MAGS December “Create Your Own Christmas” (RESULT)

[Stupot]

The voting is over and the winner is: A Christmas Nightmare by Alan v.Drake . Well done Alan.

Topic: Create Your Own Christmas Adventure
Chosen by: Slasher

	Create your own game: Your dreamy Christmas by Slasher
	A Christmas Ghost by Racoon
	A Christmas Nightmare by Alan v.Drake

You must make a 'Create your own Christmas adventure' game. It  must have elements that will change the way your Christmas adventure plays out. Your adventure will differ depending on the choices/actions you make. You MUST have a minimum of 5 sets of choices/actions that will differ the game. You may use previous assets to create your game and you may have a text based or book style game as well as the usual adventure game style.

[Kinkilla]

Quite a while ago since I was here last time.
Maybe I'll try it a second time, I'm feeling like making a christmas game.
When I think about "choose your own adventure", I can just think about those selectable answer type of games. Hmm...

[VampireWombat]

Hmm. I'll see if I can come up with an idea.

[Slasher]

I think it was VampireWombat who mentioned the topic idea some time ago..

Anyhow, If I can find enough time I'll enter..

Interesting topic

[VampireWombat]

I don't think I was the one who actually brought up a choose your own adventure, but I was going to attempt it in October.

If I do make a game, I'm not going to let happened then happen...

It will be another attempt at a decent Massimo and Twitch game. But I need to come up with an idea of who/what the problem is. Santa being kidnapped is out since that's what I attempted last year. I also tried and failed with aliens. And sapient snowmen would be too similar to the pink slime from the last failed game... But there are 2 or 3 other possibilities.

[Slasher]

VampireWombat.. It does not need to be complicated and maybe just something associated with Christmas...

I have an idea or two that could work..

[Slasher]

Well, during the night I made a start with a zillion ideas and implemented seven story lines... But then that would have been far too much to complete in a month..

So I chose one story line and went with that one.... It's in the form of a book type that is also interactive...

   player.SayAt(26, 195,264,"It's Christmas morning and you have already opened your presents.");
   player.SayAt(26, 195,264,"You did not get what you wanted and they are cheap. You are very disappointed.");
   player.SayAt(26, 195,264,"You are really bored, so you decide to talk with your grandad.");
   player.SayAt(26, 195,264,"Grandad is sitting in his chair cracking his nuts. You love listening to his stories.");
   player.SayAt(26, 195,264,  "You ask your grandad to tell you one of his stories of adventure and excitement.");
   player.SayAt(26, 195,264,  "You grandad says he would love to tell you one of his stories.");
   cGrandad.SayAt(26, 185,264, "\"What story would you like to hear, Peter?\"");
   player.SayAt(26, 195,264,"You look around to see what exciting story you would like to hear about.");
   player.SayAt(26, 195,264,  "\"Tell me about that sword, grandad. I bet it has seen many adventures.\"");
   cGrandad.SayAt(26, 195,264,  "\"It sure has. It belonged to Sinbad the sailor: Prince of Persia.\"");
   cGrandad.SayAt(26, 195,264,  "\"Persia that year did not have a tree for Christmas. The King was sad.\"");
   cGrandad.SayAt(26, 195,264,  "\"So, the King asked Sinbad if he could help. Sinbad said he would be honored.\"");
   cGrandad.SayAt(26, 195,264,  "\"The King held a feast and gave Sinbad his fastest ship.\"");
   cGrandad.SayAt(26, 195,264,  "\"Sinbad began sailing the Seven Seas in search of the greenest Christmas tree.\"");
   player.SayAt(26, 195,264,  "Peter becomes really immersed in grandad's story of Sinbad.");

[DBoyWheeler]

I'm willing to help with proofreading things, if anyone wants my assistance.

[Slasher]

Hi,

I've made an outlay plan for my entry...

Peter's dreamy Christmas

Peter becomes Sinbad the sailor... He is searching the Seven Seas for the greenest tree for Christmas after the King of Persia confesses that Persia does not have a tree for Christmas that year and the King is very sad, so he asks Sinbad for his help.

