Bury Me in the Sand

[Funkpanzer]

It's the last day of summer and there's only one thing on your mind. Growlton local Ernie has caught your attention and with a do like that, who could blame you? You've spent the whole summer edging closer and closer to sealing the deal and with only one more day of summer the pressure is on! Will you be able to cultivate your budding romance, all while keeping a cool head, and serving your duties as Growlton beach's most helpful lifeguard?

Bury Me is a prequel to my main game project, Fish Life. I thought it would be a fun exercise to flesh out some of the background characters with a story like this for MAGS and I'm pretty happy with how things turned out! Props to selmiak for helping finish the walking animations and testing all month!

I'll be posting an update to fix the endless myriad of bugs and the last few scenes once voting for MAGS is over.

Progress:
Story 100%
Scripting 70%
Sound 90%
Music 100%

Spoiler

v1.9.5a - July 3rd 2017, 9pm EST
- Fixed a game breaking bug that stopped the player from starting the George questline
- Pierrette dialogues fixed (again)
- Buying items doesn't break the inventory anymore!
- Removed potential duplicate items
- Fixed missing Ernie dialogue in 2nd act

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[DBoyWheeler]

Whee!  At least you got something in in time!  Hopefully a more complete version comes later!

[Darth Mandarb]

Please add one more screenshot (read the forum rules). Thanks!

[Funkpanzer]

I've upadated the MAGS version to let you know when you've reached the current end of the game and fixed Pierrette's dialogue giving the wrong instructions!

[Creamy]

Superb game so far!
I had a crashing bug when

Spoiler

talking to Ernie alone under the dock.

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It says :

Code: ags

Error: DoDialog: all options have been turned off.

Also, I was wondering if there's a way to access your invisible items when you carry more than five things in your inventory.

[Funkpanzer]

Thanks for playing!

Regarding the inventory, I think I know how you ended up with six items and that is definitely a mistake.

Spoiler

Ernie is not supposed to give the player a whistle unless they've lost theirs. Or did you find another way to have six items that I didn't think of?

[close]

The dialog options not appearing is because I seem to have made a big mess of the end of the first act but I think I found the error.

Spoiler

Do you remember what you did during the fight with Gilda?

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[Stupot]

Just played this. Really nice stuff. It's a shame you couldn't quite finish it up in time, but what we've got is really fun and I hope you keep working on it.

I've got a theory:
(Spoilers ahead. Be warned.)

Spoiler

Jocelyn incorrectly guessed that Flo's password would be 358 when it was in fact 362. And that was based on the fact that it was the year he and Flo started dating. Under the dock, there is a heart for F+J 362, but there is also a heart for E+J 358. Implication being that Jocelyn still remembers the start of his previous relationship with 'E' more than his current relationship with Flo. Now I'm not one to gossip, but I'm gonna go ahead and guess that E is Ernie, which means our protagonist just kissed his brother's ex. On top of that, his brother still loves Ernie because he still thinks of the year 358.

[close]

(and breathe...)
Was any of this intentional (if so, how cool is that, creating a whole potential backstory with just a few subtle clues) or have I just proven myself to be a massive shit-stirring rumour-monger?

[Funkpanzer]

I've got a theory...

You are correct and you absolutely made my day.

I've been chipping away at what's left and hope I can have a working beta by the end of voting!

[Pilchard]

This is the first of this MAGS batch I've played through, and I thought it was ace.

The art style jumped out at me when I first saw your character sprites in the MAGS thread and it didn't disappoint in-game. Great use of a limited but very bold, distinctive palette that really suggests sun beating down on Growlton.

Dialogue was another strong point.

Spoiler

I played through the last section twice just so I could purchase both a Hoppy Pal and a Creepazoid and get the different dialogue from Ernie.

The cheeky easter egg found in Millie's locker was fun too!

I admire the subtle backstory that Stupot+ has noticed - I think the order in which I did things (I'd already rung Flo, and worked out the locker combination from the hearts under the boardwalk, before I'd spoken to Millie about needing the lotion) meant I didn't encounter the discrepancy in years on my own playthrough, but it's great that it's in there.

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Being able to rename Andre in the opening dialogue is a small but welcome touch, we don't often get that for adventure games - think I might pinch the idea for a future game of mine! I also like that you had a character named Gilda.

