MAGS November "Rain and Snow" (RESULT)

Started by Stupot, Sun 01/11/2020 02:10:03

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What is your favourite game of MAGS November?

Ice Station Zero by slasher
0 (0%)
Rain & Snow - The Bouncer by Intense Degree
1 (8.3%)
The Cabin by TheBitPriest
7 (58.3%)
Not My First Apocalypse: Stormpuncher by PlayPretend
2 (16.7%)
The Cradle by Creamy, Kastchey and Julia
0 (0%)
The Cat Case by Racoon
2 (16.7%)

Total Members Voted: 12

Voting closed: Thu 24/12/2020 06:21:40

The Great Underground Empire

Thanks!  I think I saw the problem...locked the cab view to bob in place, then never unlocked it when it goes back to flying view. :)  And only had frames for a Loop 0 Down animation on view 7.  Added more loops and set it to UnlockView properly.  Thanks again for the catch, and please let me know if you all find anything else!

Download link updated:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/q9w92wxvgb97xoq/NMFA_Stormpuncher.rar/file

TheBitPriest


Stupot

#122
Apologies for the delay. Six entries, though. Well done everyone.

Please vote using the poll above.
And then go and rate and comment on the databse pages :-D








Ice Station Zero
by Slasher
Rain & Snow - The Bouncer
by Intense Degree
The Cabin
by TheBitPriest
Not My First Apocalypse: Stormpuncher
by PlayPretend
The Cradle
by Creamy, Kastchey and Julia
The Cat Case
by Racoon

As always. Let me know if I've missed anything.

The Great Underground Empire

Wow, *fantastic* entries by everyone this month.  Huge applause to everyone for your hard work!

Reviews!

Ice Station Zero:
Spoiler
Very nice atmospheric piece.  You can really feel the cold and isolation in this one.  Puzzles aren't difficult, and really enjoyed the effective use of simple animations to bring the game to life.  The two-frame jumping animation of the generator running made me giggle, reminded me of early LucasArts. :)
[close]

Rain and Snow: The Bouncer:
Spoiler
Fun game, fast-paced focus and skill test.  Like Papers, Please for the Friday night drinking crowd. :)
[close]

The Cabin:
Spoiler
WOW.  Just wow.  Incredibly well done.  Impressed from the moment the intro started.  Loved the navigation system, reminded me of Myst.  I saw your comment about finding the inventory, and I agree, that was a unique and interesting dynamic for an adventure game.
[close]

The Cradle:
Spoiler
Another visually stunning entry.  Background, weather effects, character animations were gorgeous.  I'll admit I got lost on the puzzles and had to ask for hints - I guessed what I was supposed to do, fire, shelter, etc., but couldn't find the right combos of objects in the combination areas by random experimenting.  If the creative team had more time to enter guidance for the player, this game would be perfect.
[close]

The Cat Case:
Spoiler
Absolutely adorable art on this one.  Love the backgrounds, the characters, little touches like the "feather bed" made me laugh.  Needs some cleaning up on dialogue punctuation, and walkable areas sometimes walked right over spots like the crime scene, or up onto walls/room objects, but just a minor issue.  Enjoyable, cute game, I'd love to see more in this universe.
[close]

Shadow1000

Some really good entries this month. A real success!

My comments:

Ice Station Zero by slasher
Spoiler
Graphics and animations are really improving! Great application of the theme. Good puzzles - I got stumped twice but got through with some persistence. Good job
[close]

Rain & Snow - The Bouncer by Intense Degree
Spoiler
Cool and original game idea. Intricate gameplay. Application of the theme is a bit weak. Not an adventure game but more of a "pay close attention and act fast game". Having multiple levels where the challenge and gameplay changes is a great touch
[close]

The Cabin by TheBitPriest
Spoiler
Absolutely outstanding in all aspects. Even for a full release, the graphics, integration of video, sound for just about everything vivid descriptions for everything and any area of immersive polish scores an A+. The idea behind the game and the way things unfold as you solve puzzles that are of the just-right difficulty level makes the gameplay consistently compelling. The fact that there is such a brilliant backstory and the way it's presented just takes this entry over the top. Of course making snow the central element of the game gets another A in terms of applying the theme of the competition
[close]

Not My First Apocalypse: Stormpuncher by PlayPretend
Spoiler
Enjoyable and constant laughs from beginning to end. I LOVE how this game lampoons all the zaniness of today's world from like-addicts to fake news to selfie-addicts and much, much more that one would not believe if it weren't true. The puzzles are top notch and solvable. What AMAZES me is how brilliantly zany the game is with solid, logical puzzles. I actually was worried that the world is just so bizarre that I wouldn't be able to do the puzzles but every time I faced a challenge, something just "clicked" and I had a huge smile as I figured it out. EXTREMELY well done. The rain was central to the game, making it fit perfectly into the competition
[close]

