MAGS March “Glass of Water” (RESULT)

[Stupot]

The voting is over and we have a runaway winner:

Hydrate by Retro Wolf!

Well done, sir. You'll be contacted soon about coming up with a topic for May.

Thanks a lot to all participants and voters.

	Hydrate by Retro Wolf
	Flukie by VampireWombat
	Suspicious Mind by Creamy and Kastchey

Topic: Glass of water
Suggested by: Cassiebsg and morganw



The theme for this month is "glass of water".
Specifically the game must display the text "glass of water" during a complete playthrough.
Use of any pre-existing assets is permitted.

Rules:

• the case of the text may be modified
  e.g. "GLASS OF WATER" or "Glass of water"


• the text can be part of a longer phrase
  e.g. "I'd like a glass of water"


• the game name must not reference a glass of water
  (this is to help ensure that game names are not duplicated and that the text displaying requirement is not met by the title screen)

Deadline March 31st

competition.


What is MAGS?

Started in 2001, MAGS is a 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, and provide a kick-start into making adventure games. Regardless of skill, MAGS is for everyone. Voting is based on "favourite" 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.

Rules

Entering MAGS is simple. First, conceptualise your game following the month's criteria (see above). Second, create your game fuelled only by coffee. Finally, post your game in this thread, including:

* A working download link
* The title of your game
* A suitable in-game screenshot

At the end of the month, voting will begin, usually lasting for fourteen days and the winner chooses the next month's theme.

[Nixxon]

I'll drink to that.

[VampireWombat]

Hmm. I have to wonder if using the alien that was going to be in last month's game and exploring a different area would be going against the spirit of MAGs. I'd still have the alien crash to Earth, but it would be exploring a house.

[Cassiebsg]

@VW

Use of any pre-existing assets is permitted.

[VampireWombat]

Alright, I think the ideas I've had in the last hour are enough to take things enough in a different direction to not need to fear upsetting the spirit. Subverting, parodying, and otherwise ruining scifi tropes is a go.

[HanaIndiana]

I love this place. You guys crack me up. 

[VampireWombat]

So, umm... Am I going to be competing against myself this month?
Someone could make a Maniac Mansion Mania game where weird Ed's latest hobby is ventriloquism and you offer him a glass of water, for example.
Or a game somewhat influenced by Jurassic Park and vibrations from some creature cause ripples in a glass of water.
Perhaps your character is stranded in a desert and hallucinates a glass of water.
Maybe characters are forming a band and one of the people rubs their finger over a glass of water.
Have a game that you want to make, but have no idea how to use a glass of water? Use a glass of water as a MacGuffin or red herring item.

Perhaps this might inspire someone?

[imgzoom]http://ags.pics/YLGT.png[/imgzoom]

[Slasher]

You never know 

[Stupot]

You never know 

Oh, hello. Is there something we should know, Slasher?

[Slasher]

You never know 

Oh, hello. Is there something we should know, Slasher?

I have not decided... So who knows? 

[VampireWombat]

So... Still no one else officially participating?

I've been struggling a bit with mine, so it looks like it's going to go in a very different direction than was originally planned. The beginning is going to be more or less the same, but the core game will be quite different.

[Blondbraid]

So... Still no one else officially participating?

Wait, what? Slasher isn't making a MAGS entry?! 
Slasher, are you alright?

[Slasher]

Well, if i get a couple of free days   

[VampireWombat]

I'm wondering why the lack of interest this month. Is the theme not inspiring? Is everyone on vacation or something? Is everyone burnt out on making MAGs games?
I can understand the feeling burnt out option, since that's how I'm feeling. Especially with no one officially making a game and Slasher only being a maybe. There's a certain energy seeing other people posting progress on their games.

I see 4 possible ways for me to continue with my game. I could just make it more or less how I planned at the beginning of the month. I could convert it into a Maniac Mansion Mania game. I could use the newer ideas I've had the last week or so make it a longer and possibly more fun game. Or I could just put in the least effort possible. Each option has its own merits.

[Durq]

I'm wondering why the lack of interest this month. Is the theme not inspiring? Is everyone on vacation or something? Is everyone burnt out on making MAGs games?
I can understand the feeling burnt out option, since that's how I'm feeling. Especially with no one officially making a game and Slasher only being a maybe. There's a certain energy seeing other people posting progress on their games.

