MAGS November: "Night-Time" (CLOSED)

[Atelier]

This month's winner was Eternal Chrysalis by selmiak and CaptainD (music by Emont).



__________________________________________________________________________________________

Topic: 'Night-Time'

This month's guidelines were set by Fitz:

A solar eclipse? A curse cast on the entire kingdom? Or just an ordinary night resulting from the sun hiding below the horizon? You decide. You name the time and the place the story is set. Ancient Inca city? A magical kingdom? New Jersey! All that matters is it all happens at night -- which might be your ally (say, in carrying out a store robbery), your foe (imagine you're a small, furry creature that big feathery creatures love to hunt at night) - or a trap (if, for example, you're lost in the woods). Go! You have until dawn!

Ending 30th November



__________________________________________________________________________________________

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. For more information, please visit the Official MAGS website.

[Adeel]

In.

[Retro Wolf]

I'm going to enter this month also.

I've been lacking in the motivation department for a while now. So I figured a deadline would get me going.

Some early artwork:

[imgzoom]http://i44.tinypic.com/2j6a6bd.png[/imgzoom]

I'm not sure what direction I'm going in, but I've got a few ideas!

UPDATE 2nd NOV:
GUI = 95%
Main Character animation 80%
3 character designs (No animation, just standing)
Story ideas smashing together in my head.

[CaptainD]

Don't be too alarmed, but there is a fairly good chance that Selmiak and myself will be teaming up for this one.  If I don't post anything else, you can take it that the whole idea fell through!

[Retro Wolf]

I hope it works out Captain! We need more entrants to keep things interesting!

[Adeel]

CaptainD, I'm getting scared. How will I win now?

[selmiak]

if anyone want to contribute some nice music please contact me or CaptainD. Will probably post a recruitment thread in a week or so, depending on how it works out...

[Fitz]

Woohoo! Glad to see more folks warming up to this month's contest Good luck, everyone! If you have any questions or if you need suggestions/inspiration, let me know.

[Ghost]

I think I have a silly little idea. Screenies to follow!

[Lewis]

So like, I don't want to flake out again, and as such am not committing to entering this.

On a completely unrelated and not-committal note, here are some work-in-progress screenshots of a thing (using placeholder character art atm)

[CaptainD]

@Adeel - well let's just see if we can get this game made first!
@Oldschool - thanks, I've wanted to take part in a MAGS for ages, even though I think the idea of making an adventure game in a single month is complete madness. :-)

BTW we have a title for our game now - Eternal Chrysalis.

Without saying too much, the plot involves ancient Egyptians and time travel.

[Ghost]

...even though I think the idea of making an adventure game in a single month is complete madness. :-)

Madness and game-making mix well, Capt'n!

[Fitz]

Oh yes, I attest to that, Captain: it is insanity, indeed. Mad in every way. But you need something like it once in a while, something to raise your pulse and get you out of the stupor of everyday Some get that from mountain climbing or cart racing (my dad!). Me, I love doing creative stuff. And baking buckwheat bread (I swear, bread making is like taking care of a baby!)

Ghost: Glad to see you here, you seem to have a lot of experience in making night-themed games!

Lewis: Very happy to see you not committing, as well

[Adeel]

@Adeel - well let's just see if we can get this game made first!

To be very honest, I'm very unsure that whether I will be able to complete this game off or not. All the credit goes to my very 'n00b' art skills . It is costing me a lot of time to actually draw something which don't make your eyes bleed.

Btw, great work, guys.

[Retro Wolf]

I honestly thought that entering MAGs would get my creative juices flowing again. But it seems that whenever I sit at my computer, I've got no interest, no motivation at all, and for some reason it doesn't even bother me.

I havn't been productive since I finished Reality Check 3, and that was in March. I've started 10+ projects in various engines since then, none of them anywhere near finished. I spend so much time on my computer and accomplish nothing. I also spend too much time on this forum, it borders on obsessive.

So I'm going to take a step back for a while, I have an 18 month old son to be bonding with. I'm out. The rest of you, good luck with your projects.

@Adeel: I'll sort you out with character art, PM me.

[Fitz]

Yeah, that little Preschool Wolf definitely needs your attention Don't worry about other stuff, inspiration and motivation are things that come and go -- and come back again when they feel like it (not always when YOU feel like it, hehehe). Happens to me all the time! Haven't started anything new since Monty, and I have a ton of things I put away for later. But I'll get to it -- and so will you

[Radiant]

thanks, I've wanted to take part in a MAGS for ages, even though I think the idea of making an adventure game in a single month is complete madness. :-)

Madness??

Spoiler

This! Is! SIERRA!!!

