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Hey CROS! Yeah, just got my newsletter this morning. Yeah, contests are quite an exhilirating experience, I completed my first just last month -- and this little thing really got the creative juices flowing (blood, sweat and most of all, tears from my tired eyes). One question, though: is it going to be a genre-specific game, like a platformer, top-down shooter -- or something with just a very basic theme? Both are of course perfectly feasible within AGS, but as always, getting out of one's comfort zone (i.e. adventure games) might require some extra time to figure out and learn stuff.

Just to take your mind off the heavy topic -- and pester you about another annoying topic - I have a question to you, Dave: I'm playing Resonance right now, and the resolution in it is 640x480 (and so was Primordia, if I'm not mistaken). Have people reported any problems there? I remember you recommending wide-screen to avoid trouble with 4:3 ratios being displayed incorrectly on laptops, etc. The reason I'm asking is I'd love to make something BIG (and possibly commercial) in  hi-res, and 800x600 is the closest to what I'd be willing to settle for. Alas, there is no wide-screen alternative. So... should I reconsider? I've already made one game in 800x600 and got no complaints so far -- but I have no idea whether it's because no one had any or no one bothered. Thoughts?

Yeah, that's like free advertisement -- and they are great games (playing Resonance as we speak -- blown away), so I hope it'll win WE's games some well-deserved attention in wider circles. It reminds me of when McPixel got pirated (via Pirate Bay). Right now, Sos is pretty much a celebrity in our neck of the woods.

I thought of the same thing that Stupot did a few posts above -- and realized you could also do twisted things like wooden platforms acting as ice, ice platforms acting as lava, etc.

That! Shifting the blame on the victim is a way of - whether consciously or not -- siding with the perpetrator. A few days ago I read about a judicial expert (!!!) saying that it's women who provoke rape -- because... well... when you meet a guy (whatever the circumstance), it's obvious he wants intercourse and will stop at nothing to get his way. Right?

Aaanyway... I'm logging in to Steam right now and buying Resonance (shame on me for not doing that earlier!)

Nice! You really put a lot of thought into the game mechanics. Looking forwards to more dev diaries, might learn a thing or two in case I ever try to make a platformer myself!

A level editor is a GREAT idea! User-generated content is a way of involving the players rather than them being just passive receivers. It's what made Minecraft the goldmine that it is. Oh, if there were a way to do that in adventure games!

Here is the first episode. A very useful source -- and inspirational, too.

Oh yeah, keep making me feel bad for not attending No, seriously, it sucks I couldn't be there! Maybe next year -- with a bigger portfolio, hopefully!

Thanks everyone And congrats to DBoy, too, for making his first game on such short notice -- on his own, no less! It's too bad Cleanic's ant game didn't get finished

I'm already looking for a theme for next month I think I got one, and it should be fun -- but I'll take my time with it, and maybe something else will pop up. Plus, I need to go through the previous MAGS list to avoid repetition.

OK then, here's a more detailed series of hints. Click to reveal more if you're having trouble:

Head back to the island on the far left and

Spoiler

try giving the skeleton hand to one of its inhabitants. I mean

Spoiler

the big one. You'll notice something changed about the arm. It'll come very handy (pun intended). Using it

Spoiler

you can now catch yourself a bunch of flies

[close]

[close]

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Remember that you can click on -- and use your inventory on -- everything that makes your cursor (the larva) light up (you'll notice the yellow dots on glow stronger when you hover it over the more prominent objects). Just for fun, you might also try going back to your cave and give whatever you've found to your family. After all, it is your main mission to find food for them

Limony: Like Tabata said, there's more to discover farther left -- BUT you can also grab a few flies and use them later as you like. That might provide some hints as to what to do, ultimately.

