Topics

[A,B,C]

Post your puzzles here on the Puzzle Post:

And I see no reason why multiple puzzles/lateral thinking riddles/etc. cannot exist side by side at the same time as long as the potential solvers of said puzzles make it clear which one they were replying to.

Here is a starter-off and probably the best puzzle I have ever encountered in my life.

I'm not sure how famous this puzzle is so if you already know the answer please do the respectful thing and leave it to those who have not already had the enjoyment of figuring it out to...figure it out...

Four people are in a room, labelled A,B,C,and D...

Each wear either a black or a white hat, as shown in the illustration below:

[imgzoom]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/Mandle/BestPuzzle01_zps5jbqjiv6.png[/imgzoom]

Each person faces to the left.

Each person cannot see the colour of the hat they are wearing.

Each person knows their A,B,C,D order, meaning that they know how many people are in front of them and how many are behind them.

All of the people know that there are 4 people in the room.

All of the people know that there are 2 white hats and 2 black hats.

They are not allowed to turn around or speak to each other.

The black bar labelled W represents a wall dividing the room which cannot be seen through, nor is it a mirror (no cheap tricks like that).

A can only see the wall right in front of them.

B can only see the wall right in front of them.

C can see the colour of B's hat.

D can see the colour of B's hat and C's hat.

The object of this puzzle is to determine which person will first correctly and with 100% certainty be able to say if they are wearing a black hat or a white hat, and also be able to explain how they knew.

SO:

Which person knew the colour of the hat they were wearing and how did they know?

(Please hide answers so that others may have a fair go at the puzzle with no spoilers)

* No Download or Registration...Just click the link, sign in as Guest, and start playing...
* The goal is to grow bigger by eating the little dots of food and other players...
* You can eat players as long as you are 125% their size or larger...
* The smaller you are the faster you move...
* The bigger you are the further you can see...
* You can split your mass to make quick lunging attacks but it takes a long time to reform back into a whole so: risky...
* You can fire your mass onto the static green spots and use them as a kind of weapon against other players...
* Mouse to move, SPACE to split your mass, W to fire off mass...

http://agar.io/

Play at own risk: SERIOUS TIME WASTER AND HIGHLY ADDICTIVE!!!

After a few games my best mass is 981, but I got lucky...And then I got stupid....And then I got eaten...

[To mark@hotels.ng"Because my parents' genes combined in just the right way."]

It seems some mega-rich dude in Nigeria (perhaps a prince looking to find an offshore account in which to hide his fortune?) is hiring for a mysterious job where you send him just 10 words describing why you are a genius.

Here's what I sent:

To mark@hotels.ng

"Because my parents' genes combined in just the right way."

So there's the email link as well in case anyone else wants to apply. But even if you don't want to, feel free to post in this thread in 10 words or less why you are a genius.

(I'm not sure if less than 10 words is allowed so I just went for the exact number. But feel free to make it 10 words or less.)

Here's the article for more details:

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/24/africa/mark-essien-hotels-ng/index.html

[YAY...Back to work for me in a few days!!!]

YAY...Back to work for me in a few days!!!

And it seems that I won the last Coloring Ball by default...YYYYaaaaaayyyy...I guess...

So I decided to come up with the potentially depressing very inspiring theme of:

WORKSPACE



The rules are as strict as always:

* You cannot draw outside the border.

* You may colour the border as you wish.

* You must follow the theme of this being some kind of workspace...

* You may rotate the frame anyway you like through 360 degrees...SCREEEEEECCCCHHHH!!! WAIT...WHAT??!!......Yes! You may rotate the frame any which way you like instead of the usual 90 degree angles. This will of course result in some pixelation of the borders but as long as you do not go out-of-bounds to a ridiculous level then your entry will be valid...

So:

LET'S PIMP OUT A WORKSPACE!!!

UPDATE:

NOW WITH AWESOME TROPHIES CREATED THROUGH THE AWESOME VOLUNTEER EFFORT OF ANASABDIN:

GOLD:


SILVER:


BRONZE:

What has become of that smelly onion-seller?

I'm sure many people already know about this amazing game. It is honestly one of the most brain-warping things I have ever seen.

I discovered it by watching Markiplier's Let's Plays on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3tRBEVW0hiAQelcEBZ9cwW86Y6wN-AUF

Which I highly recommend if you are not going to play the actual game itself. The videos contain massive spoilers so it's probably better not to watch them if there is any chance you might play the game in the future.

Without giving too much away: The Stanley Parable is an awesome study in messing with players' expectations and even at times make them start questioning their own sanity. I found the Let's Plays to be hugely entertaining while at the same time giving my brain an itchy feeling like I was close to losing my mind at some points.

Comments on the Let's Plays and/or the game itself welcome but please hide any spoilers. Cheers!

[Game Features:]

FENG SHUI AND THE ART OF TV RECEPTION



Your TV reception goes out during a violent thunder-storm.

Can you manage to restore it?

Game Features:

* A weird interface
* Atmosphere
* Feng Shui
* Animation
* Sound Effects
* A TV
* Voice acting of an excellent quality!!!
* Reception
* Art

So....erm...yeah...I hope the reception of my MAGS entry will be better than the one on the telly...

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Some advice about using the interface (No real puzzle SPOILERS) :

Spoiler

Keep a close watch on the TV screen while moving/placing items. If you have done something right you might notice the reception has improved slightly with each step. A good way to practice looking for these improvements would be fooling around with the TV antenna for a while.

