MAGS September "The Broad-Way" (OPEN)

[Stupot]

I'm so sorry everyone. I've let you down. We moved house in the summer, and between that and the heat I completely neglected my MAGS duties.

Thanks to KeysMusician for this month's theme.


2025 - THE YEAR OF MAGS!

Theme: The Broad-Way
Set by: KeysMusician | Deadline: September 30th*
(*I've set the main deadline to the end of September as normal, but I'm sure extensions will be granted if needed.)


This month the stage is yours. The Broad-Way invites you to explore the world of art, theatre, and music through the lens of adventure games.

Your story might unfold in an old opera house, on the streets alive with performance, or in a realm where melodies hold magical power. It could be a comedy, a tragedy, a mystery, or something entirely unexpected — the only rule is that art and performance must be at the heart of the experience.

So open the curtain, strike up the orchestra, and take us on a journey down The Broad-Way.

REFERENCES

Return Of The Phantom


Loom


Stray Gods: The Musical RPG



What is MAGS?
Started in 2001, MAGS is a competition for all AGS users. 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 and more. Regardless of skill, MAGS is for everyone. Voting is based on "favourite" games, and not the most artistic, or the best coded. If you want to improve you 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, 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 walk-cycles 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.
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Need a bit of help with music?  Check out Eric Matyas' huge stock of free music resources.
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Don't want to go it alone? Try the Recruitment board.
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[jwalt]

Ya got a nibble, Stupot. Spent the afternoon building a "set."



Both characters derive from a model I recently made. What light through yonder window breaks...

Even have some thoughts about the "conflict" in the game.

@Tabata - My latest effort at faces does, indeed, have eyebrows, but the nose and ears went AWOL.  :-)

[Stupot]

Ya got a nibble, Stupot. Spent the afternoon building a "set."

Nice start.

Everyone else, get your nibbles out.

[jwalt]

Ya got a nibble, Stupot. Spent the afternoon building a "set."

Nice start.

Everyone else, get your nibbles out.

I knew I couldn't keep the lighting in the earlier image; it was rendered in Anim8or.

Pulled some things into a game:



Everything, including my title, is still very subject to change.

[Pax Animo]

Got an idea brewing, just laying out the road map to see if it's going to be achievable. 

[jwalt]

Made some progress, of a sort. Here's my cast as of September 8, 2025. Hiding it under the spoiler tags, for those not particularly interested.

Spoiler

Had the devil of a time getting the guy with the dustmop to look good enough for game use. Had to attach the mop to a bone, or it went everywhere. That dustmop very nearly put an end to this project! Got that frustrated. Anim8or models and renders. Think I'll need two additional rooms for what I have in mind, and one of them is going to be difficult. I can see that already.

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