MAGGIES 2019 (VOTING ends February 29th!!)

Started by Stupot, Mon 20/01/2020 07:26:17

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fernewelten

Quote from: cat on Thu 06/02/2020 08:42:53
what happened to ours about Cave of Avarice?

Yes, that's what I've been wondering, too. I've been looking forward to that interview.

Stupot

Quote from: cat on Thu 06/02/2020 08:42:53
I like those interviews, but what happened to ours about Cave of Avarice?
It’s coming next. I was waiting for all the responses, which are now in the can and will hopefully be posted tomorrow.

Stupot

Next up, we have Blondbraid, Slasher and cat for their piece, Cave of Avarice.

What was your role in the development of the game?
Blondbraid: Mainly doing the graphics and coming up with ideas.
Cat: Puzzle design and coding
Slasher: My role in the game was mostly to give ideas and come up with suitable puzzles that we all agreed on.

Can you tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea?
C: I didn't, Blondbraid did and asked for help with puzzles and coding on the forum.
S: I had some time on my hands so I offered to help make the game with Blondbraid who's idea it was.
B: My main inspiration was reading about the real historical Dahomey Amazons on Wikipedia, but also old adventure comics with heroes like like Tintin and Tarzan I've read as a kid.

What are you most proud of about the game?
B: That it brought so many people together to work on it, and while everyone had their own ideas that got added into the game, the final result felt like a good and coherent experience.
C: The atmosphere in the cave with the lamp light and random sound effects.
S: I'm proud of the fact that we completed a good game on time and Blondbraid's  graphics and Cat's implementation of the scripts.

What challenges did you face during the development?
B: Mainly coming up with good ideas for the ending of the story, but that's when the others stepped in with their own ideas and proposals.
C: Coordination in the team was often hard.
S: The challenges I found were to come up with feasible ideas and puzzles.

If you'd had more time, what else would you have liked to have included in the game?
B: More polished animations mostly.
C: A puzzle that takes advantage of the lamp light.
S: If we had more time I'm certain we would have added more rooms and puzzles.

Any final words?
B: It was a fun experience working with so many people at once, that way, there was always someone else to step in whenever we'd get stuck on how to construct a puzzle or write the story.
C: I think it turned out quite well!
S: We made a great team.

Thanks, guys and gals for your answers. I hope you will team up again in the near future.

Click here to vote

Stupot

I was rather hoping these interviews would get people talking about the games and eventually lead to people voting. Neither of those is really happening.

Remember that just because there isn’t an official deadline yet doesn’t mean that time isn’t running out. So please vote sooner rather than later.

Cassiebsg

We may not be talking but I'm enjoying reading them!  ;-D
So don't feel like it's wasted effort, it's not!

Besides, I already voted long ago. One of the perks of following MAGS, is that I had already played all of them.  ;)
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

lorenzo

Quote from: Stupot on Fri 07/02/2020 21:01:28
I was rather hoping these interviews would get people talking about the games and eventually lead to people voting. Neither of those is really happening.
I've really enjoyed reading the interviews, they were pretty interesting! ;-D And I've already voted!

Also, congratulations for such great entries everybody! It was a really tough choice.

Cassiebsg

Could one maybe add the text "Remember to vote for MAGGIES as well!" on the forums top warning about the awards? With the link to the voting page on the word MAGGIES?

Not everyone does read every post in the forum, and/or they may not realize it's not the same as nominations.

Just a though to try and create more awareness...
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

Stupot

Our next interview is with cat, Marcin K and CaptainD for their educational game, Mr Bear Teaches English.

What was your role in the development of the game?
cat: I came up with the idea and coded it.
Marcin K: My role was mainly providing and artwork yet during my discussions with cat I had some small input like creating lead character (Bear the Magician).
Captain D: I voiced "Mr Bear".

Can you tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea?
C: I wanted to make a simple English learning app for my daughter. The MAGS topic "Hats" then set the theme. In the forum introduction thread I found a post by Marcin who offered help with graphics and I asked him if he wanted to join. He also came up with the mascot and the title.
M: The theme was "hat" so the "magician" was the first thing that come to my mind as the most versatile solution for a game of that type.
CD: I can't - it wasn't my idea!!

What are you most proud of about the game?
C: That my kid loves to play it and she already knows all the words.
M: I'm proud of the bear character. His articulation is very limited in this game but I think he's nice.
CD: Though it's not my game in any way, having only voiced the character, I've long been an advocate of how well computer games can be used in education, so it was a real pleasure to work on this.

