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Anyone Willing To Have A Game Contest?

davidthefat

I Love C++
  • 437
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    • Seen Mar 3, 2012
    These types of contests are quite popular in other big forums, a contest involving programming a game in a limited amount of time. So anyone willing to participate in this contest if there were to be one? I think this will better help the community by adding more "variety" into the community other than just pure pokemon games. Does not mean it can't be pokemon THEMED. This will allow developers some real life experience in real deadlines and competition. So who's down for this? I will make sure the rules are as loose as possible also letting the rookies also have a chance of winning. So it HAS to be a game made from scratch, so it will be reasonable for the time frame of the contest. The games will be judged purely based on the user end, so does not matter if you use Game Maker, RPG Maker, C++, Java, Python, and ect.


    BTW anyone who opposes this, post your reason why you think it is a bad idea
     
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    A contest is always fun to have, and maybe it should not be about finished games but more about originality and playability.
    I'd surely enter the contest!

    Oh, and can there be a prize, people always love 'title's' and pictures like: WINNER OF GAME CONTEST 2010, in their game showcase ;)
     
    U need to realize that many people here arent programmers... and this isn't game dev... or dev masters

    ...but this is the game dev forum.

    I think it's an awesome idea, especially if there's a theme or something that all the games have to include, like in tropfest. pretty much as long as the time frame is fairly short, the rules are really clear, and the games just have to be a demo, or just a short game, it'll be super fun.

    I'm in! :)
     
    I would like to see how this would turn out, and the try and be part of it, but then when I create my thread and show progress of the game, I will be asked, when is there going to be a demo... I don't like to release demos I release the game all at once and most my games are commercial anyway.

    If you do plan to go through with this, I suggest that you come up with the rules now and a detailed list of what it is about... To be honest, your first post is hard to understand.
     
    I imagine, since most people here will only be familiar with RPG Maker/Game Maker, that the contest should revolve around making a short RPG. The challenge itself will be to revolve around a certain plot point (e.g. Revive kills zombies, you have to burn the rope, etc.) or MacGuffin (Triforce, emerald, Dragonball, circuit board, etc.), with a particular theme (e.g. adventure, quest, puzzle dungeon, 30 minutes of play time, etc.) - the actual story is left to the participants.

    As soon as the particulars are announced, the contest starts. It would probably last a week or two.

    All submitted games will be uploaded somewhere for everyone to download and play. Votes are cast not in a poll, but in posts (which include feedback on each game that person played, and notes of whether they played them all or skipped some). Each vote is a "top three" ranking, where first place is worth 3 points, second is 2 points and third is 1 point. Whoever gains the most points wins.

    One of the problems is that voters may not play all the games, so their ranking won't take all of them into account (their rankings might have changed if they had played game X). Another problem is favouritism and bias towards/against certain users (not to mention those stupid "X game is obviously going to win, so I'll vote for Y game instead even though I don't think it's the best" votes). Also, the deadline must be really strict, otherwise the late entrants will have an advantage over the others because they had more time.

    Allowing everyone to vote, rather than having just a few (impartial) judges, would be more community-friendly, but then people's voting criteria would be all over the place. Some people may vote solely on grammar (a wild example, but still...), while others solely on visuals (which puts the artists at an advantage). Perhaps restrict the contest to RPG Maker XP, using the RTP only, and hope that the voters are at least reasonable in their choices (or PM the votes to whomever's in charge, to avoid peers swaying the votes).

    Once the workings have been ironed out, this might be interesting.

    Oh, and people can't vote for their own games. That's just good sportsmanship.
     
    I imagine, since most people here will only be familiar with RPG Maker/Game Maker, that the contest should revolve around making a short RPG. The challenge itself will be to revolve around a certain plot point (e.g. Revive kills zombies, you have to burn the rope, etc.) or MacGuffin (Triforce, emerald, Dragonball, circuit board, etc.), with a particular theme (e.g. adventure, quest, puzzle dungeon, 30 minutes of play time, etc.) - the actual story is left to the participants.

    As soon as the particulars are announced, the contest starts. It would probably last a week or two.

