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[MOUNTAINS]

Hi everyone,

As there has been way over a year since the last Background Blitz, with Gilbert's blessing I took it upon myself to attempt to revive the competition.
The theme for the current edition of the Background Blitz is...

MOUNTAINS
[imgzoom]https://i.ibb.co/WpwPHnV/mountains-night.png[/imgzoom]

Make a background featuring a mountain range of any type and at any distance. The mountains can, but do not need to be the most prominent feature of your background, but they need to be visible somewhere.

Deadline: the 2nd of October
Voting until: the 6th of October
Winner: lorenzo
Second: Deabriel / Flugeldufel
Third: Creamy

Voting:
Concept: Your background should tell us something about the place you have depicted.
Playability: Does it have clearly defined walkable areas, things to interact with, etc?
Artistic Execution: Does the image convey the wanted atmosphere? What's the feeling of the place?

Don't let the Blitz die, get an entry started today!

Oct 6th:
Below are all the submitted entries. Thank you everyone for the great turnout!

Spoiler

lorenzo
[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/GezQkKX.png[/imgzoom]
DBoyWheeler
[imgzoom]http://d.facdn.net/art/maverickhunterdboy/1569098052/1569098052.maverickhunterdboy_backgroundblitzmountains2019.png[/imgzoom]
cat
[imgzoom]https://www.clowdergames.com/pics/competition/bgMountains.png[/imgzoom]
Flugeldufel
[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/dOtzn3c.png[/imgzoom]
VampireWombat
[imgzoom]http://ags.pics/cEHy.png[/imgzoom]
Cassiebsg
[imgzoom]http://ags.pics/cTIX.png[/imgzoom]
Creamy:
[imgzoom]http://creamy.r.c.f.unblog.fr/files/2019/10/copycat-.png[/imgzoom]
Deabriel:
[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/dfRzhaC.png[/imgzoom]

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Trophies:

The magic wand is a lovely sound, but after the 3rd time it starts getting annoying (in my hears anyway. maybe kids would just be pressing the button just to hear it.

*I* was pressing the button just to hear it

Congrats NuggetSeb! Fantastic work.

(By the way, I was close to voting for Research Reservations instead. The result would have been funny if I had voted for it )

[Hopping Homeward]

Hopping Homeward

Spoiler

I can tell that an amazing amount of effort went into making of this game. I agree with what other said about the interface being a little awkward, but it's your first game so that's something that comes with experience I guess. The storyline was cute, the graphics even cuter and the game was surprisingly long and complex for any average MAGS entry, let alone a first game. I do agree that animals doing human things might seem like a loose interpretation of the theme but as they do a lot of animal things too, the game fits well enough in my view. Plus, I love the title

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Research Reservations

Spoiler

Definitely your best game so far, VW. It has a clearly defined storyline that has a beginning and an end, a sequence of puzzles and a fairly unique gameplay idea on top of that. The interpretation of the theme was spot on, too. Overall the entry seemed somewhat rushed, but played like a full game that just needs a bit of post-MAGS polish rather than an intro. Well done!

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It wasn't an easy choice but I finally decided to vote for

Spoiler

Hopping Homeward because despite some missing interactions, it was the most polished entry. And too cute to resist.

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Hint 1:

Spoiler

You need to somehow let your partner know where to aim, but if the criminal realizes you are talking to someone he will kill you. You need to figure out a way to do it without adressing your partner directly.

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Hint 2:

Spoiler

Jack can hear you talk no matter if you speak to him directly or not.

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Hint 3:

Spoiler

Timing is crucial, and as morganw suggested you don't have to use any of the dialog options.

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Solution:

Spoiler

Ignore Jack's question, wait until he realizes you are stalling. Talk to the criminal instead.

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Your games are always very stylish

Kastchey deserves praise here 

As this is the first game we've made together, I believe the praise was for you (and rightfully so!)

Kastchey and Cassie and other spectators. I'm interested to know whether you guys had any opinions about who was the murderer or psychic while the game was ongoing? Did anyone think I was innocent or were you all shouting at your monitors for them to lynch me?

Sorry for being slow with responding, busy time...
(which is mainly why I decided not to join this round)
(other than being a chicken)

It wasn't obvious at all. There were moments when I too thought that Riaise was being a sneaky murderer. However when I looked at how you worded your post in this round, Stu, and it struck me as closer to how you were acting two rounds back when we both were on the scum team than three rounds back when you were in innocently accused seer. As a murderer, you seem to tend to use more thought-out sentences, less brief than usual and I think less emotional, too.

