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I just released my first AGS game, and I think it went OK, so I'm going to try my hand at a MAGS competition. I've been watching the past two and have ben wanting to join in all the revelry, but figured it would be best once I got my game out... So, here goes! This sounds like a fun topic to work with, too... The ideas are brewing...

Thanks! I will be able to put the cursors in before the new game ships. It'll come out later tonight, complete with my own cursors, and will only be 10 Megs (before I zip it), so everyone can enjoy it! It will be minus the animated intro and cutscenes and the nice manual, but it will have the original "Town on the Edge of Darkness" story bundled with it...

@ Gijs: Glad you like it, but I'm not familiar with that error. What were the circumstances at the time? Try playing again and save right before then and go about things a bit differently in the prison, because I have playtested it through and been able to pass the prison, but since I know how to do it the right way I might have missed something.

@ Brisby: I know, I wasn't thinking... I can beat it in ten minutes, obviously. I'll wait till someone actually beats it and then I'll change it based on how long it took someone who wasn't "initiated."

@ SSH: I tried desperately to get rid of the green anti-aliasing, following the instructions in the manual and from the forums, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. I AM working on it though. I figured at first since it doesn't happen to the main character, people would just think I was trying to give the occupants of Noman Island a "paranormal" look. Curse you for seeing through my facade...
Ã,  Your apostraphes are also wrong Thanks I will go through and give it a look.
Ã,  It does? Looking at it or using it? I probably threw out the wrong message number...
Ã,  I tried using my own cursors, but for some reason they didn't work and you could only cycle through them as far as "TALK" and then you couldn't get another, so I scrapped that idea. As for the inventory screen: any suggestions? I thought just darkening it would be decent enough.
Ã,  ARRGGHH!!! I know, I know, about the save/load buttons, but how do you make a spooky-looking save button?
   And about the startup screen: I'm sorry, it was an easy way around being able to save or load from startup, so I didn't have to make a seperate GUI for it.

Ã,  Thanks for all the feedback. Tomorrow by 1 AM Mountain Standard Time I will have the fixed edition online, and a smaller version (minus all the nifty cutscenes!) so people on dialup can have access to the game, too. As for you high-speeders: I know my animation quality isn't the best (just look at the way the sherriff walks!!!) so, here's my question: In future games, do you think I should bother using flash animated cutscenes?

Y'know what... DON'T download it. As a first game, it wouldn't be fair for me to ask you to risk taking up forever and a half of your dial-up time to get my game. Personally, I think it's a good game, a medium-lengther (it would take you about a half hour to an hour to beat if you didn't already know what you are doing)... But the main file size is due to AVI animations for four of the ending scenes and the intro. I will leave this bigger DELUXE file online for all those highspeed users, and I will work on transferring the finishing cutscenes to in-game ones instead of animated ones. That way, people who don't have a high speed connection will be able to play it and enjoy it. Without the AVI's, it should be less than 6 MB. And, for a special bonus since you have to wait a little longer, I will include the ESPER story (only 24k) along with the non-deluxe edition:) ...

Come one, come all, to Noman Island, also known as the Town on the Edge of Darkness...

In ESPER: The Town on the Edge of darkness, you play as Ian McDermott, head investigator of the ESPER society, a group dedicated to the exploration and revelation of paranormal and occult activity. You have been called to the prison cell of one Mr. Frederick Stiles, who has been imprisoned for murdering a young girl. Stiles is your CLIENT, however, and he claims that the girl was already dead at the time he killed her! Investigate Noman Island, where perpetual night overshadows some strange and dangerous events, and see if you can help bring peace to a man who has visited...
Ã,  Ã, THE TOWN ON THE EDGE OF DARKNESS

The new link is http://files.filefront.com/ESPER1zip/;4085708;;/fileinfo.html



The game features eight different endings, but only two of them are desirable. The game isn't that hard, though, and features only puzzles that make good logical sense. If the various endings elude you, just remember what your mission is and try to look and and interat with everything. Even if you don't always find something worth finding, sometimes Ian's sardonic answers can be worth the trouble!

The older, large version with animation but no bugfixes is here: http://files.filefront.com/ESPERzip/;4082693;;/fileinfo.html

Heh... "Discreet?" You haven't seen the other one. It's all over the middle of the screen. It's just a big screen, so I didn't notice it right away... Grrr!

Anyway, thanks for all the interest. I'm currently 50% done with the scripting. After that, I just need to add the music and sound effects (which I have ready to go) and the game should port by Friday.

   Hey, I so appreciated this game... I love Emily's view of "I hate people... I hope I never become one..." My favorite line had to be when you try to touch her, and I love her abrupt conversation conclusions. This was a remarkable game, and you should totally sell it and get your year's worth of work out of it. I would buy it just to support your efforts.
   There was one error I percieved... I gave Erwin the drugs, then gave him the money. When I (FINALLY) found that damn crack in the window and got the sandwiches ordered, Erwin could care less... I had to go back to my save and do it in the order drugs>sandwiches>money to continue on with the game.
@ Snarky: Ed Gein's crimes were responsible for movies and books from Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Silence of the Lambs... I thought along the lines of SOTL long before I ever thought of Ed Gein, especially since he was wearing a Hannibal Lechter mask.

