The 9 Verbs GUI+Backgrounds

[Guybrush379]

I've made some progress understanding all the functions but here are the main problems I can't solve actually:

-9 Verbs GUI only or is possible to extend to some more actions? (the Indy 1989 game actually had 14 actions!)

-I'm know stuck with backgrounds, how to create zones where the guy walk behind (like arcs, passages, walls etc...)

-I must use the original interface GUI or can I change some panels (for example the options button) without destroying the game. Because I've alredy tried to eliminate some panels and the GUI ingame was totally messed up!

[Khris]

1. You can add actions, but you have to understand how the GUI works and amend several parts of the main script. Unfortunately, some of the code is pretty confusing, and I wouldn't recommend doing this as a beginner.

2. Check out the manual's tutorial, all the basics are explained in there. Only ask stuff here that isn't explained in the manual.
The part you're looking for is at Tutorial -> Starting off -> Part 2

3. You can alter the GUI as much as you want, but again, you have to know what you're doing. You can change button graphics without affecting the rest of the game though. I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "panels".

Basically, you want to use and customize a complex GUI while you don't even know how to draw walk-behinds. This is not what the forums are for really. Please familiarize yourself with AGS first, make a small game using the Default template and learn the basics. Then move on to more complex stuff.

[abstauber]

Edit: Oh - Khris already took care of this. But since I already wrote an answer, here it goes

-9 Verbs GUI only or is possible to extend to some more actions? (the Indy 1989 game actually had 14 actions!)

Of course this is possible - the actions are just limited to the number of GUI elements (I don't have the exact number handy, but it's above 30). But since you're just starting, I suggest that you make yourself comfortable with GUI as it is until you dig deeper into the code.

-I'm know stuck with backgrounds, how to create zones where the guy walk behind (like arcs, passages, walls etc...)

As long as you don't have any specific, just try the tutorial or manual:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/acintro2.htm 

-I must use the original interface GUI or can I change some panels (for example the options button) without destroying the game. Because I've alredy tried to eliminate some panels and the GUI ingame was totally messed up!

Sure you can I you're unexperienced, just swap the sprites - that way you won't break much. But as said above, first try to get a feel how everything is connected. I bet your game can live with a non-fitting option key for a little longer

[Guybrush379]

Ok thanks
But let's say for example I want a cutscene with Indy entering from left, talking with text aligned up and then do a little animation and credits appear... all this is coding?!?  I panic when I see numbers and scripts... flash coding is similar, i go with intuition most of the time. The tutorials on youtube are for basic game, but I think I need the 9 verb plugin for my game (or is possible to recreate the 9 verb also with basic layout?)

[abstauber]

If you call it scripting it only sounds half as bad But I'm afraid you can't avoid some basic scripting to achieve stuff.

Btw. The video-tutorials also cover quite a lot advanced stuff later on.

[Guybrush379]

yeah  I'm italian, so maybe is a little harder for me, anyway for the backgrounds mistake I forgot the use of the baseline for the walk-behinds...

My idea maybe is a bit retro but I'm actually recreating the old SCUMM GUI of Indy the Last Crusade. I think I will use the basic actions only, and for the items I'd try to put pinky names instead of images

[Khris]

But let's say for example I want a cutscene with Indy entering from left, talking with text aligned up and then do a little animation and credits appear... all this is coding?!?

What did you expect? That you tell AGS what to do by talking into a microphone...?
Seriously, to make Indy puzzles with lava platforms or levers and cogs, you have to learn at least basic scripting syntax and commands. How else are you supposed to implement the puzzles? If seeing "numbers and scripts" makes you panic, go do something else, since coding an adventure game is obviously not for you. Sorry.

[abstauber]

Oh well, I don't think I'll ever miss "what is" and "turn-on / turn-off". But of course most people here are fine with two interactions + walking(Use/Look), so why not 12 verbs Anyway, good luck with your project!

[Guybrush379]

But let's say for example I want a cutscene with Indy entering from left, talking with text aligned up and then do a little animation and credits appear... all this is coding?!?

