How has AGS helped you in the long run?

[ncw911]

I started playing around with AGS sometime around 4 years ago, I created multiple projects in the period of time that I worked with AGS but they were all duds. Recently I became interested in IOS Development and shifted towards that. I was very surprised at how simple it was to work on iPhone games, but I'm now not surprised after recently reviewing my old AGS projects. I've noticed that my success in IOS Development was made possible due to my AGS experience. Without the tools that I learned from AGS it would have been very difficult for me to complete the recent IOS projects that I've completed.

Im interested in hearing how learning to work with AGS has helped others to succeed through AGS or through anything else.

So, How has AGS helped you in the long run?

[qptain Nemo]

Thanks to AGS I stopped doing drugs and hookers, lost weight, found myself and got a job. It also helped me overcome my irrational fear of teapots.

[DoorKnobHandle]

I'm pretty sure I wasn't studying Computer Science right now to become a professional game programmer if it wasn't for AGS. Back in the day I only had a couple of books on C++ and I wasn't really getting anywhere with it (I was ~14 years old which didn't help either) and then I found AGS and this community. It's crazy to think that this program and the fact that I found it on google one night has caused me to study what I study - which will, in turn, forever shape my life and earn me my money one day, it'll be my career.

[Dualnames]

Frankly, working on AGS projects has been hard and I've always got the smallest share in everything I've made a profit out of, but it's alright I guess. In the end it's all in good faith, I've learned lots, made a name out of myself. I still wish my bank account reflected it more. I've moved to different engines and projects, and grasped a tiny bit of programming in general via AGS.

Whatever.

[Baron]

AGS has made me a stronger person.  Without the siren lure of its creative potential, I would probably just laze around watching tv or gambling in my leisure time.  Instead, I martial those few spare moments into something that I -and usually only I, but sometimes other too -can call productivity, and that makes me feel like I've accomplished something in a day.  And that's how I get that feel-good vibe, can you dig it?

[Ponch]

AGS helped me to find the lord, lose weight, make friends with a guy in Australia, taught me that Canadians are people too, and helped me get my blue belt in Karate Fu. It also helped me make the games that I wanted to play, the ideas of which have been clattering around inside my head for years. Plus, AGS has helped me learn to talk to girls and one day I'm sure I'll work up the nerve to finally kiss one. And I owe it all to Chris Jones.

[Ryan Timothy B]

I've always worked on little games with other basic languages, but I imagine if it weren't for bumping into AGS and the forums, I likely wouldn't have the goal to make money from games (Dave Gilbert and probably that April Fools joke CJ made about AGS being bought out by Xbox, and then Vince's addition ). Currently it's just a small mobile game (I think it will be free with ads) but I doubt I'd be working on this or any commercial game if I never found AGS.

Edit:

Without the tools that I learned from AGS it would have been very difficult for me to complete the recent IOS projects that I've completed.

What games?

[ncw911]

What games?

I only have one app available on the App Store for iPhone called "Alien Tractor Beam" as of right now, and its free. I have another one called "MegaFish" that's still waiting on Apple to review before its available, and I'm working on an "Untitled Jester Game" right now. They're pretty simple games but it still feels good to finally be able to produce a product. I didn't name my games earlier because I thought advertising "non AGS games" on the AGS forums would be a little inappropriate.

and I'm happy to hear how AGS has helped those of you who posted, and I hope others continue to post



My game "MegaFish" is also now available on the App Store for free.

[AnasAbdin]

I've been using AGS since 2011. To be honest 'AGS' isn't just an engine to me, it's my dreams translator into reality. Being a care giver, AGS has become an important part of my life and helped me to reach stability and acceptance in my life. I have also become more patient and dedicated not only to game development, but to improve my other skills associated with game making (drawing, composing...). A very important point to mention is that AGS wouldn't be the best engine without its community. There hasn't been a day passing in my life without learning a new thing from AGS.

[Mandle]

I'm fairly new to the community here: Discovered AGS during summer 2013 when I finally gave up on online browser-based games, realizing they were all con jobs in the end.

I've always loved games and creating them especially...Still have several of my creations on audio cassette tape for the TRS-80 and the Commodore 64 back at my mum's house, including a 2 player war-game version of Lord Of The Rings (man...I gotta check that one out, see if it still runs, and try to port it...It was sweet!)

