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[Electro Body]

Well I'll be damned, that looks like Electro Body, a.k.a. Electro Man.

Here in the Land of Po, where the game was originally made, we're actually having a game jam inspired by the game right now.

Yeah, what Retro Wolf said. I lost motivation while making Gray more than once. This one time, I stopped for a whole month -- and went on to play Just Cause 2: doing all available main missions, side missions, races, taking over all the 250+ military bases, settlements, gathering all of the zillion collectibles and destroying a gazillion of things. After that, going back to doing small pixel-by-pixel animations didn't seem that much of a hassle.
Another thing that really helps is doing some short piece -- MAGS being the most obvious thing, but I also enjoy the Fortnightly Writing Competitions immensely, they sometimes push me in directions I would've never otherwise taken. Also, getting something done -- no matter how small -- boosts your confidence.

Atelier: Whew! I thought the deadline was the 31st -- so I was *just* about to ask for an extension right before you posted. Just last Saturday I found out that I have a hernia, and the past few days have been all about running around like a headless chicken: had to get checked, checked again for pre-op vaccination, then vaccinated (all of which included waiting, waaaaiting, the usual "sorry, come again tomorrow", then "sorry, come again later")) -- so while I'm done running for now, I'm completely exhausted.

Stupot: Awesome! August does seem like a hard month for MAGS, last year's only had one entry -- so I'm happy to see I'll have company, after all. Those watercolors look really nice -- plus, MAGS is a good opportunity to try out new things. Me, I took up hand drawn animation for my game. I do have years of experience in comics, where I draw everything by hand, scan it and color it digitally -- but doing animation by tracing over the previous frame on paper is still new territory to me. To make things easier for myself, I'm doing it the Hanna Barbera way, wherein I just draw the animated part (e.g. jaw and lips moving) and later paste it over the whole character's stencil (say, head with no mouth). Speaking of which -- here's yet another in a slew of hot babes:



She's pretty tied up!

Die, virgins! In line!

I had pretty much no prior experience with coding whatsoever, so when I first saw that AGS requires scripting, I thought there was no way in hell that I'd make a game. But then I binge-watched those videos in two days -- and started making my game right away. Granted, there were some things I didn't get quite right, some things I had to get used to, and more than a few new gray hairs popped up on my head (and beard) -- but time and time again I was surprised at how much I could do with AGS.

Another week has passed, so a quick update is in order. I'm busy drawing and animating, mostly, but I've taken some time to map out and code some basic in-game interactions and cutscenes. Meanwhile, here's another bit of character animation.



No, she's not a superhero

Anyone else joining in on the fun? How's that chicken-man game coming along, Stupot?

Congrats! I'd have loved to see both stories win ex aequo, they were both exceptional. I wish I had the time to produce something longer and better fleshed out -- I agree with Sinitrena that it felt more like a literary sketch than an actual piece. But I had fun, and I loved to be part of the competition Best of luck to everyone in the next one, I'm out of that one due to my commitment to this month's MAGS.

Sinitrena: My bad! I must've accidentally skipped that one when I copied & pasted the categories. I edited the post and added my vote.

[Baron]

Character: Baron. I loved how Leander felt both human and inhuman. He scorned the puny humans, but at the same time he was aware that he's not impervious to time passing. On top of that, he had some emotion and sense of life's fleeting beuty. Funny guy, too.
Plot: KConan. An action-packed story with a nice twist and a real cliff-hanger.
Atmosphere: A tie. I can't decide which I liked more: the slow-paced musings of a man in no rush anywhere, or the furious, desperate battle for survival.
Background World: KConan. I like how you not only fleshed out the characters' backgrounds but also made them significant to the story.
Word Choice/Style: Baron. I really enjoyed the poetic feel of it.
Monument: Baron. The fact that the monument was both a piece of art AND a humanoid made for a very compelling narrative.

[YOLLOW]

After an initial explosion of ideas I spent the next few days thinking about the actual game: the mechanics, the puzzles -- and how they'd come together into an actual story. The breakthrough came when I realized I should make Magenta a night-time crime-fighter. That's when ideas started flowing again.

Here's a glimpse at Magenta's fellow super-freak:



YOLLOW

Phew! Sorry for being so late -- but here it is, finally. Hope you don't mind it being so short!

Not A Life's Story. Not exactly...