The Cradle by Creamy, Kastchey and Julia
Spoiler
Stunning, professional-grade graphics and animation. Even the opening screen was breathtaking. The interface looks like many popular games and is very inviting. After about 90 seconds of play I got a black screen with scrolling poetry that implies that the game was over. I tried 4 more times, with each time lasting about the same amount of time and slowly discovering what I'm supposed to do but after that I reread the release post and the Question mark explanation in-game and still realized that I had no idea how to play and starting over for another 90 second go at it just didn't appeal to me. Maybe if it were released with documentation it would be a great game?
[close]

The Cat Case by Racoon
Spoiler
Adorable! I love the mouse-detective puzzle solving! Solid and logical puzzles. SWEET and meaningful story. I loved the graphics. I would have someone proofread the text as some of it was unclear to me as to what was intended. As well, I know that part of the graphics is to show the small scale of the mice compared to the backgrounds but I probably would have the mice take up a bit more of the proportion of the screen. Overall, a very pleasant experience.

I actually got stuck at the end and solved it by spinning the wheels till I got the right combo. I am wondering how the door to the desk puzzle is supposed to be solved? I got the clues about the mayor and the competition in the newspaper but I don't see ANY connection to the wheels with the coloured segments (unless the hint was something else that I missed)

Overall, a very pleasant experience
[close]

My vote easily goes to:

Spoiler
The Cabin. I sent a few nit-picks to BitPriest but aside from that, this game is definitely among the best MAGS entries I've played. Every area from the graphics to puzzles the the plot is nothing less than superb. It all comes together to a memorable experience. All I can say is HOW did you do it in less than a month?
[close]

Holy cow... and congratulations.

Kastchey

A bug report for Rain & Snow - The Bouncer (which I'm enjoying a lot btw, I loved Papers, Please!):
Spoiler
An error has occurred. Please contact the game author for support, as this is likely to be a scripting error and not a bug in AGS.
(ACI version 3.5.0.24)

in "GlobalScript.asc", line 593
from "GlobalScript.asc", line 618
from "GlobalScript.asc", line 1276

Error: MoveCharacter: character not in current room
[close]
This happened when I was trying to admit a 9th person in the 2nd stage whose ID was fine, if that is of any significance.

Full snapshot of the game screen when the error occurred here: https://i.ibb.co/mSmmxhx/bouncer.png

Intense Degree

Quote from: Kastchey on Tue 08/12/2020 19:36:51
A bug report for Rain & Snow - The Bouncer

Firstly, thank you so much for this, it really helped track the problem. So I have tidied up the function in question and I am assuming all is good but I have still not been able to reproduce this bug in the first place - before the fix! So if anyone comes across it again please do let me know.

Download links updated, or click here http://www.mediafire.com/file/j95jv79dbuswcxs/Rain_%2526_Snow_-_The_Bouncer_1.11.7z/file

I have been pretty busy recently, but have started to play the other games here. Not done with them yet but I have to say that so far the standard has been absolutely breathtaking. What a MAGS!

Kastchey

One more possible bug with The Bouncer: at the beginning of level 5 (I think), the first person on the right hand side queued near the end of the line instead of the beginning and would not change tint. I could summon the ID checking interface when I clicked her and after she was through, the next person in the queue stepped forward and changed tint as he should.

Screenshot below:
https://i.ibb.co/G2fK7T3/bouncer2.png

The perpetrator is the fair haired lass in a green dress :)

Edit: Actually, 6. Level 6.

Intense Degree

Quote from: Kastchey on Wed 09/12/2020 23:42:25
One more possible bug with The Bouncer: at the beginning of level 5 (I think), the first person on the right hand side queued near the end of the line instead of the beginning and would not change tint. I could summon the ID checking interface when I clicked her and after she was through, the next person in the queue stepped forward and changed tint as he should.

Screenshot below:
https://i.ibb.co/G2fK7T3/bouncer2.png

The perpetrator is the fair haired lass in a green dress :)

Edit: Actually, 6. Level 6.

Ah, this looks like the same thing Sinitrena found before and I think I may now understand it. Looks like the ladies in question might have just slipped off the walkable area, which I guess happened when characters passed each other. If 2 had arrived for the queue at more or less the same time and one had been rejected and met them coming the other way one of them may have been nudged too low...

No time to look now, but I might try a cheeky and carefully placed eAnywhere for the relevant walk commands later on.


heltenjon

Quote from: TheFrighter on Tue 15/12/2020 11:46:51

The voting are still going?

Yes. You can see the deadline on the poll on top of the page. (Dec 24th.)

lanchong

I've left comments on each game page so I won't repeat here because I'm lazy  :smiley:

I voted for
Spoiler
The Cabin because it's great game that also fits the theme very well. It must be one of the longest MAGS game I've ever played.
[close]

I loved all the other games too. We've really been spoiled this month.
Thank you to all the game developers who entertain us every month! Merry Christmas!


