Messages

[half points are allowed]

Thanks for the stories, everyone. It’s time to vote.

As always, everyone has 10 points to split between the four stories as you see fit. There are 4 stories, so you could go 4,3,2,1 in order of your favourite story, or whatever works best for you.

Unlike the previous few FWCs, to allow for a little bit more flexibility half points are allowed. Don’t feel you have to use half points. It’s really just to provide a bit of help if you are struggling to split the 10 points in a way that reflects your preferences.

PM me with your scores by the end of December 14th

The stories, in order of entry, are:

Crain and Company (Sinitrena1)
Partners in Crime (Baron)
Flora’s Dance (Sinitrena2)
Green Sneakers (Mandle)

Happy reading and voting.

Any chance of a 3 day extension or so?

Granted.

Where is everyone. I hope Sinitrena and Baron are okay.

This could have been approached in a much more grown-up way via PM.

Thanks for all the interest so far. This has really lifted my spirits.

It’s worth mentioning that, though the topic is about gifts, and we are in December, the games do not have to be about Christmas if you don’t want them to be.

One question though can asset packs be used, I've had a quick look through some posts regarding using assets but didn't find a decisive answer.

Yep, you can assume, unless otherwise stated, that it’s okay to use pre-existing assets. There used to be a rule against it but we phased it.

Yeah, I’ve never understood the strobe light on a bicycle. How obnoxious do you have to be?

How are those stories coming along, folks? 4 days to go.

[Gift Trouble]

Topic: Gift Trouble
Set by: heltonjon

The winner of MAGS December was:
Santa Claus in A Flight to Remember
by OneDollar.

Play that and all the other entries from the table below.

	Gifting Spirit by Pax Amino
	Santa Claus in A Flight to Remember by OneDollar
	Knorrig the Gifted Troublemaker by Pogwizd
	A caixa by Cassiebsg

Gifts can cause so much trouble. Whether it is a holiday gift, a friendship gift or a birthday present, so much can go wrong! For instance, how can you find the perfect gift? What happens when gifts are mixed up? What if you can't afford buying the gift you want? Sometimes it may be hard to deliver, or even to receive a gift? How can you get rid of an unwanted gift? Is it okay to rid yourself of your trash by gifting it? How can you change or complain about a gift without insulting the giver?



What is MAGS?
Started in 2001, MAGS is a competition for amateur adventure game makers. The idea is to create a game in under a month, following the guidelines set by the previous winner. It aims to help you work to a deadline, improve your skills, and provide a kick-start into making adventure games. Regardless of skill, MAGS is for everyone. Voting is based on "favourite" games, and not the most artistic, or the best coded. If you have bad art skills, use it as a chance to do some graphic work. If you're sub-standard at coding, use it as a chance to give scripting a go. Ultimately, people will vote for the most enjoyable entry.

Rules
Entering MAGS is simple. First, conceptualize your game following the month's criteria (see above). Second, create your game fuelled only by coffee. Finally, post your game in this thread, including:

* A working download link
* The title of your game
* A suitable in-game screenshot

At the end of the month, voting will begin, usually lasting for fourteen days, and the winner chooses the next month's theme.

Remember that this is a challenge to see what you can do in a month, so any tinkering you do after that, including fixing minor glitches, is against the spirit of the competition. The exception to this is that you may go in and fix major, game-breaking bugs only during voting. We want you to have a game that voters can actually play and that runs on their machines.

So to reiterate, during the voting period fixing major, game-breaking bugs is okay, fixing minor glitches or making cosmetic changes is cheating.

Tips
Here are some ways to make sure you have a game to submit at the end of the month:
* Make a tiny game. Plan small, then cut it in half. Find shortcuts (e.g. if making walkcycles is time-consuming, make the characters static or have it in the first person).
* Plan to have your game playable and submittable with a week to spare. This way you have a week to fix bugs, add some flourishes and maybe even get someone to test it.
* Plan to submit it a day or so early. This way, if there are any technical issues with uploading, they can be sorted out in time.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Need a little help with graphics? Perhaps The AGS Trove has something you can use.
Don't want to go it alone? Try the Recruitment board.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

No entries this month.

I know Mandle gave it a good go, but real life had other plans.

I do hope everyone will consider having a go in December (topic to be announced shortly).

The winner is Heltonjon. Well done. Thank you to our entrants and and everyone who voted.

Be sure to check in December for the new topic set by Heltonjon.

Couple of days left to vote if you haven’t already.

Question, though: Is it necessary that the photo could have been taking in the situation in-story, or can the depected situation occur without someone present or able to take the photo?

Good question. In my mind I wasn’t thinking there would be a photographer taking pictures of the scene in the story, but if you want to include that, go for it.

[no set theme]

Have you ever looked at a photograph and asked yourself what happened before it was taken? Or what happened afterwards?

For this edition of FWC, we’re going to do just that. Below, I have laid on a selection of photos. You will choose one photo and concoct a story which includes a brief moment, somewhere in the middle, that can be illustrated by your chosen photo. How your story leads up to that moment, and what happens afterwards is entirely up to you. The moment depicted in the photo can be part of a major plot point, but it doesn’t have to be.

There is no set theme, so otherwise, write freely.
Oh, but there is one more restriction: No punching - We’re all punched out from the last round, so let’s say no to punching this time around.

You’ve got two weeks starting from now.  (Deadline: December 6th)

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.

Well, thanks for the win. I’ll take them however they come.

I’ve got an idea for a new theme so I’ll post the thread shortly.

