Introducing my first complete AGS game, "Death on Stage." Created for the January MAGS competition, theme "Death."
(http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i281/Freshmetal/DoSscreen1.png)
A young magician 'dies' on stage and must re-invent himself in order to save his dreams of stardom.
Info Page + Download link: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=1397
Note: Since uploading this for the MAGS competition, I have added a music track, fixed some typos and bugs, and added a few basic functions to improve the experience based on early feedback I received. Many thanks to those who were kind enough to share their constructive thoughts with me.
Edit: Version 0.5 uploaded, 12.02.11 - a few bug corrections, extra interactions and responses added to characters and inventory items. Hopefully the final version. :)
I hope you enjoy it.
Edit: 700 downloads! Thank you to everyone who downloaded it so far. ;D
Coverage of the Game: ;D
Freeware Game Pick on IndieGames.com (http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2011/02/freeware_game_pick_death_on_st.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IndependentGaming+%28Indie+Games%29)
Indie Games Night 6 Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KICJ4O5bOI)
Indie Game of the Week on Gaming Mutant (http://gamingmutant.blogspot.com/2011/02/indie-game-of-week-death-on-stage.html)
Adventure Gamers' "Following Freeware" Article, February 2011 (http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,1287/p,2)
Very cute little game. I like the animations and choice of colors especially.
This is the game that to me comes closest to what the perfect AGS game must be like since the last half year or so.
Go play it, it's simply great.
For a first game it was awesome! Don't stop now, I look forward to your next games!
Very nice! I like the character designs and the quirky perspective, and the puzzles all made sense and were easy to solve - in terms of what you needed to do, not nescessarily in terms of how long it took me to figure them out :)
Spoiler
although really only the suit and the soap had me stumped, the first because the janitor says the keys are only for the closet, and the second because the soap was hard to spot next to the faucets. Clever use of items too. My favourite part was turning the rat into a rabbit!
As for suggestions, like you said some feedback when an item is used wrongly would be nice, although this way it is clearer what works and what doesn't, you don't have to extract that information from the narrative. I like how you stayed away from dialogs with choices, that's good. I'd raise the walking speed a tinge aswell, that or make double-clicking room exits transition immediately (which is easily done by wrapping the walkto and changeroom lines in a cutscene that can only be skipped with another click).
For the visual style the animations were perfect, I wouldn't feel bad about not putting more effort into those.
Overall a very enjoyable game. Nice style, good puzzles and just long enough. Good luck on your next project!
[EDIT] Right! spoiler tags, yes, sorry!
Very nice little game! I enjoyed it a lot.
As for the soap... it's not really necessary, is it? At least I could be able to use the monkey on it without opening it first. ::)
Yeah hedgefield, there's this thing called spoiler. :P
SKIP HIS POST!
Quote from: Iciantey on Wed 09/02/2011 07:03:40
Very nice little game! I enjoyed it a lot.
As for the soap... it's not really necessary, is it? At least I could be able to use the monkey on it without opening it first. ::)
Uh...yes it is necessary. You can't open the item you use the soap on otherwise- he just says its stuck.
Cianty wanted to make a joke and distract people who read hedgefield's post.
Also, what did I just say about spoilering...? ::)
Warning, spoiler below...
(http://sg.88db.com/sg/HTML/en-us/indexmkt/Lifestyle/images/car_spoiler.gif)
Nice maggie b.t.w., DuncanFx
Crikey, I wasn't expecting so much positive feedback. Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to play the game and post some comments, much appreciated. And no comments about black lines in the art... :=
Quote from: ProgZmax on Tue 08/02/2011 00:12:09
Very cute little game. I like the animations and choice of colors especially.
Thank you ProgZmax, I'm glad you like it.
Quote from: Khris on Tue 08/02/2011 07:58:11
This is the game that to me comes closest to what the perfect AGS game must be like since the last half year or so.
Go play it, it's simply great.
Wow. So kind of you to say so Khris, thank you.
Quote from: blueskirt on Tue 08/02/2011 23:23:06
For a first game it was awesome! Don't stop now, I look forward to your next games!
Thank you for the positive comments blueskirt, really appreciate it.
Quote from: hedgefield on Wed 09/02/2011 00:29:19
Very nice! I like the character designs and the quirky perspective, and the puzzles all made sense and were easy to solve - in terms of what you needed to do, not nescessarily in terms of how long it took me to figure them out :)
...
