MAGS February: "Losing Something" (Winner Announced)

Started by Atelier, Sun 01/02/2015 19:20:52

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Atelier

Quote from: Radiant on Sun 01/03/2015 10:35:17
Sure, but can we also start the March MAGS on March 1st?

Dude, it's 11.25 am, give me a chance!

Radiant

Sorry man, I'm in a different time zone here :)

HanaIndiana


shaun9991

Really looking forward to these games, looks like theres going to be some crackers! :)
Support Cloak and Dagger Games on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=460039

LeafThief

Yeah well. I'm not gonna make it on time D: It was probably a stupid idea in the first place to try and finish while attending a conference but you never know, right? So sorry for that. :(

Looking forward to playing the entries though!!!

Hobo

Well, I'm done. Not as polished and ready as I'd like, but here it is: Scenario 5B




Quote from: LeafThief on Thu 05/03/2015 16:38:44
Yeah well. I'm not gonna make it on time D: It was probably a stupid idea in the first place to try and finish while attending a conference but you never know, right? So sorry for that. :(
Sad to hear that, those screenshots looked damn good.
How's everyone else doing? There were lots of awesome entries in production, hopefully they will all be finished.

xil

That looks awesome Hobo, can't wait to give it a go :)

I'm once again going to be using every spare second but I actually have a finished game this time hah!

Sorry to hear you couldn't finish yours LeafThief, here's hoping you can get it released soon anyway :)
Calico Reverie - Independent Game Development, Pixel Art & Other Stuff
Games: Mi - Starlit Grave - IAMJASON - Aractaur - blind to siberia - Wrong Channel - Memoriae - Point Of No Return

Ibispi

#47
Sorry, everyone.
I did not manage to finish my game on time.
It's just 1 hour before the deadline, and I know I cannot finish it due to massive amount of bugs in my game at this moment. :=
Also, I've recorded some short melodies, but my program didn't save them properly and that made me so furious I decided to quit.
I can't make a game in one month! >.<
Again, I apologize to everyone, who maybe wanted to play Pyrrhus won the war (in the end) now, and to Atelier, whom I harassed with questions about the competition deadline. :grin:
Although, when I said I quit, I didn't mean I quit from developing this game till its done. Quite the contrary!
I see a lot of nice looking games here. When I have time I'll play them. ^_^

xil

#48
Sorry to hear you couldn't finish your game BSP, I had the same problem last MAGS!

My game is now in the database: IAMJASON

Completion thread: IAMJASON in Completed Game Announcements

[imgzoom]http://calicoreverie.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/iaj1.png[/imgzoom]
Calico Reverie - Independent Game Development, Pixel Art & Other Stuff
Games: Mi - Starlit Grave - IAMJASON - Aractaur - blind to siberia - Wrong Channel - Memoriae - Point Of No Return

st.

...you guys are real artists :) Great atmosphere! And beyond that, alternative worlds for the atmosphere to go with?! I was most impressed by the storytelling though, by how the player is involved... I'm still looking for the words to describe that :) This friendly contest feels like a picnic - your games were a real treat!
springthoughts

Hobo

Congrats to both of you for releasing the game! Just finished The Furthest Station and plan on playing IAMJASON later today.

@st. - since The Furthest Station doesn't seem to have a completed game thread, I'm gonna comment here.

The graphics look simple, yet are consistent and completely sufficient to carry the message. I did love the slow and contenplating pace of the game, but since there was a fair amount of walking involved, the walk speed could have been faster. For me personally, there was a bit too much text to read. Don't get me wrong, it was all interesting and well written, but in couple of dialogues it just felt sort of too overwhelming. Didn't find any bugs, but experienced that unreadable font issue a few times.

It's a good MAGS entry with great story and I hope to see more from you in the future.

Oh, and there's a hobo in the game, that's always a good thing :)

xil

Thanks Hobo, I've just had to patch it as BSP found a horrible bug so make sure you re-download before playing it!

@st. I've just finished The Furthest Station playing as well! I shared the concern Hobo mentioned with some of the text being large but I didn't dislike the dialogue at all, for me it maybe could have just been broken up into 3 or 4 .Say() commands and it would have been unnoticeable.

The story and the atmosphere were excellent but my favorite thing by far was the character sprites, absolutely beautiful pixel art!

Congrats on getting it done with such time to spare as well :)
Calico Reverie - Independent Game Development, Pixel Art & Other Stuff
Games: Mi - Starlit Grave - IAMJASON - Aractaur - blind to siberia - Wrong Channel - Memoriae - Point Of No Return

LeafThief

Wow guys these look f***** amazing. Can't wait to check them out once I'm home.

st.

:) I'm glad you liked it! I don't know if the attention TFS receives and will receive(?) may justify a CGA page, but I'd be interested in discussing various aspects of the game.

