Messages

No. I eat way more candy than I should, but at least don't risk setting my furniture on fire if I drop it in the sofa.

[Rosaura Docelestial]

I've finally played all the entries this MAGS, and here are my thoughts on them:

Rosaura Docelestial
+ A very sweet story and protagonist
+ Good pacing and puzzles, I never felt stuck or frustrated
+ Good music
- The visuals were not very impressive, and especially the walk-cycle of the protagonist looked jerky and weird
- The characters felt like they had too much funny accents
All in all pretty good for a first game!

The Robolovers
+ Good graphics
+ Good music
+ Good puzzles
- The robot puns got rather tired after a while
- I very much agreed on Funkpanzer's criticism of the game's story and humor
- The timed puzzle towards the end felt a bit too stress-inducing
Even if I didn't like the jokes and story, its still a very well-crafted game

HangOn
+ Charming characters and story
+ Good pixel-art
+ Fun and well-paced puzzles
- The choice of colors felt a bit dull
- No ambiance sound or background music
It's a cute and funny little game.

The Rotary Club
+ Interesting controls for the helicopter
+ The sound effects and music put a smile on my face
- No story
- Every time I crashed the helicopter, I had to start over from the beginning. And that included seeing the tutorial over and over again.
This game was pretty fun to play with, if not very memorable

Terror of the Vampire!
+ Superb artwork
+ Fantastic story and characters
+ Good music
+ A very intense ending sequence
- It was really hard to figure out what to do in the first half of the game, it felt like I just wandered around aimlessly throwing everything at the wall seeing what would stick.
Now even if the puzzles in the first half of the game felt weak, it more than made up for it once the protagonist moved out of the tavern and into the clock-tower. The ending was powerful and well made, and this game is definitively my favorite entry of this MAGS.

Forgotten City
+ Amazing artwork
+ An interesting setting and premise
+ A protagonist with many interesting abilities to play around with
- Just a short demo
I liked Forgotten City very much, but it was a very short demo

Bury Me In The Sand
+ Great artwork and animations, it looked amazing with the HD-filter
+ Interesting character dynamics and dialogues
- It was easy to accidentally get stuck in a dead end
- For some reason, some of the character sprites look like their arms are missing
- It ended abruptly with a "To be continued" message
The game was fun and had a very memorable style.

And remember: referencing (...) is not comedy.

This so much. I have no idea where that even came from. It's either the author trying to show off their knowledge, or a try to bond with the viewer over a shared past. Nothing else.

This is so true, and a similar pitfall is fourth-wall breaking. Sometimes, but just sometimes, it works, but far more often it just throws the player out of the story.
I also say comic relief characters mentioned, and there are some good ones out there, but also many terrible ones. As a rule of thumb, a comic relief character is fun when they annoy the other characters, but they should never annoy the audience. But if you want fun dialogues, try having characters that contrast each other, with different temperaments and personalities, an intellectual arguing with a simple-minded person, a rash and impatient person dealing with a slow and meticulous one etcetera.

Most jokes, but not all of them, follows a simple formula:
setup => buildup => payoff (or punchline)

for example:
a man sits in a resturant => he orders a dish with a very fancy foreign title => the dish he's served turns out to be a slice of spam with a boiled potato
A good way to make a funny payoff is to subvert the audience expectations, if they are led to expect something, show them the opposite.

Lastly, I think you shouldn't just look at good comedy, but look at bad comedy as well and try to analyze why the jokes fail. If anything, it may show some pitfalls to avoid.

[Old man sunshine]

Old man sunshine
The old man sunshine wasn't considered an entirely respectable topic at first, something which had started as hushed whispers around the fires of the outsiders and slaves, but as generations passed on word of him had wormed it's way into the mouths of even the most upright and god-fearing men until old man sunshine was a matter of fact as tangible and real as the crocodiles dwelling beneath the brown water in the rivers. He is called the old man sunshine because he only appears on hot sunny days, on days so warm you'd swear hell itself is seeping up through the cracks in the dirt. But old man sunshine sits in the shade, always in the shade, watching passersby. He cares little for those with spring in their steps and straight backsides, and clean-shaven men with tidy clothes hardly ever catch his eye. Old man sunshine looks for those who drag their feet behind them with hunched backs as if carrying a burden that can be seen by him and God alone. Those are the souls which the old man sunshine are calling for, and when the old man meets their gaze and offers them a cold glass of lemonade, it is already too late.

She must have made a strange sight indeed, the last woman to fall under his sway. Down the dusty dirt road she walked in her pretty little shoes and bell-shaped dress, with little care for what the crones and gossips would say.
She wore a long lace veil over her hat to hide the tears and grief that tore up her face, but there is no hat or scarf or veil hat can hide your face from old man sunshine. Candice, Candice he called from under his poplar tree. The woman, for Candice was her name, looked up to see an old man sitting on an old bench in the shade.
The old man stretched out an ivory white wrinkled hand from within his great dark coat and said "Oh my, it's hot today.
The sun is out and shining strong, would you join me in the shade?"
But Candice said "Who are you man? And how do you know my name?"
"It's just a little game. I play as I watch good people passing by, I try to guess their name.
And it seems to me that I got yours spot on this time.
Say Candice dear, will you come and sit here by my side?"

