MAGS August “Distance/Separation” (RESULT)

[Stupot]

Welcome to MAGS August

Theme: DISTANCE / SEPARATION
Set by: Rootbound and 4KbShort

The winner of MAGS August was:
The Distant Door by Durinde

	The Distant Door by Durinde
	The long August longing by Cassiebsg and Blondbraid

Is it something to overcome, or something sought after? It can be as wide as a bay or as narrow as a window. How far can you run, or how close can you stand to what you want to run from? How big or how small a gap can you manage to bridge? And is it a gap between yo and a goal, a loved one, a destination, a home?
Maybe you only need one more inch, one more second. So close, and yet so far. Or so far as to be in a different world entirely. It's up to you.




If you are joining us from Itch, welcome.
Please remember your entries do NOT have to be adventure games but they MUST be made with Adventure Game Studio editor.



What is MAGS?
Started in 2001, MAGS is a competition for amateur adventure game makers. The idea is to create a game in under a month, following the guidelines set by the previous winner. It aims to help you work to a deadline, improve your skills, and provide a kick-start into making adventure games. Regardless of skill, MAGS is for everyone. Voting is based on "favourite" games, and not the most artistic, or the best coded. If you have bad art skills, use it as a chance to do some graphic work. If you're sub-standard at coding, use it as a chance to give scripting a go. Ultimately, people will vote for the most enjoyable entry.

Rules
Entering MAGS is simple. First, conceptualize your game following the month's criteria (see above). Second, create your game fuelled only by coffee. Finally, post your game in this thread, including:

* A working download link
* The title of your game
* A suitable in-game screenshot

At the end of the month, voting will begin, usually lasting for fourteen days, and the winner chooses the next month's theme.

Remember that this is a challenge to see what you can do in a month, so any tinkering you do after that, including fixing minor glitches, is against the spirit of the competition. The exception to this is that you may go in and fix major, game-breaking bugs only during voting. We want you to have a game that voters can actually play and that runs on their machines.

So to reiterate, during the voting period fixing major, game-breaking bugs is okay, fixing minor glitches or making cosmetic changes is cheating.

Tips
Here are some ways to make sure you have a game to submit at the end of the month:
* Make a tiny game. Plan small, then cut it in half. Find shortcuts (e.g. if making walkcycles is time-consuming, make the characters static or have it in the first person).
* Plan to have your game playable and submittable with a week to spare. This way you have a week to fix bugs, add some flourishes and maybe even get someone to test it.
* Plan to submit it a day or so early. This way, if there are any technical issues with uploading, they can be sorted out in time.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Need a little help with graphics? Perhaps The AGS Trove has something you can use.
Don't want to go it alone? Try the Recruitment board.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[Cassiebsg]

Interesting topic. I'll see if I can get a decent idea for a short game, while I'm still on vacation.

[Stupot]

Interesting topic. I'll see if I can get a decent idea for a short game, while I'm still on vacation.

It would be great to have another Cassie MAGS game

[Durinde]

I *may* try something, make shake things up creativity rise while I'm a little stalled on my other project. No promises but I'm leaning towards participating this month.

[Stupot]

I *may* try something, make shake things up creativity rise while I'm a little stalled on my other project. No promises but I'm leaning towards participating this month.

Doooo it!

[Stupot]

As an experiment, to try to increase participation, I have created a parallel Jam on itch.io.

https://itch.io/jam/mags-august-2023

Users there are invited to sign up and submit their games in this thread too.

If you are joining us from Itch, welcome.
Please remember your entries do NOT have to be adventure games but they MUST be made with Adventure Game Studio editor.

[RootBound]

If you are joining us from Itch, welcome.
Please remember your entries do NOT have to be adventure games but they MUST be made with Adventure Game Studio editor.

Hey @Stupot

Should this boldfaced section go in the first post too, just in case people coming from itch don't read the whole thread?

[Durinde]

I'm far enough along in my project to create an itch page for it.

https://durinde.itch.io/the-distant-door

I'll be posting updates there and I'll drop one more post here when it gets to release status.

[Blondbraid]

I know I haven't been active in the community for a while, but I'm hoping to get back in the game and wondering if anyone would like to collaborate this MAGS.

[Cassiebsg]

Blondbraid, if you have an idea I wouldn't mind. 
Ii still haven't come up with anything, but I'm itching to do something.

[Stupot]

A @Cassiebsg / @Blondbraid collaboration?

Yes, please.

[Blondbraid]

Blondbraid, if you have an idea I wouldn't mind. 
Ii still haven't come up with anything, but I'm itching to do something.

Wonderful, I'll list a few ideal I have in a PM soon!

[RootBound]

Still trying to finish one of my bigger games this month, so probably won't enter, but it's great to see engagement with the prompt!

[heltenjon]

A Blondbraid/Cassiebsg game sounds like a hit!   

I spent much of a long drive with my kids doing a brainstorm for the theme, and we managed to get some rough ideas sort of connected. But seeing as my kids are a somewhat unreliable workforce, I have my doubts whether we will actually commit to making an entry. Still possible, though.