Right click drops objects but it also uses them on each other if they are able to be combined and are in the appropriate positions/close enough to each other etc...I tried to be as generous as possible with the size of the hotspots for this kind of actions but please let me know if anything was too fiddly to get working...

The books and the curio-shelves (the ones with the lips,the purple tentacle, the euro, the Gumby head, the Information sign, and the Kilroy) can be a bit tricky, especially the shelves. Click on the area between two items to swap their positions and not on the actual items for best results.

[close]

Below is a Hint Manual in various stages:
(WARNING: MASSIVE SPOILERS!!!)

Spoiler

If you have not yet managed to obtain the OWNER MANUAL:

Spoiler

Slight hint:

Spoiler

Are you hooked on this game yet?

[close]

Medium hint:

Spoiler

What do you call a pole on the floor?

[close]

SPOILER hint:

Spoiler

Move the hook down to the left-most end of the pole and then right-click to attach it.

Then what???

(MAJOR SPOILER)

Spoiler

You need to match up the hook on the end of the pole to the hook in the ceiling trapdoor and right-click.

[close]

[close]

[close]

If you have managed to obtain the OWNER MANUAL:

(MASSIVE SPOILER HINTS BELOW!!!)

Spoiler

What does "Horizontal Control" mean:

Spoiler

Slight Hint:

Spoiler

Horizontal means flat...

[close]

Medium Hint:

Spoiler

What can you move on a flat surface left and right?

[close]

SPOILER HINT:

Spoiler

The vase needs to be just a few pixels left of its starting position.

[close]

[close]

What does "Vertical Control" mean:

Spoiler

Slight Hint:

Spoiler

Vertical means up and down...

[close]

Medium Hint:

Spoiler

What can you move up and down?

[close]

SPOILER HINT:

Spoiler

The lightbulb needs to be just a little lower than the right-hand shelf.

[close]

[close]

What does "Colour Balance" mean:

Spoiler

Slight Hint:

Spoiler

Balance some colours...

[close]

Medium Hint:

Spoiler

Where can you see matching colours?

[close]

SPOILER HINT:

Spoiler

Put the Xmas decorations on the bonsai tree in the same pattern you see in the curio-shelf.

[close]

[close]

What does "Linear Control" mean:

Spoiler

Slight Hint:

Spoiler

Do something in a linear order...

[close]

Medium Hint:

Spoiler

ABCDEFG...etc.

[close]

SPOILER HINT:

Spoiler

Arrange the books in alphabetical order from left to right.

[close]

[close]

What does "Key Point" mean:

Spoiler

Slight Hint:

Spoiler

A key on a wire is needed...

[close]

Medium Hint:

Spoiler

Hang the key on the wire somewhere...

[close]

SPOILER HINT:

Spoiler

Hang the key on the wire from the hook on the opened trapdoor...

[close]

[close]

[close]

[close]

THIS JUST IN:

MASSIVE thanks to Bulbapuck for his blind Let's Play of the game on YouTube:

(THE VIDEOS GIVE AWAY ALL THE PUZZLES OF COURSE AND THE ENDING SO MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY PLAYED AND WISH TO...)

CLICK HERE FOR PART ONE (22 minutes)

CLICK HERE FOR PART TWO (THE FINALE) (2 minutes)

THIS JUST MORE INNER:

YAAAAAAY!!!

THE GAME WON THE MAGS CONTEST!!!

[Dbuske:]

I present this thread to the community and to Dbuske himself as a possible remedy for everyone wishing for the...



...to open earlier each year...

Dbuske: If you just post each of your new links to game engines/personal projects/whatever in this thread each time instead of creating new threads for every single thing then the site mods will probably leave you alone.

I for one actually think you are trying to do something positive for the game dev community and have found at least one of your links very useful...I don't think you are trolling...And I think you honestly want your information to reach the AGS community for positive reasons...

SO! Maybe why don't you just use this single thread to post all new finds and new information in instead of a new thread every time which is unlikely to gain much feedback and just clutters up the forums from a mod's point of view?

People who find your posts useful will then follow your own personal single thread instead of having to look up all your threads every time you make an update...I for one will be following it with interest as I have already had a positive experience from one of your links...

Let's keep AGS the friendliest corner of the internet as much as is possible, and I really believe that it is and that we can all get along here no matter what...

(PMing this link to Dbuske himself)

[A LONG TIME BEFORE A MOVIE RELEASE IN A FORUM CLOSE TO YOUR HEART...]

Well, we all know what is happening in December this year, and even though it's still a little early:

A LONG TIME BEFORE A MOVIE RELEASE IN A FORUM CLOSE TO YOUR HEART...



RETURN OF THE SPRITE JAM

Basically any sprite Star Wars related, be it a well-loved character, a much-hated character, a character from your own imagination, or even a spaceship or prop.

Extra kudos for animated sprites (hint...hint...cough...ATAT...cough...nudge...)

Some inspirational material:

Spoiler

[imgzoom]http://www.coolinfographics.com/storage/post-images/STAR_WARS_18X24_final_1024x1024.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1384267050318[/imgzoom]

[close]

This contest will be judged by every Star Wars nut I can get my hands on in real-life including all my nerd-herder friends and a few of my students who love the movies, surprisingly split about 50/50 boy/girl ratio...

This started as a discussion between Kasander and myself in the '80's graphics Colouring Ball and he was kind enough to continue the discussion via PM.

As a child of the '80's Kasander mentioned that his family owned an Atari console in the '80's and that this was his first video gaming experience...

