Messages

I thinks it's always great when people show (part of) their process. From sketches, to steps, to time-lapses. So yes, I would certainly appreciate that. As for how to make it available. Well, if you can host it yourself you could add a simple link to the video people can follow. Or a link to a simple HTML page (semi-blog-post) with an HTML-video-element in it.

Looking forward to your interpretation of the theme.

Currently, I have a black and white sketch:

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It's a continuation of my Mediterranean series, although I'll have to change some elements in the last picture to ensure continuity:

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About my process: I drew the different elements on several sheets of paper that I scanned and combined in Clip Studio Paint.

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While I, your host, failed miserably in making a round people wanted to participate in, probably straying too far from the original formula. Consider the egg boiled and the omelette broken.

Don't beat yourself up about it. Participation was always low since the resumption of this competition.

If anything, it was a nice change of pace and I was glad to be given the opportunity to dream up a FMV game.

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It's hard to gauge, what with different legal systems out there, but there were some legal jargon problems that made the story hard to follow. "Jane Doe" is a name reserved for a victim of unknown identity, so by definition there could hardly be family attending the court proceedings.

The victim was clearly identified from the start. I'm just a bad storyteller. Her name has been edited.

And "perjury" is a criminal offence, while being "sued" is for civil matters. And perjury itself is lying under oath to the court, not in a conversation. I get that the judge might have felt deceived, but with an unknown victim how could anyone reasonably have said that they knew the woman in passing? The most likely outcome would probably be a mistrial with no action taken against the juror.

OK, I was out my depth in the last part and it shows

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Short reviews:

COME AS IS

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Mandle knows how to build an oppressive ambiance.
I struggle to see the autobiographical part in this thriller, but I don't know him much after all.
Did he once miss a class reunion? Was he a psychopath motel receptionist?
It's not clear why the family didn't try to contact the other classmates.

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THE INTERN

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A relatable slice of life until it switches into over the top horror mode.

A kind of almost agonizing howl that, every so often, could be heard in the distance.

I wonder if this part is autobiographical. People sometimes hear indefinable noises that make their imagination go wild.

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ABC on the Line

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A well-told simple story. I enjoyed the reality check afterwards. The memories are obviously hazier than the fiction but bring a nice sense of time and space.

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Winter is Dumbing

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It was nice to read a comedy after all the dramatic tales.
I guess most ambitious projects require a part of unconsciousness.

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My votes:

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1st: Sinitrena.
2nd: Mandle.
As always, ranking such different stories proved complicated.

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@Sinitrena : About my own entry:

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I have no idea how court works in France, but there are some minor things I found a bit strange, for example that the police seems to have the phone number of the protagonist's work, but not the address (because he moved, but isn't there some kind of registration?)

More than a dramatic introduction, this actually happened. Yet I had made all the administrative changes after I moved (tax, car registration...). It baffles me too.

At first, I read this sentence: "Two successive draws were made and they've chosen 35 people in the whole department for the next session in June." confused me a bit, because I didn't think of département as the political regional entity, but of a work department.

A French region is made of several "départements". I forgot about this false friend. The word has been edited.

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Lovely artbook.
It reminds me of heroic-fantasy comics like The Quest for the Time-Bird, or some rough sketches by Benoit Sokal.

Don't buy generic pencils branded with things like "Artist's Pencil" or "Professional Drawing Pencil" or something though, cheap pencils don't sharpen nicely and either the wood lets you down or the lead lets you down or both. Pencils are cheap so don't buy cheap pencils. But you also don't need to buy a Blackwing or a Rotring or whatever just to sketch a melancholy mushroom guy. Staedtler or Faber-Castell or anything is perfect.

I totally agree. I have a box of Faber-Castell and some Reeves pencils too. It's way more enjoyable than low-end pencils.

