Topic: MAGS April “End of an Era” (RESULT)

[VampireWombat]

The joint game I was working on fell through. But I am working on another using a sprite style based on what I was going to use. It's going to be mostly dialog based with at least 3 possible endings. So I'm still planning out the dialog tree. Which hopefully won't turn into a forest. I plan to finish up the graphics needed today and tomorrow and create the dialog tree(s) this weekend.

[Mandle]

Won't have time to join this MAGS most likely but...

Hmmmmm...

[Blondbraid]

Well, it is (orthodox) Easter this week-end, and i was way too tired from work to try anything...
Might still attempt something, cause i love the theme, but yes, sadly it isn't that likely i will be able to finish it on time

Even if you don't make it in time, it'd still be great to see you try!

[Retro Wolf]

I was quite motivated again this month, but tonsillitis has knocked that right out!

[VampireWombat]

So... 27 hours to go? Anyone finished or close to finished? I'm close enough that I can have a version finished by tomorrow. The only thing that's unclear is if I'll be able to include any animations and how much I will be able to show in the endings.

[LostTrainDude]

I dedicated very little time to this, but here goes nonetheless

(To see the three images below, hover the table with your cursor)

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TRAVELERS
Download

TRAVELERS is a prototype. The gameplay progressively and purposely loses purpose the more you play.

The game can be played with both mouse and keyboard.

[Kastchey]

An entry, and it sounds awesome! I'll play it as soon as I get back home.

Fingers crossed for your entry too, VW

[VampireWombat]

Assuming there isn't a thunderstorm that makes me lose power, I will have something by the deadline. I had new ideas when I woke up this morning, so there's no way I can get everything in that I'd want, but I will work up until close to the deadline.

[LostTrainDude]

Thanks Kastchey!

And VampireWombat, looking forward to see your entry! Anything even the slightest more aesthetically pleasing than what I just published is meant to be a success so GO FOR IT!

[Mandle]

THE ERA-GONE TRAIL


This game is the very bare-bones version of a project that will outgrow its humble MAGS roots, hopefully.

Players can ignore most of the characters' stats for now, except for the all-important HPS of each.

The other stats are signs of game play yet to come...

You play a group of small mammals running for their lives to escape the horror of the meteor that killed off the dinosaurs.

Watch your food levels, dodge the meteors, and gather food every now and then in the rare surviving grasslands areas... But watch out for lurking snakes!

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO SURVIVE THE ERA?!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE GAME

After playing my own game about ten times and only being able to win twice, and not yet with a full crew of mammals, I decided to write this brief guide about the game and how some of its less-than-obvious mechanics work:

THE GUIDE

The goal of the game is to run the full distance to the next era without either starving to death or being killed by meteors or snakes.

The meteors are easy. Just learn how to dodge them best but also be aware that there is quite a bit of splash damage from the impacts so get as far away as possible. Don't just stop when you think you're not going to get a direct hit.

When you reach one of the grasslands areas you must keep in mind that you have to do the best you can here gathering meat and fruit or you probably won't survive until the goal is reached.

The fruit is the orange globes here and there in plants.

The meat is gotten from the skeletons that still have some red around their ribs.

The fruit and meat both give random amounts of food so its a bit of a gamble how much you end up with.

There is no time limit here so, unless under immediate threat from snakes, you can take your time to have a look around and take in the lay of the land.

Walk slowly, a bit at a time, as there may be snakes on patrol for food around the area.

Snakes, however, usually prefer to lurk in the long grass clusters waiting to strike on prey wandering nearby.

It's best to stay away from the long grass whenever possible. However, often the fruit and meat is only available near or in the long grass. In these cases you must risk-assess and go for it or not as a case-by-case decision. Think about how desperate your crew is for food for the next leg of the run.

Snakes...

Run from snakes as fast as you can. If a snake latches onto you combat will begin on its own. One successful chomp and the snake will be dead, and you will obtain a small amount of meat from the kill. But, if you get bitten twice by snakes, as indicated by the squeals of pain, you will be forced to run from the area and all of your mammals will receive 1HP damage each. You will still keep your collected store of food so far.

There is no penalty to HPS for leaving a grasslands area with only one snake bite.

While being attacked by a snake or snakes you cannot collect food or exit the area.

When you are satisfied that you are done with the area just go to any border to exit, north, south, east, or west.

There is a potential strategy to hunt snakes for meat if you are really desperate for food, but the risk is high. Only do so if you are going to die on the next run anyway, I would say.

