ATC, info and development *Competition over! Thanks for your participation!

[Andail]

The AGS Team Challenge 2004 is under way!

The teams are as follows.
Names underlined denote team captains.

TEAM 1: Creative Minds

Member Writer/Designer ------- Vel
Member Scripter-------------------Redwall
Member Musician------------------Petteri
Member Artist----------------------Alpha
Member Artist----------------------InCreator
Member Extra----------------------Pixelcat

TEAM 2: The Big Eye Team

Member Writer/Designer--------ScottDoom
Member Scripter-------------------Sinitrena
Member Musician------------------Iqu
Member Artist----------------------Fawfulhasfury
Member Artist----------------------Eggie

TEAM 3: Team Tiger

Member Writer/Designer--------Babloyi
Member Scripter------------------Tanker
Member Musician-----------------Peter Thomas
Member Artist---------------------Evil
Member Artist---------------------Miez

TEAM 4: Cold Shoulder

Member Writer/Designer-------Lazy Z
Member Scripter-----------------Zor
Member Musician----------------Eldkatt
Member Artist--------------------osc
Member Artist--------------------TikiTikiMan

TEAM 5: Fatal Error

Member Scripter-----------------Ginny
Member Musician----------------Minimi
Member Artist--------------------LostTraveller
Member Artist--------------------Daz
Member Writer/Designer-------Bassfisherman

TEAM 6: Epileptic Fish

Member Writer/Designer------Dave Gilbert
Member Scripter----------------YOke
Member Musician---------------BeserkerTails
Member Artist-------------------scotch
Member Artist-------------------Dart

TEAM 7: Team Awesome

Member Writer/Designer-----LGM
Member Scripter---------------Releasethefrogs
Member Musician--------------Eigen
Extra Member------------------Alky
Member Artist------------------custard
Member Artist------------------Donny Brook

Agenda
The competition spans over five weeks, and a link to the game must be handed in before 12:00 greenwich time on August 14:th, to
petter_andail@hotmail.com
subject "AGS team challenge"

* Within three days, each team should have responded to this thread, presenting a team captain and a team name. A contact email address must be enclosed.
This is obligatory.
A mascot or some sort of symbol/picture is optional, but recommendable.

* Two weeks from now, each team should be able to show one screenshot, and a short "blurb", or plot outline. These items will be presented on a Screen 7 website (hosted by Mods)

This makes:
July 7:th----------------Project officially starts
July 10:th--------------Deadline for team name and captain (failure to this leads to disqualification)
July 14:th------------------Obligatory status report, see post below
July 21:st--------------Deadline for presenting plot outline and one screenshot (optional, but failure will result in heavy point reduction in the jury's decisions)
August 7:th ------------Deadline for final status report.
August 14:th-----------Deadline for handing in the games to petter_andail@hotmail.com. No games delivered after this date will take part in the competition

General rules
There are no restrictions in terms of resolution, game-length or other technical details. The plot should follow the designated theme, or suffer point reduction.

All teams must see to it that their projects are kept secret, so that the risk of plagiarizing is minimized. A forum with passwords is preferable.

Team members should respect the short time period, and keep updated and in contact with their captains. If a team member fails to show up, the team captain can apply for exclusion (PM me), and if the team reaches three members or less, a stand-in might be available. This can also be the case if a team member misbehaves or fails to cooperate.
In order to exlude a member, there must be obvious reasons for this, and not just a general disliking. This is after all an exercise in cooperation.

Vacancies will be announced in this thread. Teams cannot request particular people for stand-ins.

No team must at no circumstances use outside assistance in their projects. This also goes for templates and plugins. Everything must be made from scratch by the team-members. Certain standard elements, such as the default font, may be used.
Also note that artwork or music created prior to the time of this competition may not be used. Hypothetically, a team member can have made an entire game based on mystery, but never released it, but still no material from this game may be used in the new one.

Team functions
* A team member is allowed to take part in work in other areas than the one they signed up for.
* No team member has formally more power in the designing of the game - regardless of area - except for the team captain. The other members' functions should be established within each team.
* Formally, the team captain can make unilateral decisions, and can assign tasks to other members. This is
to save time, and make sure the captain can eventually - if needed - force certain assignments to be carried out. This function should be used with care, considering the team spirit.
* The team captain is elected by voting. No initial team position is favourable when electing the captain.
It is recommended that the voting is carried out immediately and without campaigning too much.

Documentation
Along with the finished game, a document must be attached with proper credits, details regarding number of locations, characters, inventory items and maximum amount of points (if featured). 