I like to use some Lyra aqua-brushes too these days. Makes me feel like Peter Chan from Lucas Arts 

[Return of the Obra Dinn II - A musical FMV game]

Here you go:

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Return of the Obra Dinn II - A musical FMV game

In this episode, you assume the role of a historian.
Your museum wants you to track the origin an antique pocket watch (the one from Obra Dinn).
Your predecessor has mysteriously disappeared in the midst of his research.
He left behind a big chest full of memorabilia that will help you on your quest.

Like in Obra Dinn, the pocket watch allows you to see fragments of the past: the moments where people died.
Unlike Obra Dinn, there's no 3D involved.
The game is played in first person perspective . Panoramic photographs of the living room will pass for the coffee room of the museum. You'll get to watch musical clips performed by the cast.
Each clip is triggered by an object in the chest. The clips are unlocked one by one. The players must connect an element from the clip they've just watched with the next object.
Hopefully, Sam Barlow will allow us to use the system he created for  his game "Immortality" where you can pause a video, click on an element of the still shot and memorize it for future use.

The first usable item in the chest is a copy of a will in which Paul's character bequeathes the fob watch to the museum (he wasn't wearing it when he died).
Use the watch on the will and you're taken to the first musical number:

"Help! I can't swiBLBLRG!"
In this short clip, you get to see Paul's character accidentally falling from the ferry and singing for help. A very old man (Gregory, disguised) grabs a buoy on the deck and throws it to Paul but it goes off target with the wind and Paul can't reach it. The granddaddy then tries to push Grumpy to the cold water to rescue him. But the dog resists. Paul drowns.

On Paul's wrist, you could see a "Quat'zarts" tattoo.
Thus you're able to trace the next item in the chest: a brochure for the School of Fine Arts in Paris (with the same logo). Using the watch on it takes you to the next clip:

"Don't dissect her just yet"
Set in the saloon, transformed into a classroom.
It takes us back to the strange days where medical students and art students shared anatomy lessons together.
Hannah (in heavy make-up) plays a nude 'dead' woman laying on a table, with strategically placed bottles and towels to preserve her intimacy (that is, if you didn't disable the "family-friendly" filter in the options).
Paul's character (made up to look younger) launches into a resounding plea, because he thinks he saw her twitch. The anatomy teacher - played by an old-looking Laura - calls him over-sensitive. Operatic verbal jousting ensues. Laura doesn't yield and concludes the argument by planting a scalpel in Hannah's heart. Paul leaves the class infuriated. In the corridor, he notices the vest of the teacher with the dangling chain and steals the watch.

The next item to recognize is the colorful African scarf tucked in Laura's vest.
Finding the same scarf in the chest is our ticket to the next number:

"Ain't no cure for that"
A bunch of tents pitched on the nearest beach will do as a makeshift African dispensary.
Laura's a younger doctor. She works in a humanitarian mission.
Gregory plays an old bedridden officer. He holds the pocket watch in his hands.
She lists in rhymes all the supplies they have with the diseases they cure (some of which are very whimsical).
At the end of each stanza, he laments that there's no cure for love sickness.
He eventually expires. She removes the watch from his hands before he is taken away.

There's nothing to research in this clip. You've got to take a small blade and loosen the back cover of the pocket watch. You find an old black and white photograph of Hannah inside, which takes you to the last clip.

"Break you in two (woo woo woo)" followed by "She got moxie".
In a busy saloon, Gregory - now a juvenile soldier - has just won a game of poker with the fob watch as a prize. However the bad loser (played by a disguised Paul) picks up a fight. Blows rain down to the beat of a Zimmer-esque score (Quick Time Events in rythm!) and Gregory emerges victorious. Definitely vindictive, the antagonist reaches for his gun but is beaten to the draw by one of the dancers played by Hannah. He collapses amid broken furniture. Unfazed by it all, Greg and Hannah sympathize over a coffee.

This flashback of burgeoning romance is interrupted by a knock on the door of the museum.
You walk past your colleagues playing a board game during their pause and open the door.
The episode shamelessly ends on a cry of surprise from our protagonist at the sight of our injured predecessor (time for a cameo by the director, since this game will probably never be continued).

