Recent posts

#61

The Rumpus Room / Re: What grinds my gears!

Last post by VampireWombat - Fri 25/04/2025 14:47:34

Like what Snarky said, the problem isn't people who use self-diagnosis as a stepping-stone to get a real professional diagnosis (and it's not as hard today as some make it out to be), it's people treating it as a simple way to excuse crappy behaviors whilst simultaneously treating it as a sign of how "special" they are.

I have too much of a sinus headache today to articulate fully, so I'm not going to try. I think it was the comparison to self diagnosing allergies that caused some confusion for me. As someone who had to get allergy tests when I was young on both my back and arms, I wouldn't wish anyone having to go through that if they could could simply identify that they had an allergic reaction to something and could get over the counter medication to help with it. I feel kind of the same about being neurodivergent. And certainly I'm not against someone getting diagnosed if they have the means to. But it's better to identify the possibility of being neurodivergent and doing what's possible to help than to avoid thinking you're neurodivergent out of fear of being bullied by people who say you can't self diagnose. I'm not saying you or Snarky are bullying, but there are subreddits that do basically bully people for what they think of as faking autism. I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt. They could be high masking and on the outside be like "Yeah, neurospicy is cool!" but on the inside they could be completely freaking out. It's better to educate people who claim they're neurospicy than to mock them and make actual neurodivergent people feel even more alientated.

[actually]

#62

The Rumpus Room / Re: What grinds my gears!

Last post by Blondbraid - Fri 25/04/2025 13:30:54

Why would I WANT to label myself as being different?

Trust me, LOTS of teenager can and will do anything to differentiate themselves, because to them different = special. Trust me, as a woman on the spectrum myself, I've seen a huge overlap between the rethoric around people who self-diagnose and girls who claim "they are not like other girls", because they don't identify with the media stereotypes of girls/think being neurotypical means you must be someone who always know what to do and never feel overwhelmed or embarrassed.

Secondly, I've never claimed that ALL attempts at self-diagnosis is wrong, or that people can´t do things like wearing headphones or fidget with something in their pockets if it helps their well-being. I don't think anyone here did.

Yeah, that's one of my peeves. In many cases it seems like self-diagnosing as some type of neuroatypical condition is essentially modern-day astrology, like explaining someone's personality in terms of a zodiac sign by fitting very common behaviors and experiences to a generic stereotype, and then identifying very intensely with that label. (And in the worst cases, use it as an excuse to not take responsibility for unacceptable behavior, e.g. some people who are self-diagnosed narcissists, BPD, etc.)

I think it's another case like people claiming allergies or gluten-intolerance without a medical diagnosis. It just makes things harder for those actually suffering from it. But people will always look for some simple explanation for whatever is wrong in our lives, hoping that will fix us.

Like what Snarky said, the problem isn't people who use self-diagnosis as a stepping-stone to get a real professional diagnosis (and it's not as hard today as some make it out to be), it's people treating it as a simple way to excuse crappy behaviors whilst simultaneously treating it as a sign of how "special" they are.

And this is a problem, because in order to get legal protections, like workplace accommodations, anti-discrimination laws excetera, you need to have clear legal definitions of what disabilities or disorders people have, supported by licenced professionals, not feelings and a random quiz someone took online.

In my homeland Sweden, you can report discrimination to the equality ombudsman, but this system only works because we have clearly defined protected groups.

#63

Beginners' Technical Questions / Re: General question about res...

Last post by Privateer Puddin' - Fri 25/04/2025 11:04:28

Depending on the topic you found, support for HD resolutions may have improved since then. This week Old Skies, which is 1080p, released and there were several improvements made to the engine to support that.

#64

Beginners' Technical Questions / Re: General question about res...

Last post by Khris - Fri 25/04/2025 10:54:32

I haven't really used FullHD with AGS yet so I can't speak about performance. However the engine is in active development, with an official release of version 4 coming up (a major rewrite afaik).

You can download the latest Alpha here:
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/ags-engine-editor-releases/ags-4-0-early-alpha-for-public-test/

I'd create a test game with a bunch of moving characters on screen. Calling Debug(4, 1); in game_start will turn on the FPS overlay.

#65

Hints & Tips / Re: One Million Years Dungeon

Last post by sthomannch - Fri 25/04/2025 05:57:12

I would not polish too much, the game play is excellent and captures the spirit of these old-school adventures very well. For the last puzzle, a bit more help with a few more dialog options (to not give away too much) would be fine. Scratching the head is part of that kind of adventures 

[I've assembled and dressed a skeleton. Now what?]