Anyways...after online gaming finally died for me, I started thinking about what the most fun I'd ever had with games was and I realized that it was the old LucasArts adventure games, especially DOTT and Sam&Max. This got me to wondering if maybe the source code for those games had been made public by now and if I could maybe mess around with it to create my own games.

Some Google sessions later:

I found ScummVM and downloaded it, thinking it was an engine which gave access to programming in SCUMM. I was disappointed to find out that it was not, but found similar questions asked in the ScummVM site's forums: If you could create games via ScummVM.

In one post someone said something like: "No...you are probably looking for something more like AGS" with a link to this site. (For all I know it was one of you guys reading this right now )

I came here, and have not looked back since!

So...this thread is about how AGS has helped you so here goes:

I realized I had kind of abandoned the fun of creating artistic projects after having a children's picture book called "Cow Story" published together with a great mate of mine, and it didn't exactly take the world by storm.

(Available HERE and HERE and many other places if you Google "Cow Story Ross Moffat" for example)

Anyways...shameless plug aside...I guess, long story short, I thought it was time to put the child in me away and start being an adult...

How wrong I was! All I was doing was wasting time playing pointless online games, dreaming of maybe one day creating my own (yeah yeah...I didn't do too well on the "putting the child away" thingy)...

Time to make a point I guess: AGS blew me away because I saw it didn't take a masters degree in computer science anymore to create something that I just wanted to.

I still have very little idea what I'm doing and THAT'S THE FUN OF IT!!!

Case in point: I just caught the 80's movie "The Philadelphia Experiment" on cable and, while watching the often inconsistent SFX scenes had an epiphany: Those guys doing the effects were just making it up as they went along...There was no precedent for most of what they were trying to get on film. They just messed around, brainstormed, and tweaked shit until it looked kinda like what the script said it should. (Same for any 80's movie really. Just using this one as an example)

And I thought: MAN! They must have had the most awesome fun time doing that!!!

These days anyone can make a seamless SFX movie given enough money. There are recognized procedures for pretty much whatever you want to get on the screen...You just check all the boxes, plug in the money, and it's done: HOW BORING for those guys these days! How they must envy the old-school SFX dudes who had to just make it all up as they went along...

That's what AGS is for me right now: I'm just making it up as I go along, like I had to do back in the '90's when I made the 3D graphics for Cow Story (there was no way to put HAIR on a 3D wolf back then...but I figured it out), and having a hell of a good time!

Anyways, to sum up: AGS has given me back the feeling of just wanting to make my own personal world/story, something I can look at with pride, and to the devil with anyone who doesn't feel the same.

P.S: It's also made me hyper-aware of anything slightly connected to adventure games: If you watch the old '80's Philadelphia Experiment: There is a scene just after the two sailors arrive in the "modern" world of 1984 where they are walking in silhouette across a desert in a long panoramic shot. I thought at that point: "WOW! What a great walk-cycle!"

The scene starts at 16:50 in THIS YouTube video.

Okay...done. Thanks if you read all this!   

[Mandle]

it's my dreams translator into reality.

^^^THIS needs to be one of the quotes on the AGS start-up screen!!!

[miguel]

AGS has helped me overcome the fear of men wearing pink spandex. I still don't understand it but at a safe distance I can cope with it.
Also, I consider AGS my personal Kato. It keeps me aware.

[CaptainD]

AGS has helped me overcome the fear of men wearing pink spandex.

ME TOO!!  That's amazing!

I'm afraid I can't really offer a serious answer as my coding sucks so I ended up deciding to concentrate on the design, writing and the stuff that I can be good at, whereas at best I could maybe have become a moderately competent coder.  Saying that, I've only ever worked on designing games made with that, so in a way I guess that's what AGS has done for me!

[Dropped Monocle Games]

okay I don't have any jokes but here is my real one.

