Messages

Ha! You got it, Eric!
Thanks for the reminder, Snarky. I updated the entry with far too much info.

Excellent topic, and great pix everyone!

Updated with more info:
Exits: Downward to return to the taxi, to the right toward the monuments, to the upper-left to try the front of the house.
Hotspots: Tree, Left Support Girder, Right Support Girder, Left Window, Center Window, Right Window, Hillside (under house), Distant Mountains.
Walkthrough: Examine windows. Find Vandamm and Leonard. Overhear them discuss Eve. Wait until Vandamm and Leonard exit and Eve enters. Use coins, one at a time, on Center Window and then Right Window to draw Eve out onto the balcony. Watch out, Leonard comes back! Click on Hillside to hide under the house! "Use" the Right Support Girder to climb up. Your hand is cut during the climb. Use handkerchief to stop the blood. This automatically examines the handkerchief and you comment on the monogram. You can try to Talk to Eve, but unfortunately, she doesn't hear you and walks back inside. You'll have to find some other way to signal her...

Ok, here's my final. All comments welcome.

In progress, all comments welcome. Thanks for everyone's advice so far.

Looking closely at Kasander's illustrations taught me a lot. He made a lot of smart color and shading choices.
I started by copy-pasting his characters to help me get the composition right, and then I repainted everyone to hopefully make them mine.

I'm no expert, but here were my thoughts...

ThreeOhFour
Very fun, clearly captures what you liked in the reference. (Cheerful reference page, too!) The gold key contrasts nicely with the cat's fur, really drawing the eye. It looks like there's room for more text. Perhaps a tag line under the title?

selmiak
Nice monster art in the tiny link at the bottom of your post. Sorry you won't have time for this workshop.

Babar
Great reference choices. Your final silhouette design was the most striking, to me. The diagonal smoke and little characters make it different enough from BaSS. Maybe play around with different croppings of your image? Some shapes other than a rectangle?

waheela
Your drawings already make me want to play the game. I like "3rd sketch" best because it has more women in it and that makes the game seem more interesting to me. Might be fun to do some bold light & shadow tests to bring out the mysterious mood. 

Soxbrooker
Lots of good images. A striking idea for a cover. Could be interesting to overlay some videotape effects and digital numbers to look like these are from video surveillance. That could tie together with the story.

Ilyich
The reference looks powerful to me, it all communicates a desperate lone hero. Maybe a tighter crop on thumbnail #4 to see the stress and sweat on the hero's face? Might be worth experimenting with strong sun beams coming in the windows.

calicoreverie
A lot of potential! Reminds me of the cover for "Wasteland". Might be worth trying different lighting setups, with your hero casting his shadow back - or the zombies casting theirs forward, toward him.

nihilyst
Solid concept, good choice of reference. Nice tag line! Might be fun to decorate it with all the additional stuff like in your reference - company logos, VGA circle, cheap pricetag, etc.

cat
Great storytelling through shadows. Striking and well thought-out. And a smart controlled color palette. Maybe the light on the wall can pick out little pock marks and dents to show how old the wall is. (And how many people have suffered here.)

Ascovel
The images seem like good choices. Regarding the horizontal layout - I just saw it as a wrap-around cover. The right side is the official box cover art, and the left side is the back of the box. Maybe just scoot the title more to the right and it'll fit legally.

Miez
Looks like you're done! Attractive and full of interesting detail. Gives the eye a lot to wander over and admire. Definitely says mystery and adventure. Really captures the time of day. Curious to see where you'll place the text and how you'll design it, because I'm sure it'll look good.

CitizenParagon
Looks like you nailed it. Everything seems to be working great. Interested to see if you go with a pixel style or more painterly. It could be nice to see the shininess of the tusks and thick mammoth fur.

Hi tzachs, hi Noa.
May I join in the fun? I like your guys' sense of humor. I really wanted to do the Indie Speed Run, but I didnt think I could rustle up enough friends.
Here's art I did for blue cup competitions over the last few years:
http://oraxon.deviantart.com/gallery/

Hello! Lots of good art so far.

My assignment is Jonah's Place, by Kasander with coding by ddq. Here's the game's official screenshot:

You can see it has a really nice, hand-drawn look.
The little girl is the star. She has to escape. Jonah is the grumpy barkeep with a terrific beard.
There are four animal heads on the walls who talk to the heroine.

Spoiler

It is possible that Jonah killed them, but no one can remember.

