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@Khris I actually had it in mind for things like moving a flashlight around a room. It wouldn't have to be top down necessarily but could be either first person (Myst-style, where the cursor is a torch, for example) or third person, like someone walking with a lamp.

I searched the forums for raycasting but didn't find anything useful.

Would it be possible to create a moving-shadow effect like this, where shadows change shape depending on the position of the light source?



I feel like it should be possible with raycasting and with using either two versions of a background (dark and light) or with simply editing a black dynamic sprite (or series of sprites) every frame, using some kind of mask. Can this be done in AGS script?

EDIT: if raycasting is too resource-intensive, I also had an idea to use overlays whose size and rotation changes with the light source position, but I feel like it would still need raycasting to determine the blocking width of non-circular objects.

NOW VOTING! We have two entries. Pick your favorite using the criteria and poll at the top of the thread. Voting closes on June 11. Good luck to both the entrants!

Last chance to throw your hat in the ring with an ingenious (or outlandish) solution!

Deadline extended through June 2nd since I'm away this weekend.

Anyone else want to construct a solution? I'm happy to extend the deadline. 

Spoiler

A stomach?

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@Stupot Here's my own interpretation of my story, if you're interested. 

Spoiler

I was going for "ambiguous surrealism" in the vein of Kafka's The Metamorphosis. As Sinitrena said, it almost doesn't matter if the ongoing disappearance is literal or allegorical because the effect is the same (in my opinion).

For my own part, I was trying to convey what it feels like from the inside to experience a certain kind of depression, and I find that for me personally, describing it literally is (often) insufficient to carry the proper emotional weight. Surrealism, to me, is an excellent vehicle for imbuing everything with the right kind of horror and unease. Glad you enjoyed it! 

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Congrats, Mandle! Great job.

Thanks! But I think I need to ask for an interpretation of the poem now...it's not all clear to me.

Spoiler

-A name is usually given to infants who cannot turn it down
-Although you can give a name, you cannot take it away
-Some people eventually decide they don't like their names and "leave" (change) them to a new name.
-It's easy to get so used to your name that you kind of stop noticing it

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Perhaps

Spoiler

your name?

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@heltenjon That is the correct answer! Thanks for engaging with it so persistently. 

No correct answers so far! I wasn't anticipating it would be this tricky! 

@Stupot I like that! It's not the answer I have in mind though.

So here are my thoughts and votes:

@WHAM

Spoiler

The maximalist style is the opposite of the way I tend to write--the sheer amount of detail crammed into every paragraph made for some incredible vividness. I do think some details were a bit wordy and weren't as interesting as others (how the clothes feel when waking up, for example, didn't add anything for me), but on the whole it made for very good reading. The story itself felt more like a setup establishing the premise, but I that was done well, and thoroughly. Very nice work!

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@Stupot

Spoiler

I really like the premise of this story as well. I did feel like something was missing that would have deepened the emotional impact of the ending--perhaps the face-revealing happened too quickly? I wanted a little more of an emotional buildup beforehand, and maybe some doubt that it would happen. And I say these things because I do thing the story has all the foundations to have enormous impact, which is a great achievement already. Caveats aside, I got attached to the characters and wanted to dive into them even more deeply. Good stuff.

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@Baron

Spoiler

I enjoyed this. As someone else said, it has the flavor of a campfire story itself, and so I'm trying to keep that genre in mind when thinking about the ending. I did want a little more in terms of the progression of action (this feels like act one of a three-act structure) but as a tale to scare others, I can see why it ends here. I also felt drawn in to the protagonist's (likely) OCD, which definitely added weight to the horror. Overall effective.

