, I don't want the magic items to just feel like worthless "plot" items..I hate that in a game.  But the player only values and respects items which help them in combat...so that's what I'm doing.

But just because there will be combat doesn't mean the combat has to be boring dice rolling like a typical RPG...I wantthere to be some skill involved.  And this is where the arcade comabt style comes into play...so combat (which won't be the focus) will be fun when it happens.

You also feel greater satisfaction when you defeat an opponent and you had a hand in it.  I have basically chosen every element out of what I think will satisfy the player the most...and that goes for the entire plot as well...I am trying to borrow the same kind of 3 act structure and thematic elements that make movies successful IMO.

So...hopefully you will all enjoy it.  It has gone through a lot of changes since what I was working on last year.

[When Wistan accepts a dying fugitive's wish to deliver an item of great value, he has no idea that it will lead to the unearthing of an historical secret that will change his life forever.Branded as an accomplice to the fugitive, Wistan sets out on a quest to find the mysterious recipient of his burden with little more to go on than a name.The answers he seeks are hidden all around him, and danger faces him at every turn.Ã, Everything seems to draw him deeper and deeper into the mysterious haunted forest known as the Tanglewood.Ã, Does Wistan possess the determination and wit to succeed?Ã, Play the game to find out...]

When Wistan accepts a dying fugitive's wish to deliver an item of great value, he has no idea that it will lead to the unearthing of an historical secret that will change his life forever.

Branded as an accomplice to the fugitive, Wistan sets out on a quest to find the mysterious recipient of his burden with little more to go on than a name.

The answers he seeks are hidden all around him, and danger faces him at every turn.Ã,  Everything seems to draw him deeper and deeper into the mysterious haunted forest known as the Tanglewood.Ã,  Does Wistan possess the determination and wit to succeed?Ã,  Play the game to find out...

What you will find
•   Original plot and expansive history of medieval game world
•   Original poetry, riddles, and rhymes
•   Mentally challenging word and logic puzzles
•   Fantastic colorful hand drawn backgrounds
•   3D rendered sprites and items
•   Numerous different character animations
•   Arcade style combat
•   Findable weapons and equipment
•   Character creation where individual strengths and weaknesses are chosen
•   Carefully selected musical accompaniment from real composers and musicians featuring such artists as Patrice Deceuninck, Faith and the Muse, and Cocteau Twins
•   A surprising conclusion with plans for a sequel
•   Ability to export character for use in the eventual sequel

What you won't find
•   Limited mindless fetch puzzles
•   Impossible to be a dead-man-walking
•   Enough direction and clues will be given so that completing the game should not necessitate a walkthrough for a determined player
•   No annoying MIDI music
•   No encouragement to engage in fights (no experience points)

Project start date: 12/03
Expected completion date: None yet
Accomplices: none
Progress report:

The plot and game history is basically all done (although subject to minor changes as I continue with the dialogue).  Basically I have a lot of background art to draw and then a number of characters to model, and then it should be smooth sailing.

Contact: sheinric(at)uvm.edu (hidden for webcrawlers)

Screenshots:

Yep I just thought of that.  It is the easiest way to go...plus it means I can have his arms raised a little and put some semitransparent ripples around him where the water would be...

Hmm..your intermediate time is not even in the same ballpark as your expert time! 

what a horrible score
I could get all the mines in less than 100 sec when I was crazy about the game. Now days I just play it to fill time while pages load on my crap dial-up connection.
You can actually use the chance thing to your advantage. It is easier to guess all the difficult ones first, and if you survive, you can clear up the easier ones for a great score

Under 100 sec?  No way...

but yes, I also play to pass the time while pages load...

this would have been my best time...I usually do aroudn 180-190..I've never seen anyone who could do it faster than that. 

If you can beat 100 let's see a screenshot big shot!   (I'm sure you're good at photoshop but let's be men)

having the character wade through water?  would I need to make a new walkable area for each horizontal row of pixels?

Ok I get what you're saying now

Neutron,

where on Earth did you get that method for reflections?  It really doesn't make any sense!  The length of a reflection depends on more than just the height of the object, like the angle that the water is being viewed from, and the distance that the object is from the water's edge.  The reflection could be zero if either of these paramaters are adjusted, regardless of how tall the object is.  Since the hut is 7 or 8 feet from the water's edge, I was trying to guestimate all this stuff...I guess I undershot.

I have done a new attempt, this time I have got separate reflections for numerous different planes of distance from the water (4 or 5) which I hope looks a little more real.

I know what you're talking about with the specs of bright light from the sky reflecting into the water...I wasn't sure how to do this, but spent a bit of time and a lot of filters and managed to come up with this by using noise, difference clouds, ripples, etc...I'm not sure if it helps or hurts (I'm talking about the white specs in the water).

All of my sprites use alpha channels made in photoshop and exported into AGS...haven't had any problems with semitransparency. 

I just click the tiny hidden "make new channel" button on the channels window...draw my stuff...save as tga 32 bit (the 8 bits after 24 are for the alpha channel).

when you import into AGS, you select the TGA file for the sprite...sometimes when I am importing into AGS it randomly will not get the alpha channel, in which case I just try loading it in again (havent been doing this in a while so my memory is not so crisp)

the most blatant anatomical fault that I see is that the arms are way too short

the foot also looks too wide

the neck muscle is a bit too wide also

the ear is a little big

the mouth is significantly too wide

define the nose and facial features a little better, master the face and you have mastered the art...easier said than done, of course

I like your approach of drawing the bones...looks fun.  probably not very helpful, but interesting nonetheless.  keep it up

better?

ok, tried to fix up that water...tried to add some depth to the hut..tried to make the hut look like it was on a bit of a hillock

Actually the car doesn't look too big to me...it all looks in the same style also.  I think the character wearing the white shirt could have the lines in his face be darker...and the character wearing the leather jacket could have a different color face and smaller eyes, unless he is supposed to be a vampire.

The water is supposed to be thick, black, mucky, stagnant (no current and no waves), brackish...almost like a tar pit.Ã,  Think of the swamp from the Never Ending Journey.Ã,  You're right, the hut does look one dimensional...but I'm not sure what to do about it.

Damien that could be a good idea...I could just keep editing the pictures out and swapping with new ones on the front page so that at least some people might not see all the BGs from my game before its out

I'm not sure how to improve the water's realism...paint-overs desired!

It looks like the man should be about twice as big in this room as he is.

I don't understand why this guy is a bachelor.  He can afford a persian rug and a 20 million dollar castle estate, and a full staff of maids to keep it perfectly clean...you'd think he would have plenty of gold diggers to choose from.

Certain objects need to have meshsmooth applied to them such as the sink...

Some of the textures are repeated too many times on the walls, need to use bigger textures there

The lighting could be improved a lot, I'm not sure what you're doing and lighting isn't my specialty -- it looks like you have some kind of radiosity going on to a small degree, but overrall it looks very overcast...what are you using to render?

Oh, and overrall it looks pretty good

I found AGS last year when I was searching for a way to implement my game the Tanglewood...I was originally going to code the whole thing in C++, but I couldn't figure out how to do graphics, and then I had the vague memory of having seen some game creation tools in the past from places like dos games because I used to love to play dos games.