Messages

Kind of... started late in the month again, trying to use the extra week to finish.

A quick heads up for the game authors: if your game ends up nominated in any category, I will reach out to you at the beginning of the voting phase, asking if you would like to provide additional screenshots or an avatar for the ceremony.

This will be entirely optional (we can always use the database screenshots for the slideshow, and you can use one of the default avatars), but IF you feel you want your game to shine more during the ceremony, consider preparing some screenshots or an avatar in advance.

Again, this is optional. If you are happy with the database screenshots and default avatars, that will be perfectly fine.

It really depends on the perspective and scaling you are using. Do you have any background drawn, even a sketch or a mockup? It helps if you scale your background to the target resolution, then play around with character scaling until it looks good. Then check the size in px and you can start drawing for real.

It might be a good idea - thanks! I don't know if the frequency alone could warrant a validation, people probably don't leave open comments in the headers all that often. But when it does happen, it can be very confusing before you realize what could have happened.

Ah. That makes sense. Useful to know, thanks!

I know it's been ages since this thread was replied to, but I managed to repro this and resolve, after a maddening hour of code comparing between the main version and a backup.

So, in case it helps anyone else... The reason was that I had left an open /* in a custom script right above Custom Dialog GUI.
And while this did not visually comment anything out in the next script, I'm sure it quietly contracted the disease, making the engine treat the init() function as commented out.

Congrats, The Great Underground Empire! A well deserved win

Yes, I agree. But I think Snarky made a good observation. We will probably reopen the Awards discussion next year after the ceremony, so let's add this to the list of points to be revisited.

How which games/demos would be affected in 2023?

Only Abscission, I think.

I agree that having separate entries (or not) for two versions of the title shouldn't be a factor, and I do think we should be consistent in whatever approach we take.

I do still feel though that if anything, it seems unfair not to exclude the demo of a released game, because otherwise we are allowing other demos to compete with a full product. Demos are by definition shorter, less immersive and offer very limited experience, and as such it makes sense that they have their own category. If one of them comes with a full product within the same competition, it significantly changes how the title is received.

This said, it's not a hill to die on If the general consensus is that the release date should be the only factor, then let's do that and just ensure we consistently add the demos to the list if they are available.

Yes, that was my understanding.

I would say no, and I would even treat it the other way round. So for example, if you made a surprise release of CD3 before the end of the year, that would in my view qualify the product to compete with other full version games, not the demos, even though you have a separate database entry for the demo itself.

I know that demos sometimes differ slightly from the end product (I recall CD2 demo had different puzzles to the final game), but at the end of the day this is the same title and it might be difficult to draw the line between the two when nominating.

Do you mean a scenario where they have released the full version of their commercial game in 2023, but still offer a demo that was also released in 2023?

If so, I think they should only be eligible for Best Demo if the full product is still unreleased. I.e. the category description should be "Best demo of an upcoming (as of year's end) AGS game".

Just my opinion, feel free to challenge

I probably shouldn't speak for myself because your issues sound all too familiar but I can share what Slasher once said. He had made himself a "generic game template" - title screen, basic GUI, locations map, save/load, settings, on hover text label, some generic functions etc., that he would use for most of his MAGS games. This would save him tons of time setting all the basics up.

What action should be triggered by the custom GUI button?

You could display the cursor movement during a blocking function like Character.Say by creating a GUI control that looks like a cursor, and adding this in repeatedly_execute_always:

  btnCursor.X = mouse.x;
  btnCursor.Y = mouse.y;

but you cannot call a blocking function from repeatedly_execute_always, so whatever immediately happens when the player hovers over the button area would need to be non-blocking as well.
Not sure if it helps anything though, since mouse clicks are (I think) handled on game loops.

A while back, loominous was posting something that you might find helpful - a number of detailed tutorials with progress pictures.
This resulted in an activity called Background Workshop, where he and other seasoned artists would show their creative process:

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?msg=451551
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/competitions-activities/background-workshop-ii-concluded/msg636515516/#msg636515516
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/competitions-activities/background-workshop-ii-concluded/msg636517024/
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/competitions-activities/background-workshop-ii-concluded/msg636516504/#msg636516504
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/competitions-activities/background-workshop-ii-concluded/msg636516240/#msg636516240
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/critics-lounge/background-perspective/msg636510399/#msg636510399

In general, his posts are a treasure trove of insight into creating professional CG backgrounds.

