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Awesome game so far!

But I think I hit a game-breaking bug (EDITED to be more accurate)

Spoiler

I clicked on the X on the terminal display and turned it off, but then when I went back to the terminal (left-clicked it) all the room's hotspots disappeared but the terminal window did not reappear. So I was trapped.

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I just finishing playing and...I'm speechless!!!

Beautiful graphics! Eerie music! Interesting and ominous characters! A compelling, and truly Lovecraftian, story where you actually start to dread what's awaiting you...

BUT! What amazed me the most:

THE INCREDIBLE VOICE ACTING!!!

I haven't heard voice acting this good in a game since...ummmm...Actually, I'm not sure if I've ever heard voice acting this good in a game to be honest! Only in a few commercial titles, but even then: not many, and it would be a tie!

Also, on a connected note: The dialog is also all spot-on for both American and British characters, without any of the fake British "Blimey me old chappy" you get in a lot of "professional" games and even major films...

Not really spoilers but concerning the ending:

Spoiler

As with a lot of MAGs games the ending does feel slightly rushed, probably because it was I'd imagine. I've done some MAGs games and so know very well about the all-night marathons towards the end trying to meet the deadline. Nevertheless, the ending was perfect story-wise. I hope to see an extended ending in a non-MAGs release sometime in the future.

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So, not only one of the best MAGs games I've ever played, but also one of my new all-time favorite AGS games.

Amazing job and hopefully an indication of great things to come from this studio!!!

Oh wow! A hattrick of games to play!!!

CONGRATULATIONS to all on making it in time! It's a crazy thing to attempt which makes it very satisfying to get it finished within the time limit!

I had tons of fun playtesting Until I Have You so I will leave that for last. Can't wait to see the finished product though of course!

So: All The Way Down first I think...

@BSP Why not make a game about finding Tokugawa's treasure. I was in Nikko just the other day, where Tokugawa Ieyasu's grave is. That's pretty close to Mt. Akagi, where the treasure is thought to be :-)

And instead of trying to beat the Nazis to it, you're trying to beat these guys:



(For those who don't know, these are the Japanese Right-Wing Nationalists or "Uyoku Dantai". They are a kind of fascist group in Japan who want to restore the Emperor to his former power, so it would actually make a lot of sense they would want to find Tokugawa's treasure. Hey, this game sounds AWESOME!!!)

I resolve to break all my resolutions including this one.

[imgzoom]http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/ah206/durinde/railway_zps67161896.png[/imgzoom]

I gave it a shot. Inspired by songs like 16 Tons, Big John and King of the Road I present Railway Randy. Randy wanders the tracks during the depression, taking jobs where he can get them, and sometimes righting wrongs with his hammer.

Jules: I'll just walk the earth.

Vincent: What'cha mean walk the earth?

Jules: You know, walk the earth, meet people... get into adventures. Like Caine from "Kung Fu."

NICE CHARACTER by the way!!!

[Concept:]

Very tough indeed to decide on just one for each category, but here goes:

Concept: Cat (It's kind of a personal choice, but I live in Japan and often go cycling around the countryside at random. I sometimes find exactly these kind of "Spirited Away"-looking places and I just have to go in and take a look every time. For this reason I'm most intrigued by what lies just a bit further up that path. Still slightly curious how the broken Torii cross-beam could have fallen all the way out of that slot. But I digress...)

Artistic Expression: yakatakatulla (For me, this is the most beautiful of a beautiful bunch of backgrounds. It's also a great study on how to get the warm-light/cold-light lighting done just perfectly. Something I'm starting to work on learning myself and I will be referring back to this picture many times I'm sure.)

Playability: Monsieur OUXX (Mr. OUXX obviously has the upper-hand in designing a highly-playable lost-city background as he has been doing it for years now. At risk of ending up drowned in my own toilet, I suspect that this background is also a spoiler for one of the Seven Lost Cities Of Gold, and was thus designed with an eye towards its playability in a game which already exists. Nothing wrong with that of course. It just offers some insight on why this one was the obvious choice for me.I also wanted to tie it with yakatakatulla but didn't want to cause headaches for the host )

Well done to everyone! Another great fun competition so thanks again to our host.

Also, despite not making the time limit, working on my own background kicked my ass into gear on my own project and as the concept for the background took shape it also helped to partially rewrite my game into a more workable structure (I hope)...

Good luck to all! And, in any case, now I will have two hats to wear so YAY!!!

Next we have nagivation (how they move).

Actually "navigation" would mean "how they know where to move to", like sensing the planet's magnetic field in the case of many Earth birds. I think you mean "locomotion" or "mobility".

(BOOOO!!! Language Nazi...BOOOO!!!)