Overall a very enjoyable game. Nice style, good puzzles and just long enough. Good luck on your next project!
Thank you for your positive feedback Hedgefield (and thanks for adding the spoiler tags.) :)
Quote from: CIcyborg on Wed 09/02/2011 12:02:38
Nice maggie b.t.w., DuncanFx
Thanks Arj0n, kind of you to say so. :)
Quote from: Iciantey on Wed 09/02/2011 07:03:40
Very nice little game! I enjoyed it a lot.
As for the soap... it's not really necessary, is it? At least I could be able to use the monkey on it without opening it first. ::)
Er...
Spoiler
Well spotted. I left that bug in just as a test to see if anyone was wily and intelligent and dashingly handsome enough to find it... ::) Will have to fix it asap.
Thank you for the feedback and the nice comments too, Cianty. ;D
Edit: Fixed this and uploaded v0.4. Cheers Cianty.
Still to time vote for this in the MAGS btw, and if anyone could spare a minute to vote/give some feedback on it on the game page, I'd really appreciate it.
Very impressive! The scrolling background ended up looking really nice, as well as the rest of the graphics.
Glad to be of help, Duncan. I left my praise on the game's page. :)
You created the first ags-game, that I played completely through since years. Very nice done, well chosen colors, cute story, cool charakterdesign, I really enjoyed it.
Great little game!
I liked the song though I think maybe it could have been broken off in a room or two with some different tune. It got slightly repetitive after a while.
Another thing that felt unfinished was the fact that there were loads and loads of places where interactions yielded no feedback, no matter how much sense they made. Some short response would have been nice in these cases.
Good job all in all though! I truly enjoyed it.
I subscribe to the view of the previous posts: nice little game!
I like the characters and the room design.
Quote from: Cuiki on Wed 09/02/2011 17:11:27
Very impressive! The scrolling background ended up looking really nice, as well as the rest of the graphics.
Thank you very much, Cuiki. ;D
Quote from: cianty on Wed 09/02/2011 19:59:33
Glad to be of help, Duncan. I left my praise on the game's page. :)
Thanks again, Cianty!
Quote from: PeterFonda on Thu 10/02/2011 08:42:24
You created the first ags-game, that I played completely through since years. Very nice done, well chosen colors, cute story, cool charakterdesign, I really enjoyed it.
Thank you very much PeterFonda, I'm glad that you enjoyed it, and enough to finish it too! ;D
Quote from: theo on Thu 10/02/2011 19:09:56
Great little game!
I liked the song though I think maybe it could have been broken off in a room or two with some different tune. It got slightly repetitive after a while.
Another thing that felt unfinished was the fact that there were loads and loads of places where interactions yielded no feedback, no matter how much sense they made. Some short response would have been nice in these cases.
Good job all in all though! I truly enjoyed it.
Thank you for the feedback and positive comments, theo. The biggest regret I have for the game at this point is the lack of interactions, especially when using inv objects in the wrong places. I might go back and rectify this if I have the time. If not, then I will definitely keep it in mind for my next effort. Same with the music. :) Thanks again for the feedback.
Quote from: Knoodn on Thu 10/02/2011 20:08:55
I subscribe to the view of the previous posts: nice little game!
I like the characters and the room design.
Thank you too Knoodn, I'm glad that you liked it. :)
Think I can honestly say that I'm "chuffed to bits" with the response this is getting so far. Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to play it! ;D
Quote from: DuncanFx on Thu 10/02/2011 20:23:35
The biggest regret I have for the game at this point is the lack of interactions, especially when using inv objects in the wrong places. I might go back and rectify this if I have the time.
I'm glad you realize this is an important issue and I hope you take the time to rectify it. I ensure you it will be well worth your effort.
::)
Very well done, DuncanFx. The game doesn't feel at all like a first attempt, nor does it feel rushed like most MAGS projects. You obviously put a lot of work into it, and it's well-worth the time spent playing it.
As you have mentioned, it could use a little more variety in the interactions - because of a lack of response to clicks not related to the final game solution, I was able to complete all of the puzzles in only about 30 minutes. Adding superfluous text is very time-consuming, though, and I think that the polish that you have put into the game shows. If you really wish to add to the game as it is, feel free, but I think it's solid as-is, and I'd like to see what else you can come up with as you go forward. Keep that momentum going!
