MAGS October: Steampunk! (Winner Announced)

[Scarab]

I finished Discordance's game in the original version with no problems(albeit the no-save function)... so I don't know whats going on with everyone else  

[abstauber]

yay - I'm through. 9/9

I'm really amazed what you guys can do in less than a month - terrific work everyone!

[Leon]

Alright... last part of the WT... (draft of course):

Spoiler

Walk left into the house and talk to Amelia. Give her the blunderbuss. You'll travel directly to the library. Use the door to enter the library. Use the shelves on the right to take some BOOKS of no importance. Next to the shelf on the left is a hidden trapdoor. Use the trapdoor to find the machine the professor was talking about.

Take the can of PETROL from the floor on the right and use the petrol on the slot on the left. Use the books on the fuel container next to it. Use the switch next to that and... nothing will happen.

[close]

When I hit the switch after filling:

Spoiler

- Oh yes!
- Well, that was rather dull.
- I'll just swtich it back off.

[close]

Nevermind...... got the problem now... 

Spoiler

You can actually empty an empty can on the slot...

[close]

BRILLIANT !!!!!

[Crimson Wizard]

Allright, finished them all, last was "Energizer" 15 minutes ago (with multiple endings)

Gathered my thoughts about all games...

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"Trial of the Schnellersparrow" by Pinback

Spoiler

Pros: An interesting vehicle design. Magnificently drawn backgrounds and objects, very good and atmospheric background music. Good language (so many weird words, oh ). Interesting technical puzzles (didn't find them too difficult).
Cons: Gameplay is in some way clumsy. I think two main faults here are: that hotspots are not marked in any way and there are dozens of gadgets and thingies around, so player may spend much time figuring where to click; secondly your task is not always obvious.
Additionally I can mention that although graphics are detailed and beautiful, surrounding world seems too lifeless; if not sound of rain one may think game takes place in deep space.
Conclusion: Game is good on artistic part but gameplay flaws make it not easy to pull yourself into the game's world. It feels... bulky. Too many gear around and lack of intrigue. Lack of animation (in terms of immersion, not simply graphics).

[close]

"Samarkand" by Babar

Spoiler

Pros: Cool character art, clean, simple backgrounds and nice music.
Cons: Game is a way too short even for MAGS. And, regardless of the amount of freedom given by the current rules, I am not sure it can be considered steampunk, sorry.
Conclusion: In my eyes it is rather a teaser than a complete game. May be good beginning for a longer project.

[close]

"Ted McBinky and his Steam Engine" by FSi

Spoiler

Pros: It doesn't have a happy end. Or does it? .
Cons: It's rather a joke than a game.
Conclusion: Well, seriously, it made me smile, but I it's not a game and it's rather not steampunk, even though it features steam engine.

[close]

"Steamsquares" by cat

Spoiler

Pros: A classic style logic game, good graphics.
Cons: Obviously not an adventure game, and too simple (well, maybe not TOO simple if you want to make record in number of moves; what I mean is that it features very simple rules and controls, and can be finished really soon).
Also, it isn't actually steampunk (it does not show a world changed by advanced technology).
Conclusion: It would be nice to see this one as a puzzle in an adventure game. I am afraid that on its own it's too simple to be voted for.

[close]

"The Chronomancers" by discordance

Spoiler

Pros: Good verylow-res graphics (which remind me of 'Duty and Beyond' game which I loved), charismatic characters, ironic pathos.
Cons: Game involves some pixel hunting. Clumsy inventory. Impossibility to find how to save game. Crash during final cutscene. Is it actually final cutscene?
Also story feels "crumpled" somewhere after middle of the game.
Conclusion: A good game, but seem too short and simple as opposed to creative design and interesting story. I expected more of it.

[close]

"Steam Trek: Clueless around Risa" by frogking

Spoiler

Pros: Good humor, puzzles that make sense.
Cons: Ugly character
Conclusion: Good game without any doubt. It's short, but so to say, length matches the aim perfectly. And also it is the only game I know where you have to bombard a planet to repair the door.

