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@TheBitPriest - I like your thinking. Saying that, if we were going to have a mix of broad themes and specific challenges, why don't we let the topic setter be the one to decide each week whether or not (or how strictly) to have a ‘original art only' rule?

I think that could work. However, the reason I suggested alternating between broad themes and specific challenges was:

1. Participants could anticipate the scope of the contest ("June is here in a week... I can expect a broad theme. I'm in!")
2. The contest wouldn't be weighted too heavily in one direction or the other.

Many good ideas...

What if we did something like this: Intentionally vague, broad topics on even months and specific gameplay/story challenges on odd months.

Broad topics would restricted to newly created art assets, while gameplay/story challenges would allow preexisting backgrounds and animations.

For example, in December the theme may be "Any game about winter or holiday," while in January it would be "A game with multiple player characters that have different strengths who work together to solve a mystery."

If you tend to like stories or interesting gameplay challenges, you know that every other month, MAGS is your place to shine.  If you prefer more freedom in game design, but like to paint and animate, you know when to set aside some time for a MAGS.

So, it would still be *M*AGS (occurring monthly), people would be able to anticipate the scope of the project based on the month, and game makers with different strengths would know when to participate.

For some people, it would be an every-other-month event. Others may still like to participate in them all.

Plus, we could try it then reevaluate... It doesn't really change the contest very much.

What do you think?

On the one hand, MAGS has some issues:

• The allotted time can be a problem (only one month)
• Timing can be a problem (being ready to start at the beginning of the month)
• The challenge of creating all assets from scratch can be tough if you lack skill in either backgrounds or animation.

On the other hand, these issues have some benefits:

• The need to do a game in a month requires the developer to narrow the focus.
• The start times are very predicable.
• Gathering assets outside of your skill set fosters teamwork.
• Requiring original assets results in original games.

But still... a few ideas to pick from... I wouldn't imagine implementing all four of those changes.  Just continuing the discussion...

• Add categories to the voting system, instead of finding one winner (best original art, best animation, best game, etc.)


• Allow RON or other freely available assets, but categorize the game as such (best gameplay, best original art, and so forth), or let the "market" decide (if it's the best game ever made with Sam and Max since Sam and Max, then fine, otherwise mega-down-vote for making another Sam and Max game).
• Announce the topic one month earlier allowing one month for design and one month for implementation.   
  OR...
• Allow all of the winners between the months of X and Y - 1 to plan the 11 game topics from Y + 1 to X' for the next year.  Announce all of the topics in month Y, giving people the freedom to pick a month that they want to join and plan for it (take a week off, gather a team, sketch a few thumbnails, practice a new skill ... but no actual game code or assets). With this idea we should keep the "all original" restriction.
  

It's perfect for our game! Fantastic!

Congrats! Do I need to play the first Cpt. Disaster game first?

In a way, this is the first Captain Disaster game. It just took a little longer! There's one reference to The Dark Side of the Moon in Act 3 (maybe two).

You should give The Dark Side of the Moon a spin. It's clever, but there's no need to play it first.

Thanks all! As I said on the GIP thread, it was a wild ride.

Some day, we'll write up a good post-mortem. We had at least as much drama in our real lives as the game itself!

No. Never.  Maybe if I were Batman...

I have played the Penumbra demo on both Windows and Linux. Is that it?

1.

Spoiler

A sore/loose tooth?

[close]

2.

Spoiler

RU1N

[close]

Vend it Ralph?

I guess we're through that one. Whew! It certainly was a little Anglo.   Since I got two out of three, is it my turn, Stupot's turn, or a fault?  How do we work out a riddle solved by team effort?  If one of the other guessers has one handy, go for it, or I'll find one.

TBP

I might guess that the sticky fly was "on the jamb," but that's relying only on the sound of the word.  Some people call the side of the door the "sticking."  I guess he could be there.  The wet one might be on the mullion.

Was the angry fly "off the handle?"

I was trying to figure out an answer using the anatomy of a door ala Anglo lingo.

... but I'm either not creative enough to see how this fits together, or I'm just on the wrong track.

-TBP

Ha!  That could be a possibility. 

However, what I meant was that perhaps he should have used an exclamation point rather than a comma. I agreed with your assumption that he was asking for someone to bring a bag of ice.  I took the final "ice" as a one word exclamatory sentence emphasizing his need for ice.  "Ice!  Out."

But without more context, who could know?  It might have been a autocorrect error, and he actually typed "Peace, out."   

I would assume that the "Ice, out" is just a misuse of a comma. "Out" means "I'm finished."

Here's another static screen with the interface removed. 



Another hint:

Spoiler

the surrounding interface was all text... including the description of this scene.

[close]

No.  This is a static screen...

Hint:  It's an old adventure game.  It was available on a many platforms.

Here it is... Interface removed.