MAGS November “Body of Water” (VOTING)

[Stupot]

Time to take the plunge into another round of MAGS.

Theme: Body of Water
Set by: Babar and jfrisby
Deadline: November 30th

	GillPartyBus by jwalt
	Bad to the Coral by Rootbound
	Botos do Diabo by Babar and jfrisby

The majority of your game must take place in/on/around a large body of water, something bigger than a pool.






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.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[jwalt]

So, how about under a large body of water. Started toying around with this:



Not rigged, and not anatomically accurate.

They can have hitchhikers on their backs, including the fornicating limpet (Crepidula fornicata). Seems to offer some clever dialogue between the horseshoe crab and its riders: "what's going on back there, don't make me come back there, are we there yet"... Lots of possibilities. Fornicata, who can resist that? Now, to come up with something to challenge our hero, and a background in which the yet unknown tale can be told. I might be in on this one. Depends on what storyline I can come up with and whether I can rig my model.

[jwalt]

Quick question... Since I'm setting my thing up as taking place under water, any opinions about using a GUI overlay to fake it? Is it even necessary? So far, with the overlay color I'm using, it just makes everything look foggy.

I've made quite a bit of progress, so far. Probably going to just be a single room, outside the intro and credits. I think I've made a decent walk cycle for my hero, and there will be fornicating limpets in my game. Hopefully Stupot will not have to X-rate my game.

Edit: I've made some unbelievable progress and, along with some good fortune, I'm able to play through the game I envisioned. I've more to do, for sure, but by tidying up a few things, it might stand as an entry, as is. It's almost entirely a video, but if anyone wants to see my WIP, here's the MediaFire link:

Spoiler

https://www.mediafire.com/file/cpkgim0xgjj739m/PartyBus.zip/file

[close]

I haven't option-offed the dialogues, and I've put Roger to use in a couple of places. He'll be invisible in a completed game. Also, not sure that I've tested all the possible things that happen if you start backtracking through the areas. Still working on it, and still have most of the month remaining. Plenty of time for me to totally mess it all up.

Edit: Information about the link is no longer accurate. I messed up uploading the actual game, then found out I'd left off the intro room. I had to upload it, again, with the final version. You probably will be wasting your time on the link above, if it even works after I messed it up.

[VampireWombat]

I wasn't sure if I was going to do more than just offer to help someone make a game, but I guess I will be trying to make a Monkey Island type game. I was trying to get back to sleep and the video I chose to do so sparked enough an idea to lead to decent fleshing out of ideas already.

If anyone is familiar with The Longest Johns, a couple of their songs are inspiration to some degree. Whether or not there will actually be some kind of water based cryptid/monstrous waterfowl is still to be determined.

[pell]

I'm trying to think of something while my game dev hat is still on.

Does anyone have a premise or idea you're not using that you'd like to see made into a MAGS game this month? I'd like to have something nailed down very early so the rest of the month can be spent implementing the game.

[VampireWombat]

I'm trying to think of something while my game dev hat is still on.

Does anyone have a premise or idea you're not using that you'd like to see made into a MAGS game this month? I'd like to have something nailed down very early so the rest of the month can be spent implementing the game.

I don't have any specific suggestions, but you could always look into public domain sources for ideas. You could look into mythology. Perhaps something involving selkies or a kelpie. Or you could get inspiration from The Odyssey. Perhaps a public domain book like Robinson Crusoe or Treasure Island.
Or you could randomly choose a location with a large enough body of water and look into legends from that area. There are so many possibilities. The main thing I'd ask is what kind of game do you want to make? DO you want something mystery related? You could do a murder mystery on an tiny island. You could do something like what if some Agatha Christy story happened on that island and adjust things accordingly.
If you want more ideas or want to bounce ideas back and forth, feel free to ask.

[pell]

I'm trying to think of something while my game dev hat is still on.

Does anyone have a premise or idea you're not using that you'd like to see made into a MAGS game this month? I'd like to have something nailed down very early so the rest of the month can be spent implementing the game.

I don't have any specific suggestions, but you could always look into public domain sources for ideas. You could look into mythology. Perhaps something involving selkies or a kelpie. Or you could get inspiration from The Odyssey. Perhaps a public domain book like Robinson Crusoe or Treasure Island.
Or you could randomly choose a location with a large enough body of water and look into legends from that area. There are so many possibilities. The main thing I'd ask is what kind of game do you want to make? DO you want something mystery related? You could do a murder mystery on an tiny island. You could do something like what if some Agatha Christy story happened on that island and adjust things accordingly.
If you want more ideas or want to bounce ideas back and forth, feel free to ask.

