Topic: 'Sub-par Hero'
This month's guidelines were set by Ghost:
The game's main character is a superhero with superpowers. But those superpowers aren't exactly... super. Maybe they can only talk to the creatures of the sea. Or they can only turn invisibile when nobody watches. They can grow an awesome moustache... but nothing else. You get the idea: They are low ranking and they know it.
Got your sub-par hero? Now give them a chance to really shine, or at least fail in the most impressive of ways.
For references, just watch Mystery Men ;-D
Ending 3rd September
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-99k4RahbX9Q/TwBLNbh3OpI/AAAAAAAAAOc/e-HcpWpCWx4/s1600/hindsight1.jpg)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What is MAGS?
MAGS is a monthly competition for amateur adventure game makers. The idea is to create a game in under a month, following the rules set by the previous winner. It aims to help you work to a deadline, improve your skills, or provide a kick-start into making adventure games. Regardless of skill, MAGS is for everyone. Voting is based on "favorite" 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.
You may get help for the competition, although you must end up doing something yourself. You should however be warned that it proves difficult to organize a big team within thirty days. You are not allowed to use material already created before this competition. Your game must be completely new! Music and sound is an exception; you can use free material that is available to the public, if you wish. Modules and templates are also allowed.
Entering MAGS is simple. First, conceptualise your game following the month's criteria (see top). Second, create your game fueled only by coffee. Finally, post your game in this thread, including:
âÅ"“ A working download link
âÅ"“ The title of your game
âÅ"“ A suitable in-game screenshot
At the end of the month, voting will begin, usually lasting for fifteen days. The winner chooses the next month's theme, and their name and game is immortalised in the MAGS Archive (http://www.mags-competition.info/?page=games). For more information, please visit the Official MAGS website. (http://www.mags-competition.info/)
QuoteThey are low ranking and they know it.
Does this mean you have to make the player character know they have a superpower? I can't do an Unbreakable type story of Superman not knowing he's Superman?
Quote from: Armageddon on Mon 04/08/2014 00:32:30
Does this mean you have to make the player character know they have a superpower? I can't do an Unbreakable type story of Superman not knowing he's Superman?
No, sorry. There's nothing stopping you from creating an "origin story" with a hero that discovers his powers at some point. But if I read you correctly you want the main character never realizing that he is super. Also, being unbreakable or being super-everything is not exactly a weak power- the point is to make a story about a character with a really bad "superpower" still finding some use for it.
I was talking about the movie 'Unbreakable'. Obviously the superpower would be weaker. :P And from your first response it sounds like I can have it start with the character not knowing he has a superpower?
Coincidentally I've just come across this while watching some All Time 10s on YouTube.
All Time 10 Superheroes With Completely Useless Superpowers.
http://youtu.be/ceou4wof4bY
I'm planning to have a go this month and have so far come up with a basic plot, couple of puzzles and this fantastic character design: https://twitter.com/stuartforbes/status/496190748396507136
Quote from: Armageddon on Mon 04/08/2014 05:26:23
I was talking about the movie 'Unbreakable'. Obviously the superpower would be weaker. :P And from your first response it sounds like I can have it start with the character not knowing he has a superpower?
Ah, okay, I misread you then. That's absolutely okay then, looking forward to it (nod)
Who wants to be in my game?
Instead of finding chicken sounds on the internet I'm inviting YOU to star as a chicken in my game.
Just record yourself saying 'bock' or 'bukkurr' or however chicken noises are onomatopoeicized in your tongue. Just one noise, no more tgat a second or two. PM me the link so as not to derail this thread, and hopefully there will be a few of your bocking voices in a pivotal scene. :-)
Stupot, where do I send my demo reel?
Also, I think I have an idea for a little game of my own! Can I make it a story of a superheroine with a superpower that is only seemingly useless? If applied directly, it'd only make things worse -- but it'd turn out pretty effective if used in some unorthodox way. I'm yet to decide on the details, but I'm thinking of something similar to McPixel.
Doodled a bit today (then erased everything furiously, re-thought some ideas and doodled some more) and I think I might be on to something. I present to you:
(http://i58.tinypic.com/289bqs7.png)
MAGENTA...a girl with the power to turn everything she touches pink (laugh)
The character herself is not brand new. I invented Magenta -- and drew a little comic about her -- two years ago, but the story never really got off the ground. This month's MAGS, however, gave me an idea: a silly story of a superhero underdog who's trying to help despite her power being either useless or downright detrimental to the cause. I re-imagined Magenta as more cartoonish and drew her from scratch just this morning -- so technically all assets for this game are new.
