Topic: 2034 A.C. (After Canada) [MAGS]

[Ponch]

You're welcome. If you're in the cave, you're near the end. Hope you enjoy the big finale. 

[gspit1124]

Excellent ending yah?

[Ponch]

Excellent ending yah?

Yah. Beauty. 

[Ghost]

Story will be continues on PAIGE 2?

[MiteWiseacreLives!]

Finished it. This might be the greatest game I've ever played, that was made in a month by a Texan.. about Canada. Your a real contender, Cow-guy! Thanks for all the fun! Now I just have to figure out what the heck I'm supposed to do in the other MAGS game so I can vote for you.

[Ponch]

Story will be continues on PAIGE 2?

Actually, I'm calling it "The Good, The Bad, and The Nutters" and I just started work on it today. (Okay, it only exists in my head and as a few sketches on the back of a Jack In The Box tray liner, but that still counts, right?)

This might be the greatest game I've ever played, that was made in a month by a Texan.. about Canada.

Thanks. It's not easy to stand out in a crowd like that, but I'm happy to know I did.

[Shadow1000]

I completed and enjoyed this game. As a Canadian (I've lived in Toronto my whole life, and spent signficant time in 7 other provinces over the years) I might have a bit of a different perspective

I am not clear what the MAGS theme was that this game was created for. If you can clarify that, I will post my comments when I get a chance.

SHADOW

[Ponch]

I completed and enjoyed this game.

Thanks. Sorry you got bit by that weird bug. Once MAGS voting is finished, I'll upload an improved build of the game. 

As a Canadian (I've lived in Toronto my whole life, and spent signficant time in 7 other provinces over the years) I might have a bit of a different perspective

Allow me to apologize right now for any offense you may have taken. 

I am not clear what the MAGS theme was that this game was created for. If you can clarify that, I will post my comments when I get a chance.

The theme was "post apocalyptic." When the theme was announced, I wanted to approach it from a "why does the apocalypse have to be bad?" angle. I quickly settled on Canada as the setting because a) I've been to Canada many times (and was even briefly stationed there a couple of times back in the 90s) so I know a little bit about it, and b) If any people could deal with the apocalypse in a way that make it seem a trifle at best, it would be you Canucks. 

I look forward to reading your opinions on my little game. 

[Shadow1000]

Thanks for the explanation of the theme. No offense taken; I'm sure that players realize that the "Canadian" flavour of the game was more in the theme of Bob and Doug MacKenzie humour and have little reflection of Canada (other than the prevalence of Tim Horton's...lol)

Anyway, my thoughts:

- The game certainly meets the theme, so you get points there!
- The idea of the game was for some wacky humour "Canadian" style, so you get more points for that. I had a lot of good laughs and I think that was the idea
- The puzzles were funny and clever and not too difficult. The graphics and sound effects were simple and adequate.
- Cute and simple plot

One comment on a puzzle that many people had trouble with:

I understand why people don't inuitively think of an igloo being round and solving the puzzle that way, but when I found myself facing that puzzle I thought "hmm...what happens when I go left?" Which I think should be a reasonable expectation for any player. The result was a good laugh

Areas to improve:
- I have trouble with games that have seemingly endless dialogue that doesn't contribute to the gameplay or plot. I have even bigger trouble with games with said dialogue where a hint required to proceed is buried in endless talking. The jokes were good, I give you that, but this is something I would rather see more limited. I recently stopped playing and deleted two games just for endless, drivel, silly dialogue.
- The

car at the bottom of the lake

puzzle was a real minus to me. If a game is over, it should be clear that it's over. If it's not, then some action other than clicking endless dialogue (see previous) choices and letting the character do all the work should make it clear that you're still playing. This was confusing and I had trouble being patient for this part of the game.
- To polish the game a bit more: consider adding sound effects other than "room" effects and music. Also, a user interface for loading and saving the game, inventory access and so on would have been better than expecting the user to know what keyboard buttons to use.

My conclusion is that the game was overall enjoyable and some out of the box thinking for the puzzles with the Canadian twist make this game worth playing!

