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A photo of me during my down time.

I feel honored for Symbiosis to be on the "guidelines" image.

Credit to Hobo, he chose the illustration this month

5* 4 people interested in entering already? Looks like it's shaping up to be a good month.


* counted st twice

Yeah that's true, and ProgZmax's avatar actually sprang to mind. I meant we rarely have dedicated politics threads.

The AGS forums basically exist in a political vacuum which is essentially a good thing. Perhaps because it is an international community, and/or we are apathetic.

But did anybody in the UK watch the leaders' debate this evening on ITV? I thought it was brilliant to have all the parties together, although naturally I felt quite drained after two hours of listening to politicians.

I think that the leaders who did worst were those who had the most manicured image - ie Clegg and Miliband. In fact, most of the addresses into the lens of the camera by Miliband, in an effort to be trustworthy and friendly, ended up cringey and a tad creepy.

Any other thoughts on the GE at large?

Hahaha! MAGS April is up now: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=51959.0

Ironically the topic encapsulates what I have been doing this past week

[Topic: 'Sleeping']

Topic: 'Sleeping'

This month's guidelines were set by Hobo:

The word "sleeping" is the only rule. How you interpret or understand it is completely up to you. It may be a sleeping or sleepy character, a strange dream-like world, insomnia or just something you can do in the game to pass the time. Have a fun narcoleptic month of game development!

Ending 30th April



__________________________________________________________________________________________

What is MAGS?

MAGS is a monthly competition for amateur adventure game makers. The idea is to create a game in under a month, following the rules set by the previous winner. It aims to help you work to a deadline, improve your skills, or provide a kick-start into making adventure games. Regardless of skill, MAGS is for everyone. Voting is based on "favorite" 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.

You may get help for the competition, although you must end up doing something yourself. You should however be warned that it proves difficult to organize a big team within thirty days. You are not allowed to use material already created before this competition. Your game must be completely new! Music and sound is an exception; you can use free material that is available to the public, if you wish. Modules and templates are also allowed.

Entering MAGS is simple. First, conceptualise your game following the month's criteria (see top). Second, create your game fueled only by coffee. Finally, post your game in this thread, including:

âÅ"“ A working download link
âÅ"“ The title of your game
âÅ"“ A suitable in-game screenshot

At the end of the month, voting will begin, usually lasting for fifteen days. The winner chooses the next month's theme, and their name and game is immortalised in the MAGS Archive. For more information, please visit the Official MAGS website.

"Where is X?" threads must be a massive ego boost for X. Somebody better make a thread for me if/when I go AWOL.

Thanks I've been writing it wrong my whole life then, and only just now thought to question it.

*thunder clap* The thread... it's aliiive!


Important question -

Is century capitalised? 21st Century or 21st century?

Sometimes I even miss those forum downtimes, that feeling of losing s.th.

Yeah, please can we program some artificial downtime to happen for a few hours every couple of weeks?

That's beautiful WRK I've seen several interviews with him, and the documentary he did about living with Alzheimer's. Came across as a very nice man.

If I'm honest I only read the first half of The Colour of Magic, but loved every page. Time to pick it up again I think!

We just set the theme rules! We are a neutral party in this.

Sorry for putting the weight of the adaptation question on your shoulders Sox and Myinah, I wasn't trying to pass the buck, rather it was out of deference. Because to my mind it really raises an issue with both the temporary month's guidelines, and the permanent underlying MAGS rules.

In practice I think the theme setters are far from neutral parties in MAGS. I can't recall any specific months, but we have certainly had book/film themes where adaptations were the order of the day. So obviously there's nothing wrong if the theme setters allow it. They can stipulate anything they want, completely overriding the underlying MAGS rules if they wish. In fact I remember we had a 'finish your MAGS game' month where using pre-existing material was part and parcel of the rules. So, the permanent rules are there to fill in the gaps: in the vast majority of months, there is only a general theme with no variation to the underlying rules, so this is why it is important to clarify them.

I think that allowing people to use pre-existing stories or films in general as bases, is against the whole tenor of MAGS. It is almost irreconcilable with the rules as you read them in every opening post. Essentially what is being debated here is to add another category of exception, alongside music and sound.

"Borrowing some of the premise is okay, just don't be a jerk about it.".

If done poorly it can just be a cut/paste as mentioned.

This touches on exactly the problem with allowing adaptations, ie the matter of degree. Someone's idea of an adaptation may be lifting every single line of dialog, puzzle ideas etc, from their favourite book; and we wouldn't be able to refuse the entry, because it's impossible to justify distinguishing a 'good' adaptation from a 'cut and paste' one. It's not worth the risk when the majority of people create original games. No, I don't think suddenly allowing adaptations is a good step forward.

It's quite unfortunate this question has arisen with the guidelines before us, because like I said, the guidelines take precedent over the rules. My interpretation would be that it is implicit that adaptations are ok this month: "I suppose "The only rule is that the game must feature a monster as a key character" infers that it's ok to use pre-existing short stories, plus "Monsters can be ... from an established legend.""