Also, given the color-themed superhero, I thought it'd be fun to use some crazy color palette. EGA looks like fun:
(http://wiki.scummvm.org/images/a/ab/Scummvm-0.10.0-agi-egaPalette.png)
Quote from: Fitz on Wed 06/08/2014 11:33:49
Also, given the color-themed superhero, I thought it'd be fun to use some crazy color palette. EGA looks like fun:
(http://wiki.scummvm.org/images/a/ab/Scummvm-0.10.0-agi-egaPalette.png)
I approve of this :D
Quote from: Fitz on Wed 06/08/2014 11:33:49
...a girl with the power to turn everything she touches pink[/color] (laugh)
Way to go, looks cool as hell! And EGA can only add to the fun (nod)
Thanks! :cheesy: The character design is still a work in progress -- I'm thinking of adding a mask, for example, to make her look a bit more superhero-ish. I thought about a unitard and high-heels, but decided against them -- as well as the 36-24-36 standard for female superheroes. I want her to be cartoony -- also because that's easier to draw :P
Maybe her magenta-powers stem from a childhood spent in a past painted, not in sepia or black-and-white but in CGA. (laugh)
There's actually a background story to it that'll be featured in the intro. The character is actually based on my girlfriend, who works as a graphic designer for a textile printing company -- where her job is to draw and split designs into CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) stencils. The origin story will be a nod to good ol' 60's Marvel comics and their preoccupation with radiation ;)
Also, here's an updated, masked version of Magenta:
(http://i59.tinypic.com/fcqhh.png)
And this handsome fella is Magenta's arch-nemesis:
(http://i57.tinypic.com/ezrdqq.png)
His power is to turn things black -- which makes him infinitely cooler. I'm yet to think of a suitably suave name for him. I'm thinking KromatiK? MonoKromatiK? Mono-Krome?
Keying off the Greek "Chroma" you could mix "Airo," which can have the sense of something being carried off "by force." Kromairotor? :-\ Mmm... How about aKromatik? aKromatikator?
Changing subjects back to lame superpowers: How about The Obfuscator? His evil power is to make all simple things complex. Buahahaha!
I have a good list of lame superpowers, but I'm stalling on coming up with a good script. Hmm...
Quote from: Fitz on Wed 06/08/2014 13:28:43
His power is to turn things black -- which makes him infinitely cooler. I'm yet to think of a suitably suave name for him. I'm thinking KromatiK? MonoKromatiK? Mono-Krome?
Maybe use the word black in a foreign language? Black in Russian is 'Cerny', for instance...
Quote from: Miez on Wed 06/08/2014 16:00:02
Black in Russian is 'Cerny', for instance...
"Schwarz" in Germany. Now mix that up and make him... Schwerny! Or, I dunno, SCHWARZenegger. :=
I'm the secret evil mastermind, I inverted all your colors
(http://i.imgur.com/ba87G1p.png)(http://i.imgur.com/NOB2Joi.png)
also I changed the colorspace to RGB! (laugh)
TheBitPriest: Yes! Or KromantiK - to underline the lovable nature hidden under the brutish exterior? KromerotikatorK! (laugh) Orrr, since we're exploring the love-related features of this character, we could try the Romance languages. French? How about Noir Man -- Noir being an anagram of Iron, which is a fun coincidence, as I conceived the character to be an evil, tech-savvy billionaire moonlighting as a supervillain.
Miez, Ghost: SchwarCERNYgger!
Selmiak: That is EVIL! Nay! Wicked! I was thinking of calling the character something with a capital K at the end, like the above mentioned Kromatik, or DemoniK, but it has dawned on me now: the only name that'd truly convey the twisted, wicked, vile nature of the character is... SelmiaK! (laugh)
Quote from: Fitz on Wed 06/08/2014 19:47:52
Miez, Ghost: SchwarCERNYgger!
this is wrong on so many levels! If he only were black and more muscular... :-D but he looks stylish with white clothes.
Gave it some more thought and I think I got it: KARBON! It starts with a K, it's a chemical symbol for coal, which is black, AND it kinda sounds ominous. So there ya go. But I will make you a villain in some other game, Selmiak.
Meanwhile, here's a walk cycle for Magenta. I also added a little mole on her cheek.
(http://i62.tinypic.com/sbpsfs.gif)
Karbon! Now that's clever!
I also found the perfect song to while away the codin' hours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pG0QTzO-K0
After an initial explosion of ideas I spent the next few days thinking about the actual game: the mechanics, the puzzles -- and how they'd come together into an actual story. The breakthrough came when I realized I should make Magenta a night-time crime-fighter. That's when ideas started flowing again.