Quote from: SpacePirateCaine on Fri 11/02/2011 11:04:33
Very well done, DuncanFx. The game doesn't feel at all like a first attempt, nor does it feel rushed like most MAGS projects. You obviously put a lot of work into it, and it's well-worth the time spent playing it.
As you have mentioned, it could use a little more variety in the interactions - because of a lack of response to clicks not related to the final game solution, I was able to complete all of the puzzles in only about 30 minutes. Adding superfluous text is very time-consuming, though, and I think that the polish that you have put into the game shows. If you really wish to add to the game as it is, feel free, but I think it's solid as-is, and I'd like to see what else you can come up with as you go forward. Keep that momentum going!
Thank you for the feedback, SpacePirateCaine, I really appreciate your thoughts. Thank you too for adding a comment to the gamepage.
Oh, and waking up to find THIS (http://bit.ly/hiTSLy) was a nice surprise... :D
As someone who has personal experience with making bad decisions on their first game I suggest that you *dont* make a 'deluxe' version.
I suggest that you press forward with new ideas instead of repairing old ones. It just seems more constructive.
Really fun, professionally made little game with some stand-out character design!
Unfortunately I played the earliest version and was sorely missing some kind of music and sounds. I'm going check the new one now.
Wow, hit the 200-download mark on the game page! And won the January MAGS! Thank you everyone, really encouraging for me moving onto another game. ;D
Quote from: Calin Elephantsittingonface on Fri 11/02/2011 12:52:30
As someone who has personal experience with making bad decisions on their first game I suggest that you *dont* make a 'deluxe' version.
I suggest that you press forward with new ideas instead of repairing old ones. It just seems more constructive.
Thank you for the advice Calin. I think that both your and theo's suggestions are useful. I can see how much more the extra interaction would add to the game experience, but as you say, it's probably more constructive to push on with another game, and in turn, get more experience with AGS. We'll see though... If I get inspired on a free day, I might go back and blitz some extra responses in. :)
Quote from: Ascovel on Fri 11/02/2011 13:55:33
Really fun, professionally made little game with some stand-out character design!
Thank you Ascovel, I'm glad that you enjoyed it. :)
It has become my 6th episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KICJ4O5bOI
Yay!
Quote from: Domithan on Sat 12/02/2011 01:38:40
It has become my 6th episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KICJ4O5bOI
Yay!
Haha! Great little review Domithan, had me grinning like an idiot throughout. Thank you for taking the time to make that. ;D
Your recent publicity boost will generate downloads (congrats on the coverage btw). These downloads will propagate. You will find your game copied to many sites. The version people stumble on is going to be the version that propagates onto the nets, so the faster you can get a polished version on-line the better.
Calin: I'm not saying "make a deluxe version". I'm saying add basic simple feedback for some of the core "could be" puzzle solutions.
It's a game, it's all about feedback.
Again I want to stress that I think this was a great little game and it had me impressed in many ways, I don't want to come off as not liking it. I just believe a few extra lines of dialog in this case will make a big difference to the overall reception of the game. It's the only thing missing.
This game had a great feel to it even though I played the silent version a couple weeks ago. Helluva first game. I look forward to the next one.
Quote from: Stumblebum on Sat 12/02/2011 13:33:15
This game had a great feel to it even though I played the silent version a couple weeks ago. Helluva first game. I look forward to the next one.
Thank you very much Stumblebum, I'm glad that you enjoyed it.
Quote from: theo on Sat 12/02/2011 10:13:46
Your recent publicity boost will generate downloads (congrats on the coverage btw). These downloads will propagate. You will find your game copied to many sites. The version people stumble on is going to be the version that propagates onto the nets, so the faster you can get a polished version on-line the better.
Calin: I'm not saying "make a deluxe version". I'm saying add basic simple feedback for some of the core "could be" puzzle solutions.
It's a game, it's all about feedback.
Again I want to stress that I think this was a great little game and it had me impressed in many ways, I don't want to come off as not liking it. I just believe a few extra lines of dialog in this case will make a big difference to the overall reception of the game. It's the only thing missing.