[close]

"Ex Machina" by SomeSickSelf

Spoiler

Pros: Good story and writing. Good graphics and music in general. I was pleased to see that game has stylish interface and font.
Cons: Puzzles were too easy and straightforward, it was more of looking around than actually solving, and that spoiled immersion.
Disproportional, silly-looking houses (unfortunately this didn't change much since SomeSickSelf's previous MAGS game ). Lack of background/objects animation (like backdoors in the bar).
Conclusion: I have nearly same thoughts as I had when playing previous MAGS game by this author, that game would be excellent if it were longer and player had more time to see more of characters' personalities.
Unfortunately there's some inconsistency between the background story and gameplay, it's like a detective/thriller novel rammed into 10-minutes long animated cartoon. Perhaps it would be better to leave opened ending instead of making the story cut so abruptly.

[close]

"The Energizer" by tzachs

Spoiler

Pros: Good story. Interesting characters. Interesting interogation mode (you have to guess how to interrogate properly though). Nice and smooth character/objects animations (especially in comparison to other games), except perhaps walking legs animation. Perfectly-fit sounds.
Cons: The game doesn't have a steampunk feel at all; it looks rather like second half of XX century world (take the woman in pants for example). Very crudely made backgrounds. Certain silly moments.
Conclusion: Overall it is a well-done story, but it does not match the topic; it's rather about one single invention and does not reveal the world changed by technology at all.

[close]

Since I made myself a rule not to vote for my own game (unless other entries are crap, which isn't a case ) I won't comment it here.

------------------------------------------------------------

Finally I arranged games before myself and tagged them in following way -

Spoiler

"Trial of the Schnellersparrow" by Pinback. Best atmosphere, very good, realistic backgrounds and overall 'steampunky' feel. But lacks functionality.
"Samarkand" by Babar. Perhaps, most original setting and best character design. But too short and simple.
"Ted McBinky and his Steam Engine" by FSi. Best key puzzles. Original ending. But lacks the game.
"Steamsquares" by cat. Best puzzle. But only one puzzle.
"The Chronomancers" by discordance. Best dialogs. But too little actual action.
"Steam Trek: Clueless around Risa" by frogking. Best (Length + Puzzles / Idea + Mission) relation. Hard to say what it lacks. Probably nothing.
"Ex Machina" by SomeSickSelf. Best intrigue. But lacks complex puzzles, also story implementation does not fully match the concept.
"The Energizer" by tzachs. Best scenario (short but quite realistic detective story). But doesn't match the topic.

[close]

Arghhh... it was soooo difficult to choose...

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But finally I vote for

Spoiler

"Steam Trek: Clueless around Risa" by frogking.
I have following reason. Some time ago in other thread on this forum I wrote like "There's some kind of hardly explainable coefficient, like a relation between story/puzzle densities in game.".
I think it is the main, or one of the main things that make gameplay. Yes, Steam Trek is short, but it's enough. And that I found very important in the games. It felt like completely all-sufficient.

I really wanted to vote for Pinback's "Sparrow", but as I wrote it is made too clumsily in terms of gameplay. I really wish you make a better game spending more time on polishing events/controls/puzzles.
I could vote for "Energizer" by the way, if only it was a true steampunk, 'cause it has really interesting story.
I perhaps could vote for "Ex Machina" or "Chronomancers", if their stories were revealed more deeply and did not end so abruptly (and had more difficult puzzles to solve!).

[close]

These are my thoughts.
Thanks to everyone, I really enjoyed playing your games as well as making my own game

[SomeSickSelf]

Finally finished all the games.

I thought I'd post my comments/constructive criticisms for each game in the order that I finished them.

Ted McBinky and his Steam Engine:

Spoiler

This is either an ingenious parody or a triumph of sheer stupidity, but either way it kept me laughing, if not thinking particularly hard.
It reminded me a bit of my first ever AGS project which also featured an excessive number of keys and a MIDI rendition of a Black Sabbath song.