I see 4 possible ways for me to continue with my game. I could just make it more or less how I planned at the beginning of the month. I could convert it into a Maniac Mansion Mania game. I could use the newer ideas I've had the last week or so make it a longer and possibly more fun game. Or I could just put in the least effort possible. Each option has its own merits.

I think the theme is fine. I had a slight case of burnout from entering MAGS two months in a row. How far along is your game?

[Slasher]

It matters not if you are the only horse in the race....

It's happened to me a couple of times   

Burnt out is a loss of inspirations.....I'm far from that...

[VampireWombat]

I think the theme is fine. I had a slight case of burnout from entering MAGS two months in a row. How far along is your game?

Yeah. And working on 3 last month didn't do me any favors.
I have the 2 space scenes and the alien design. If I do the longer game, then I have the background for one area maybe 1/8th done. And I have base code for minigames if I go with the longer game.

Burnt out is a loss of inspirations.....I'm far from that...

I don't quite agree. Burnout can also be from expending too much creative energy, loss of motivation, or loss of purpose.

[Kastchey]

The theme is fun and I'd love to join but I won't have enough time to put a game together this month.

Though if someone's thinking of submitting a short entry and could use a little help with sprites and backgrounds to meet the deadline, let me know.

[Cassiebsg]

VW, put up a start, then an end... then fill in the middle as time allows.
If you can fill little "meat" in, we get a shorter game. If you can fill half of your planned, then we get a medium game. And if you manage to get everything in, we get a complete game. But in any of these scenarios we get a game! 

I would hate for it to end in nothing again. 

[VampireWombat]

Actually, I've thought of some ideas this afternoon and think I've come up with another option. A game set mostly in a single room and mostly dialog driven. It would have at least 2 possible endings depending on dialog options chosen.

[KyriakosCH]

So, umm... Am I going to be competing against myself this month?
Someone could make a Maniac Mansion Mania game where weird Ed's latest hobby is ventriloquism and you offer him a glass of water, for example.
Or a game somewhat influenced by Jurassic Park and vibrations from some creature cause ripples in a glass of water.
Perhaps your character is stranded in a desert and hallucinates a glass of water.
Maybe characters are forming a band and one of the people rubs their finger over a glass of water.
Have a game that you want to make, but have no idea how to use a glass of water? Use a glass of water as a MacGuffin or red herring item.

Perhaps this might inspire someone?

[imgzoom]http://ags.pics/YLGT.png[/imgzoom]

That looks pretty scary 

[VampireWombat]

I don't know if it's that scary...

And I honestly  have no idea what game I'm actually going to make for this month. There's still time to do the longer game if I can actually get sprites made. There's also a chance I could do the first game I mentioned at the beginning of the month. Or the one room game. Or I may just end up doing a game based on the "scary" image. But I will do something, even if it's only a minute long...

[Retro Wolf]

I will 100% release a short game in time for the deadline.
It's been too long since I finished a project so I scaled back my ambition and minimised animation.
95% artwork is original and drawn this month.
The game is pretty releasable as is, which is why it's a definite 100%.
So if I get enough time this last week I will polish it as much as I can.

Unless I get struck dead by lightning or something! 

PM me if you want to test it and try and break the game for me.

[imgzoom]https://i.postimg.cc/RFjdnLZ5/cli.png[/imgzoom]

[VampireWombat]

Ah, finally definite other game being made.
Now I almost feel bad that what I'm going to be making is based on/parodying 2 of the worst E.T. knockoff movies I know of and won't have any actual puzzles, just dialog choices. Almost.

[Retro Wolf]

I didn't announce I was working earlier on, because I've started a hundred games I've never finished!
Look forward to see what you come up with VampireWombat, even if it is a small project.

[VampireWombat]

Yes, I can kind of understand that. I think that I now have more unfinished MAGS games than I have finished.
Hopefully I won't disappoint. There won't be any normal exploration you'd expect from an adventure game and if the inventory is used at all, it'll only be in one room. In ways it will probably be closer to a visual novel.

[Retro Wolf]

You are Shar, the last remaining engineer on a heavily damaged mining station in deep space. Many are dead, water supplies are gone, the last high ranking officer is drunk out of his face, what will you do?!
A quick and easy point and click made for MAGS March 2019.
The theme is GLASS OF WATER.



Music by Eric Matyas.
Testing by Cassiebsg.

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2335/


It's been too long since I've finished a project, even though it's a small one, I enjoyed the process.
I'm releasing it before the deadline because I'll be too busy this week, but I consider it complete.
Special thanks to Cassiebsg for her input.

