<<(([[|| * READ FIRST *BEFORE* POSTING!!! (updated 14 August 2012) * ||]]))>>

[TerranRich]

WELCOME!

First off, if you post here without reading these rules (and believe me, we can tell), then we will most likely give you a quick answer and tell you to read the rules. There are resources here. Common answers. Solutions. READ THIS THREAD, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!

The idea of this board is to allow those of you that are new to AGS to ask simple questions when you get stuck, without cluttering up the main technical forum with the same questions over and over again.

As there is an increasing number of people who have problems running AGS games with newer versions of the Windows operating system (such as Vista, SeVen, etc.), you may check out THIS SOLUTION first, before posting your problems.

Now, if you're not sure of anything in AGS, then

READ THE MANUAL FIRST!

Take a look at the manual. That's what it's there for. It even has a Search feature, for crying out loud. It's the ags-help.chm help file (ags.chm before V2.7) that comes with AGS. Either press F1 in AGS itself, or double-click on the AGS-HELP.CHM file in the AGS main directory. (Available on-line Right Here)
NOTE:
Some people have mentioned having problems viewing ags-help.chm - which makes it a little difficult to read the manual before posting. The most common solutions to those problems can be found IN THIS THREAD. Please read it through before posting, if you're having problems with the manual.

A lot of beginners' questions on this forums have to do with very simple things, and most often it can be found in the main manual itself. So don't get upset with us if we simply tell you to read the manual and lock your thread.

Feel free to ask here about any problems you have WITH AGS as you're just starting out, but please, keep in mind to look through ALL of the resources below for an answer to your query if you're stuck in AGS.

Also keep in mind, Chris Jones (aka CJ aka Pumaman) PAYS for the bandwidth of these forums out of his very own pockets. The forums have crashed as a result of overuse once or twice in the past few years. Let's not clutter up this or any other forum with redundant topics and double-posting.

If you find ANY thread with a question that you believe should be added to the BEGINNERS' FAQ, then PLEASE use the other sticky thread in this forum and post that link there. Or, if you know the answer, add it directly to the Wiki BFAQ. It's getting tough for me to sort through all the questions and decide which ones are worth adding and are common enough to make note of. Thanks!

FORUM RULES OF CONDUCT

1. Rules of conduct.

• Post in English. This is one of Pumaman's (Chris Jones) rules, and should be followed here as well. 99% of the AGSers can speak English, so this is the main language of the forums. This is covered in the registration quiz as well.
  
• Give your topic an appropriate and descrptive title. "Need help!" or "Simple question" will NOT do!
  
• Don't YELL! This goes for titles AND messages. Please refrain from using all CAPS and unnecessary colouring or formatting. Yelling will not make us answer your question any faster or any better.
  
• Don't double post. If you think of something to add to your post and nobody else has replied DON'T post again - this is what the "Modify" option is for. An exception can be made if a reasonable amount of time (more than 24 hours) has past since your last post.
  
• No bumping. Unless you have a related question or the problem is on-going, don't post in old (no new entries in more than 2 months) topics. It's nice that you want to help, but save it for someone who needs it.
  
• Don't cross-post. This means posting the same topic twice in different forums, or starting multiple topics because you're not getting an answer. This is annoying, wasteful, and you'll get hell for doing it. If you accidentally post in the wrong forum, PM a moderator and ask them to move it - DON'T start a new topic in the right forum. Again, CJ pays for the bandwidth of this site. Don't waste his money. Or our time.
  
• Make sure your post belongs here! Read below on what belongs here and what DOESN'T.
  
• Do NOT use the "thumb up" icon in your question. This will henceforth be reserved for resolved issues. Once a question has been answered or a problem solved, a moderator will edit the post to change the icon to a thumb-up.
  
  What follows is a list of the icons used and what they mean in this forum:
  : The problem has been solved and this should be checked for any answers.
  : This thread has been locked because it either violated the forum rules, or got out of hand (a rare occurance).
  : This thread's problem is still ongoing, or the inquirer hasn't reported on whether or not the solution(s) worked for him/her.
  

2. What belongs in this forum?

• Questions regarding simple scripting (basic stuff) that is NOT in any of the resources below.
  
• Questions regarding non-scripting basics, like GUIs, setup, music, icons, etc.
  
• Short, small introductions to oneself ONLY if the post includes an AGS-related question.
  

And please, always remember to READ THE MANUAL!

From now on, if any of us are reading a thread that has an obvious answer and if we can tell that you haven't read any of the rules or the resources below, we will simply lock it. We shouldn't have to clean up after you guys if you very well know where your topic should go and what it should (and shouldn't) contain.

3. What goes where?

Keep in mind that topics should go to their appropriate forums.

Completed Game Announcements: Fully finished games you would like to announce (NOT demos).
AGS Games in Production: Announce a game you are working on currently and have several rooms done and work to show for it (screens, demo, etc.).
Hints & Tips: For sharing and finding help when you're stuck when playing AGS games.
Adventure Related Talk & Chat: Anything regarding AGS, adventure games in general, and the AGS community itself. Non-tech questions would go here.
General Discussion: Everything else. Just make sure your post has a point to it and isn't stupid.
The Rumpus Room: For the sillier, more off topic discussions and non-creative activities.
Recruitment: For finding people to join your game projects.
Critics' Lounge: Post your artwork (doesn't have to be AGS/adventure related) and other stuff to have it critiqued and commented on ("C&C").
Competitions & Activities: Just what it says. Creative competitions and activities such as Background Blitzes, Sprite Jams, etc. go here.
Beginners' Technical Questions: Where you are now. If you do not know what this forum is for, please reread this thread in full.
Advanced Technical Forum: Advnaced scripting questions.
Modules & Plugins: Home of the user created AGS modules and plugins, for your convenience.
Engine Development: For discussions specific to the development of the AGS game engine.
Editor Development: For discussions specific to the development of the AGS editor.
Site & Forum Reports: For reporting issues found on the AGS site and forums.