[close]

Steamsquares:

Spoiler

It's a fairly challenging little puzzle, and I confess I played it through several times while waiting for the other developers to finish. 
However, I find myself agreeing with Crimson Wizard on this one, it would be a really cool mini game (BioShock anyone?) but it doesn't fare too well as a stand alone concept.  It looks great, and it's a really fun way to kill 10 or 15 minutes, but beyond that has very little to offer.

[close]

Steamtrek:

Spoiler

A very cool idea, though I feel like more could have been done with it.
The 3D graphics were neat (if a little rough around the edges) and the dialog was quite funny.  There was at least one puzzle that was a bit harder than it needed to be but overall a very brief, enjoyable game.

[close]

The Energizer:

Spoiler

An interesting concept and I loved the idea behind the interrogation sequences.
In practice though, it called upon the player to pay a bit too much attention to tiny details.  The interrogation system was flawed in that you had to guess, blindly for the most part, what one word would make the suspect crack.  A very intriguing idea, overall, I had fun with it, but it probably could have been a lot better given more time.

[close]

Samarkand:

Spoiler

Brilliant!  Reminded me very much of Loom, one of my all time favorite adventure games.
That being said, the game was simply much too short.  The puzzles, while very inventive, weren't particularly challenging; if there had been more obstacles along the way this game could have been improved dramatically.

[close]

Chronomancers:

Spoiler

A lot of fun, despite the dead end bug and lack of a save function.
The aesthetic was very unique, and the dialog was probably the best written and most period appropriate of all the entries.
The game was hampered somewhat by the tiny graphics, which made every puzzle a bit of a pixel hunt.  A solid entry, but I wish discordance had paid a bit more attention to the bugs (and our desperate cries for save game feature).

[close]

One of a Kind:

Spoiler

This game features some very nice, if very simple visuals (it's a good thing).  The quality of writing was a huge step up from the author's last game and the story was, in my opinion, quite clever, and funny.  The puzzles were at times, unnecessarily difficult.  Admittedly, I'm not the best when it comes to puzzles, but I feel like I could have been saved a lot of frustration if there had been some more helpful feedback for certain interactions to let me know if I was on the right track (may be better in the latest version, I haven't played it).

[close]

Trial of the Schnellersparrow:

Spoiler

Wonderful, gorgeous graphics, and a very immersive, and very steampunk atmosphere really make this game stand out.
My biggest complaint is that the game gives you almost no feedback at all; I had no idea what I was allowed to interact with, or whether I was trying the wrong inventory combination or just missing the hotspots when I clicked.
The creative aspects (story, music, ARTWORK) are all top notch, but it was clear to me that the developer was struggling with the technical side of things.

[close]

Great competition this month, I had tons of fun making my game and playing all of yours.

As for voting, I'm not quite sure...

Spoiler

I may go for One of a Kind.  Despite my frustration with the puzzles, it really was the best balance of story and gameplay.  A lot of the other entries (namely Trails, and Chronomancers) came close, but in the end this game was both enjoyable, and relatively bug-free. Plus, I love The Beatles 

[close]

[cat]

The Chronomancers by discordance

Spoiler

I did like the graphics very much, the atmosphere was steampunkish. However, when trying to find the key for save, I hit the restart key and didn't want to play it all again

[close]

Ted McBinky and his Steam Engine by FSi

Spoiler

Made me laugh out several times, absurd story, maybe the adventure with most keys in inventory. Short and entertaining

[close]

SteamTrek: Clueless around Risa by frogking

Spoiler

Great humor, good and consistent implementation of the steampunk theme. It think it has the best puzzles of all entries

[close]

Ex Machina by SomeSickSelf

Spoiler

Also very steampunkish, good story and graphics.