[close]

[DBoyWheeler]

thanks, I've wanted to take part in a MAGS for ages, even though I think the idea of making an adventure game in a single month is complete madness. :-)

Madness??

Spoiler

This! Is! SIERRA!!!

[close]

Spoiler

I get the feeling we'll never get tired of the silly "Sparta from 300" joke.

[close]

[Adeel]

thanks, I've wanted to take part in a MAGS for ages, even though I think the idea of making an adventure game in a single month is complete madness. :-)

Madness??

Spoiler

This! Is! SIERRA!!!

[close]

Spoiler

I get the feeling we'll never get tired of the silly "Sparta from 300" joke.

[close]

Spoiler

Actually, I've gotten tired of these Sparta jokes. This is what I feel inclined to do, whenever I hear a Sparta joke these days:

[close]

[selmiak]

thanks, I've wanted to take part in a MAGS for ages, even though I think the idea of making an adventure game in a single month is complete madness. :-)

Madness??

Spoiler

This! Is! SIERRA!!!

[close]

Spoiler

I get the feeling we'll never get tired of the silly "Sparta from 300" joke.

[close]

Spoiler

Actually, I've gotten tired of these Sparta jokes. This is what I feel inclined to do, whenever I hear a Sparta joke these days:

[close]

Spoiler

Emo Level: Over 9000!

[close]

[kaput]

thanks, I've wanted to take part in a MAGS for ages, even though I think the idea of making an adventure game in a single month is complete madness. :-)

Madness??

Spoiler

This! Is! SIERRA!!!

[close]

Spoiler

I get the feeling we'll never get tired of the silly "Sparta from 300" joke.

[close]

Spoiler

Actually, I've gotten tired of these Sparta jokes. This is what I feel inclined to do, whenever I hear a Sparta joke these days:

[close]

Spoiler

Emo Level: Over 9000!

[close]

Spoiler

THIS IS.... WAT?

Nah... But seriously guys. So worked up over that? . Why are we hiding? Is this a secret society???

[close]

[CaptainD]

The secrecy must end!!

We are all crazy.  Live with it.

[Ghost]

thanks, I've wanted to take part in a MAGS for ages, even though I think the idea of making an adventure game in a single month is complete madness. :-)

Madness??

Spoiler

This! Is! SIERRA!!!

[close]

Spoiler

I get the feeling we'll never get tired of the silly "Sparta from 300" joke.

[close]

Spoiler

Actually, I've gotten tired of these Sparta jokes. This is what I feel inclined to do, whenever I hear a Sparta joke these days:

[close]

Spoiler

Emo Level: Over 9000!

[close]

Spoiler

THIS IS.... WAT?

Nah... But seriously guys. So worked up over that? . Why are we hiding? Is this a secret society???

[close]

This. Is. BROKEN! GLASS!!

[CaptainD]

Hey guys, how are everyone else's entries going?  Selmiak and myself have made a good start to our game.  I'm not quite sure whether we're going to do a smaller game for  game for MAGS and make the full thing later, but it's looking quite good so far.  (Also, I didn't realise what a wizard Selmiak was with a Wacom tablet! )  But I'll leave it up to him whether he wants to share a background yet or not. 

[selmiak]

Thanks for your nice words! Also as in: writing the story
Dunno if I post a screenshot, I'd have to write some relevant and good PR crap along with it, otherwise it'd feel so empty. Maybe we should just wait until the game is finished (if we finish it... but yeah, looking good at not even halftime) and let the game speak for itself.

[Adeel]

Count me out from this competition, unless I post otherwise (which is going to be very unlikely). Maybe I shouldn't have bought that graphic card. Can't stop myself from playing those 'KEWL' 3D Graphics Game....

[selmiak]

*note to self: Code in some crazy 3d emulation in AGS so that Adeel's new grafics card is also heavy in use for AGS games

[CaptainD]

*note to self: Code in some crazy 3d emulation in AGS so that Adeel's new grafics card is also heavy in use for AGS games

This is assuming you can find time away from trying to break my storyline...

[selmiak]

I'll try my best

[Atelier]

Nice that there's loads of interest this month!

[Adeel]

thanks, I've wanted to take part in a MAGS for ages, even though I think the idea of making an adventure game in a single month is complete madness. :-)

Madness??

Spoiler

This! Is! SIERRA!!!

[close]

Spoiler

I get the feeling we'll never get tired of the silly "Sparta from 300" joke.

[close]

Spoiler

Actually, I've gotten tired of these Sparta jokes. This is what I feel inclined to do, whenever I hear a Sparta joke these days:

[close]

Spoiler

Emo Level: Over 9000!

[close]

Spoiler

THIS IS.... WAT?

