MAGS February: "Losing Something" (Winner Announced)

Started by Atelier, Sun 01/02/2015 19:20:52

Previous topic - Next topic

Atelier

Voting!

Three entries to choose from this month:


• The Furthest Station by springthoughts
• Scenario 5B by Hobo
• IAMJASON by xil


Please PM this account with your vote by 16th March.

Also, as several people asked last month, I'd just like to clarify that it's a single vote for your favourite entry - there's no need to rank the entries.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Topic: 'Losing Something'

This month's guidelines were set by Calin Leafshade:

Create a game about something lost or losing something.

Ending 2nd March



__________________________________________________________________________________________

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.

selmiak

like losing a game by pressing a button?
I'd like to do something, but no good ideas yet...

ArgyBoi

Interesting theme! Hmmm... Maybe, maybe....

Erenan

Argh! No! Following the dream I had last night, this is the one theme that could have possibly been suggested that tempts me to make a thing. But I won't have time this month. If this had been for March... :sad:
The Bunker

Galen

A game about something lost. Like, finding a lost thing? That sounds just like that one adventure game called... every adventure game ever. Or at least every Indiana Jones-esque video game.

The 'losing' something is an interesting premise though.

Turb0laz3r

Hi.Total noob here.Just to clarify, it IS OK to team up to work on a MAGS game?And if so,does anybody have Ron Gilbert's phone number?
Wanna watch me eat this sandwich?

Atelier

Quote from: Turb0laz3r on Mon 02/02/2015 23:49:45
Hi.Total noob here.Just to clarify, it IS OK to team up to work on a MAGS game?And if so,does anybody have Ron Gilbert's phone number?

Yes, working in teams is completely allowed. Sorry, I don't have Ron Gilbert's, but I can give you Rhod Gilbert's instead?

Turb0laz3r

Quote from: Atelier on Tue 03/02/2015 00:10:23
Yes, working in teams is completely allowed. Sorry, I don't have Ron Gilbert's, but I can give you Rhod Gilbert's instead?
Thank you.Hey,do you really have Rhod Gilbert's phone number?Cuz he owes me $10.
Wanna watch me eat this sandwich?

Layabout

So... Who's doing a leisure suit larry-esq game?
I am Jean-Pierre.

HanaIndiana

@Layabout
Yeah, that's where my mind went too. (laugh)

Ibispi

#10
Hey bluecuppers,
I've started working on my entry for this MAGS:

Pyrrhus won the war (in the end)
I don't want to say anything about the story or gameplay yet, except that it will have a lot of gladiator arena fights. (nod)

8/2/2015
I've implemented the first background in the game; which is mostly supposed to introduce the protagonist.
This is how it looks like in game:

Basically, it's an army camp, with soldiers resting, walking around or talking with each other. And
Spoiler
the main character is also a soldier
[close]
The setting of the game will be sci-fi crossed with fantasy, due to me not wanting to make something that has any connections with this world. Although, there will be metaphors here and there... ahem.
In terms of progress, I've also finished 2 more backgrounds (not yet in game) and drawn around 70 different sprites for characters and objects. Those are mostly walk cycle animations. At first I planned for around 10 different characters to be in the game. Many of which will be side, stock characters (e.g. soldiers).
A lot of work a head - very little time! :sad:

9/2/2015
This is one greyhead.
Greyheads are soldiers for the Wrong Union, which is a union of states with intolerance ideology and dictatorship.
On the other side is the Union, which exists solely to stop the violent warring of the Wrong Union. This setting sounds familiar, right?

st.

Do we have to announce the game before completing it?

I didn't quite understand the use of conceptualize in
QuoteEntering MAGS is simple. First, conceptualise your game following the month's criteria(...)
I started working on something a couple of days ago, but it's too early to say if I can be ready until the dead line. Anyway, do I have to announce that I may enter the competition? Or do I have to give preliminary details about the game? I see it done, but I would like to know if there's a rule about it.
springthoughts

Atelier

Quote from: st. on Mon 09/02/2015 10:40:04
Anyway, do I have to announce that I may enter the competition? Or do I have to give preliminary details about the game? I see it done, but I would like to know if there's a rule about it.