[close]

One Of A Kind by Crimson Wizard

Spoiler

I did like the graphics and music, but the puzzles were too hard. Also, I think it didn't really fit the steampunk topic

[close]

Trial of the Schnellersparrow by Pinback

Spoiler

Fantastic graphics and atmosphere, but lacks in gameplay. I didn't really know what to do and had several bugs. I hope you make a deluxe version with fixes and improved gameplay

[close]

Samarkand by Babar

Spoiler

Interesting gameplay, nice graphics but very short

[close]

The Energizer by tzachs

Spoiler

Interesting investigation room concept, multiple endings, but I did need the hints provided by the button. The atmosphere was neither begin of 20th century nor very steampunk

[close]

My vote goes to

Spoiler

Steam Trek, because it was most fun while playing. It was a very close race with Ex Machina

[close]

[Crimson Wizard]

Heh. My first game was too easy. This one was too hard. Argh!  

If you ever knew the PUZZLE that I had to rip off last moment because of found bug...

[cat]

So the next one will be perfekt 

[discordance]

Ugggggh is there really still no save function? I honestly thought I had added one, but maybe I linked to the wrong version somehow? I don't know. It seemed to work fine for me.

Apologies, everyone, that I haven't been able to respond to all these comments. I've been busy. 

I'll check to make double-sure that I posted the right version, but it's probably a little too late now.

[frogking]

Phew, finally finished all games and voted. Tomorrow I would have had all the time in the world to play them on a train ride but no internet to save me if I got stuck so it had to be today

Steam Squares

Spoiler

Nice simple puzzle, but not enough to be a winner.
Also, the random start position is not tested for solvability.

[close]

Ted McBinky and his Steam Engine

Spoiler

The graphical style is not for me. Building the entire game on the one puzzle which is usually frowned upon is an amusing notion, and to its credit it has to be said it was the only game where I did not encounter a single bug.

[close]

The Chronomancers

Spoiler

I liked the setting, the train made the world feel large. The graphics worked but made for a bit of a pixel hunt. The font for Veronica was hard to read.

[close]

The Energizer

Spoiler

There was a good investigative feel,  the game felt quite
long for a mags entry. Although this was partially due to a
lot of talking which did get slightly annoying at times.

The interrogation mode was a cool feature but having three different ways of communicating is confusing (dialog, typing, note picking). The fonts in the save/restore dialog were distorted for me, and I encountered a crash.

Some puzzles I did not find logical, e.g., the lounge was supposed to be soundproof but the bagpipe was heard by susan when Mclassen was playing in the lab. The dark store room with the large window is odd in bright day light. Most safes can't be opened by a screwdriver. As for using a dangerous contraption to  reenergize a broken light bulb when three other rooms have the same lamp type ... well

[close]

Samarkand

Spoiler

Compact oriental mood in intro and game, good feeling. The string theory I found entertaining, the interface is simple but
sleek.

However, it was almost completely devoid of game. Only two puzzles and they were basically the same. A pity because I think this could have been a winner.

I hope I didn't just miss another ending where the shah
could be convinced of the attack (but if there were the
game should have hinted at it). Also the game did not
terminate properly for me, had to Alt-F4 it.

[close]

One of a kind

Spoiler

Nice extensive introduction. Clean graphics. Characters a tad too talkative for my taste.

Sleek GUI and inventoy system, combinable/detachable items are interesting. But I had the impression that I was swamped with items, which had two problems: Inventory window was too small, and too many possible interactions which would make sense to the player but can't all be handled by the game.

There is a walkarea bug in the lab when entering from the left.

At least one puzzle was hardly logical (if you have a key in a small glass tube on some flimsy stand, you hardly need a magnet on a string to get it).

[close]

Trial of the Schnellersparrow

Spoiler

Cool introduction, graphic style and atmosphere. Maybe the color scheme takes a bit of life away though.

The items are too small, and lacking reaction on any interactions, which makes it hard to figure out if you actually hit the hotspot. Do look up the "unhandled_event" function for next time!