Ascovel: Thanks Making it felt quite different from Gray, too, since I was working with vectorized cutouts of various photos (Monty himself consisted of bits and pieces five or six different specimen). It was fun switching to 800x600 like that, too. I'm glad I managed to squeeze in my trademark blue, red, orange and cream in there (though that was actually pretty much a last-minute decision). And some pixel-by-pixel handiwork was still involved, as I manually un-dithered each and every frame The backgrounds, though, were fun fun fun -- and they are the reason why I want to expand the story of Monty futher in future mini-games or a longer game (much like you did with Snakes), with more "themed" rooms, especially different renditions of the sea. We'll see! Right now, I'm still trying to stabilize my sleep patterns after sleeping about 1,5 hours on the release day

Tabata: yeah, I tend to keep the main quest very simple in my games In Gray I used probably the most washed-out trope -- but in Monty I think I hit the most basic mission in life overall, common to both humans and animals: to provide for your family. Once I started thinking of a good story for the game, I ended up thinking of at least three ideas for a game featuring Monty, but this one struck me as the most sympathetic.

Oldschool_Wolf: Thanks! I like your idea for the new MAGS, too -- but I don't think I could handle two MAGS in a row Loved the experience, though. It feels SO good to work on something so fun -- and then to release it!

Adeel: Komodo dragons are the dachshunds of the reptile world: they look so sad, but that's what's cute about them Crocodiles, on the other hand, are like huskies: always smiling and cheerful.

sthomannch: Glad you liked it! I hope to make more Monty games in the future: one that might be an expansion of this little story, and then some others that I came up with. Meanwhile, you might like my other game, Gray (see link in my signature).

Thanks, guys Glad you enjoyed the game! I had so much fun making it, different bits of it. I even took some extra time to flesh out the sequence of logos in the beginning, the different versions of what AGS stands for being my favotire

Many, many thanks to Sephiroth, I couldn't possibly do 3/4 of the crazy things without his coding skills. And Tabata's skill in finding bugs was unparalelled, as always!

And Adeel, your fondness of the Komodo dragon is completely understandable. While they are big, scary and their saliva contains so many bacteria that their victims die from infection rather than the bite itself -- but how can anyone NOT feel for a creature of such emotional depth?



The melancholy in his eyes...

Meet Monty the Komodo Dragon

No, he's not an actual dragon. He's just a lizard. A very, VERY big lizard. He's also a husband to a loving wife and a father to a lovable child. As a dutiful housekeeper, he is the one providing for his family. His ever hungry and glutonous family...



So, he sets out on an exciting, dangerous quest for food. He'll visit many places and face many, many dangers -- and some downright atrocities, too.



Yes, all in-game graphics are made using pictures of animals, animal parts, animal products -- and various excretions.

Also, Monty is voiced by yours truly. It's one thing to impersonate Matt Berry channeling Gandalf -- conveying feelings through grunts exclusively is a whole other story!

Aaaanyway...

DOWNLOAD THE GAME

HERE!

[MAGS September: ANIMALS]

Here it is, then: my entry to MAGS September: ANIMALS

Meet Monty the Komodo Dragon

No, he's not an actual dragon. He's just a lizard. A very, VERY big lizard. He's also a husband to a loving wife and a father to a lovable child. As a dutiful housekeeper, he is the one providing for his family. His ever hungry and glutonous family...



So, he sets out on an exciting, dangerous quest for food. He'll visit many places and face many, many dangers -- and some downright atrocities, too.



Yes, all in-game graphics are made using pictures of animals, animal parts, animal products -- and various excretions.

Also, Monty is voiced by yours truly. It's one thing to impersonate Matt Berry impersonating Gandalf -- conveying feelings through grunts exclusively is a whole other story!

Aaaanyway...

DOWNLOAD THE GAME

HERE!

Putting some finishing touches as we speak I hope to release it within the next 12 hours.

So as I suspected, despite my best efforts (a few very angry people will attest to the fact that I devoted my time almost exclusively to the game ), I'm still not quite there. I'm left with minor stuff, mostly, audio editing, minor animations and icon graphics. Right now I'm dead beat, need to sleep. So I'd be grateful for some more time

Oh, I've had my eye on this one for a while Looks really nice, so I'm glad to hear it's fun to play, too.

Didn't TGames give up on it when it turned out the idea didn't fit this month's topic as too anthro?

Me, I'm still working like crazy. It *looks like* I should/might pull it off on time, by tomorrow night -- but just in case, would an extra day or two be ok, Atelier? Just in case, though.