I was amazed both by the fact that this kind of gaming even was possible behind The Iron Curtain and also by my own complete lack of knowledge on this topic.

Considering that I grew up in Australia and was also playing on an Atari console at the exact same time as somebody in an area of the world as unimaginable and inaccessible back then as North Korea is to us now blew my mind.

Here is Kasander's tale of that time from his own perspective, posted here with his permission:

Hi Mandle,

I've already written you a bit about living in the 80's Poland from a child's perspective but I thought I could elaborate on that, since it seemed to me that you were genuinely interested in the subject.

I was born in 1980. My parents and I were living at our grandparents until I was about 3 or 4 years old and my parents received a small flat from the government (one room with the kitchen and bathroom).

I'd say my parents were rather poor back then in the 80s, but I didn't need much to have a happy childhood. I remember the long queues before entrances to shops and worker holidays with my grandmother. My grandmother was working in a furniture factory* and she often brought home some wooden leftovers which served as playing blocks. I had quite a lot of Polish made toys, which were very affordable, every child I knew had them, even those who lived in small towns and in the country. The only toys which were harder to get were Western made ones, i.e. Lego sets (I had a couple of those as well, although the smallest ones) which were every boy's dream. Those were only available in special Pewex stores, where Western goods were sold for dollars. I'm quite sure that Pewex store was also the place where my dad bought Atari 130 XE. It must've been 1986 or 87. Unfortunately I can't remember how much it cost precisely (he has told me one day)...700,000 zlotys or some outrageous sum like that. Well, it sounds outrageous, but those were times before denomination so almost everyone in Poland was a millionaire towards the end of the 80s and in the first half of the 90s I think it would be somewhere around $2000 in current US dollars.

What's more interesting is how he got the money in the first place. That was all the amount he had acquired from selling my grandfather's house in Soviet Union (obviously the property was Polish before WWII, but after it ended, the state borders has changed;)). It was a pittance for that piece of land but it was just like this for most of the people - nobody got rich thanks to Soviets, unless they were high in the Party structures. And so my dad spent all those money on one 8-bit computer, because it wasn't enough to buy anything more "serious" like a car (my parents couldn't afford the upkeep costs anyway**). Obviously my mother was quite upset about "wasting" those money, but I was overjoyed.

The funny thing is that despite the dramatic state of economy, the Polish culture was never better than during the communism. The politics of isolation really boosts up country's culture and art (the most striking example I think was Iranian cinema in the 80s and 90s - but since then the regime in Iran has sealed the lid once and for all). After 1989 (the end of communism in Poland) all branches of Polish art died out or are in the slow process of dying. Literature, cinema, theatre, music, comics, everything, even the pop culture is struggling - there's no market for homegrown artists anymore. That's the price of capitalism - Polish culture, art and the whole society is pretty much Americanised now - which for me bears a striking resemblance to being "Sovietised" in the communist times. And I'm afraid there's no good remedy for that :/

Sorry for that long ramble, but it seemed to me you were genuinely interested. And forgive me all the errors this letter is probably riddled with

Here's some bonus to sweeten the experience, a classic "cold war" piece of Polish electronic music from 1984:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqCOZGqf3TU

Cheers,

Kasander

*Which was a main source of the employment in her town and which got "nuked" when the capitalism kicked in. Last week I was visiting my maternal cousin's family in that town and from what they told us, things are grim. I'd say it even got worse there, when compared to how it was during communism. There's a huge unemployment (like everywhere in Poland) and also a big problem with criminality in many smaller towns like that. The police (nudge nudge!) just don't care because they're underpaid and corrupt and most often just not qualified enough to tackle those problems. It was quite different during communism, because the police - however vilified and Party-steered - was the authority not to be messed with (sure, there was still some criminal activity going on, but the scale is incomparable). Compared to the old times, there's plenty of goods in stores, the shelves are bending, but there's a lack of job opportunities (which were provided by the government back then), so there's a lack of money to buy them with :/ I live in Warsaw, so it's pretty much cream of the crop compared to the rest of Poland, but it's still a second world country for you. I'm 34 and unemployed (with a Master's degree in Arts). I've been working at some odd (usually non-artistic) jobs now and then and naively hope for a better future. I would have a hard time making ends meet without my parents' help.

**My parents only got better off and could afford a car in the 90s

PS: In case you wonder, no, I'm not a commie!

Thanks you Kasander for taking the time to send me this info.

I have a few questions I would like to "interview" you with in this thread to preserve your unique perspective on video gaming behind The Iron Curtain:

(1) Do you still own your original console and the game carts for it? If so: do they still work?

(2) What games in particular do you remember owning and/or being amongst your favorites?

(3) Did your whole family play the games or was it mostly just something for the kids?

(4) Where could you obtain new game carts? How much did they cost? About how often could you get your hands on a new game?

(5) Were there any games that were only released behind The Iron Curtain that you either owned or know of?

(6) Were there any controversial games (Missile Command comes to mind) which were banned and unavailable?

(7) Can you show us some scans from your Polish gaming magazine of that era (if you can find it) which are especially expressive of the era, say something in particular about the gaming community of Cold War Poland, or are just funny/camp to see in 2015?

This is also a community thread so I want to invite any others with questions, personal insights from either side of The Iron Curtain, or comments on anything presented here to chime in if they wish to do so.

THIS IS SO AWESOME IT BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES!!!

Talk about my personal heroes of all time getting together for a gig!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfcC6FYyL4U

[SLAAAAASH AND BUUUURRRNNN!!!]