Walkthrough is bundled with the game.

Warning: No saving system, this might be a bit controversial, but due to the short length of the game I didn't bother.

[Stupot]

Looks neat, dude :-)

[Stupot]

Does anyone need a little more time?

[Kastchey]

Perhaps... we might have something, but it's uncertain whether or not we will manage to deliver even with the extension.
I'll try to confirm ASAP.

Congratulations on your Lifetime Achievement, by the way!

Edit: Ours is unlikely to be finished today, too much going on. We could try with an extension if any was given but as we both agreed that we would finish the game no matter within or outside of the competition, any decision will be fine

[VampireWombat]

An extension would be great. I could technically finish today, but an extra day or two would make a big difference.

[Retro Wolf]

I have no problem with an extension if people need it, but I'm leaving my game as it is.

[Creamy]

*wipes his greasy hands.

I confirm that Kastchey and I need an extension.

[VampireWombat]

I will continue under the assumption of an extension, but I will have a semi playable version prepared just before the deadline just in case...

Unfinished, barely playable version that will hopefully be finished if/when there's the extension. Probably buggy, doesn't have all the dialog options, doesn't have finished art for most things, and doesn't have the intro or true endings.

https://vampirewombat.itch.io/flukie

[Ponch]

I'm wondering why the lack of interest this month. Is the theme not inspiring? Is everyone on vacation or something? Is everyone burnt out on making MAGs games?

I never announce when I'm working on a MAGS entry anymore because I never finish them. For example, I started one this month with a very nice glass of water as an inventory item, but I'm not even halfway done with it. 

It's embarrassing how many of these half-finished things I've accumulated on my hard drive over the years. I miss the days when I had more free time.

[VampireWombat]

I never announce when I'm working on a MAGS entry anymore because I never finish them. For example, I started one this month with a very nice glass of water as an inventory item, but I'm not even halfway done with it. 

It's embarrassing how many of these half-finished things I've accumulated on my hard drive over the years. I miss the days when I had more free time.

I guess I can kind of understand. I tend to talk about mine in the threads as a way of motivation. Which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.

I think I'm up to about a 80% failure rate on completing games. But each one does go towards helping me improve in some way, so none of them are total failures.

[Cassiebsg]

Better try and fail than fail for not even trying... (or something like that  )

[Retro Wolf]

I've been indie games making 10 years, I'd imagine about 50 projects abandoned! 
But most of them I learned something definitely, I know a lot more now then I did then.
Shame I don't have as free much time now like I did in the beginning.

[VampireWombat]

I really hope the extension wasn't until 50 minutes from now or 10 minutes ago. Here's what I currently have just in case.
Still not done. But has more than yesterday's version.

https://vampirewombat.itch.io/flukie

[Kastchey]

Usually if there was an extension given, it would have been until Stu closed the competition so I think you've safely delivered, VW

Ours is *almost* playable so if we are still allowed to finish and submit it today - great, if not then it's 100% fine, it's the second day past the deadline so we've already pushed it...

[Stupot]

I'll be wrapping this up about 8am Wednesday morning Japan time, so that's midnight UK time.

[VampireWombat]

Not as finished as I'd like, but ah well.

https://vampirewombat.itch.io/flukie

[Creamy]

Here you go:

It's untested and probably buggy as hell but finishable.

Suspicious mind

WARNING: contains violence and strong language.

[Kastchey]

Don't worry, if Stupot shows up we'll scare him away. With a Gamera.

Edit:
It's up, nice! And a little screenshot to go with it:
[imgzoom]https://i.ibb.co/hL6b0wz/SM-scr01.png[/imgzoom]

[Shadow1000]

Here you go:

It's untested and probably buggy as hell but finishable.

Suspicious mind

WARNING: contains violence and strong language.

Cool game. How do you save?

[Stupot]

Time for the voting. Three games this month.
Thanks for the last-minute entries. Now we have a contest on our hands.
Please vote using the poll above.

	Hydrate by Retro Wolf
	Flukie by VampireWombat
	Suspicious Mind by Creamy and Kastchey

Let me know if I've missed anything out.

[Kastchey]

Cool game. How do you save?

Mm.. Possibly.. you don't? I made GUI elements for loading, but I'm not sure if Creamy had a chance to add the script.
We had a tight time budget :<

Best if he confirms, though.

