August MAGS

Klaus · Sun 31/07/2005 22:10:58

What is MAGS?
MAGS is a monthly competition for all amateur adventure game makers. The idea is to use AGS to create a game in under a month, following the rules set by the previous winner.

For more information please visit the Official MAGS Website

Why should I enter MAGS?
We're not here to tell you that you should enter MAGS, but merely allow it as a creative opportunity to help you work to a deadline, improve your skills, and generally as a good kick-start for the new comers (a.k.a n00bies).

MAGS is the perfect opportuninty to make a game, and the wonderful prize is to announce the net month's rules, and all competitiors get the game placed on the MAGS website.

MAGS is meant to be fun and is aimed at everyone, despite their skill. If you have poor art skills work on graphics, and vice-versa, as the voting is based on "favourite" games, and not the most artistic, you may get help for the competiton, but must not get anyone else to do any part of the game for you.

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Unlike most other topics this competition is not limited to a special theme or to a number of inventory items, but see for yourself:

Topic: Textless

This month's MAGS has only one limitation - your game should not contain any ingame messages or texts (including speech) in a known language. Exceptions are title and load-save-exit dialogs. You can invent your own language, use symbols and icons all the way or create a game without any message at all.

There are no other rules for this month!
We probably won't see adventures using the standard question-answer dialogs. Anyway it is possible to make short and creative games with this rule. Be inventive

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All entries should be in by early August 25th.

Please post a download link of your game entry to this thread, best with a screenshot. Thanks and good luck.

Phoenix · Sun 31/07/2005 22:17:30

Good rules, well rule

. Im in

Erenan · Mon 01/08/2005 07:32:14

That is one great topic. I'd like to make something, but I'll have to see if I can come up with any good ideas.

What a loser. · Mon 01/08/2005 08:53:18

Can we have credits & a title screen?

bluber · Mon 01/08/2005 09:45:58

QuoteExceptions are title and load-save-exit dialogs.

and credits.

Mats Berglinn · Mon 01/08/2005 10:40:22

Is it okay to have dialogs as long as there no text (voice speech) and that the options are either in text symbols (in unknown languages) or pictures (I know it doesn't work in dialogs but it can be possible with a GUI instead)?

The rules seems interesting. It reminds me of the Humongous games for kids, which don't have any text apart from the title but all the speech were made of voices and the dialog options was made of pictures (similiar in Sam and Max and The Dig).

I'm not sure if I will be in but I'm thinking about trying to make a picture based dialog (not the talking itself but the dialog options, like Sam and Max and The Dig) as an experiment for a future project, if it's okay.

bluber · Mon 01/08/2005 11:52:51

QuoteIs it okay to have dialogs as long as there no text (voice speech) and that the options are either in text symbols (in unknown languages) or pictures (I know it doesn't work in dialogs but it can be possible with a GUI instead)?

It's okay and a very good idea.

QuoteI'm not sure if I will be in but I'm thinking about trying to make a picture based dialog (not the talking itself but the dialog options, like Sam and Max and The Dig) as an experiment for a future project, if it's okay.

Sounds absolute nice. Due to the limitation I expect very short games that feature a nice idea.

Erenan · Mon 01/08/2005 20:48:05

Just to clarify, I thought the rule meant that the characters cannot even speak in known languages, whether text appears or not. Is it just that there cannot be any text displayed in known languages? Because that's much easier to pull off.

Phoenix · Mon 01/08/2005 21:12:53

Is it ok if there is a glimps of a word, its just the word bank above the door $:-\$ :

BorisZ · Mon 01/08/2005 21:33:41

Quote from: Phoenix on Mon 01/08/2005 21:12:53
Is it ok if there is a glimps of a word, its just the word bank above the door $:-\$ :

Why don't you just draw dollar sign instead?

bluber · Mon 01/08/2005 23:02:33

Quote from: Erenan on Mon 01/08/2005 20:48:05
Just to clarify, I thought the rule meant that the characters cannot even speak in known languages, whether text appears or not. Is it just that there cannot be any text displayed in known languages? Because that's much easier to pull off.