Thank you. I think I'm going with the mystery/quest approach. I already have a story idea based on a premise heltenjon sent me. It looks like I'm in for this month if nothing unexpected comes up (like a soon-to-be hurricane that's supposedly aiming right for us).

[RootBound]

I may attempt a one-room-one-week entry. Fingers crossed that I'll have the time and energy.

[cat]

According to Wikipedia, the human body consists of 70% water. Does this qualify as "Body of Water"?

[Ponch]

The majority of your game must take place in/on/around a large body of water, something bigger than a pool.

What about a very large swimming pool? Or an incredibly long slip-n-slide? 

[RootBound]

What about a very large swimming pool? Or an incredibly long slip-n-slide? 

Sounds like a water park would do it.

[tbook]

I have the story 

[jwalt]

I'm going to call this done, since I'm not at all sure of what may happen after a doctor's appointment on Monday. I may not be able to do anything more with it, depending on what the doctor finds out. 

Here's the link:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/v29hekj8q9e642p/GillPartyBus.zip/file

It should now be the complete game, or as complete as it may ever be.

Here's the screen capture:

[Tabata]

@jwalt
  I somehow found myself!?
What an impressive work on animating eyebrows!   


Also best of luck for your appointment on monday!
                           

[RootBound]

7 days down and my one-room-one-week game is playable!!  It's a bit rough and has features missing, but I will definitely have something to submit. 

[VampireWombat]

Since Adventure X has a gamejam starting this weekend, that's going to end up being higher priority. I'm not going to abandon this game, but it'll be shorter than I had originally planned and will be using low res graphics.
And while writing this, I came up with a new idea which will extend the game without need of more than a couple of extra assets.

[RootBound]

My entry is complete! If anyone wants to test it before I link to it here, just let me know. It's a one-room arcade game, "completable" in a couple minutes or less. Longer if you keep trying to beat your high score (which is the whole point).

[heltenjon]

It should now be the complete game, or as complete as it may ever be.

Hey, this was really funny! Still mostly a cartoon, but entertaining? Absolutely!

[VampireWombat]

I got recruited to work on a game for a voice actor's Adventure X game. So, I don't know if I'll be able to finish a game for MAGs or not. Definitely won't be able to do any of the ideas I had. I'll see if I can figure out something, though.
Good luck to those working on games.

[RootBound]

BAD TO THE CORAL: The most relaxed you'll ever be while frantically trying to stop environmental destruction.

A classic fast-paced arcade-style game with calming sound effects.

Protect a delicate coral reef from an endless cascade of garbage. Gain reef health by letting red algae accumulate and by stemming the flow of trash for extended periods. Get extra points with combos. How long can you keep the reef alive?

AGS DATABASE LINK: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2803-bad-to-the-coral/

OFFICIAL PAGE: https://rootbound.itch.io/bad-to-the-coral




Uses the Tween module by @edmundito
Huge thanks to @Nahuel for testing.

[RootBound]

As I wrote in the completed games thread, it seems I uploaded an older build of the game by accident. If you downloaded it (it seems not many people did yet), please replace it with the new version. Same download link. I feel very silly.

[RootBound]

@jwalt, I just played your entry. It was fun, and I really like the animation! Would love to see more in this vein with the pre-rendered assets.

[RootBound]

For those who may not have time to play very much, here's a full playthrough with me adding a new score to my high score list at the end.

[pell]

I'm bowing out. I was very excited about the script I came up with, but the puzzles were kind of meh, so I got distracted with other things.

[RootBound]

So there's a new version of my entry uploaded because I found a bug that freezes the game instead of displaying the high score list. It's fixed now. You'll need to complete a playthrough before the update will go into your save games, though. Or you can delete your saves (which will clear the high score list). Everything else is the same, no changes to gameplay or anything else.

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

These are 2 very different games, will be interesting to see how the vote goes.

[jfrisby]

Babar & I present...
BOTOS DO DIABO
A fever dream horror somewhere in the Amazon...



Download: https://jfrisby.itch.io/botos-do-diabo

This one has some violence, blood, *scares, etc.. if you're sensitive to that (*AGS level jumpscares). It got pretty experimental and weird this month. :p

[TheFrighter]

Cool! 

Just a minor nuisance: you didn't indicate the OS!

_

[jfrisby]

Just a minor nuisance: you didn't indicate the OS! _

Thanks for catching this, I was pretty tired when I uploaded it.. We'll have a linux build up soon too!

[Babar]

Babar & I present...
BOTOS DO DIABO
A fever dream horror somewhere in the Amazon...