[close]

The whole thing has a fun and slightly sinister "Alice in Wonderland" vibe.

I looked at old box art, Shirley Temple movie posters and Polish theater posters. (I think Kasander is Polish.) Here are my rough ideas:

I'm leaning toward choice F because it has a lot of action. Jonah's beard is trying to strangle everyone. It doesn't actually happen in the game, but that never stopped box cover artists, right? 

Sign me up! I've always wanted to be better at this.

Kastchey, gameboy, Eric.
Every entry was hilarious! Great theme!

[Betrayal]

Thanks for the kind words and/or constructive comments on The Crystal Ball. I'm going to try to revise it and add another ending.
I apologize for using public domain music. That was a stupid mistake. I didn't read the rules closely enough, but I sure will next time.

Betrayal- Ingenious design. Emotional. Mystery was embedded in the game mechanics. Made me want to know more.
Draconis- Hard but clever. Really shows off great, experienced puzzle planning. I had no idea we could do this with AGS. Fun to be the dragon for once, and deal with pesky knights.
Flypaper- Sorry you ran out of time!
Girl and Rabbit- Tons of funny writing! Great pop quizzes and clever scripting to put it together. Liked how the gun mini-game broke up the gameplay. I enjoyed the relaxing width of the world.
Jack Trekker- Appreciated getting multiple characters, lipsync, combining inv. puzzles, intro cutscene, a bit of everything. And it was truly in one room. Everything contributed to a very strong style.
KanjiGakusei- Liked having an unusual heroine and a non-violent series of solid puzzles. Made me want to visit the location. I found objects just when I needed to. It had a friendly vibe, and felt sleek - it does just what it needs to do.
Mi- I never realized these mechanics could be done in AGS. Loved hearing their voices. Nice clean look. Appealing characters. Switching characters is always great. Fun cat animations. I hope they defeat their enemies someday.
ODOW- Amazing engineering & visual feat. Great potential for a longer game, but short enough to be easily playable. Good music, too. Pushing the boundaries of AGS.
Sinking- Fun, confident, easy gameplay. (but I'm sure the engineering was not easy!) Nice to have difficulty levels, a timer, and timed events. Easy to navigate and understand. Lots going on and constant, varied things to do. Attractive characters and background. Fun replay value.
TattooRoom- Great concept and game design. Loved the art style. Such a different vibe than everyone else. Enjoyed the realistic steps of the puzzle, and the tension of a timer. This would be a great longer game. Dying to see the next customers.
The Addict- Lots of potential. I'm afraid I got a bit stuck, so I can't comment.
The Butler- Fun to have so many whimsical characters with different states. Intriguing and hilarious at the same time. Really taking advantage of the "one room" idea. Suspense built every time I crossed the room! Good music.
The Reaper- Solid, puzzly adventure. The main puzzle complicated itself in a fun, realistic way. Gorgeous mood, color, polish. Nice deep world suggested through the details. Enjoyed the banter between characters.
The Rebirth- Loved the high drama. Impressive reversals of fortune for everyone in a short time. Deep world suggested through details. Great use of anticipation/suspense. Careful placement of music. Very cool that it linked up with The Reaper.

A sandwich, trapped between the land of the living...and the beyond.
Hungering for the things it once felt inside: Peanut butter. Jelly. Sometimes jam.
Will it find peace? Or will it destroy us all? This...is the Undead Sandwich Story.

Yes, thanks for another inspiring podcast. It spurred me to adjust my wacom settings and study more backgrounds.

Hi, all. I'm working on an entry. I made backgrounds before, but this is my first time using the engine, so one room is about all I can handle. 

Thanks, WHAM. Great adventure. Good to have a downbeat ending once in a while.
It was fun playing with everyone and seeing how we all think.

Don't shout to Emma, "We got 12 cans of lube!"

>open and look inside all boxes in the maintenance room.
Emma said, "There should be at least an entire box left somewhere."

Nice work! Fun basket of little skulls.

Nice job slipping in some worldbuilding during the dialog!
It totally cheered me up to read the latest installment.

Regarding that locked cabinet in Maintenance room -
instead of hunting down the key, what do you think of an action solution:
break off table leg
stomp on end of table leg until it is sharp
use sharpened table leg to pry lock off of locked cabinet

Congratulations to Daniel Thomas!

Gold medal for your terrific landscape under the influence of erosion.
You scared off the competition!

Thanks to everyone who took a look at this Blitz.
Looking forward to the next one!