Adventuron Halloween Jam

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Adventuron Halloween Jam community

intermediate status

A topic by Stefan Vogt created Oct 20, 2019 Views: 494 Replies: 35

Viewing posts 1 to 9

Stefan VogtSubmitted5 years ago

Ten days to go now. I guess it's time to collect some impressions from fellow jammers. You don't need to spoil your game nor the gameplay, but maybe you can tell a bit about how it is going and what's the name of your game.

I'm very good in time, decided initially to create a game that is not typical for me and ended up with a game that is very typical for me. What can I say! Roughly 90% of the game is scripted already, start screen created, in-game graphics are work in progress. The plan is to completely focus on pixels in the last 7 days or so.

My game will be called "The Curse of Rabenstein".

Garry FrancisSubmitted5 years ago

There hasn't been much activity in the community during the jam, so I sincerely doubt there will be many submissions.

Mine is called 'The Witch's Apprentice'. It's about a young girl named Susan, who has just completed her schooling at the academy of witchcraft and is about to start her apprenticeship with a witch. It's Halloween and the witch has an urgent task for her to perform.

I have finished the bulk of the game, although I'd like to do some fine tuning and maybe add some more puzzles. Unfortunately, I don't have any time to spend on it and have only just started the graphics. They're giving me trouble and I don't think I'll have time to finish.

AdventuronHost5 years ago

"I sincerely doubt there will be many submissions."

Don't think with your head, feel with your heart.

The forum may be a ghost town, but isn't that the point?

AdventuronHost5 years ago

The graphic requirement for the jam is 2 / 3 of locations, but I'm sure you can find a loophole if you look hard enough in the rules if the game is ready before the graphics are done.

Dee CookeSubmitted5 years ago

I know I haven't been posting much because I've been so busy making the game itself, so maybe other people are in the same boat?

AdventuronHost5 years ago

Looking forward to seeing your submission Stefan. Nice title.

Dee CookeSubmitted5 years ago

I don't have a title yet (I'm terrible at titles) but hopefully I will by the time of submission!

I'm also really bad at keeping things simple, so the game I'm making for this jam is pretty big. I'm still working away on it and am just about on track to get everything finished in time. Next job is graphics, which is a bit of a challenge for me.

The game is heavily inspired by the Hallowe'ens of my childhood in Scotland and features a lot of Scottish traditions.

dmarymacSubmitted5 years ago

Hi all, I missed the intros. My adventure is called the Missing Witch and it is entirely non-violent and inspired by gothic novels, but intended for middle school students. So I come from a genre of IF that offered a feature called 'maximum verbosity'. I'm trying to be kind and not do that, but writing is a stronger suit to graphics. It appears that many folks save the graphics for last. Seems like a solid process. My game is done and I'm starting down that avenue now. I'm concerned about uploading assets and needing to modify them. Is there a way to flush or view the directory? My apologies, I also haven't reviewed all the documentation in that arena. Looking forward to seeing all the solutions for this challenge.

AdventuronHost5 years ago

There is no "asset UI" as part of adventuron at the moment (there will be in future).

So, the best technique for updating multiple graphics at the same time is to zip up your PNG files into a single zip file, and "import" that zip file. It will overwrite the ids of the graphics in the assets / graphics section automatically. Alternatively, you can just re-import each image, and it will overwrite that single image.

The easiest approach is to name your png files the same id as the location they appear (if they are location images). That way each location doesn't need a graphics = "image_id" field.

e.g.

C:/somefolder/yourgraphicsfolderon

hut.png
forest_1.png
forest_2.png

If you import those files then they will be imported with graphic ids "hut", "forest_1", and "forest_2". If you have locations called "hut", "forest_1" and "forest_2" then the graphics will automatically be applied to those locations, therefore updating the graphics is just a case of re-importing.

Manuel SagraSubmitted5 years ago

My game is called "The Mansion" and it's almost ready to publish. You awake in a closed room and you have to escape... but that's not your real problem, because you discover you're a skeleton and you don't remember anything. It's a very short game (about 5-10 minutes), and everything is written to have fun while examining things. I hope you like it :)

AdventuronHost5 years ago

That's great!

What style are the graphics in?

Manuel SagraSubmitted5 years ago

I wanted to replicate the style of the AD adventures in Spain that were released for the Amiga and the Atari ST. They digitized images in ocher tones and I've used eight tones of blue.

Stefan VogtSubmitted5 years ago

Aww that's wonderful. I will point Tim to that, he'll surely like it when it is done. BTW. Chris added the Aventuras AD font to Adventuron, you can activate it for the very special look and feel of a proper AAD adventure then. @Adventuron: was it "Theme 4" ?