Stupot

Quote from: lanchong on Fri 18/12/2020 09:05:23
I've left comments on each game page...

That’s my man.

Remember the deal, everyone.

heltenjon

Finally, I got the time to play all the entries. (Unfortunately too late to voice a robot. Maybe next time.)

The Cat Case:
Spoiler
Great setting! I liked that the characters were fleshed a bit more out than what was needed for the game. This gave an impression of a larger world, one I’d happily revisit. The notebook mechanic was used very well, and the puzzles were just right, not too difficult for a casual game experience. Some small bugs and spelling errors didn’t detract any for this player.
[close]

Storm Puncher:
Spoiler
I really hope we get to see more from this world. The humour is top notch, with nods to Sam & Max and all the robot gags you could think of. Long game with lots to do and funny responses for most of the thing you can’t.
[close]

The Cabin:
Spoiler
Wow, that was excellent! I had an idea about where I was half-way through, and I was right. Brilliant 3d execution and very good puzzles. Very good story, too, and the atmosphere really sucked me in.
[close]

Rain & Snow - The Bouncer:
Spoiler
This one stretches the theme a bit, but anything to get more games.  :-D I wasn't too good at this, admittedly. I haven't played the games you cite as inspirations, and I don't think I need to. I have enough of a challenge here. Very playable in a just-one-more-go manner. I've kept the old version as well, to see if I can beat it at that difficulty eventually.
[close]

Ice Station Zero:
Spoiler
I'm a huge The Thing fan, and I found the game reminded me about that setting. My hunch about the pre-announced twist was wrong:
Spoiler
I thought you had set it on the North Pole in order for Santa to turn up, sabotaging the lair of the unwanted neighbour. The first The Thing movie was set in the north, and John Carpenter's in the south. It makes more sense to have a base on the South Pole, on solid ground, so I guessed you chose the north to make way for a Father Christmas appearance.
[close]
The game uses several ideas from Slasher's entries the last months, which isn't a bad thing at all. I really liked the way Brodie examines technical equipment and comes up with what needs to be done. But the people need to wear proper winter gear, not the Hollywood stuff, going out in a blizzard with nothing on your head.  (laugh) Solid entry.
[close]

The Cradle:
Spoiler
Arguably even more stunning visually than The Cabin. The idea is very good, but I would have liked some more indications that the player is doing something right. I like to play alchemy games, but without feedback, I felt that part was too difficult. I really liked how the weather got progressively worse, ending up with the player swimming around instead of walking.
[close]

I voted for:
Spoiler
The Cabin. But I think all the games this month are spectacular!
[close]

Slasher

Some great games... Some very short, some need a few tweaks and some are very good.

Difficult to decide on various merits... but each entry has its own charm...

After deliberation and digesting I went for:

Spoiler
The Cabin. Stood out by a nose....
[close]


The Great Underground Empire

Congrats TheBitPriest!  A well-deserved victory! :)

Stupot

#136
Well done to TheBitPriest for The Cabin. You are the official winner of MAGS November by quite a margin. You’ll be contacted soon about choosing a topic for January’s theme.

Thanks to all who entered and voted.
12 votes ain’t bad. If only half of those people were to go and rate the games in the database, (which was the condition for granting the extension), we might start seeing some orange cups.  (nod)

Shadow1000

Congrats on the win! you got more votes than the others put together. I look forward to next month's theme

Racoon

Well deserved win for all your effort and the great game that came out of it :-) I also look forward to next month theme.

TheBitPriest

#139
Thank you, all.

I'm embarrassed to win during a month of such stellar participation. Each entry was superb, and I think they are all winners. My comments are on the game pages.

I was tempted to not make a pick (I couldn't decide), but I finally voted for:

Spoiler

The Cat Case

All of the entries had merit. So well done! However, I really liked every aspect of this game: look, story, world-building, and mechanic. Please keep working on it!
[close]

I wanted to get back into AGS and do a MAGS (I haven't touched AGS since working on DHAMSB). I was thinking about the theme of snow, playing around with the idea of something that would have been a lot like Ice Station Zero, but then the idea hit me. I think I watch too many movies/shows that are like this game.  (laugh)

There are many things about The Cabin that were experimental. I wanted to see if I could use WSL to make a solid workflow that would iron out a few sore spots of AGS development. Also, I wanted to see if, by using real time and real time scripting, I could approximate the FPP Adventures that were popular from ~1998-2008. I'll start a post somewhere on the boards to give all the details of the experiment another time. I'll also post the backstory either in a spoiler tag, or as a recorded "Interview" with the protagonist when I get around to voicing the game.

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