[HMC]

I suppose I'll go with Paint for now. I wonder if there's any "How to make graphic made with paint not suck" guides out there somewhere...

That depends entirely on your abilities. If you just plain suck at art, the most expensive software in the world won't help you.

[Sartain]

Good point. I suppose I'll stick to something simple that I know for starters and see where it takes me.

[Sofox]

GIMP is the anti-thesis of intuitive design, and customizing said tools for efficient use is a complete pain in the neck - when possible. It also tries to "differentiate" itself from Photoshop and the likes by not adhering to common standards - simple placement of hotkeys being among them. I've yet to meet a graphics designer who didn't curse out loud during the first days of using that tool because it was messing so badly with his workflow.
Alternatives... none that are "free" and haven't already been mentioned yet. You'll just have to deal with it - either stay with GIMP and produce mediocre stuff that makes you wish you had gnawed off your hands before buying a computer, or spend some money and get serious about work.

Two comments.

Firstly, have you checked out the most recent versions of GIMP, they've made a lot of changes over the versions, and from a personal perspective, I like using it more now then when I first found it (due to interface improvements or familiarity, I'm not sure).

Secondly, while you may feel whatever you want program, you can't say that using GIMP will restrict you to mediocre work. It's the folly of the workman who blames his tools. I'm not willing to debate the small points of user interface, learning curve, time of task completion, tools and so forth, as I don't have the experience or professionalism to do so. I will however say I find GIMP a good and powerful program to work with; and since masterpieces have been made with MS Paint (ultimate example here), it's bad form to put too much weight on how much the program you use will affect the works you make with them.

[Sartain]

Yay, created two rooms and my hotspots are working, mostly. Graphics are awful, in that Leisure Suit Larry I kind of way, if not worse, but its a start.
Still working on creating NPCs that doesn't look like mutants or freaks of nature, but it's better than nothing I suppose.
I even have a plot idea.
The game will probably take like 10 minutes to complete once it's done, but hey, it's a start.

This post has been edited by Sartain: 23 November 2007 - 09:32 PM

[Sniffles]

You can't expect to make # Days a S*blank* on your first try. Just get the basics down and even if you make a piece a crap, you've gone through the process and can only get better. Don't worry about quality until you're actually experienced.

If you'll excuse me, I have to go water my plant...


his name is Ronald.

[Sartain]

Yeah, that was pretty much what I thought as well.

[Sofox]

Damn, you're more mature then my first few attempts with it.

"I've been at it a few minutes and it's not an instant masterpiece. I've obviously got no chance of creating anything good, screw the whole thing."

Then I go into depression...

[Gobbler]

Secondly, while you may feel whatever you want program, you can't say that using GIMP will restrict you to mediocre work.

Yeah, sorry, I'm stuck in my way of thinking in time-frames here. Granted, you can do neat stuff with pretty much nothing, but good luck with applying that to nowadays definition of productivity.

[bobsickle]

Yeah, sorry, I'm stuck in my way of thinking in time-frames here. Granted, you can do neat stuff with pretty much nothing, but good luck with applying that to nowadays definition of productivity.

I don't think you realise that some of us are actually sad enough to create "masterpieces" (i.e. spend hours drawing stickmen) in things like the handwriting functionality in MSN Messenger or on White Boards in Bebo. I thought it was a crime that Corel Draw didn't have a paintbrush, so I only really use PHOTOPaint now. The one thing I really like is the grid it gives you if you zoom in far enough so you can edit whole pictures pixel-by-pixel. I don't like GIMP or MSPaint because they lack the editing functions which I use more than the drawing tools. If I create the images in the first place, I will always want to edit them, which is why I'm amazed when people manage anything great in paint. I also like cheating... and photo-editing. I know nothing of everything else. Or anything else for that matter. I'm going to go back to sleep now...

[Gobbler]

... your point being...? Some people draw stuff? Help me out here, I fail to see how that fits into the discussion.

This post has been edited by Gobbler: 24 November 2007 - 05:34 PM

[Sartain]

What a coincidence, I draw stuff too!

Anyway, progress update: Current work is still ugly, but I've come to realise it won't get much better unless I find a better program to work with, I think.
Still at two rooms, feel I have the room-creation well in hand and am now trying to create non-freakish character graphics, fearing the point where I'll have to do animations of them as well. Eek.
Also working with dialogue trees which seem to work fine so far, will have to experiment with some conditional dialog variables and see what my options are.

Still have a small unsolved problem from my first room: I created two hotspots in the same area (a door) with the intention of the first hotspot to be the locked door and the second to be the unlocked version. When a key was used on the first hotspot, it would disable that hotspot and enable a second that allowed passage.
Although the options seemed to be set correctly, it wouldn't work and I had to work around it by removing one of the hotspots and allowing passage through the door through interaction if the character possesed the proper key.
Also, I still can't get the Remove Item From Inventory option to work, which I suppose is fine since that would result in the character locking himself out of the room due to my first idea failing, but it still bothers me.

This post has been edited by Sartain: 24 November 2007 - 07:22 PM

[looktothesky]

RE: small tiff going on about GIMP, Photoshop, etc.

I'm a graphic designer, and I'd much rather shoot myself in the stomach than use a program like GIMP for my projects.

Though I'm sure if you had a lot of time, and weren't on a tight schedule, GIMP would be excellent! ... Even paint would be good! ...But I like having my documents work when I'm moving them from Photoshop, to Illustrator, or InDesign, or even Quark *gag* (eventhough, Quark is a bitch to work with anyways... compatibility doesn't matter so much with that one)! It saves me a lot of time for my projects, and a lot of headaches.

The point of this dumb post?

GIMP / Paint is good if you have a lot of time to mess around with things.
Adobe CS3 / Corel is a good idea if you're in a business that deeply involves it, and you know, it operates within schedules and things. lol. Also, the updates from version to version are excellent. Smart Objects are a lifesaver.

EDIT - Millions of edits and adds!

This post has been edited by looktothesky: 24 November 2007 - 08:25 PM

[Gobbler]

Ditto.

[Sartain]

Update: Animations for main character walking are now in place, even if they are rather basic. I also have a good idea of how large to create NPCs and have of course saved my character animation for posterity. Or at least, later use.
I have also started working on a 4th area and have plans for a 5th as well. Soon I will be looking into the possibility of animating objects that are interacted with (doors, chests etc) instead of a static picture.

The key still won't disapppear, but as it is the only inventory item in the game so far I suppose it's not a big deal...

[Sartain]

Hmm, no edit function? Oh well...

I have encountered a slight hiccup in my progress. I have an animation ready for my object, but can see no way of applying the VIEW to the object in question. Anyone got a suggestion?