There should be no speech(voice acting) or text in a known language. I hope I understand your question (you know my english...).

Erenan · Mon 01/08/2005 23:05:27

I mean, you could make a talkie game in which the characters talk audibly but the words don't actually appear.

bluber · Mon 01/08/2005 23:17:09

sorry I edited the post in the same second you submitted the post.

QuoteIs it ok if there is a glimps of a word, its just the word bank above the door

I hope Boris suggestion helped you to overcome this problem.

Ishmael · Mon 01/08/2005 23:26:30

Oh yeah!

Now someone mail or MSN or DCC or whatever me a truckload of motivation!

Erenan · Mon 01/08/2005 23:27:33

Okay, it is as I suspected. Good to know.

CodeJunkie · Tue 02/08/2005 00:56:02

I might have a go this month. I really should stop enetering competitions and actually make a real game

If I can be bothered to get my entry done, it'll be a sort of abstract, experimental game. I won't let on more because I can't say it'll get finished.

Mats Berglinn · Tue 02/08/2005 06:59:19

QuoteThere should be no speech(voice acting) or text in a known language. I hope I understand your question (you know my english...).

I thought it was okay to use voices in english as long as there were no text speech.

Well, I got a couple of other questions:

1: Is it okay to write any known language backwards or mixed up like in Shiffer (for those who don't know it's sort of a message-code were you replace the letters in the alphabet to create a language)?

2: If the language is totally made up then is it okay to include a file with the game a kind of wordlist that translates from the madeup language to english?

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Tue 02/08/2005 09:05:27

QuoteIs it okay to have dialogs as long as there no text (voice speech) and that the options are either in text symbols (in unknown languages) or pictures (I know it doesn't work in dialogs but it can be possible with a GUI instead)?

It's okay and a very good idea.

QuoteJust to clarify, I thought the rule meant that the characters cannot even speak in known languages, whether text appears or not. Is it just that there cannot be any text displayed in known languages? Because that's much easier to pull off.

There should be no speech(voice acting) or text in a known language. I hope I understand your question (you know my english...).Ã,Â Ã,Â

I'm probably meddling where I shouldn't, seeing as I'm not even gonna enter, but I'd just like to say that, as regards this questions, and the competition's rules as stated in the first post:

Quoteyour game should not contain any ingame messages or texts (including speech) in a known language.

...Mats' suggestion of including voice acting not only respects the rules totally but it also creatively circumvents them. I think he should be allowed to do it, but I know I'm just a bystander. I'd just like to say, Kudos to you, Mats, for obeying and circumventing the rules as first posted, that's creativity at work.

EDIT - This is because that "including speech", as is stated, does not immediately suggest voice-acting. On the other hand, only now, rereading, I saw it MIGHT. But the first thing it suggests is "including the text that exists in in-game speech".

Erenan · Tue 02/08/2005 09:54:41

I immediately understood it to mean voice acting, but bluber's later comment made it seem like that wasn't the case. That's why I asked for clarification. But at this point he has made it clear that voice acting in known languages is not to be used.

bluber · Tue 02/08/2005 10:15:27

Sorry for the confusion.

Quote1: Is it okay to write any known language backwards or mixed up like in Shiffer (for those who don't know it's sort of a message-code were you replace the letters in the alphabet to create a language)?

2: If the language is totally made up then is it okay to include a file with the game a kind of wordlist that translates from the madeup language to english?

I think this is both ok.

I hope the rules are now clarified : No displayed text or voice acting in any known language.
If you think it is absolute necessary to stretch this rule a little bit for your game (like adding the word bank over a building or adding a translation file for your game) do it. But don't overstretch it. The most important thing is that you get your game finished in time.

CodeJunkie · Tue 02/08/2005 13:04:58

I took the rules to mean that there should be no lingual communication in the game at all, text or voice, but I'll still keep it that way despite clearing up the rules. I think it's a very good set of rules because it means that the game can be played by people who can't speak or read English.