I have always lived inside my own head, making up stories and worlds, I would spend my childhood days sat with pencil and a drawing pad doodling down all my ideas that one day would be computer games, sadly that was as far as it got... as I started to get some health problems as well as general and social anxiety in my teen years, hitting rock bottom in my early 20s I got into a deep depression! lucky I managed to get help and started taking control of my problems! happy days!
by this point I started to doodle cartoons again picking up some of my old ideas, it was a great way to keep my mind off things but I felt it was to late to get into making games as I hadn't learnt how to programme but that didn't stop me coming up with ideas
also like a lot of people here I grew up playing adventure games, from 'Discworld' to 'The longest Journey', I loved them all! I used to play Sam & Max over and over!

then in 2011 me and some friends (including Myinah) started to talk about making games, and we found AGS...
I told Myinah about a story I had been working on for most of my life and she loved it, we wanted to turn it into an adventure game... but that story is for another time

since finding AGS I have had the focus that I needed. my anxiety can be really bad sometimes and I don't leave the house unless I really have to, so having something to work on all the time has been great for me and stopped me going crazy, then having our first game win MAGS and then nominated for best short game has blown me away and made me think that making games is no longer something I have to dream about, the child in me is getting a chance to make the games he always wanted to with an awesome community that is willing to help!!

AGS has been part of the best thing I have ever been a part of


TL;DR I have health and mental health problems and AGS has given me something to focus on, a community to be a part of and is letting me chase a childhood dream!

[monkey424]

As an artist trapped in an engineer's body, AGS has been the yin to my yang, the butter to my bread, the Google to my Chrome, and the blue cup to my unquenchable thirst for hot stimulants. It may have contributed to my mild insomnia though.

[Myinah]

I have loved writing and adventure games since I was old enough to do both. I found AGS after looking for the games Yahtzee made, that I had played years earlier. I learned that there was an engine to make the games I loved and after talking to Sox we decided to start writing a plot for his original characters. I'm physically disabled and suffering with a chronic illness that leaves me bed bound most days and housebound always. AGS and game making gives my life purpose. I would have been considerably more adrift had I not found it. So it has helped me a lot in the long run.

[Cogliostro]

When I was growing up reading and writing were my ways to stay sane.

Then came adulthood, mortgages, taxes, responsibilities, et cetera.

At some point I realized the only time I spent with a good book was listening to an audio book during my commute and I hadn't written anything in years.  This is my creative outlet and path to sanity.  My website and game company are called "Cast Iron Muse" because I NEED to be creative.

- Cogliostro

[CaptainD]

Joking aside, some of these responses have really been quite inspiring.

[Andail]

I wouldn't be into game making without AGS, since I can't script otherwise. I wouldn't even know where to start if someone asked me to make a game without AGS.

Also I've got to see more of the world, via the various Mittens and Wintermeets, and I've made lots of friends abroad. There are AGSers whom I definitely count among my top… 20 best friends.

And I've improved my drawing skills, after years and years at the critics' lounge. And my writing skills. And after a decade of globally moderating this place, I might even have developed as a teacher (which is my day job).

Jesus, I would probably suck without AGS...

[Retro Wolf]

An outlet for creativity.

A confidence boost; when you create something that people enjoy, it feels good when people like it.

An interesting hobby that helps keep you sane after a hard days work; and it costs nothing!

Made me think that one day I might be able to make a little money with games development.

[Dave Gilbert]

Well gosh. Where do I begin.

Through my work in AGS (and games in general) I've...

- launched a successful and creatively satisfying career
- met almost all of my childhood heroes
- met my wife (a fellow game dev)
- actually made enough money to start a retirement account (surprisingly important when you're pushing 40)

... and so much more. Basically, I owe my livelihood, my family, and most of my friendships to my work in this engine and in the industry in general.

[AprilSkies]

Without dwelling too much:

AGS has filled a little void in my life.

Everyday life absorbs most of my energy and, until recently, even all of my creativity.
Since I was a child I've been loving to play video games, to draw and paint and to write stories.
Before starting using AGS, I did all these things without a purpose.
AGS has combined all the things I love, giving them a sense, and gave me back my creativity (stolen by everyday life).

So it filled a little void, but for me it's a lot.

[qptain Nemo]

Well, wow. Even though the wording "So, How has AGS helped you in the long run?" seemed comedic to me at first due to the implied extent of the answer, as irony would have it, such extent is actually present in the answers. And even though I don't particularly regret my silly and (hopefully) harmless joke, I'd like to point out that I certainly don't intend it to mock e.g. Myinah's and Dave Gilbert's stories that demonstrate genuinely serious, touching and impressive impact. To reinforce that I offer you my serious answer.