4. But...I need some good paint programs!

If you ever ask this here, we will not lock your thread...we will delete it. Because below is a link to a post in the C&C Forum that has a big list of paint programs that are decent:

All the Paint Programs You'll Ever Need!

(A collection of the working links from the Big List of Paint Programs)

5. And I need software to rip sprites!

Do not ask this here, EVER. Ask it in the General Forum or the Adventure Talk and Chat forum. We'll spare you the lecture on originality and copyright infringement.

6. And how do I make midi files? I need software for that, too!
Same as above. Don't ask this here, take it to the General Forum or Adventure Talk and Chat. (Or better yet, search for it.)

INFORMATIONAL RESOURCES

FROM NOW ON, anybody who asks a question that is easily and completely answered in the BFAQ WILL BE LOCKED the minute we discover it! PLEASE, READ THE BFAQ BEFORE ASKING ANY QUESTIONS. This saves bandwidth and a lot of time and patience.

Before posting anything in this forum, make sure that you have checked ALL of the resources below. If your question can be answered in one of the resources below, we will not hesitate in locking your thread immediately, after posting a "Read the manual" or "Read the BFAQ" or some such post.

1. The AGS Main Web Site by Pumaman
Topics covered: Lots of things. Check out the knowledge database especially for common newbie questions, such as the infamouos BLUE CUP iniventory problem!

2. Getting Started with AGS by Pumaman
Topics covered: Creating the game, palette setup, first room, game testing, hotspots, edges, interactions, objects, inventory, room options, global messages, inventory, sprite manager, views, loops, characters, cutscenes, conversations, dialog, cursors, fonts, text scripting, custom Quit GUI

3. Online Beginners' FAQ ("BFAQ") by TerranRich
Topics covered: Too many to list. It's categorized and in a Q&A format.

4. Useful Scripting Tutorials by Sylpher
Topics covered: Arcade movement, GUIs, idle animations, etc.

5. GAC Tutorials by The Greek AGS Community
Topics covered: Save/load GUIs, smart scrolling, stats displays, cursor changing, etc.

6. Scripting Basics by RickJ
An excellent mini-tutorial on coding, syntax, and even forum typing. A short, but important read.
The above link was on my old server and I forgot to transfer it to my new one. I will talk to RickJ about getting it back up.

7. AGS Tidbits & Snippets by strazer
A great list of small facts and useful tidbits in AGS not really covered by the manual. More of a collection of miscellany.

8. AGS WIKI
Topics covered: Too many to list. A growing, online encyclopedia of all things AGS.

9. Demo Quest 3
The 'official' AGS demo game is currently a work in progress, while it gets updated to the current scripting style. Find the available bits in it's Games in Production thread.

10. AGS Resources maintained by jasonjkay
A fairly comprehensive, regularly updated list of useful Modules, Templates etc. Want to add some nifty features to your game, but don't know how to script them? Check here first - someone might have done the hard work for you!

11. AGS Video Tuts
Nice AGS tutorials on Youtube courtesy of desming.

UTILITIES and OTHER NEAT STUFF

1. Character and Template Downloads[/u]
2. More Templates, Fonts, and Other Downloads
3. ScriptEditor by AJA
Make scripting easier by using this helpful little program.[/s]
4. Previous AGS Versions
5. Mirror Site of Many Modules provided by Candle
Alternate downloads for most of the currently available modules[/s]
(Note from moderator: Most of the links here are dead at the moment. Needs checking and updating. For the mean time, you may try using the WayBack Machine and see whether some of the contents can be recovered.


NON-ENGLISH USERS

The German Help Boards can be found here: http://www.adventure-treff.de/forum/index.php?board=7

The French AGS Forums can be found here:
http://adventuregamestudio.fr-bb.com/

The Portuguese version of the AGS manual (HTML and Word DOC formats) can be found here: http://www.garage.co.nr/

Spanish tutorials by Ciro DurA!n.
Link leads to the first in an on-going series. Other parts can be accesed from that page, or this thread.

AN ADDITIONAL NOTE
Look, the moderators of this board are willing to help once in a while with questions regarding AGS. But please, don't treat us like instant messengers. If you have a question that will take some time to answer and explain, please do so in the forums. That's what they're here for. We moderators have lives as well. If you have one or two basic questions that can be answered quickly and simply, then fine, please be our guests. But to bombard us with questions about why the forums are down, or why your script isn't working is not within our capabilities. Please don't IM or PM us with complicated scripting questions. This isn't a full-time job for us. It's a hobby. You have over 6,000 registered forum members from which you can receive an answer. Please don't rely on just the moderators and elders.

Thank you.

EDIT by Gilbert, 14th August '12: Added solution to running games on newer computers. Also some clean ups.
Note to self: More work on the broken links.