funnily enough, I WAS unsure about his crotch-lines! (what a hideous expression!) Yeah I realise its not mandatory, but I do like the effect, and I think ur right, it tends to be just the outer edge. Im sure theres some theoretical reason for it.

My guess would be to draw attention to where one thing starts and one thing ends when you have a limited color palete. I was going to suggest something Greg once told me... but it might be different if you want the black outline. He said never use black for lines. Though, even if you look at John's main character from ND, his outline varies in color based on what color is nearby. The idea behind that is it keeps the character that much more interesting than just black does.

Yeh i had noticed that... and it works well for John. I did try it but couldnt get it to work just as well.. but maybe if i kept at it. CMI used black lines which is what made me figure it was alright :D John still uses a black outline for all his characters by the looks of things... but his outlines are smoother and simpler... which im guessing is down to more skill with flash or illustrator

Well, like I said before I'm no artist, and in my oppinion it's totally up to your own style (but something once decided it needs to stick) (50th post! :-D)

No i appreciate ur opinion, I want this to look good and that wont happen without being told what i could do better :) And congratulations!

np and thanks :-)

i found this that maybe useful: http://www.devppl.com/tutorial/14319/ its a PhotoShop tutorial on creating cartoon/artistic lines.. pic looks great btw :wink: skillfully ovoids the need to mention "crotch" this early in the morning... oh bollox just did :P

*brings up semi-dead topic* As i mentioned in another thread, I'm interested in honing my programming skills, and this project might be perfect. If theres any new info on this since the last post, please let me know

I've decided to set my game in England during World War 2 because... well... why not? I figure setting it in a historical period saves it from dating quite as much, but it means i'll have to do research now... :( The name has been changed to "At HIS Majesty's Pleasure" accordingly... God Save The King! So if anyone has any images or information on what normal prisons were like back then (not P.O.W camps) id appreciate it!

Ahh good idea, our rather un-moral antagonist somehow takes advantage of the war-time measures and becomes a professional thief. Quick question: you picturing this as a "bad guy's" perspective? or are you somehow rationalizing his actions?

No i guess im going for the old cliche of 'lovable rogue'... morally bankrupt but not really evil. The intro scene is the only one set outside the prison, it explains how he got there (how he got set-up during a burglary) so once inside he'll be a good guy compared to the murderers around him. I guess you could liken him to Private Walker from Dad's army... a bit of a 'spiv' (pencil moustache and all), should really be in the army but dodged conscription. Still likable tho. And the fact he gets set up should help the player empathise with him. But I suppose part of the fun is that you are essentially playing a bad guy, but a good bad guy, like Danny Ocean or something. He'll probably change quite a bit from the original concept iv uploaded previously. He'll be younger, for a start... which will give me the opportunity to, if i want, age him while in prison to show the passing of time.

You could also do a thing where, depending on how many times you "pass time" the longer he's in jail. Then at the end of the game you can say "You spent ___ days/years in jail" and then you have the replayability aspect in it.

Yeah I was thinking of doing that, might be a little like the score in the Sierra games... see how few days you can complete it in. Maybe have a counter with tally marks that look like they're scrathched on a wall.. would that be possible in Lassie, to have a numerical counter represented graphically?

Greg always says "if you can do it in flash you can do it in lassie" and in all honesty I don't think it would be too hard to write into a flash sprite that makes it look like it's on the back wall. In fact, I think doing something like that would make it easier, because if you make a certain room the morning, you can place a specific sprite there, that adds one, and displays it, and every other room of the cell could just display it and not add 1.

Good thinking Batman. Itll be a while before I have to worry about it anyhow, but its a good idea!