Nah... But seriously guys. So worked up over that? . Why are we hiding? Is this a secret society???

[close]

Spoiler

@Sunny Penguin: We are using hide tags to maintain the consistency. See, you did it too!
@Ghost and Selmiak: I saw this photo whilst I were viewing my Facebook's Newsfeed. It suited my emotions well, so I didn't think twice about putting it here.

[close]

*note to self: Code in some crazy 3d emulation in AGS so that Adeel's new grafics card is also heavy in use for AGS games

Make sure that it is still not too heavy for 512MB ATI RADEON HD 3600. Oh also if it helps you, I've 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon x64 Single Core Processor and 1 GB RAM. (Too true to be good these days... )

[Fitz]

So we've reached the 2/3 mark today! How's everyone doing?

*cracks whip*

[selmiak]

CaptainD and me are coming along nicely. I have no idea if we get everything in we planned, but we sure try to make it playable and completable...

[selmiak]

Is anyone else entering this month?

[Ghost]

My idea wasn't as good as it seemed at first glance, so I terminated the project and had a beef sandwich instead.

[CaptainD]

My idea wasn't as good as it seemed at first glance, so I terminated the project and had a beef sandwich instead.

But did you do this during night-time?  If so I think it may still count.

[Radiant]

I vote for Ghost to submit his beef sandwich to the AGS database!

[Ghost]

Ghost presents:

GHOST'S HIS LATE-NIGHT BEEF SANDWICH


Delicious corned beef, horseradish and the secret haunted sauce make it a sandwich to DIE for- are you man enough for the beef?

DOWNLOAD HERE!

[selmiak]

*clicks*

[CaptainD]

DOWNLOAD HERE!

Download link doesn't work.

Also, are you sure that beef isn't horse?

[Myshkin]

...a little late to this thread, but just putting it out there that I'm also entering this month, with my first game EVER (so be nice!)

I discovered AGS existed a few weeks ago, and then discovered MAGS a few days later. I have a bad habit of starting projects and never finishing them, so this seemed like a good way of forcing myself to finish something!

[CaptainD]

Selmiak will probably shout at me (AGAIN!! 8-08-08-0), but I just had to post a quick screenshot to show off his awesome background art for our MAGS game...

[selmiak]

*shouts with creamy foam around teh mouth*

[Fitz]

Emont: Welcome, dear newcomer! Indeed, MAGS is a GREAT way to get motivated (tried it myself, loved it!). So... GET CRACKIN'!!!

CaptainD, Selmiak: Lookin' good, gentlemen! Keep it up!

[Adeel]

Maybe it was a good thing that I backed out from the competition. Because I'm suffering from illness since more than a week (10 days to be precise).

Also, selmiak, that background is quite nice. Take a time to teach me your excellent drawing art skills, will you? Because I really dig this style. .

Good luck to CaptainD and you.

[Atelier]

Just under 48 hours to spit and shine your entries Emont / CaptainD and selmiak!

[CaptainD]

We will try!!

[selmiak]

hehe, confusion worked, emont is making music for our game. When I did first read his entry I though great, another entry, until I realised, hey, this is our musician... well, one of them...

[Myshkin]

Hello!

So, I actually managed to finish a thing I started (not intentionally being sneaky, but I was working on my own game as well as writing music for selmiak - I just forgot to post about it until a few days ago). I thought I'd start simple with a one room game, but then managed to make it difficult for myself by making it at the highest resolution and making it an absolutely huge room...

The game is called Magic Owl and it's a (hopefully) relaxing game of exploration and interactive music generation.
Hope you enjoy it! This is my first ever game and I certainly learnt a lot by making it so quickly.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated...

Thanks!

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1739/

[Myshkin]

Woops, I just re-read the rules and realised I needed to post an ingame screenshot.
Let's try this again:

"Magic Owl"

AGS site: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1739/
Download link: http://www.edwinmontgomerymusic.com/downloads/magicowl.zip

[selmiak]

cool, another MAGS entry! Now that is a confusing surprise after the first pure confusion...

[selmiak]

lol, MAGS is fun, still adding in stuff and my energydrink consumption level is very much above normal!

@CaptainD: mind coming on skype sometime in the next few hours???

[CaptainD]

@CaptainD: mind coming on skype sometime in the next few hours???

Coming, coming... hope you make sense after 20 Red Bulls...!

[Ghost]

lol, MAGS is fun, still adding in stuff and my energydrink consumption level is very much above normal!

I hope [to] you stay faithful to Monster Khaos, dude. That stuff is tingly on the way out

_
* You. Not "to"

[selmiak]

khaos is teh bestest! But I can tell you there was also the same in red available and used...
currently uploading to CaptainD who will upload to gamejolt. Should be a matter of 15 minutes or so...