Klaus · Tue 02/08/2005 19:16:36

Quote from: SimB on Tue 02/08/2005 13:04:58
I took the rules to mean that there should be no lingual communication in the game at all, text or voice

Exactly, this is how it was meant to be.

From my point of view "speech" also includes voice acting. What should a voice "say" if not speech? It's okay if it's just sounds or a unknown language, just the same that goes for written texts too. That's why there's no special note about this in the rules. Anyway I think it's all quite clear now after bluber's information.

Quote from: bluber on Tue 02/08/2005 10:15:27The most important thing is that you get your game finished in time.

True words you write

ilSilente · Sat 06/08/2005 19:34:23

Hi to all.
I think this month's rules are very challenging. I tryed to make an entry, but tomorrow I will leave for holydays, meaning I can't finish the game.

Anyway, I don't want to thrash the work made (4 days), so here it is a little, short, one-room-one-puzzle game

: http://vuotospinto.altervista.org/dogescape.htm

See you when august ends

Ubel · Sun 07/08/2005 07:29:25

Hey ilSilente, that game was actually pretty amazing! You've done very good job with the scripting. Quite impressive for being done in four days.

Mozesh · Sun 07/08/2005 14:35:06

Hey nice game ilSilente, really nice scripting job man. As pablo said it's quite impressive for only four days work.

Erenan · Tue 09/08/2005 06:05:49

I was working on backgrounds for an entry, but I've decided to turn it into a non-MAGS related project. So... no entry from me this month. :'(

I'm going to play Dog Escape soon.

CodeJunkie · Tue 09/08/2005 15:51:48

My entry's out this month, sorry. I've kinda lost the zest for MAGS competetions by now.

Henryhouse · Thu 11/08/2005 03:37:43

I'm a newb and thought this would be a great way to get started with AGS. I have thought of several ideas already, but only one is simple enough to finish in two weeks. I'll give it a try. No promises though.

PsychicHeart · Thu 11/08/2005 10:34:29

hey, i have thought about entering this month's MAGS. i have a few questions.

1. Does the game have to be an adventure game?
2. Can we have english in the 'Help' section?

Cheers,
Fb.

bluber · Thu 11/08/2005 18:03:46

I would say:
1. No
2. Yes

But you may wait for Klaus's answer.

Ubel · Fri 12/08/2005 16:13:44

As far as I know every MAGS game has been an adventure game so I think it should be so.

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Fri 12/08/2005 18:37:27

Asporia Hidden Threat was actually an RPG, Pablo. And Bert The Demonslayer 3 was top-down action. And I believe Operation Red Dice was something top-down too.

So aye, why not a non-adventure game?

Henryhouse · Sat 13/08/2005 00:09:17

I was wondering, can sounds be displayed as text? I.E "BAMM" "ARGHH" "CLANG" "ZOOM" "GRUNT" Lame stuff like that.

Klaus · Sat 13/08/2005 11:15:16

Quote from: Flukeblake on Thu 11/08/2005 10:34:29
1. Does the game have to be an adventure game?

Well, this depends on the definition of "adventure game"... AGS offers a lot of possibilities on creating games (from text parser to platform and further more) and ALL is allowed to enter MAGS.
Now for this competition we have the "no text" limitation. There are game types that easily come along without text, let's say something like tic-tac-toe or even a platform game. Everyone knows what to do and so it's no big deal to leave out messages.

For this competition - and I think that's what bluber had in mind (please correct me if I'm wrong) - you should create a game that usually needs text or where you are used to see/read texts to solve the puzzles and finish the game. But this time you have to come along without messages. This could be a classic point-and-click adventure but it doesn't mean you're not allowed to also post a platform game for example. Anyway it shouldn't just be collection some stars and reaching the golden bowl at the end. You see what I mean?

Quote from: Flukeblake on Thu 11/08/2005 10:34:29
2. Can we have english in the 'Help' section?

Info text in the introduction or as aked in the help section are allowed as they are no real ingame messages.

Quote from: Henryhouse on Sat 13/08/2005 00:09:17
I was wondering, can sounds be displayed as text? I.E "BAMM" "ARGHH" "CLANG" "ZOOM" "GRUNT" Lame stuff like that.