Nope, all that matters is you post an entry before the deadline - it could be your first post in the thread! However, there are obvious benefits of at least announcing you're entering, most importantly so I know who to ask if they need more time, which happens more often than not. For example, I'd be reluctant to extend the deadline if one person who had not previously posted requested one on the deadline day.

The introductory paragraph is really a mixture of preamble and substantive rules, but no, you don't have to notify that you're entering.

st.

#13
Thank you! I don't even dream of asking for an extension! ...now. But I suppose we'll all have to compromise in order to finish in time. That's challenging!
springthoughts

JenniBee

I have an interesting idea for a game, and I want to base it on a forum game I said I'd do at the Double Fine forums.  The question I have is, I already drew concept art for characters for the characters based on the forum people in that thread.  However, they'll all be non-player characters, and I haven't converted them to sprites since I hadn't settled on which engine to use.  I also never even came up with the story when I started that thread, as I wanted to base it on the character ideas, and I never came up with a story that would fit them all until I read the theme of this contest.  I also never started one iota of code of the game, and I never came up with a player character design until yesterday (which I still haven't scanned and converted yet).  So, would that be OK to use?  Since even though the concept art for characters based on the forum people is started already, everything else (including actually making those characters sprites for the game) will have started this month, story idea and all.  If not, I guess I can see if I can come up with something else.

Ibispi

A question regarding GUI: I have a created, a long time ago, my own custom saving system, with one small floppy disk icon at the top right corner of the screen, which opens a save/load menu after the player clicks on it. And I've left it like that for all my future games, so I don't have to bother around that much. Hence, it is a template of sorts.
Quote from: Atelier on Sun 01/02/2015 19:20:52
(...)templates are also allowed.
(...)
Do I have to make a new custom way of saving; program a brand new UI for that, or can I just use this one?
Also, I have this one click do everything cursor I made for All pigs deserve to burn in hell; can I keep it? Or do I have to create a new one?
Quote(...)You are not allowed to use material already created before this competition(...)
In summary, can cursor and save/restore game UI be an exception to this rule?

Atelier

JenniBee: Yes, that sounds fine. As long as nothing tangible/physical that was created before the competition started is used, it will probably be ok. It's hard to restrict mere ideas that people had before the competition - to what extent will the concept art be used?

BSP: I've always interpreted "modules and templates are also allowed" as ones freely available on the forum, ie: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?board=10.0 (and the ones included with AGS by default). Modules and templates that all entrants have access to. Otherwise, theoretically somebody could work for a year on an awesome private module, and use it in their MAGS game.

But that's an extreme example, and at the other end of the spectrum we have simple framework code, something that I'm sure most entrants have recycled to some extent. In this case, the save/load menu you describe doesn't sound like anything over and above that included in the default AGS template. If two lines of code are so trivial in nature, as to be something that all entrants can reasonably be expected to create or dowse from a template, it will probably be ok. Unless of course those two lines form a substantial part of the distinctiveness or operation of the game, and that is the critical question.

Ibispi

Thanks for replying Atelier.
Quote from: Atelier on Thu 12/02/2015 13:13:34
(...)the save/load menu you describe doesn't sound like anything over and above that included in the default AGS template. If two lines of code are so trivial in nature, as to be something that all entrants can reasonably be expected to create or dowse from a template, it will probably be ok. Unless of course those two lines form a substantial part of the distinctiveness or operation of the game, and that is the critical question.
I'm not sure if it is as substantial - this is how it works:

  • When the player moves the cursor at the top of the screen a small floppy disk icon appears.
  • When you click on it opens a save/restore game window.
  • And also, there is a custom autosave function; when the game autosaves the floppy disks blinks* a few times to show the player that it has saved the game in "autosave" slot.
*this is done via Tween module

Tell me to remove from the game whatever breaks the rules, Atelier. Thanks.



Atelier

That sounds good to me BSP! I am not so worried about anything as basic as a save function, which you could quickly rewrite from scratch anyway.

Ibispi

Great! 8-)
For purposes of making this post less empty, here's a screenshot of the newest background I drew, and the inventory, on which I'm still working on:

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/dfcTc0j.png?1[/imgzoom]

I'm very certain that I am going to finish this game project on time! :cool:

SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk