MAGS April “Finish Your MAGS Game” (RESULT)

[eri0o]

Thanks guys! I am both curious and excited and a bit scared. The due date is August I am just getting things prepared here. The future will be interesting.

[OneDollar]

Congratulations, that's a good reason for not finishing a game!

[Ponch]

Congrats, EriOo!

[WHAM]

The links in the edited opening post don't work for me, I think the forum is trying to add a https:// to the start of the URL's that already have it.

[cat]

I've fixed the links. Thanks for reporting them.

[Stupot]

I've fixed the links. Thanks for reporting them.

Thanks cat.

Not sure how that happened, but I think it's somehow related to me doing the table in my iPhone's Notes app and pasting it from there.

[jwalt]

Stalled out on In Our Midst. Been stalling out a lot in these MAGS games, lately. Little help OneDollar, if you please:

Spoiler

I have scissors, blue cup of goo, card, key, and rope attached to space toilet. I'm also aware of airlock opening and closing. From that point on, I seem to be dead in space. Those pictures in crew's quarters seem clickable, but nothing in inventory seems to do anything to them. Same thing for the various floor grates, except for the one below the engine drain and filling the cup.

[close]

Sherwood is also giving me troubles, but doubt hints would help me for this type of game. Got through the other two games without major problems.

[OneDollar]

Stalled out on In Our Midst. Been stalling out a lot in these MAGS games, lately. Little help OneDollar, if you please:

Spoiler

I have scissors, blue cup of goo, card, key, and rope attached to space toilet. I'm also aware of airlock opening and closing. From that point on, I seem to be dead in space. Those pictures in crew's quarters seem clickable, but nothing in inventory seems to do anything to them. Same thing for the various floor grates, except for the one below the engine drain and filling the cup.

[close]

Sherwood is also giving me troubles, but doubt hints would help me for this type of game. Got through the other two games without major problems.

Hint 1:

Spoiler

There are two control panels, have you found them?

[close]

Hint 2a:

Spoiler

One is next to the freezer in the kitchen, but the controls are locked.

[close]

Hint 2b:

Spoiler

The card can be used to unlock the freezer controls.

[close]

Hint 3a:

Spoiler

The other is in the hallway, behind a loose panel (hanging at an angle).

[close]

Hint 3b:

Spoiler

The hallway panel has something to do with the vents and something that can go in them.

[close]

[jwalt]

@OneDollar Thanks. I'd missed one of the control panels. Had fun with the game.

Edit: I also voted. Not an easy choice.

[Radiant]

Sherwood is also giving me troubles, but doubt hints would help me for this type of game.

Spoiler

Start by staying in stealth mode so enemies can't hear you, and avoid the "sound" symbols that indicate when you hear them.

[close]

Spoiler

Throw a rock against a tree far away, and enemies will hear the thud and chase that.

[close]

Spoiler

Use gold near an enemy to bribe them into looking away. Predictably, this doesn't work on dogs, but something else does.

[close]

HTH! There's a lot of little details like that in Sherwood.

[jwalt]

Sherwood is also giving me troubles, but doubt hints would help me for this type of game.

Spoiler

Start by staying in stealth mode so enemies can't hear you, and avoid the "sound" symbols that indicate when you hear them.

[close]

Spoiler

Throw a rock against a tree far away, and enemies will hear the thud and chase that.

[close]

Spoiler

Use gold near an enemy to bribe them into looking away. Predictably, this doesn't work on dogs, but something else does.

[close]

HTH! There's a lot of little details like that in Sherwood.

Thanks for that. This is a very professional looking game, but not my cup-of-tea. Also, I did lever into Level 3, and found myself unable to move out of the entry slot, penned in by the wall and surrounded by foliage on the other three sides.

Edit: Just discovered the two-arrow combo that allows diagonal movement, so... Never Mind.  ;-)

[WHAM]

I'm planning to play all the games this weekend, likely on Saturday, and will be streaming and recording the attempts as well.
For the devs it might be a chance to see someone play their game live, and for people who are "too busy" to play for themselves, they might be able to see the games, get a feel for them and maybe even provide additional votes.

I'll post a link and time in the AGS discord later.

[Ponch]

Whoops! WHAM has reported a terrible, awful, no good bug. It is fixed now.

https://www.barnrunner.com/games/MAGS_04-24-c.zip

Please ignore the earlier, broken build. 