Candice must have grew quite confused indeed,
but she was curious as well. And it was a very hot day with the sun shining mercilessly.
She took a few steps closer, now she was standing in the shade,
and seemingly from nowhere, the old man poured a glass of lemonade.
He said "Have you been crying? Your voice sounds hurt and hoarse.
Some lemonade might soothe and cool you, and help your throat of course."
Candice hesitated and he continued "I know you should be going, and I know I shouldn't make you stay,
but I know that you have sorrow, and I wish to try and wipe your tears away."
But Candice said "You are too kind, but I fear no man can make my crying end,
for John, my sweetheart, got injured in a fight.
He did one foolish thing, and now they say he might not last the night.
And with him gone I cannot see how I could ever smile or laugh again."

"It is a sad tale you tell, a most sad one indeed.
But I have lived for many years, and I think I know what you might need.
Now, I'm no magician, and God alone can help the dead,
but an ice-cold drink with sugar in might help you clear your head."
But Candice frowned "So you say that you'll take my tears away just by offering me a drink?
It's good for you that I'm a lady too well behaved to tell you what I think."
"I give you an offer, but if you wish you can refuse.
But surely you can't tell me that if I could replace your tears with laughter, it's a choice you'd never choose."
Candice bowed her head in silence, for she knew,
what the old man said was honest and the last words he said was true.
"Here now Candice, have some lemonade,
and if you do I promise you, you will never cry another day.
Instead of tears, your face will hold laughter and glee.
And when you laugh, and laugh you will, you will think of me."

Carefully Candice lifted her veil and licked her lips.
She took his glass and with closed eyes she took a single sip.
When she opened them the man was gone, as if he was never there.
Left was an empty bench and Candice with a puzzled stare.
She saw a silhouette coming towards her on the road, but it belonged to a different man.
It was her sweethearts' oldest friend, his sweet young brother Stan.
His hair was all in tangles, and his eyes were sore and red.
His voice was nearly breaking "Candice… John is dead."
Candice knew her heart was broken, and she knew that she wished to cry,
but her face did not obey her, and her mouth cracked in a smile.
It dawned her to her horror, as she tried to hide herself under the veil's lace,
Stan had brought her news of death, and she was laughing in his face.
Her tears was gone for good, and forever here on after,
when those she loved spoke of their sorrow, she was doomed to mock them with her laughter.
She would laugh helplessly as everyone around her would think that she had a heart of stone,
but the last laugh was that of old man sunshine, and belonged to him and him alone.

@Blondbraid

Spoiler

I'll give you a clue, but it'll cost you.

[close]

Spoiler

It will cost me?

[close]

I've played a bit further, but I'm stuck in the German mine
where you have to defuse a bomb, what shall I do to continue?

I just finished the game, and I must say that it is a very good game, even if I felt very directionless in the beginning.
Music, graphics and atmosphere are absolutely top-notch, the characters and story were fun and memorable and the ending was surprisingly touching.
All in all you have made a great game Scavenger!

Now I have played through most of the games, but I'm stuck on Bury me in the sand.

Spoiler

Does anyone know what to do when Millie tells you to give something special to Ernie?

[close]

I'm stuck again.

Spoiler

I have garlic, a stake and lard, but I still don't know what I need to do to free Byron.

[close]

Six more days....  Six, six, six....    My soul for some inspiration!  Or, barring that, a really good jelly doughnut.

I have just the opposite problem, two very different ideas and I just can't decide between them!

Congratulations, and to the three winners especially, your BGs were awesome,
such a shame I didn't get time to vote!

I'm seeing them. And in top of that, it's not listing some of the games you actually have worked on.

Maybe Peder can help: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=30512

That's true, some of my games were left out, I'd be nice if they were added
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/author/Blondbraid/

Anyway, I'm very happy sons of Gaia isn't on the list anymore!

Blondbraid:

Spoiler

How does he steal your soup? Copy him.

[close]

Spoiler

Now this might be silly to ask but...
How do I get soup?

[close]

I just tried the game, love the story and visuals, but I'm stuck

Spoiler

how do you steal the tankard while the inleeper is outside?

[close]

This game starts to look more and more like every single sci-fi film made between 1969 and 1999 mashed together, but in a cool way!

Please give me exact steps to reproduce this, because I can't see any game by that name in the database, and if I search for your username I don't see anything similar either...

If you follow this link:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2174/
to one of the latest games I've worked on, click on See the people who made this game and any other games they've worked on << and then click on my username you will see it.

Hi, there appears to be a problem with showing which games I have and haven't worked on on the AGS database game pages,
it says I have worked on Sons of Gaia 21 times, but I have never worked on that game, and certainly not 21 times!
Can anyone fix this problem?

Wow, that really looks impressive!

ScreenShotSaturday: Ethereal world

I got David Bowie stuck in my head the minute I saw that screenshot.

My game has been mentioned in an Adventuregamers article, here is the link if you want to read it!