Looks as if there will be more rooms than anticipated: 40+.

Includes:

• Message in a bottle
• Cannibals
• Cooking pot
• Sharks
• Octopus
• Raft
• Skeleton warrior
• Genie
• And much, much more...........

How will you create your game play?

Game progress: 15%

Working super hard to get it done by the 23rd December..

[VampireWombat]

40+ rooms? Wow.
Other than writing out some options for the beginning and brainstorming the general idea, I haven't done anything with my game yet. The last week has been very stressful for me. Hopefully once the stress dies down, I can work on it.

[Stupot]

40 rooms is ambitious. The thing is, 5 choices sounds quite small but if you have a different result for each choice that's a minimum of 32 different paths. The best way to make that manageable in a month, I think, is to keep them dialogue- or item-based rather than room-based. Change things around in other meaningful ways rather than necessarily creating a whole new scene for each choice.

[fernewelten]

if you have a different result for each choice that's a minimum of 32 different paths.

Perhaps it would be still within the rules to treat some of the choices as a 0-or-1 option and provide paths that are dependent on the sum of them. If the player has 0 for all the options, they'd make for a deplorable Christmas, having them all 1 would get the player a perfect Christmas, and having any three of them a middling Christmas -- no matter which particular three the player chooses "right".

After all, each option would still influence the end result, just not individually but as part of a "team".

That would make for only six different end results instead of 32 different end results.

Also, not every option needs to result in a different "room". For instance, some of the options might be the presents for the siblings, and the christmas party would only differ in the reaction of the respective sibling to the respective present -- all the other aspects would be the same.

Then all the options differentiate the end result, but you don't need 2^5 different rooms for that; you could basically handle all the siblings' reactions in the same christmas party room, one after the other.

So even with (at least) five different choices with (at least) two possibilities per choice, there are ways to whittle down the differentiation to an extent that makes the task manageable.

[Slasher]

Hi,

Dealing with options/actions may or may not affect the next room or indeed change the next destination room, some could be just side events...

But having to choose one pathway or another will change players' destination room....

All roads lead to Rome, as they say.. There are no roads to failure but they may lead to danger... it's about how your adventure plays out by your decisions/actions...

I probably have about 10 main options/actions and a few minor ones..

Whilst my game is mainly pure adventure as a type of interactive story book there are times when you need to think before deciding/acting...

As far as 40+ rooms go I don't think it is too ambitious if it's tackled right... I love a challenge and pushing myself.... He who dares.

Of course, I wish I was a great artist and scripter... but such is life

Game progress 40%

[Slasher]

[Slasher]

During Peter's dreamy Christmas adventure Sinbad may face a deadly armed skeleton!

Game progress 50%

[Slasher]

(Your name)'s dreamy Christmas

Do you remember as a kid how you used to fantasies and role play as an adventurer, like Sinbad the sailor: Prince of Persia?

Well, now you can go back to those days of dreamy times of swashbuckling, monsters and genies.

Become Sinbad again and become an adventurer and sail the Seven Seas.

This time Sinbad must search an island to find the greenest Christmas tree for the King of Persia.

Of course it is not all plain sailing.

You will need to make choices from options, interact with items... Multiple paths...

This game is in the form of an interactive story book.

There is only one cursor (arrow) and there is no conventional Inventory, though you always have your trusted Shamshir sword.

As I said, this is pure adventure and there are times where you will need to have a think, or just chance it

Yes, you could once again become Sinbad, hero of the Seven Seas along with his crew: Pegleg Bill and Shorty Sam 

How long can one dream for?

34 Rooms so far...

Game Progress 70%

[Slasher]

Has anybody else got something to show?

Come on, it's nearly Christmas

[VampireWombat]

Nope. And it's looking doubtful I will be able to make something. But we'll see how things go the rest of the week.

[Racoon]

Hey Slasher,

I am also trying to get a game done. But since december is a very busy month, I worry a bit if I get it done in time.

Here is a first look:



It will be a very short visual novel (since I am not good with scripting yet), about a ghost and his adventures one christmas night.

I would say I'm about 20% done.

