MAGS January “Under the Sea” (RESULT)

[Stupot]

Topic: Under the Sea
Chosen by TheBitPriest

The winner of MAGS January is In Search of Marina by Slasher and Racoon

Shoaly You Can't be serious! by CaptainD

In Search of Marina by Slasher and Racoon

With many of us stuck in the gloomy grey of winter, it might be nice to dream about coral reefs and brightly colored fish!

The sky's the limit! Except instead of sky, let's do sea water!

You might make a game about exploring a sunken pirate ship, finding Atlantis, discovering a Lovecraftian horror, piloting a cold-war era submarine, or even dancing with singing lobsters. The only requirement is a significant part of the game is under the sea. It doesn't have to be tropical. You may be indoors in a vessel or facility. You may also start topside, as long being under the sea is a major component of the game.



Pre-made assets are allowed.

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 guidelines 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, conceptualize 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.

Remember that this is a challenge to see what you can do in a month, so any tinkering you do after that, including fixing minor glitches, is against the spirit of the competition. The exception to this is that you may go in and fix major, game-breaking bugs only during voting. We want you to have a game that voters can actually play and that runs on their machines.

So to reiterate, during the voting period fixing major, game-breaking bugs is okay, fixing minor glitches or making cosmetic changes is cheating.

Tips
Here are some ways to make sure you have a game to submit at the end of the month:
* Make a tiny game. Plan small, then cut it in half. Find shortcuts (e.g. if making walkcycles is time-consuming, make the characters static or have it in the first person).
* Plan to have your game playable and submittable with a week to spare. This way you have a week to fix bugs, add some flourishes and maybe even get someone to test it.
* Plan to submit it a day or so early. This way, if there are any technical issues with uploading, they can be sorted out in time.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Need a little help with graphics? Perhaps The AGS Trove has something you can use.
Don't want to go it alone? Try the Recruitment board.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[pell]

I'm in if I can get the AGS editor installed in a VM. I don't remember what all I did last year, but my attempts to install dot Net in Wine yesterday went unrewarded.

Edit: It looks like I got it working. See you all on the 31st.

[The Great Underground Empire]

Heh, this gave me a funny idea to explore. I'll see if I can come up with something good.

[CaptainD]

I have an idea and some time off work, so... Hoping I can do something.

[Intense Degree]

Hmmm, I do have a sort of idea but don't know whether I will have time.

Count me in as a "possibly" I suppose?

[Slasher]

Mmm.. I have quite a few ideas.......

[Racoon]

Does someone feel like teaming up? I would like to do arts and animation, but I don´t have time to make a whole game on my own this month.

[Slasher]

Does someone feel like teaming up? I would like to do arts and animation, but I don´t have time to make a whole game on my own this month.

Sure.  Pm me if you would like to team up and do artwork and share ideas etc..

I have some main ideas...

Slasher

[The Great Underground Empire]

Bleh...had what seemed like a good idea, then tapped myself out really quickly.  But I did develop the little guy below, Morp.  He's a blob that can shapeshift into anything small enough for him to absorb.

Mainly wanted to make a game with zero text or dialogue, focus on art and animation, play with Photoshop and After Effects.  His swim cycle animation is adorable.

But 99% of the puzzles I was coming up with were a variant on "what kind of food will lure this undersea creature over", lol.

Anyways, I'm out.  Good luck everybody!

[pell]

Mine will involve pirate treasure, but I have a few twists from the norm in mind if I can work them out.

[CaptainD]

Okay so far I have a 1 or 2 player game with up to a thousand fish, which if you swim close enough to them they will join your shoal and swim with you,  The core mechanics are more or less there, I need to add sharks and stuff.  The fish themselves are placeholder (despite being very small, they'll still look better when I create some proper sprites!)

[Blondbraid]

Okay so far I have a 1 or 2 player game with up to a thousand fish, which if you swim close enough to them they will join your shoal and swim with you,  The core mechanics are more or less there, I need to add sharks and stuff.  The fish themselves are placeholder (despite being very small, they'll still look better when I create some proper sprites!)