    All submitted games will be uploaded somewhere for everyone to download and play. Votes are cast not in a poll, but in posts (which include feedback on each game that person played, and notes of whether they played them all or skipped some). Each vote is a "top three" ranking, where first place is worth 3 points, second is 2 points and third is 1 point. Whoever gains the most points wins.

    One of the problems is that voters may not play all the games, so their ranking won't take all of them into account (their rankings might have changed if they had played game X). Another problem is favouritism and bias towards/against certain users (not to mention those stupid "X game is obviously going to win, so I'll vote for Y game instead even though I don't think it's the best" votes). Also, the deadline must be really strict, otherwise the late entrants will have an advantage over the others because they had more time.

    Allowing everyone to vote, rather than having just a few (impartial) judges, would be more community-friendly, but then people's voting criteria would be all over the place. Some people may vote solely on grammar (a wild example, but still...), while others solely on visuals (which puts the artists at an advantage). Perhaps restrict the contest to RPG Maker XP, using the RTP only, and hope that the voters are at least reasonable in their choices (or PM the votes to whomever's in charge, to avoid peers swaying the votes).

    Once the workings have been ironed out, this might be interesting.

    Oh, and people can't vote for their own games. That's just good sportsmanship.
    First of all, thanks for your input, but I was planning on doing what most game review sites do it, one score from the judges (most likely the mods) and the other score averaged from the community. Seems more fair, like what you said, favouritism and other stuff.


    I would like to see how this would turn out, and the try and be part of it, but then when I create my thread and show progress of the game, I will be asked, when is there going to be a demo... I don't like to release demos I release the game all at once and most my games are commercial anyway.

    If you do plan to go through with this, I suggest that you come up with the rules now and a detailed list of what it is about... To be honest, your first post is hard to understand.


    First, Sorry for my grammar/writing style, will work on it. But using the contest, you just declare you are competing, may be add a title, NOTHING MORE. Title as in the actual title, not logo or any fancy stuff. So it would be unbiased from the beginning, and no posting progress to keep the anticipation as low as possible. and on the judging day, send it to the judges through PM, so exactly how you would post it as a thread, then teh judges will go through it all and rank them. Then they will post to the general public and people can vote.
     
    You have to consider the size of the community. Our member base isn't really large enough to support these kind of contests.
     
    You have to consider the size of the community. Our member base isn't really large enough to support these kind of contests.
    That's just not true. We could have a dozen entries, and several judges, and still have people to spare to be the masses.

    We can't support large contests, but all we really need are at least two entrants and one judge and it'll work (and be easier to judge, actually).
     
    So any one actually willing to participate in this event? If I get at least 3 or 4, I will start the official thread
     
    I don't think this will succeed, I agree with king charizard, though this is the game dev section, most don't even understand how RPGMAKER functions...
     
    I think I might, assuming you get the workings and ground rules sorted out and I like the look of them.

    I've already mentioned the kinds of rules I would use/prefer (RPG Maker XP + RTP only, 2 weeks to make it, basic theme). These rules would make the games easier to judge, as they would show off how well people can work within the guidelines with the limited resources available to them (e.g. whether they can use a given tileset to their full advantage, rather than simply making their own/finding the tiles they want on the Interweb - I don't want to be at a disadvantage because I can't draw). Not to mention that the "RTP only" restriction means the games themselves would be smaller in size/easier to download.

    If I were you, I'd come up with a basic set of rules that most people like the look of (and edit them according to feedback to get this approved list), and then start the contest by announcing the theme/other restrictions (e.g. must include the key item "Mug o' Grog").

    If I'm brutally honest, I'm not sure you're capable of organising this contest properly. You don't seem to have put that much thought into it.
     
    I'm in if Maruno's in. I agree with pretty much all the points he's (she's? man idk, sorry if I'm assuming wrong) made in his last post - it's really important, especially in this forum, to make the rules as clear and as non-biased as possible. hey, if you wanted to go all the way, you could have it so that people send their games to the host, who just posts them all in one entry, no names on any of them. that way people won't be voting for the makers of the game, even subconsciously - they'll be just voting on the merits of each game.
     
    If I'm brutally honest, I'm not sure you're capable of organising this contest properly. You don't seem to have put that much thought into it.
    Yea, it was just an idea, I wasn't sure if it was going to take off, so why bother wasting my time with it if it won't? You see, well now I think I will come up with ideas
     
    I would recommend that if a contest was held, you secure the cooperation and support of the local moderators first. I have held contests on other sites before, and I know how much work goes into them. If people know that the moderators actively support a contest, they are far more likely to enter, and there will be far more to do when the time comes to post and judge the entries.