Download: https://jfrisby.itch.io/botos-do-diabo

This one has some violence, blood, *scares, etc.. if you're sensitive to that (*AGS level jumpscares). It got pretty experimental and weird this month. :p

Since we got no "STOP NOW CRIMINAL SCUM!" from Stupot yet, I've uploaded some final tweaks, and added a linux build as well. Same link as before. Enjoy, everyone (including me, who will now relax with the other entries).

[RootBound]

Babar & I present...
BOTOS DO DIABO
A fever dream horror somewhere in the Amazon...

Spoiler

well the leg scene was genuinely horrifying. Good job making the game playable and intuitive throughout the strangeness.

Spoiler

I have a bit of a science-fiction brain, so I have a hypothesis that maybe explains all of this (in a forced and totally unnecessary way. The game works better as a fever dream without explanation).

Spoiler

The character is "unstuck in time" in the vein of Slaughterhouse-five. Once he gets to the end of his life, he starts traveling through time backwards. He wrote the note warning himself to watch his legs, and he wrote the note from his lover because he knew he would never die before ever reaching home, and wanted to release himself from longing for her, despite the pain it would cause. He took the baby from the raft because he knew that traveling forward in time would not save the baby either, so he carries the baby with him now, traveling further into the past, and when he gets far enough in time before the flood that the baby will have a chance to grow up, he will release it back into the regular time stream. The baby then grows up and becomes him.

...As I said, the game is better without anything like this. 

[close]

[close]

[close]

[lapsking]

Botos Do Diabo

Spoiler

A good short game. Limited pallet works well and having few colors helps with creating the ambience without becoming boring, since it's a short game. The interface is easy and puzzles are straight forward. Using some inventory items on some objects are left without any explanation or reaction from the character. For me, having a story (even though fever dream) was a bonus. It successfully creates an eerie atmosphere.

[close]

Bad to the Coral

Spoiler

A very polished game. Creative idea, conscious topic and nice graphics. I enjoyed the different gameplay.

[close]

[jfrisby]

Spoiler

well the leg scene was genuinely horrifying. Good job making the game playable and intuitive throughout the strangeness.

Spoiler

I have a bit of a science-fiction brain, so I have a hypothesis that maybe explains all of this (in a forced and totally unnecessary way. The game works better as a fever dream without explanation).

Spoiler

The character is "unstuck in time" in the vein of Slaughterhouse-five. Once he gets to the end of his life, he starts traveling through time backwards. He wrote the note warning himself to watch his legs, and he wrote the note from his lover because he knew he would never die before ever reaching home, and wanted to release himself from longing for her, despite the pain it would cause. He took the baby from the raft because he knew that traveling forward in time would not save the baby either, so he carries the baby with him now, traveling further into the past, and when he gets far enough in time before the flood that the baby will have a chance to grow up, he will release it back into the regular time stream. The baby then grows up and becomes him.

...As I said, the game is better without anything like this. 

[close]

[close]

[close]

I love all this so much!

Spoiler

.. and its probably super generous to the reality of the plot in this   (Poor Jackson, and whatever he is raking in?!)
That makes the bottle make sense a lot more, ..and the baby stuff!
I'd drawn a bunch of closeup's that seemed fun, and we tried our best to cobbled them together..  it seems like a lot of horror kind of feels like that though?  Just a series of very emotionally manipulative scenes   Thanks for the kind words!

[close]

Spoiler

I enjoyed Bad to the Coral too, drawing a bunch of trash looked fun!  I really wanted to assign nets to hotkeys for net-size (1-3?) but that might make it too intense

[close]

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

Spoiler

I enjoyed Bad to the Coral too, drawing a bunch of trash looked fun!  I really wanted to assign nets to hotkeys for net-size (1-3?) but that might make it too intense

[close]

I agree with this 100%, if there was a version 1.01 or something that's definitely something that should be added

[Stupot]

Sorry for the delay, everyone.
Time to vote.

	GillPartyBus by jwalt
	Bad to the Coral by Rootbound
	Botos do Diabo by Babar and jfrisby

As always, let me know if I've missed anything in my haste.

[lapsking]

I missed playing GillPartyBus. Just saw it yesterday.

Spoiler

It was more of a humorous short animation rather than a game. It didn't have puzzles and interaction and look at buttons mainly did the same thing. Nevertheless, it was a fun experience.

[close]

[cat]

GillPartyBus

Spoiler

Fun setting, great dialog writing but like in the previous game, there nothing to do. It's not a game but a short film.
That Tabata eyebrow inside joke made me really laugh out loud and I was glad to see the crab in its new home in the end.

