MAGS 2008-02: Life is a Stage

[Klaus]

What is MAGS?
MAGS is a monthly competition for all amateur adventure game makers. The idea is to use AGS to create a game in under a month, following the rules set by the previous winner.

For more information please visit the Official MAGS website.

Why should I enter MAGS?
We're not here to tell you that you should enter MAGS, but merely allow it as a creative opportunity to help you work to a deadline, improve your skills, and generally as a good kick-start for the new comers (a.k.a n00bies).

MAGS is the perfect opportunity to make a game, and the wonderful prize is to announce the next month's rules, and all competitors get the game placed on the MAGS website.

MAGS is meant to be fun and is aimed at everyone, despite their skill. If you have poor art skills work on graphics, and vice-versa, as the voting is based on "favourite" games, and not the most artistic, you may get help for the competiton, but should try not get anyone else to do any part of the game for you.

You are not allowed to (re)use material already created before this competition, you game must be completely new! An exception goes for sounds and music where you can also use free material that is available to the public.

Please do not just enter the competition with a rushed entry (a game created in just some hours or a few days)!

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This month's guidelines are set by last month's winner Woodban:

Topic: Life is a Stage

Since back in Ancient Greece theatre was an improtant medium to communicate certain ideas and feelings, morality but also merriness. This month's MAGS competition is about the theatre's stage.

The "MUST-HAVE" rules:

- Every entry's story needs to be communicated as a performance on a stage
- Try to make the player realize at any point of your game, that he's actually in a theatre playing
- You might want to keep the focus on the stage, meaning the player character should be an actor, but if you involve i.e. a person from the audience, that can be the player character, too
- Try to conclude in a clear moral that the play communicates
- You can do anything to the stage (i.e. use pyrotechnics, rotate the stage to a vertical stand, ...)
- The play can be anything you like: A great magician on stage, a circus, a musical - anything you can find on a stage, but be aware of the fact that you MUST tell a story within the program of the performer.

The "NICE-TO-HAVE" rules:

To catch the atmosphere of theater you can, but don't have to, concentrate on one or more of the following points:

- Emphazise movement (in combination with music) - think of exaggerated movement, people "flying" through the air, etc.
- A special music - a musical theme that often occurs within the game, but adjusts to the situation (i. e. the main theme is a happy or confident tune, when a beloved character dies, it changes into a sad tune)
- Dialogues & Monologue - include inner monologues in form of a speech to the audience - we want to know how the char feels
- Sprites & Character art - here it's extremely important that the character sprites really communicate the underlying character design - meaning that if you i.e. have a bad character the player should notice that from the first second on
- Special kind of interface

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All games need to be in by February 24th.

Please post a download link of your game entry to this thread, best with a screenshot. Thanks and good luck.

[Baron]

I am intrigued by the theme.  I don't have a lot of spare time these days, but perhaps I will create a simple entry.

EDIT: Well, I've spent two days playing around with concepts, so I guess I'm updating my status from "perhaps" to "actively participating".  Any other takers?

[twin-moon]

Any other takers?

I don't wanna jinx it, but I did promise myself to make a game this month. After seeing the rules I'm not so sure anymore, but I'll set my status to 'actively participating' (knock on wood).

I'm counting on Juul to make a game, after what she said last month 

[Akatosh]

Any other takers?

Since I've vowed to stop giving out empty promises: Not me, sorry.

[OneDollar]

Any other takers?

I'd love to, but I'm far to busy with other projects and life in general. Its an intriguing, if difficult, idea though. Sorry!

[Ghost]

That would be a perfect excuse to rip that Cats midi and make a game with smoothly animated actors. Sigh. However, very complicated, very intriguing but also *very* demanding ruleset, so I'm out.

[PixelPerfect]

This could be a little too demanding to be my first game ever. I was really hoping to enter this months competition. I can't say for sure what's gonna happen. Let's say I'm thinking about it.

[Indie Boy]

I wanted to enter this month too, but the rules are pretty restrictive and for something to be pulled off successfully it would involve a lot of work. I mean in animation and music, maybe also a very detailed story. So I won't be participating this month

I might find some enthusiasm for my other project this month instead who knows?

[voh]

No promises, but I do have an idea in my head. Perhaps.

[JuuL]

I'm counting on Juul to make a game, after what she said last month 

Actually I forgot one rule:
(5) Some MAGS rules are just too complicated for a beginner.
Not that I think that these are bad rules, they're actually very interesting. They just involve a lot of work. Even if you limit yourself to a play like the classical Greek ones that traditionally used only one location and no more than 24 hours to tell their stories, you still need to animate at least 4 or 5 characters to tell a coherent story (I consideres making a version of Euripides' Medea untill realising that it involved 10 characters, few of which could easily be removed from the story). But even if you do think of a simple story, it's a lot of work.
But I will be back next month - I hope.

