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YES! So happy to see this released at last Also extremely glad to have been part of the journey!
Cheers to you, cheers to the Captain!

[Thank you]

In spite of this, I felt that the talks were some of the most inspiring and thought provoking we've had. The feedback I've heard has been very positive.

They were inspiring indeed, Ali, and I'm quite frankly still feeling a kind of "positive unease" after Brian Moriarty's speech. I find myself going back in my mind to specific chunks of his talk a lot.
I already did it live, but I want to thank you and everyone else involved in the event's organization. Thank you. I had a blast.

I have created a shared album gallery on Google Photo https://photos.app.goo.gl/qeAtXwTp87PGapVw1 Anybody can jump in and upload stuff if they feel like!

First of all this looks great! Congrats to the team!

1) I'd probably ask the players if they want it to be on or off when they click on "New game" rather than having the switch in the options menu. Other than that, what happens if I click on something when the game suggested me how to explore the environment"? In other words is the hotspot\objects interaction disabled in that stage?

2) I love stuff like the action popups a lot, but probably they break the immersion a little? I mean, I guess that if the game was set in some sort of virtual reality it would fit very nicely.
Still, I'd probably leave it just for stuff that usually is not that obvious, like "Kyle picked up the flashlight". Usually the inventory is what I get most bad feedback about, that's why I'm telling you

3) I don't really mind, but beware of "info dumps"! Try to spread the information about the character(s) in smaller bits and pieces through environmental storytelling and\or other well placed occasions I'm guilty of info dumps a lot, by the way

4) I like the UI as well as the character dialog closeups! The only thing I'm not sure about is the mouse icon, the one with the red and blue buttons, whenever you are hovering a hotspot. Is it context-based, meaning that it only shows what you can actually click (some hotspots may only be examined but not used, for instance)?

Keep up the good work, this is looking great!

I think I will try and see what feeling I get from it

Also, I just watched an Unavowed dev-stream for the first time and noticed that Dave Gilbert uses a similar approach, the differences being that there is no mouse-linked popup that names the hotspot and that the description is written using a third person point of view. It seems to be working fine, at least for me!

Thanks Hobo! I'm glad you liked the game

I also see what you mean about the descriptions, I'm still puzzled about it too!
I received much positive feedback between here, itch.io and other people who I talked with, including a person with disability who found it to be a step towards better accessibility. That said, I'm with you in thinking that I may be forcing it on players. I could probably test whether some sort of "timer on hover" (if you hover on an hotspot for more than x seconds the description appears) but would I also lose that immediacy and general idea of the "stream of consciousness"? Hmmm...

[Heavy Metal Nannulf: The Strange Stage]

Congratulations everybody for your very different releases

Heavy Metal Nannulf: The Strange Stage by DBoyWheeler:

Spoiler

Much like theatrical superstitions, there are probably as many superstitions for musicians as well (even though in this case was more of a childhood trauma) I agree with those who say that the walkcycle it's what makes the game less enjoyable, especially when it comes to walking through the long backstage corridor, but other than that the game delivers a simple and complete fun.

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Disgust by horusr:

Spoiler

As I already said before I'm not really into the visual novel genre, but I still applaud your efforts and the story itself. It was also fun to see the little "easter egg" which shows the WIP images for the background. If this is going to be ever released as an actual adventure game, I will be more than happy to play it!

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That Day by Cassiebsg:

Spoiler

The mood and the graphics somewhat took me back to an adventure game for PS1 I remember, although never really played much: Ark of Time. I look forward to an "extended" and polished release of this because it seems interesting and I would like to actually know what is going on in the game .

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Thank you very much, xBRANEx!
I deeply appreciate your feedback and I'm glad it may have given you ideas for your future interfaces
Since the development was strange (never worked so much on graphics before, by myself) the outcome was somewhat hazy, which I was happy with!

The big plan is to expand it and make it a full-fledged game, but I'm still working on trying to figure out the whole picture myself :laughing:

I don't think there's such a thing as innate talent. Maybe you could try to improve the game on your own ?