[close]

Bad to the Coral

Spoiler

Interesting concept. I liked the sprites of the falling objects a lot. I played it for a while in slow mode until it became boring, then in fast mode until I died (which didn't take a long time). Maybe I'll try that again another day but I stopped now because my hand started to hurt.
A keyboard short cut for choosing the net would have been a nice UI feature.

[close]

Botos Do Diabo

Spoiler

So, this is quite difficult to review for me. The graphics are wonderful, again a great color scheme and lots of detailed drawings and animations (was the baby based on a photo of your baby?).
The story was flowing like the river, but gameplay felt like just clicking to trigger the next chapter. Which from a philosophical point of view fits the theme, but wasn't that much fun to play.
The atmosphere was amazing, with a great build-up of tension. However, as a climax, there was the scene with the leg. I didn't manage to solve the only real puzzle of the game in time and died. I didn't have a save file, so I had to play again from the beginning. This means that I tried to get by as fast as possible and the complete atmosphere was ruined for me and not restored for the rest of the game. Having an autosave right at the beginning of the scene might have prevented this. But the way I experienced the game, I was left with an indifferent feeling (which might be a good thing after all, since I actually don't like horror).

[close]

My vote

Spoiler

Ok, this is a difficult one. From the production value, Botos Do Diabo is a clear winner, with Bad to the Coral a close second. But especially for MAGS, I like to judge games by the way I feel after completing them. After playing Bad to the Coral, my wrist hurt. After playing Botos Do Diabo, I was somewhat disappointed because of the ruined atmosphere. So, in the end, I voted for GillPartyBus, because it made me laugh.

[close]

[Babar]

Botos Do Diabo

Spoiler

So, this is quite difficult to review for me. The graphics are wonderful, again a great color scheme and lots of detailed drawings and animations (was the baby based on a photo of your baby?).
The story was flowing like the river, but gameplay felt like just clicking to trigger the next chapter. Which from a philosophical point of view fits the theme, but wasn't that much fun to play.
The atmosphere was amazing, with a great build-up of tension. However, as a climax, there was the scene with the leg. I didn't manage to solve the only real puzzle of the game in time and died. I didn't have a save file, so I had to play again from the beginning. This means that I tried to get by as fast as possible and the complete atmosphere was ruined for me and not restored for the rest of the game. Having an autosave right at the beginning of the scene might have prevented this. But the way I experienced the game, I was left with an indifferent feeling (which might be a good thing after all, since I actually don't like horror).

[close]

Thanks for the very honest feedback!

Spoiler

We went back and forth on whether the game should feature death on that scene (and the sinking and the tourniquet) several times, and only finally plugged in the death hours before the deadline. We had assumed that 50 seconds would be more than enough time to solve the puzzle, but I think your idea of an autosave is good, and something we can implement, post-MAGS).

[close]

[cat]

Spoiler

We had assumed that 50 seconds would be more than enough time to solve the puzzle

[close]

Spoiler

I know, quite embarrassing that I didn't solve it. But I was really feeling the pressure and stress. I focused on the leg and tried all inventory items again and again and just didn't look somewhere else. The game really got me until this point.

[close]

[heltenjon]

Here are my thoughts this month.

GillPartyBus by jwalt:

Spoiler

Funny, and also nice use of the rendered graphics. There's not much interaction, though I liked what there was. (But I miss Josh and Davy!)

[close]

Bad to the Coral by Rootbound:

Spoiler

I think this is a great non-adventure game with very good replayability on hard mode. Slow mode is too easy. Of course, it's a limited game genre, but I was impressed by how good it delivers. Possibly a contender for CaptainD for the non-adventure AGS award this year?

[close]

Botos do Diabo by Babar and jfrisby:

Spoiler

Very atmospheric and plenty of WTF moments. I liked this one a lot, being a horror fan and all. However, the game is on tracks with little branching. In a sense, this one and GillPartyBus are similar in that regard. Both games involve going forward and dealing with what appears on the player's way.

[close]

My vote:

Spoiler

Rootbound. This was a very hard decision. I think I've voted for Babar and jfrisby every time so far in MAGS, and voting for something other than an adventure is not something I would normally do. But I admire Rootbound's little action game, as it proves the versatility of AGS.

[close]

[Babar]

Was hard to choose between the two other entries.

Spoiler

In the end, I just went with Gill's Party Bus, for mostly the same reasons as last month. Silly humour, and cute art and animations (and fittingly silly music this time too, although I understand it wasn't made for the game specifically).
Bad to the Coral was technically pretty cool, but I feel there's something missing in the gameplay as it is now.

[close]