Topic: MAGS July “Shocking” (RESULT)

[slumber]

well, i still think its my brain thats at fault and not the code as im totally stuck on that bent plate but ill give it another go to see if i make any progress

[Kastchey]

Oh, okay There's now a hint thread started here, if you feel you're stuck at any point ask away!

And as I've finally managed to play all the other entries, here are my thoughts:

Stories of the unexpected: 'Until further notice' by Slasher

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I enjoyed the subtle humour, the part in the storage room was hilarious (I can totally see how this guy ended up doing time) and the ending was brilliant. As for the puzzles, I think I would have preferred a little less guidance, e.g. in the final safe puzzle the game would almost directly tell me which item to use next. Overall the game felt like less of a standard adventure game, more of a "guess which tool to use next out of a wide variety available", which is an interesting concept and the mini-game was a nice addition. Well done!

The Lightning Spell by Buckethead

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I loved how the game tried (not too hard) and failed (with style) to have a storyline, and how it turned out as a sorta mixed parody of all things fantasy from classic tales to online games ("we're out of mana" ). Of course, more focus on puzzles would have made the game even more fun but in a way, the trivial-obscure puzzles work in favour of the game because they fit the overall silliness perfectly.

WELCOME TO NOD RIVER by Mandle

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This was one sweet intro, the pixel art was lovely and the pylons growing out of the ground in the background incredibly creepy. I've watched it a few times just to see them sprouting up again.
You're not going to abandon this project are you? I want to know what those hellish pylons are!

Pizza Calls by VampireWombat

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You know what, I liked it! Sure there wasn't much in terms of actual gameplay and the whole was very rushed, but the setting gave me sort of a surreal horror vibe which was kind of cool. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for your August MAGS game.

It wasn't an easy decision but my vote goes to

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The Lightning Spell by Buckethead. And it wasn't so much the sweet graphics that have won me over, but the humour and the dialogues. I genuinely felt an urge to replay the game just for the fun of it!

[VampireWombat]

Pizza Calls by VampireWombat

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You know what, I liked it! Sure there wasn't much in terms of actual gameplay and the whole was very rushed, but the setting gave me sort of a surreal horror vibe which was kind of cool. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for your August MAGS game.

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Thanks. I was wanting to make it more surreal, but I simply didn't have the creativity for it. I'm hoping this month will go much better too. At the least it shouldn't be as rushed.

[cat]

I finally found some time to play the MAGS games.

Stories of the unexpected: 'Until further notice' by Slasher

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Well written story and dialogs, a nice minigame and funny twist in the end. But the laptops and eye-scanner in a game that takes place in the 60ies was just too much.

The Lightning Spell by Buckethead

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Lovely graphics that somehow clashed with the humorous writing style. There were hardly any puzzles or interactions with the surroundings to speak of.

WELCOME TO NOD RIVER by Mandle

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I guess this refers to some TV show that I don't know? It's really only a short intro, so I can't say much about it.

The Shaft by Kastchey

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Amazing graphics and atmosphere, disturbing setting and sound track. The puzzles were a bit use-everything-on-everything for me, especially because combining only worked in one direction. The game is clearly lacking some polish (responses, animations etc.) but looks very promising.

Pizza Calls by VampireWombat

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Well, that was weird. I got stuck after getting the coupons, phone and battery because I couldn't do anything more and finding the exits was super hard.

I voted for

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The Shaft

[VampireWombat]

Pizza Calls by VampireWombat

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Well, that was weird. I got stuck after getting the coupons, phone and battery because I couldn't do anything more and finding the exits was super hard.

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I'm interested to know what was hard about finding the exits. Exits for the rooms should have been hotspots. It wasn't meant to be pixel hunting or anything. So I'm genuinely wondering where the problem was. Maybe you did something which I didn't think of that caused a glitch?

[Cassiebsg]

Maybe cause the hotspots aren't on the door opening?
I also thought it to be very hard to find the doors hotspots and the character is walking on the walls too.

Also,

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How do you use the battery with the phone to order the pizza?

[VampireWombat]

Maybe cause the hotspots aren't on the door opening?
I also thought it to be very hard to find the doors hotspots and the character is walking on the walls too.

Also,

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How do you use the battery with the phone to order the pizza?

