Trying some things out...

Goal: Get things out the way

Well I posted something about a project that I was kind of experimenting with the approach to actually completing the game, by getting a few people to read over my design document before I started anything. Therefore I could improve the game without it actually been made yet. Well quite few months have past and the game has now been pushed into the corner with all my other unfinished projects. So I've decided that THIS WEEKEND IT WILL BE COMPLETED!!! MUHAHAHAHA!!!!! Well started over and just made. Crappy, unfinished or what, it will be made because I owe it to myself and the other people who were kind enough to give me feedback those months ago.

What you think?

AGS, the Future, Awards and Games!

Well after watching the Puzzlebots trailer it just came to mind that this year is going to be great for AGS games! I mean you have Time Gentlemen Please and shifter's box which are both just awesome, the new Blackwell is coming out this month and now Puzzlebots says it will be out soon too. I think the awards in 6months time will be very exciting. I know Progz is working on something and that might be out in the next 6months, and let us not forget Ben Jordan 8. So if all the games mentioned are going to be out by the time of these awards, man it will be truely exciting. 

If great games are being made with AGS then this will attract ore game designers to use AGS and will make even better games! Aw man I think I'm going to piss my pants.

Just a thought, what if Reasonance is out by then! AHH! 

[/fanboy]

I'm taking over

Well I've always wanted to enter the animation competition at the AGS forums and well I've never seen I've been able to. Either the sprite is a bit too complex to animate, or I'm competing with a full animated short with explosions and and WTF!! written all over the place. It made me think is this competition meant to be an animation competition that will benefit the entree by improving thier animation skills or is it an excuse to to make a new avatar? I would rather the animation competition to be a sort of sprite jam esk, but more object based. So I did what I thought I should do and post int he competition suggestion thread, and well Gilbot kind of handed me the competiton... 

Well so I've done it! I've re-invented the competition. 

LINKY LINKY

What you guys think? I think its a step in the right direction. You have your writing competition, so that you can improve your adventure game plots. You have your BG Blitz to improve your background skills. You have your Sprite Jam to improve your character design and your spriting. You have your Tune contest to learn how to make some awesome adventure musics. And now you have your animation competition to learn how to make some awesome animations for your game. You can't have too many animations :P

I want some interest and some entries guys :D 

Well I'm in a bad right now. A lot of stuff, but I'm annoyed with myself more than anything. I've let people down. Een though they haven't said anything, I do know I need to be better.

Anyway, on a more happier note, I must thank my lovely feedback givers I PMed recently. All your comments are very useful, and some made me laugh. There were a few trends in areas to fix and I'll send everyone a copy of a list of points with my own input too. Some comments have really inspired me, and I've got a wealth of new ideas now. Which so far I've added 3 NPCs, a backstory and more of a plot, a better ending.. ish.. (more of disapointing and yet unexpected ending but maybe a little enjoyable to the player) and a tonne of extra logical puzzles. It's the same format for the kind of "shopping list", but a lot more depth and still all in one room. So I should be able to make this game (with good quality) very quickly.

YAY! 

I'll hopefully post more than last month. What a crap posting month!

The only thing is that I'm picturing this game in high res or at least hand drawn. I don't know why. Although I'm going to pixel it, at the moment. Right now I need to finalise the puzzles and plot and the rest is just some hard work and EFFORT! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Well I forgot about this place.... I haven't been here since last year... 

Heh

Well folks this is a year of change, I am setting myself targets. I am targeting myself to complete at least 3 games this year, learn everything you can about scripting, try my had at some "musicing making" and generally improve my skills so I can be a jack of all trades YAY!! 

AGS news:

It has been a year since I have been a really active member of the forums. So yeah new years resolution of last year DONE! So Ive made a few friends and contacts now, so I can start to properly work on something. I still think I need to make a few more games individually but I am aiming to possibly have a bigger project in the works or completed by the end of this year. Bigger as in length, quality and people working on it. 

AGS working News:

Presently I'm working on a mags entry. Well I finally came up with a plot and stuff now I just need to work out puzzles and locations now. I need to flesh it out but I'm working on the overall look of the game so I can concentrate on the puzzles and scripting next week. 

Additional news:

Stickam is dead! Well at the moment it is as tokbox is the new thing. No lag, no kick just pure ags gold! Still need some work as a site, but it does have its priorities correct, fun fun FUN!

Voice?