Judging

After August 14:th, the games will be tried and evaluated by a jury. The jury is elected by me, and will be secret, so that no kind of lobbying can occur. Games delivered later than this deadline will not participate in the competition, but might still get an honourable mention on Screen 7.

The jury will look at and award:

* The plot in relation to the subject; Mystery
* The overall plot and playability
* Graphics/music
* Technical features

Disqualification can be imposed for the following reasons:
§1. Exceeding obligatory deadlines, or failure in following vital instructions.
§2. Less than three active teammembers credited in the final documentation. This being a competition in cooperation, at least three members must take part in the creation to count as a team.
§3. Including material in the game that is not originally created by a team member.
§4. Any sort of sabotage towards other teams.
§5. Plagiarism.

There is yet no deadline for the jury's final decision.

Note!
Only reply to this thread if directly instructed to. Use the chat thread to discuss rules or team issues.

Finally, remember that time is your worst enemy right now. I can't enough stress the importance of getting started ASAP!
For this reason, bear in mind that your team captain will have to make many unilateral decisions to speed up the process.

Special thanks to Vel, for his great initiative to commence this project, and to Scotch, for taking care of the team drawing.

[Andail]

All teams are registered, and I hope you're progressing fine.

Please note!
On July 14:th, you must hand in a status report to this thread. This is obligatory!
This report shall contain:
* Game title
* Progression statistics
Plot                %
Programming % 
Graphics         %
Music              %
* A short summary of how the team cooperates, if someone is missing, if you have run into any unusual obstacles, etc.

I'm perfectly aware of the early date for such a report, and that you might not have progressed at all in some areas. I just want to make sure you're not falling behind, or that your team have ground to a halt.

[Minimi]

Game Title - Switched (not 100% sure at the moment)

Progression Statistics
Plot 45% (this is including Puzzles, Dialogs, etc..)
Programming 10%
Graphics 15%
Music 0%

The cooperation between most of the members has been good so far. Ginny, Minimi, and Daz, have talked online on IRC/MSN, everyday, discussing the game's contents and making progress.
Lost Traveler has also worked hard and kept us updated from the moment he joined the team as a replacement for Bluke. Bass Fisherman has been online less and hasn't updated much on our forums, We hope he doesn't disappear aswell.

Ginny has been doing work on the script, and story/plot. Minimi worked on cutscenes and background art. Daz made the maincharacter, and some sketches. LostTraveler made some other characters. Bassfisherman would do puzzles, but we haven't heard much from him, as said.

Unusual Obstacles : Ginny's pc is crashed, she needs to reinstall. Some teammembers didn't show up, so the positions of members have been mixed through eachother.

[Chicky]

Game title: The Despicable Dr. Zoidenburg

Progress

Art-16%
music-0%
plot-40%
coding-10%

Our team is working very hard, we were going to have TikkiTikkiMan as team captain for two weeks as i was away, but thats now been cancelled. The whole team has been on IRC and we have a forum setup for game discussion, which is hidden and password protected when needed.

The whole team have been working very well helping each other out and giving idea's for art and story ect. We have now decided on all the main game elements, GUI style, colour depth ect. And everyone is happy with this choice.

overall, we're all working hard together to ultimatly acomplish a very high standard game , well done Cold Shoulder. 

[Dave Gilbert]

Game Title: Two of a Kind

Plot: 95%
Art: 15%
Music: 10%
Programming: 40% - that might seem high, but there's only because there's a complicated GUI involved which has taken a lot of programming.Ã,  So to break it down, I'd say the GUI is about 80% done, while the non-GUI stuff is 10% done.

We are all working together smashingly.Ã,  Every day I get suggestions on how to make the game come alive.Ã,  BerserkerTails came up with a very innovative music idea that I continue to get giddy about.Ã,  Yoke continues to amaze me with his mighty GUI innovations.Ã,  Dart's backgrounds are excellent, and she's drawing them so fast that you'd think she was being held at gunpoint.Ã,  Scotch is hard at work animating the characters and shading Dart's backgrounds, making them look even better.

The only setback is that I'm worried that the game might be too ambitious for such a short time-frame, but the team is eager and ready for the challenge.Ã,  When I voiced this concern, the response was a unanimous: "Don't worry.Ã,  We'll just have to work harder."Ã,  I couldn't ask for a better team.

[Vel]

Game title: The Hamlet
Plot: 65% - Only the dialogues and some puzzles are missing, everything else is planned
Art: 15%
Music: 10%
Programming: 25% - For the very same reason as Dave - the game involves an advanced GUI which works perfectly now.