Okay, I think I understand the problem. Was the hotspot at the bottom of the room to get back to the hallway too small?

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You can't. That's why I mentioned that the items don't really do anything. I ran out of time before I could do it.

[Kastchey]

Was the hotspot at the bottom of the room to get back to the hallway too small?

I think the issue was not with the size of the hotspot but with the placement of it, at least that was my impression.
When you enter the room with the front door, it looks as if you entered from the doorway on the right rather than the area at the bottom of the screen. It may be just me though.

@cat: Thank you for your feedback! Glad you liked the game. As for

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combining the inventory items both ways, yes, this is something I will want to address after MAGS is finished. I tried to script interactions both ways as much as I can, but as there is quite a lot of items the interactions work two ways for maybe half of them, at the very best so you definitely have a point there.

[VampireWombat]

Ah. I thought the angle, etc. implied the location. Apparently I was wrong...
Guess I should have at least drawn something to show that the area to the right was the kitchen/dining room. Or put a hotspot indicating such...
*immediately starts work on an updated version*

Edit: There's now a non-MAGS version which hopefully fixes all the issues that people mentioned. It's the 2nd download.

[cat]

I'm interested to know what was hard about finding the exits.

Once I left the bedroom I couldn't enter any more - there was simply no hotspot. I also found it hard to find the hotspot for leaving the hallway, it was not where I expected it to be.

[VampireWombat]

Once I left the bedroom I couldn't enter any more - there was simply no hotspot. I also found it hard to find the hotspot for leaving the hallway, it was not where I expected it to be.

Yeah, somehow the shape for the hotspot to the bedroom either got erased or something. I didn't even notice in my testing.
And the other just seems to have been how my brain works compared to apparently anyone else's. Sorry for the issues. Luckily they've now been addressed. Thanks for the input.

[Buckethead]

Sorry for the delay in giving my feedback.

Stories of the unexpected: 'Until further notice' by Slasher

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Pretty fun game with a nice story. As others have said, some things felt out of place like the laptop and eye scanner but it didn't distract me too much. The felt fitting for the era but sometimes it was cracking up a bit. Maybe it was hard to find music from the 60s that is high quality. The graphics did their job but seem a bit rushed. Overall an enjoyable experience. I do wonder what you could achieve if you would take more time to develop your game.

The Lightning Spell by myself

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I'm very glad that people like the graphics. I have long struggled to find a good graphics style for my games. Especially characters were always a problem because I felt I was never good at organic shapes. I'm finally at a level where I can be happy with the graphics. Nice that most people also enjoyed the humor. I know that game turned out very short. Puzzles are really my weak point. But I'm still glad I got a few in there. A few people have commented that I should make a long version of the game with same graphics. I'm not sure if I will do that. I think I would need a more solid game idea to build on. Maybe in the future I could team up with someone who would do the story/puzzles while I do graphics.

WELCOME TO NOD RIVER by Mandle

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Yes! Love me some Twilight Zone. The video at the start seems kind of slow in frame rate but it's cool none the less. Interested to see what you will do with it in the future.

The Shaft by Kastchey

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Very nice setting and atmosphere you've created here. The graphics are cool but sometimes a little hard to read. This is especially true for the Inventory GUI and some of it's items. The puzzles were great and seemed logical. It's very clear that you have a much better approach to puzzle design than I have.

Pizza Calls by VampireWombat

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There is some sort of David Lynch vibe going on in this game. I liked that but for the rest it felt very unfinished. Like how for example you could get the phone and the battery and you would think that you would need to combine those things, but it's not possible. By the way, you left debug mode on (as did I at first).

I voted for

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The Shaft

[VampireWombat]

Pizza Calls by VampireWombat

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There is some sort of David Lynch vibe going on in this game. I liked that but for the rest it felt very unfinished. Like how for example you could get the phone and the battery and you would think that you would need to combine those things, but it's not possible. By the way, you left debug mode on (as did I at first).

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Well, I actually have been watching Twin Peaks some the last month or so. And yeah, the combining them issue was fixed with the non-MAGS version I uploaded yesterday. And I didn't even think about debug mode... Oops.
Thanks for the feedback.