Here's a glimpse at Magenta's fellow super-freak:
(http://i59.tinypic.com/2ezmm88.png)
YOLLOW
Another week has passed, so a quick update is in order. I'm busy drawing and animating, mostly, but I've taken some time to map out and code some basic in-game interactions and cutscenes. Meanwhile, here's another bit of character animation.
(http://i57.tinypic.com/34ys9dc.gif)
No, she's not a superhero ;)
Anyone else joining in on the fun? How's that chicken-man game coming along, Stupot?
That looks amazing, Fitz. Keep up the good work!
Looking good, Fitz. Coming along nicely.
Quote from: Fitz on Wed 20/08/2014 20:44:17
Anyone else joining in on the fun? How's that chicken-man game coming along, Stupot?
I've only really done a few bits and bobs so far but planning to get as much done as I can in the next week.
Got a "story" and some basic basic "puzzles" (e.g. Find stuff), plus a few bits of art which I'm doing entirely in real-life watercolors. This is a new hobby and I'm rubbish but I'm intending to have *something* to release if only so that you don't have to win by default.
Here's a clue as to the nature of Hen-man's subparpower: https://vine.co/v/MlHWTbj5wwa
If there's time I'd like to include voice acting, at least for the intro and outro. I'm gonna do Hen-Man's voice, but I need one other person to voice another character, preferably a female, since I've painted a female character. If anyone is interested, please PM me. Thanks :-)
Looking good Fitz!
I'm sure you and Stupot know already, but just in case, don't forget this month's MAGS ends on the 3rd Sep, so you have a week today left!
Atelier: Whew! I thought the deadline was the 31st -- so I was *just* about to ask for an extension right before you posted. Just last Saturday I found out that I have a hernia, and the past few days have been all about running around like a headless chicken: had to get checked, checked again for pre-op vaccination, then vaccinated (all of which included waiting, waaaaiting, the usual "sorry, come again tomorrow", then "sorry, come again later")) -- so while I'm done running for now, I'm completely exhausted.
Stupot: Awesome! August does seem like a hard month for MAGS, last year's only had one entry -- so I'm happy to see I'll have company, after all. Those watercolors look really nice -- plus, MAGS is a good opportunity to try out new things. Me, I took up hand drawn animation for my game. I do have years of experience in comics, where I draw everything by hand, scan it and color it digitally -- but doing animation by tracing over the previous frame on paper is still new territory to me. To make things easier for myself, I'm doing it the Hanna Barbera way, wherein I just draw the animated part (e.g. jaw and lips moving) and later paste it over the whole character's stencil (say, head with no mouth). Speaking of which -- here's yet another in a slew of hot babes:
(http://i57.tinypic.com/ohmhoz.png)
She's pretty tied up!
QuoteShe's pretty tied up!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFbujpjmTzs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFbujpjmTzs)
Very nice art btw! ;)
Here's a glimpse of the title screen for Hen Man (laugh)
https://twitter.com/stuartforbes/status/505391153257013249
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwOCkpqCYAANC-T.jpg)
na na na na na na na na henman!
By Jove I think I'm actually gonna finish this. Although I've ditched the voice acting idea.
Almost totally coded and playable. Art wise I just have half a background still to paint. It will be totally releasable by the end of tomorrow, but I'm gonna spend Tuesday night tweaking and giving the dialogue a bit of sprucing up. Then It's good to go.
How's yours coming along, Fitz?
Anyone else secretly working on something?
I'm getting close -- but not as fast as I would like. The animations are allllmost done and those that are done are mostly composed into interactions/cutscenes. But there's still a bit of work to be done on the gameplay side and the dialogs need to be more fleshed out. I'm a bit behind schedule -- and I'm not always comfortable cutting corners, especially in the animation department. I ditched the intro altogether, though, and I'll probably make the backgrounds very simple. There are still three days left (not counting today, it's Magenta & Karbon's third anniversary so I'm busy), so if I pull an all-nighter or two, I might just make it (laugh)
I wish you all the best of luck! Looking forward to stunning superheroics (nod)
Quote from: Fitz on Sun 31/08/2014 17:49:21
and I'm not always comfortable cutting corners, especially in the animation department.