So, you want a story? My story? Or a tale of someone I knew: someone I've seen come and go. Oh, I've got plenty of those: some longer than others, some more interesting than the others... Lives of wealth and splendor, dirth and misery... Many, many stories -- complex in and of themselves, and intertwined with countless others. Not one is the same -- even if they do blend together a little. But they all ended the same way...
Where do I begin, though? My own story isn't a long one -- not in historical terms, at least: a mere century and a half. But there's a lenghty prologue to it, that's a story unto itself -- or is it that mine is the epilogue? The gist of it is that it's a long one -- and a dark one. Not just the part about the Black Plague -- as important a part of it that it is. Not just about Husite wars -- though, again, they contributed to it. Times of peace were when it really got creepy -- and the reason was me. I was at the center of it. I still am, to this day: a source of unhealthy interest, so to speak. A sideshow freak -- made to inspire awe and fear. Most people just stare or point fingers. A few will blurt out something -- and move on. But some stayed. A lot of them came here before me.
It's hard to pinpoint when I came to be -- or what constitues "me". I'm not a coherent whole. I'm an amalgam of pieces. Pieces that weren't made to become me. Pieces that have their stories; that were pieces of something else. Each of them was a significant whole -- which I borrowed from. Like the handful of soil from Golgotha that was sprinkled over the ground that I would later grow from.
That single gesture that might've started it all -- but however potent with symbolism and religious significance, it fades in comparison with all the lives lost; all the deaths that made me what I am today. Their stories are my story.
History likes splendor -- and often overlooks the tragedies in the shadow of great events. Grand designs require sacrifice, they say. Who will count the workers killed by stone blocks when the pyramids were built? How many have died of disease and exhaustion? Pyramids commemorate one life and one death only: that of the Pharaoh. All else are forgotten, blown away by the wind. I, on the other hand, display those anonymous masses as best I can. Without them, I'd be nothing. A lower level chapel like many. It's their ultimate sacrifice that draws the attention to me. They're in full view, everywhere you look -- and deservedly so. They aren't just my makers. They're all a part of me -- in the most literal sense. I wasn't just made with their hands. All the intricate ornamentation took every bone in their body. They are me -- and I am them.

I am--

Sedlec Ossuary

Damn, couldn't make it today, something came up. I see there are two entries, so that should make for a nice duel -- but if you're willing to give me another 24 hours, I should be able to write something.

Woot woot! Congrats! Right on schedule, too!

Gave it some more thought and I think I got it: KARBON! It starts with a K, it's a chemical symbol for coal, which is black, AND it kinda sounds ominous. So there ya go. But I will make you a villain in some other game, Selmiak.

Meanwhile, here's a walk cycle for Magenta. I also added a little mole on her cheek.

While I consider the original "Planet of the Apes" superior, I did enjoy the Tim Burton remake -- if only for the far more convincing monkey make-up. Also, I actually loved the Ape Lincoln bit, thought that was both pretty clever and a nice nod to the original story.

I actually watched a few sci-fi classics and their remakes back-to-back, such as The Time Machine and The Island of Dr. Moreau -- and while the oldies seemed dated and cheesy, there's just something about old film tape and the colors that's mesmerizing. I loved Westworld, too, and Soylent Green (both of which rumored to be remade, as well).

I was going to ask the same thing! A fun idea popped into my head just yesterday.

Dude, that is brilliant If you want to make a mini-game similar to Machinarium (which was a nice little thing) you could have the flea jump over hairs and extended pores to get to the ear -- or fight air currents to get to the inner ear maybe?

the player and an NPC are chatting along quite nicely while I'm at my keyboard screaming 'GET ON WITH IT' (really hate games that don't allow you to skip chat).

Don't play my game.

Or mine . I actually made it my ambition to write lenghty responses to every action in "Gray" -- so there are walls of texts to get through and it's too much for most people. Did I expect it? Yeah. Do I feel like I failed? No. It was super fun to write. But theeeeen I had to go over all of it for the Polish translation -- and I get how the players felt So in "Monty" there is no spoken dialogue at all . Play that one, if you dare

TheBitPriest: Yes! Or KromantiK - to underline the lovable nature hidden under the brutish exterior? KromerotikatorK! Orrr, since we're exploring the love-related features of this character, we could try the Romance languages. French? How about Noir Man -- Noir being an anagram of Iron, which is a fun coincidence, as I conceived the character to be an evil, tech-savvy billionaire moonlighting as a supervillain.

Miez, Ghost: SchwarCERNYgger!

Selmiak: That is EVIL! Nay! Wicked! I was thinking of calling the character something with a capital K at the end, like the above mentioned Kromatik, or DemoniK, but it has dawned on me now: the only name that'd truly convey the twisted, wicked, vile nature of the character is... SelmiaK!

There's no one way to satisfy everyone -- just do what feels natural to you. If I were to give you a hint in any direction, though, I'd say think of the base material -- Danger Mouse and Count Duckula -- and the kind of humor those represented, and try to work with that.