But that's by-the-by, because I'm being way too technical, and in any case, it clearly wasn't what Sox and Myinah intended.

So I would have to say that as usual, adaptations can only be done with approval by the theme setters.

Is it legal to make a MAGS game that is based from a pre-existing short story? I've an idea in mind, but it would be completely adapted from something that already exists

I suppose "The only rule is that the game must feature a monster as a key character" infers that it's ok to use pre-existing short stories, plus "Monsters can be ... from an established legend."

However it depends what Sox and Myinah have in mind?

[this account]

Thanks to our three entrants! Click on the game title to download:


• The Terrible Old Man by shaun9991
• You rock, Topus! by Billbis & Creamy
• Aractaur by xil


Please PM your vote to this account by 15th April.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Topic: 'Monsters!'

This month's guidelines were set by Sox and Myinah:

The only rule is that the game must feature a monster as a key character (if not the player character) or as a major plot point/device. Monsters can be completely original or from an established legend. Think Monsters Inc, Argh Real Monsters, the legendary Greek beasts like harpies, gorgons, hydras, minotaurs. Heck even Nessie will do in a pinch, just give us something fun to play with monsters!

Ending 31st March



__________________________________________________________________________________________

What is MAGS?

MAGS is a monthly competition for amateur adventure game makers. The idea is to create a game in under a month, following the rules set by the previous winner. It aims to help you work to a deadline, improve your skills, or provide a kick-start into making adventure games. Regardless of skill, MAGS is for everyone. Voting is based on "favorite" 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.

You may get help for the competition, although you must end up doing something yourself. You should however be warned that it proves difficult to organize a big team within thirty days. You are not allowed to use material already created before this competition. Your game must be completely new! Music and sound is an exception; you can use free material that is available to the public, if you wish. Modules and templates are also allowed.

Entering MAGS is simple. First, conceptualise your game following the month's criteria (see top). Second, create your game fueled only by coffee. Finally, post your game in this thread, including:

âÅ"“ A working download link
âÅ"“ The title of your game
âÅ"“ A suitable in-game screenshot

At the end of the month, voting will begin, usually lasting for fifteen days. The winner chooses the next month's theme, and their name and game is immortalised in the MAGS Archive. For more information, please visit the Official MAGS website.

Sure, but can we also start the March MAGS on March 1st?

Dude, it's 11.25 am, give me a chance!

[5th March]

Atelier, I'd like to ask if you could extend the deadline by a few days.
Firstly, February is a short month, this one has just 28 days - that's two days of extension.

I would also like to ask for a bit of an extension if that's okay. 2 days would be fine, or a little longer if it suits others?

Sorry this is my fault, I should have made it clearer - I did factor in the short month so the official deadline is actually 2nd March anyway, not the 28th (see original post)

I'm not sure if this is expected of me but I'm ok with the extension.

Thanks for preempting st., this was going to be my question


So how does 5th March sound for everybody as the new deadline?

That sounds good to me BSP! I am not so worried about anything as basic as a save function, which you could quickly rewrite from scratch anyway.

[JenniBee]

JenniBee: Yes, that sounds fine. As long as nothing tangible/physical that was created before the competition started is used, it will probably be ok. It's hard to restrict mere ideas that people had before the competition - to what extent will the concept art be used?

BSP: I've always interpreted "modules and templates are also allowed" as ones freely available on the forum, ie: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?board=10.0 (and the ones included with AGS by default). Modules and templates that all entrants have access to. Otherwise, theoretically somebody could work for a year on an awesome private module, and use it in their MAGS game.

But that's an extreme example, and at the other end of the spectrum we have simple framework code, something that I'm sure most entrants have recycled to some extent. In this case, the save/load menu you describe doesn't sound like anything over and above that included in the default AGS template. If two lines of code are so trivial in nature, as to be something that all entrants can reasonably be expected to create or dowse from a template, it will probably be ok. Unless of course those two lines form a substantial part of the distinctiveness or operation of the game, and that is the critical question.

Anyway, do I have to announce that I may enter the competition? Or do I have to give preliminary details about the game? I see it done, but I would like to know if there's a rule about it.

Nope, all that matters is you post an entry before the deadline - it could be your first post in the thread! However, there are obvious benefits of at least announcing you're entering, most importantly so I know who to ask if they need more time, which happens more often than not. For example, I'd be reluctant to extend the deadline if one person who had not previously posted requested one on the deadline day.

The introductory paragraph is really a mixture of preamble and substantive rules, but no, you don't have to notify that you're entering.

Hi.Total noob here.Just to clarify, it IS OK to team up to work on a MAGS game?And if so,does anybody have Ron Gilbert's phone number?

Yes, working in teams is completely allowed. Sorry, I don't have Ron Gilbert's, but I can give you Rhod Gilbert's instead?