Hi community!

I just thought I would share a link here to another Escape The Room game I made as a class project with some very imaginative kids I teach at my school.

The name of the game is "Slash And Burn" for reasons which will become clear as you play...

The game was created with an online tool that you can also access at the same site should you wish to:

CLICK HERE TO PLAY "SLASH AND BURN"

It was quite a challenge and a lot of brain-frying work and fun to complete the game with all the crazy ideas and puzzles we mapped out in class, but I hope that it was worth it and that some of you might play it and also experience some challenging fun as well.

We tried to pack as much story, puzzles and interaction into what is still an interface in development and this was an often hair-pulling but also enjoyable challenge in itself.

There is also a voting option at the top of the game screen and, as a good voting turnout can result in more game slots available for our classes to use (and potentially more young-uns growing up interested in game development), please be as kind with your votes as you are able to be...

Well, I hope this little point-and-click adventure-style effort can give you at least a half hour of enjoyment if possible.

Our previous game "Super Beasts" became an overnight smash-hit attaining well over 5000 plays in its first 10 days online, and this new game is even more devious, more complex, and more fun than our first outing (we hope)...

SLAAAAASH AND BUUUURRRNNN!!!

Here's a gentle helpful hint guide with hints graded Basic, Moderate, and Giveaway, all hidden until you need them:

Spoiler

I can't reach the axe:

Spoiler

Basic Hint:

Spoiler

You need something to poke it down with...

[close]

Moderate Hint:

Spoiler

What is brown and sticky?

[close]

Giveaway Hint:

Spoiler

You need to get a stick from somewhere to poke the axe with to get it down.

[close]

[close]

My axe is broken:

Spoiler

Basic Hint:

Spoiler

One part of it is not broken...

[close]

Moderate Hint:

Spoiler

The axe head needs a new handle...

[close]

Giveaway Hint:

Spoiler

What's brown and sticky?

[close]

[close]

I can't light a fire:

Spoiler

Basic Hint:

Spoiler

Pixel hunt...

[close]

Moderate Hint:

Spoiler

What's that behind the orange tree?

[close]

Giveaway Hint:

Spoiler

Chop the crack in the wall behind the orange tree with the axe.

[close]

[close]

I don't understand the hints on the noticeboard:

Spoiler

Basic Hint:

Spoiler

The game is called "Slash and Burn"!

[close]

Moderate Hint:

Spoiler

Chop the noticeboard with the axe!

[close]

Giveaway Hint:

Spoiler

You can't read the hints anymore so they must not matter!

[close]

[close]

I have 20 oranges but I can't get the juicer to work:

Spoiler

Basic Hint:

Spoiler

In case you missed it the game said "SPILL ALERT" when you tried using the oranges on the juicer.

[close]

Moderate Hint:

Spoiler

This means the juice will spill on the floor unless you have a container ready to catch it in.

[close]

Giveaway Hint:

Spoiler

There is a container in plain sight that you need to catch the juice in.

[close]

[close]

I can't find a container:

Spoiler

Basic Hint:

Spoiler

It's sitting around somewhere in plain sight.

[close]

Moderate Hint:

Spoiler

You need the vase that the orange tree was in.

[close]

Giveaway Hint:

Spoiler

The vase is glued to the floor so you need to pry it up somehow...

[close]

[close]

I need something to pry with:

Spoiler

Basic Hint:

Spoiler

Break everything!

[close]

Moderate Hint:

Spoiler

Breaking makes holes!

[close]

Giveaway Hint:

Spoiler

Look in all the holes!

[close]

[close]

I can't light the log in the fireplace:

Spoiler

Basic Hint:

Spoiler

It's too damp.

[close]

Moderate Hint:

Spoiler

Light a fire somewhere else.

[close]

Giveaway Hint:

Spoiler

Kindling is needed to light a decent fire.
I can't find kindling:

Spoiler

Basic Hint:

Spoiler

No book burning allowed!!!

[close]

Moderate Hint:

Spoiler

Leave the books alone...

[close]

Giveaway Hint:

Spoiler

A good fire builder LEAVES books alone...

[close]

[close]

[close]

[close]

I can't find kindling:

Spoiler

Basic Hint:

Spoiler

No book burning allowed!!!

[close]

Moderate Hint:

Spoiler

Leave the books alone...

[close]

Giveaway Hint:

Spoiler

A good fire builder LEAVES books alone...

[close]

[close]

[close]

HERE'S THE WHOLE WALKTHROUGH (100% SPOILERS!!!)