Manuel SagraSubmitted5 years ago

That's cool but I decided to use a custom font this time. In fact, I've just submitted the game to the jam if you want to try it. I hope I didn't miss any step in the process...

https://itch.io/jam/adventuron-halloween-jam/rate/498159

Garry FrancisSubmitted5 years ago

The title screen looks fantastic.

Manuel SagraSubmitted5 years ago

Thanks. Please, play the game if you have some minutes to spare :)

AdventuronHost5 years ago (1 edit)

It really looks very nice. Nice font choice. Looks reminiscent of eeve somepx's beautiful fonts.

Just want to be sure that you own the rights (or are licensed to use) to the graphics though. They look amazing (especially the dithering on the title screen), and if you made them, WOW.

Manuel SagraSubmitted5 years ago (1 edit)

Thanks. The graphics are eight color renditions of some pictures I've taken in the past and some royalty free photos I've found in the net. Many of them with a little touches. They are all processed with GIMP.

By the way, if you found the Monty Python image I hope it's valid :D

AdventuronHost5 years ago (1 edit)

Hello, had a small play with this. I love the font choice. Is the carry limit 2 purposefully? I seem to be having to do more item management than usual.

I've found my way out the room, I have the pendant and a cookbook now. I can't seem to do anything with the dog, the dirt, the suit or armour, or find a key to the other locked door. I am looking for something to dig with, maybe the dog can help - but it appears the dog wants to eat me.

Suggestion ... maybe put a linger() counter on the dog, with a warning one tick before he attacks you (game over). I hung around the dog (wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait) but even though the dog was described as dangerous, he didn't seem to do anything intimidating. It's a good place to put incidental messages (as

Maybe add something like:

on_tick {
   : if (is_present "hungry_dog") {
      : if (linger() == 1) {
         : print "The dog stares at you and growls.";
      }
      : else_if (linger() == 3) {
         : print "The dog starts to move towards you ...";
      }
      : else_if (linger() == 5) {
         : print "The dog pounces on you, Game over";
         : end_game;
      }
   }
}

The linger function will return integer ZERO (0) when you enter a location for the first time. After each game tick, the linger function will increment by 1. When you enter a new location, the linger() counter returns to zero.

A discussion of the linger() function is found in this section of the tutorial:

https://adventuron.io/docs/tut/#_defeating_the_rockworm

... about the Spanish inquisition image, maybe not a good idea. You need to have rights to use all assets you use in the terms of the jam.

Manuel SagraSubmitted5 years ago

Hi again. Thanks for playing and for the advice.

About the inventory limit: yes, that's on purpose... because you're a skeleton! No backpack, no pockets, and just two fragile hands to carry things. In fact, there are many objects in the game and one of the "puzzles" is to figure out which ones are useful and which ones are not.

The dog is not really dangerous -in fact, you can even pet it!-, it's there just to block the path. Thanks for the code suggestion, but I don't want to put "menacing" things in the game, the only scary thing is being a skeleton :)

To advance, you need to use something in a room you haven't discovered yet. There's no key to enter that room, you have to do something in the hall.

And I've just uploaded a new version of the game with the Monty Python image removed. The joke is almost the same.

Manuel SagraSubmitted5 years ago

There was a bug in the hall in the previous version. In the current one you should be able to open the door trying to pick an object there.

AdventuronHost5 years ago

Great!

Getting a little worried your entry might be the only one completed at this stage. Thanks for entering.

View more in thread

Garry FrancisSubmitted5 years ago

I decided on a cartoon style for the graphics, thinking that would be easiest. (By "cartoon style", I mean black outlines with solid fills, limited palette, no shadows or highlights.) I've done three rooms in three days and they're not really finished yet. At this rate, I'll be finished by Christmas. And I've still got a few urgent things to do before the end of the month - like my tax return and prepare a display for another group. Sheesh.

AdventuronHost5 years ago

If you can't get the graphics done in time for the 30th, then just try to have them done by the end of the voting phase. It may affect the graphics category in voting and eligibility for prize draw, but I won't apply a strict deadline to having the graphics ready. This is meant to be fun, sorry it sounds like stress for you.

Good luck, and really hope you make the deadline, with or without graphics.

goliard5 years ago

Perhaps I can help. What have you got so far?

Garry FrancisSubmitted5 years ago

A map (of course) showing the relationship of the rooms, some rough wire frames and lots of images from Google image searches showing the sort of thing I've got in mind. However, I wouldn't expect anyone to jump in now at such short notice. I'll just plug away and do the best I can over the next few days. There are 23 rooms all together. Here's a sample from the ones that are closest to completion: