Bury Me in the Sand

Started by Funkpanzer, Mon 03/07/2017 00:17:34

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Funkpanzer


It's the last day of summer and there's only one thing on your mind. Growlton local Ernie has caught your attention and with a do like that, who could blame you? You've spent the whole summer edging closer and closer to sealing the deal and with only one more day of summer the pressure is on! Will you be able to cultivate your budding romance, all while keeping a cool head, and serving your duties as Growlton beach's most helpful lifeguard?



Bury Me is a prequel to my main game project, Fish Life. I thought it would be a fun exercise to flesh out some of the background characters with a story like this for MAGS and I'm pretty happy with how things turned out! Props to selmiak for helping finish the walking animations and testing all month!

I'll be posting an update to fix the endless myriad of bugs and the last few scenes once voting for MAGS is over.

Progress:
Story 100%
Scripting 70%
Sound 90%
Music 100%

Spoiler

v1.9.5a - July 3rd 2017, 9pm EST
- Fixed a game breaking bug that stopped the player from starting the George questline
- Pierrette dialogues fixed (again)
- Buying items doesn't break the inventory anymore!
- Removed potential duplicate items
- Fixed missing Ernie dialogue in 2nd act
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DBoyWheeler

Whee!  At least you got something in in time!  Hopefully a more complete version comes later!

Darth Mandarb

#2
Please add one more screenshot (read the forum rules). Thanks!

Funkpanzer

I've upadated the MAGS version to let you know when you've reached the current end of the game and fixed Pierrette's dialogue giving the wrong instructions! :-[

Creamy

Superb game so far!
I had a crashing bug when
Spoiler
talking to Ernie alone under the dock.
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It says :
Code: ags
Error: DoDialog: all options have been turned off.


Also, I was wondering if there's a way to access your invisible items when you carry more than five things in your inventory.
 

Funkpanzer

Thanks for playing!

Regarding the inventory, I think I know how you ended up with six items and that is definitely a mistake.

Spoiler
Ernie is not supposed to give the player a whistle unless they've lost theirs. Or did you find another way to have six items that I didn't think of? :P
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The dialog options not appearing is because I seem to have made a big mess of the end of the first act but I think I found the error.

Spoiler
Do you remember what you did during the fight with Gilda?
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Stupot

Just played this. Really nice stuff. It's a shame you couldn't quite finish it up in time, but what we've got is really fun and I hope you keep working on it.

I've got a theory:
(Spoilers ahead. Be warned.)
Spoiler
Jocelyn incorrectly guessed that Flo's password would be 358 when it was in fact 362. And that was based on the fact that it was the year he and Flo started dating. Under the dock, there is a heart for F+J 362, but there is also a heart for E+J 358. Implication being that Jocelyn still remembers the start of his previous relationship with 'E' more than his current relationship with Flo. Now I'm not one to gossip, but I'm gonna go ahead and guess that E is Ernie, which means our protagonist just kissed his brother's ex. On top of that, his brother still loves Ernie because he still thinks of the year 358.
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(and breathe...)
Was any of this intentional (if so, how cool is that, creating a whole potential backstory with just a few subtle clues) or have I just proven myself to be a massive shit-stirring rumour-monger?

Funkpanzer

Quote from: Stupot+ on Wed 05/07/2017 04:51:04
I've got a theory...

You are correct and you absolutely made my day.

I've been chipping away at what's left and hope I can have a working beta by the end of voting! :-D

Pilchard

This is the first of this MAGS batch I've played through, and I thought it was ace.

The art style jumped out at me when I first saw your character sprites in the MAGS thread and it didn't disappoint in-game. Great use of a limited but very bold, distinctive palette that really suggests sun beating down on Growlton.

Dialogue was another strong point.
Spoiler
I played through the last section twice just so I could purchase both a Hoppy Pal and a Creepazoid and get the different dialogue from Ernie.

The cheeky easter egg found in Millie's locker was fun too!

I admire the subtle backstory that Stupot+ has noticed - I think the order in which I did things (I'd already rung Flo, and worked out the locker combination from the hearts under the boardwalk, before I'd spoken to Millie about needing the lotion) meant I didn't encounter the discrepancy in years on my own playthrough, but it's great that it's in there.
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Being able to rename Andre in the opening dialogue is a small but welcome touch, we don't often get that for adventure games - think I might pinch the idea for a future game of mine! I also like that you had a character named Gilda.

Pleased to learn that a more complete version is in the works, and it's the prequel to a further game too! Terrific.

SilverSpook

Fantastic game, absolutely loved the color scheme!

It's very polished for a one-month MAGS job. The writing is great and lots of humor, lots of visual gags (some raunchy ones, but it's about getting some in the summer -- what do you expect!? :D ).