I'd say "yes" as it's no real language.

PsychicHeart · Tue 16/08/2005 07:58:10

well, i was thinking of a Codecracker sort of game? is that ok?

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Tue 16/08/2005 08:40:19

Hey, if you wanna, sho', go ahead. But do keep in mind that if you just clone an existing game, or just do slight variations, your not likely to get many votes.

Henryhouse · Wed 17/08/2005 05:14:34

If it is okay to do text at the beginning for the title and setup of the game, is it okay to do text at the end?Ã,Â For what I am working on I have a general entro and then need a punchline at the end.Ã,Â Let me know if that would be breaking the rules.

Henryhouse · Sat 20/08/2005 13:47:02

Well, I have to submit my entry today, "An Alien's Work is Never Done". I did not get to add to, do, and polish everything that I wanted to do, but I may not get to work on it any more as my wife and I are expecting a call from the hospital any day now.Ã,Â My wife is pregnant and is going to be induced as soon as the hospital has an opening available.Ã,Â Just remember that this is my first AGS game and that I had almost no time to work on it since I started two weeks ago.Ã,Â I hope everyone enjoys it.Ã,Â I have included a walkthrough for the game in the readme file as some of the puzzles are really hard or so I am told.

Thanks,

Henryhouse

Download AAWIND: http://www.geocities.com/gregory_david_price/AAWIND.zip

Wretched · Sat 20/08/2005 17:22:38

Henryhouse,
Cheers!
Sore ass though

Fine Artist · Mon 22/08/2005 15:17:03

Title: Goontang Chackalaka

If you like boobs and potty humor, this one is for you.

***Mature Content Advisory***

The August 2005 MAGS competition topic was â€œtopless,â€ or maybe â€œtextless?â€Ã,Â Regardless, both requirements are satisfied in Goontang Chackalaka.Ã,Â The characters talk a little, but it's in the mysterious Goontang language - which is unknown to all of us thereby meeting the rules.Ã,Â Also, an original musical score is featured.Ã,Â WinZip File size: 1.37MB.

Enjoy!
Fine Artist

Download here:
http://www.geocities.com/fineartist4322/GoontangChackalaka.zip
Or here:
http://www.geocities.com/fineartist4323/GoontangChackalaka.zip
Or here:
http://www.geocities.com/fineartist4324/GoontangChackalaka.zip

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Mon 22/08/2005 15:20:13

Three download links and clicking on neither works. Great.

Fine Artist · Mon 22/08/2005 15:35:26

Links for Goontang Chackalaka are corrected.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Rui
Enjoy!

bluber · Mon 22/08/2005 18:03:58

lol. Funny. Very short but funny.

Fine Artist · Mon 22/08/2005 18:24:30

Hey thanks, Bluber.
It was a lot of fun working with your topic.

Ubel · Wed 24/08/2005 13:42:55

I'm just about to finish my entry for this compo, but I just need a little more time for finishing touches. Could you extend the deadline a little? For a day maybe? I would really appreciate it.

Klaus · Wed 24/08/2005 14:35:36

Quote from: Pablo on Wed 24/08/2005 13:42:55
Could you extend the deadline a little? For a day maybe? I would really appreciate it.

Okay - let's go for this: You (and all others that still want to submit an entry) have 36 hours from now (see timestamp of this posting), then the voting will begin.

Ubel · Thu 25/08/2005 16:16:52

I will send my game after a couple of days. I got so much other things to do today because my mother comes back from Bulgaria tomorrow, so I need to do lots of housework. And I don't want to release the game as buggy as it is right now, I need to do some fixing to it first.

Damn, this was the third MAGS I've tried and always failed to finish the game in time.

Anyway, here are a couple of screenies from the game so you know what to wait for.

Sorry again for asking for extending the deadline without even finishing the game myself. But I will send it here soon.

EDIT - Or actually just ignore the crap above. I managed to get the time to finish the game anyway

Here it is:

Buna Wants Beer[/url]

Okay the storyline is something like this: Buna has just woke up and he wants beer. You must help him find beer.

