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Well, I'm still not for sure going to enter anything, and anyway at this point it would just be a quick-and-rough kind of affair, but I feel bad for Ponch winning by default so I've designed a character:

http://www.vanwijst.com/games/mctough/mcTough_spin.swf

I envisage him solving a puzzle or two in a post-apocalyptic ruin populated by zombie werewolves and hard-drinking biker-chicks.  This game may or may not see the light of day within the next week, but I thought I'd post to show that I was working on something, just in case I do see it through to completion.

In the mean time I will save Ponch the effort of riposting by forecasting his response:

it would just be a quick-and-rough kind of affair

Just the way I like 'em!

[That's all folks!]

That's all folks!

It was a hard fought campaign on all sides, but in the end we have to respect the democratic process and crown Ponch as the rightful winner.  To you from failing hands we throw this torch, be yours to hold it high.  Congratulations, Poncherello!

First place = Ponch = Golden Leaf Trophy

Second place = Stupot+ = Silver Leaf Trophy

Sorry guys, I ran out of time before I could animate the leaves actually turning over.  Nevertheless, I trust they will make a fine addition to your trophy bars, no matter how obnoxious said trophy bars may be.  In a pinch they might even serve as a cursor template for one of your upcoming games....

And now it falls to Ponch's able (yet strikingly soft) hands to write not another stunning entry, but an inspiring theme and list of regulations for the next instalment of the Fortnightly Writing Competition.  Good sir, I look forward to it.

I'd like to enter.  I would.  But I am intimidated by the awesomeness of Ponch's project.  How can you compete with post-apocalyptic Canada?  How, I ask?!?  Nothing I could conjure could ever hold a candle to his clouds humping the frozen Niagara Falls, so why try?  Seriously, somebody give me a reason to go on making games at all, because I think we're looking at the apex of gaming civilization here.  From this point on the future promises only decadency and decay, the long coasting glide before a precipice of ruination swallows us all.  I just...  I just always thought the view would be different from up here, you know?

Maybe...  Maybe if Ponch promises to tone it down a little bit, and I can find a partner who can perk me up...  I'll think about it, I guess.  It saves dwelling on the alternative.

Well, we're almost tied (technically Ponch has voted twice ).  I will accept votes for another 1 hour and 23 minutes, and then it's award ceremony time!

[you]

Wow, how exciting!  They're neck-and-neck coming into the final turn!  Who will sprint ahead at the last moment and capture everlasting fortnightly writing glory??  Get your last minute votes in within the next 23 hours and you could write the climactic conclusion to this epic contest of Godzilla vs. Cow!

Shhh! You'll ruin the surprise!

What surprise?  There's a surprise?!?  What could the surprise be?? ??  Give us a clue!  Toss us a bone!  Flag your puzzles, damn you!  Flag them!!!!!

[St-err, Simon's New Leaf]

Well, that's the deadline folks.  I read two entries, which will save me some effort on trophies, let me tell you Bob.  So let the voting commence!

Stupot+'s St-err, Simon's New Leaf

Ponch's Dear Nephew

To keep everything on the square, I'm going to set out the voting procedure from the outset.  Voting will run until exactly 72 hours from this post being posted, at which point we'll-

-WAIT!  What's this?!?  We have a last minute entry!  How sensational!  It's... ...nope... Sorry folks.  It's just a regular PM.  OK, so... yeah, back to voting....

Two contestants, 72 hours: read their work and evaluate their skill with the written word, then vote accordingly.  Feel free to rank your votes 1-3 for my added amusement.  Or not.  Whatever man, just whatever.  See you guys in three days with the results (and the shiny-tiny trophies!).

Hourgames would probably be better presented in video, I think.

I think Francisco's oral description of which sprite looks like a blob and which sprite looks like a blob with a butt would suffice for my tastes, but then that's just me....   

Entertaining.  I mean, I miss some of the "high-input" segments obviously, but it was interesting to hear your further-developed Mordalles conspiracy theories.  It's interesting that the podcast lasted for about an hour, and you were talking about hour games you both had previously made: if only there were a way to combine the two projects in an amusing way....

...not that crazy metric time you use up in Canada. 

It's crazy Metric Time!

[embed=425,349]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v22DD4pas4[/embed]

...and get your submissions in!  Tick tock tick tock....