Our team is co-operating wonderfully. I have finished the preliminary design document which includes everything except the dialogues and some of the puzzles, which I am working on presently. The artist are working amazingly well - Alpha is working on backgrounds, InCreator on animations and pixelcat on close-ups.
As for music, Petteri has already finished the main theme, and is working on intro music at the moment. The game will feature a digital music pack, which will be recorded by me. Petteri and I have worked together before, so we really know what we're doing. Till the next report!

[Eggie]

TITLE: Who murdered my Wife?
Plot: 20%
Programming: 10%
Graphics: 15%
Music: 10%

Eggie: Team captain for some reason, hangs around and tries to find random things to do.
ScottDoom: Creator, Writer, Designer, approves all the artwork ansd music and even gets dirty with the pixels occasionally.
Iqu: Music and an almost nazi-like determination to erradicate clichés from the plot. He's also been really helpful in finding loads of
handy reference material and done a bit of spriting on the side.
Fawful: Arteesteec director, basically he draws designs in hi-res then we work as a team to try and translate his vision to the
screen.
Sinitrena: Scripter and additional plot-coming-with-inator and, it would seem, graphic designer.

No huge problems yet, thing's arn't coming along immensly quickly but I have confidence we'll soon get into the swing of things.

[LGM]

Title: Room 13 (Working Title)

Progress:

Plot                %17.342
Programming %7.549
Graphics         %15.903
Music              % 20.334

We are working together very well. We have a problem with showing up in the channel and being together all at the same time. Story has been kind of lagging behind due to 3 years of writer's block that cannot be unblocked. But progress is being made nontheless. Donny Brock is a kickin' character artist, but we don't know if he can animate yet. We're getting there slowly and surely.

[Babar]

Game title: Death of a Medic

Progression statistics:
PlotÃ,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  80%
Programming 2%Ã, 
GraphicsÃ,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã, 2%
MusicÃ,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  5%

We are all working together reasonably well. Our only problem is that due to conflicting time zones, we have yet to have a meeting where all of us are present at the same time. Right now Evil is away, and will be back on the 17th I believe. I had let the team fall behind a bit, unfortunately, with providing my plot a bit late, which accounts for a larger % for plot than anything else, but now that work has started, it is going ok.

[Eggie]

Bluuurb:
Plot outline: Private Investigator, Norman Daniels moves to the city of New Packard with his wife to escape the tedium of the country. On his first night staying at this city his wife is murdered for unknown reasons. You see, Norman Daniels is a sleepwalker, and after locking himself out of his home after a failed quest to buy a drink he ends up sleeping on the doorstep. Norman demands that he be the one to take on the case as he attempts to find out what he missed that night

Screenshot (work in progress)

[Chicky]

The Despicable Dr. Zoidenburg

 
scrolling background

Urban legends speak of an abandoned hospital... And the mad genius that resides there...
The rumors of his twisted experiments have reached every citizen of the nearby city, yet none has been brave enough to enter the hospital and confront the mad doctor.
Now fate wills it so that two young people will venture inside...
What atrocities will they witness? And how will this affect everyone's lives? Or afterlives, for that matter.
Will Doctor Zoidenburg finally accomplish his atrocious plot? Or will the young adventurers succeed in foiling his plans? Time, as they say, will tell...

[Pet Terry]

Okay, I'm just posting this one for Team 1 since Vel seems to be having some problems with his computer. So here goes...

Creative Minds presents...

The Hamlet



A man (our main character) receives a letter from his old friend, who is inviting the main character to spend few days at his ranch. The man thinks it's a good idea, so he gets into his car and starts his journey.

Later, when he finally arrives the ranch, he finds out that his friend actually isn't there. Something mysterious is going on... What happened?

[Dave Gilbert]

Epileptic Fish presents...


Two of a Kind



The world of “Two of a Kind” is superficially similar to our own, but with one key difference.Ã,  Everyone is born with a special magical knack or ability, making life a bit complicated but definitely more interesting.

This game centers around Tim and Tiffany Walters, a pair of fraternal twins who go together like oil and water.Ã,  He is devoted to rock music, while she is devoted to her many stuffed toys.Ã,  She thinks the world is filled with happiness and rainbows, while he believes the world is a giant ball of misery.Ã,  Like everyone else in this world, they were born with special powers.Ã,  Tim can levitate, while Tiffany can talk to animals.Ã,  Plus, being twins, they can communicate telepathically with each other.Ã,  Although an unlikely pair, their unique bond has inspired them to form a private detective agency.Ã,  Their current case is to locate a mysterious crystal stolen from a local museum.