The puzzles are all well-done, nothing head scratching and all felt satisfying. The 'hearts scratched into the wood puzzle' was very original and well-designed. There's a lot more depth than the sunny cartoon feel lets on!

Highly recommended to any adventure lover, or adventurous lover! (Seriously, there is a great makeout scene and everything! :D )

Hobo

Great stuff, too bad you didn't get to finish it in time for MAGS.

Visually quite impressive, really liking the color choices and animations. Also, good writing, nice sound design, some clever puzzles and everything that wasn't unfinished felt very polished and thought out.

By the way, is there currently a dead end in the game?
Spoiler
When I waste my money on food instead of getting an item from the dispenser?
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Can't wait to try the final version, it sure has a lot of potential!

Cassiebsg

#11
Lucky me, I was still playing version v1.9.1a 8-0
I'll start over, but in the mean time here's a bug (spoiler):
Spoiler

If you open Mille's locker while she's there, you can see the glasses... then the locked closes, but if you click on where the glasses are he will pick them up and use them.... 8-0 You forgot to deactivate the object/hotspot when the locker is closed. ;)
I found this the first time I was playing, and it's still present in 1.9.5a.
I did found more bugs in version 1a, but I'll just keep an eye open and let you know if I meet them again this time. ;)

EDIT:
Okay, when talking with George, if you look at him it still says he's sleeping and you don't want to wake him up.

Last, when talking to Gilda while she's on top of the car, if you apologize (or the other "middle" question) someone stills mentions Andre in the dialog... Or maybe that was Mille and was on purpose? (laugh)
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EDIT:
Nice little game! (nod)
Looking forward to the full version one day.

A couple of suggestions: Esc is a lovely key, and only because I was speeding the dialogues I found the options screen. Maybe you should have an icon on one of the corners of the screen (or next to the fannypack) to click and bring the options forward. I thought I couldn't save! 8-0 I did try F5. when that didn't do anything I figure: "no save option"...

EDIT2:
The load menu has the delete button an unfortunate place... if you click load and click again it's the delete button you will click on. (wtf) You maybe should move the delete to another place, so players don't accidentally delete their saved games. ;) It's on the same place where my game's load button is, and my subconscious played a trick on me... (laugh) (roll) Sorry, disregard this comment... ;)
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

Funkpanzer

#12
@Hobo
Spoiler
You're supposed to be able to give him food but it appears I completely forgot to link that option up...
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@Cassiebsg: Oh no! Thanks for all the notes!

If you click the upper-right corner it brings up the menu but for some reason the button is invisible. I'm sure it's something simple.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm glad you're all having fun with it, it's really motivating!

edit: It turns out the script that opens and closes the fannypack was conflicting with the script that hides the fannypack and menu button.

Tycho Magnetic Anomaly

This was a really sweet game
I particularly love that electrically vivid pallet you have chosen, its a really strange thing but I never would have though these colors suit would suite the theme so well.
I tried this as native pixels, but also tried out playing with the filter and I have to agree the filter really dose add a touch of class to the whole look of it.
Another relatively short game I thought, as is understandable with a game jam. The animations where superb, little touches like the flag waving really catch my eye a lot. I got stuck a few times but managed to get through it, the dialogs where very amusing and all in all I thought this was a very neat experience. I would love to see a more fleshed out game made with this style for sure.

Great work on getting this in on time too.

cat

I'm not sure if I'm just stuck or I encountered a bug/dead end:
Spoiler
I should give Ernie a special item but I don't have anything beside my comb, the hotdog, a can of soda and a few coins. On the beach there are two new girls but I can't interact with them.
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Btw, the save menu is really well hidden. If it wasn't for Cassiebsg I'd have never found it. I tried F5 but not ESC.

Cassiebsg

@cat
Seems like Stupot's clue wasn't enough.
Spoiler

Have you looked around the beach? Next to the hot dog stand?
Maybe you can get inspired in to parting with something from your inventory. ;)
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There are those who believe that life here began out there...

Funkpanzer

Quote from: cat on Mon 10/07/2017 19:53:59
Spoiler
I should give Ernie a special item but I don't have anything beside my comb, the hotdog, a can of soda and a few coins. On the beach there are two new girls but I can't interact with them.
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It is both a bug and a dead end!

Spoiler
You need to be more careful with your money.
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Funkpanzer

I thought I'd share a little progress update! The final "puzzle" is fully scripted now and I had time to put in all the background junk I had planned! Here are some details from the lifeguard handbook:


The bugs and dead-ends you guys found have been dealt with but I still have a big chunk of animation left and to script the final scene. I'm not quite sure how to roll out the beta for testing, but I'm thinking of doing a private one to avoid more people trying the unfinished game. If anyone has any advice it's more than welcome! :-D

AnasAbdin


Funkpanzer

Thanks AnasAbdin!

I had time to go in and finish all the backgrounds last week and add some water animations.





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