MAGS November "Cloud" (RESULT)

[fernewelten]

I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong:

Hint:

Spoiler

Confucius says: If you can't succeed, you must fail.

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Spoiler:

Spoiler

The whole set up of an "examiner" ghost giving you "intelligence tests" that you must solve to get on in life is a red herring. Solving a test will simply get you a new test, so you're bogged down in an endless sequence of tasks to solve and get nowhere.

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Solution:

Spoiler

You can't win by winning. So alter the strategy. Instead of trying to please the ghost, try to p*ss him off royally...

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[Shadow1000]

Solution:

Spoiler

You can't win by winning. So alter the strategy. Instead of trying to please the ghost, try to p*ss him off royally...

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I see. I don't think I would have gotten that on my own. I finished the game. Thanks for the help.

[fernewelten]

I see. I don't think I would have gotten that on my own. I finished the game. Thanks for the help.

I found that puzzle in, I think, Machinarium, where you need to …

Spoiler

outwit a ventilator to get into a greenhouse.

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In that game, I fell for the trap myself, very much so.    I tried and tried. And when I got the solution at last with outside help, I went, Aaaaaah ...

[Stupot]

Sorry for the delay. I've been on cloud 9 looking after my newborn baby, but now there is a break in the cloud and I have enough time to take my head out of the clouds and set up the voting for November's cloudpetition.

Please vote using the poll above.

	Night Witches: Women of the clouds by Slasher
	Night Witch by Blondbraid and Crimson Wizard
	Brothers & Wreckers by Flugeldufel & Creamy
	Jake's Very Last Journey by fernewelten

Please do let me know if I've made any mistakes or missed anthing out.

Cheers.

[fernewelten]

(retracted)

[Cassiebsg]

Okay this happened to me while playing Night Witch, but applies to Night Witches also... I accidentally pressed the ALT key while shooting... and ALT+X  quits the game.  Maybe X isn't such a good key to be shooting/bombing with. 

[Crimson Wizard]

Okay this happened to me while playing Night Witch, but applies to Night Witches also... I accidentally pressed the ALT key while shooting... and ALT+X  quits the game.  Maybe X isn't such a good key to be shooting/bombing with. 

LMAO.
Okay, good point, I can change these controls. Any suggestions?

PS. Hmm, I think there's a way to disable Alt+X in game actually.

[fernewelten]

Hmm, I think there's a way to disable Alt+X in game actually.

game.abort_key: The keycode for Abort Game, which allows the you to quit even if your script is stuck. Default 324 (Alt+X).

[Cassiebsg]

@fernewelten

Ohh... I think I found a bug...

Spoiler

I just read in the hints and tips thread, about using the potholes to move the car... Only I never moved the car. 
I was looking at the "TV" and clicking away, and all of a sudden the character just moved over the car and I entered the new room. And I was "That was weird, I hadn't noticed there was a path there." Guess now I know why I didn't noticed it before, bacause I didn't solved the car puzzle.

Also, now that I'm at it, I wouldn't have guessed the solution for the cloud head either. Mostly because I keep failing one and then thinking "Damn, did the puzzle count keeps resetting when I fail?"

PS - Please turn off the "walk to spot" when looking at an object. It's fine when you want to interact with it, but when I just want to look I rather not wait for the character to walk there... if there are places where a close look is required. you could always had a line like "Seems like there's something in there, but I need a closer look." Or something to that effects.

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[fernewelten]

@Cassiebsg: That's most definitively a bug ...

Spoiler

The car is 'solid' and Jake is 'solid', so he shouldn't be able to walk through the car.

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I even remember testing that. I won't change my code in any way while the competition runs unless there is a real showstopper, but I've an inkling that the particular AGS version I used is at fault. If that's the problem, I'll try a recompile in a newer version with my identical code.

In the meantime, I hope you can go into the first room again and go hunting for that signpost.

Edit: No... I've just given my best but I can't reproduce the glitch in either version. What a pity, that makes the problem hard to fix. After the competition, I'll rework the room so that the *** is on a separate walkable area that is switched off until the conditions are met. This should fix the problem, no matter where it is exactly.

[Shadow1000]

Four entries this month! I had a lot of fun playing them.

