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One thing that confused me about inventory items--and this may just be the BASS template--but in the custom properties you can set the item "InstantUse" as well which changes the behavior somewhat.  I didn't realize why it affected some inventory items and not others.  There's also the setting "display multiple icons for multiple items" that may also be worth mentioning.

I think what you're writing sounds great, though.  It fits the tone of the manual and helps explain things a bit further.

Okay!  I did it.  These days the only vacation I can imagine is the kind I have in my dreams.  But on vacations I like to go to a new city and look around a bit so I decided to try to bring these two ideas together and have a dreamy, surreal cityscape for my vacation themed background.

Well, that's amazing!

I've never bothered to worry about dither-mania on a non-CRT but also I've never actually seen something I did on a CRT so maybe I should!  Just keep up what you're doing and you'll do great!!

Oh wow!  It's nice to be recognized.  I'm glad I could have any effect on something like this!  I fooled around with this for a bit.  Mostly I just used the Aseprite gradient feature to add some dither to the area between fully lit and shadow.  Honestly, that gradient tool is awesome and I use it all the time.  I also really like to add a little schmutz around to break things up a little just like a little dirt on the wall or floor.  Another thing to bear in mind especially with EGA is that sometimes the color you're looking for isn't as important as the brightness relationship between two pixels.  Like, sometimes you don't want green but adding green doesn't read as green because it's either brighter or darker than its neighbors.

You're right your character there doesn't look bad in the shadows at all.  Honestly, I might not even change that.  Just kidding!  Playing with light and dark in the EGA palette is the most fun you can have so seize every opportunity!!

I'll also DM you a link with a bunch of stuff I've done so you can look through for inspiration, ideas, or just just steal it lol.  It's been a process!

That said, I really only ever work in EGA so I feel like it must be my time to shine!  Overall I think you're doing great.  One thing to bear in mind is that your character is going to look super bright if they walk into the shadowy side of the room so you may want to consider a different version and maybe use regions to determine which character to use.  I often use a blue dither for shadow rather than a straight up black but that may just come down to personal taste.  In fact, everything I say can be chalked up to personal taste. Anyway, I think the dithering pattern on the right side is a bit distracting and might look better with a more normal pattern and in blue. I don't like to use black outlines if I can help it but it does keep your character from blending into the background and when you've only got this palette to work with can be a real problem. 

I also use a lot more dithering just in general but that's also because I like it and I'm generally going for more of a late EGA vibe where dithering was more widely supported rather than an early EGA where you didn't see it as much.  Like, Maniac Mansion or Zak McKracken versus the OG Monkey Island.  The girlfriend character is also asymmetrical which I always like to see since it's more interesting to me.  And I love to use that dark purple color in night scenes because it looks so good to me.  One other trick I like to do and you seem to have this down is just picking a light source and just going to town on highlights and shadowing.  It really helps bring a piece to life, I think.

I really love this, though.  I'm always super tickled to see somebody working in EGA and I also love to not shut up about it.  let me know if I can help out in any way and keep it up!  I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this!


EDIT: I've also got a whole shitload of castle interior EGA art that looks similar to this that I've done that I'd be more than happy to share but also I realize that doing the whole thing yourself has a great appeal as well.  But I can also send it over and you can mine it for ideas as well.

Can you post the original size, please?  I wanna try a few things out and resizing it is proving problematic as not all of the pixels seem to be the same size.

This isn't a background or much of a vacation but it is what I've been doing. 

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I have been working on some real dumb stuff that I can't even shoehorn into this blitz...so I think I will have to buckle down and do a good old fashioned background soon.

You can also use the view's name instead of a number to help you read the code.  Like:

Code: ags

cRich.LockView(VRICHHANDSHAKE);

Congrats @lorenzo !  I never mind losing to you lol since you always produce such great work!  Great job to everybody else as well.  This was definitely a fun one!

Maniac Mansion itself does a little flubbing with the vanishing points to get away with having more "usable area" so you can definitely fudge it.  It's just a matter of fudging the right things.  As an aside, I have a decent treasure trove of EGA adventure game art I've done for myself that is scaled to about the same size as your guy there, Jason, if you want some.  Obviously, I doubt it will be a perfect match but it's there if you want any.

Personally, I would make that a GUI so you can leave all your room conditions alone and you don't have to mess around with keeping those straight.  The GUI code will go into the global script then.

The general idea for a combination lock is that you save the number of each tumbler in a variable and then when you push the button you check those variables to see if they are correct.  Each tumbler would be a separate GUI button (which can also animate if you want, by the way) and the button on the right there in your example would also be a button that checks the variables.

Oh wow!  Lots of great entries this go round.  What a treat.

Okay, I went for more of a cutscene background or maybe it's a longform dialogue scene but it felt good to make it and if it's not close enough to the stated goals, well, obviously I'll retract lol.  But for many people drinks and the ritual of the whole thing particularly in that place of worship, the bar, is a very real thing.

I am also trying to get something reasonable up that approaches the theme on a project I'm working on right now.

As another EGA guy I would say don't be afraid to dither dither dither.  Of course, that's partially a stylistic choice.  The solid colors may look better to you but as a big Colonel's Bequest guy I will always want to dither.  Check out The Telwynium for more dithered EGA greatness.  Those games look amazing.

Oh, yeah, you were ready to go!  Nice.  This is a good theme, I think.  One of the fun parts of Background Blitz is that people choose themes I would never pick myself so it gets me thinking outside of my usual circle.  Hopefully we get some nice entries this time!

Oh, I've been following development so long it's hard to believe it's finally here!  I'm sure you can relate lol.  Downloading from GOG now.

Well, it's a great start, @Creamy!  Very evokative.

Well, I guess there's nothing more to do here than to proclaim @RootBound the winner as we didn't have any other valid entires!  Still, lovely to see everybody's work regardless on the theme.  So, RootBound, I guess you have the task before you of picking a theme for the next one!  Congrats on an excellent background and good luck with choosing the theme!!