What did you expect? That you tell AGS what to do by talking into a microphone...?
Seriously, to make Indy puzzles with lava platforms or levers and cogs, you have to learn at least basic scripting syntax and commands. How else are you supposed to implement the puzzles? If seeing "numbers and scripts" makes you panic, go do something else, since coding an adventure game is obviously not for you. Sorry.

You are really dumb, do you think programming is everything? Art can lives without numbers luckily... are you the creator of AGS? If no, just shut up and try to give some help instead. A game is made by a team, which means that each one have a skill, you can't do all by yourself. This means that maybe you are good at coding, but a really rookie with graphic. Seriously, I'm not that beginner you may suppose, and btw if I want I can do a complete game by myself in 1 week.

[Eric]

You are really dumb, do you think programming is everything? Art can lives without numbers luckily... are you the creator of AGS? If no, just shut up and try to give some help instead. A game is made by a team, which means that each one have a skill, you can't do all by yourself. This means that maybe you are good at coding, but a really rookie with graphic. Seriously, I'm not that beginner you may suppose, and btw if I want I can do a complete game by myself in 1 week.

Take a deep breath and think about how you're approaching this conversation. The creator of AGS isn't around to answer your questions. Khris is. But the questions you're asking are very, very basic things that are covered in the manual, in the YouTube tutorials, and in the PDF by densming, all of which we gave you links to in the other thread. Your game isn't going to be made in one week if you're not consulting the manual, I guarantee you.

What you need to do is slow down, go through the manual, see what the program does, what it's capable of. I know you're champing at the bit to get your game started, but you'll be better off if you start incrementally. Start a game that's not even close to the one you want to make. Build a room. Make a character. Make an object. Make a walkable area. Make some walk-behinds. Program some interactions. Pretty soon, you'll get the hang of it. You'll be able to draw a distinction between questions that are forum-worthy, and questions that are easily found in the manual (oh, and questions that have already been answered and can be found via forum search).

Don't wear out your welcome here by attacking someone who just won an award for helping beginners with coding issues. Especially if you're looking to build a team. Art can live without numbers, but without the numbers (the programming), it's just going to sit there and not be a game.

[Khris]

Exactly.
And since the topic of art was brought up: Guybrush379, if somebody who has never drawn anything before thinks they can draw perfect portraits or concept art for movies in one week just because they recently got a copy of the newest Photoshop and a Wacom, what would you say to that?

Also note that I didn't say that programming is everything nor that you're stupid because you can't program. I merely pointed out that panicking at the sight of script commands precludes you from using AGS just like suffering from vertigo precludes you from climbing Mount Everest, alright?
You didn't mention that you were planning on assembling a team and that you aren't going to code the game yourself.

So much for the obligatory friendliness, now a few final, honest words: you are just the newest of lots and lots of kids who want to recreate a classic game they love and really, really badly underestimate how much work that requires. So chill, and listen to us, especially if you don't like what we tell you.

[monkey0506]

In your defense, sometimes those kids who come in with really bad underestimations of what they're getting themselves into turn into valuable forum members. I'd like to imagine I'm one of them.

However. Seriously, you can't come in with that kind of attitude and expect everyone to jump on the bandwagon behind you doing whatever you tell them.

The bit where you said that no one can make a game by themselves, then said you could do it in a week tops without any help from anyone else, honestly, made me laugh. Besides, you should check out Ben304. One of the best artists that we have around here, IMO, and he pumps out games faster than most people can think of keeping up with. Khris isn't terrible with art either.

So yeah, just chillax a bit. Yes, this "game engine thing" that you've discovered is cool. That doesn't make you the world's greatest game developer though. That comes with time. And a lot of effort.

[Guybrush379]

Well, you can't even imagine how many adventure games I've played since Atari ST, Amiga 500 and so on... so i know very well how much work there is behind such games. AGS it's a tool, very useful of course, but always a tool that some fans use trying to emulate the work of the real game developpers back in 80's. That's a fact, we try to copy and put some of our ideas but we can't be Ron Gilbert or Land or something else...