Pleased to learn that a more complete version is in the works, and it's the prequel to a further game too! Terrific.

[SilverSpook]

Fantastic game, absolutely loved the color scheme!

It's very polished for a one-month MAGS job. The writing is great and lots of humor, lots of visual gags (some raunchy ones, but it's about getting some in the summer -- what do you expect!? ).

The puzzles are all well-done, nothing head scratching and all felt satisfying. The 'hearts scratched into the wood puzzle' was very original and well-designed. There's a lot more depth than the sunny cartoon feel lets on!

Highly recommended to any adventure lover, or adventurous lover! (Seriously, there is a great makeout scene and everything! )

[Hobo]

Great stuff, too bad you didn't get to finish it in time for MAGS.

Visually quite impressive, really liking the color choices and animations. Also, good writing, nice sound design, some clever puzzles and everything that wasn't unfinished felt very polished and thought out.

By the way, is there currently a dead end in the game?

Spoiler

When I waste my money on food instead of getting an item from the dispenser?

[close]

Can't wait to try the final version, it sure has a lot of potential!

[Cassiebsg]

Lucky me, I was still playing version v1.9.1a
I'll start over, but in the mean time here's a bug (spoiler):

Spoiler

If you open Mille's locker while she's there, you can see the glasses... then the locked closes, but if you click on where the glasses are he will pick them up and use them.... You forgot to deactivate the object/hotspot when the locker is closed.
I found this the first time I was playing, and it's still present in 1.9.5a.
I did found more bugs in version 1a, but I'll just keep an eye open and let you know if I meet them again this time.

EDIT:
Okay, when talking with George, if you look at him it still says he's sleeping and you don't want to wake him up.

Last, when talking to Gilda while she's on top of the car, if you apologize (or the other "middle" question) someone stills mentions Andre in the dialog... Or maybe that was Mille and was on purpose?

[close]

EDIT:
Nice little game!
Looking forward to the full version one day.

A couple of suggestions: Esc is a lovely key, and only because I was speeding the dialogues I found the options screen. Maybe you should have an icon on one of the corners of the screen (or next to the fannypack) to click and bring the options forward. I thought I couldn't save! I did try F5. when that didn't do anything I figure: "no save option"...

EDIT2:
The load menu has the delete button an unfortunate place... if you click load and click again it's the delete button you will click on. You maybe should move the delete to another place, so players don't accidentally delete their saved games. It's on the same place where my game's load button is, and my subconscious played a trick on me... Sorry, disregard this comment...

[Funkpanzer]

@Hobo

Spoiler

You're supposed to be able to give him food but it appears I completely forgot to link that option up...

[close]

@Cassiebsg: Oh no! Thanks for all the notes!

If you click the upper-right corner it brings up the menu but for some reason the button is invisible. I'm sure it's something simple.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm glad you're all having fun with it, it's really motivating!

edit: It turns out the script that opens and closes the fannypack was conflicting with the script that hides the fannypack and menu button.

[Tycho Magnetic Anomaly]

This was a really sweet game
I particularly love that electrically vivid pallet you have chosen, its a really strange thing but I never would have though these colors suit would suite the theme so well.
I tried this as native pixels, but also tried out playing with the filter and I have to agree the filter really dose add a touch of class to the whole look of it.
Another relatively short game I thought, as is understandable with a game jam. The animations where superb, little touches like the flag waving really catch my eye a lot. I got stuck a few times but managed to get through it, the dialogs where very amusing and all in all I thought this was a very neat experience. I would love to see a more fleshed out game made with this style for sure.

Great work on getting this in on time too.

[cat]

I'm not sure if I'm just stuck or I encountered a bug/dead end:

Spoiler

I should give Ernie a special item but I don't have anything beside my comb, the hotdog, a can of soda and a few coins. On the beach there are two new girls but I can't interact with them.

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Btw, the save menu is really well hidden. If it wasn't for Cassiebsg I'd have never found it. I tried F5 but not ESC.

[Cassiebsg]

@cat
Seems like Stupot's clue wasn't enough.

Spoiler

Have you looked around the beach? Next to the hot dog stand?
Maybe you can get inspired in to parting with something from your inventory.

[close]

[Funkpanzer]

Spoiler

I should give Ernie a special item but I don't have anything beside my comb, the hotdog, a can of soda and a few coins. On the beach there are two new girls but I can't interact with them.