I don't usually stop by the Background Blitz, but since it's voting time I guess I'll add my two cents:

Idea: Yarooze
Atmosphere: Ilyich
Design: Ilyich
Composition: Yarooze
Functionality: Cat
Technique: Captain D

Alright!  Where there's a will, there's a way!  Get yer writing caps on and push for that deadline!  Officially that's tomorrow, but realistically I'm not going to stay up to start voting, so make sure your stuff is in by the 14th (or grovel for your extension now!).  Good luck!

BvB

Didn't I mention the trophies?!?  There's a guaranteed* new leaf trophy in it for participants placing first, second and third; and a genuine bona fide badge of participation for everyone else!  Yes sir!  These hyper amazing and infinitely bedazzling exemplars of showy bling-y-ness are not just a perfect addition to any obnoxious trophy bar, they are indeed a necessary addition!  Don't let the Joneses next-door show you up with more recent hardware: rub their noses in your latest triumph with these one of a kind super incredible trophies!  Don't let this opportunity of a lifetime pass you by in the blink of the next four days: get those creative juices flowing and GET WRITING!!!1!!!!

*Not all trophies are available in all jurisdictions.  Some restrictions apply.  See thread one week hence for full details.

- Nelly Cotaloot
- Pip
- Larry Lizard
- Annie Android
And all of them as a TEAM. That'd make my day. It would make my YEAR.

An AGS Mega Crossover would be an awesome MAGS theme!  Somebody (ie Ponch) win and set these rules.

As for the topic at hand:

1) Atmosphere is really important, although hard to nail down.  It's part music, part graphics, part plot.... 

2) Believable or at least entertaining characters are also a must-have. 

3) Smooth game-play is important: game-flaws like pixel hunts or unflagged puzzles are a huge turn-off. 

4) Novelty.  If I haven't played the game, but it feels like I have, that's bad.

5) Pacing.  I love game-world details, but don't hit me over the head with a 10 minute cutscene right off the bat.  Get me involved and learning the world at the same time.

Alright, 5 days to the deadline.  Who's in, who's out, and who's changing their minds?  I've got my reading lens out and I'm twitching to use it!  Looking forward to more stories,

Baron von Baron

Two games on the first page of the CG board -a new personal record!

Thank you, blueskirt, for letting me scare the security blankets off of you.  It brings me a deep satisfaction to know that the game had its intended impact.  Of course this only encourages me to further excesses in game design....   

Hmmmm....  The control freak in me likes monkey_05_06's approach, but that's probably because I'm naturally distrustful of novelty.  Poking around the Tween Module demo reveals some flashy (Flash-y?) visual effects and the mechanism for moving a phantom cursor GUI without much effort, however.  Are there any other arguments against the Tween Module besides its coding style?  I had some issues with a pluggin once that didn't work on newer machines....

Hi.  I'm trying to program an intreactive tutorial for my game.  So far I've been using an object that looks like a cursor to float over various parts of the screen as a colourful secondary character describes how to point and click, among other things, but now that it has come time to describe the GUI that won't work because GUIs are always drawn on top of objects.  So I've been thinking....

1) If there were a way to control the real game cursor, I could use that.  I'm aware that I can use mouse.SetPosition, but it would be tedious that way to script the movement commands necessary to make it look like it was moving back and forth.  A mouse.Move command would be helpful, but then there's also the problem of disabling the player's control while the tutorial is running.  So this is probably not going to work (unless someone knows something I don't know about hijacking a mouse cursor?)

2) Alternatively I could create another GUI that looks like a mouse cursor.  I don't have to worry about hijacking the actual mouse cursor, but there's still the problem of programming realistic movement.  There is no GUI.Move command, only GUI.X and GUI.Y properties (again doable but tedious).

3) I thought about reconstituting the GUI as a series of objects and hotspots with an invisible GUI to handle labels.  Again tedious, but probably the path of least resistance unless a more elegant solution can be found.

So, I'm looking for input.  My question is: What would be the easiest way to create a tutorial cursor that can be scripted to behave like the normal game cursor (at least in terms of movement)?

Thanks for any help or advice,

Baron

....and can make a game with me in one year....

In a year, or less?!?.  Well, that counts me out.... 

I really like the browser option.  I can never remember the irc client information for the [other ags irc thingy], so the browser link is much appreciated.  Now, if only someone will customize that awards ceremony irc system to be a permanent in-game café where you can meet with AGS team members pixel to pixel....