Spoiler

I want this game now! Exceptional in art, mood and puzzles, but of course, it isn't finished. I broke the game by entering the dreamscape while wearing the helmet, for example. I found multiple solutions to puzzles, three sleepers, but no way to complete the first task. Is there one? I made a decoy, but had no place to put it. This is the only entry with challenging puzzles this time.

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Thanks so much! Yes, the game is unfinished, but I'm glad you still enjoyed the atmosphere and the prototype puzzles.

Spoiler

As you figured out, there is no way to complete the first task. I only had time to implement 2 & 3, plus some elements that would lead to 1 but make no difference if you set them up, like the decoy (there IS a place to put it, though I dare you to find it).
As for the helmet error, ehh, this is what I get for posting an untested last minute entry. Thanks for letting me know, I've fixed this in the version I'm working on outside of the competition.

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Spoiler

Dreamscape left me wanting much more, which is not a bad thing. Even asked a friend to look at Dreamscape, since I felt I might have been missing something. I found three sleepers; my friend only found the one. Making me wonder if there were more than three?

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Spoiler

No, there are three of them, congrats on finding them all! Initially, I was planning a noise system (the vertical bar in the top left corner) that would alert the patrols if you're not careful enough. That would limit the choice of actions within a single playthrough and push the player to search for more subtle solutions instead of, say, just bashing your way into the house with a crowbar. But alas, no time! That's probably why the game feels like there's something more to be discovered, but there actually isn't.

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[Wagu Ogambo -- A Reality on the Norm game]

I've played through all the entries, here are some thoughts:

jwalt's Wagu Ogambo -- A Reality on the Norm game:

Spoiler

Very simple on the puzzle side but enjoyable. I loved the "map" in the form of the characters lined up, very clever! I haven't played RON all that much so I could have missed some jokes, but I had fun nonetheless.

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tbook's The Play of Life:

Spoiler

Despite the moments where MAGS time constraints bit off some of the puzzles, this one felt the most like the classic point'n'click adventure game. I liked the interpretation of the theme, and the consistent graphics and nice animations added to the overall enjoyment.

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The Great Underground Empire's Worlds Literally Collide:

Spoiler

This was super fun! I absolutely adored the geek humor and the cute graphics. To finish the game, I had to replay it three times (loading doesn't work - you might have forgotten FillSaveGameList() somewhere, perhaps?) but the dialogues are so fun and well-written that re-reading them was a pleasure.
(Also, I'm so gonna nominate this planet as Best Character this year)

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My vote went to:

Spoiler

Worlds Literally Collide. You had me at "Eat my ice!"

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Woot! Finally

...I just realized I might need to replay the entire saga. It's been so long half of the jokes might be lost on me now!

The art is stunning!
Seems like a part of a bigger game, do you intend to continue with it?
I loved how the menu looked and the in game graphics were crazy good for a MAGS entry 

Thank you! Yes, definitely part of a bigger game. The gameplay as it is now probably makes little sense with the noise alert not really doing anything, so the game is more of a prototype, not even a demo. I had intended to make certain actions trigger different levels of noise, ultimately leading to the player being captured if they are not careful enough, or if they leave the streets without some sort of distraction. But I didn't have time to implement it.

I have already added some things to the game (unpublished - it wouldn't be fair to update as long as the competition is still ongoing) and I'm hoping to continue afterwards, or at least add it to the projects that I'm switching between

Get a total system lock up on Dreamscape.

Spoiler

Went past the grate, using the crowbar. Entered the sleeper's room. Can't seem to get out of the room, and movement toward the left side gives me the "clock" and locks up. Haven't been through the hole in the wall on the other side of the alley. Not sure of cause, but my system can't seem to handle it. Had to do a system restart.

[close]

Thanks for trying the game! I have made a quick fix. I couldn't reproduce the exact issue you encountered, but your feedback led me to discover another gamebreaking error in the same room that had slipped my mind yesterday night.

Just noticed your second response when I was previewing, glad to hear it finally worked ok. I do think it's a game issue, the custom GUI I made is a bit wonky at times. Something to do a better job with after MAGS, I guess.