[TheFrighter]

So gloomy! 

_

[DBoyWheeler]

Hey Slasher,

I am also trying to get a game done. But since december is a very busy month, I worry a bit if I get it done in time.

Here is a first look:



It will be a very short visual novel (since I am not good with scripting yet), about a ghost and his adventures one christmas night.

I would say I'm about 20% done.

Now that's what I call "Christmas spirit"!  (rimshot)

[Racoon]

Now that's what I call "Christmas spirit"!  (rimshot)

Haha, that might actually make a good title 

[Slasher]

Racoon: Oh, I do hope you manage to get the game done, still enough time to put something together 

I don't want to be lonely this Christmas 

My Game Progress 90%

[Slasher]

Create your own game: Your dreamy Christmas.

(Updated regularly)

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2391/

You create your own game-play by your actions and choices throughout the game. You can even play with your name.

You are displeased with your Christmas presents and decide to talk with your granddad. Your granddad tells some exciting stories of adventures.

Whilst taking to your granddad you are suddenly transported into a dream.

Sinbad the sailor is searching the Seven Seas for the greenest tree for Christmas after the King of Persia tells Sinbad that Persia does not have a tree for Christmas that year and the King is very sad, so he asks Sinbad for his help.

Do you remember as a kid how you used to fantasies and role play as an adventurer, like Sinbad the sailor: Prince of Persia?

Well, now you can go back to those days of dreamy times of swashbuckling, monsters and genies.

Become Sinbad again and become an adventurer and sail the Seven Seas.

This time Sinbad must search an island to find the greenest Christmas tree for the King of Persia.

Of course it is not all plain sailing.

You will need to make choices from options, interact with items... Multiple paths...

This game is in the form of an interactive story book.

There is only one cursor (arrow) and there is no conventional Inventory, though you always have your trusted Shamshir sword.

This is pure adventure and there are times where you will need to have a think, or just chance it.
Yes, you could once again become Sinbad, hero of the Seven Seas along with his crew: Pegleg Bill and Shorty Sam.

How long can one dream for?

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2391/

[Slasher]

Come on guys, don't let me be the only entrant!

Will someone sneak a game in at the last moment?

[VampireWombat]

I'll see what I can do...

[Alan v.Drake]

Well, yes. I want to sneak in at the last moment.
There's a demo on discord but I'm grinding till the last day so I can give you something more presentable.
Unfortunately the full game will have to wait some more, which is sad because for the last part I have a cool contribution from Crimson and my musician friend.


A Christmas Nightmare

The tale of a young kid meeting Santa... but nothing is what it seems.
(be advised, this game is a little meta)

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/JpB5vMM.png[/imgzoom]


- Alan

[Racoon]

I also almost finished my game! Depending on what I will get done this evening I might need one more day to add some music
I already played your game Slasher and liked it alot.
Alan v.Drake: Your game looks great. The artwork is really neat!

[Alan v.Drake]

Maybe we could get an extension, or does that defy MAGS law?


- Alan

[VampireWombat]

Generally an extension is given if asked.

[Stupot]

Extension granted. I'll update with s proper deadline soon.

[Stupot]

Is anyone taking advantage of the extension?
Let's give it another day. So midnight GMT Friday night.

[Racoon]

Thanks for waiting!

I have added my game now: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2402/

And I see that Alan v.Drake also added his, so we should be complete

Edit: And if somebody tried the game, can you let me know if downloading and running it went well?

[Alan v.Drake]

I'll update the demo tonight.
It will miss the last part but you'll be able to play through 3/4 of the content. (The last part will take a few more days)

EDIT: updated https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2398/
EDIT: There were some game breaking bugs, they were fixed in the v0.3.1 archive


- Alan

[HanaIndiana]

Thanks for waiting!

I have added my game now: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2402/

And I see that Alan v.Drake also added his, so we should be complete

Edit: And if somebody tried the game, can you let me know if downloading and running it went well?

I was able to download and play, no problems.    Loved it and left a comment.

[Racoon]

Thanks for playing and for letting me know the game worked HanaIndiana

[Slasher]

Got some great entries this month 

Good show chaps....