#66

Hints & Tips / Re: One Million Years Dungeon

Last post by Falsely - Fri 25/04/2025 02:04:45

Sorry I didn't see this until now, but thank you for the kind words! I'm hoping to polish it up and release it properly, when time permits. ...Probably with a less evil final puzzle.

Glad you found the solutions, but I'll write some hints here for the next person just in case.

I've assembled and dressed a skeleton. Now what?

Spoiler

• Quoris is known for its necromancy. This is your chance to learn how to talk to the dead.
• You could try blindly chanting spells until you get it right, but with ~81 possible combinations that could take a while.
• If you're never going to give that up, I suggest writing a list of all the syllables first. Possibly in grid formation.
• If you don't want to do that - check the library on the top floor. There's a book on this subject.

[close]

Solution:

Spoiler

Your character doesn't know any magic. The incantations are a red herring. A very specific type of red herring.

Keep clicking "talk to it" until the skeleton talks back. The game will try to fake you out by repeating dialog - just keep clicking.

[close]

(The last riddle is covered under "I have a reason to leave the dungeon. Now what?" above.)

#67

The Rumpus Room / Re: What grinds my gears!

Last post by VampireWombat - Thu 24/04/2025 21:49:30

Well, the last couple post grind my gears... Here's my input.

Self diagnosis is perfectly valid if you put in the proper research and it truly fits. I'm 100% sure I have aphantasia, which is a form of divergence. But I'm also more than 90% sure I'm also autistic. I don't think this as a way of trying to feel "special". I've struggled most of my life with trying to feel more normal. Why would I WANT to label myself as being different? I believe I'm autistic because I've had social issues my whole life, I have food/sound/texture issues very common with autistic people, I have photosensitivity, etc. I have a cousin who is diagnosed as autistic and once I learned I probably am, my aunt agrees that I probably am.

I'm an adult old enough that autism wasn't even considered a spectrum when I was a child. It would cost a huge amount of money and time to get a diagnosis which would prove pointless because it's not like it would get me any kind of special accommodations. But since learning more about autism, I've learned ways to deal with some of my anxiety with things and other coping mechanisms, like intentionally stimming. Since I'm not officially diagnosed, does that mean that I shouldn't wear headphones when I know I'm going to be around sounds which make me want to curl up into a ball? Do I stop clicking a pen when I feel social anxiety at the thought of the possibility of talking to a stranger?

Are there people who self diagnose themselves who are wrong? Yes. But does that mean everyone who self diagnoses themselves are wrong? As much as it may feel harmful to you for someone to self diagnose themself and be wrong, it can be equally or more harmful to tell someone self diagnosed who actually is neurodivergent that they aren't.

#68

Beginners' Technical Questions / General question about resolut...

Last post by speksteen - Thu 24/04/2025 20:04:05

Hi everybody,

I have a question. So obviously AGS lets you use 1920 by 1080 resolutions. I googled around the AGS forums but found contradicting information.

Is AGS able to handle characters, objects etc. in higher resolution's? Or is AGS not the recommended software? Love hearing about people with these resolutions since the default resolution is perfect for pixel art by not so good for illustrations with animations that have too many frames..

Sorry for the newbie question. Love to hear from the experts.

Edit: I googled for the answer and did found an old topic on this question. This means I got to switch from AGS to something like Gamemaker. The thing that sucks is that this community feels sociable and truly passionate. this thread can be closed. My apologies.

#69

AGS Games in Production / Re: Old Skies - time travel ad...

Last post by SilverSpook - Thu 24/04/2025 17:26:51

It looks amazing, best of luck with the release!

[actually]

#70

The Rumpus Room / Re: What grinds my gears!

Last post by Snarky - Thu 24/04/2025 11:24:12

It also ties into a larger problem of young people online who self-diagnose based on the idea that things like feeling lost and directionles in life, not finding friends with the same interests in class and feeling stressed out in packed crowds isn't just normal things most teens struggle with, but a sign that they are special and different from all the other NPCs.

Yeah, that's one of my peeves. In many cases it seems like self-diagnosing as some type of neuroatypical condition is essentially modern-day astrology, like explaining someone's personality in terms of a zodiac sign by fitting very common behaviors and experiences to a generic stereotype, and then identifying very intensely with that label. (And in the worst cases, use it as an excuse to not take responsibility for unacceptable behavior, e.g. some people who are self-diagnosed narcissists, BPD, etc.)

I think it's another case like people claiming allergies or gluten-intolerance without a medical diagnosis. It just makes things harder for those actually suffering from it. But people will always look for some simple explanation for whatever is wrong in our lives, hoping that will fix us.