MAGS October "Finish Your MAGS Game" (VOTING)

[Babar]

Finished jwalt's masterpiece, but about the other games:

@Perpetuall : I unfortunately don't know many Bible verses, but I'm not sure how the system works. I typed in "In the beginning there was the Word", but I got no reaction or response. What is supposed to happen?

@VampireWombat : I feel a bit dumb, but I can't get to the screen you shared in the screenshot. I don't see any interactable except the AC unit, and the edges of the screens don't go anywhere?

[Kara Jo Kalinowski]

@VampireWombat : I feel a bit dumb, but I can't get to the screen you shared in the screenshot. I don't see any interactable except the AC unit, and the edges of the screens don't go anywhere?

Spoiler

On the left edge of the screen is a hotspot, for some reason you have to use the hand icon to move between locations

[close]

[jwalt]

@VampireWombat : I feel a bit dumb, but I can't get to the screen you shared in the screenshot. I don't see any interactable except the AC unit, and the edges of the screens don't go anywhere?

Spoiler

On the left edge of the screen is a hotspot, for some reason you have to use the hand icon to move between locations

[close]

Thanks a lot, Kitty Trouble. That will probably help get me moving on that game. I'd stalled out in two of the entries. Haven't tried the third one, yet, but I will.

[Perpetuall]

@Perpetuall : I unfortunately don't know many Bible verses, but I'm not sure how the system works. I typed in "In the beginning there was the Word", but I got no reaction or response. What is supposed to happen?

So, because I was too busy to actually code the entire Bible, I only got through to coding the first 40 chapters of the book of Psalms at the moment. I also wanted to implement an in-game Bible you can read from, but didn't get to figuring out how I can do that. I also am working on making it less strict with the input, but right now you have to type in the entire verse word for word.

So if you try to quote any verse other than what is in the first third of Psalms, it won't work. But, if you have a Bible on hand, King James version, you can read from Psalms and type in one verse at a time, and that should work. (If you don't have one, you can read from here: https://biblehub.com/kjv/psalms/1.htm)

The first 20 or so Psalms have narration, and I scripted them to be specific to the topic-for instance, verses about faith will only affect the Faith stat and so on, so will only work on a Fear Demon. So those verses might not work to defeat this Demon unless they're about Patience. But the last 20 or so were thrown together quickly, have no voice acting as of yet, and they should work regardless of what they're about, because I just wanted to finish something.

My original vision for this game was as a method to memorize Scripture and apply it to situations. I think people are woefully ignorant about their own beliefs and values, and as a result people's behavior tends to be inconsistent and irrational. Anything I can do to make them think about it more I would like to encourage. If I can find a way to make studying religious and philosophic beliefs as fun as playing video games, then I feel like I've accomplished something at least. But perhaps I am not quite there yet with this one.

[VampireWombat]

@VampireWombat : I feel a bit dumb, but I can't get to the screen you shared in the screenshot. I don't see any interactable except the AC unit, and the edges of the screens don't go anywhere?

Spoiler

On the left edge of the screen is a hotspot, for some reason you have to use the hand icon to move between locations

[close]

Yeah, I really should have just made transitions from one room to another work based on regions or walkable areas or something. My AGS skills are really rusty and I didn't even think about either on Sunday.

[Babar]

My vote:

Spoiler

Really bad at giving detailed feedback, but while the other entries showed a lot of potential and scope for amazing ideas, I went with jwalt's game as being the most comprehendibly complete entry.
I've seen a lot of his art on the forums over the years, but I'd never played any of his games, and I've got to say, the 3d art and style of animation works really well, and is quite charming! The humour worked on me too, despite there not really being any very deep puzzles.

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[heltenjon]

I'm in a hurry at the moment, but here are some quick thoughts:

Hour Al (by jwalt):

Spoiler

Funny, as usual. I like the 3D renderings and the story is fitting for the Alien theme. It's mostly an animation, though, not all that many game elements.

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The Sphinx of Time (by Babar and jfrisby):

Spoiler

This is the most complete game this month, with puzzles and story, music and all in place. It got my vote. I will post a more detailed feedback in the game's own thread. when I get the time.

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Chupacabra Crunch (by VampireWombat):

Spoiler

I'm so glad you finished it! Even though this is sort of a training game for you to get your chops back, I bet it feels good to finish and get something out there. Hope to see more from you soon.

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MvM Demo: Patience is a Virtue (by Perpetuall):

Spoiler

I managed to both lose and defeat the demon, but most of my games either froze or I thought they did. Now, you deserve some praise for making this game the way you wanted it, but it didn't work for me. You deserve some more thorough (hopefully constructive) feedback, and I will post it when I get the time. For now: I liked the graphics, a bit mixed about the music, and didn't like the gameplay.

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[heltenjon]

Some feedback for @Perpetuall (Patience is a virtue):

Spoiler

I played your game several times, and I managed to beat the demon. Yet, I didn't like the gameplay. Here's why, and some suggestions.

