AGDInteractive - Sierra Adventure Game Remakes Forum

So, the updated FAQ says that the alleys in Shapier won't scroll like they did in the old EGA version. Any particular reason? I know that the layout of the city is receiving an overhaul for the sake of simplicity, but the scolling feature added size and depth to the city (unlike Spielburg's tiny streets).

The main reason is because the scrolling effect is too difficult to duplicate in AGS, considering the complexity and size of the alley system. With point and click icons, the scrolling effect would probably become a bit cumbersome and fiddly after a while too; scrolling's more suited to the cursor keys as in the original version. Try controlling the hero with the mouse only in the scrolling alleys and make him run upwards. When a side exit approaches try clicking to the right/left as it appears. Chances are that you'll miss it nearly every time if you have the speed set to normal or above.

Aside from that, there's also some additional 'stuff' in the alleys which wouldn't have been possible to add, had we have implemented a scrolling system. The alleys work better this way, trust me!

Anonymous Game Creator 2 wrote: Aside from that, there's also some additional 'stuff' in the alleys which wouldn't have been possible to add, had we have implemented a scrolling system. The alleys work better this way, trust me!

Oh, tempt us tempt us evil Game Creator!!!!!!!

Seriously, I just replayed the EGA version AGAIN, cause I'm gearing up for this one.

Bt

Sounds good. I know you guys are being bulling with screenshots, but I'd really like to see one of the new alley system (perhaps in the next website update). The alleys have always been something that we fans have wondered how you were going to handle, and seeing something concrete would be nice.

GuJiaXian wrote:The alleys have always been something that we fans have wondered how you were going to handle

I have a feeling you will continue to wonder until the day the game is released.

As Erpy once said. "the alleys is one of those blab and you're dead topics"

Lalalalalalalala

Yeah, but is Erpy really gonna kill AGC1 or AGC2? I think not...

Nobody's killing nobody.

I've asked numerous of times until Relight asked me politely to shut up and be patient for the game to come out.

There's alleys in QFG2?

Migs wrote:There's alleys in QFG2?

Yes, in the old game they had a funky scrolling thing that sort of made it hard to figure out where you were and navigate easily. They also didn't look much like alleys, more like tunnels - maybe that's why you're confused! In QFG2VGA, on the other hand, there's going to be thr-- oops, you almost had me!

Relight wrote:Yes, in the old game they had a funky scrolling thing that sort of made it hard to figure out where you were and navigate easily.

I've never had any problem with them. Even today, after not looking at a map of them in over a decade probably, I could still walk everywhere and anywhere I want (Ok... I could probably even draw an accurate map of the alleys from memory... I guess having a near-photographic memory with certain things helps)

there's going to be thr--

Thr.... *pulls out a dictionary*

Thepal wrote:Even today, after not looking at a map of them in over a decade probably, I could still walk everywhere and anywhere I want...

The problem is, I never want to take out my map (keep it all mint-y fresh)... so then I made a copy of it... but then I still can't be bothered to do all the navigating, always having to type a command to check what street I'm on to make sure I'm going the right way. Am I just too lazy? Didn't someone once say that Roberta just loves maps / mazes? Did she tell the Coles to do this?

You know what would be really cool, a sort of medium-scale map that you actually just walked around in the map view, never mind the actual view of the alley. So you know the overhead map view in QFG2? Just like that, but more zoomed in, and actually let me walk around on it, and it scrolls as I go around.

Hagrid wrote:Oops. I probably shouldn't have told yeh that.

Just kidding. That's not what we're doing. That'd be too easy! It would be a cool idea though...

I never look at street names. It's not that hard to navigate. I mean, there are only a couple of exits from each street. And picking the right one is easy. I mean, from the Gate Plaza if you want to get to Dinarzad you just head north, take the first left, then you can just follow the right wall :P To get to the Fighter's Plaza you can follow the left wall (and if you have any memory at all you can skip the dead end passages). To get to the Astrologer just follow the right wall when leaving the Gate Plaza. I really don't see the problem with the alleys

That's the hard thing about the situation. The twisting, winding streets were annoying to navigate at first, but they honestly gave the city of Shapier a sense of size. The Coles wanted to make it clear that this was no alpine Germanic village; this was a sprawling desert metropolis.

And Thepal's right; you really only need to track down a handful of locations in the city by foot. Once you have the map, moving about the city is easy as pie.

I've always hated those alleys and look forward to the new ones, however they may work. Playing as the thief I hated the fact that I could only break into one of the doors in the entire alley system. I hope that there will be more locations of interest in the alleys, and a little more fun for theives.

Didn't someone once say that Roberta just loves maps / mazes? Did she tell the Coles to do this?

I think I read somewhere that the alleys in QFG2 are some sort of copy protection. I think the idea was that you had to use a map in the manual to reach the money changer and to go back again before you could buy a map from Alichica... I could be wrong about this though...

Yeah, sure the maze-like alleyways were a form of copy protection, in a way. You had to find the money changer by using the map that came in the box.


As for AGDI's changes to the alleyways, I don't know...... but something tells me that you won't encounter any major or random changes.

Bt

Hmmm... you may be right. I kinda forgot about that. I memorized the way to the moneychanger the first time I played QfG2, so I never needed the map again.

Wow. Thats pretty good memory you have.

Hope everything will be based on the map from Alichica instead of the original map. Places such as WIT will only show up in the map after you get there the first time. So, apart from finding your way to Dinarzad, you still need to use the map several times. Hate navigating the old alley.

thats preety weak copy protection considering the guy that sells the map actualy gives acurate directions to the changer.

That's another good point.

*phew* Good thing we're getting the facts together before playing QfG2VGA.

thats preety weak copy protection considering the guy that sells the map actualy gives acurate directions to the changer

Well, I know about the directions, but I didn't know they were acurate enough to be of use. If they are then QFG2 would be the second game I know which manages to render its own copy protection useless through some other feature in the game... I figured out how to defeat the copy protection in The Castle of Doctor Brain using hint coins, but I forgot how.