[Cassiebsg]

Wish i could motivate my son to brainstorm, but he likes the "I don't know." approach. 

[Radiant]

Need a little help with graphics? Perhaps The AGS Trove has something you can use.

The first and last post in The Trove point to Opengameart as a resource. Is the free material from Opengameart allowed in MAGS contests?

[Stupot]

Need a little help with graphics? Perhaps The AGS Trove has something you can use.

The first and last post in The Trove point to Opengameart as a resource. Is the free material from Opengameart allowed in MAGS contests?

Yep. It used to be the rule that no pre-made assets were allowed, but that was abolished some time ago. You can use any publicly available pre-made graphics.

[Durinde]

Waiting on VO, other than that my game is playable from start to finish(es).

[Stupot]

How are we getting on, gang?

[Durinde]

And... done!

The Distant Door
Playable in Browser and Via Download (For Windows)

https://durinde.itch.io/the-distant-door





It's a fairly short one, but I put a lot into it.

The Distant Door

You are a night shift worker who has just moved into a new apartment building. While getting ready for work, you hear your neighbor having a terrible coughing fit.

[Cassiebsg]

We started it... atm you have one puzzle (that consists in pick up 1 item...) very very challenging...

PS - And I was cutting the grass and think I aspired inhaled a tiny bit of grass when I empty the machine... Now it's stuck in my esophagus...

[Mandle]

PS - And I was cutting the grass and think I aspired inhaled a tiny bit of grass when I empty the machine... Now it's stuck in my esophagus...

Not the best kind of grass to inhale.

[Cassiebsg]

LOL
I see that 2 people liked my last post... hope it's because they liked that the game is progressing, and not that I "almost died"...

Anyway, looking for a beta tester or 2 (and spellchecker would be great too). Game is now playable but it's short, and it "only" has one minor crash inconvenience at the end of the credits... I'll see if I can fix it when I get home.

I posted about needing help here: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/recruitment/ags-help-wanted-beta-tester-abd-speelchecker-for-august-mags-game/

Just PM if you can/wish to help out.

[Radiant]

How are we getting on, gang?

I didn't have enough time to get something playable, just a POC with a character moving around. Maybe next time...

[Stupot]

No worries @Radiant. Look out for September's theme very soon.

[Cassiebsg]

The long August longing



Story and Graphics:    Gertrud Bondesson
Scripting:            Sandra T. Almeida
Beta testing:          Nahuel Peillat

Story:
After a little century, our hero wakes up and hopes to see her friends soon. But first she needs to send the invitation out and make sure her servant has the castle tip top.

Very short game created for MAGS August 2023 with the theme "Distance/Separation".

Game res.: 1024x640 (16:10)
AGS version: 3.5.1.10

Game page entry: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2687-the-long-august-longing/
Direct download link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/gsmf3fdlapnczdo/The_long_August_longing_V1.00.zip/file

Edit: Updated.
I'll update this post in a while, I need to create the screenshots, type a description and create an entry on the games page.

[Durinde]

The long August longing

Story and Graphics:   Gertrud Bondesson
Scripting:      Sandra T. Almeida

Download link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/gsmf3fdlapnczdo/The_long_August_longing_V1.00.zip/file

I'll update this post in a while, I need to create the screenshots, type a description and create an entry on the games page.

Glad to see it just wasn't me that entered!

[Cassiebsg]

Happy to hear that you could forgive my 53 second posting delay. I shouldn't have typed the last line. 

[Kitty Trouble]

I was planning to have something playable, but my health these last couple weeks hasn't been great, and I only finished my font, lucasarts-style GUI, main character, and part of the first room.

Question, is reusing stuff like fonts/GUI in the spirit of the competition? Or does it need to be made from scratch each time even if I want to do the same thing?

[Stupot]

That is no problem, @Kitty Trouble.

Thank you to those who participated this round, even if you weren't able to get an entry in.

We still got two great-looking games and I think it's going to be an interesting battle for votes.

Please vote using the poll above.

	The Distant Door by Durinde
	The long August longing by Cassiebsg and Blondbraid

[RootBound]

Played both and voted!

[Tomags]

Same here. Two great games with different approaches and strong points.

@Blondbraid , if you don't mind me asking, how do you do the animations? Do you use Dragonbones?

[heltenjon]

Here's my thoughts this month.

The Distant Door

Spoiler

The rpg style graphics are not my favourite style, but they work and fits the mood of the game. The writing is good, and the feel of both endings is that this may happen. The puzzles are mostly a result of having a realistic approach to inventory items instead of piling up everything that is not nailed down. As realism is a point in this story, I felt this choice worked well. Also nice voice acting.

[close]

The long August longing

Spoiler

Simply gorgeous looking, with easy, yet clever puzzles. The story is humorous, creating an intended clash between horror mood and comedy.

[close]

I haven't decided who to vote for yet! But I will cast a vote. It is difficult because

Spoiler

The games outshine each other in different categories. TLAL has far better graphics and puzzles, while TDD has the best character development/story and more emotional impact. It's also a case of apples and oranges to compare a comedic piece with a tear-jerker type slice of life story that invites to afterthought.