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Hopefully, it meets all the requirements.
I couldn't find a way to cram them all in a single scene.

I haven't been able to update a game page either lately, to set the next pick of the month.

I've made several attempts on different games over a week but I also get an Error code: 500 every time.

Time to end this Blitz.

This was a close call, but @Misj' wins this round.

A big thank you to our contestants. See you next time!

I may not have a scenario yet, but I have a cast:

Interesting topic.

THE ASSIZE COURT

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I'm a notary employee. We mainly deal with real estate sales and successions.
One day, our secretary forwards me a call from the police.
I learn that I've been pre-selected to be part of a jury in a criminal court, which gives me a lot of conflicting emotions.
Two successive draws were made and they've chosen 35 people in the whole county for the next session in June.
They couldn't warn me sooner because their contact details were out of date. Some policemen even came to my old address.
I've got to come to court in a couple of weeks.

After the call, I inform my employer. She has to exempt me from work to fulfill my judicial duty: to attend a draw at the beginning of each case (roughly every Monday during a month) and to make myself avalaible for the whole duration of a case if I'm selected (generally a week).
9 people are chosen at the start of each trial: 6 titular jurors, 3 substitutes.

My boss comes back to me later that same day:
"Did you hear about Mary Smith? She was brutally murdered last year. It was in the local news. You didn't take care of the succession personally, but our office settled it. Should you be brought to deal with her murder, let the Judge know about this. It could be a case of exemption."

On a Friday a couple of weeks later, we watch some informational videos in the court.
The next Monday, for the first trial, the courtroom is full with the family of the victim, the accused, their lawyers, some journalists and other curious onlookers.
The Judge announces the start of the trial of Mary Smith. My blood rises.
Then she begins picking the names of the jurors in a pouch. 4 names have been spoken and I'm not among them. Then she picks a young lady. Like all the jurors before her, she passes in front of the court and prepares to climb the stairs to the jury box.
Suddenly, the defence counsel utters a resonating "refused". She is dismissed of this trial and must leave.
Another young lady is chosen and dismissed as well. Then my name is spoken. I walk to the jury box in silence and I'm now part of the jury as a titular.

When all 9 members have been chosen, the Judge and her 2 assessors take us to a separate room behind the courtroom - the deliberation room - when they give us a welcome speech.
Once they're done, the magistrates start to answer the questions of the jurors and make small talk.
I go see the Judge and ask to talk to her in private.
She takes me to her office where I explain that our firm handled the succession of Mary Smith.
She asks me if I dealt with it personally. I admit that I didn't.
"Did you know her?"
This question is tricky. I've been living in a small town close to the office for several years. I made some acquaintances over time, but I don't always remember their names.
After being told that she lived in a city where I never set foot (although not very far from me), I reply: "I don't think I knew her."

The Judge ponders this information for a while.
"Please wait here. I will check with the counsels for the parties to see if they're OK with that."
When she gets back, she confirms that I can be a juror in this case.

The auditions take place for a week, during which we get to hear policemen, psychiatrits, witnesses, the family of the victim and the accused himself.
The pleadings of the prosecution attorney and of the defence counsel close the hearings.
Finally, the jurors, the Judge and the assessors gather to deliberate. The accused is sentenced to maximum penalty for his atrocious crime.

Later that month, I'm selected for another trial as a substitute.

In August, I receive a call from justice.
I'm summoned to court where they play me some footage of a local dance class shot a couple of years ago.
The video is amateurish and low quality, but good enough to make out the faces of the couples gleefully dancing to rock music.
I recognize myself wriggling in the background. And I've become only too familiar with the face of my dancing partner over the course of the first trial.

The next November, the judgment of Mary Smith's murderer is transferred to another Assize court and I'm getting sued for perjury.

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(Please consider voting in the Background Blitz competition)

Name of the victim edited on May 31st.

Interesting change of formula. To comply with the rules, the only way I can think of is to shoot a FMV/visual novel, like Wales Interactive does.