Spoiler

Read the signs under the juicer
(You need 20 oranges for it to auto-juice them)
Open both fridge doors
Get all the oranges
Open cabinet door
Get the orange
(You now have 9 oranges)
Go right
Pick all the oranges from the tree
(You now have 15 oranges)
Go right
Turn on the 3D television
Get the saw from the "real 3D"
Go left
Saw through the trunk of the orange tree
Get the orange from under the fallen tree
(You now have 16 oranges)
Saw off the trunk of the fallen tree to get a stick
Go right or left twice
Poke down the right-hand ax with the stick
(You can now go mad with the ax chopping up many things just for fun but the ones that matter are...)
Go left
Chop a hole in the TV screen
Click on the hole
Get the crowbar
Chop the wooden crate three times
Get the two oranges that come out
(You now have 18 oranges)
Go left
Chop the crack in the wall that was hidden behind the orange tree before you cut it down
Chop the hole in the wall that appears
Chop the hole again two more times
Now your ax handle breaks off
Use the stick on the ax head to replace the broken handle
Pick up the ax
Chop the hole in the wall again
Get the lighter and the orange from the hole
(You now have 19 oranges)
Use the lighter on the fallen tree
Get any leaf from the floor
Use the crowbar on the orange tree's vase
Go right
Use the leaf on the spark that landed on the wooden crate
Use the leaf on the spark that landed on the TV stand
Go right
Use the leaf on the spark that landed in the fireplace
The log is now kindled enough to be dry
Use the lighter on the log
The smoke alarm goes to "orange" alert level
Click on the orange in the smoke alarm
Pick up the orange from the floor
(You now have all 20 oranges)
Go right
Use an orange on the juicer
The message says "SPILL ALERT" meaning you need to get ready to catch the juice first
Use the vase on the juicer
Use an orange on the juicer
The juice is now pouring into the vase
Pick up the vase
Go left
Put out the log fire with the orange juice
Inside the log there was a screwdriver
Pick up the screwdriver
Go right
Unscrew the grill at the back of the fridge with the screwdriver
Trying to solve the safe combination will get you nowhere so, since violence has served you well enough up until this point:
Pry the safe out with the crowbar
Crawl out through the hole behind the safe to escape!!!
(We hope you had fun with our game...Please vote kindly!!!)

[close]

[This short cartoon was made as a drama project for the 2015 Future Friends English School's Spring Playland. It stars the voices of three very young Japanese students and tells what we hope is an entertaining and possibly touching Easter story.The cartoon has the feel of a kindergarten pageant with all the awkwardness and charm which goes along with such.Miyu, Kanon, Moeka, and myself hope you enjoy our little production...]

This short cartoon was made as a drama project for the 2015 Future Friends English School's Spring Playland. It stars the voices of three very young Japanese students and tells what we hope is an entertaining and possibly touching Easter story.

The cartoon has the feel of a kindergarten pageant with all the awkwardness and charm which goes along with such.

Miyu, Kanon, Moeka, and myself hope you enjoy our little production...

DOWNLOAD HERE

[AGS AWARDS: BACKSTAGE PASS]

AGS AWARDS: BACKSTAGE PASS

Ever wonder what the backstage of the AGS Awards Theater looks like, or what dangers might lurk there in the wings?

Join a well-known and much-loved character on his trek from floor to stage
in this game I made today in under 15 hours start to finish,
just in time for the 2015 AGS Awards Test...





DOWNLOAD HERE

A big thanks to all characters who participated in this game.

[As a nod to the recent Academy Awards the theme for this Colouring Ball will be:]

As a nod to the recent Academy Awards the theme for this Colouring Ball will be:

By which I mean:

ANY kind of entertainment of course. Not just hollywood movies.

It could be a video game, a piece of sports' equipment, a stereo system, a child's toy, a bookcase full of books, etc etc.

Anything that a person might use for entertainment (and which is displayable within the acceptable limits of this site of course )

Here is the frame:


And to avoid confusion, here is the frame with the grey area showing the area you may use:


RULES:

You have to fill the shape by drawing and colouring your "Entertainment"!

What you can do:
Colour the dark outline.
Rotate the shape in 90-degree increments and also mirror the shape.
You can use all the colours you like.

What you can't do:
You can't change the shape.
You can't distort the shape.
You can't make the shape bigger.

Competition runs from March 1st, 2015 to March 10th, 2015.

IT'S VOTING TIME!!!

Sorry for the delays folks. The show must go on!!!

Here are all entries for voting (minus my own joke entry):

HOBO:

"It can sing, it can dance, it can even scratch your back!"

FunBoT 6000 - The future of entertainment!

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/3GIkcwZ.png[/imgzoom]

SELMIAK:

[imgzoom]http://selmiak.bplaced.net/stuff/entertainment.png[/imgzoom]

I had a hard time figuring out what to do with the circle like shape (so that means it's a good shape...), so I gave the arcade machine some arm with which it will grab you and never let you go again, like every arcade machine does.

...or the arcade likes to play with itself and its joystick

WRK:

Original:


Zoom:


I'm not sure if that's entertainment, but I would pay
to see people being transform into high energy particles.

TABATA:

        gmbl       
Okay - I became forced convinced to pixelpush something.   
I decided to do just that and place it here â€" Now, please watch it at your own risk!! 

I want to introduce to you …
“Miss Something“:

[imgzoom]http://fs2.directupload.net/images/user/150312/5mwjzmdf.png[/imgzoom]

. . . or as she likes to call herself
>>>   the next dancing queen  <<<

She performs a kind of modern ballet and is really excited to have made a contract abroad already.
She doesn't know anything about this country yet but doesn't care
because they told her that the inhabitants from Minecraft will love her figure for sure.

Edit:
YAY - extension, extension!
Because we got offered that extension, I fiddled a bit with the colours. I wanted to let her appearance become brighter and a bit naughty
...  more like a queen of dancing instead of something insignificant   

As usual, please vote for your 1st,2nd, and 3rd best choices here in the thread.

VOTING CLOSED!!!

Sorry for the wait on judging this event:

I have awarded 15 points for each first place vote, 10 points for each second place vote, and 5 points for each third place vote:

I have added up the scores and they fall thus:

WRK: 75
selmiak: 30
Hobo: 25
Tabata: 85

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So the winner is:

TABATA!!! With her beautiful dancing queen!!!


Please collect your Gold trophy here:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Second place goes to:

WRK!!! For his amazing pixel art!!!