[Kastchey]

Thanks for the feedback, Buckethead. I'd be very interested to hear which items were harder to read so I can address this in the post-maggie polished version. A pm with more detailed feedback would be great if you could spare some time

Regarding the puzzles, puzzle dependency charts have helped me a lot. It's a bit hard to get started but once you get it going, the dots really start connecting. Listing out every single thing you can think of that may be found in your chosen settings helps too.

[Buckethead]

I've send you a PM. Thanks for the dependency chart suggestion. I don't think I would have had time for something like that in this MAGS but it sure could be helpful in future endeavors.

[lanchong]

Stories of the unexpected: 'Until further notice' by Slasher

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I always have fun when playing Slasher's games and this one is no exception. Some graphics could do with a bit more polish but I don't mind. That's his style. The digging mini-game was a nice break from classic puzzles.

The Lightning Spell by Buckethead

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The high-resolution graphics are really exceptional for a MAGS game. I enjoyed the black humour which makes this a interesting parody of fantasy games.

WELCOME TO NOD RIVER by Mandle

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I was a big fan of the Twilight Zone which probably shows my age and I look forward to the full game

The Shaft by Kastchey

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I loved the atmosphere here. The pixelated graphics are reminiscent of the early 90s adventure games but combined with these great animations, it's overall very pleasant. For a short game, I would have preferred fewer items in the inventory. I hope there will be a long version developed later because it's an interesting storyline.

Pizza Calls by VampireWombat

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I struggled a bit to understand this game. I think I finished it but then it was extremely short. If you could polish the game a bit, I'd be glad to have another go.

My vote

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The Shaft because it's the most complete game experience.

[VampireWombat]

Pizza Calls by VampireWombat

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I struggled a bit to understand this game. I think I finished it but then it was extremely short. If you could polish the game a bit, I'd be glad to have another go.

Did you play the MAGS version or non-MAGS version? The non-MAGS is a bit more polished, but not any longer.

[Kastchey]

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 For a short game, I would have preferred fewer items in the inventory. I hope there will be a long version developed later because it's an interesting storyline.

Thank you for your comments. I will surely be releasing a more polished version after the 16th to address all the issues pointed out by reviewers (missing interactions, rushed graphics etc.). I don't know yet if I will manage to extend the actual content, but we'll see!
As for the

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the number of inventory items, there was supposed to be a third puzzle "hub" after the rope and the glass pane and these items were meant to be used for that purpose. I barely managed two "hubs" but the items stayed. I hope it doesn't look too much as if I was trying to artificially increase the difficulty level by adding tons junk that doesn't do anything...

[Slasher]

Well,

after playing all the games I found a few that were quite well balanced and had there own pros and cons.. Of course I can only vote for one....

After much deliberating I voted for:

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The Shaft by Kastchey
Well done for making a good game in the time we had

Commiserations to all the other entrants...

I'll see all you in the next one and don't be late

[Blondbraid]

My thoughts on the games so far:

Stories of the unexpected: 'Until further notice' by Slasher

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The premise and characters were fun, and the ending made me laugh. Overall it had all the usual qualities if Slashers games.

Welcome to Nod River by Mandle

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It's a shame it's just an intro, but the FMV in the beginning was a pretty good homage to the Twilight zone.

The Lightning Spell by Buckethead

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I really liked the detailed graphics and the animated characters, and the puzzles and characters were amusing too. Though the walkable areas could need some adjusting since sometimes the characters stood too close to the walls, making it look like they were standing slightly above the floor.

Pizza Calls by VampireWombat

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This game had some good potential for some fascinating surrealism, but unfortunately I found it buggy and hard to play. It was difficult to get trough doors because the hotspots were either too small or not lined up with the background, and the game randomly gave me a message that I've won followed by credits before going back to regular gameplay.

The Shaft by Kastchey

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The pixel art and atmosphere is great, but some parts of the puzzle felt a bit frustrating and arbitrary, like one solution where you had to use the wire cutters on the copper wire, but you couldn't use the copper wire on the wire cutters,
plus I accidentally got stuck in a dead end when [hide]I stuck the knife to the glowing glue moss before using it to cut out the sponge from the chair.

This kind of marred the experience for me, which is a shame, for otherwise it's a pretty decent MAGS game.[/hide]

I ended up voting for:

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The lightning spell, since it felt the most like a complete experience in addition to having great graphics and animations.