Cola Skunkette: A Bit of Cleanup [MAGS Aug. 2018]

Started by DBoyWheeler, Wed 22/08/2018 01:59:51

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DBoyWheeler

At last!  The game Blondbraid and I have collaborated on is complete!

Behold--

Cola Skunkette: A Bit of Cleanup!



In this, Panphila Baniliakola needs to get rid of some offending graffiti that vandals put on the side of her "Cola Skunkette" soda shop, so her business can be family friendly again.

(The graffiti is in symbols.  That's the "Censorship" part of the theme--a "creative censoring", if you will.)

Helping her is a very polite young squirrel boy named Lucas Bolota.  Can they clean up the nasty spraypaint job before a family gets offended?

[Um, the sound effects might be a bit faint, so you may need to turn up the sound volume when playing.]

Game can be found here: https://archive.org/details/PanphilaMAGS2018
And here's the page of the game on this here site: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2277/

[Edit] In game, I mistakenly called Blondbraid "Blondbeard".  Oops! :-[

Mandle

#1
What a lovely little game!!!

I especially love the plucky walkcycle of the little guy, so purposeful in a kiddie way!

I did have a little trouble...
Spoiler
...finding the hotspot to clean off the graffiti. Maybe you should just make it as big as the whole graffiti, or even the whole wall?
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I'm not sure if the...
Spoiler
...in-game explanation of how the graffiti links to the theme of censorship in the MAGS contest is needed or not. This feels a bit clumsy and breaks immersion for me. The graffiti is written as censored swear words and also the cleaning off of the graffiti is a kind of censorship. I think you should just allow this subtext to work on both levels without pointing one or the other out. Most players will get it. If you want to point out the MAGS theme then probably do so on the title page with something like "Made for the August 2018 MAGS with the theme of Censorship" or somesuch.
Also it says "the players can understand what it says". I think this should be "the characters can understand what it says"
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But awesome and very charming game! Well done to both of you!

DBoyWheeler

Thanks, Mandle.  Yeah some of the mistakes in the dialogue, I didn't notice till now--I guess I was starting to get tired.  (laugh)

Mandle

Quote from: DBoyWheeler on Wed 22/08/2018 02:42:10
I guess I was starting to get tired.  (laugh)

Understandable during a MAGS. Very understandable!

Creamy

#4
Finished :)
I like to play a children's game once in a while and this one was entertaining. Blondbraid's art adds a lot of charm to the game.

Having played 3 of your games - Rosaura, Rainbow skunk and this one - I do have one small complaint though.
Your endings have disappointed me so far. We accomplish what we're supposed to do and that's it. Not every game needs a twist but I'd like something to chew on, a little final surprise at least.
 

Kastchey

I have finished the game. It was very short, but entertaining and the collaboration you did this month was an excellent idea. Well done DBoy & Blondbraid!
I loved the title screen artwork, very pretty.

I had mixed feelings about the music which sounded somewhat J-RPGish to me, but that's probably just the matter of preference.

More detailed feedback on the gameplay (with spoilers!!!):
Spoiler
* I'd suggest adding some hint that would help the player figure out how to glue the magnet to the wire, rather than do it via trial and error. Perhaps a mention of the chewing gum in the dialogue or 'look' action?
* When you give the magnet to the boy, the game automatically creates a combination of magnet, gum and wire for you. Similarly later when you use any cleaning agent component on another one, the game auto combines all three into the final product. That made me feel majorly deprived of inventory puzzles :D
* I didn't feel it was necessary to restrict the player from picking up the soda and the seltzer bottle until the closet door was open, but if you aimed to make a kids game, then this and the inventory puzzle thing can actually be a good move as it simplifies the gameplay a lot.0
* I had the same feeling as Creamy about the ending, it was somewhat unrewarding. An ending scene may not look like much but it tends to have a considerable impact on the overall reception of your game ;)
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selmiak

Quote from: Kastchey on Thu 23/08/2018 22:57:32
Spoiler
* I'd suggest adding some hint that would help the player figure out how to glue the magnet to the wire, rather than do it via trial and error. Perhaps a mention of the chewing gum in the dialogue or 'look' action?
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Spoiler
I second that. Where is that chewing gum you are talking about???
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Kastchey

Quote from: selmiak on Sat 25/08/2018 09:21:44
Spoiler
I second that. Where is that chewing gum you are talking about???
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Spoiler
The boy is chewing it. If you give him the smiley face magnet, he will stick the gum to it. After finishing the game, I replayed it to see if there is any hint at all that the boy is chewing the gum, but I couldn't find anything.
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