I'm wondering...

[jmackley]

Why don't you guys make your games in Flash?  It does everything and more.

[FrairPhil]

I do make my games in Flash for that very reason!

[BayStone]

It's too easy... I'm not doing this just because it's fun, I'm doing this because I want to learn how to write games myself, but not just the game, the core itself.

Also Flash doesn't have everything we need.

[deadworm222]

Why use flash, when you can download WME, Agast, AGS, Sludge... engines designed SPECIFICALLY for adventure games. With Flash you'd need to do some modding of your own and rely on the tools the program provides alone, which are not customized for adventure game developers. Flash isn't specialized enough and whatever you do, it won't get that specialized! Also, Flash (the program) is expensive, most adventure game creation systems are freeware.

Now if some of the engines got Flash support - that would be a different story. Basically, you could use scalable vector graphics, and that could look very nice. Alpha blending and hardware antialiasing work too, though.

Also, Flash doesn't support 3D.

[Erwin_Br]

Still, someone could build an authoring tool/engine specifically for adventure games in Flash.

--Erwin

[hellomoto]

Don't you have to pay for flash? If not, I'd happily get it, but I don't think I'd use it that much, except for making little buttons for a website or something.

Anyways, I personally prefer making my own engine to do things, things work better that way, if I don't though, I mostly use AGS, its freeware, but its starting to look a bit... trendy!

[Erwin_Br]

Don't you have to pay for flash? If not, I'd happily get it, but I don't think I'd use it that much, except for making little buttons for a website or something.

Anyways, I personally prefer making my own engine to do things, things work better that way, if I don't though, I mostly use AGS, its freeware, but its starting to look a bit... trendy!

I don't know if you have to buy a license, and how much that license will cost. I've paid only $50 for SLUDGE which is a very, very fair price, especially if you intend to sell your game, like me.

--Erwin

[Spite]

Does anyone know where i can get a good adventure game maker? I've tried looking myself but i can only find ones you've got to pay for. I'd be very grateful if someone could tell me where to get one for free.

[Erwin_Br]

Does anyone know where i can get a good adventure game maker? I've tried looking myself but i can only find ones you've got to pay for. I'd be very grateful if someone could tell me where to get one for free.

A list of engines: http://www.adventuredevelopers.com/engines.php

Most of them are free. I recommend Adventure Game Studio if you're not into scripting/programming or AGAST and WinterMute if you do prefer scripting.

--Erwin

[hellomoto]

All of the major features of AGS involve scripting, as the GUI does not get updated as the main script implementation, so to make anything half decent, then you need to learn the scripting, I've never really tried many of the others myself, but run a google search on a sit called ambrosine, its got a huge list of utilities, most if not all, are free.

[jmackley]

Okay.  I get the fee issue and I get the no 3D issue.  I suppose I understand the not wanting to learn to script issue (although if you don't learn to script you're at the mercy of the engine author).

I don't know if I agree with the it works better if I write the engine myself, though.

Flash does many things better than SCUMM did.  The only thing the interpreter did better was walk-box interpolation (pathing).  Flash does everything else better.

Also, from Sam and Max on we didn't write our interfaces in the engine.  It is better to move the interface to the application layer of the abstraction because it gives you lots of freedom.

Not a big problem if you want to have your game have the same functionality as everyone else, but it allowed us to do interfaces as divergent as Sam and Max, Full Throttle, 'Curse' Ship combat - dueling banjos, The Dig assembly - robot programming - moon alignment , etc.

It enabled everything that wasn't standard key-in-lock puzzles.  On Curse, we even scripted the save load screen.  (That old SCUMM save/load was nasty looking).

[deadworm222]

[rant]

I suppose I understand the not wanting to learn to script issue.

Any of the engines worth anything (Agast, Sludge, WME, AGS) require scripting, too. What I meant was that they also have tools specifically for adventure game design in a broad sense: functions for programming, playing animations, buttons, sounds, etc. Heck, AGS has been used to make a platform games and a shoot-em-up -games, there's a Tetris-clone for WME and Agast has some similar arcade games, too. Flash is for websites, mainly, and ActionScript is still a drag.

Flash does many things better than SCUMM did.

The Big Four (Agast, WME, Sludge, AGS) do everything better than SCUMM did (except none of them have as good music support as iMUSE did).

Also, from Sam and Max on we didn't write our interfaces in the engine.  It is better to move the interface to the application layer of the abstraction because it gives you lots of freedom.

The interface is totally customizable in the Big Four engines, too. -- Have you tested them? Because, having used Flash, I can't understand why anyone would want to use it for games, unless you want to run your game from a browser...

[/rant] *_*

[deadworm222]

Then there's also the stong communities that have formed around the engines, especially AGS, so I don't think Flash has any chances - at least when it comes to amateur adventure game fans. Flash also has a "kiddie game" label.

[FrairPhil]

Flash games are what you make them.  They dont have to be simple or kiddie.  Do it right and people dont even have to know its a Flash game.  I opted to create my adventure game in Flash so that it would be accessable to the maximum amount of people, and I think it's paid off.  A Case of the crabs has had over 1 million plays since it's release in April.  I have no doubt that the success is directly related to the fact that it was built in flash.  Im still learning as I go, but so far, there isnt much that the other engines can do that I cant do in Flash!

[hellomoto]

Wow, you're beating quite a few commercial games there.


What I meant by writing your own engine lets it work better, is that you can add whatever functionality you need, with relative simplicity. Or at least having access to the source code allows you to improve upon it for whatever you need.

Its true, flash does have a kiddie label, but many games have broken that.