Your Silver trophy is here:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Third place goes to:

selmiak!!! For his arcade game that plays with itself!!!

Your Bronze trophy is here:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Colouring Ball hosting now passes to Tabata...

[SUUUUUUPER-BUUUUUUUNNY!!!]

Hi community!

I just thought I would share a link here to an Escape The Room game I made as a class project with some very imaginative kids I teach at my school.

The name of the game is "Super Beasts" for reasons which will become clear as you play...

The game was created with an online tool that you can also access at the same site should you wish to:

CLICK HERE TO PLAY "SUPER BEASTS"

It was quite a challenge and a lot of brain-frying work and fun to complete the game with all the crazy ideas and puzzles we mapped out in class, but I hope that it was worth it and that some of you might play it and also experience some challenging fun as well.

We tried to pack as much story, puzzles and interaction into what is still an interface in development and this was an often hair-pulling but also enjoyable challenge in itself.

There is also a voting option at the top of the game screen and, as a good voting turnout can result in more game slots available for our classes to use (and potentially more young-uns growing up interested in game development), please be as kind with your votes as you are able to be...

Well, I hope this little point-and-click adventure-style effort can give you at least a half hour of enjoyment if possible.

SUUUUUUPER-BUUUUUUUNNY!!!

[So, after all the insane fun of Pindorama's last Sprite Jam I feel slightly terrified to be hosting this next one:But here it is, and the theme is:]

So, after all the insane fun of Pindorama's last Sprite Jam I feel slightly terrified to be hosting this next one:

But here it is, and the theme is:

    PORTALS   

   (Door Jam)   

Almost every adventure game has some kind of portals to take your character from one place to the next: They might be simple wooden doors, giant metallic hatches, cracks in cavern walls, fissures in the fabric of reality, or even the orifices of bovines' bodies...

But, whatever they are, they excite us players! We crave to know what is just beyond that next door, just through that too-high-to-reach window, or just under our feet through that mysterious trapdoor...

More often than not these portals prove difficult to open, but once we have finally gained access to them our brave little adventuring hearts go into overdrive, a smile lights up our faces, and we traverse the previously impenetrable barrier, eyes wide open for whatever further wonders await us on the other side...

In short: WE FRIGGIN' LOVE DOORS!!!

Of course though, the term "door" is a bit limiting and that is why I named the theme "Portals" instead.

So yeah: Any damn thing you can go through to get into another area...Be it a door, window, magic mirror, trapdoor, hatch, secret bookcase/fireplace passage, wormhole, porthole, mouse-hole, asshole, rabbit-hole, a hole you smashed through the wall yourself, or even books in a magical library that you can get sucked into (although I doubt anyone would be crazy enough to come up with a game based on that concept)...

Whatever the portal actually is is fine by me...

It's merely an embodiment of our basic desire to see what is awaiting us just beyond our range of vision...

There are a few things I would like to see however which could therefore add to your final score ranking.

So...Let's talk about:

THE BONUSES

Firstly, and briefly, the reason for these bonuses:
I believe that contests such as Sprite Jam are a whole load of fun. But I also believe that they can provide valuable resources for game developers to tap into, especially with something as basic to adventure games as "doors". I really hope that this theme can provide sprites that the community can actually plug into game projects (credited properly of course I also hope)... If you wish for your work to remain exclusively for your own use then this is of course fine, but please say so clearly in your entry's post...

BONUS #1: RESOLUTION
It would be nice if Sprites entered could be based on an available AGS game resolution and this resolution mentioned when the sprite is entered in the contest. Just say anything like 320x240, 640x480, etc. This is to give developers wishing to use the sprite a context to choose from. So if you are doing a normal human-sized door in 640x480 don't make it too huge or too small basically (and yeah I know about scaling and perspective but I doubt anyone is entering with a sprite 300 meters in the distance)-----KA-CHING +5 points!!!

BONUS #2: ANIMATION
It would be wonderful if your sprite could be animated, showing the portal in action. You don't have to of course, but those who go the extra mile will achieve:
KA-CHING +5 points!!! for an opening/closing animation of at least two frames (open view and closed view) and a further:
KA-CHING +5 points!!! for every extra frame of animation added up until a total of five frames (open view, closed view, plus three intermediate frames)
(If anyone goes the additional extra mile and provides unique opening and closing animations they will receive the extra points)
KA-CHING +5 points!!! for providing a viewable gif of the animation, or link to the animation offsite.
KA-CHING +5 points!!! for providing all the animation frames (might want to use the [ /hide] feature here if large/many)

BONUS #2: DEMONSTRATION
This means demonstrating how your sprite looks against an appropriate background in the resolution you previously provided. This is not Background Blitz so the background does not have to be your own work. It merely has to be a good example of how your portal looks/animates against a background of the appropriate resolution:
KA-CHING +5 points!!! for a static image of your portal sprite against a background of appropriate resolution.
KA-CHING +10 points!!! for an animated gif (or link to offsite animation) of your portal sprite against a background of appropriate resolution.

(But please also provide your sprite free from the background as well)

Obviously, the entrants that can provide Resolution, Animation, and Demonstration (R.A.D.) will start with an advantage but the real decider will be:

THE VOTING

This will work the same as it did in the previous Sprite Jam:

Once voting is opened every voter will be asked to provide their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd favorite choices...

If your sprite is chosen by someone for 1st place: KA-CHING +15 points!!!
If your sprite is chosen by someone for 2nd place: KA-CHING +10 points!!!
If your sprite is chosen by someone for 3rd place: KA-CHING +5 points!!!