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@Mandle

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Damn. This was a good one. A bit wordy in places, but it did fit with the voice of the narrator. I think I wanted to feel just slightly clearer on what the Halt actually was, since I was expecting that to be one of the supernatural elements when it seems it was really just the obsession. That's only a minor nitpick, though, because this was a fully realized story that dove deep and then dove deeper, and succeeded on almost too many levels to list--premise, character, atmosphere, voice, structure, and more. I was engrossed and invested and fascinated. Something about the ending did feel a bit sudden--I think perhaps there was something missing in the transition from the Robert scene to the smashing the mirror scene. That felt abrupt somehow. But the ending does feel right for the story, and I thought this was by far the strongest entry I read. It felt complete, fully realized, and generally overall just really good. Fantastic job.

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My votes:

Spoiler

2 for Mandle. 1 for Stupot.

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I've read all the entries, and there's definitely a lot to like about all of them. Clearly a lot of effort put into every one. I'll post some comments and make my decision soon.

Incorrect on both counts, but these are great guesses 

@heltenjon that's a good guess! It is not the correct answer, however. 

Here's one I came up with a while ago to use in a story, but it never really fit. May as well share it here!

A gift few refuse when first they receive it. Though it's a gift, you may never thieve it. Those few for whom it grows heavy may leave it. Many who bear it don't deeply perceive it.

What is it?

@cat Yes, that's all I thought to put there. I sort of forgot about that part of the room.

[where you decide the solution!]

Welcome to another installment of puzzle-making practice, where you decide the solution!

The Rules!

Participants respond to the set-up by writing entries that must do the following:
1. Use at least 3 of the provided elements (inventory, NPCs, a piece of the room like a cabinet or faucet etc.)
2. Give a step-by-step walkthrough of your puzzle solution.
3. Don't add new elements. For example, if the room is a forest, breaking a thin branch off a tree makes sense unless the host said the trees were huge and tall. But adding a hollowed-out stump with a bear sleeping in it is too specific. Assume all important elements have been mentioned by the host.
4. Keep any dialog elements summarized rather than typing out the whole conversation (for example, "threaten the mailman", "ask the child for advice", and so on, instead of giving every spoken line).

Each contest runs for two weeks to allow for a good number of entries, and then it switches to voting for one week. The participant whose solution gets the most votes gets to come up with the next scenario! (Please also provide a link to these rules). Current entries until March 20th.

Voters use the criteria of:
a) how logical the puzzle seems
b) how creative or unexpected (but still sensible) is the use of elements
c) how satisfying is the solution (Is it too simple? Way too complicated? Or just right?)

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO:

CROSS THE RIVER

The Situation:
You're a volunteer disaster relief worker on your way to a rescue after a devastating flood. But you can't get there--a bridge across a river has washed away. The river has returned to normal levels but no constructed crossings remain. The current is strong and muddy, unsafe to swim.

The Goal:
Get across the river safely. Ideally with your first-aid kit intact.

What's Around You:
--The river: a raging muddy 60-foot-wide death trap.
--A wooded area with many giant piles of leaves and sticksLarge driftwood limbs, half buried in mud.
--Pieces of garbage washed up along the shore, including household goods and items you might find in a home garage, all water damaged.
--A person with a fishing pole standing in the shallows, struggling to reel something in.
--A beachcomber searching for anything valuable that's washed up, and carrying a very large backpack full of whatever he's collected.
--A gigantic alligator sunning itself on the other side of the river (the person with the fishing pole keeps eyeing it cautiously).
--One broken concrete pillar standing in the middle of the river (30 feet away), which is all that remains of the bridge, and is slightly wider at the base.
--Several ducks on the pillar base.
--What looks like a submerged car below the surface of the river, just barely on this side of the broken pillar.

What You Have:
--Your beat-up tiny sedan
--A bungee cord about ten feet long (the river is 60 feet wide)
--A large emergency flashlight
--A flare gun with two flares
--Four plastic traffic cones, which can float but not hold much weight
--A fully stocked first aid kit
--A six-pack of bottled water rations
--A handheld radioA box of matches
--A box of large trash bags
--A spare raincoat A fire extinguisher
--Your EMT training manual (you haven't finished reading it yet)
--A large empty plastic cooler

Entries accepted through June 2nd.

Good luck!