Thanks again theo, I really appreciate all the advice. I have the rest of the day free today (plus a couple of Hitchcock films on the TV to keep me company), so am going to do another pass over the game and add the extra interactions and responses. I figure that I want to do it at some point, and if I am ever going to do it, it'll be of most benefit right now - you're right. Plus I don't want to get involved with another game/idea only to have to come back to this one and not be in the right head-space for it.
Edit: VERSION 0.5 uploaded. Available through the game page.
Hopefully this'll be the final version. I've added extra responses to all the characters and inventory items, and all of the likely hotspot-interaction combinations. (If you try something that you think is a sensible action, but get no response, please let me know through a PM and I might add it later on). I could add some more nonsensical interaction to things like posters and so on, but I think I'd lose my mind doing so.
Dude great game, especially for a first try. I love your background art, they are just so simple and cool. I think if you had added some stains and stuff around the area it would have really made it feel like a run down theater for upstart performers.
What did you use to draw the backgrounds?
I also agree that there wasn't much interactivity that could have been pretty simple to add.
Quote from: Armageddon on Sun 13/02/2011 06:12:17
Dude great game, especially for a first try. I love your background art, they are just so simple and cool. I think if you had added some stains and stuff around the area it would have really made it feel like a run down theater for upstart performers.
What did you use to draw the backgrounds?
I also agree that there wasn't much interactivity that could have been pretty simple to add.
Thank you for your comments Armageddon, much appreciated. Hopefully the levels of interaction have been addressed enough in the latest version.
I'm glad that you like the background art. I was really proud of how they turned out, especially look back at some of my early WIP sketches. As you said, they could've done with a few more touches here and there to add character, but I'd rather under-do it than add too much. If my next game doesn't have the deadline that MAGS does, I shall spend more time playing with the smaller details.
As for what I use for the backgrounds, I used Graphics Gale for this game, although it has some quirks I'm not too fond of, so might look for an alternative at some point.
Nice first game, thanks!
I could really see the Day of the Tentacle influences:
Spoiler
White paint to transform an animal
Tarting up a guy/mummy for a competition
Cheering up the depressed guy (kinda looks similar too :) )
Not that there's anything wrong with that!
I downloaded that paint program, I have no idea how you put up with that, unless you have a really smooth moving mouse.
Great little game (and I usually don't like puzzle intensive find-three-objects games)!
Just one thing: I am playing v4 and there's no readme! That's the place where I usually go to check the author's site (and rss it). Add one!
Quote from: Armageddon on Sun 13/02/2011 22:11:06
I downloaded that paint program, I have no idea how you put up with that, unless you have a really smooth moving mouse.
I strongly suspect DuncanFx to be using the zoom function.
bicilotti: It's http://duncanfx.blogspot.com in case you missed it.
Quote from: bicilotti on Tue 15/02/2011 02:44:46
Great little game (and I usually don't like puzzle intensive find-three-objects games)!
Just one thing: I am playing v4 and there's no readme! That's the place where I usually go to check the author's site (and rss it). Add one!
Thanks for the comments bicilotti, much appreciated. If I update this game again, I'll be sure to add a readme and will make sure that all of my future games have one. Thanks for the advice.
Quote from: Khris on Tue 15/02/2011 10:08:05
I strongly suspect DuncanFx to be using the zoom function.
bicilotti: It's http://duncanfx.blogspot.com in case you missed it.
Khris is right on both counts. :)
The zoom function is essential, but since I work in a very "messy" style initially, before cleaning up my sprites, any lack of finesse in the drawing isn't really an issue for me. Plus that is indeed my little blog's address.
Great first game, I enjoyed it all the way through!
Looking forward to another game by you.
Lovely little game ya got there!!! Everything was wonderful especially the puzzles that made sense and were easy to figure out!!! And the design of the rooms/graphics were gorgeous!! If you hadn't said this was your first game I would never have guessed. Well done :)
Quote from: CosmoQueen on Tue 19/07/2011 06:01:54
Lovely little game ya got there!!! Everything was wonderful especially the puzzles that made sense and were easy to figure out!!! And the design of the rooms/graphics were gorgeous!! If you hadn't said this was your first game I would never have guessed. Well done :)
Thank you very much, CosmoQueen. I'm glad that you enjoyed it. :)
Great little game, very enjoyable. :)
Looking forward to the next one already!