Messages

@Creamy Thank you so much--so glad you connected with the characters and had so many positive things to say. Extra thanks for reporting the bugs, too--I think it's too late to upload a fix before voting ends, but I've made sure this won't be a problem in the revised stable version (coming soon, after more playtesters). Very, very much appreciated.

This looks totally bonkers, and I already love the dog following Goby around. Will definitely play it when I get a chance.

Construction worker. I often work quickest under constraints (fewer artistic decisions to make), and so I tried using the smallest possible resolution and a pre-existing palette to help speed things along. I think it worked OK.

@lanchong

Keep trying. This moment is intended to feel a bit hopeless, a bit impossible. But there is a way out. You just have to keep looking.

Spoiler

Think about what was out of reach before that may now be reachable, even if it is not currently on the screen.

[close]

I enjoyed your game as well. Great music, very atmospheric. It did get a little difficult at the end, but it wasn't enough to make it frustrating and the ending was very uplifting! Great work!

Thanks so much! So glad you played it! This is my first time submitting a game to this contest, so it's great to hear someone liked it. 

Hey @lanchong, thanks for playing! I appreciate you trying out my game.

Spoiler

You're doing everything right so far, and you are right where you want to be. If I've done my job right, there aren't any dead ends in this game. Think about what has been changed now that the light bulb is gone.

[close]

Hey @4KbShort I played and enjoyed your game - it's interesting how opposite our approaches to the topic were. Yours was upbeat and positive the entire way through. Meanwhile I'm over here trying to write a tearjerker with some literal lifting-up. I had fun. Hope to see more AGS games from you in the future!

Hey @4KbShort, it looks like your downloadable archive doesn't actually contain a game executable file. Am I overlooking something? Thanks.

Looks like the poll ended, but I'll throw in a vote for @Hannah_Banana.

And the final vote count is in!

@Volcan:            2
@Hannah_Banana      2
@Creamy             3
@newwaveburritos    4
@lorenzo            6

Congrats to @lorenzo for the winning entry! You now have the honor of picking the next Background Blitz theme!

Great job to everyone who entered - this was an awesome set of entries.

EDIT 4/5/23: changed the downloadable files to reflect a very quick bug fix (cursor not showing up on save/load dialogs, restartgame not working, one crash, one unintentional dead-end) - the gameplay itself remains unchanged.
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BY THE SKIN OF MY TEETH.

Holy cow. I managed to finish a draft of the project. Definitely beta, no testers but me, so I apologize for the very high likelihood of bugs and at times unpolished puzzles & gameplay. It is definitely playable, though, and should have no dead ends.

After this MAGS round is over, I'll be continuing to update and refine it and fix issues for a while before I post it in the Completed Games thread.

First time I've actually completed a game! Feels amazing.

ELEVATION is a short mini-adventure where you help a robot climb up an elevator shaft. Art, music, story, everything by me. I hope you enjoy it and find it uplifiting!!

Builds for Windows and Linux available here:

https://rootbound.itch.io/elevation-beta-version

I'm closing in -- ran into a game-breaking bug yesterday and had to read through 1700 lines of code today to figure what was causing the game to freeze. I fixed it though! I'll do my darndest to finish this thing by the end of today (at least, by midnight Eastern USA time). Not bowing out just yet!

@Stupot Yes, I think I can manage to finish in three extra days. Here's hoping we get a few other last-minute contenders as well.

So I'm working on something, but odds that I'll finish it today are slim, and it definitely won't have been play-tested beyond my own playthroughs. Is anyone else planning to post an entry? If not, there's no need to extend the deadline just for me--it would be bittersweet being the only entrant. I'm planning to release the game eventually either way.

[Concept:]

The facilitator's allowed to vote too, right? If not, I can leave these out of the final count.

Concept: newwaveburritos -- and I think there's some playability here too, in the form of dialogues. I could see a group conversation which, depending on how the player chimes in, could have multiple outcomes. Really interesting idea.

Playability: Creamy -- Lots of potential secrets to uncover here, inventory items, clues, etc.

Artistic execution: lorenzo -- great subject, composition, and skill.

Great entries, everyone! It was difficult to choose.

[we are now in the voting stage until the end of the day on April 3rd.]

Hey everyone! Thanks for all the submissions - we are now in the voting stage until the end of the day on April 3rd.

We have 5 entries, above:

@Creamy : Museum
@Hannah_Banana : Mayan-style sacrifice
@newwaveburritos : The bar
@lorenzo : Church
@Volcan : Artifact

Please pick your favorite in each of the following categories:

Concept: What is the background about? What sort of mood does it spark? What is, as it were, the big idea?
Playability: What is its opportunity for gameplay like? Walkable areas, hot-spots, dialogues, and so forth?
Artistic Execution: How well does the picture convey an atmosphere? How well is it executed?

Thanks for all the entries, everyone! Just about 24 hours left to go before voting, so last call for any final entrants. We've got 5 so far, so this should be a solid competition. 

Hey @newwaveburritos, I really like the interpretation. I suppose we can leave criteria judgment to the voters.

@Hannah_Banana @newwaveburritos Excellent. Two pending entries is more than enough reason to extend the deadline, so I'll push it to March 28.

Final reminder -- just a few days left! Anyone need an extension?