At His Majesty's Pleasure
Ok, iv finally decided to bite the bullet and start making a game. Its still in the very very early ideas stage but i think its a strong enough concept to work... so maybe within a few weeks or so I might have sketches or something to show. However, for now, all im saying is the working title is 'Clink'...

Awesome... I look forward to seeing what you're capable of!

cool m8 8) are you using your photography skills or hand drawn?

May the Force be with You! Can't wait to play :)

are you using your photography skills or hand drawn? Hand drawn, but this isn't really a forte of mine so ill probably just be aiming to emulate other peoples styles. Like pretty much everyone else, CMI is a big inspiration graphics-wise, and rightly so I think! I also think music makes a big difference to making a game special (WMYT proved this), so does anyone know any good sources of original, royalty-free music? Or does anyone know how much we can get off with using songs which do have royalties?

Here in germany I think it's no problem to use commercial music in a non-commercial game ... as long as noone objects. I think of it as advertisement for the music :) and I really believe that's true. Of course I thought about all this when I used Anouar Brahems music for my game ... but it's just "clips" just like those preview clips on amazon. For "free sounds" I'd suggest this site: http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/ With sound editing you can get the most amazing results (using a flying beetle sound for Vincents disappearing effect on WMYT for example :) ), and the most basic effects you can do with a micro near your PC. I did that too. Some music - mostly electro and loop samples - can be found at the freesound project, too.

Right, the following is a basic outline of the current plot of 'At Her Majesty's Pleasure': Jimmy was sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit… though he did try. Now, confined to the walls of H.M. Prison Dirtchester, he must hastily assemble a team of thieves, murderers and other ne’r do wells to help him escape and succeed in stealing the wedding jewels of Lady Elderberry, before someone else does! Some general ideas: Like others, to make the production of the game more manageable im planning to split it up into chapters, and chapter one will most likely involve putting your team together. Rather than walking around the prison (which prisoners can't do), im planning to build the game around the different times in a prisoner's day... so instead of moving from one room to the other, if its morning and you are in your cell, clicking on the clock moves to lunchtime, when you are in the dining area. Clicking on the clock again brings you to afternoon, when you are in the yard, and clicking again brings you to evening, when you are in your cell again. I think this structure could lend itself to some interesting puzzles. So thats the basic concept at the moment, don't be surprised if this changes over time and, in a few decades when I finally get the game completed, it ends up being about an elephant who has lost his balloon! I still have to decide on things like visual style and time period. Would appreciate any thoughts or (especially) criticisms :) Please feel free to point out flaws in my thinking or volunteer ideas that could make it work better.

Brilliant! I love that idea of movement. Very creative (I could go on.... but it would all sound the same). I really can't wait to see it

Reminds me of "Prison Break" :) ... it makes sense! Since all days look the same you can simply "wait" (by clicking on the clock) to go to the next location ... When you are in the cell and click on the clock the cell doors open with a siren sound. when you click it in the yard you hear someone "Ok boys, let's get going" and all look into the direction of the cell block. Sounds good :)

Hey some good ideas there Matt, thanks! Keep em coming ;) Yeh i'll not pretend I didnt have the idea watching Prison Break... I mean if there was ever a TV show that would make a great adventure game :D... but I dont think it will be too similar, theres plenty of other films and games which are inspiring the story idea so it wont just be a Prison Break clone.

Prison Movies
There's a big difference between making a direct clone and getting inspiration from others. I mean, even Shakespeare borrowed stuff.... Here are some movies which might give you some inspiration: The Shawshank Redemption Escape from Alcatraz The Great Escape Midnight Express Papillon Cool Hand Luke I really like your concept. I think its got great potential.

Thanks Tucker, iv been doing research along those lines... watching Porridge (an old BBC comedy) and 'The Colditz Story'. Ill look up some of those suggestions too. I think im going to include a tutorial room at the beginning to set the story, and accommodate all those players who are too lazy to read the instructions and too stupid to work out a verb disc! It will also give me an opportunity to get to grips with LASSIE on something small and simple. Also, you know that bit in a game where we get to be all arty-farty to set the scene and use film-like title sequences (BILLY BOB PRESENTS... etc)? Well my theory is that a film is to be watched, and a game is to be played, so it might be fun to have a title sequence that is somehow interactive... like your titles come up in the course of you playing the game... im not really sure what i mean yet but i think it will work! So, to summarise, at the moment im concentrating on a one-room tutorial/interactive title sequence for my game which should give me a chance to develop drawing, animating and LASSIE skills... ill keep you posted :) As always, thoughts, ideas and criticisms are very welcome! :D

edit: Posted this by accident, could you delete it please greg? (just this post, not the one below)

Heres an initial concept rendering for the main character, its pretty much the drawing style I would like to use for the game, but like I said iv never really drawn cartoons before (which is pretty obvious!) so its gonna take a lot of practice to get it right. Comments and criticisms welcome, especially from anyone who knows a thing or two about drawing/animating cartoons and can give me tips. For example, Im a bit fuzzy on the use of thick lines... do you just use a thick line for the outline or is there a more complicated methodology behind it all? Hands also give me trouble.

I am by no means a great artist (though I have grown to love my Zaphod characiture (sp?)) I love that picture, gives me a little idea on how to make Ford look a little better. As for the think black lines, that is totally up to what style you want. John Green tends to do the black outline... I have also seen it in a few of Disney's cartoons (which explains John's use) and other cartoon network ones (Powerpuff Girls). As far as I can tell, it is around the outside of a "sprite" it doesn't enter the sprite AT ALL. Not to tell you how to do it.... but the line in the inmates crotch (no better term to use) would infact only be thick where it touches open space, the two sides then "enter" his body would change to thin lines. Much like you have his armpits. Disclaimer: I still stick by the fact that I am not an artist and have no REAL idea