And now we talk about:

THE TROPHIES

There will be trophies for first, second, and third placers, and souvenirs for all participants...

First Place Second Place Third Place
          

Trophies created by the incredible I<3Pindorama and, strangely enough, delivered by some scary Russian dude...

And here is the souvenir available to all entrants:

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/n7ifJne.gif[/imgzoom]

Souvenirs also created by the unstoppable I<3Pindorama and, strangely enough, delivered by Mr. freakin' T...

Well, now that you have the framework, don't be a knob!
The success of this contest hinges on your entries!
It would be a real pane if this contest just sat on the windowsill...
So get your foot in the door before it gets JAMMED!!!

LET THE CONTEST BEGIN!!!

VOTING OPEN

So yeah, I'll probably have more time to make this voting stage of the contest a bit more presentable over the weekend, including tallying all the bonus points for each entry and so forth, but for now here are the entries:
______________________________________________________________________________

JWALT:
[imgzoom]http://i1341.photobucket.com/albums/o756/jwalt10705/specialKFin1_zpsybjev2ky.gif[/imgzoom]
______________________________________________________________________________

MATTI:
With background:
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/4T3pouV.png[/imgzoom]

Portal sprite:
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/OpFQ8Cc.png[/imgzoom]
______________________________________________________________________________

MISJ':
[imgzoom]http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa412/misj1270/Misj_SpriteJam_20150215-portalOpen_zpsqnm1vthm.gif[/imgzoom]
______________________________________________________________________________

CASSIEBSG:

With background:
[imgzoom]http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Cassiebsg/Misc/toilet2_o1.png[/imgzoom]

Animated Portal sprite:
[imgzoom]http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Cassiebsg/Misc/toilet2_oa.gif[/imgzoom]
______________________________________________________________________________

I<3PINDORAMA:

I wasn't quite sure how to present this entry as it is an entire multimedia exhibition in itself...Please check the original entry on page three of this thread for the full experience.

So I chose what I thought was the best example of with background and without:

With animated background:
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/ydIiLxX.gif[/imgzoom]

Portal sprite:
[imgzoom]http://goo.gl/qLiX7r[/imgzoom]
______________________________________________________________________________

When voting please post your 1st place, 2nd place, and 3rd place choices...Some personal notes on your choice of each entry are always appreciated but not mandatory...

    RESULTS   

   (Door Jam)   

I have tallied all the scores and so here we go:

JWALT:
RESOLUTION: +5
ANIMATION: +30
DEMONSTRATION: +10

1ST PLACE VOTES: 1 x 15 = 15
2ND PLACE VOTES: 1 x 10 = 10
3RD PLACE VOTES: 1 x 5 = 5

TOTAL: 75

MATTI:
RESOLUTION: +5
ANIMATION: NA
DEMONSTRATION: +5

1ST PLACE VOTES: 1 x 15 = 15
2ND PLACE VOTES: NA
3RD PLACE VOTES: NA

TOTAL: 25

MISJ':
RESOLUTION: +5
ANIMATION: +35
DEMONSTRATION: NA

1ST PLACE VOTES: 1 x 15 = 15
2ND PLACE VOTES: 2 x 10 = 20
3RD PLACE VOTES: 1 x 5 = 5

TOTAL: 80

CASSIEBSG:
RESOLUTION: +5
ANIMATION: +35
DEMONSTRATION: +10 (I'm counting the two open/closed frames as acceptable animation)

1ST PLACE VOTES: 1 x 15 = 15
2ND PLACE VOTES: 1 x 10 = 10
3RD PLACE VOTES: 1 x 5 = 5

TOTAL: 80

I<3PINDORAMA:
RESOLUTION: NA
ANIMATION: NA
DEMONSTRATION: +5

1ST PLACE VOTES: NA
2ND PLACE VOTES: NA
3RD PLACE VOTES: 1 x 5 = 5

TOTAL: 10

So for points total we have a tie between Misj' and Cassiebsg...

In this case I think it's fairest to judge the winner as the entrant with the most points in the voting section:

So:

FIRST PLACE: MISJ'

SECOND PLACE: CASSIEBSG

THIRD PLACE: JWALT

I am sending trophies and souvenirs out to all winners and entrants

The Sprite Jam torch now passes to MISJ'!!!

Thanks for the fun contest all...

[(1) Map drawing:]

Well, lately I've been on a binge of playing games based in or around the Cthulhu Mythos. I am considering my own game based on such, and thus decided I must check out what has come before both for inspiration and also to avoid unintentional duplication. And for fun as well of course...

So far I have played these graphics adventures:

"Shadow Of The Comet" and it's sequel "Prisoner Of Ice"
"Darkseed" and it's sequel "Darkseed II"

Which were all very good. "Shadow Of The Comet" was probably the best, despite a lack of anything resembling a decent interface and some impossibly counter-intuitive puzzles. Apart from its problems though it really captured the feel of Lovecraft and is a charming game to boot.

But the one main flaw that all these games had for me was the problem that all visual media hits when attempting Lovecraft, and probably why there have been few successful Lovecraftian movies:

Once you show the mythos entities visually they are just monsters. They are supposed to be sanity-sapping inconceivable-to-the-human-mind things, but the visual designs have been conceived by human minds and thus must always fall short of what the original stories implied.

