Messages

Oh WOW!!! Congratz on the release after so much time!

I have sooooo been waiting for this one: This is going to be my weekend game!!!

I need more of a hint. I have the string with the paperclip attached, the pencil, the coin, the piece of candy, a paperclip, the nail file, and a piece of string and a chewed piece of gum. I tried using the string with the paperclip attached with the pencil but that didn't work. I have used all my inventory on each other and am not getting any farther. I believe I need the goldfish to use on the cat, but, can't get the anchor.  A little nudge would be appreciated.

Small Hint:

Spoiler

What anchors the anchor?

[close]

Bigger Hint:

Spoiler

The anchor is attached to the shipwreck with a chain

[close]

Biggest Hint:

Spoiler

Do you have anything that can saw through a chain?

[close]

[nuts]

Ahhhhhh I think I have cracked a part of this:

Spoiler

Followers of a
little green vegetable: Peanuts
rupee box: Chestnuts
pizza cradle: Doughnuts
dystopian future: Brazil nuts

[close]

But yeah:

Spoiler

nuts

[close]

is I'm pretty sure this part of the answer...

So I'm going to guess:

Spoiler

wingnuts?

[close]

even though I still have no idea how this word is AGS related...But I have a feeling it may be right...

If not I guess I just get kicked in the balls and end up with:

Spoiler

soarnuts

[close]

Looks great Mr. OUXX!!!

Just one thing:

Spoiler

You left the red line down the left-hand side

[close]

Probably the wrong track here but if the vegetable is "pea":

Could the followers be:

Spoiler

the letters following P: QRSTUV etc?

[close]

Looking quite amazing there jwalt! And a very interesting take on the theme! Myst portal books as Kindles!

Just finished playing now. It was a very heartfelt human drama. It's easy to see that you poured a lot of personal feelings into the game. Very engaging characters that I would have liked to have learned just a bit more about, but I'm no stranger to the insane MAGS deadline myself, so yeah...

Just one or two things:

[ESC] key to exit the cutscenes would be nice, especially the long walk down the hallway.

An option to turn the music volume down during the game is needed I feel: I read why your audio levels had problems during production so no need to explain here again. But yeah, the music drowns out the voice acting during some of the more emotional moments which is a real shame.

I think your British accent is actually pretty damn good.

I think you should change the screenshot for the game as it gives away a really funny line in the game and robs the joke of its humour a tad.

Anyways...Cheers for the unique experience of this game!

Just finished playing: A very nice looking game visually and quite creepy in parts. I had a bit of trouble understanding exactly what was going on sometimes, but that might be intentional as I sense that this game is just the beginning of a longer story...

Just finished the game and it was wonderful! Very well done especially considering the time limit.

I did have one or two problems, but I'm not sure if they were caused by my rather old and slow computer or not:

Quite a few times during the game I was booted back to my desktop and the game minimized, or sometimes it didn't minimize and I had to click on stuff that I could see flashing through the game to get control back. Hard to explain...

Also, the EXIT key on the main menu screen only made the game freeze for me, the cursor changed back to the normal windows' cursor and neither could I get back into the game, nor could I get back to the desktop, even using Alt-X etc. I had to forcibly shut down my computer to escape.

Once again: these could be issues with my computer rather than the game, but I just thought I would mention them in case you hear anything similar from other players.

Nit-picking (with SPOILER):

Spoiler

The Gremlins rule you parodied is to not feed them after midnight. The "not getting them wet" rule applies at all times. Or was this intentional?

[close]

So again: GREAT JOB! I had a lot of fun with the game!

#Flirt Mandle
shamelessly bribing the host 

Oi! I resemble that remark!

Actually, to tell the truth, what happened was that every time I had an idea of what to draw I would check the thread and it had been done. I also was going to make a green tentacled thing (but it was going to be flying the ship, but you even said that in your comment). I was going to have the prongs be the propulsion drive, but that was done. I was going to have it be some kind of flying head (except I was going to use the other end instead as an open mouth).

So finally I hit upon the AprilSkies abduction theme. It is in no way a bribe. I already paid him in cold-cash for that ...

Wow man! Quite the stunning improvement!!!