My comments:
Night Witches: Women of the clouds by Slasher and Night Witch by Blondbraid and Crimson Wizard
I am grouping these games together because they have so much in common that I will point out the differences in my comments:

Spoiler

Great application of the monthly theme. Both games were a lot of fun to play
- Slasher was first out of the gate, like every month and his entry does utilize the theme better. The clouds actually provide the cover rather than just being part of the background
- Team Blondbraid's game has the better graphics and gameplay. An arcade-shooter game like this takes a lot of juggling and fine-tuning to get just right to the point where challenging + achievable = lots of fun. The timer setting, number of points per target, enemies, health points and all other variables have to be set to just that right point and you guys got this one nailed. The multiple endings was a great bonus.

It took me a bit of time to figure out what those arrows at the left of the screen meant but once I got that, I did pretty well.

Between the two, I'm going with Team Blondbraid because of the better graphics, gameplay and especially the airplane handling.

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Brothers & Wreckers

Spoiler

Nice pixel art! I had a few laughs and enjoyed the music. Looks like a good theme for a game. The theme was more of a detail rather than essential to the game. The game seems more like a preview or demo rather than a completed short game entry

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Jake's Very Last Journey

Spoiler

I really enjoyed this game. If it's a decision between an arcade shooter game or a classic adventure/puzzle/dialogue/inventory game then give me the adventure game! Graphics are really nice. Of the lot, this one really incorporates the cloud theme the best as part of the game. I like the story and idea and I had quite a few chuckles while playing.

I got a bit stuck finding one game item and I literally had to "paint" the cursor everywhere till I found a certain item but that kind of thing happens in adventure games

I wouldn't mind so much that the tile puzzle required some help, however the fact that a puzzle is presented as "do X" and the only way to solve it is by NOT doing X detracted from my overall experience. Perhaps if there would have been some hint or something before I spent 45 minutes it would be different.

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My vote goes to

Spoiler

Night Witch by Blondbraid and Crimson Wizard. My overall experience with this game was AWESOME! I actually played it again a few times just for fun

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Great job!

[Cassiebsg]

@fernewelten

Spoiler

I did found the pot holes, I just didn't figured out what to do with them. 

One way to stop this from happening (managing to move thru an object that's suppose to block the path) is to actually deactivate the blocked path. Like by deactivating the walking area in that zone (instead of only 1 walking area, use 2). Set it to off at game start and then turn it on once the object that is blocking the path is moved. Or if it's a hotspot one clicks on, then jus turn the hotspot off at game start. 

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Edit: Got another bug for you, though not critical. If you click the mouse button during the intro inside the car, the character will change and say "Looks alright."

Edit2: Here's a way to replicate the bug I reported hidden above:

Spoiler

left click on the TV -> this will move the character to the right of the screen
now click around above the car, around/above the opening. He will now walk over the car, says his line about the clouds being too thick and then walk to the next screen (might require a new click).

My guess: when he walks to the right he goes up a bit also, and then he has passed above the car's baseline, meaning the character is now behind the car (that's how ags determines who's in front and who's behind.)

BTW you also forgot to turn off debug mode.

I just solved the moving the car. Now I know why I didn't solve the puzzle. I never realized I got the sign, since when I look at the pothole it still says the big sign is there. And you have hidden the inventory away in an inconvenient menu. 

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[fernewelten]

I had a strange crash the first time that I clicked on the big hand in Fernewelten's game:

I've just managed to trigger the bug myself. I right-clicked the hand specifically whilst the ghost was showing a test. This is an error “below” the level of AGS scripting; it's from the bowels of the engine that interprets AGS code. If I can find a way to reproduce the error reliably, I'll get a C++ debugger on it. IMO AGS script code shouldn't be able to trigger this sort of error even when it is wrong in some way.

[Crimson Wizard]

I had a strange crash the first time that I clicked on the big hand in Fernewelten's game:

I've just managed to trigger the bug myself. I right-clicked the hand specifically whilst the ghost was showing a test. This is an error “below” the level of AGS scripting; it's from the bowels of the engine that interprets AGS code. If I can find a way to reproduce the error reliably, I'll get a C++ debugger on it. IMO AGS script code shouldn't be able to trigger this sort of error even when it is wrong in some way.

I did not pay attention to this screenshot at first (it was under spoiler and about someone elses game..), this is definitely a mistake inside AGS engine, an std::vector is being accessed with a wrong item index.

PS Game reports to be made with AGS 3.4.2.1, which is actually an early 3.5.0 alpha. There's a chance that the error was fixed in later updates.
PPS Ohhh, it seems to actually be a custom engine version... idk if it's worth debugging for me, because I don't know how much was changed.