The game isn't as good as I wanted it to be but at least I got it ready!

There may be some bugs in it and I'd appreciate to get informed about them via PM. Enjoy!

Wretched · Thu 25/08/2005 21:00:31

Klaus,
I'm cutting this a bit fine but should have my entry uploaded with a few mins to spare..... 28K modem yawn.

Wretched · Thu 25/08/2005 22:28:56

Ok, here is my entry....

MAGSIC

It's a bit on the strange side, but I guess you're all used to that by now.

Screenies....

Download Magsic (9Mb)

Hope somebody can work out what to do and put me in touch with a good psychologist.

I'll do some tidying up then post in completed games over the weekend.

Bugs much appriciated.

Klaus · Fri 26/08/2005 00:36:47

Okay, I think we're complete now. Wow - finally yet another competition with a lot of entries. All looking very nice, so it will be difficult to figure out a favourite one. Who's going to be the winner this time?

For voting please visit the MAGS site or make your choice right here (only use one of these two ways of voting - nothing else allowed):

Magsic by Wretched
Goontang Chackalaka by Fine Artist
Dog Escape by ilSilente
Buna Wants Beer by Pablo
An Aliens Work is Never Done by Henryhouse

Please vote only once and be sure to have played all games before sending your voice! Good luck to all participants.

Tuomas · Fri 26/08/2005 13:30:43

ilsilente or Henryhouse...? Sorry ilsilente, your game was excellent but... I couldn't get the dog to do anything without jamming the game.
So my vote goes to Henryhouse. Nice game! frustrating, real pain in the ass, and s...l...o...w... too, just the way I like it. Clever enough, I think you should win. And Congrats for the baby too

Potch · Fri 26/08/2005 17:56:54

I can't download the Alien one.Ã,Â

Klaus · Fri 26/08/2005 18:09:51

Quote from: Potch on Fri 26/08/2005 17:56:54
I can't download the Alien one.

Oh yes - the site says "The web site you are trying to access has exceeded its allocated data transfer".

So as I downloaded the game some time ago I can put it on my server for the time of voting. You can get the file here until the end of the month: An Alien's Work Is Never Done

Potch · Fri 26/08/2005 18:11:29

Thanks Klaus!

Henryhouse · Sat 27/08/2005 07:05:47

Hey, thanks Tuomas.Ã,Â I am finally home from the Hospital.Ã,Â My son was born on August 23 at 1:32 AM, weighing 7 lbs 5 oz.Ã,Â My wife and son had a fever and then my son was having some stomach trouble, so we had to stay in the Hospital until Thursday.Ã,Â I am just now finding time to check in with the contest.Ã,Â Sorry about the download site yesterday, but I put a bunch of pictures of my son up on the site and everyone in our family, we have a big family, decided to view them at once.Ã,Â Its a free site so the bandwidth is low anyhow.Ã,Â I will try to find a better place to upload my games next time.

Klaus · Tue 30/08/2005 23:00:28

The time for voting is over. After many MAGS contests now we finally faced a real competition again with a lot of great entries... In the end there is only one winner. It's not always like that but this time there's a big distance in the number of votes to the other games.
The winner is not new to MAGS and some months ago he already shared the position of a winner with another participant:

Winner of MAGS 2005-08/Textless is
Wretched and his game Magsic

Congratulations. (Wretched please check your PM).

Henryhouse · Wed 31/08/2005 03:01:26

Do we get to find out the number of votes for each game? This was my first attempt at a AGS game. It would be nice to see how people thought it compared against the other games in this competition.

Ubel · Wed 31/08/2005 05:21:24

That was expected! Two bags of congratulation, Wretched!

Klaus · Wed 31/08/2005 10:39:31

Quote from: Henryhouse on Wed 31/08/2005 03:01:26
Do we get to find out the number of votes for each game?

I first wanted to write a long text here now concerning the history of the MAGS online voting system... But to make it short: As requested you can have a look at the results including the number of votes until the new rules are posted in the voting section of the MAGS website.

bluber · Wed 31/08/2005 13:21:01

16 votes is a shame for the ags community.

