MAGS October "Finish Your MAGS Game" (OPEN)

[Stupot]

Theme: Finish Your MAGS Game
Set by: Stupot
Deadline: October 31st

As there were no entries for August, and therefore no one to set the theme for October, I thought it would be a good idea to have another "Finish Your MAGS" edition, to breathe new life into one of your old abandoned MAGS games.

No extra guidelines, but it might be worth remembering that the haunting season is upon us, so you are invited, but by no means obliged, to include something spoOoOoky.


(May delete gif later)



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.

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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.
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[eri0o]

_{(please leave the gif I love it)}

[pell]

I'll finish my part of a game heltonjon and I worked on a while back if it's not disqualifying to have done a little design work outside of the challenge month. I think I'm going to have to redo the assets I made, but some of the designs for them were worked on after the month was over. Very little actual game logic was done, and even that will probably need a fresh start.

Edit: Would this be allowed, Stupot?

Edit again: Given that it's probably outside of the spirit of MAGS to have done any work outside of the competition month, I'll finish our game outside of MAGS. Maybe I'll revive one of my own unfinished MAGS ideas.

[Stupot]

Hi Pell,

If you feel that the amount of work you did outside of the contest month would give you an unfair advantage, then it might be better to set it aside, but if the extra amount you did was just a few bits and bobs, then it might not be too much of a problem. Maybe discuss it with heltenjon and see what you both agree on.

Also, if anyone reading this has any views or objections, please voice them below.

[heltenjon]

Well, the point of the theme is to make the community members finish their games, so it shouldn't be too strict. I agree wholeheartedly with Stupot's comment.

Anyway, using pre-existing assets are generally allowed now, I believe, so using sprites drawn earlier would be a bit like using stuff from the trove, RoN or Background Blitz, which I don't think is a problem for participation. But maybe original art made in the same month would impress more and gather more votes.

[Kastchey]

I think we can trust the participants to use their common sense.

[pell]

Thanks for the responses. If I decide to stay in with this game, I'll redo some of the design work.

[Cassiebsg]

I'm confused. If this is  "finish your mags game", then isn't it normal that a lot of the game is done? Or is the theme "discarded mags ideas"?

[Stupot]

I'm confused. If this is  "finish your mags game", then isn't it normal that a lot of the game is done? Or is the theme "discarded mags ideas"?

I think Pell's concern was whether the theme is intended for games that were worked on only during the MAGS contests they were meant for, since Pell had done more work on their game after that period.

I don't see a problem myself, unless the extra amount done is an incredibly unfair amount.

[Cassiebsg]

Okay, tks for the extra info. It confused me.
Now, if I stop procrastinating, I might actually have one finished this time around.