[heltenjon]

Please ignore the earlier, broken build. 

Too late, already completed it. 
Was the bug that pressing the right mouse button broke the game?

[Ponch]

Please ignore the earlier, broken build. 

Too late, already completed it. 
Was the bug that pressing the right mouse button broke the game?

That was the one, yeah. Oh well. that's what I get for doing virtually no playtesting. The perils of a full calendar and a looming deadline. The bane of all MAGS. 

[WHAM]

I tried all the MAGS games and you can find videos of my attempts here. While I'll happily recommend you play them all yourself, if you just can't be bothered then this might be an option for you:

Barn Runner: Fashionably Late
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-x97iBLaJk

Steeplejack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m2IQ2T5Wuc

Sherwood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF2IFEmAs4E

In Our Midst
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK1kE7oOdHA

[Ponch]

WHAM, you described me as "middle aged." I am outraged, good sir! I'm barely 51 1/2 years old. I'm still young and hip! I'm "with it," as the kids say. 

Sorry the game was too buggy to finish. Like most of my MAGS efforts, the budget schedule didn't allow for playtesting. 

Thanks for giving it a try, even if my build was a bit "wack" (as the kids say).

[heltenjon]

Here are my thoughts this month.

Steeplejack:

Spoiler

This author is very good at finding original material to make games out of. My brother worked on some brickwork for a high chimney many years back, so I kind of knew about this type of scenario at the very back of my head, but still...it's not what I'd expect someone to make a game about. The two characters are very nicely portrayed, with flaws or mindsets that actually make the plot work. The giant pigeon is a funny opponent, and the puzzles are nice, but become easy because there aren't many items available. I liked the idea for sending up the rope, but I'd done most of it before I understood what my character was planning to do. Good game!

[close]

Sherwood:

Spoiler

I'm not really familiar with the rogue or roguelike games. This one is technically very impressive. I ran around, not bothering too much about stealth, but trying to run into hiding instead. When spotted, I hit the action keys in a panic, often hitting the wrong one, like bribing a soldier, then chucking a rock at him, trying to rob the gold back. I managed to rescue Robin Hood and Little John. I thought it was a nice touch to be able to continue the game as Little John after Much was defeated. I didn't really use the diversion tactics Radiant has made possible. Bottom line is that the programming is very good, while the game suffers from being from a genre I don't play much.

[close]

Barn Runner: Fashionably Late:

Spoiler

It's a kind of adult soft porn dress-up game. BUT it still manages to tell a story and gives insight into the player character. Granted, much of the insight is still NSFW, but I have to give credit to the funny and resourceful writing. The game has lots more content than its genre normally allows. Still, it is a dress-up game.

[close]

In Our Midst:

Spoiler

Great done parody (or perhaps homage is a better word) of Among Us. I knew right away what I was supposed to do, but unlike the original game, I had time to think about how to do it. Good puzzles, "free" characterization from the original, and a logical and still large enough map to keep the game challenging.

[close]

I voted for:

Spoiler

In Our Midst. Even the title is excellent.

[close]

[WHAM]

WHAM, you described me as "middle aged." I am outraged, good sir! I'm barely 51 1/2 years old. I'm still young and hip! I'm "with it," as the kids say. 

Sorry the game was too buggy to finish. Like most of my MAGS efforts, the budget schedule didn't allow for playtesting. 

Thanks for giving it a try, even if my build was a bit "wack" (as the kids say).

It was a fun one, though for a moment there I was wondering if my Twitch account was going to get some sort of strike for inappropriate content. (Insert the non-existent suggestively eyebrow waggling blue cup emoji here)

And yeah, it was hella wack but also bitchin', no cap, fo'rizzle!

[Radiant]

I tried all the MAGS games and you can find videos of my attempts here. While I'll happily recommend you play them all yourself, if you just can't be bothered then this might be an option for you:

Thank you, I've enjoyed watching that!

To answer some of your questions:

• Yes, the diagonal movement is intentional, including slipping between trees.
• Rocks can be
  Spoiler

  thrown against a tree to make noise (which sends enemies there), or directly at enemies to stun them.

  [close]
• Traps will
  Spoiler

  stun enemies for a long time, if you lure them over the trap. You can also rob stunned enemies.

  [close]

I'll go fix the crash and upload a new version. I'd also like to replace the font by something more legible, but I'll do that after the voting concludes.