I'm reminded of the Swedish folklore on the Giant oarfish, which is called Herring-King in Swedish exactly because people thought they had the ability to make schools of fish follow them, like an army following a king.  There's no chance you'd feature one of them in the game?

[CaptainD]

Unfortunately I think the giant oarfish is a too big for my game!!  (Maybe a future DLC?  )

The game's really starting to take shape now, made some small fishes and also sharks to eat the fishes if you don't avoid them.  It plays pretty well, will have to see what else I can add to it.



Oh and I've come up with a name - "Shoaly You Can't Be Serious!" 

[Ponch]

CaptainD, that looks really cool.

PlayPretend, don't give up. That sounds like a cool concept. Who cares if the puzzles are mostly variations on a theme. It's MAGS, after all There is a rich history of "I had this one neat idea for a game and this is what I came up with." 

Also, pencil me in as a possible entry. I have an idea, but I don't know if I'll have time to develop it properly.

Spoiler

It would involve some cheesecake shots of women in bikinis, so I hope that will motivate me enough to see it through. 

[close]

[CaptainD]

It's amazing what taking a week off work can do... my game is essentially feature-complete now and plays really smoothly. Just a few little improvements to make and I think it's probably ready to go.

[The Great Underground Empire]

Ponch:  Thanks for the encouragement.   I've made a command decision, though - I'm taking a break from game making for a while to boost my skills.  I really want to learn how to digitally paint and grow as an artist and animator.

It's nice being able to mash together and mod other people's work (and steal heavily from Vecteezy.com), but I want to make my own quality stuff.  I want my games to be pro-level art-wise when I come back.

I'll probably be hanging out more in the critiquing forums until then.   Cheers and best of luck to everybody here!

[CaptainD]

I've released mine:

Shoaly You Can't Be Serious is a fast and fun 1 or 2 player arcade game in which you gather as many fish to yourself as possible - but be careful!  Sharks, nets and electric eels will hinder your progress to become the boss fish!

AGS Games Page: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2508-shoaly-you-can-t-be-serious-mags-version-







I'm really pleased with how this game came out so I hope you have fin... er fun with it!

All the best to everyone still making entries.

[Slasher]

Hi,

Racoon and I have teamed up to bring you:
In search of Marina,
An underwater adventure.

Game is soon to be tested....

[Slasher]

Hi,

Racoon and I will soon bring you:
In search of Marina,
An underwater adventure.

Game is being tested....

[Shadow1000]

I've released mine:

Shoaly You Can't Be Serious is a fast and fun 1 or 2 player arcade game in which you gather as many fish to yourself as possible - but be careful!  Sharks, nets and electric eels will hinder your progress to become the boss fish!

AGS Games Page: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2508-shoaly-you-can-t-be-serious-mags-version-


I'm really pleased with how this game came out so I hope you have fin... er fun with it!

All the best to everyone still making entries.

When I click the link it gets blocked (I assume by my antivirus). Is there an alternative download site?

[CaptainD]

When I click the link it gets blocked (I assume by my antivirus). Is there an alternative download site?

Weird, does it block the direct link to the Itch page too?
https://captaind.itch.io/shoaly-you-cant-be-serious-mags-version

[Shadow1000]

Weird, does it block the direct link to the Itch page too?
https://captaind.itch.io/shoaly-you-cant-be-serious-mags-version

That worked great. Thanks!

[Slasher]

Hi,

Racoon and I bring you:
In search of Marina
An underwater adventure.

Sparky always meets his friend Marina at the same time everyday and they enjoy time together having fun playing games.

However, one morning Marina is nowhere to be seen. Where is Marina? Sparky sets out to find her....

Left click to interact and right click to look.

Click X to disable Active inventory item.

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2511-in-search-of-marina

[Slasher]

Hi,

Any other entries?

[Stupot]

Just two entries this month. Thanks to those who entered.