What challenges did you face during the development?
C: It was hard to find a voice actor, but luckily CaptainD kindly offered his help.
M: The challenge was deadline (even shorter then official) so I could only "recycle" artworks from my archive.
CD: While I clearly sound nothing like a bear (!), it also didn't help that we had a break-in which, while not resulting in much material loss, did include the theft of my Snowball mic!  So I had to record on my phone which wasn't great quality.

If you'd had more time, what else would you have liked to have included in the game?
C: Maybe one more category? The quiz was also not part of the original MAGS entry and only added later on.
M: If I or rather we all had more time, we would include more words, some quiz and, in my case, more animations and "bells and whistles". Yet still I think we did a decent job.
CD: Cat has already released an updated version which is great.  For myself I would have liked to have access to a decent mic and possibly spent extra time getting the voicing itself and sound quality much better since I was really pushed for time when the game was being made.

Any final words?
C: It was a pleasure to work with Marcin and Dave. And I'd love to hear if other kids like the game as well.
M: As someone who works with kids and for kids I'm happy I was invited to this project at my very first days on this forum. I'm very busy and learning AGS is going slowly so before I'll manage to make my own game it was great experience.
CD: In terms of gamedev 2019 was a really tough year for me, for various reasons I struggled for time and even when I did have time my motivation or inspiration was sorely lacking.  Being able to lend a hand on a MAGS games has helped me not feel completely out of the loop.

Thanks, team, for taking the time to answer the questions. Let's hope to see more educational MAGS games in 2020.

Click here to vote

cat

I wasn't aware you want us to discuss the games here. I didn't want to say too much and influence other people.

But regarding the interviews:

I was surprised to learn that Retro Wolf traced the graphics from 3D renders. It was well done!

Stupot

Next up. A short one with MAGS regular and saviour, Slasher for his work on Desmond: The 'Thing' from Another World.

What was your role in the development of the game?
I did every role in the game development.

Can you tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea?
Well, I thought about doing a parody of a horror film, then I thought I would make it with kids..

What are you most proud of about the game?
My proudest moment would be winning that month's MAGS.

What challenges did you face during the development?
The main challenges were incorporating the singing and the dance moves.

If you'd had more time, what else would you have liked to have included in the game?
Given more time I could have added an extra puzzle.

Any final words?
I specifically wanted to make this a kids horror game.

Thanks for your answers, Slasher. And thanks for all your many entries over the past couple of years, even while working on a bigger project.

Click here to vote

Stupot

Up next, another one from Fernewelten for his game Jake's very last Journey.

What was your role in the development of the game?
All of them ;) this was a one person project.

Can you tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea?
The theme of that month was "Cloud", and one of the first associations I came up with was a famous chorus by the German singer Reinhard Mey: "When you're on top of the clouds, your freedom must probably be without bounds. They say that the clouds will keep all your anxieties, all your troubles covered up, and all the issues that you had thought to be so big and important will become void and petty ..." So I imagined someone to literally stand on top of clouds, in a sort of dream world. To justify them standing there, I got the idea of them having died and making their way to the pearly gates of heaven.

What are you most proud of about the game?
The background music does part of the work of voice acting (which my game lacks): Each NPC has a leitmotiv, and when the protagonist talks to them, the music changes to that. So the music characterizes the moods of the protagonist and the nature of the NPCs they interact with, it doesn't primarily characterize the room.

What challenges did you face during the development?
The examiner ghost turned out to be much harder than it looked. The frontal scene of Jake driving turned out to be a big hassle; I had to prepare and export three sprites for each house whizzing by. Simply zooming didn't cut it, so I ended up rearranging the houses and realigning the perspective distortion for each shot.

If you'd had more time, what else would you have liked to have included in the game?
More puzzles, more rooms. At the moment, there is just one room between the place where Jake's journey starts and the place with the pearly gates.

I'm indeed considering to extend this game significantly, sending Jake through several wild and wonderful locations that are populated by strange, cloudy beasts. Stay tuned for updates!

Any final words?
A big thanks to you for having kept MAGS running for such a long time, month by month by month! The AGS ecosystem would be a far cry from what it is now if there weren't so many dedicated volunteers, quietly working behind the scenes to keep everything up. Also, a big shoutout to the administrators of the AGS GIT project.


Thanks for your kind words, Fernewelten. And Keep the games coming :-)

Click here to vote

Stupot

In likely our last interview, we have Alan v. Drake for his debut MAGS entry, A Christmas Nightmare

What was your role in the development of the game?
Pretty much everything, except music and the arcade sequence that will come out when the last part is released.

Can you tell us a bit about how you came up with the idea?
It was December, I had nothing to do and I thought it was past due time I attempted a MAGS, since I never had. So I spent two and a half days thinking about the story which pretty much wrote itself. I liked the idea, so I started working on it.

