Messages

If this was your first game then you deserve an extra congratulations!

As far as puzzle implementation, you have to be able to ask yourself "if I weren't the one designing the puzzle, how would I interact with it?". This is not easy and it's hard to predict how a range of users who were not part of the development will react to the clues of the puzzle. This is why it's really important to have feedback from a few testers before releasing it.

Anyway, I am sure that by now you've not just learned AGS but how a few players responded to the game and you're next games will just keep on getting better!

Cheers

Ok I finished the game. Well, actually sthomannch and heltonjohn finished the game on my computer and I just pushed the buttons  I needed 5 hints, without which I would never have gotten anywhere.

Overall, good idea for a game. I would love to see what happens next! Good graphics and good puzzles. Execution of the puzzles and a lot of strange technical things is weak.


- I am curious about the testing process. How many testers completed the game independently.

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I got stuck as well where you have to click "path" to magically continue the game

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. Did any of the testers comment on the unusual way that objects and hotspots became available?

I also recommend that you have a native English speaker go over the script to help proofread. I wasn't clear what was intended (didn't make a big difference, but confusing) but that would make the game a bit more polished.

To proceed you need

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the plan for a vessel, which you expect to find in the tailor's house

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But

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searching the house yields nothing, so go back to the tavern - a new dialog option appears

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Thank you!

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Now I need something fresh from the river. I assume a fish but you can't interact with the river or use any inventory item (I actually thought of fishing using the rope and hook to no avail). I am thinking that maybe you can get the seagull to get you a fish but you can't really interact with that either. No new dialogues so that approach isn't helping.

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I downloaded it again and started over.

I am finding what others have reported: even if you know the solution, you can't take the steps to proceed until you've taken specific actions. Sometimes it's more difficult to guess who you need to speak to than it is to figure out the solution.

The dialogue with Mr. Santos appears at the left of the screen rather than in an dialogue section.

The graphics are good and the story sounds like it has potential. I would make the font bigger for hotspots; I'm finding navigating to be difficult as finding an exit is often a pixel hunt.

Shadow1000

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there are several keys and probably you are looking at the wrong one. You must first find a way into the cellor of Mr. Santos

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In Santos living room, move to the left and find the chickens. Search

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Thanks!

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I searched the hay and got the key and was able to enter the tavern. Doesn't seem to be much more to do but I'll download the new release and see if it's any better

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The problem is that a lot of items are visible from the beginning but you cannot pick them up until you have finished another task or talked about a certain topic with somebody. A bit confusing at first but not illogical.

In some puzzles, that would be a good way to pace the game. In this case, every time you make any progress, you have to almost start the game again to figure out what you need next. I'm finding that it's often more effort to figure out who to speak to (i.e. which dialogue options have opened) than it is to solve puzzles.

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I actually got into the tailor's house on my own. The cupboards are shut and you can't go upstairs or take anything. My first guess would be to find a tool to open the cupboards but you can't open the dwarf's shed or the toolshed or get the hammer.

It's really weird that there is a "strange object" near the dwarf's shed but you can't do anything with it!

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Is this game complete? When I downloaded it the title says  "(Demo)".

I will release a better version yes it is a demo.

The reason I asked is that in about 45 minutes of walking the character around, I accomplished no progress in the game.

As Heltonjohn pointed out, there are dozens of hotspots, items, doors, and so on but all of them say "I can't do that", "I don't want that", "Why should I do that?". I haven't found anything yet that actually does something.

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I went to Senior Santos and found out that I need a key. I see a key in the doghouse but can't interact with it

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That's about all I've found. I stopped playing and wondered if maybe the game isn't really playable. Maybe after it's been tweaked and your testers tell you that it's playable and reasonably solvable I'll try again.

Good luck!

big congratulations. That was CLOSE!!!

Is this game complete? When I downloaded it the title says  "(Demo)".

I played this last night. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to complete.

My thoughts:

- Story: Slay the dragon trope, but many multi-leveled obstacles and puzzles to complete first. A number of nice surprises in the story as well. I actually expected things to be somewhat linear but there was plenty to keep the player engaged. The pacing was perfect
- Graphics, sound, animation, music, map navigation: Really sets the mood well and backgrounds are very pleasing to look at. The music was chosen well to set the stage for each area. The lava sound was awesome! There could have been a bit more animation when things happen, including when the player dies. This would have dressed things up a bit more.
- The puzzles and riddles are fun! There's a nice variety and some fresh stuff that I don't remember seeing from other games. They were challenging enough to be fun but never frustrating. I think they COULD have been a bit more difficult.

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for example, the goblet was just sitting there. I EXPECTED the statues to come to life and stop you but I was wrong..

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- Fight scenes were fun!

Overall, a really good effort and I hope others enjoy this release as much as I did.

Congrats on the release!

I playtested on this one, and we did have some discussion about the mailbox puzzle. I was uncertain about it, but ultimately landed on that the puzzle was hard, but fair.

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I think it's a good puzzle, particularly in this setting. This world of absurdities and imperfection is largely about finding ways to cope, and gathering information is a big part of that. To find the truth, one had to see it through the propaganda. And I feel this puzzle, and the street name puzzle, is about combining pieces of information into something useful. (Just like combining two items to make a third.)

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Street name puzzle was GREAT! I also LOVED the TV repair puzzle and when the guy directing you fizzled out and you had to solve the rest on your own was EPIC!