[Creamy]

Thank you Shadow1000 

Spoiler

The cloud should play a more important role latter in our game.

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I played all the games:

Night Witches: Women of the clouds by Slasher and Night Witch by Blondbraid and Crimson Wizard

Spoiler

The game feels right. I found the difficulty to be spot on despite CW's claim that there was no time left to balance the gameplay.
I was shot down on my first tries. Every hit that I took was deserved though. All the ennemies are announced or wait before shooting and the controls are responsive. I was compelled to try again and when I finally beat the game, it proved satisfying. The graphics are great too. Maybe the cutscenes could be a little less spartan.

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Night Witches: Women of the clouds by Slasher

Spoiler

I think it's a good idea to have the plane further from the player.
After a couple of tries, I was able to reach the bridge screen.
It played ok, although it didn't feel as right as the other Night Witch for a variety of reasons:
- On the one hand it was cool to have some narration, on the other hand I didn't like being interrupted continuously. Specifically, I didn't like having the controls taken away from me every time I was hit.
- speaking of hits: the lightning fast bullets are almost impossible to avoid. It's more realistic but not as fun for the player IMO.
- The movement feels a little jerky and constrained (invisible floor notably).

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Jake's Very Last Journey

Spoiler

I was able to finish the game on my own. The beginning was a little tedious. I wouldn't say that finding the nut is unfair since the character tells you to be "more specific" when you click on the barrier with the wrench â€" but it's not exactly thrilling. I know that it's not conceivable to code a different action for every nut but why would you need to unscrew exactly that one?

Then I liked every part of it: The annoying neighbour, the annoyed cloud. Very good stuff IMO. I personally love the bit with the cloud. I was so focused on figuring out the answer to the puzzles that I didn't realize that he didn't react to my successes at first. When I  had a couple of good answers in a row, it became quite obvious and things clicked 
The end was funny too.

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[fernewelten]

Jake's Very Last Journey

Spoiler

I know that it's not conceivable to code a different action for every nut but why would you need to unscrew exactly that one?

[close]

Thanks for the feedback! In fact, it is feasible …

Spoiler

… to make each of the screws unscrewable -- I just was very pressed for time to get the adventure done, so I avoided edge conditions as far as possible: What if the player unscrews all the screws so that the plank falls down; how do I accommodate for several grommets and screws in the inventory â€" not to mention several packs of ball lightning that might have different numbers of charges!, etc. etc. When I find the time for a polished post-MAGS version, I'll improve on that.

I've also noticed that the handling improves if the hotspot for the wrench is inside the claw instead of in the middle of the icon, so this is something I can improve on in a post-MAGS version, as well.

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[Crimson Wizard]

@fernewelten I was stuck in the first room too, until I peeked into Creamy's spoiler above

Spoiler

To be frank, I found several interactions in the first room a pixel hunt. OTOH maybe I do not play adventure games very well now.
Perhaps, it could be worth adding some visual hint, like they did in several games, where small objects randomly flicker or light reflects from them, and so on.

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Also wanted to report, there's a minor glitch during introductory sequence:

Spoiler

If you right click, player's view change to him standing inside the car, and there appear some colored vertical lines all around the room (no idea what can that be).

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[Crimson Wizard]

Unfortunately I got extremely busy on last week and was not able to playthrough every entry yet, but I get it that I still got the rest of this month for that?


@Creamy

Spoiler

The game feels right. I found the difficulty to be spot on despite CW's claim that there was no time left to balance the gameplay.

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This is good to know! When I said the game is not balanced, what I meant was -

Spoiler

This is not explicit (although hinted in intro text), but each object type gives you different amount of score for destruction. Bunkers are top, enemy planes are lowest - that's because you are on a bombing mission.

But because all the enemy spawns are completely random, it is theoretically possible to get not enough high-score buildings to reach the score goal (unless your make a perfect play and manage to destroy everything, or maybe even in that case). On the other hand, it is also possible to get a lucky streak of high-value targets and reach x2 or more of the target score.

Also, I was not sure what audience we are making the game for, and what is too hard or too easy.

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[Cassiebsg]

Voting time is half a month, so you have about 8 days left to play and decide. 

[Reiter]

My word! A rich harvest, indeed! I shall make good use of those days. These are all exciting entries.

I am pleased that there were two flying games submitted; as it happens, the idea for this theme struck me as I was playing a flight simulator. Jolly good! It will be most interesting to test these titles.

Excellent work, everyone!