Of course, this wasn't much as there were only two games to study so this could have as well been a coincidence. And you got out of the self-contradiction trap pretty well, it was believable. Plus I haven't seen Riaise in scum role before. As a non-participant I cannot tell for certain what my lynch vote would have been had I participated, it always looks more simple in hindsight...

By the way, I too can understand why Sini thinks she had messed up with that civilian thing and how it tipped the balanced in the good team's favour but overall it played out REALLY well Super interesting and very unusual.

I was actually wondering if none of us are the murderer, or even sinitrena herself, but that would be very devious. Good experiment though.

I considered this option when I set the game up. I operate under the condition that everyone is allowed to lie in this games with one exception: The Game Master. So unfortunately, that prevented me from doing this little experiment.

The way I see it is that you would not technically lie. The only thing you explicitly said was that the roles were unknown and would not be revealed during the course of the game. Unless I'm missing something, that would have been a valid move Somewhat evil perhaps, but still.

Great game guys! Very exciting, even from a spectator's point of view. Well played

A little something I wanted to comment on, but obviously couldn't while the game was still in progress:

Sorry Riaise, your case is very compelling but I feel thou dost protest too much.

Says the person who beat the forum post per minute record last time they were innocently accused

I'm in Or at least I'll try, it's been busy lately :<

Great to see you back here, Tamanegi! Even if for a brief moment.

I did play your game back in 2011 when you released it and the memories were still vivid when I was replying it in May this year.
Fantastic work!

Haha, thank you :3

Happy to hear you like the game!

Fully agree, the lack of save makes the game considerably less player friendly and it does take more than an hour to complete. Still worth it, though!

Spoiler

I think I got the same ending the first time round, as I also figured the real culprit was the most logical choice. Side note, if I remember correctly the debug mode has been left on so whoever doesn't feel like replaying or have the patience because of the lack of save system, there's always the cheap option for a bit of extra lore...

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And as for the game choice in general, it's always interesting when someone uncovers an old gem. But there's also an unquestionable perk to choosing games released in a given year - more chance for a wider variety of nominees for AGS Awards. I thought of suggesting a game added in 2019 purely for that reason, but couldn't resist picking Absin...

[Absin]

If no one else is looking to provide a pick with a full description, I can offer:

Absin by Fransis
Database link: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2263/
Synopsis: Join a bitter, cynical, down-on-her-luck detective on an unexpected and very much unwanted journey into her past.
Whilst more picky players may find the visuals lacking, the interesting non-linear structure of this investigative noir game and a strong focus on narration should easily make up for it.


It hasn't been a PotM yet and it's a pretty cool game. Fairly recently released, too!
Also, - spoiler alert, best play the game through to the end before you unhide -

Spoiler

it has a Q protagonist, per Blondbraid's wish

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[A Suspicious Date]

Two entries, fantastic! Well done teams.
I was working on something too, but didn't get nearly as much time this month as I thought so I won't finish before the deadline.

Some thoughts on the entries:

A Suspicious Date

Spoiler

It probably took me as much time to figure out how to play the game as to solve it but it wasn't frustrating to any degree, quite the opposite - it felt like a puzzle in itself and the game would have been too simple if the controls had been more obvious. The writing and visuals are very well done, the gameplay might be a bit lacking but as we know all too well, with MAGS games you often need to take some shortcuts.
The ending was a little abrupt (it would have been fun to see the boyfriend's reaction to all this mess) but overall it was an entertaining story and a cool little game, well done.

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Cave of Avarice

Spoiler

What a sweet entry! Great story and atmosphere, and I really like your interpretation of the theme. The puzzles were very straightforward and quite easy, but I felt I was playing the game for the narration more than puzzles so that felt just about right. And you were completely right with the sound and full screen mode, cat - it really does add a lot to the overall experience. I second Durq, fantastic work!

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Congratulations, LTD! That was a really amazing entry.

(And yeah, you bet it was depressing....)

Spoiler

Would have been great if you had to face more "fears".

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Spoiler

I agree! But I suppose the lack of polish and some plot shortcuts were all down to MAGS time constraints.

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[Don't Look!]

How about...

Don't Look! by Tamanegi
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1394/

A somewhat disturbing journey into the mind of a troubled 8 year old struggling to control her anxiety.

The strong focus on storytelling takes it toll on the puzzles, the verb coin is a bit awkward and there is no sound or music, but if you can appreciate a game for its backstory, cool NPC and an occasional jump scare, you will definitely enjoy this dark fantasy tale.

Cool, thanks guys.

A quick question please.. Is "What are they doing out there" within or outside of this month's rules?