It actually took me 15 minutes to figure out I could just walk through the closed door on the left

There was the possibility of a dead end. Featuring a flare gun is, of course, a great idea

[close]

Ex Machina

Spoiler

Simple graphics but it works fine. The houses look rather boxy, though. Menu, cursor, message boxes and color scheme seem to fit consistently. Minor GUI issue: Could not return to arrow cursor in inventory, had to close and reopen.

Puzzles were rather easy but most of them fitted the story convincingly, although the magic appearance of a hammer and chisel stretches suspension of disbelief.

[close]

And I voted for

Spoiler

Ex Machina, because on the whole, it was thoroughly enjoyable, relatively bug free, and fitted the theme.

[close]

[Dualnames]

Tzachs's, Babar's, Crimson Wizard's entries are now up-to-date on the first post of this topic and on the MAGS Website.

[tzachs]

@Dual: Thanks for the update...

@frogking:

The Energizer

Spoiler

...
Some puzzles I did not find logical, e.g., the lounge was supposed to be soundproof but the bagpipe was heard by susan when Mclassen was playing in the lab.
...

[close]

Ooh, you caught me off guard there, I totally missed that...

Ok, and now for my two pennies.

Steam Squares

Spoiler

Nice game, I agree with what been said, as it is, it's only a mini-game. Maybe if you did more levels with raising difficulty it could have been nicer...

[close]

Ted McBinky and his Steam Engine

Spoiler

It was definitely a funny game. Not too much work has been put into it, though...

[close]

The Chronomancers

Spoiler

Like cat said earlier, I played a little bit and it was ok, but the lack of a save button, made me not come back to it...

[close]

One of a kind

Spoiler

On the pros, great idea for the story, nice puzzles, and for some reason I felt a little 'maniac mansion' sort of atmosphere, which was cool. I think it has the biggest potential to become a full scale game, out of all the rest. On the cons, too many inventory items, all available right at the start, made this really hard, especially when some of the things I expected to work or at least get a decent reaction from, and that didn't happen. I found myself trying everything on everything. Also the fact that leaving from the left in one room caused me to appear in the left of the new room, was disorienting... That, plus the abrupt ending, gave me the feel of an unfinished game...

[close]

Ex Machina

Spoiler

Nice, solid game and story, with clean graphics. The problem for me in that, was that it wasn't memorable for me. The story, I felt, lacked some depth. Actually, after I read the readme file I realized that there was more to the story, but it wasn't portrayed in the game. I'll say the same thing about the characters, they also had no depth...

[close]

Steam Trek

Spoiler

Now, this was a funny game, nice background graphics, and really nice graphics for the inventory items. The sprite wasn't too much to look at though... The puzzles were also nice. My one complaint is that it was too short. Oh, and also I'm not sure that it filled the prerequisites of the competition, it was supposed to be in the past where some form of new technology has been invented to change the timeline, I didn't see too many hints for that.

[close]

Trial of the Schnellersparrow

Spoiler

The backgroung graphics were beautiful. However, I gave up on this game for the following reasons: Firstly, in the introduction sequence, there was some text that was changed really fast, and I couldn't read it. Then, when the game started, even though the backgrounds were good, they didn't show enough details for me to understand what I'm clicking at. That, with the lack of a hotspot label, caused me to randomly click on the screen in the hoping I'll hit something, which wasn't very fun for me... I also got stuck a lot of time in the first room until I realized I can walk through the door...

[close]

Samarkand

Spoiler

Nice settings with music to match. The problem here is that it was too short and lacked gameplay...

[close]

I had some dilemmas here, but in the end my vote goes to:

Spoiler

Steam Trek. Even though I felt it didn't really qualify, it still was the best one, so I had to give my voice to it. One of a kind came a close second, though.

[close]

[abstauber]

Steam Squares

Spoiler

I've to admit, I'm way to stupid for this kind of games. I wouldn't even know how to code it. So respect for the code - but no joy for me

[close]

Ted McBinky and his Steam Engine

Spoiler

I don't exactly know, why I liked it. Somehow the key chase was fun. But as it has been mentioned before, it's more like a parody, than a game.