The Ben Jordan series was one of my first AGS games, and my first ever adventure game series, even including commercial titles, and what a fantastic series it was. I guess when I was playing I was far too caught up in the story to notice a slight lack of detail with the backgrounds.

I do remember the art getting better and better as the games went on though. Not sure if that was your stuff or not though. I remember the front of the London pub with the rain effects being the background that most impressed me though. At a guess I would say maybe it was Ben Chandler's work? Well, if I'm wrong and it was yours (or someone else) then that's a very big compliment right there I guess...

* Mandle feels inspired to go draw a background!

If only I had any other ideas beside Doraemon taking blood shower...

There is no rule that the montage material cannot be incorporated into the finished product...

DO IT!!!

From the screenies and the comments of the tester I must say I'm really excited about this release!

What a disturbingly inspiring collage you've made, Mandle! Now all I can think is Doraemon-Shining crossover

Yeah I had a lot of fun with the collage...

Glad it had its intended (offsetting) effect...

I like the theme...
Might give it a try, if I get a decent idea.

I certainly hope you do...

Especially with the obvious advantage for the 3D modeller with the door opening/closing animation bonuses I think you are a natural!!!

Can't wait to see!

[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...

[1st: Cassiebsg]

1st: Cassiebsg...I just can't ignore the beautiful colours, shading, and structure of the dragon/kite. I was especially impressed with the way the "bumps" in the outline were used for the claws...

2nd: selmiak...Being able to draw in perspective inside the limitations of a boundary set by someone else is a true gift. Also, the tiny astronauts in the cockpit are clearly defined despite being only a couple of pixels. I can even see that one is using a lever-type control. THAT'S legendary pixel-art!

3rd: Pindorama...The dragon is just too goofy and friendly-looking not to be totally charming! Also: a mutiny over the lack of toilet access is great. I hope NASA is taking notes...

Anchorhead is such a good game. I've wanted to remake it in 3D for awhile. Too complex though. I finished it in one sitting without drawing a map, seemed pretty easy.

The original author was thinking about remaking and expanding Anchorhead, but I think he didn't get much farther than a partial demo. If you decide to go ahead you should probably contact him for his ideas/input.

Well, to be honest, I also doubt I would have the patience to work on somebody else's story for the years it would take to properly remake Anchorhead. It would just get too boring for me and that would show through with a lack of quality eventually. The game deserves better than that.

On a side note: I just finished "The King Of Shreds And Patches" finally. When I started this thread I had already been playing it for days and days and was assuming I was almost finished.

BOY, WAS I WRONG!!! That game is LONG! It's probably about 3-4 times longer than Anchorhead, probably about the length of a 300-400 page book in total text content.

It's also AWESOME! But...it's not as much a creeping-feeling-of-dread-and-disgust style horror like Anchorhead is. It's more in-your-face-gore-and-action style which, as it was actually based on an adventure campaign module released by Chaosium for their Call Of Cthulhu dice-and-paper RPG, makes total sense. So yeah, it's more like a Lovecraft tribute penned by Robert E. Howard in feel, especially towards the end.

Still a great game, just not quite as good as Anchorhead...

Concerning the last solution:

Spoiler

A = la, E = mi, SEK = Swedish Krona symbol

[close]

D'OH!!! Great puzzle though Baron! Very well constructed.

Ahahahaha!!! I saw the update in the first post!!!
I never laughed so much!!!
it's the most funny comp I ever entered!!!!


Thanks Pindorama for hosting this!

I must second all of this!

Damn Pindo, if your games turn out half as entertaining as this contest then you'll have hits on your hands for sure!

(I personally would love to play a game where you suddenly get a Chuck Norris punch to the face in first-person view right out of nowhere, and then get to see Tim Robbins covered in Mandle-puke. And I'm not kidding! A game with your style of frenetic gifs popping up to show the characters' feelings would be hideously entertaining. Something like Ally McBeal's weird psychotic imaginings in the TV show of the same name...)

@Cassiebsg: I'm in the same boat now as I'm exactly out of space to host trophy links: I'm going to put them all in the same image, host that image myself, and use it as a single URL link...

Thanks again Pindo. Now I'm terrified to host the next one