Here's some stuff I've heard from Xenobiologists over the years and also a few of my own opinions:

It seems most likely that advanced intelligent life would have a head at the top of their body located on top of some sort of swivel, like a neck, and that their sensory organs for at least sight and hearing would be on that head. The reason being that it's just the best way to see as far away as possible, thus alerting you to any threats coming your way faster. The same reason for the neck: It's too slow to constantly turn your entire body to look around for threats. The reason for the hearing organs being on the head with the eyes is for ease of calibration between what you see and what you hear. Two eyes seems most likely as it's the maximum needed for depth perception and having more might not be the bonus one would expect: For us it would be incredibly confusing. But the alien might have a vastly superior visual center to us, or even have backup eyes that it can intentionally use or not use (kind of like windows in a house, choosing which to look through at any given time). Anyway, it seems eyes make the most sense in sets of two facing in the same directions. The mouth is a different matter and it's actually quite a "design-flaw" in a lot of Earth-life to have the mouth on the head on the same side at the eyes. This means that many animals are left more vulnerable while eating, hence the swivelling ears on many animals, both predator and prey. Another flaw is our mixed-together breathing and eating systems, adding the chance of death by choking. These last points about flaws are kind of off topic I guess, unless of course the alien race had altered their natural evolution or had actually been designed and bred by an even more superior race. But what they also mean is that there is no real reason for the mouth to be on the head or the nose/mouth system to be connected, whereas there are very good reasons for the eyes/ears/head/neck system to be integrated together.

Anyways, can't wait to see the sketch!

http://www.indieretronews.com/2014/12/indiana-jones-and-gold-of-gengis-khan.html

Awesome news! And some damn good writing in there too

Oops...double post! Sorry!

I hope you will finish this great background and game!

Thanks for the kind words, but as you can see from my last post I am having a few...ummm..."difficulties" shall we say?

BUT!!! I shall press on despite the slow drainage of my Sanity Points. However, I will not be completing this background in time for the deadline. I feel guilty as I was the one who asked for the extension, but at the same time I am glad that an amazing background got into the competition because of it.

My background is still a work-in-progress but I decided not to rush it as it is going to be playing a major part in my current work-in progress-game and I want to get it just right.

I'm not sure if it can be accepted to run in this contest in its current state or not: It could conceivably be a background for a Cthulhu-themed game played entirely in a notebook of sketches from a person driven insane (heh...actually not a bad idea for a Cthulhu game)

Either way, I'm fine with the decision, but I'm submitting my last post's WIP background just in case it can compete.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn,
Mandle.

Got some more work done today, and pushing onwards. Here is what it looks like so far:

[imgzoom]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/Mandle/LostCity16_zps1a708b1e.png[/imgzoom]

I have almost fleshed out the structure of the island of R'lyeh, but now I have a problem I will have to think on while doing the rest:

In the game I have planned the island will be at the bottom of the ocean but it will also be risen and above the waves at some point so I'm not sure how I'm going to light the scene.

Hehe...who am I even kidding? I'm not getting this finished in time anyways...

Maybe...

EDIT: And yes, this is actually exactly what the inside of my mind looks like...

Maybe the one nostril dude is KING of the nose-less.   Maybe you should write about his story!

I actually did think about doing just that, but I realised I have way too many other deadlines to meet. Maybe if I can meet all of those first there's a chance...

Wow Cat! That is heartbreakingly beautiful! Is it going to be part of a game you're working on? Please say yes!

Dude! That background is gorgeous! Is that your work?!

I like the character sprites/background blend. To my eye they match well.

I don't really like the GUI though sorry: Instead of the flat grey some kind of metallic texture panel would fit the feel of the game I think. Something like this kind of feel:



EDIT: Ah, upon looking again I see that you do have a kind of metallic texturing going on. I would take it a few steps further though like in the picture above: Rub it with tons of steel-wool and leave it out in the rain to rust up real nice for a couple of weeks.

Also, the font doesn't really fit the feel of what I would expect the data readouts to look like.

How about something like:



I just googled "Futuristic Fonts" and picked one that was kinda readable. There are many more to choose from. I would go for something straight-edged and sharp-cornered like this or, for another example the font from The Terminator movies titles.

Just my opinions of course...

And also: I WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME!!! GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

At least he knows he smells better than anyone else

Yeah, but if he tells anyone about that they would just look at him like he was crazy. It would be like if I walked up to someone and said: "My aura is much fluffier than yours."

The poor guy has some weird kind of "Fifth Sense" that nobody would believe in... Hehe: and there's the game name right there: "The Fifth Sense"

Okay, I've stopped hijacking the thread now

Wow! Thanks so much for sharing this!

I've experimented with creating games with the kids' classes I teach at my school in AGS but the problem is that AGS is so complex that the kids really only get to input their ideas for the story, do some art etc. and then I have made the game behind the scenes and given it to them. This was still a lot of fun, but with this tool they can be hands-on with the entire process from start to finish!!!

AND Japanese kids LOVE Escape The Room games!!! I even have a few students who have participated in live Escape The Room events with their parents...

So there are going to be a lot of happy kids at my school after we get back from the winter break!

PLUS you've given ME a reason to look forward to going back to work as well!!!

Thanks so much once again.

* Mandle runs off to finish watching the tutorial...

I got a bit more drawing and shading/texturing done tonight:



Still a lot to do over the next two days:

Notes to self:

* Finish the sketch
* Finish the shading
* Add lighting
* Draw lighting effects
* Add Colours

And probably much more that I will not get finished in time...

I don't know how many people are aware that the game's working title is a play on The Whisperer... Well, folks for some reason seem to think it's a reference to The Last Of Us, so wish me luck as I embark on the search for a better, final title.

Pacman's Model?

In the kingdom of the nose-less, the man with one nostril must suffer. ~Sun Tzu

ROFL!!!! Might make a great game right there: The man born with one nostril must embark on a quest to find the Shrine of the Holy Rhinoplasty to plug it and end his suffering of the body odour of the entire rest of the world.

Could be great!