[close]

The Chronomancers

Spoiler

Hmm.. I liked the graphics style, but not the palette. The puzzles have been fun sometimes, but not always on the logic side - there's been a lot trial and error for me. So overall it's okay, but nothing I'd replay in the near future.

[close]

One of a kind

Spoiler

After watching the intro (and skipping it the first time after waiting for god to appear) the game almost lost me. But after that, I enjoyed the challenging puzzles and started to like the scenery. After reaching and passing the brain, I thought: this is the winner. But then came the key puzzles and ruined that impression But overall I really had fun.

[close]

The Energizer

Spoiler

Wow, despite the graphics, this game is great. The story has been interesting enough to keep me playing. The puzzles were nice and the interrogation mode... I already liked that in Phoenix Wright. Cool to see that in AGS. The only downside is: it's not very steampunky.

[close]

Ex Machina

Spoiler

Well... the pixel hunt for the rotten fruits has been annoying. Beside that, the game has nice visuals, great sound effects and a fine story. But I'm afraid, it's "just" another adventure. Of course on a high level. But still I'm missing something that makes it unique.

[close]

Steam Trek

Spoiler

First I've been scared away by those render graphics, as those reminds me at the bad days of adventure games in the mid 90s. But the humor is so good that I've enjoyed every minute I've played it.

[close]

Trial of the Schnellersparrow

Spoiler

This could have been an awesome game. But it isn't It should have been high-res, featuring a hotspot finder and more interaction. The puzzles are logic in a way, but with almost no hints, they have been trial and error for the most time. On the other hand, this game is an exact definition of steampunk. The story is awsome, the characters as well. I like the cast-away atmosphere, to be at the mercy of some technology, which isn't fully under control. Again, it's a shame that the game is so frustrating.

[close]

Samarkand

Spoiler

Finally a fresh setting and I do like oriental stories. But as mentioned before, this game is more like a showcase. Babar, please make a full game out of it!

[close]

Voting time:

Spoiler

Trial of the Schnellersparrow. The game sucks, but it's pure steampunk. And steampunk has been the mission for this mags.

[close]

[Dualnames]

That's a total abuse of the hide function there!!

[Crimson Wizard]

Hehe, yeah.


Anyway, since I am planning a full vesion of my game to be worked upon in some future, I am starting to gathering criticisms about MAGS entry. Looks like my 2 general faults are:
1) inconveniently made inventory which did not allowed to see all your stuff in one (or two) glance(s).
2) a great lack of commentary about combining/using items, and also surroundings (take frogking's opinion about glass tube, for instance; it was supposed to be bolted hard to the floor, but since no comments are made people may think you cansimply turn it over to drop key out).
By the way, if anyone cares, can you please write that in my game's thread or PM me, which item actions/combinations you did consider reasonable, but which were not allowed by the game?

[DrWhite]

Unfortunately I didn´t have the time to finish all those games - actually I finished only Ex-machina. Walkthroughs provided by the developers would have been great., because it´s a little frustrating when you´re stuck at the first puzzle and haven´t got a clue what you´re supposed to do. But nevermind - the games this month were really fine.

In the end I voted for

Spoiler

Trial of the Schnellersparrow, because it completely put me into that steampunk mood. I even liked it, that you can´t see the hotspots, it made me pay more attention to the details in the background.
I also liked the language, which worked great with the atmosphere of the game.

[close]

[Leon]

Walkthroughs provided by the developers would have been great.

You can find most of them on my site already...
Two more to go which I've played already. So if there are any questions about finishing the game... just ask.

[Dualnames]

Okay, Winner is

Spoiler

BABAR and Samarkand!!

[close]

Babs, send me the guidelines via pm eh!

[david]

Really ?  :o :o :o

well then, congratulations  

EDIT: oh and BTW Happy Halloween  

[Calin Leafshade]

Okay, Winner is

Spoiler

BABAR and Samarkand!!

[close]

Babs, send me the guidelines via pm eh!

Despite there being zero steam or indeed punk?

I call boycott!