Time to play and vote:
(Click on the titles to download and vote using the poll above.)

Shoaly You Can't be serious! by CaptainD

In Search of Marina by Slasher and Racoon

Don't forget to rate and comment on the entries' respective game pages.

[Slasher]

Shoaly You Can't be serious!
by CaptainD....

Spoiler

A simple, but effective game that I thought had a 90's feel...

Well executed.... The end result displays were a good thought...

It wore my keyboard arrows out and I had to be on the ball the whole time..

I found the font too small and the splash text flashing too fast.

Not exactly your usual adventure game but fell within the boundaries of the topic.

Overall a good game from the Captain....

[close]

[Shadow1000]

My thoughts:

Shoaly You Can't be serious!

Spoiler

Great application of the theme of the month! I played it a few times to get the hang of it. There's a lot going on there, with obstacles to avoid and trying to snag those fish.

[close]

In Search of Marina

Spoiler

To be blunt: this is everything a MAGS entry should be. Checks all the boxes that make a good adventure game: pleasing artwork, well-designed puzzles good story/objective/resolution to problem. I have to admit to feeling that emotion of despair when I NEEDED to get my friend back. The music score was actually just right to help create that mood. An impressive number of rooms for a short game. This entry easily got my vote.

[close]

[CaptainD]

In search of Marina:

Spoiler

Nice little game for a younger audience, my kids quite enjoyed playing it with me. Given the target audience I would have liked clearer hotspot detection and one of the word choices was a little off (the lesser f word) but overall an enjoyable little romp. I didn't play it with the help so not sure if that made a difference to the hotspot detection. The graphics made it looks like an interactive story book to me which was nice, and the simple language used was good for the target audience.

I felt rather sorry for the crabs though!

[close]

[heltenjon]

My thoughts:

In search of Marina:

Spoiler

Nice and kid-friendly. I like the mechanics Slasher have used before with shortcuts to each location, and a message when there is no more to do there. The help system is nice, even though I doubt there is that much use for it. The game is pleasingly easy. But maybe my youngest will use the help. Beautiful graphics and cool characters. At first I thought the hero fish would have to ask the friends in the first location for help at the right spots, but then the items began to rain down.

[close]

Shoaly You Can't Be Serious:

Spoiler

Great pun & fun, especially in two-player mode. The game reminds me of those games where you start as a small fish, then grow everytime you eat a smaller one, but is sufficiently different to keep the interest.

[close]

I voted for

Spoiler

In search of Marina. It's an adventure game, and while I liked the other entry a lot, I'm an adventurer at heart.

[close]

[Creamy]

I've tried twice tonight but I'm not able to generate the download key for In search of Marina on MediaFire.

[Slasher]

I've tried twice tonight but I'm not able to generate the download key for In search of Marina on MediaFire.

Not sure what you mean.. people have downloaded it....maybe your pc setup?

Ah, Ive just seen Mediafire problem... have sent problem request...

This only seems to affect this latest game.

Try this link:  https://btcloud.bt.com/web/app/share/invite/psH9n1wc76

Or this:  https://www.dropbox.com/home/MARINA?preview=in+search+of+Marina.7z

Let me know

Cheers

[Creamy]

Thanks Slasher. Just downloaded. Time to enjoy your 78th game.

[Slasher]

Thanks Slasher. Just downloaded. Time to enjoy your 78th game.

Phew..... Great news Creamy....

Cheers mate

[Stupot]

Well done to Slasher and Racoon. You have won MAGS January. You’ll be contacted soon about setting a topic for March.

Big thanks to you both and to CaptainD and to all those who played the games and voted.

[CaptainD]

Congrats Les! 

[Shadow1000]

Congrats to Slasher and Raccoon on a well-deserved win!

[Slasher]

Thanks Shadow and Dave 

[Ponch]

Congrats to the winners. I just came in here to vote, but I missed the deadline. Oh well. I got to add another unfinished MAGS projects, so that gave me a warm feeling of nostalgia.