MAGS December "Depleted" (RESULTS)

Stupot · Tue 01/12/2015 11:24:23

Voting has finished and the results are as follows:

Outta Juice by Funkpanzer - 1 vote
Space Tunneller by CaptainD - 1 vote
U-Ropa by Atavismus, Hobo, Jonas, Peder - 6 votes

Well done team U-Ropa. You will be contacted soon about choosing a topic for February.
Thanks to all the participants and voters.

	Space Tunneler by CaptainD
	Outta' Juice by Funkpanzer
	U-ROPA by Atavismus, Hobo, Jonas and Peder

Click on the game title to download.

Voting
This month we're going to try PM voting again and see how it goes.
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR VOTE

Remember:
* try all the games before you vote
* vote only once
* vote for your favourite

Voting ends: January 15th

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Topic: Depleted
This month's guidelines were set by Chicky and vertigoaddict

"Depleted", for example people can make a game about a person all dehydrated in the desert trying to find an oasis or an abandoned android trying to find a re-charge source compatiable with it's model or something like that. As long as the theme concentrates on the idea of something depleted, running out or burnt out, empty, about to be.

Ending: December 31st

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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 rules 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 "favorite" 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

â€¢ You may work in a team to produce an entry.
â€¢ You are not allowed to use any material created before the competition. Your game must be completely new! An exception is music and sound; you can use any audio that is freely available to the public.
â€¢ Any modules and templates featured in this board are also allowed.

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

Ã¢Å"â€œ A working download link
Ã¢Å"â€œ The title of your game
Ã¢Å"â€œ A suitable in-game screenshot

At the end of the month, voting will begin, usually lasting for fifteen days. The winner chooses the next month's theme, and their name and game is immortalised in the MAGS Archive. For more information, please visit the Official MAGS website.

Myshkin · Tue 01/12/2015 11:46:41

Haha, having just uploaded a MAGS yesterday this topic seems pretty appropriate. I was actually planning to comment on this thread saying "good luck but I'm too burnt out after November to try and do it all again!"

Maybe being burnt out is the perfect time to do this one... maybe a half-baked mess of a game about a guy failing to make a game

I have been meaning to make a sequel to Man Giving Up called Man Giving Up Too.

CaptainD · Tue 01/12/2015 12:27:17

I will try to do something for December - sounds like a good theme.

Radiant · Tue 01/12/2015 15:40:16

My free time is pretty much depleted though

Noto · Tue 01/12/2015 22:22:07

It didn't even occur to me to try for a competition until it was way too late last month. It's just what I need, though. I've had a whole bunch of scrapped/unfinished projects, and such a limited time-frame will help me finally get my stuff out there. I would've loved to do something with monsters, but being so late by the time I found out about MAGS it wouldn't make sense to construct a game from scratch. So while the "depleted" theme is significantly less interesting to me, I'd love to try and participate this time around!

Stupot · Sun 06/12/2015 09:27:22

How are things going? Any early screenies or teasers?

@Noto - the theme can be interpreted in any way you like. There's thing to stop you from making a monster game if you like. Maybe it's a mister who is losing his fur

Mandle · Sun 06/12/2015 11:00:12

Quote from: Stupot+ on Sun 06/12/2015 09:27:22
Maybe it's a mister who is losing his fur

I dunno why but a mister losing his fur just cracked me up!

Stupot · Sun 06/12/2015 12:05:08

Quote from: Mandle on Sun 06/12/2015 11:00:12
Quote from: Stupot+ on Sun 06/12/2015 09:27:22
Maybe it's a mister who is losing his fur

I dunno why but a mister losing his fur just cracked me up!

damn autocorrect :-/ haha

Noto · Mon 07/12/2015 02:05:17

Quote from: Stupot+ on Sun 06/12/2015 09:27:22
How are things going? Any early screenies or teasers?

@Noto - the theme can be interpreted in any way you like. There's thing to stop you from making a monster game if you like. Maybe it's a mister who is losing his fur

That would've worked great, but right after I posted my message I already got to work on something completely different! And as usual I've made the mistake of making the originally very small game into something real huge. Regardless, concept art's in the works.

The only question I've been having regarding MAGS as a whole -- does the submitted game have to be full and completed from start-to-finish, or can it be sent in as a demo of sorts? I'd like to take this theme and use it as a launching point to something much greater than something can be done within a month, which I know does go against the whole point in some ways, but I can't help but wonder regardless.

Funkpanzer · Mon 07/12/2015 08:14:48

Got really excited that I actually have time to take part this month!

I'm making a simple but hopefully hectic action/time-management/puzzle game called Outta' Juice! You play as Sport, Coach's trusty assistant, and will be helping him maintain various enterprises, the first of which being a spinning class. At the start you will need to keep the spinners from running outta' juice but as Coach's ambitions get more and more elaborate you will need to "improvise".

Screenshots soon!

Mandle · Mon 07/12/2015 08:34:43

Quote from: Noto on Mon 07/12/2015 02:05:17
The only question I've been having regarding MAGS as a whole -- does the submitted game have to be full and completed from start-to-finish, or can it be sent in as a demo of sorts? I'd like to take this theme and use it as a launching point to something much greater than something can be done within a month, which I know does go against the whole point in some ways, but I can't help but wonder regardless.