What are you most proud of about the game?
I'm glad I managed to stay close to what I had imagined, even though I had to cut several corners here and there.

What challenges did you face during the development?
Animating, my greatest weakness. And time constraints. It usually takes me forever to do anything, it must have been the magic of Christmas that gave me a boost. I also underestimated how long it would take to get all the puzzle rooms working properly.

If you'd had more time, what else would you have liked to have included in the game?
The final part, which is the best part, and some mechanics and polishing I had to postpone to make it in time.

Any final words?
I'm working on the last animations and dialogues, so I can show you what Crimson and my musician friend had prepared for this little game. I got slowed down by work stuff but it won't be much longer.


Thanks, Alan. We look forward to the final version of this game. I hope you decide to enter more often.

Click here to vote

Stupot

And that concludes this little series of interviews, unless Nuggetseb and Reiter come out of hiding. Thanks to all those who answered the questions. And to everyone who has read the Q&As. I hope you've enjoyed them. Feel free to discuss the interviews.

Don't forget to vote. There isn't much time left! Best to do it now before the AGS Award voting officially starts.
And please do the devs a favour and rate/comment on each game's page, if you are able.

cat

I played the last MAGGIES game tonight and voted. Two of them where easy choices, the third one was harder to decide.

There were some really great games made last year!

Stupot

#34
Thanks to anyone who has voted so far.

Voting will remain open for one more week.
You have until the end of Saturday February 29th.

As a bonus, we have one more surprise Interview for you. From Reiter, about his game Escape Literature

No. 1: Why, all of it, truth be told. I think that the simplicity of AGS is its chief beauty; it is quite possible for an amateur to string something entertaining together. Not to mention, I could likely have done the same on my oven. With no facilities or skill to make my own music, however, I had very much help from Mr. Eric Matyas of Soundimage.org. It is a vast library of music, and with some patience, it is possible to find something that will fit quite splendidly.

No. 2: Well, the theme was 'magic', which is a vast topic with endless possibilities. For a beginner, it was a very generous topic to approach. I am also quite fond of the idea of a spell-book gaining self-awareness, as well as the troubles and risks of magic artefacts and their containment. All of that could be neatly contained in a tidy, combination 'alchemy' inventory puzzle system, that complements the point & click gameplay. To me, it is important to find and stick to scenarios where the practicalities and vagaries of point & click adventure gameplay is not a hinderance, but an asset. I am still quite intrigued by the possibilities of the adventures of a rogue spell-book. It gives me an idea for future projects.

No. 3: I am still quite proud of having made my own little video game, and having released it, and it being good enough to gain a little award, too. Finishing games is the difficult part, but it is very reassuring that you can, in fact, do it. Making, finishing and releasing games makes you an official and bona fide creator, and that is a very reassuring feeling. 'Escape Literature' is the littlest trifle of a game, but I jolly well made it and released it.

No. 4: Since it was a very simple beginner's project, at a puny resolution and only a handful of rooms, it proved quite simple to make. Learning the basic scripting was rather fiddly, for someone who does not have the 'head' for proper coding and scripting. It is a mark of AGS as a robust, simple and useful program, when even I can use it. Further, art assets are quite difficult, and animation is excrutiatingly so. Having the main character be a floating book relieved me of a lot of animation difficulties. I will no doubt learn more of it in the future, but it took quite a few hours, slaving over a red-hot Windows Paint, to slap together such a relatively Spartan title as 'Escape Literature'. I know now, however, to better manage that time.

No. 5: I would have liked it to be longer, with more puzzles and Sierra-esque deaths, to discourage brute force puzzle solving. Sound effects and more detail would have been splendid, too. Further, I would have liked to explore the mystical aspects of the scenario a bit more. There is a lot of fascinating themes there that went unexplored for want of time. I also wanted to include a boss-battle, of sorts, and I would have made a better fictional alphabet and given it more meaning. As it stands, I simply used the Dwemeric alphabet from the 'Elder Scrolls', and wrote various Lorem Ipsums with it. It would have been fun to use it in the puzzle design, rather than 'merely' set dressing. All of which are relegated to my ever expanding archive labelled 'Next Time'.

As for final words, well, I must say that gaining a very pleasing deal of recognition for my very first publicly released project is terribly reassuring. With my health returned, I feel quite ready to make more games in the future. I know now that I can. AGS is a magnificent little program, and the AGS community is a fantastic place to be. Thank you all for playing. There will be more.


Thanks Reiter. Glad you were able to answer the questions. I look forward to your next entry :-)

Stupot

In case you missed it you only have until the end of Saturday to vote.

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