[Stupot]

Apologies again for the delay. Thanks for the great-looking entries.
Voting is now open. Please vote using the poll above.

	Create your own game: Your dreamy Christmas by Slasher
	A Christmas Ghost by Racoon
	A Christmas Nightmare by Alan v.Drake

As always, let me know if I've missed anything.

Happy playing and voting.

[Mandle]

(be advised, this game is a little meta)

Meta to the point where I got to play it just enough to get intrigued, with the diverging stories, and then freeze, and then it would just keep freezing my entire computer whenever I tried to play it again?

The game looked interesting enough for me to just kill my computer twice and restart the game again but it still ended with a fatal freeze both times.

[Crimson Wizard]

(be advised, this game is a little meta)

Meta to the point where I got to play it just enough to get intrigued, with the diverging stories, and then freeze, and then it would just keep freezing my entire computer whenever I tried to play it again?

The game looked interesting enough for me to just kill my computer twice and restart the game again but it still ended with a fatal freeze both times.

Is anyone else having these problems? Even if the game script has infinite loop, it won't normally freeze whole computer, so that might be an engine problem too (eventhough I cannot imagine what it had to do to cause this).

[Alan v.Drake]

[...] ended with a fatal freeze both times.

Fatal freezes aren't part of the game, what renderer were you using and what was happening in the game?


- Alan

[Mandle]

[...] ended with a fatal freeze both times.

Fatal freezes aren't part of the game, what renderer were you using and what was happening in the game?


- Alan

Ummmm, the first one happened when I woke up in the night, went through the portal in the wardrobe, came out the other side, I think I spoke to someone and I think a cutscene was supposed to start but the screen just stayed black. I tried ALT-TAB and the screen went white. I tried CTRL-X and nothing happened. I tried Windows key and nothing happened.

I was a bit drunk so details are hazy. I will have to try again today.

(I was using the default renderer the game is set to, but I changed to software renderer the next try and it froze everything again but I do not remember exactly where)

[Alan v.Drake]

Ummmm, the first one happened when I woke up in the night, went through the portal in the wardrobe, came out the other side, I think I spoke to someone and I think a cutscene was supposed to start but the screen just stayed black. I tried ALT-TAB and the screen went white. I tried CTRL-X and nothing happened. I tried Windows key and nothing happened.

I was a bit drunk so details are hazy. I will have to try again today.

(I was using the default renderer the game is set to, but I changed to software renderer the next try and it froze everything again but I do not remember exactly where)

Were you playing fullscreen? The "I'm ready" was the part where the game goes white and closes itself.  Maybe try out what happens with windowed mode.


- Alan

[Mandle]

Were you playing fullscreen?

Yes.

[Alan v.Drake]

Could it be a game exit hang akin to what Dualnames was experiencing? 


- Alan

[Shadow1000]

All three of this month's entries are awesome, but in my mind there is a clear winner:

Create your own game: Your dreamy Christmas by Slasher

Spoiler

Great adaptation of the theme; it's really like having the possibility of a whole bunch of completely different games under one roof based on the player's decisions. In fact, this is probably the one of the batch that stands out of the group for adaptation of the theme. Very slasher-esque graphics and room-specific puzzles. I know it's just a game but I found the theme culturally mismatched of the Prince of Persia looking for a Christmas tree? Otherwise, great entry.

[close]

A Christmas Ghost by Racoon

Spoiler

BEAUTIFUL graphics, and who can't feel moved by a lonely old lady finding company to celebrate Christmas? This one also gives the player options so it meets the theme of the month but not as much as slasher's entry.

[close]

A Christmas Nightmare by Alan v.Drake

Spoiler

I'm going to jump to the end here: I can only think of one other MAGS entry of all time that is SO complete in terms of story, puzzles, art, design, dialogues, creativity, amount of content created in such a short time, you name it. It looks like Alan v. Drake did this with no help? If so, then I am completely speechless. I especially enjoyed the book-man and broom puzzles. It's rare to see such well-designed puzzles in a MAGS entry. And without giving away too much, the choices definitely change the game. I LOVED the Christmas music.  My only uncertainty is that the game actually flashes and turns off when it does. I actually thought at first "WHAT?? THAT WAS IT??" until I realized...I'm not sure if I feel that this choice was brilliant or should be changed so as not to dissuade some players who don't realize that things are just beginning...