How’s it going? Anyone else in?

[Unexpected Guest by PellHalloween with an Unexpected Guest by Heltonjon]

I’m so sorry everyone. I was sure I’d set up the voting for this. I think in all the confusion with the outages and downtime at the beginning of the month, it somehow escaped me.
No excuses, though. I should have been on top of it.

Hopefully some of you will have already played the games and are ready to vote. For anyone else, I’ll open the voting for 7 days as of now. Please vote it you can, using the poll above.

Unexpected Guest by Pell
Halloween with an Unexpected Guest by Heltonjon

I have voted and here’s my feedback:

Mandle

Spoiler

I also didn’t like the husband for most of the story, but I actually enjoyed the twist. I knew there would be some twist as you wouldn’t have just written a gratuitously violent story about a wife-beater without some kind of heel-turn. The When it dawned on me what was actually going on, it didn’t make him much more likable but I did enjoy going back through the story and seeing the clues and double entendres that you had laid out.

Some of Sinitrena’s criticisms are valid, like the amount of detail he goes into in such an urgent situation, but I can understand his desire to drill home the point to his kids. And the story certainly fits the criteria in terms of punching.

[close]

Sinitrena

Spoiler

The short, sharp sentences certainly fitted the definition of ‘punchy’ writing but it was a bit too much for me, to the point where it was distracting me from the story.
I couldn’t really get a sense of place, or who was doing what, and where, so I didn’t fully understand it. Perhaps this is the purpose, to reflect the woman’s frame of mind. In which case, that is something to be admired, but on the whole I would prefer to read a more dialed down version.

[close]

Thanks both for your feedback on my attempt. It was not my finest work and Sinitrena was spot-on that I just added the joke as a way to pad out the word count. I didn’t think it would be so obvious though, haha.

I take umbridge at that being called a “bad joke” though. Haha.

I’m also aware that it’s unrealistic that they would have gone to so much effort to frame Mint in the way they did, rather than simply bump him off. I thought it was a neat twist, nevertheless.

Baron, everything okay? Are you on strike?

Maybe he suddenly got bashful.

Happy birthday Snarky. Have a great day.

Wait… that sounds familiar.

*scrolls up page*

Oh, damn. We’ve dried this thread up so much that it now covers two of Snarky’s birthdays on one page.

Well, I managed to bash this one out just before the deadline. It clocks in at under 500 words.

A Fistful of Punch

Two men wait. No lights, no engine, Barrow’s auction house behind them, car key damp between the forefinger and thumb of the man holding it.

“What’s taking them so long?” says Mint, adjusting the rear-view mirror for a better view of the entrance.

“They’ll be out.”

“I don’t like this, Sage. What’s he need it for, anyway?”

“Stop asking questions. You’re paid to drive.”

“And you?”

“To make sure you don’t fuck up again.”

That stung. The last time wasn't all Mint’s fault. He swerved to avoid a cat and ended up in a ditch. They had to leg it and Basil dropped the diamonds in the scramble. They got away... but Boss-man, Thyme? He wasn’t happy. He had a gun to Basil’s head. Was about to “prune” the guy for dropping the bag, but Mint begged him not to. He was the one who crashed.

“I’m just saying. They should be out by now. The plan was they-“

“I know the fucking plan. I was there.”

“Then, why-“

“It’s a priceless punch bowl. Diamond encrusted. In a guarded safe. Pars and Rose are the best in the country. They'll be out. Trust them.”

"I do, I do. It's just--" Mint sighs. "Well all right, asshole, tell me a joke."

"I don't do jokes, dickhead."

"What do you mean you don't do jokes? Who the fuck doesn't do jokes?"

"I don't do fucking jokes." Sage was starting to lose his cool. Mint was starting to forget what Thyme was paying him for.

"All right, well at least let me tell you one."

"Well fucking hurry up then."

"All right, so I'm at the skate park, right? And I meet a guy who sells half pipes. I says to him, 'Hey, how much is it per vert?'... then he punched me."

A pause. "That wasn't funny."

"That was funny, Sage. You just didn't get the punch--"

A piercing screech shatters the air behind them, a high-pitched wail shrieking inconsolably.

“They’ve tripped. We’re fucked,” Mint fights every urge to step on the gas and save himself.

"Wait for them. They'll be here." Sage swipes Mint's arm away from the ignition. He's sweating as well now, though.

A car pulls up beside them. A VW. And Sage is already out of the door.

“Where are you… what?”

“You wanna know why Thyme wants that bowl?" says Sage. "I’ll tell you why... he doesn’t.”

“What?”

Parsley's driving the VW and Rosemary and his shit-eating grin are in the back seat. Mint is slow to cotton on. Rose bungs the priceless bowl to Sage, who swings it into the Escort, shutting it in with Mint.

Sage clambers into the back of the VW with Rose. And in a blink they're gone. Mint twists the key but the car doesn't even give him the courtesy of spluttering. He’s alone, and he's fucked. He sees the blue and red flashing down the street and smashes his fist into the punch bowl.

Thanks for the comments. It seems I’m not the only one here who found something to laugh at when it came to Joker.

Interestingly, I put out a Twitter poll asking this question and the results are a little different.

“Did you laugh at all during the movie (Joker)?”

Yes, I did laugh â€" 0
I think so â€" 1
I don’t think so â€" 3
I did not laugh at all â€" 5

9 isn’t exactly a good sample size but I think we can safely say Twitter has sucked any sense of humour out of anyone who uses it.