Topic: The Cold Hand Reef [MAGS AUG 2015]

[WHAM]

But then you most also wonder who your making your games for.

I've always been a firm believer in the "make games with features you would like to play" -school of game design.

[AprilSkies]

Nice one WHAM! Really nice one!
I enjoyed it a lot!

And the bubbles thingie is brilliant!!
I appreciated it a lot as not native english speaker 

[WHAM]

Nice one WHAM! Really nice one!
I enjoyed it a lot!

And the bubbles thingie is brilliant!!
I appreciated it a lot as not native english speaker 

Happy to hear you enjoyed the game. Did you get the good ending or the bad one?

[Cassiebsg]

About the ending:

Spoiler: ShowHide

I'm guessing I got the good ending... for the new family anyway, but not for the couple that lost their child... so good or bad, guess it depends on the POV.

[WHAM]

About the ending:

Spoiler: ShowHide

I'm guessing I got the good ending... for the new family anyway, but not for the couple that lost their child... so good or bad, guess it depends on the POV.

You're correct.

Spoiler: ShowHide

I like to think that both endings are "happy", but the one withouth the hand is a bit more happy for the daughter.

[AprilSkies]

WHAM, I think I got the bad one
I mean:

Spoiler: ShowHide

I think I was not able to complete the puzzles (i only found the map) and she committed suicide... so i saw her hand in the water before credits...
I dunno if I got it
but I wanted to play it again to find a way to solve the puzzles (I mean find the sail and the compass)

[WHAM]

Hmm, I might have been mistaken then, You'll know you got the "good ending" when there is happy music at the end and credits roll. Good luck!

[vertigoaddict]

I just got around to playing the game, it was awesome, the subtlety of the language spoke volumes.

[WHAM]

I just got around to playing the game, it was awesome, the subtlety of the language spoke volumes.

Happy to hear you liked it!
I haven't had a chance to play the other MAGS games yet, but intend to do so as soon as I can.

[WHAM]

Uploaded a new version on 8th of September, fixing a baseline issue which could cause a character sprite to be displayed incorrectly.

[Shadow1000]

I think I got the same bad ending that some others got.

Spoiler: ShowHide

I don't know what happened to the old guy but he turned really dark and jumped off. Was that supposed to happen? was that good or bad? I found part of the sail and 2 cut pieces of sheets but I had no way to mend it. I turned the globe with the rotation arrows and then ended up back on the deck somehow in fog. The arrows remained on the screen and a bunch of guys came out of the water and a big hand appeared and the game was over. I never fixed the sail or found the compass

I don't really get what happened.

I'd try playing again to see if I get a different ending but there is no way to save, as people pointed out, so I'd have to start from the beginning again.

SHADOW

[WHAM]

Shadow:

The arrow buttons remaining visible is a bug, they should disappear when night falls and the bad ending cutscene is triggered. I'll fix hat one and upload a new version today.

Other than that, here's a little info about the sail:

Spoiler: ShowHide

Once you have enough cloth for the sail, you need to find a needle and thread to mend the sail.

[Stupot]

I seem to have the opposite problem Cassie had. No matter what driver or filter I use, I can't increase the size of the game area. Is that how it's designed, or should there be some way of making it full-screen? (without the massive black border)

[vertigoaddict]

Yeah Stupot, my current laptop does that with AGS games as well, apparently some computers refuse to get rid of the black borders/ refuse to stretch to fit screen properly, in an attempt to maintain the aspect ratio. My old laptop (that I still own) doesn't do that. Even when I go into advanced settings and choose not to have the boarders added on, they'll still be there; so it might just be your computer.

[WHAM]

I haven't been able to replicate the sort of issue you describe, so I can only guess that it's something with the engine (or engine version I use, I haven't updated to the latest alpha/beta builds yet) or your computer or some combination of the above.

Sorry, I can't really help you out here.

[Shadow1000]

Shadow:

The arrow buttons remaining visible is a bug, they should disappear when night falls and the bad ending cutscene is triggered. I'll fix hat one and upload a new version today.

So the reason I got that ending was because night fell and nothing I did to trigger it? Is there a way to prevent it from happening?

SHADOW

[WHAM]

Shadow:

The arrow buttons remaining visible is a bug, they should disappear when night falls and the bad ending cutscene is triggered. I'll fix hat one and upload a new version today.

So the reason I got that ending was because night fell and nothing I did to trigger it? Is there a way to prevent it from happening?

SHADOW

No, I'm afraid there is no way to stop the sun from setting, but you CAN escape the reef and sail away before that happens.

[Shadow1000]

No, I'm afraid there is no way to stop the sun from setting, but you CAN escape the reef and sail away before that happens.

Ok so it's a timed puzzle but no obvious counter or way to know that time is running out and once it runs out, the game is over with no way to restore from a save point and no obvious way to know WHY the game is over (I had naturally assumed that I did something to trigger it without knowing what)?

SHADOW

[WHAM]

Ok so it's a timed puzzle but no obvious counter or way to know that time is running out and once it runs out, the game is over with no way to restore from a save point and no obvious way to know WHY the game is over?

Yup!

[Mandle]

Because of the universal language icons I think I'm going to use this game in some of my classes as a discussion tool... The story can get a little dark and scary at points though, but no darker than Disney really...

If used with kids I would talk with them afterwards though about how:

MASSIVE SPOILERS:

Spoiler: ShowHide

The father was trying to drown the daughter not because he wanted to kill her but because he just wanted to have her back with him, and did not realise the consequences of that until she reminded him about their (alive) life together by showing the family drawing. I guess his mind is in some kind of dreamlike state, not realising he is dead, until she snaps him out of it by showing him the drawing. (A nice allegory of parents never wanting to let go of their kids even when it's time for them to grow up and go their own ways...although this is just my own obsevation and doesn't need mentioning to kids)...

Kids will also probably ask what happened to the father character in the first place. My theory is that the drowned wife came for him because she wanted him back by her side in much the same way that he came back for the daughter later. This would be a good opportunity for discussion with children about what they imagined happened...

This is also just what I personally got from the story after a few playthroughs. Game author can confirm or deny?