[close]

[Blondbraid]

Same here. Two great games with different approaches and strong points.

@Blondbraid , if you don't mind me asking, how do you do the animations? Do you use Dragonbones?

Yes, you guessed right! Plus Firealpaca for art assets used in the animation.

Funnily enough, the reason I made a Renaissance vampire woman in a gown was so that I didn't have to do any tricky leg animations while testing out Dragonbones.

[Tomags]

Same here. Two great games with different approaches and strong points.

@Blondbraid , if you don't mind me asking, how do you do the animations? Do you use Dragonbones?

Yes, you guessed right! Plus Firealpaca for art assets used in the animation.

Funnily enough, the reason I made a Renaissance vampire woman in a gown was so that I didn't have to do any tricky leg animations while testing out Dragonbones.

Thanks! I think the animations worked very well with AGS.  I tried to do some tests on Dragonbones a while ago, I may go back to it. Thanks for letting us know about Firealpaca, I didn't know it.

Good idea to simplify the model for the animation.

[4KbShort]

I was planning to have something playable, but my health these last couple weeks hasn't been great, and I only finished my font, lucasarts-style GUI, main character, and part of the first room.

Question, is reusing stuff like fonts/GUI in the spirit of the competition? Or does it need to be made from scratch each time even if I want to do the same thing?

@Stupot would have to weigh in on this one, but I will admit that since my first entry where I made my GUI and set up my "default" game design criteria I haven't changed any of them and just use the same Sierra style system with generic graphics and plug in the game behind them. I figured this was okay since when you see a Sierra game you know it's a Sierra game by the GUI more than anything. No one has said anything to me about it, yet so I'm going to assume it's okay.

[Stupot]

Yeah. Once upon a time there was a fairly strict 'no pre-existing assets' law. Everything had to be made from scratch. I think it was felt that this made it too overwhelming for newcomers (though I wonder if it did encourage more team entries, where everyone had a specific job to do).

So for a while we had it where the topic-setter could choose whether or not premade assets were allowed, but almost everyone said yes, so I stopped asking. Since then it's been much more lenient. No one has complained and while it hasn't done much to increase the participation numbers, it does lower the barrier for entry to those who would like to enter but can't do everything from scratch.

In the more specific case of reusing something you'd made for a previous entry (whether completed or not), I don't see a problem with that, especially if it helps increase the number of entries. Others will say so if they think someone has taken too many liberties, if not in writing then in the voting.

[Cassiebsg]

Finished playing.

The Distant Door (by Durinde)

Spoiler

Nice little game, and with voice acting as sherry on top. Plus check on having 2 endings!
Strong story, and ending 1 just felt so wrong, that even when I replayed it to get ending 1, I wished I could have changed my mind half way through the task.

Maybe if you decided to release a polished version, you can allow the player to exit the building and go to to the Hospital anyway, even though she said she couldn't? On that note, one could also blow Matt and leave the package by the door and end up on ending 1 (or ending 3 - you've been a total douchbag by saying yes and then not doing it).

One thing that annoyed me was the displays. Maybe next time consider using CW's TypedText module, and get the narrator's text on the lower black end of the screen. I think it would fit the game.

Great job anyway!

[close]

[Stupot]

Last chance to get your votes in, folks

[Stupot]

Thanks for the votes, everyone.
I honestly thought this was going to be tight, as both games look great. But the people have spoken and the winner with 8 out 8 votes is...

The Distant Door by Durinde

Well done, Durinde. I'll PM you soon about setting a theme for October.

[Durinde]

Wow, thank you for the votes everyone! I was a little surprised given on how strong the other game was!

[RootBound]

Hey @Cassiebsg and @Blondbraid just wanted you to know it was a close decision for me. It's hard to choose between great puzzles and emotional impact, as your game had the former and the other had the latter. Both games had good, effective art. (Though I think yours had a better title, which I appreciate. Making good titles is hard).

In the end I suspect it came down to what mood i was in, which is pretty arbitrary. I was expecting your game to get a lot of votes! Hope to play more from you both in the future. 

[heltenjon]

It was also a close decision for me. In fact, I let my daughter play the games to have a second opinion, and she was undecided, too! In the end, I think what may tilt it slightly Durinde's way is that his story is clearly finished and wouldn't work in another format than the short game, while Cassiebsg and Blondbraid have made a game that could easily pass as the first chapter in a full length story about this unfortunate vampire. (Which I would definitely play.)

Two fine games.

[Cassiebsg]

Thanks for the feedback and congrats Durinde.

[Tomags]

Same here, it was hard as they had different approaches. Long August felt more light hearted and very appealing visually and in character design, and overall well polished, but I finally went for the Distant door because the plot combined with the voice acting felt more emotional and unusual to me.
Well done both anyways.

[Creamy]

Like the others said, it's like comparing oranges and apples.

The long August longing has classic puzzles and a light hearted mood going for it.

The simple story of The Distant Door feels genuine and compassionate.

Both good little games.