The biggest problem: Typing something is not really fun. Speaking for myself, I don't know Bible verses by heart in English, much less from a medieval version of the text. I get that this one holds a special place in the heart for some people with English as their native tongue, for some reason, but not so for an international audience. (I'm Norwegian, for the record.)

So what did I do? I had the text beside me, and it became a typing game with a time limit. Could I type fast enough and accurate enough? This is old English, and it has to be exact to count.

Any gamer will try to find the best way to beat a game. The shortest verse in the Bible is "Jesus wept", so the typical gamer would type that one over and over again - if that worked. Not so here, the player needed to find verses about patience. (I'm happy I only had to search the Psalms!) I found the shortest one and repeated it until I won. I barely had time to look at the graphics, which is unfortunate, as they were pretty good.

Okay, how could this be made more fun to play, while still being a game about Christianity? I would advice to drop the entire typing approach. It's not fun, and it caters to someone who already know the Bible by heart. I guess that's not the ideal audience.

I'd rather present the player with several Bible verses and let the player choose by clicking on the one that is best in the given situation. This would make the player read the verses, and also contemplate what they really mean. If different demons would be defeated by different virtues presented in Bible verses, I think that could work out. A player could play by clicking, it would reward reading more deeply, and you could play it without being familiar with the Bible passages from earlier experience. Whether that would be fun, would be up to other aspects of the game, of course, but I believe it would be more entertaining than typing accurately. And I think it could "Preach without being preachy", if you know what I mean.

This is meant as constructive criticism and not as a personal attack, and I hope it doesn't come off as such. You must have worked hard to include all that text, and I respect that, but I think you ought to rethink your approach before you code the entire Bible in this way.

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[Stupot]

Thanks for the votes so far. Keep them coming. We're about halfway through the voting period.

[WHAM]

I'm back at it with my usual shenanigans and have once again played all of the contestants. You can find the videos of my attempts below. While I'll always recommend you play the games yourself, if you just can't find the time then this might be an option for you:

Hour Al
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjo99fgPCoE

The Sphinx of Time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gKDOvJhYfU

Chupacabra Crunch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44WARwyzRXU

MvM Demo: Patience is a Virtue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPDe6_zwS5k

[cat]

Hour AI

Spoiler

Interesting premise but not much to do here, just click through dialog. I would have enjoyed to figure out the number system by myself.

[close]

Chupacabra Crunch

Spoiler

It's great to see you back here on the forums! The game needs clearly more work, but it's a good starting point for more to come.

[close]

MvM Demo Patience is a Virtue

Spoiler

That was weird. I loved the ASCII art and the music was really fitting. The psalms are a strange part of the bible and I get why they inspired you to make this game and how they could be used as weapons against demons. Voice acting was a nice touch that added to the overall unsettling atmosphere.
However, the gameplay did nothing for me. Basically, it's a typing trainer. I might have enjoyed the game when I was learning touch typing back in school. But now, I don't like to type random words written in old-fashioned language that I read on my phone into a computer.

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The Sphinx of Time

Spoiler

My favourite of the bunch. The graphics were pretty and the music fitting (the voice in the background of one track was unsettling, I thought my kids got up instead of sleeping). Nice trick to make them wear robes to avoid walkcycles. The gameplay was nicely split between the two characters, each with their own set of responses and capabilities. I liked the machine-button puzzle and having to turn on the lasers from outside (took me quite a while to figure that out.)
A few negative points: there were some glitches (like the other character suddenly knowing about things he or she did not hear) or weird leaving/entering rooms. I also had the solution before the puzzle twice (coins, beat).
Overall, well done!

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[Shadow1000]

Spoiler

I voted for the Sphinx of Time, as it was the most complete entry with a variety of puzzles, specified task and play value. I was able to complete about 3/4 of it independently but at some point, had difficulty progressing without hints and using WHAM's playthrough.

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[Stupot]

Thanks for the votes, gang.

The winning game by a landslide is:
The Sphinx of Time (by Babar and jfrisby).

Well done dudes. I'll be in touch.

[jwalt]

@ VampireWombat: Don't take the zero vote to heart. It's happened to me along the way, and I know it can be discouraging. All these MAGS games are learning experiences, and as long as you feel you learned something from the effort, it was worth the effort. My recollection of playing your game was the problem with movement between the rooms. I suggest taking a look at using the room edges for this, rather than hotspots.

Well done to the winners, and thanks, Babar, for the pity vote you sent my way!

[jfrisby]

   Thanks everyone for playing and voting!
This game was way too ambitious and very hard to finish, which is probably why it took close to 2 months to make... I'm still in shock that no one seems really upset about the puzzles!

Spoiler

That big window / button puzzle was like... pretty absurd... but seemed to do something interesting...  I wanted to quiz people about solving it, but I'm also traumatized by it

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[Babar]

Thanks all for the votes! Appreciate all the feedback as well.
And jwalt: It wasn't a pity-vote, I think it was a well-deserved vote, maybe because I haven't played any of your other games before, but I really did find the 3D and the animation charming.