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[Gifting Spirit]

Greetings,

My entry for this months MAGS.

Gifting Spirit


https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2586/

I played this game 3 rimes last night. It is FAR from simple. There is SO much to do and figure out and each time I discovered more. I don't want to give anything away, but time management is essential. I'll elaborate more when it comes time to vote but amazing job for such a short period of time.

Question: is it even possible to get a perfect score in the time allotted??

I played this game last night. It was a really good experience: outstanding graphics and mood; the music actually got my pulse racing to keep on going! everything was just perfectly done for what it is. As Jon said, the strength is not the puzzles but the storytelling and that aspect is completely aced. I would see the puzzles as a way of making the story more interactive than just sitting back and watching.

After a few dry months it looks like we've got some serious participation this month! I look forward to playing, voting and posting dumb comments. Good luck to all!

Great addition to the previous games from the same author. Impressive number of cutscenes for such a short game. Logical and enjoyable puzzles. I have never seen a divided by sign as part of the inventory so if this is your own innovation then congrats for coming up with this. Graphics and backgrounds are right on. I agree with Heltonjon as far as the emotion and while subject to interpretation, I believe that the game is about

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demons created by her relationships with her family

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. Everything about creating the setting is nailed, including playing "Hush little baby" during some of those cutscenes.

I have a small improvement suggestion but I'll private message because I don't want to give away any part of the game.

I finished the game with 197 points - rank of Zigor.

I see that many actions such as clicking the Information button give you more points so I'm not surprised I missed a few even though I completed the game.

It seems that most of the jokes were intended for an inside audience. Nevertheless, it's a cool demo and quite playable without being unreasonably difficult.

Good luck on the project!

I agree with Heltonjon for the most part:

Unexpected Guest by Pell:

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I don't think this is a game? Unless there's an action to be taken that I couldn't figure out, it's just a picture. I don't know if there are minimum qualifications for entries such as the player at least DOING something but I'll let the votes speak for themselves

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Halloween with an Unexpected Guest by Heltenjon:

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Cute Idea and the pictures/puns made me smile. Definitely rates as a game in the sense that there are things to do but I found myself losing interest probably halfway through the game.

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There is indeed more in the game. Try moving forward or back-tracking..... The game is not over until you encounter coffee, I can reveal. Have another look through the levels, to be sure.[/spoiler]

Ok, I had missed something and I completed the game.

I ended up with 1180 and 4 eggs.

Overall, I think the game is AWESOME. Packed with puzzles of a varying range that makes you want to keep playing. Some were pretty easy but some were challenging enough to really give that amazing feeling of having solved a challenge. I think the most difficult puzzle was the

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figuring out which fuse goes where and the difficulty gets compounded by not being able to save

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My opinion is that having Load/Save consoles is GREAT and really ups the gameplay by making you DESERVE to save. Having bonuses like

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a point system and finding eggs

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is also a really nice touch.

My only confusion was that there was a congratulations and I wasn't sure if the game was over or if I had to do more or how. In the rest of the game, the puzzles found YOU rather than you having to wander around to find puzzles, but once I got back on track it was ok.

So, overall, really well done!

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Did you reach the credits section? That is, a congratulations message that displays your score and eggs and then goes to the credits and then let you quit or restart? If so, it is most certainly an odd bug. The game is supposed to end with finding the coffee-room. Keep visiting rooms, to be sure.

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No. I just got

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a congratulations message and ended up in the room I started in. There's a save/load console there and the voice on the screen tells me that I can save and I'll find out later why. I feel like I'm supposed to do something now to finish the game

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Ok I'm a bit confused as to the ending....

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I got 3 eggs and I ended up where I got the congratulations message. Is there more to the game? How do I end? I also never ended up getting the coffee so maybe I need to do something else? I think there's a bug that you can keep getting the clippers?

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Shadow1000: Thanks for playing! I do want to develop it further, especially since it's part of an ongoing series. I did only have ten days to make it, so I had to release it bugs and all, but as soon as the jam voting period is over, I already have a version with some small fixes (including returning to the scene you mentioned under a spoiler tag) to upload. I've got a thread going on here trying to figure out the inventory bug... so far, it seems to be an AGS internal error that I won't be able to fix on my own. It uses royalty-free music and sound effects, too, but I want to add my own eventually.

TEN DAYS! WOW!! As I said, there is a LOT of detail that oversteps the actual gameplay so considering how much you did in so short a time, that is amazing!

I played this last night. Everything about it is awesome:  graphics, mood, story, etc...

I hope that the author plans to develop the game more. There are many elements and details in the game that seem like they will tie in later but then the game finishes. Btw, I played the last section again to get the "other" ending.

Aside from the inventory bug noted above, there was another bug:

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When you go back to the area in front of the shed, you will see the cutscene with the girl killing her mother repeatedly

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So, overall really well done. I realize it was done for a contest so perhaps there were time constraints that didn't allow for a more complete entry.

Good luck!

You villain!    No, really, thanks for playing! Are going to try and go for some of the other ones as well?

Well

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I didn't do anything wrong and next thing I know the cops were after me!

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I assume that there's more than one solution to the different problems and the alternative solutions get you different endings? When the game finished I realized there were some tasks that were left incomplete.

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such as finding the key to my house and getting that guy out of the cage

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I played and got ending 3.

A walkthrough for the original game is of no use here. This is a new story...kind of "what could have happened". Thus most of these questions doesn't make any sense.