[close]

In case you couldn't tell, my vote goes straight to

Spoiler

A Christmas Nightmare

[close]

[Kastchey]

Your Dreamy Christmas by Slasher

Spoiler

I would have loved more choices similar to the first one, i.e. choose a path that does not have any obvious outcome, rather than looking for adventure gamey solutions such as getting out of the stew pot, but it did the job as a 'choose your own adventure' well, in fact the best of all three entries. The concept of an ancient Persian hero with two blonde dudes as his crew looking for a Christmas tree so that children may dance and praise the Lord (..!) made me cringe a little but okay, this was a grandpa's fairy tale quickly made up to entertain a bored kid, so I understand he had to improvise ;-)

[close]

A Christmas Ghost by Racoon

Spoiler

What a cute little game. It felt more as if I was reading a kiddie book than playing a game because of little interactivity and lots of text, but that's by no means a fault - it added to the game's specific charm. It was less of a 'choose your own adventure' and more of a multiple ending game, but both endings were charming. A really cute little game I could easily play with a kid.

[close]

Christmas Nightmare by Alan
SPOILER ALERT! Seriously, don't read before you play the entire game content.

Spoiler

Whoa. That was AMAZING. It looks terrific, has entertaining puzzles and unforgettable atmosthere and the music is super well picked. It's unbelievable that you managed to make a game this complete within just a month. What a comeback!
What thrilled me most was the game shutting itself down on purpose - a genius move. The bad ending was rightfully creepy, I loved it. The fact that the game required a third playthrough was a brilliant twist, I genuinely thought there were just two options - being selfish and getting punished, and being a good boy and getting zilch except for keeping the family happy. I'm just wondering though, I never managed to get a real 'good' ending even though I collected all four pieces 'good boy' dream matter. Eddy still says he should have tried harder in the end. Am I missing something, or is the real 'good' ending not implemented yet?

[close]

And my vote went to

Spoiler

Christmas Nightmare by Alan v.Drake. There was a notable quality in each of the three entries, but this one was just stunningly well crafter and entertaining.

[close]

[lanchong]

I've voted for Christmas Nightmare because it's a beautiful classic point-and-click adventure game. I didn't quite understand why the game suddenly exited but the rest of the game was fun.

I loved A Chrismas Nightmare too. I got warm fuzzies playing it.

Your Dreamy Christmas was amusing because of the unusual middle East setting and it will appeal to younger demographics.

[Slasher]

I'm glad that Alan v.Drake sorted out some annoying issues 

[Stupot]

Any more votes before we close out December?

[Stupot]

The voting is over and the winner is: A Christmas Nightmare by Alan v.Drake

Well done Alan. I haven't had a chance to play the game myself yet, but it looks incredible and judging by the comment, it is. I'll contact you soon about choosing a topic for February.

Thanks to the others who entered and to everyone who voted.

[Slasher]

Well done Alan v.Drake... I'm glad it turned out well 

[LostTrainDude]

Well done, Alan, a deserved result for such a good little game!

Congrats to all the entries! 

[Alan v.Drake]

Thanks guys.
I've got a little busy this January so the last part isn't done yet but it's slowly coming together!

It's a miracle that I managed to get 3/4 of a game ready in a month, I'm glad it was good enough for you to enjoy.
I'll update the demo with the improved version (the one I put on itch.io).

I'll think about a new topic.


- Alan

[Racoon]

That was a well deserved win Alan v. Drake  Congratulations!
When I first tried the game it would crash pretty soon

Spoiler

after meeting Santa

[close]

,but in the end it turned out to be so polished and really enjoyable! It must have taken a lot of time and effort to get it that far.

It was fun to participate and I really look forward to join more MAGs soon 

[Shadow1000]

Congratulations on the win. I already made my comments on this outstanding games. Looking forward to more!