[Creamy]

Mm.. Possibly.. you don't? I made GUI elements for loading, but I'm not sure if Creamy had a chance to add the script.
We had a tight time budget

Exactly. I've coded the load button but not the save one.
The closure was really hectic. That's the charm of MAGS competitions 

[Shadow1000]

Mm.. Possibly.. you don't? I made GUI elements for loading, but I'm not sure if Creamy had a chance to add the script.
We had a tight time budget

Exactly. I've coded the load button but not the save one.
The closure was really hectic. That's the charm of MAGS competitions 

Completely understood. Do you think you might add this in and re-release the game, even though the contest is closed? I'll explain why this is important for this game in my comments.

[Cassiebsg]

I'll join Shadow in the request for a saveslot... 

[Shadow1000]

Here are my comments on the games:

Hydrate:

Spoiler

Great graphics and animation. Decent puzzles, even if on the easier side. I liked the combination of inventory and dialogue and things to do. Cool backstory and how it relates to the theme of the month.

[close]

Flukie:

Spoiler

Some nice graphics and animation. Not much gameplay but I realize it's not easy considering the deadline! There certainly was a glass of water in there 

[close]

Suspicious Mind

Spoiler

Outstanding work! I love the graphics and effects, and I love the challenge of knowing that you are always ONE step away from dying! It creates a real feeling of tension and compulsion to do things right and continue. The theme of the month, while not central to the game, definitely plays a role.

Unfortunately, I did not complete the game. A LOT of the game is trial and error (I don't want to give spoilers but you'll see what I mean pretty fast) and learning what's going to set off the villain. Since any wrong move results in death, and that requires a complete restart, I only had so much patience to go through the same motions so many times before reluctantly having to turn the game off. If there were some checkpoints if not a save function, I would LOVE to try again. To summarize: puzzle solving includes trial and error. If the result of error means repeatedly restarting and replaying the current progress, many players will lose patience.

[close]

My vote went to:

Spoiler

Hydrate. Not only is it the most complete, polished and playable game, I give bonus points to the fact that the MAGS theme is so central to the game rather than just being injected into the plot somewhere to meet the requirements

[close]

Honestly, it should serve as a model for how MAGS entries are done well...

[Kastchey]

I can understand how not being able to save makes the game hardly playable. Adding f5 and f7 hotkeys to invoke the standard save and restore GUIs should be a quick fix, I think

[Shadow1000]

I can understand how not being able to save makes the game hardly playable. Adding f5 and f7 hotkeys to invoke the standard save and restore GUIs should be a quick fix, I think

I actually tried hitting some function keys just in case. I got the F9 which restarted the game. Better than getting shot

[Creamy]

I understand it too and I always meant to add it.

I don't want be unfair to the other contestants but I don't want to annoy the players either.

On the game page, the mirror link now takes you to a post MAGS version. Click on the floppy disk in the lower right corner to save.

[Shadow1000]

I understand it too and I always meant to add it.

I don't want be unfair to the other contestants but I don't want to annoy the players either.

On the game page, the mirror link now takes you to a post MAGS version. Click on the floppy disk in the lower right corner to save.

Hmm...I don't see the updated version...

[Kastchey]

That's because the updated version is in the mirror, rather than the main download... where it says: "If the download fails, try the mirror."

I think Creamy wanted to keep things fair and ensure that anyone who plays the game first downloads the version he uploaded before the final deadline.

[VampireWombat]

Hmm...I don't see the updated version...

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2337/mirror/

[Cassiebsg]

Even with the save game... 

Spoiler

I can't figure out how to take cover. 

[close]

[Kastchey]

Hint 1:

Spoiler

Your partner says he needs some info, but you know what happens when you try to speak to him directly.

[close]

Hint 2:

Spoiler

You need to be vocal, but without drawing suspicion.

[close]

Solution, in case hints didn't help much:

Spoiler

Talk to the criminal before your partner bursts in to give him a hint where his target is.

[close]

[Cassiebsg]

Spoiler

Okay, that (the last clue) helped (barely)... 
think the problem is that we're used to be "frozen" when in speech mode. That we don't even think about many of the options.

[close]

good job, eve if slightly too frustrating. Also the save game might not help, if you pick the wrong option at the start. 

[Kastchey]

Spoiler

Okay, that (the last clue) helped (barely)... 
think the problem is that we're used to be "frozen" when in speech mode. That we don't even think about many of the options.