Oh, and that's he not she, but then I guess it doesn't really matter.

[twin-moon]

Actually I forgot one rule:
(5) Some MAGS rules are just too complicated for a beginner.

I'm not too sure I'll complete my game, so fair enough I guess.
Although you could do something small like a dialog...  (no pressure intended)

Oh, and that's he not she, but then I guess it doesn't really matter.

Juul is a local girls name, so I just assumed. A little shortsighted, sorry.

[Baron]

Well, I understand everybody being busy, but the rules are too demanding?  C'mon! 

The "MUST-HAVE" rules:

- Every entry's story needs to be communicated as a performance on a stage
- Try to make the player realize at any point of your game, that he's actually in a theatre playing
- You might want to keep the focus on the stage, meaning the player character should be an actor, but if you involve i.e. a person from the audience, that can be the player character, too
- Try to conclude in a clear moral that the play communicates
- You can do anything to the stage (i.e. use pyrotechnics, rotate the stage to a vertical stand, ...)
- The play can be anything you like: A great magician on stage, a circus, a musical - anything you can find on a stage, but be aware of the fact that you MUST tell a story within the program of the performer.

    The main character and plot must be in a performance, and he/she must be aware that it is a performance.    Everything else is "try" or "you might" or "nice to have"-> hardly imperative commands (although I myself intend to try to meet most).  There have been more complicated and demanding rules in the past, and I recall many instances of entries not quite meeting the "must have rules" anyway.  Just admit you don't have the time or are just not inspired: don't bash the topic.

Better yet, feel chastised by my rant and decide to enter the competition after all  .

Baron

[Shinan]

To be honest this idea really got my creative juices flowing thinking of all the possibilities but now two weeks into the month already I'm noticing that I'll probably not have time to make my first ever MAGS, so it'll have to wait.

[Klaus]

Some interesting messages but no entries so far... We're close to the deadline:
In 24 hours from now (see timestamp of this post) the voting will begin so please present your entries in time...

[Baron]

I'm operating under the assumption of being done by the end of tomorrow (11 pm Eastern Standard time, February 24).  I might be able to speed this up a bit.... maybe.  I'll try.

I might as well reserve this spot for the game.  I'll tell about it now, and post the download link when it's releasable.

STUDIO MEDIOCRE
The Case of the Bedeaded Dramatist



You play the hack actor who plays Inspector Glum, the star of a detective serial at Studio Mediocre.  A murder on the adjacent set gives him the opportunity to turn his show and his career around.  Fiction merges with fact as he hunts clues and suspects throughout the Studio -whether the cameras are running or not.  The result [is expected to be] a hopelessly muddled mystery married to hilarious discontinuity.



DOWNLOAD NOW

I started designing this game with the intent of it being modular, with intentionally incongruous rooms, so that it could be released as a template for people eager to write games but not so eager to spend a lot of time on character art and animation.  Deadlines meant that in the end there were fewer characters (not to mention fewer puzzles) than I would have liked, but at least it turned out like something resembling a game.

Oh -Caution.  I've played every scene of this game and it seems to work alright, but not all of it together.  So.... good luck!

Baron

[twin-moon]

Hm, too bad. I was really going somewhere, have been working all day.
But it's not finished. I can't just post it like it is...

So I guess I'll have to fold...

[Klaus]

Don't panik - if you (both or even some more people) need just some extra "minutes" it's not a big problem... How about extending it all by 12 hours?

[twin-moon]

Great!

That would give my enough time to smoothen the edges enough to make it acceptable.

[Baron]

A little later than predicted, but at least it's done!  See post above for details.

Baron

[twin-moon]

"A demon, a wizard and an elf meet up in a dreary old inn at World's End.
They have been called by someone named Hermes. Why?"
This game takes on the form of an interactive play, where you can push it into different directions by the choices you make. That means it's replayable

I should include a warning: The play is a farce, there are some vulgar scenes and suggestive dialog.

Some background information: I had a lot of fun making this. It's based on the commedia dell'arte from the Italian 17th century, but very Neil Gaimany in execution.
Don't know if people will like this, it's kinda experimental. I barely finished it, due to some unforeseen difficult scripting. Due to that same difficult scripting it's also very short.
I didn't have time to test it all, so there is the possibility of major errors..

But enough of this pessimestic talk, please, be my guest, and click on the title screen to download it.

- TwinMoon