free SLUDGE sprites and backgrounds

Questions about this art

Am I really free to use this stuff?
Yes, as long as your use isn't obscene or illegal. I made this stuff and I won't be using it any more.

Tell me more about the legal side
Most of the art is entirely my own work. The main character, for example, is based on a video of me, taken by me, and redrawn by me. But some of the art is inspired by existing art. Most, like the face of God and galaxy art is based on public domain imagery. The only art you might have to be careful of is the composite warrior woman (on the right of the picture above) because it's inspired by actual commercial characters. I think the result is pretty generic. It contains no particularly recognizable parts, so I think it's safe to use. But I'm no lawyer, so use the warrior woman at your own risk. The male game warrior and a couple of the alien characters were created in the same way, but otherwise all the art is either hand drawn by me or based on public domain stuff, so is safe to use for any purpose.

What format are they in?
16 bit compressed TGA, and SLUDGE specific formats: mainly DUC (for animations), FLO (floors), and ZBU (z buffers).

Can I use these in other ways besides SLUDGE?
Sure, go ahead! As long as it's not obscene or illegal. But these graphics and stuff are in SLUDGE friendly formats, so you may have to convert them first.

Do you have the SLUDGE code as well?
Sorry, it would take me too long to untangle the original code. But it's pretty easy to write. Once you get the hang of the SLUDGE engine you'll soon see how to use this stuff.

Why do they look so sketchy?
They look sketchy because that was the easiest way for me to draw a flat color kind of picture.

Why the plain colors and jagged edges?
SLUDGE uses compressed TGA format graphics. These , like GIFs, produce very small files for plain colors. But when you have soft color gradients and antialiasing the file size gets much bigger. These pictures are mostly designed for very small file size.

If you don't use Sludge

How do I convert the graphics for other programs?
The TGAs can be converted in Irfanview or many other graphic programs, or just open them one at a time and save them in the format of your choice.

How do I convert the animations?
The animations are a little trickier to convert if you don't want to use Sludge. The simplest way is to download Sludge to get the DUC editor. This lets you save each frame as a TGA. But some of the animations are long and this can become tedious. You can automate the conversion process using a screen grab program that lets you grab a video of you clicking through the DUC file. if you don't want to click-click-click then I recommend AutoHotKey. It's free - Google it! It takes some getting used to, but when you know how to use it you can automate repetitive tasks with any program.

About SLUDGE

What is SLUDGE?
SLUDGE is a free program for making SCUMM-like games. Hence the name - SCUMM. Go to HungrySoftware.com to learn about SLUDGE. It's now open source, so anything is possible!

What is SCUMM?
Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion: the program that was used for creating classic LucasArts games like Maniac mansion, Zak McKracken, and Monkey Island. Google them to find out more!

What does a SLUDGE game look like?
Download "Out of Order" from HungrySoftware.com to see a real SLUDGE game in action. But SLUDGE can make serious games too. Your only limit is your imagination.

Why use SLUDGE instead of AGS?
1. SLUDGE is FAST for very big games. You can have huge screens and thousands of everything and it runs fine.
2. SLUDGE is FLEXIBLE. It's based on simple lines of code and it's open source. When you get used to it you can quickly write your own functions (called subs) to make it do whatever you want.
3. Did I mention? SLUDGE is OPEN SOURCE. If you want to see the underlying code, or change it, you can!

Why did you stop using SLUDGE?
in November 2007 I discovered a memory leak in Sludge that affected very large games like mine. It is not a problem in normal sized games (i.e. all previous Sludge games!) and by the time you read this it will probably be fixed (that's part of the reason why Sludge went Open Source). I had a deadline so was unable to wait. I moved to AGS, which has its own unique strengths, but I really miss Sludge.

What's AGS?
Adventure Game Studio is the most popular free Adventure Game software. It has a huge number of users, so is the easiest to learn if you've never coded anything before. There are other programs as well, but I chose SLUDGE.

How do I make a SLUDGE game?
Download the SLUDGE engine and tools from HungrySoftware.com Spend some time on that site and you'll soon find what you need.

Help! I need a tutorial!
Search on HungrySoftware until you find the Verb Coin Example. Download it. If you have installed the other SLUDGE tools then you should be able to compile the Verb Coin Example code and make it work. Study the code! Make changes! See what happens! This is the best way to learn SLUDGE.

Help! I'm still confused about SLUDGE!
Then post a question on the HungrySoftware forums.

Tell me again why you're throwing out this art?
To say thank you to all those poeple who let me use their art for free.