[MAGS] Death on Stage

DuncanFx · Mon 07/02/2011 23:33:39

Introducing my first complete AGS game, "Death on Stage." Created for the January MAGS competition, theme "Death."

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.

Coverage of the Game:

Freeware Game Pick on IndieGames.com
Indie Games Night 6 Video
Indie Game of the Week on Gaming Mutant
Adventure Gamers' "Following Freeware" Article, February 2011

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Tue 08/02/2011 00:12:09

Very cute little game. I like the animations and choice of colors especially.

Khris · 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.

blueskirt · 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!

hedgefield · 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

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!

[close]

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!

cianty · 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. :

Khris · Wed 09/02/2011 08:04:19

Yeah hedgefield, there's this thing called spoiler.

SKIP HIS POST!

piperhcombs · Wed 09/02/2011 11:41:46

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.

Khris · Wed 09/02/2011 11:51:32

Cianty wanted to make a joke and distract people who read hedgefield's post.

Also, what did I just say about spoilering...? :

arj0n · Wed 09/02/2011 12:02:38

Warning, spoiler below...

Nice maggie b.t.w., DuncanFx

DuncanFx · Wed 09/02/2011 12:50:12

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.

[close]

Thank you for the feedback and the nice comments too, Cianty.

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.

Cuiki · 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.

cianty · Wed 09/02/2011 19:59:33

Glad to be of help, Duncan. I left my praise on the game's page.

Fonda · 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.

theo · 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.

Knoodn · 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.

DuncanFx · Thu 10/02/2011 20:23:35

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.

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!

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!

theo · Fri 11/02/2011 07:54:34

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.

donmartin · Fri 11/02/2011 10:22:17

:

SpacePirateCaine · 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!