[close]

Spoiler

You're absolutely right. We even talked about adding some sort of hint to the player that they can move around during dialogues, but as with many other stuff, there was no time.
I think many solutions would have been a bit more obvious if we had time for more visualizations and polish, most prominently that last puzzle with the entry team bursting in, but this will need to wait for a post-MAGS release

[close]

[Creamy]

Spoiler

   

Okay, that (the last clue) helped (barely)... 
    think the problem is that we're used to be "frozen" when in speech mode. That we don't even think about many of the options.

You're absolutely right. We even talked about adding some sort of hint to the player that they can move around during dialogues, but as with many other stuff, there was no time.
I think many solutions would have been a bit more obvious if we had time for more visualizations and polish, most prominently that last puzzle with the entry team bursting in, but this will need to wait for a post-MAGS release

Yes, that was one of the ideas behind the game.That's why we had the characters speak in the background and put many interactive hotspots at the beginning.
Maybe we should be more direct about it and simply write an explanatory text first, like Retrowolf did in his game.
"in this game you can - and sometimes you must - act during dialogs".

For the last dialog, given more time I think we'd have added feedback after each attempt. Something like "Jack made a spectacular entrance into the room but he couldn't see the kidnapper and missed him with his stun grenade. The kidnapper killed you the next moment"

[close]

good job, eve if slightly too frustrating. Also the save game might not help, if you pick the wrong option at the start. 

Thanks Cassie. We may try to balance it later.

About the other games:

Flukie

Spoiler

The dialog is funny but the search for Flukie is extremely short.
I like the character art. Flukie's brother reminded me of the imp from Quest for Yrolg.

[close]

Hydrate

Spoiler

Another treat from Retrowolf. Nice graphics and fair puzzles.
The dialogs and names are silly and hilarious.

The GUI is rather unusual but works perfectly well. I guess this could work on a tablet.

[close]

[Retro Wolf]

Flukie

Spoiler

I am a bit of a fan of surreal humour but would like to have seen more, the artwork is pretty good.

[close]

Suspicious Mind

Spoiler

A bit harsh on the player, but it is an interesting idea and I would definitely check out a more polished and complete version.

[close]

Thanks to everyone who checked out my game! 

[VampireWombat]

Thanks for the comments. At some point I'll probably take the time to make a longer version of Flukie with more areas, actual puzzles, and the addition of Twitch. Unfortunately I just didn't have enough time once I finally got into the groove of making it.

[Shadow1000]

Thanks to VampireWombat for the download link.

I actually did not use the save, after all that! Last night I got stuck at the same place as Cassie, and the hints got me past there. I have the same concern that was already mentioned and honestly, I don't think I would have solved the end without the hints.

[morganw]

Hydrate

Spoiler

I wasn't quite sure how the sexual language fitted into the game, not that I mind, but I think it would be better to either double down on that approach and use it as a central theme, or rely on it less to build the environment. But overall this seemed very well put together and I enjoyed it. For me, this is definitely the most well rounded and complete entry.

[close]

Flukie

Spoiler

I do like these kind of abstract starts, although it was over a little a quickly and I wasn't quite sure what happened. Bonus points for having an animated intro.

[close]

Suspicious Mind

Spoiler

I really like the idea and presentation, but I also got stuck on the last task and wouldn't have worked it out without a hint. I think in its current form there are some interface issues and the game needs to establish a precedent about how it operates mechanically and possibly provide some more clues on how the antagonist might react. But I did keep playing for quite a while and I'll go against the grain by saying that having a save feature you can use at any time probably takes away from the overall experience. A major positive for me, even in it's current state I think this game builds a strong narrative, which also meant I wasn't too frustrated by the trail and error approach I had to take.

[close]

I was torn between two, but went for:

Spoiler

Hydrate

[close]

[HanaIndiana]

Great games everyone! I liked the different takes on the theme.

[Stupot]

Last chance to get your votes in. Make it count.

[Stupot]

The voting is over and we have a runaway winner:

Hydrate by Retro Wolf!

Well done, sir. You'll be contacted soon about coming up with a topic for May.

Thanks a lot to all participants and voters.

[Kastchey]

Congratulations RetroWolf, well done!

[Retro Wolf]

Thanks to everyone who played my game! I hope you guys will like my selected theme for May, I've had it in mind for a long time.

[Cassiebsg]

Congrats and looking forward to see what it will be. 

[Shadow1000]

Congrats! Well done

[Creamy]

Glasses up to Retrowolf!

[Shadow1000]

Congrats, Retrowolf!

[selmiak]

*raises a glass of water on retrowolf*

[Retro Wolf]

Thanks everyone!