[close]

It is both a bug and a dead end!

Spoiler

You need to be more careful with your money.

[close]

[Funkpanzer]

I thought I'd share a little progress update! The final "puzzle" is fully scripted now and I had time to put in all the background junk I had planned! Here are some details from the lifeguard handbook:

The bugs and dead-ends you guys found have been dealt with but I still have a big chunk of animation left and to script the final scene. I'm not quite sure how to roll out the beta for testing, but I'm thinking of doing a private one to avoid more people trying the unfinished game. If anyone has any advice it's more than welcome!

[AnasAbdin]

I like your style a lot. Keep up

[Funkpanzer]

Thanks AnasAbdin!

I had time to go in and finish all the backgrounds last week and add some water animations.

[SilverSpook]

The animations look great! Those water reflections must've taken a while!

[xBRANEx]

Wow, they are amazing! A beautiful style indeed!

The color of the animation in the first background is really trippy. I love it!

[selmiak]

Thanks AnasAbdin!

I had time to go in and finish all the backgrounds last week and add some water animations.

I just quotet this to see the awesome animations on this page too

The waves in the sunset animation is really mesmerizing. the wavy patterns are fun to watch and how they all line up in the framecount. The reflections on it just nails it. awesome.

the wavyness of the ocean in the second background is awesome too, really dizzy trippy moving, just like when you watch the real ocean and get attached to it!

Andre swimming looks so fluid and things like the waterbubbles on his hands are such nice details!

[Hobo]

Fantastic animations and they work so perfectly with the color palette. Really liking this style.

[Pilchard]

Those finished, animated backgrounds are impressive, and that is a wonderful bit of animation for Andre swimming.

Glad the spruced-up version of the game is taking shape - as you know, I really enjoyed the MAGS edition.

[Surdy]

Looks fantastic! Keep up the good work

[Funkpanzer]

Thanks guys!

@Hobo: Working in 8 colours started as a nightmare but I learned so many new things about colour theory and shading that I can't look back!

Mildly spoilery...



This was the first water scene I attempted but I think it turned out the best! Shoutout to mid-summer me who thought the ocean was made out of balls.

[Blondbraid]

Wow, that is truly impressive water, and so smooth animation too!

[Stupot]

That is so cool, Panzer.

[selmiak]

spectacular water man! I have to fasten the seatbelt on my chair to not get dragged away

[Funkpanzer]

I was taking a break from my crazy life with some sweet, sweet Cuphead and remembered I wanted to release this before the end of the August! So while this strange, 24°C October rain pours down and before climate change or nuclear winter makes computers, and more specifically interactive fiction, a thing of the past I'm going pour myself a drink and hammer out what's left!



In the last few weeks the main beach area got a big overhaul and a lot of non-essential items and NPC's have been added. There is also a complete soundtrack now, including a big thumping dance version of the game's theme for closing scene.

I'm really looking forward to sharing the complete version with ya'll, hopefully sooner rather than later!

[Blondbraid]

That's super nice to hear, I'm looking forward to the release!

[Cassiebsg]

Ohh  nice!

and I'm looking forward to the complete version.

[selmiak]

this is good to hear looking good, keep it up!

[Funkpanzer]

The main menu got a more appropriate overhaul. Throughout the game, a lot of the music comes from a small portable radio that Ernie has with him. In the MAGS version I had this weird brick that was based off a 70's portable radio but it always felt out of place and I couldn't find a good way to implement it into the game.

Old main menu:


New main menu WIP:


It's still not quite finished but I think it's a nice, busy contrast to the stark beach in the opening scene.

Here's the new menu music: https://soundcloud.com/charlietwitch/menu-theme/s-9IGCL

Let me know what you think!

[Monsieur OUXX]

<3

[SilverSpook]

Looks great man! The new radio has much more style to it that fits in with the rest of the game, I think.

[Gurok]

This palette keeps tricking me! I keep thinking it's the EGA palette. It's very close -- like a more tasteful EGA. Great colours.

I like the new title screen a lot better, particularly the new font. It suits the beach context perfectly.

[Pilchard]

Just grooving to the menu theme now, it's great work!

Pleased to hear the complete version is imminent, looking forward to it.