It's difficult for me to go into detail about what I liked more or less in S5B and IAJ. I'm afraid to compare them... I could say that I was impressed about the interaction with the environment and the graphical details in S5B. Once, I saw I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream and I remember that the graphical details helped me feel what the characters felt, like my senses were connected to the drawings. I think S5B can manifest this potential in a full length game. And I could say that I was impressed about the contrast between the rough, block-like drawings in IAJ and the subtle references to feelings and intimate thoughts. And also about the labyrinth-like path that the pc follows throughout the game, with surprises waiting around each corner. I can't think of any other means of expression than those of the arcades of old to be capable of stimulating the imagination of the player more. If in S5B you tend to experience with all your senses and the intellect is predominantly engaged - in mapping all the details and fitting the situations. In IAJ the imagination seems to be emphasized and the music and drawings become feelings; the intellect just flows of floats with them. There, I compared them... I hope I did no injustice...

This may not be the place to go into detail about my game, but it is possible that I will not have another chance to answer you. For everyone else, that might vote :), I must say that I would like my game to be judged by how it feels overall, regardless of the explanations given below. My desire was to make a game that adventure gamers could like. Elements of the game might interest only game makers, perhaps.

Yes, the focus of TFS is on the relations between the characters and that is handled mostly through dialog. I think it's not as much the size of some of the blocks of speech that gives the overwhelming feeling as the fact that occasionally(?) I squeezed a lot of information in one block. There I relied on the contrasts between phrases for the dramatic effect needed to carry the story forward. That may seem too thin at times? To compensate, I also tried to have everything else, like the graphics, good enough to keep the player comfortable while approaching the dialog; and leaving it behind. From your generous comments I understand that I succeeded, most of the time :) Many aspects of TFS were designed and executed in one go. The game grew and I just couldn't afford to come back and change everything. You know, there was so much to do in so little time :) One example is that of the database behind the actions, like "Talk: ...". It was set from the beginning to hold 5 lines of speech for the playable character and 5 replies of the respective npc. Then I just had to stick to the rule. Now that I think about it, it would probably be very easy to split the chunks of speech, yet I don't know if that would not disrupt the dramatic effect from having at one time, in mind, the whole picture drawn with words. There is also the timing of the chunks of speech that counts: they come after the pc gets to know the npcs a little and after they get a little closer through the means of an item given and received...

About the long walks, I assume you used the continuous walk feature. Besides that I could say that I wanted the walking speed to feel natural. And the walk towards an npc can occasion a feeling of anticipation or, perhaps, can offer the breathing space away from the dialogs, the time needed to reflect on what was said or just to look around through the eyes of the pc again...

I know we all worked hard and I dare say all three results are impressive in at least one particular way :) I'm glad this contest offered me the opportunity to share my work with you in a more involved way than it would be reflected through comments elsewhere. Thank you!
springthoughts

MAGS Host

#54
Voting!

Three entries to choose from this month:


• The Furthest Station by springthoughts
• Scenario 5B by Hobo
• IAMJASON by xil


Please PM this account with your vote by 16th March.

Also, as several people asked last month, I'd just like to clarify that it's a single vote for your favourite entry - there's no need to rank the entries.

MAGS Host

Results:

IAMJASON by xil - 3 votes
Scenario 5B by Hobo - 5 votes


Congrats Hobo! As usual thanks to everybody who entered and voted!

Hobo

This was a bit of a surprise and I kind of have mixed feelings about this. Of course I'm glad ;-D that I won, but the game I voted for didn't :(

Thanks a lot to all who played and took part in the voting!
And thank you xil and springthoughts for making good games that I enjoyed playing.

st.

Well, there had to be a winner :)

Your compliments, Hobo and Xil, are my reward :) Besides having accomplished what I set out to do, of course. It was really a competition against myself, a dare to do something different. MAGS offered the external motivation, but more than that it was the place where I worked side by side with other seekers after harmony. It was a pleasant feeling that I rediscovered what a friendly contest is about :)

There are many things in S5B and IAJ that I look forward to return to in the preliminaries to my future games. May you be inspired to bring to our world many such beautiful creations that make you and all of us happy!
springthoughts

xil

Congrats Hobo :)

I second st.'s sentiments, MAGS is a great way to test ones self via a time limit and random subject and the competition is always very friendly!

I'm learning more and more by just finishing games these days, too many times in the past I would get so close, but never get over the finish line.

On to my next MAGS entry!
Calico Reverie - Independent Game Development, Pixel Art & Other Stuff
Games: Mi - Starlit Grave - IAMJASON - Aractaur - blind to siberia - Wrong Channel - Memoriae - Point Of No Return

Radiant

Quote from: MAGS Host on Wed 18/03/2015 22:41:27
IAMJASON by xil - 3 votes
Scenario 5B by Hobo - 5 votes

So since this month's contest was about losing something, does that mean that IAMJASON wins? :confused::tongue:

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