IF you missed my sexy deep voice yesterday.. well too bad it was awesome, but at the moment it seems I can't speak any more. I hope I get my voice back soon.
Hrmm I feel like working on a game.. For once I do have an idea but I have no time to work on it as of exams, but they finish on Thursday so after that IT WILL BE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS! so expect something.. maybe a little gift before the new year perhaps? Also it will be nearly a year for me being an active member to the AGS community YAY. One demo and one co-lab MAGS down but that was just in the last few months. Mmm this year has been kind of productive, but it aint over yet so keep your eyes peeled.


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I HAS GAME (again)

Well some crazy super scottish hero asked me to some graphics for his mags entry and some crazy indieboy accepted. So here:

Click to download

Yeah well if I knew how much work I had to do for uni the last few weeks then I would of rejected his offer. Anyhoo it is done!


Now for some more pressing news... I know I promised some hot pictures of me in my new car, but my camera is broken and all I have is my phone camera which would turn out crappy so if you are all that desperate then I will take some crappy pictures tomorrow in the car (with clothes, cause it is cold these days :P )



Meanwhile:
I am having a meeting with my Uni mentor cause I am phailing.. FUN! so I might be a uni drop out! YAY! More time to work with AGS! YAY!


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DRIVING TEST

Okay so no post in a little while. So little personal update, that I have y driving test...(again) tomorrow. So I am going to bring all your hopes up, then we will see if they will cancel it AGAIN, and will make you all suffer too!!! MUHAHAHahahaha...


So on another completely other note, vista is evil cause it will not support full screen mode for dos games. I have spent about 4hours in total trying to get it to work, dosbox, VDMS, everything... So I am going to cry...

SO back to AGS, well now I have officially a one cup game. Which means not worth playing.. YAY!! I wasn't expecting anyone to play it anyway, it is a very short crappy game. But I have decided to update it, fixing all the scripting bugs, adding about another 10 puzzles and another few characters. But right now I am thinking about MAGS, I dunno if the rules will be any good for me, but I do have an idea, just not a game idea. I think I am just back to square one.

Also back to AGS matters, the BG blitz thread has been locked... Now I am on two sides here, one side says: Finally! 4 months without another competition is ridiculous!
And the other say: Aww man, the competition didn't even finish.

Now I think it was ridiculous that nothing was said about this until recently and there wasn't even a moderator who ask Loominous to either wrap it up or ask if it was ok to start another BG blitz along side (which eventually did happen). Although I think the whole off-topic discussion of this matter in the thread lead to the locking. Also insulting Andail (the moderator who took charge of the situation) on the recent BG Blitz just posted wasn't going to help really.

Anyway that was just my 0.0112220851 British pounds (two cents)


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I have a game

Orginally was going to made in 2 days... then extended a day.... then another 4!!

And I have a game out of it!!

Very short, quickly drawn, but I learned a lot of scripting which is awesome.

And here it is :D

Click to download


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GO!!!

SPACE PIRATES....
48hours.....
Now.....

August Fools!!

I had my driving test today.. well should of. It got cancelled due to the rain and severe weather!!! Bloody Scotland. Needs to be soo wet.

So I am a little pissed off. So lets talk about AGS!!

Basically I have decided to do nothing :D
hehehe
WELL.. I was going to finish WQ but I fancy entering MAGS. I might as well, due it being made for noobs like moi. Also the last few SHAG entries shows that I can actually make a game. I just need to wait for the rules and then I can get pixelling and scripting!!

I might and make some music. Probably not, maybe someone might be nice and make some music for me.

Anyway, I didn't have much to post maybe I could show you guys(I add the plural to cheer myself up) some of my practice animations.


(I don't think these guys will move...)


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Well Hello there!

Hey, sorry for the lack of posting. I have felt like I have let my one reader down... you!

Basically I have been working and things and haven't got a lot to show for myself "AGS-wise".
Made a couple SHAGs (Stickam Hourly Adventure Game) which you can download from the Stickam thread. You will need to search through it a little :P

So yeah, AGS...
Well I think I have been improving my scripting skills. I still need to work on a few aspects but overall I can produce a game. WQ is on hold at the moment. I have decided to scrap all my puzzles I had planned as they were not challenging. I would of gotten away with it if I made it in the original 3 days or so, but not for a game that I could of been working on for months.

So presently I am thinking should I jsut make a short game. Spend longer on it than an hour but to be made quick and fast. I think I work well under targets and things, just I lack ideas for themes etc. I would rather someone just told me, "IndieBoy! You shall make a game about "

So maybe some suggestions would be nice ;P

Well I will post again... just I need to have something to show really.