[selmiak]

the more detailed book and radio are cool, also the addition of the beach hut. I'm not so sure of the resize of the chair and the ring. Maybe the original size or a small scaleup would look better and not so overloaded. Or maybe just the lifesaver ring, without the parts of the chair?
Some lifesaver rings have a rope attached to the outside of them at four spots, maybe add this for more details, the screen gets more and more detailed already, which I pretty much like
where is that radiowave from the antenna gone? make the invisible visible is always nice.


normally I'm a sans-serif guy by 85%, and in this case I somehow liked the serifed font better, also how the 'in the' was placed between the S and d is nice typography, but I see how you would run into placement problems for the title with the old size. cramming and stretching the serif font would probably look weird so it makes sense to use a not so tall font, though I like the old font!
You could animate that dithered colorramp in the font like the oceanwaves hitting the shore if you didn't already...

[Mandle]

Just my personal opinion:

Sorry, but I so much prefer the original title screen over the new one.

The new one is too busy for my liking and, if I hadn't played the game before, I would probably have no idea what it was conveying.

A beach scene is what you want IMO, with the beach itself being the star of the show and a few lonely items being the supporting cast, and the original does it so well, but in the new version the supporting cast obscures like 50% of the scene and the beach is pushed back behind them.

For me, at least, the few lonely items lost in the sand of the expansive beach was a much better visual.

[Cassiebsg]

I thought I was the only one!

+1 what Mandle says.

[Funkpanzer]

@Pilchard Glad you dig the vibe!

Thanks for the feedback, I too felt like something was wrong but pushed forward anyways! I'm glad to see some of you liked the original.

I centered the text and moved everything away from the middle:


- and with the buttons visible:


I need to take a couple of days away from it but I'm thinking something in between the two designs would work better; maybe dropping the lifeguard hut, making the radio smaller, and moving the chair further out? There is also a very big part of me that wants to make the intro screen a short panning animation that has the hut to the left of the chair so it's not a problem anymore...

@Mandle: In the first version clicking "New Game" and it cutting to the big empty beach felt really redundant. You saw the chair in the menu already so it just felt like it moved over a few pixels. I wanted to establish how isolated Andre is by cutting from a busy, forced perspective collage with upbeat music to this flat shot of him reading.

@selmiak: It could look good with a straight up gothic font.

[Blondbraid]

I'm not sure why, but for some reason the guy in the last sketch makes me think about Elton John.

[eri0o]

Hey! I think maybe the clouds could work scrolling slowly in the background.

Spoiler

[close]

[Funkpanzer]

I've spent the last while adding a new room and puzzle to the game. In the MAGS version the player is tasked with retrieving a toy from the vending machines for Ernie with change they obtain from inside a conch shell (woof). In it's place, you will be sent on a quest to write them a personalized love poem!

Here's my WIP of Jocelyn's apartment, where the bulk of the poem segment takes place :



I've repurposed the vending machines thoughâ€"I couldn't imaging parting with the silly backstories for all the Hoppy Pals and Creepazoid figures I've spent so much time on already.

[KyriakosCH]

Animations look really stylish!

[Blondbraid]

Looks great!

[Funkpanzer]

I was really hoping to have the beta out by the end of last year but a really persistent audio bug has kept me from being able to move forward for about four months now. After crying it out in the shower for the umpteenth time I've decided to gut all the audio scripts, ambient tracks, and music from the game and slowly re-introduce them, hopefully avoiding the problem altogether!

I know this isn't exactly an "update" but I am posting my plan to force myself to actually do it!

See you on the other side.

e. oh god... what have I done

[SilverSpook]

Looks excellent! I'll be keeping an eye out for this on Itch, or for potential Steam Wishlisting.

[AnasAbdin]

I love your art style
It's just so lovely even a crime scene would look lovely
I also super love the sketches! Please post more!

[selmiak]

I love all these little details in the bathroom and on the left in the distance, the beachhut and gilda's car And the fridge totally has style! 
Keep us posted on the audio bug, best of luck and logic fixing it!

[Funkpanzer]

Tiny update! Finished the apartment from my last post!



I also worked out the audio "problem" by starting all the panning and volume scripts from scratch and now I can get back to all the other things! The hardest part now is getting the poetry puzzle to make sense while still being fun.

[selmiak]

looking great!
How many more rooms will you add?
Did you finish and release this months mags game by any chance? I want to play that too 

[Blondbraid]

Looks beautiful, but unfortunately the font for the poem looks a bit hard to read.