I agree with Creamy Now you have all the time you want to experiment with it and expanding it, if you want to.

[networking]

I don't think there is anything to feel guilty about or to be ashamed of (if this is what is being discussed here).

Many of us like MAGS "just because", not because it is a competition we want to win. It can just be a challenge At the end of the trip you will have learned something new (no matter how much) or fine-tuned what you already knew and, best case scenario, you will have a product for you to showcase and for people to enjoy

I played Disgust knowing what the premise was and, while I don't have this specific genre of games among my favorites, I see nothing wrong about it, especially considering it was published as a way to cope with the deadline.

Horusr, I don't think you have to apologize to your players You made a voice-overed disclaimer in the game intro and also stated it in the game's database
You did what you could and, most of all, you tried to get other people to work with you, which means networking. Team management is very often a very tough task, as much as time management is.
Game jams such as MAGS and many others are often a way (if not the way) to begin to realize the hardship of game development and design

So, bottom line, I think that there is no real failure when it comes to learning.
As long as your objective is to improve, to me there is nothing wrong with the journey that takes you there!

Wow folks! Great job!
Can't wait to play your entries and I hope that everyone else will join me in a round of applause at your accomplishments!

Thanks a lot for participating, no matter how short or long your game is!

[30 hours left]

Congratulations DBoyWheeler for the release! Can't wait to jump on stage

This is almost it, folks, there are about 30 hours left!

Cassiebsg and horusr: you are doing a wonderful job, keep going!

Wow it's great to see so many fellow developers attempting this (no matter the results)!
Thank you all Can't wait to see what this last week will bring!

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Oops, sorry to hear that. We changed the top-down view idea, back to standart view.

Noooo!
Well, that's fine anyway I still look forward to see what you are coming up with!
Keep us posted!

I got the main room of the game set up... the stage (the place Nannulf needs to visit three times in game).  I'll work on the backstage area next, and then each of the rooms of the four band members.  Yes, I know I kinda effed up the curtains, but what can ya do?

Eff the curtains! Who cares about them when you have such a big stage? Actually I wish I could play live on such a big stage (I did a couple of times, though, I have to admit... Still I want more!)

Actually, sorry, I'm out for this one.

Wow, it is a busy schedule! Actually your plans remind me of the movie A New Leaf with Walter Matthau and Elaine May
Jokes aside: best wishes and good luck (you choose where to apply which)! And don't worry, I don't think you will ever lose that crown

Still, thanks a lot for sharing your screenshot, it looked interesting and very detailed!

Wow, folks: you are amazing!

Can't wait to see your games!
I'm especially intrigued by horusr's one... I dig the top-down visuals!

Also, Mandle: good job on keeping that crown where it is meant to be

This theme instantly made me think of Hotline Miami -- which (I think) is such an awesome adventure game material! It's such a shame I'm super busy on a project that's going to probably take me another couple of months. But if anyone else would like to pick the idea up, I might be able to help with dialogues/plot.

I would be very curious to see an Hotline Miami adventure game. Top-down view and everything! It's not like we didn't have people who tried

A little status report on my end--the sprites of the main character, Nannulf, are under construction.  I've finished his front view (or down view) and his left view (his left and right views will be different, because he has a cool shoulder plate thing on his right shoulder).  I didn't realize till it was too late that I forgot his black wristbands.  Oh well, maybe in a future non-MAGS game (AGS or otherwise) he might have his wristbands.

Good to know you're still working on it. It's Screenshot Saturday! Feel free to post something, if you have\want it!

Also: is anybody else joining? It is said that the extreme summer heat is easily beaten with the heat a game developer can produce by typing on a keyboard :laugh:

Go for it, DBoyWheeler!

That crown is really well deserved!

Thank you all for your votes!

It is such a short game but it was challenging to work on

Also, thanks again to Mandle who jumped in and delivered his work in so few hours!

I didn't comment here yet!

It seems you have a knack for last-minute releases.
I think it's great!

Also, about the SPOILER

Spoiler

I don't look at my keyboard when writing, so I think I noticed right away that something was going not as expected!

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