:-[
Oh, Stu, you shouldn't feel embarrassed. If anything, you should weep for me ;)
Hehe I'm weeping for myself at the moment. I've finished the game, zipped it, and now I don't seem to have the internet capacity to upload it. I rely on my phone's 3/4g for internet but they don't give me much allowance and some days are worse than others. So I need to go somewhere with free wifi and hope it works. Wish me luck :-)
If worse comes to the worst I'll just strip the sounds out and see if that helps... And to think I was considering voice acting :-/
Meanwhile, I'm drowning in the endless sea of sprites -- which I've focused at the expense of... well, everything else. They've consumed ridiculous amounts of time to make, and right now I'm nowhere near finishing it. I was hoping to be putting finishing touches today and testing tomorrow. Gaaah... What do you say to an extension, guys?
Well, It's been uploading for an hour now and it's only 40% done...
Not bad going for a massive 48mb file. I've gotta sleep now and have work in the morning. And I'm out tomorrow night, hence I wanted it finished today.
I don't mind if there's a little extention,Fitz. Especially if this upload fails while I'm asleep. 45% now so progress is happening.
Yowza, that's worse than the 56 kbps I had in 2000! Keeping my fingers crossed!
Ghost, Atelier, can we have... three extra days, if that's not too much? These past few days I've been working on the game non-stop, my brain is hot, spinning jello. Haven't driven myself this crazy since... the last MAGS I took part in? Need to chill -- AND save some processing power for work, too.
I woke up at 4 in the morning to find that the upload... had worked! Yay! And I have gone ahead and added it to the database.
Although I realised I had forgotten to rename the folder from 'Compiled' and had forgotten to include the ReadMe file with all my freesound credits, but I'll have to do that another day. I don't have any free time in the next few days which is why I had to get it done now or never, so I'm glad it worked but I'm happy for Fitz to get a couple extra days. It would be a crime otherwise.
So without further chit-chat:
Hen Man: Origins
This is the story of Ash - a normal guy, a house-sitter. Find out how, in his own words, he became Hen Man, the most rubbish superhero in town. It is an underwhelming tale of pity for this guy, but does he even realise?
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwjVCLBCAAAgGZD.jpg)
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwjTmttCYAAouul.jpg:large)
Download Hen Man: Origins here (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1829/)
Quote from: Fitz on Tue 02/09/2014 15:50:27
Ghost, Atelier, can we have... three extra days, if that's not too much?
That's Atelier's decision, but I do hope you get the extension! (If it was up to me I'd happily offer a week :) )
Of course Fitz, especially as Stupot doesn't mind. Would Saturday 6th be enough time?
Congrats, Stu! Looks fun, I'll definitely give it a try, myself.
Yeah, Saturday definitely sounds realistic -- and a weekend release = I'll be available for impromptu troubleshooting/hints if required (though I hope and pray none will be needed). Still a lot of work to do, but I'm excited with how it all is shaping up!
Hey guys! I haven't heard back from Atelier about the deadline -- which I was, sadly, unable to meet. It'd be unfair to ask for another extension -- plus, doesn't it always feel like "just three more days and I'm done"? Those past few days I've worked non-stop -- and yet there's still a hundred and one things to do. I'm going to do it, the project is very much alive -- and the last week as inspiring as it was exhausting. But it was also insane, and I need time off.
So, congrats to Stu :D I haven't played Hen-Man yet (just like I haven't done pretty much anything else not related to my game), but it looks fun!
Meanwhile, let me share the fun I had making those absurdly colorful locations -- in EGA color palette, just as I planned:
(http://i62.tinypic.com/2ll0v4o.png)
(http://i62.tinypic.com/smdhsp.png)
Is it ok if I start a regular thread for the game in the GIP forum?
Ahh man. I thought the idea was that I enter so you don't have to win by default. :P I mean I'm pretty pleased with Hen Men, but it was never going to be good enough to win.
Oh well, I look forward to playing Magenta soon :-)
Apologies for not getting back to you last night Fitz. It sounds like you've worked hard on it this month, now it's not being made to a deadline you'll eventually be able to release it in a non-rushed state :-D
Thanks also to Stupot for his entry, I declare him winner of MAGS August!
Congrats, Stupot, Hen Man was a lot of fun to play!
But still looking forward to seeing Fitzens game take off someday (nod)
Quote from: Ghost on Mon 08/09/2014 03:35:42
But still looking forward to seeing Fitzens game take off someday (nod)
Geist, ich finde den deutschen Genitiv meines Names wunderbar :D As for the game, it shouldn't take too long to make now. Granted, there are some things left to do, which I will do at a much more reasonable (i.e. slower) pace -- and I might or might not add some things that I definitely left out due to time constraints. I definitely want to make my own font for the game -- and I'm thinking of an intro, but haven't decides yet. I'll probably want to finish it before I go into surgery next month.
Again, congrats to Stu! Thanks for keeping me company in the contest, and sorry I couldn't keep up.