But what do I know? I hardly have a good track record of winning my own game yet.

Going back for another try or two now...

Best of luck!

[Kastchey]

Congrats on the release, Mandle! Great to see all those last minute entries.

[LostTrainDude]

Wow Mandle, this looks awesome! Downloading it right away!

[DBoyWheeler]

THE ERA-GONE TRAIL

Spoiler: ShowHide

This game is the very bare-bones version of a project that will outgrow its humble MAGS roots, hopefully.

Players can ignore most of the characters' stats for now, except for the all-important HPS of each.

The other stats are signs of game play yet to come...

Watch your food levels, dodge the meteors, and gather food every now and then in the rare surviving grasslands areas... But watch out for lurking snakes!

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO SURVIVE THE ERA?!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE GAME

"Era-Gone Trail"?!  Well played! 

[VampireWombat]

Game play is done completely through dialog. And there's nowhere near as much in the game as I hoped. But I present Shamrock High School: Graduation. Sequel to games I've yet to actually make.



https://vampirewombat.itch.io/shamrock-high-graduation

[Jack]

Heroes of Wyrdale



This is an action/adventure with most of the adventure components removed due to time constraints.
The Central Union Council has been placed in a weaker position, and as adventurers you have come to this planet to take advantage of that fact to directly take on the council and the robots protecting them.

CONTROL:
Movement: Right-click
Use, examine, etc: Left-click

Hint: The energy bar recharges faster when above 50%

Download: Linux (56.9MB)
Download: Windows (67.2MB)

[Mandle]

Congrats on the release, Mandle! Great to see all those last minute entries.

Hehe, a little secret project I've been working on for the past 2 weeks after getting back from holiday. Getting it finished was a huge rush and I was up until 3:30AM so hopefully not too broken. And of course most features of gameplay are still on the drawing board. I'm hoping to develop it into a humble commercial game with quite some depth where not only do you have to survive progressive eras but the choices you make guide your evolution as a species: Whether you will be carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore, or even have cannibalistic tendencies, among other things.

Wow Mandle, this looks awesome! Downloading it right away!

Cheers! I worked pretty hard on the graphics, drawing all from scratch in GIMP with my trusty mouse, although a lot are still placeholders, especially the GUI layout and hunting/gathering screen. I am pretty stoked with how well my first parallax scrolling went, though!

"Era-Gone Trail"?!  Well played! 

Hehehe, thanks! Glad the reference was recognizable.

[Shadow1000]

Cheers! I worked pretty hard on the graphics, drawing all from scratch in GIMP with my trusty mouse, although a lot are still placeholders, especially the GUI layout and hunting/gathering screen. I am pretty stoked with how well my first parallax scrolling went, though!

Actually that part specifically is AWESOME!

[Mandle]

Actually that part specifically is AWESOME!

Thanks! It is rather pretty, isn't it? 

I just wish I'd had time to add the random events, forking paths, map, and jungle areas that I have planned. Oh, and there WILL be dinosaurs of course! The basic idea was that you will be able to choose different paths which will effect your evolution as a species and have an impact on how well equipped you are genetically to survive the coming eras.

The next planned era is the ice age in which you become bipedal and hunt mammoths and avoid saber-tooth tigers and all that fun edge-of-extinction stuff.

[Stupot]

As we say goodbye to MAGS April and prepare to welcome the new era of MAGS May, it's worth pointing out that Japan has literally just waved goodbye to the 30-year imperial era of Heisei and is embarking on a new era known as Reiwa. So this MAGS theme was pretty well-timed.

Just a few days ago it was looking like a dry month, but we've suddenly ended up with four entrants, so well done, folks.

Vote for your favourite using the poll above.

	TRAVELERS (Prototype) by LostTrainDude
	The Era-Gone Trail by Mandle
	Shamrock High School: Graduation by VampireWombat
	Heroes of Wyrdale by Jack

[Mandle]

it's worth pointing out that Japan has literally just waved goodbye to the 30-year imperial era of Heisei and is embarking on a new era known as Reiwa. So this MAGS theme was pretty well-timed

I was actually wondering if that was on purpose by the topic chooser? If not, what a coincidence!

Also, weird coincidence too, yesterday was the last day that I officially owned the school I worked at and owned for 21 years, which timed coincidentally with the start of the Reiwa Era so well it's scary.

(I still have the keys and doing last clean-up due to a technical extension over the Golden Week holiday, but yeah, not the owner anymore as of the start of Reiwa)