Ahhhh. Ben Jordan. I have played a ton of AGS games, but Ben Jordan is the only one I actually kept on my hard drive after beating. All four are good, quality games, and I can't wait for the next one. Being a real-life paranormal investigator (I have worked with TAPS, with the southern virginia ghost hunters society, and am the executive director of ESPER (www.theespers.org) ) this type of thing is my cup of beef stew, even when it's fictitious. I am working on a game about supernatural/occult investigation myself which is a little more gritty, based on a series of novels I wrote a few years ago that are getting ready to get published. So, I can tell all your fans, BEN JORDAN: PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR IS A REAL PARANORMAL INVESTIGATOR'S GAME OF CHOICE!!!! Play it today! I can't wait for the fifth!

Hmmm, seems like a really grand idea. What other games have you made, I'd be interested in checking them out    I think there are two things, based on your screenies, that this could use: NO color (that toolbox was red, but blind people have absolutely no frame of reference for color... I think it would be better if you used all grayscale) and secondly, instead of outlines, which make the game look bland, you should use shading with no outline, since the character is going to be familiar with the surface of the object, but the outside edges wouldn't be so cut-and-dried for him. I know it's a little too far along in production to change all that now, but if you come out with a sequel, you should try to implememnt that. I'm not on my own computer right now, but as soon as I get my laptop in here, I'll be downloading this beast and coming back with some comments...

I wish I could get rid of it, but A) I already finished that screen and would have to redo it (alot of action takes place on that screen later in the game, and it took a week to script it all) and B) It's engrained on there now, and I would probably wind up ruining the pic if I tried scrubbing it out. I hope the game will be up to par. While I ( ::whispers "think I":: ) can make pretty good graphics, my animation leaves much to be desired. Therefore, all animations suck, and therefore number two, most characters have only one view or just don't do too much acting (it is a story-driven game anyway).
Ã,  Ã, --plus, like I said, there is one other room with a lousy lens flare. The thumbnail was too small for me to notice at the time I made it, and I didn't notice it until I had done half of the room already. Grrrr....
Ã,  Ã, And about the cursors: I have my own GUI, but for now I am sticking with the prefab cursors. I am going to try using the GUI icons as cursors, but since they are dark and most of the screens are dark, it might be no good and I will wind up using the prefabs.
Ã,  Ã, Thanks for the interest, guys. I hope the game is good enough for ya... It is only my first attempt...Ã, 

Please excuse me as I have never posted here before, and this is my first game.

Hey everyone! I'd like to tell you all about my new game,
ESPER: The Town on the Edge of Darkness!

STORY:
Ã,  Ã, You are Ian McDermott, head of the paranormal/occult investigation unit of ESPER: the society for Extraordinary Supernatural Phenomena Explored and Revealed. You have been called to the prison cell of one Mr. Frederick Stiles, one of the wealthy elite of Newport, RI. To christen his new yacht, Mr. Stiles sailed around an island that had been declared a No-Man's Land by the United States govornment, only after dark he found the island to be fully populated. Stopping there to investigate, Mr. Stiles met a woman who wanted to go with him back to Newport, but the further away they got, the sicker she became until she was something completely other than human. With no choice but to save his own life, Mr. Stiles beat her to death and was found by the Coast Guard in shock above her broken body. You have been called to find out exactly what is going on on Noman Island, and to clear Mr. Stiles of his crime. After all, you can't kill someone who's...
Ã,  Ã, ...already dead...

SCREENIES:



Sorry about the splash screen, but I thought it was necessary to show you the "mood" of the game...




Frederick Stiles telling Ian his horrible story.




Ian gets off his boat to investigate an island that shouldn't be there in the first place... Sorry about the gratuitous lens flare. I originally meant to put in a shine for the moon, but GIMP automatically added the flare and I din't notice until I'd already fully scripted the room. There is another one like it, but only one otherÃ, 

PROGRESS:

Story: 100%
Scripting: 50%
Graphics: 99%
Sound/Music: 0%
In-Game movies: 25%

Despite the 226% remaining, I should be finished in about a week or two. The game comes complete with the original story I wrote last year that the game is loosely based on. (Loosely means don't go looking to the story for clues!!!)

If this game is well received, it may become the first in a series...

8/30/05

A WEEK IN ADVANCE OF SCHEDULING, ESPER IS READY! I have run through the game from start to finish, and the only thing I did not check extensively was the eight different endings. As far as I know, four of them were working differently, but since the ending you get is based on certain actions you took during the game, it would have taken a millenia to check all eight. Both of the positive endings are working properly, though. the file size is a little big (65 MB) due to the AVI movies I used in it, but hopefully it's worth the download. If it is well received, then it will be the first in a series.

Glorious. That is the simplest way of going around something I've ever seen...

Where can I find more tutorials for AGS, especially for scripting? It looks like most of the ones listed on the AGS page are on dead servers, and the introductory ones that ARE on valid servers are only basic tutes. I'm interested in more on variables and data storing functions. And (sorry if this is already a thread, but I figured while I had the floor...) is there a NOT function anywhere? For example, you can have a conditional that says "If the player is currently in possession of the Coconut of Quendor then do this..." but is there a way to say "If he hasn't yet picked up the coconut, do this...?" Game Maker makes it easy, even if you are just point-and-click creating.... Next to the IF...THEN it has a little clickable box that says "NOT!" in five mile high letters of fire. Thanks in advance for any assistance rendered....