Henryhouse · Wed 31/08/2005 16:03:05

I figured the votes would be on the website somewhere, I just didn't see them.Ã,Â I may have looked before they were posted.

Anyway, I think the people who played the games should post comments about them saying what they liked and what they didn't like about each one.Ã,Â 16 votes doesn't tell you very much.

So here goes...

Magsic by Wretched (1st place)

Liked...Using music notes for puzzles was very inventive.Ã,Â The drawings and tasks were fun and creative.

Disliked...The way you could lose all of the notes that you acquired when making the wrong note play.Ã,Â Perhaps you could have just removed acquired notes one by one starting with the last one acquired.Ã,Â That way the player wouldn't get as frustrated and so still has a good time even if they make several mistakes.

Buna Wants Beer by Pablo (2nd Place)

Liked...The way the Graphics looked.Ã,Â Buna was fun to watch.Ã,Â I figured more people were going to submit entries with talk bubbles that had drawings in them.Ã,Â They looked great.Ã,Â Oh yeah, I almost forgot...I like beer!

Disliked...The short amount of puzzles.Ã,Â I wouldn't say anything about that normally because we all had a short amount of time, but I wanted more Buna.

An Aliens Work is Never Done by Henryhouse (3rd place)

Liked...The feel of the Graphics and Puzzles as they seemed Alien and creative to me.Ã,Â I liked the Brainpower ablility the Alien had and how you could complete the puzzles by either figuring them out, by trial and error, or by cheating by using the Alien's Brainpower to levitate objects.Ã,Â I of course liked the beer.Ã,Â I liked that the walkthrough was included with the game.

Disliked...The Graphics as they didn't look finished.Ã,Â The puzzles were also extremly hard to figure out.Ã,Â I don't think that the clues were good enough for the average player.Ã,Â I also disliked how the server I used couldn't keep up with the traffic I was getting. Next time I will not post my games there.

Goontang Chackalaka by Fine Artist (4th Place)

Liked...That the graphics were done in only black and blue.Ã,Â They went well with the attitude of the game.Ã,Â I also liked the GUI for the inventory.Ã,Â That was a great idea.Ã,Â I can see someone copying that for a game in the future.Ã,Â Maybe displaying the inner lining of a detectives jacket with pockets and sholder holster or something.

Disliked...The inside of the house.Ã,Â I couldn't tell if those flowers were windows or pictures.Ã,Â I also am not a big fan of this kinda of humor, but that is just my personal preference.

Dog Escape by ilSilente (5th Place)

Liked...The graphics and animations were great for only four days of work.Ã,Â The bench puzzle was great!

Disliked...That you didn't get enough time to finish.Ã,Â Are you going to complete it later on or are you working on other projects?

Everyone did great, but I agree with Pablo.Ã,Â Wretched deserves to win and I think everyone knew it as soon as they played Magsic.

Klaus · Wed 31/08/2005 23:51:57

Quote from: Henryhouse on Wed 31/08/2005 16:03:05
I figured the votes would be on the website somewhere, I just didn't see them. I may have looked before they were posted.

Yes. I made them available after your request. Usually they are kept hidden.

Quote from: bluber on Wed 31/08/2005 13:21:01
16 votes is a shame for the ags community.

Quote from: Henryhouse on Wed 31/08/2005 16:03:05
16 votes doesn't tell you very much.

Actually this is an average number of votes! A lot more voices were counted in the early months of the online voting system but it was missused for cheats like "direct voting links" and so the "vote-on-2-clicks" system was added. This also prevents from "accidential votes" and works fine so far. Maybe we see more voices again when it's getting colder outside

Quote from: Henryhouse on Wed 31/08/2005 16:03:05
Anyway, I think the people who played the games should post comments about them saying what they liked and what they didn't like about each one.

I think that's a really great idea! Of course it's also possible to post comments in the "Completed Game Announcements" but it's nice to see comments about the different game bundled here. You made a good start with your short reports. Thanks for this idea.

Maybe the administrators can keep this thread open for some more days so that we can share just some more impressions!?