Sorry to be late. My thoughts on the stories anyway:

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Little Brother by Stupot
I found it well-written in an old-fashioned way and and perfectly understandable despite being just a fraction of the story. This cliffhanger about the 5th prediction made me wish it kept going.

Julius and Julia by Sinitrena
It reminded me of the Last days of Pompeii and other Roman reconstitutions of the same ilk that I read a long time ago.
While it felt like an unimportant passage of a long story, it was a pleasant and atmospheric read.

Experimental Piece by CaptainD
It sounds like a classic beginning for an investigation set in a sci-fi setting. It also reminded me of the introduction of the AGS game Resonance.
Some interesting things are thrown in but we're left to imagine their developments.

How My Three Day Vacation Turned Into Much More by Mandle
I didn't really get the story. I understood some of the last sentences but not all of them. They're so tiny and pixelated.  It gave me the same effect of confusion that when a transmission is interrupted by static in a movie. Probably intentional but a little frustrating since it gets unreadable when the story really takes off. The bits I got didn't really add up.

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Thanks ildu.

Can we please get some more votes for our artistes extraordinaires?

Hope you won't feel unduly pressured if I ping you when the next version is up. I'm dying for more input on the next planet!

No problem.

>Ova is waving the...

That's definitely a bug. I can't recall if it's one I addressed. Be curious to see if it still happens in the next version. She was doing the little jig back and forth and the text in the corner wasn't updating?

Yes. The text always reads "Judgeytron 4000 - scanning".

>to use bigger hotspots for the small objects.

I've actually already done this for a lot of them. Were there any that stood out?

The keycards mostly, especially when you try to use an object on them.

Good job, it looks smoother than the animations from the demo.

Oh, you played that first thing I uploaded? It's come a decent ways since then. I really should put it in the development thread now I guess

I had seen your prototype back then but didn't take the time to download it.
Your last animation inspired me to try it.

It's longer and harder than I expected.

Some things took me a while to figure out:

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To give the gelly head to the janitor.

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To show the photo of Rogelio to the skimmer driver

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Actually, I'm still stuck at the fish level:

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Ova is waving the mask in front of the scanner, to no avail.

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I have suggestions, some of which may be obsolete since the prototype is old:
- to show the name of the hotspots at the bottom (or following the cursor) and not at the top. Since all the action is at the bottom, it's a bit tedious to keep looking up and down.
- to use bigger hotspots for the small objects.
- more variety in the feedback.

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For instance, I was deterred from showing my items to the skimmer driver because he keeps telling me that it's rude to do so.

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Other than that, it's a joy to play: funny situations and well-animated characters, inventive and varied puzzles.

Good luck!

Good job, it looks smoother than the animations from the demo.

Interesting concept.

I love how you've kept the date of the first games (2003), even if it's now obsolete

@Misj' A double panoramic background! You're spoiling us  

Alright, time to vote for one of our two magnificent panoramas:

brushfe


Misj'


Full version:

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Usual voting criteria:
- Concept: Is it a creative interpretation of the theme that also tells us something about the world in which it takes place.
- Playability: Does it have clear walkable areas, things to interact with, etc?
- Artistic Execution: How well was the chosen style executed? - What's the feeling of the place? - Does the image convey the wanted atmosphere?

The votes are open until 11 May.

Thanks, I drew it last week in situ. It should have been more panoramic and painted but I got lazy

I post some stuff on Deviantart from time to time.

Very nice game, congratulations. It'll be the next Pick of the month.

I've listed my personal + and - below:

The pros:
- Fair and fun puzzles. I've especially enjoyed my run with the barbarian.
- Very nice animations.
- Good voices.
- Lots of funny moments.

The cons:
- The duel mini-game. There is zero strategy and the last guy is very fast. It could have been more interesting if we shot all the baddies every time, starting with the fastest guy, finishing with the slowest one.
- The copy protection system. It's funny the first time but tedious afterwards.

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I've tried several endings in both sides and they seem quite random but that was funny.

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