And I've coded also in flash, made web pages, I have done lot of drawings and I play piano, so I'm not that beginner, especially for this kind of stuff I've always loved. AGS is very complex and maybe is more for programmers that have lot of patience than artist, don't know...

I see that an Indiana Jones game is very hard to do, especially because of programming but there are too many things to solve when you start.
When I say that I can make a game in 1 week it's because I've seen how the basic things work but then I see the code inside the 9 verbs in english and I'm lost.

[geork]

I dunno if this is helpful but if you want to be an artist (and maybe story writer) of an Indiana Jones style game (I never played the original ), you can always look into the Recruitment forums:

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?board=20.0

Maybe there will be some other people who want to work on a project like this who are more into the programming side!

Otherwise: what the others said: relax and slide into programming, it's lots of fun once you have a grip on it!

[straydogstrut]

I think you will find AGS very accessible if you do as the others have said and take a step back and learn AGS. Yes, scripting is involved but it's all explained very well in the tutorials of which there are many. It's also coupled with a very nice graphical interface that lets you set things up very quickly. Me, I still get a buzz out of just seeing things move across the screen.

Start simple and build from there, nobody expects you to produce a game over night. Read the manual, watch densming's YouTube videos and then put that into practice, even the stuff you consider basic. Make little rooms with a few interactions. Meanwhile I would recommend you take your main idea away from the computer and flesh it out on paper. That will give you time to mull it over and think about the challenges you might face. Break it down into smaller components and you will start to see how the snippets you are experimenting with from the tutorials relate to how you might create the full game.

By all means ask for help when you cannot find the answer in the manual or forums. Be respectful and friendly and i'm sure you will receive a warm welcome. It's not a competition, you have nothing to prove except to yourself, so just go at your own pace. In the end we are all beginners in some way and we are all constantly learning. Enjoy it.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with

[Ghost]

Guybrush, the 9Verb template really is one of the most complex template we have. It has been refined by several people who really put a lot of work into it. If you just want the looks of a classic verb GUI, however, you can recreate it in a much simpler form; just create buttons that set cursor modes. That is a good starting point and will help you get used to the basics.

Scripting in AGS isn't as complicated as it sounds. As you said AGS is a tool, but think about all the work it does for you: No screen rendering engine to write, no sound system to write... basically you are given a few commands that make things happen. We've seen great games here who use little else than walk, talk, interact commands.

[Snarky]

Well, you can't even imagine how many adventure games I've played since Atari ST, Amiga 500 and so on... so i know very well how much work there is behind such games.

That's kind of like saying you watch a lot of movies, so you know how much work it is to make one.

In any case, modifying the 9-verb template should probably be considered an advanced coding task. Better not mess with it right away. The template is so complex because the SCUMM-game interface behavior is actually pretty complicated. You have stuff like keyboard shortcuts, different hotspots having different default actions you can do by right-clicking, and the whole fact that you can cancel an action while walking to perform it, which adds a whole bunch of complications.

With AGS as with most any other tool, some things will be easy, and some things will be much more difficult than it seems like it ought to be. Doing the little intro cutscene you describe will be quite simple (yes, it's code, but it shouldn't be more than a half-dozen lines), but if you want a special, different user interface it's probably going to take a lot of work.

[Guybrush379]

I ask the moderator or admin of this forum to eliminate my account here. I'm in the wrong place, sorry. I first want to excuse with Khris for my externations on him. AGS requires too much time and I have few time actually to do these kind of things. I'm only a gamer afterall, even if I have some skills in music and graphic, but really no patience to make a complex game like that I was searching to make.

In fact I got first time here late in 2006 searching something for a Broken Sword adventure, then found Fountain of Youth and seen AGS.
In my free time I really do other graphic things, stuff like this for an online racing game.


I quit but hey! I really enjoyed some adventures here and looking forward for Fountain of Youth when it will be done...
Bye