Features:
Ã,  Ã, - Two playable characters
Ã,  Ã, - A unique music system (dubbed “TwinTracks”)
Ã,  Ã, - Over 15 locations
Ã,  Ã, - Over 10 characters
Ã,  Ã, - Alternate solutions to puzzles

[LGM]

Team Awesome Presents..

Room 13



Set in a 1970's run-down hotel in the middle of the desert, Room 13 is about a one night's stay gone wrong.

You first play as sort of a paranormal explorer. It's not an official job, it's more like a hobby. You enter the hotel, which has been closed since the late 1970's. Soon, you uncover answers to the mystery you've been searching for: What happened to the guests on the last running night of the hotel??

With over 30 minutes of gameplay, you will discover just what happened by exploring the many rooms of the hotel. You will be guided by miraculous visions brought on by spirits. Soon enough, the mystery will be unveiled.

Features:
-Two playable characters
-Music!
-More than 1 room!
-More than 1 character!
-Some puzzles!
- CUTSCENES!

[Daz]

TEAM: FATAL ERROR

ok the reason i am posting this instead of Ginny is because she has disapeared soo here goes

name: File Trap

Story

the plot is that an immagrant from Holland decides to go to America for a new life, he is carrying all his immagration papers and other important documents in a suit case, he keeps this close to him at all times. All of his other bags are in safe keeping for now. He is travelling with his sister/friend who is much more layed back than him, when he goes to hand in all his documents he finds he has the wrong suit case and his is full of government documents which contain Government papers/blackmail papers/secret files.
You go to find out what they are and to get your papers back.

not 100% sure if that is final


screenie: sorry no GUI atm Ginny has it and i have no way of getting. sorry



-Daz

[Babar]

Death of a medic
blurb
The game is set in a post-catastrophic Earth, where few cities still remain, disconnected and far away from each other. The story takes place in one of these cities.
Your brother has just been murdered. The police, in conjunction with the AHSOL (Agency for Human Security, Observation and Location) Super Computer deduces that it was the work of a gang member. Realising the incompetence of the police force, you take it upon yourself to find the killer and avenge your brother's death.

screenie
coming soon... It has to be uploaded to the net by our resident artists. Once it is online I will post it

[Andail]

ho ho ho, I hope that you're all doing well on your projects, considering the time is drawing near for your presentations.

On August 7:th I want you to hand in a final status report, including:
* Progression in all areas, in percent
* Any obstacles that may have arisen lately
* An evaluation of the team work so far, and if your project is likely do be finished in time.

You do not have to give away how big the game will be, or any additional screenshots.

Remember that you only have two weeks more to go, and I will be pretty strict with the dead-line.
Again, you seem to be doing just fine, and I'm sure the outcome will completely sweep the community!

[Sinitrena]

Eggie's on vacation, so I post this:


Team: The big eye team

Game titel: Who murdered my wife?
Story: 80%
Music: 90%
Art: 50%
Scripting: 35%

We started slow, than we worked a bit faster and now it's slow again. Eggie is on vacation in chicago, ScottDoom was on vacation and Sinitrena's computer crashed one and a half week ago. There is still a lot of work to do. In the last week we didn't made much process and it seems that all team members have other things to do at the moment. I know that there is just one week left to finish the game and we will try it, of coures, but I fear - because of the vacations and the crashed computer and the team members having other things to do - that we maybe don't finish the game in time.
As you can see, the music is nearly finished and the story can be finished in time (there is just the end left to write), but the art is the problem of our game. I try to script without some backgrounds and sprites at the moment but I'm really not sure if we will be able to finish it in time. The GUI system and the intro are finished and so are a few puzzles but all the interaction things aren't.

[Dave Gilbert]

Title: Two of a Kind

Team: Epileptic Fish

Art: 80%
Music: 50%
Scripting: 80%
Story: 100%

I continue to be impressed daily by the hard work and dedication that the team is exhibiting.  Progress has been forging on strong since the project started, and even my stint at Mittens didn't hinder everyone.  During my Absense, Yoke took the reins and did a great job. 

We are all working like mad to meet the deadline.  Some features had to be removed because we were a bit ambitious.  But once the competition is over, we fully plan on remaking the game with better graphics and perhaps some new puzzles.

[Redwall]

Vel is on vacation for the rest of the competition.

Creative Minds (Team 1) - The Hamlet

Plot: 100%
Programming: 40%
Graphics: 45%
Music: 50%

As stated, Vel is on vacation for the rest of the competition. He completed the final design document and all dialogues before he left, however. The rest of us are working on our respective areas and discussing each others' work. Progress was slow but has accelerated recently and is still gaining speed. Right now the major thing left is background art, but that is coming along. I believe we will finish on time, but it'll probably be tight.