I posted a video walkthrough for this game in the announcement page. It was helpful to me when I played.

I'm really enjoying this game so far!  I love the new interface, and I like that you show a different perspective on Guybrush first arriving to Melee Island.  I am putting up a post in hints/tips for you though because I am already stupidly stuck, and unless there's some kind of bug, your game does not seem to exactly follow the original MI walkthrough (so Googling that can't help me, obviously)...

Here's the walkthrough I used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmawFjbAgF8

Overall the puzzles are solveable but I did get stuck a few times!

I am completely stuck, and I'm just getting started (sadly):

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  I've talked to the Important Pirates, gotten the 3 Tasks, walked around & picked up anything possible so far on Melee Island, but I'm at a standstill.  I know I am supposed to get into the kitchen so I can get the meat, fish, and pot, but the cook stops me.  In the original game, he walks off and then you can enter, but not here.  The game says to try to enter another way, so I went back to the beach (thinking I could swim or walk around to the back of the Scumm Bar) but I can't do anything.

Help please!  I feel so silly for already asking, but I need it...

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I got stuck there too!

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did you find the ladder on the dock?

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I finished playing last night. I overall agree with Jon's assessment BUT my perspective is different because I did not play the original (I did play a fan game in 2014 and some game with 3D animation on PlayStation probably around the same time, so I entered the game with some idea as to what's going on and who's who).

Overall, a LOT of fun and great remake. I really enjoyed the puzzles and agree with Jon that they were just about right. I had a little trouble because I think the player was expected to know certain hotspots that I didn't realize existed and sometimes it didn't dawn on me

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to use the flute in specific situations

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. Other than that, good puzzle design and my comment is that the game is well worth playing.

Space segment cleared. I liked the look of the space ship, and the humour in the names of the crew was very welcome. (It's in her head at this point, so why not.) I'm not entirely sure how fixing the space ship saved her this time, to be honest. Is it about beating the coma?

Three main puzzles this time, and I liked two of them.

Generator door code:

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I liked searching the space station for clues, and I found the birthday, the room and the name of the ship fairly easy. However, I couldn't be sure about how to write the date (DDMMYY/MMDDYY/DMYYYY/MDYYYY). I wasn't entirely sure about the room either - it could maybe be another one. But that's okay, I had it right, and I could try different things if necessary...if it hadn't been for the third part about the ship. I tried subtracting the number of letters in the name, and came to the conclusion that the solution could be almost anything. And given that I was uncertain about the first two numbers, I'd have to test each theory 16 times (4x2) to be sure it wasn't right. So I decided that wouldn't be any fun and went to the walkthrough.

I'd have liked some sort of assurance that each part of the solution was correct, like there is in the navigation puzzle.

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Fixing the power:

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I liked this one, although it would have been better if the colours of the batteries/power cells were visible when inside the rotating wheel. I basically solved this one by putting lego pieces in the same colour on the table in front of me, and adjusting the pattern until it worked. Hard puzzle, but doable.

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Fixing the navigation:

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This one was fun and brilliantly designed. Very nice to be able to switch between the two screens mid-process. Also very thoughtful to include a system for showing where the error is, otherwise it would be virtually unsolvable. (I disagree about switch 4 in row B, for instance.) As the screen is cracked, it's not always crystal clear which solution is the right one. One thing: I thought for a while that I had to find a four-digit code in order to unlock the box, not simply pushing the unlock button! 

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Sorry for multiple posts, but I'm posting under the assumption that game authors want a lot of feedback, and the game is so huge that it's easier to comment on one segment at a time, lest I forget something.

My own experience:
Fixing the power:

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I had to resort to putting the cylinders in and spinning until I got the ones I needed. I had no idea what was going on or how this was to be solved. I didn't get the logic even with  the walkthrough

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Fixing the navigation:

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I got the idea but translating it into a solution was not so clear. The cracked screen did not make it easier. I solved some, got irritated and used the walkthrough for the rest

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How awesome to win on a first game, up against some seasoned game-creators! Hearty congratulations to remz. I look forward to seeing many more games from this author.

[Win a Million (by Slasher)]

Great turnout this month!

My comments:

With Slasher first out the the gate like usual:
Win a Million (by Slasher)

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Nice trivia-based game! Fits the theme of the month right-on. However, in terms of gameplay, the answers being handed to you (by hook or by crook) the fun does wear down a bit. Very creative application!

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Guy: By Hook or by Crook (by remz)

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big congrats on such a smooth and polished first game! Great contender in the contest, meeting the theme and actually having some nice puzzles. Good combination of things to do, dialogues, puzzles. I have to admit to having been stumped a bit by one of the puzzles, just long enough to really enjoy that "aha!" moment, so really well done. Graphics look pretty basic but the animation is super-smooth and something really draws me to that fireplace

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Trade it Forward (by Cassiebsg and heltenjon)

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Exceptional for a game made in a month. I loved the flow of how it's one accomplishment after the next followed by the next and so on. I did have one area of the sequencing that didn't quite work out right and a graphics issue that can be tweaked and I sent them to Cassie in case you want to release an expanded version one day. Puzzles and gameplay are right on, with a good combination of inventory, dialogues, strong-character NPCs, tasks to complete to acquire items to progress. Puzzles were perfect in making me have to think about what to do next without getting frustrated

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If you couldn't tell, my vote goes to

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Trade it Forward

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for being the most complete and enjoyable overall.