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£100 Present..Food..Drunk..

Ok so a short post as I am drunk again. It was my mum's birthday yesterday so we went out for a meal tonight. Which was fun. I like passing for 18 especially when you are out with your parents. So Sarah and I had fun and maybe I had a little too much fun heh heh. So I am home. I don't have anything interesting to say today. I replied to my thread in the CL lounge. Got some very nice comments and very helpful ones. I really need to get back to work.

ok so I think I should sleep as I got work tomorrow.

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Woo writing in a new location!!

Well today I am writing from my friends house. Party last night was pretty good, although everyone started to steal our drink and skittles. And Gav and Jen fell out so I had to help patch things up. Man Drunken advice is the best :D
Also another party on Friday :D man what I life I lead. Hehe.
So hopefully tonight I will have a bit more to sow in terms of AGS game making. I still don't know if Sylvr wants to continue with our OROW game. And the forum doesn't seem to be in a very helpful mood with my recent thread in the CL. Hrmm, nothing against the guy who has posted already just one post in about 48 hours on something that I want a range of opinions on, isn't what I was looking for. I might post again tonight.

Anyway this is a little update in my life

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OROW

Hehehe, my request and rant started the OROW craze again. OROW(One Room One Week) is an AGS competition, which gets a lot of entries and a lot of great games made. Anyway it starts on the 21st-28th of June, can't wait. It is all anonymous so I better not say anything, till after it is finished. Hopefully there will be a completed game at the end of this.

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Day 3-5

Well it seems my project is on hold at the moment. Well it is because I have an exam tomorrow that I should be studying for (Instead of going into school to study and end up playing Monopoly... which I rock at by the way) that I need to pass so I can get into University. Well I am already in but it is the subject I need to pass to be able to do the Masters Degree -the five year one- in Engineering Physics.
So because of this all I have nothing to show for the last 3 days, apart from an increased knowledge of Physics. Damn, I will get all the girls :P

New news, well I don't know if I mentioned I got a new job which I start on Saturday so wish me luck :D Also a week after that Sarah comes back, YAY!, then driving test, then prom, then work full time. Man I am not going to have any AGS time :( Although I will have a lot of Sarah time to catch up on though :D

Oh another rant, I just found out that my driving instructor will be getting a new car before my test. So that means I have to learn how to drive his new car, in a week, so I can pass my test. Damn I am going to fail: stall, go in the wrong gear, mount the curb, kill someone, hit a wall or another car, kill the examiner, get rid of the evidence, get rid of the bodies, wash the car, explain to my instructor why he needs to re-paint and buff is new car and I won't be able to drive this summer :'(

That is all that is new.

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Day two

Well after thinking about it for a while, I don't think my game really fits the MAGS rules, so that relieves some pressure. Although I am giving myself the target of getting it finished in around a week.

Anyhoo I thought I should post a screen shot of what it looks like today.

Well I still have dialogue, revise the gui, script interactions, animations and objects to do. Basically all the scripting and some sprites with animation still to do. I may think of some other puzzles as I am a little more flexible with time, but I will finish my original design then see what it is like to play it.

On a side note:
My exam went well today, although I fell asleep at the end. Then came home and slept some more. Man, I want my bed.


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Welcome

Hello, my name is IndieBoy and I am from good old Scotland. My main aim for this blog is to talk about current events, document some of my thoughts and to keep a developers diary of my games. I use AGS(Adventure Game Studio) which is a great program, which I am still learning to use, that allows you to be able to create those classic point and click games.

My first entry:

Well after a long think about my first game and the whole theory of adventure games I decided to start a new project: a MAGS game. After spending some time in the AGS stickam room, I started to question what will I do in my life. I am at the point in my life that I am really thinking about where my life is going. A lot of new challenges and experiences await for me, but I have the choice of where I want to be in life. Just finished with school, starting a new job at the end of the week, Sarah coming over for Summer, going to Uni in September... my life has actually just begun. That is why I have decided to really "work" now. I have many failed attempts at games, but now I have the drive to produce something.

I must say thank you once again to everyone at stickam, more so the AGSers who actually use the room properly. and a special shout-out to Sylvr, she alowed me to brainstorm with her and gave me some great ideas for my game. So the MAGS deadline is the 25th, less than a week away... I think I'll make it.

My game will be a short, one room, one NPC, hardly any items, three-puzzle game. All about whales and underwater things. That is all I am going to say at the moment as it is getting late, and I have an exam in 9 hours :/

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