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Kazmodan · 03-21-2005, 02:48 PM

Actually, speed at higher res is a downside of AGS that I hope to see improved. Saying "who needs more than 640x480 anyway" is like Bill Gates saying, "640K should be enough for everyone" (or something like that). Even with anti-aliased backgrounds and characters, the "jaggies" are still more noticable than at higher resolutions. And on CRT monitors (yes, they're still alive, preffered by many gamers, and cost less than LCDs) higher resolutions look much sharper than lower.

That being said, you can't beat free. Wintermute has its "whatever the engine's author deems necessary" royaltee amount if you make a commercial game, SLUDGE requires a registration fee, and a general vibe I got about AGAST is "well, it's got these bad bugs but some people have found work-arounds" and its slow update and bug-fix pace. Somehow those choices don't sound too apealing to me. For now, AGS seems like a lesser of the "evils".

This may sound a bit extreme but I would either go for AGS for something casual or a classic 2D style of old days because the engine is free OR if I wanted to do a lot of coding, I would move onto something like CrystalSpace, which is what's being used for the upcoming "Keepsake" game. Perhaps "Blender" (also free for commercial stuff) for making pre-rendered backgrounds and characters if I wanted a 3D'ish look. But that's just IMO.

Also, I do have a bit of a worry about whether AGS continues to stay free or not. While CJ often jokes about it becoming non-free on April 1st(s), as soon as someone steers the conversation in a serious direction, he doesn't give a clear answer and says that he can't promise anything. I wouldn't want him to suddenly switch it to require fees in the middle of a game development. Also, when it comes to commercial projects with AGS, doesn't the license say (or used to) that you're pretty much required to send a free copy of your game to Chris? Which is actually ok. The use of the full engine is still free.

03-21-2005, 02:48 PM	#18
Kazmodan Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 71	Actually, speed at higher res is a downside of AGS that I hope to see improved. Saying "who needs more than 640x480 anyway" is like Bill Gates saying, "640K should be enough for everyone" (or something like that). Even with anti-aliased backgrounds and characters, the "jaggies" are still more noticable than at higher resolutions. And on CRT monitors (yes, they're still alive, preffered by many gamers, and cost less than LCDs) higher resolutions look much sharper than lower. That being said, you can't beat free. Wintermute has its "whatever the engine's author deems necessary" royaltee amount if you make a commercial game, SLUDGE requires a registration fee, and a general vibe I got about AGAST is "well, it's got these bad bugs but some people have found work-arounds" and its slow update and bug-fix pace. Somehow those choices don't sound too apealing to me. For now, AGS seems like a lesser of the "evils". This may sound a bit extreme but I would either go for AGS for something casual or a classic 2D style of old days because the engine is free OR if I wanted to do a lot of coding, I would move onto something like CrystalSpace, which is what's being used for the upcoming "Keepsake" game. Perhaps "Blender" (also free for commercial stuff) for making pre-rendered backgrounds and characters if I wanted a 3D'ish look. But that's just IMO. Also, I do have a bit of a worry about whether AGS continues to stay free or not. While CJ often jokes about it becoming non-free on April 1st(s), as soon as someone steers the conversation in a serious direction, he doesn't give a clear answer and says that he can't promise anything. I wouldn't want him to suddenly switch it to require fees in the middle of a game development. Also, when it comes to commercial projects with AGS, doesn't the license say (or used to) that you're pretty much required to send a free copy of your game to Chris? Which is actually ok. The use of the full engine is still free.