Looking forward to the sequel

SHADOW

[Ponch]

I admit the game is talky. All my games are and this one is particularly so. In my defense, time ran out and there wasn't any time to really look at what worked and what needed editing. The few times towards the end when Paige says "oh no! only two days left until the deadline" (or whatever the lines were), that's no exaggeration. The game ran right down to the wire. The two caves at the end were never even tested by Ghost or Baron because I literally finished those rooms and the rest of the game the night before the MAGS deadline (got up at 5 am to compile the game and have it ready to upload when I got home from work that night). Heck, I've got almost a dozen Prime Minister Justin Beiber sprites that I wasn't able to use because two side quests had to be cut. 

I'm glad you liked the rest of the game though. I think that the development time frame for the sequel should leave me plenty of time to tweak it to play a little more tightly (and put those Beiber sprites to use). 

[sthomannch]

Congratulations on this one! Very funny, I enjoyed it a lot.

[Ponch]

Congratulations on this one! Very funny, I enjoyed it a lot.

Thanks. I hope I can count on your vote. 

[Anian]

Not to step on any toes, I was just basically bored, here's something for ya Ponch, hope you'll like it:

EDIT: I updated the picture, because I saw I accidentally turned off a layer before

[Ponch]

here's something for ya Ponch, hope you'll like it:

Like it? I love it!  My first piece of 2034 AC fan art! This assures a sequel, sir! 

[Frodo]

Just finished the game.  Loved it!   

Lots of humour and good puzzles.  One part I specially loved is...

When Paige's car sunk, and she was stuck in the bottom of the ocean.  She put on the headlights, and saw the big seamonster.  Then she was giving us commentary on how she was combining items to get another item, and she's made advancements doing it herself, instead of getting the player to do it.  That really made me laugh!   

And the comments Paige made about the deadline drawing near... I could almost hear poor Ponch panicking.   

Excellent work Ponch!   

[Ponch]

the comments Paige made about the deadline drawing near... I could almost hear poor Ponch panicking.   

Holy crackers, it was a close one. I can tell you that! I was almost certain I was going to have yet another unfinished MAGS game on my hands. 

[selmiak]

Really enjoyed it, even though there was this pixelhunt and the veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery long texting under water. But the text got better and funnier over time, but still a lot to read and not that interactive. I prefer interactivity over selfaware puzzle solving.

Off to the rating page! I guess lenght is 30m+ even if you don't read everything?! edit: okay, MAGS Game is a game lenght option >_>

Why does paige always bend down backwards? Why not show her other side? Would have been easy bonus (bribe) point for a mags vote...

[Ponch]

Yeah. It was a bit chatty down at the bottom of Lake Champlain, I'll admit. If I'd had a few more days, I would have tightened that puzzle up a bit. But I still think the idea of it was clever, even if I slipped in execution. 

And Paige wasn't going to bend over facing the other direction. MAGS votes are less important than a Mountie's dignity, buddy. 

Glad you liked the game.

[selmiak]

Oh I see, it was planned to be a puzzle but you really cut it due to time restrainst. At first I thought it was just a funny crazy thing you made up. So will it be in the polished version of the game? As funny and groundbreaking as selfaware puzzle solving is, actually solving THIS puzzle will make it better I guess. Not that it will suprise me anymore now, but people not playing MAGS games and only playing the polished version should be puzzled. Now I see why MAGS game is a gamelenght entry of its own for the ratings...

[Ponch]

Whoops. I wasn't clear, was I?  The idea was to have a simple "combine inventory" puzzle common to every adventure game, but with the twist of having the player separated from the character, so you'd would have to talk her through it -- which would be a novel experience for both her and you. When I doodled the puzzle out on paper at the start of development, you were going to talk her through it over the radio back at Mountie HQ.

So the puzzle is what I intended it to be, but it's too wordy. If I'd had more time, I would have streamlined the dialog tree (probably by removing most of the non-essential options) and worked to make the puzzle shorter overall.

So, yes, it is a "funny thing I made up", but it could have been done better.