So, I turned next to text-adventures:

I tried out Infocom's "The Lurking Horror" which was pretty good, but ultimately did not really satisfy me: It was so obviously Infocom-style above and beyond being Lovecraft...It felt a bit like playing Zork with a different setting. There is even a thief that steals your stuff and you get eaten as soon as your light source runs out.

So this brings me to:

BEST LOVECRAFT GAMES EVER

I downloaded two more text adventures which were made by indie-developers but seemed to have achieved tons of praise and awards. Both are public-domain so I will include the links now:

Anchorhead and The King Of Shreds And Patches

(The top link on the right-side of the screen is the game download link in both cases. You will also have to download the recomended emulators to play the games. Game files and emulator files are all very small in size due to the text-based nature. Once the emulator is installed just drag and drop the game file onto the emulator icon to start playing.)

And OH MY GOD these games are incredible! Nothing I have played, except for the Call Of Cthulhu dice and paper RPG, comes even close to these games in simulating the feel of being in a Lovecraft story.

Without going into spoilers I will just say that both of these games are masterfully written, both in plot and prose, and both have an epic scale, being about as long as a medium-to-longish novel. So yeah, if you're not into doing a LOT of reading then these games are not for you.

Also both games have fixed some big problems that people had with earlier text-adventures:

(1) Map drawing: If you ever played the Zork games then you know what I mean: Super-complex maps that you pretty much had to draw on paper or wander forever lost. Anchorhead solves this problem by keeping the layout pretty simple and the number of rooms to the minimum needed to tell the story. I never had to draw a map, except for one or two "maze" areas, and even those are fairly simple. King Of Shreds And Patches actually has a graphical auto-mapper which is always on-screen when needed, and also takes the time to tell you where new locations can be found (as your character is supposed to have lived in London (in the time of Shakespear) for years and is familiar with the geography).

(2) Impossible puzzles: Using the Zork games again as an example: They had those couple of puzzles which were just SO hard that you could get stuck literally for months or years or forever. With dozens of locations and dozens of inventory items and little to no telegraphing of what to use where, you could wear out entire keyboards trying every possible thing to make progress in some cases. The puzzles in Anchorhead and King Of Shreds and Patches are logical, well telegraphed, and just hard enough to require a bit of thought and planning, but I found I was never really stuck to the point of frustration. So the story is always moving forward and the immersion is rarely broken.

(3) Too long room descriptions: Remember when you would walk into some rooms in (again) Zork games and the entire screen was taken up by the description and even had the [MORE] at the bottom? In these two games the descriptions are concisely written to give you just enough atmosphere and information. Further detail is always provided by using "examine" on things and so in this way you still get the richness of detail but in snippets controllable by the player, not dumped in your face all in one slew.

The games do have what some may consider flaws:

(1) Dead ends: In both games it is possible to hit dead-end gameplay if you made too many mistakes earlier on. This usually involves something obvious like throwing an important item into the sea never to be seen again, and is in most cases avoidable. But still: save often!

(2) Time limits: Both games have a time limit, although it doesn't become so vital until later on. Anchorhead has the stricter time limit in the later parts of the game, but with a bit of strategic game-saving, and a stop-and-think-before-acting attitude (time is still frozen between moves as in most text adventures) players should have little real trouble.

The main thing that makes these two games the best Lovecraft I've ever played is, of course, in text it IS possible to throw the mythos entities at you without spoiling them by having to show exactly what they look like. It's done in pretty much the same way Lovecraft did it in the stories.

Another factor is that YOU are actually the main character in the story: Lovecraft usually had his characters already entwined in the mystery from way before the story began, although the characters themselves were usually unaware of this until later. In "Shadow Of The Comet" for example, you are an outside investigator trying to solve a mystery that you have no real connection with. But, oh my God, especially in Anchorhead you are bound to the story in ways that still haunt me even now, a week or so after finishing the game.

So...I hope this inspires some people to check out these two awesome games or, if you have already played them, please leave a comment below about your own experiences with the game(s).

Cheers!

I don't know if anyone has seen this guy's stuff before but it's absolutely amazing, and a must for any fans of Lovecraft and/or Dr. Seuss.

He has taken the original Lovecraft stories and turned them into perfect replicas of what Dr. Suess would have made of the source material. In his blog on the page it also says that Chaosium (the company that made the "Call Of Cthulhu" role playing game) is planning to publish his own "Call Of Cthulhu (for beginning readers)" in a paper-book edition. (droools)

Here is that book's cover, and the story inside also runs 75 beautiful pages, all in impeccable Seussian style:



You can check out all his work HERE (If you scroll down you will see the links to all his Lovecraft adaptations)

or...

You can jump straight into "The Call Of Cthulhu (for beginning readers)" HERE (The images can be zoomed, and just click on the NEXT/PREVIOUS links below the picture to turn the pages)

How do I:

Spoiler

Get back to Hogwarts after being back in the Muggle world? I have gone to the train station, purchased my ticket, read the sign that says the train leaves at 11, and waited on the platform for like forever without any means of telling what time it is ARRRRGGGGHHH!!! I suspect that time is not passing while I'm on the platform as my health never drops from starving etc... So what the heck do I do???

[close]

Nevermind solved the problem:

Spoiler

Nevermind I have figured it out: You need to use the train ticket on yourself...OUCH!!!

[close]

Apart from this hitch in my gameplay though I must say that this game is amazing...I would be tempted to say that it is the next best thing since Heroines Quest as far as RPG/Adventure game blends go...

I have also PMed a bunch of game abuse bugs to the author so hopefully this game will become even more awesome!!!