[CaptainD]

Game now available!

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1740/

Just made it in time...

[selmiak]

Just made it in time...

in night time that is
congrats on the release Captain!

[Fitz]

Congrats, guys! Really happy to see both games -- and finished right on time, too

[TheBitPriest]

Congratulations! Tried them for a few minutes, and looking forward to seeing more later... 

[CaptainD]

I enjoyed the madness of MAGS!   Hope people stick around to the end of our game for the final dialogue line in-game and the final message in the closing credits.

[Atelier]

Cool, I'll open voting in a few hours peeps!

[kaput]

Two really nice entries, I enjoyed them both. Well done guys on your comprehensive outcomes! Gonna be hard to vote, I might have to play them again...

What I really liked about Magic Owl, was that it's obviously an interactive musicians piece with the ability to manipulate sounds by manoeuvring around the atmosphere. Great stuff. For me, I have to say, it's polished. But is it polished enough? I see some flaws. Maybe a lack of 'game' there? Hrmmm. A very hard decision.

CaptainD (love this guy) and Selmiak's Eternal Chrysalis piece is a solid piece of work. It's got good puzzles, is set in an intriguing and familiar zone, what's not to like? I'm just not sure it's 'whole enough' to secure my vote. I feel a lack of character development, but I really like the witty dialogue. The graphic styles clash, but in a bad way? I'm not sure.

I will keep a close eye on this. Anyway, for one month they are both brilliant . I will consider my vote very carefully.

[Atelier]

VOTING

The competition has now ended and voting is underway.

Magic Owl by Emont
Eternal Chrysalis by selmiak and CaptainD

VOTE

Click on the game title to download.

Be sure to play all the entries before sending your voice! Good luck to all participants.

[selmiak]

Also, selmiak, that background is quite nice. Take a time to teach me your excellent drawing art skills, will you? Because I really dig this style. .

Thanks. To draw like this
1) Get a wacom (or any other drawing tablet)
2) read a lot of tutorials about and get a feeling for light and lighting
3) hang around on deviantart a lot (and be in awe what some people can do with their drawing tablets)
4) practise

[Ghost]

Vote casted, DeviantArt hanged.

[Abisso]

Wow, a very simple yet always fascinating topic for this MAGS!

I'm surprised by the fact there are just 2 entries. They are both respectful of the theme and interesting in their own ways, though.

Anyway... may I ask why is it taking so long to proclaim the winner? Has there been issues in the voting?

[Atelier]

Anyway... may I ask why is it taking so long to proclaim the winner? Has there been issues in the voting?

Nope, voting usually lasts 15 days. However, I may post the results later today!

[Ghost]

So my split personalities can vote, too?

[CaptainD]

Hey Abisso - thanks for your very accurate comment on Eternal Chrysalis on the games page!  You hit on basically all the things we would have liked to do better but couldn't do due to the time constraint.  (Hopefully if we ever do released an expanded version of the game you'll approve ).  The storyline in particular ended up being massively different to the original idea just so we could actually get the game finished.  We'll definitely add some more difficult puzzles too!

[Abisso]

Nope, voting usually lasts 15 days. However, I may post the results later today!

Hrmm... the last MAGS I entered was in February 2006. May this has something to do with my ignorance, perchance?
I apologize, though. Back in the old days, the following MAGS couldn't even begin unless the previous one had been closed. This was due to the fact the winner was the one entitled to set the theme and the rules for the next month's.

Hey Abisso - thanks for your very accurate comment on Eternal Chrysalis on the games page!  You hit on basically all the things we would have liked to do better but couldn't do due to the time constraint.  (Hopefully if we ever do released an expanded version of the game you'll approve ).  The storyline in particular ended up being massively different to the original idea just so we could actually get the game finished.  We'll definitely add some more difficult puzzles too!

Yeah, selmiak told me about the cuts that the deadline required. By the way, the most evident flaw was the graphical inconsistency between some backgrounds and the characters: there are at least three different styles involved. The rest is ok, and some players actually prefer games with puzzles that are not too difficult.

[Atelier]

Results are in!

Eternal Chrysalis by selmiak and CaptainD (music by Emont) - 7 votes
Magic Owl by emont - 4 votes


Congrats to selmiak, CaptainD, and Emont!

[CaptainD]

Thanks Atelier!

Also remember, Emont did some of the music for Eternal Chrysalis, so he's also a MAGS winner!

[selmiak]

smooooooooooth

[Myshkin]

Congratulations selmiak & CaptainD!

[TheBitPriest]

Congratulations!

[Ghost]

Congrats team Sell-Me-Ack! And Captain-tea!