Many people have used MAGS for this exact same reason in the past. Rather than being frowned upon I would say that this is fully encouraged!!!

The main point is not to get everyone to release a completed game within a month: The point is more to provide motivation to people to actually open their AGS and work on stuff. The month time limit is there to avoid the beast that kills most game-dev projects: procrastination.

So yeah: Submitting just the first part or "chapter" of a game with a: To Be Continued at the end is in no way frowned upon. Like I said: it's been done lots before.

That reminds me: I miss Miguel's MAGS chapter a month series with that badass chic...

Creamy · Mon 07/12/2015 14:18:37

I've started a little game called "the poor side of town" but I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it.

It won't qualify for the competition though because the graphics are made with third-party assets (mostly Diablo 2).

Mandle · Mon 07/12/2015 23:21:25

Quote from: Creamy on Mon 07/12/2015 14:18:37
It won't qualify for the competition though because the graphics are made with third-party assets (mostly Diablo 2).

I've seen entries for MAGS before (and even made one myself: Speed Buggy) which mostly used graphics from other sources. I'm pretty sure that as long as you mention it (or it's hugely obvious as in my case) it's not a disqualifying factor.

I don't see it as being much different than googling images/sounds/music for your game, which is done all the time in MAGS.

Just my opinion though, not an official ruling of course...

Noto · Tue 08/12/2015 07:29:35

Quote from: Mandle on Mon 07/12/2015 08:34:43
Many people have used MAGS for this exact same reason in the past. Rather than being frowned upon I would say that this is fully encouraged!!!

The main point is not to get everyone to release a completed game within a month: The point is more to provide motivation to people to actually open their AGS and work on stuff. The month time limit is there to avoid the beast that kills most game-dev projects: procrastination.

So yeah: Submitting just the first part or "chapter" of a game with a: To Be Continued at the end is in no way frowned upon. Like I said: it's been done lots before.

Oh man, that's such a relief, and I love the reasoning behind it as well. Thanks so much for shedding light on it!

cat · Tue 08/12/2015 10:37:28

No, Mandle, you got this wrong. I quote the first post:

Quote from: Stupot+ on Tue 01/12/2015 11:24:23
Rules
â€¢ You may work in a team to produce an entry.
â€¢ You are not allowed to use any material created before the competition. Your game must be completely new! An exception is music and sound; you can use any audio that is freely available to the public.
â€¢ Any modules and templates featured in this board are also allowed.

I think the rules have always been this way (except for some competitions with special topics that stated otherwise) and I agree with this rules. There is a whole month time and people should create a new game and not just pick existing stuff from various places.

@Noto People often do not manage to finish their game in time so they release just a demo or a not so polished version of the game. Later on, some people will turn their MAGS entry into a full game. So, as long as you start your game during MAGS and not earlier, you can release what ever you've got at the end of the month.

Funkpanzer · Tue 08/12/2015 11:21:14

Day 2 and just finished coding the first level! I'm using this month to learn how I can use timers and variables for puzzles, as well as a second inventory that avoids the AGS inventory altogether.

I have learned so much about timers, especially how much I hate them...

There's no mention in the rules but I am wondering if a game that is only very loosely an adventure game still fits into MAGS?

Cassiebsg · Tue 08/12/2015 15:56:32

There is no rule that it needs to be an adventure game, only that it needs to be made with AGS.

There are plenty of examples on non adventure games in MAGS, even winning entries. So just make the game you like the way you want to.

cat: I think at one point that rule was a bit more lose. Something like "any resources that are freely available to everyone". I was going to write that, but then I read the rules of _this_ competition, and realized that this one doesn't apply anymore.

Creamy · Tue 08/12/2015 17:23:25

No problem, I know the game will be out of competition if I finish it.
I just have no desire to draw new characters after I spent one month making animations for Freak Chic.

Plus, I love isometric graphics

Monsieur OUXX · Tue 08/12/2015 22:45:43

Being a HUGE Dune fan who is currently stuck with too many projects on my hands, I want to solemnly say that I hate you for choosing this topic for the competition.

Mandle · Tue 08/12/2015 23:48:50

Quote from: cat on Tue 08/12/2015 10:37:28
â€¢ You are not allowed to use any material created before the competition. Your game must be completely new! An exception is music and sound; you can use any audio that is freely available to the public.

Ah...I read this to mean not to use anything that you had personally already pre-created. But what about pre-existing artwork that the author finds and works up to function in the game?

For example: In the case of my Speed Buggy game I did take backgrounds' and characters' graphics from the cartoon in some cases, but I also worked on them to work properly in the game (adding transparency, cutting out characters, animating them in a few cases) and also cut out some real-life items photos and stuck them on the backgrounds where needed in a kind of collage.

And what about if somebody found RL photos on google and did paintovers and/or filters on them to adapt them into the game? There are many other examples but where is the line to be drawn?

I'm assuming that graphics taken from Diablo 2 would also need quite a bit of technical work done on them to be workable in AGS and would probably become something quite different to the original. I might be wrong here but...

I think a possible solution is to allow such entries with a disclaimer that the graphics are originally from such-and-such and adapted for AGS, and let the voters take that into consideration?

Just my opinions as always. Stu...can we have a ruling?