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Shadow1000, reading comments like yours is the biggest reward for spending so much time on the game, as you seem to have enjoyed all the aspects of it I cared most about. I wish the graphics would be a little bit better, too, but since drawing is not my forte I found such low resolutions to be much easier and safer to use.

It just shows how you can make an awesome game without getting EVERY aspect right. Maybe for your next game you can recruit someone with the drawing skills so you can have the best of all worlds?

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As for the mailbox puzzle, in my mind it was supposed to be solved just like sthommanch has described it. So, the first step would be to check the plates in front of Mrs. Szczypiorkiewicz's and Leszek's flats to learn that the first digit of the flat number stands for the floor number and that numbering goes up by three. And then to overhear the two ladies gossiping in the hall about the new neighbour that leaves his locks open. The mailbox parser, on the other hand, would accept any number and if it wasn't right it would just say that the mailbox is locked.

In my initial design, this was all that there was to that puzzle. And I was happy with that until the very last moment before sending the game out to the testers. I realised that the world I created didn't add up because the flat numbers were supposed to go up by three and yet if the Player typed in a number that is in between (say 301) Leszek would still say that that mailbox was locked, implying that it exists. To work around it and to give the game's world more credibility I had to refactor the parser and to check if the provided mailbox actually "existed" in the game (so to check if it is divisible by 3 and in the range of 00 - 57). The "funny" thing about it is that I never really wanted the Player to try solve the puzzle by checking the feedback from Leszek when keying in different numbers. The information about a certain numbers being divisible by three was supposed to be just a clue hinting at the fact that the numbers go up by three, but I see how some people may think that that was the way the puzzle is supposed to be solved. I did think about omitting the info about the numbers being divisible in order to put players off from brute forcing the puzzle, but on the other hand that gives you some sort of a backup if you get stuck for good.

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So here's my thing:

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You did give enough info for the puzzle to be solved correctly. I'm glad you made the numbers divisible by 3 for people like me to be able to guess with enough patience. HOWEVER, the reason I didn't get this one is because this is one of those puzzles where you literally have to read a TON of irrelevant information (probably randomly generated?) before hitting the one bit of info that will solve the puzzle for you. I did listen into their conversations for a while till I realized they were cycling through dialogues and lost interest JUST in case a bit of info materializes.

This reminds me of a game from a few years ago where the player is reading messages on a message board where a game clue exists, but you have to keep clicking and reading until the right message came up. I got bored reading the jokes and moved on.

So, I am sure some people solved this one correctly but it's not my cup of herbata...

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I really enjoyed playing this! The strengths of the game are the story background and the puzzles. I don't remember any other game made to highlight how ridiculous life is in the communist regime. The puzzles were a real delight and well designed. I would have liked to see more definition in the graphics but that's a personal preference.

I've actually never heard of wuzetka but online recipes make it look really good!

Some comments on the puzzles:

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I don't think I would have solved the TV/distraction puzzle on my own if someone hadn't provided the answer. As far as the mailbox number puzzle, was the direct answer to the puzzle provided somewhere (i.e. what apartment number)? The division clue narrowed it down but I kind of guessed my way through this and I wondered if I missed something

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Good job

[Dirandious Kroken]

Great entries this month!

My comments:

Dirandious Kroken

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Creative, fun to play and hits the contest theme right on the spot, more than the other entries. Once you get the hang of the game it gets a bit repetitive but overall short and fun.

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reakfast on Trappist-1

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I love when entries create a complete back story, world and environment with tons of detail and then let you play what feels like a chapter of the story in MAGS entries. Crisp graphics, engaging story, inventory and dialogue puzzles, map and most of all, really enjoyable puzzles. This is what I would expect in a full release. My only beefs are that I personally like seeing the game character animated rather than just see the background and that the connection to the game theme is a bit weak

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Fhaloness

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Nice graphics and story. Puzzles are a bit simple. Connection to theme of the month is adequate. I think this could be made into a medium or even full length game if you created a previous chapter and a few chapters after to see how the story pans out!

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My vote was for

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Breakfast on Trappist-1. It is the most complete entry, and particularly with the puzzle and story design

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I enjoyed working through the puzzles. The story and graphics pulled everything today. What left me thinking was

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the message behind the ending. I am pretty sure that the idea represents that many young people are bursting with enthusiasm and ambition or aspiration to burst out there into the big world and make something of themselves. Fast forward to mid-life and they see life as a repetitive cycle and end up wondering what it's all about and wondering what makes it worth it

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I am interested if others saw this message and whether this was intended or just how I see it

Looks awesome! Can't wait to play this one

Cheers

Incredible remake! I don't think I played the original (it was SO long ago) but thankfully there are plenty of walkthroughs because some of the puzzle solutions are not ones I would have figured out on my own. (this remark is towards the original, not to remake)

One small scripting bug:

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I am at the point in the game where I have to retrieve the unicorn. I went back on the mountain to see what happens and it says "the unicorn seems paralyzed with fear" even though I don't yet have the unicorn

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Excellent graphics, sounds, effects and animation. Nice teamwork! Geared more for a juvenile audience, fun to play nonetheless.

Good job!

Well caught Shadow1000, thanks... Now fixed

Awesome!

I played What a Whopper last night and I had a lot of fun! It seems that Slasher is putting more multi-stage puzzles (acquire A so you can access B so you can get rid of C and acquire D, which is needed in the quest) in his games which definitely moves things up a notch!

One small thing to fix (unless it was addressed):

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The second time I entered the woods it said that I need to get items for Woody, but at that point I had not met Woody yet

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Overall, a well-structured game with good puzzle design.