For a very long time the AGS community and its creative output served as a huge inspiration to me. I've always been a daring optimistic enthusiast but games like Apprentice and Ben Jordan really helped that seed of faith in independent hobbyist gamemaking grow. It's nice to firmly believe in things because of your own reasoning, but seeing stuff that actually shows you that yup, amateur games really can be pretty damn awesome, makes a huge difference still. I've been looking up to AGS games for years and it inspired and fueled my own humble beginnings and developments a lot.

And then I became an active participant of the community. And I found some amazing friends and just indeed plenty of amazing people. There is simply no way to describe in full the impact that had without writing a novel. But you probably can imagine. Constantly interacting with more likeminded people really changed my life and my attitude towards many things. I'm just utterly happy to have had gone through that.

And last but not least, I've been a part of a handful of AGS projects myself. Considering being a game developer is my biggest desire in life, it's hard to overstate the positive effect of this. It's been fun, it's been amazing, it's been priceless in terms of experience. I'll always look back with joy at those projects and people I worked with. And the nice reception of mine and Pablo's game made a lot of difference for me. I assure you I wasn't even remotely expecting it. And while it didn't make me feel like a superstar of course, it helped a lot with alleviating the utter terror of possible reception of my work, which many of you creative people can probably understand and relate to. And that makes a huge difference too.

So, while AGS itself has never directly been my own tool of choice, the community and lots of things associated with it are a big deal to me. And I'm certainly better off because of it all.

[Grim]

AGS has made me feel like someone.

Coming from a town in the middle of nowhere, with no higher education to maybe at least dream of a good job some day, I came to England and started a new life here with my girlfriend. That was almost 12 years ago. I've done all sorts of jobs in that time. I washed dishes in greasy kitchens of Yorkshire. I scrubbed toilets in run-down hotels of Devon . I delivered newspapers in London. I put piles of horseshit on wheelbarrows during my brief countryside adventure. I looked after crazy people. I've been bitten, spat on, bled on and scratched (only once by a horse though). And at the same time, I was there for a some good folks when their journey in this world came to an end because no one should ever die alone. And I made some people happy by just being kind to them, and yeah, those were times when I felt like I was someone, but it wasn't really someone I wanted to be, just someone I thought everyone should be in certain moments in life.

All through those years, I have pretty much felt small and insignificant, a cog in the machine, or even a part that this machine could easily work without. I've always had this person with a whip, standing above me, patronising, better than me. I've always had the rules to stick to, the good ones and the bad. The unfair rules- the ones that punish me if I get sick and won't think of me as a person because all I am is a number.

But... I don't feel any worse. I'm someone.

I've won a story of the year award.

I'm a Steam-published developer.

How cool is that?!:)

Now I know that one day I can be free from the man, break his goddamn whip and be my own person. The person I want to be.

Thanks AGS;)

[Stacy Davidson]

Making adventure games is something I have dreamed of since I was a kid. I tried adapting other engines, I tried starting from scratch, but the hill has always seemed insurmountable. When I found AGS, at first I had it confused it with SCI Studio, which I had played around with a few years earlier and concluded that, although it was fun to tinker with, it was severely lacking and not much more than a novelty. However, after watching a few of Densming's videos (he was still producing them regularly at the time), I realized I had stumbled onto something... amazing. It was everything I had wanted in an adventure game engine, right there in my hands. Furthermore, it was an elaborate and complex system that actually made sense and was remarkably well thought out.

Now, after working with it for several years, I can honestly say I believe there is probably a way to make it do just about anything I could ever want out of an adventure game. Especially now that we've broken the "HD" barrier. Of all the languages and engines out there, I've never found a more enjoyable environment to work in.

Some people play with Legos, some live inside Minecraft. My sandbox is AGS.

[milkanannan]

I used to draw elaborate adventure games in notebooks when I was around 10 years old. I knew from that early age that making adventure style games would be a part of my life. I was really happy to find this community back in...2005 I think? To this day, I feel like the community here is more 'my people' than any other group I have been apart of, both in the real world and online. I don't have the luxury of working on games much now given the demands of family and my profession, but I have plans to make it a very central part of my life when I'm a bit older, my kids off to uni, and I'm able to have a bit more time to myself. 

[CaptainD]

My experience of beta testing AGS games and knowledge of the development process itself through making my own games was useful for getting a new job as it involves a lot of testing new systems and interacting with both end users, IT services and development teams.