    As for the contest itself, I don't believe I would enter. I've never liked working under a deadline, and the one time I did, I was rather underwhelmed with my final results.

    For the contest guidelines, I would actually recommend going for a one month time period instead of the two week time period recommended earlier. I recommend this because I have seen similar contests on large RM* sites that have died because their time period was too short, and because most of the entrants in the longer contest had trouble with even a full month to build, and still had trouble when more time was given.

    The simple themes recommendation is a good idea, although making specific limits like RTP only hinders creativity, since some people won't be able to show their true creative talents. (You mustn't forget the spriters, music composers, or scripters, since all images, music, and even the scripts can be counted as part of the RTP)

    Finally, I would recommend that you follow the earlier suggestions about limiting what can be posted about a project. If the entries were not posted anywhere, and were instead sent via PM to a specific judge, who posted them without names, then the general community would be forced to vote based on the games themselves, instead of the members who made them, or any hype about the game that could be generated during the time period. Also, this would probably include the requirement that no credits be placed in the game, or, alternatively, they are hidden, and the method to access them is sent to the judge along with the entry. If the creator wants to change that after the contest is over, all they have to do is request that a modified version be placed in the thread, or make a project thread with the full copy.
     
    I'm in if Maruno's in. I agree with pretty much all the points he's (she's? man idk, sorry if I'm assuming wrong) made in his last post - it's really important, especially in this forum, to make the rules as clear and as non-biased as possible. hey, if you wanted to go all the way, you could have it so that people send their games to the host, who just posts them all in one entry, no names on any of them. that way people won't be voting for the makers of the game, even subconsciously - they'll be just voting on the merits of each game.
    I'm male, although it's not really important here.

    I do like your suggestion of making the games anonymous, for all the obvious reasons.


    For the contest guidelines, I would actually recommend going for a one month time period instead of the two week time period recommended earlier. I recommend this because I have seen similar contests on large RM* sites that have died because their time period was too short, and because most of the entrants in the longer contest had trouble with even a full month to build, and still had trouble when more time was given.

    The simple themes recommendation is a good idea, although making specific limits like RTP only hinders creativity, since some people won't be able to show their true creative talents. (You mustn't forget the spriters, music composers, or scripters, since all images, music, and even the scripts can be counted as part of the RTP)
    A game, even a short one as will be made here, contains a whole range of factors, including characters, enemies, maps, events, plot, etc. etc. I think that allowing people to use whatever resources they want will just add to this list of factors, which in turn will increase the complexity and build time of the game.

    Also, putting the same restrictions on everyone will force everyone to begin at the same place. The contest, after all, is to create a game, not to show off the pretty tiles you can make or songs you can write (and certainly not everyone is talented at that). I think the contest should be a test of general game-making skills (mapping, eventing, plot, character design, pacing), and putting restrictions on things like tilesets and music will help concentrate the makers' attention on those aspects, since they won't also need to worry about writing music/drawing sprites. Being able to create music/artwork isn't a test of game-making skills, it's a test of artistic skills, and I don't think that's what the contest should be about. Not to mention that these restrictions make the contest more accessible to people (i.e. non-artistic people might be put off entering if they knew other entrants would/could use custom sprites).

    I disagree with the "hindering creativity" point Glitchfinder made. If you're allowed to use whatever tiles you want, you can just throw together anything easily, but if you're restricted to a particular set, you're forced to be more creative with what you've got in order to make a better map that stands out from everyone else's.

    My suggestion of "RTP only" is just one possible restriction - someone could compile a bundle of assets that allow for a greater range of ideas, and that bundle would be the restriction instead (I only suggested "RTP only" because it's the easiest restriction to organise). My suggestion of "RPG Maker XP only" is based on the fact that most people here at least know how to use it (because many of them are using Essentials) - I think (e.g.) Java games would be marked up more, purely because they're Java and they required more work to create (rather than being marked based on how good the game is).

    Basically, keep it simple and you'll get more entrants. And I think restrictions like the ones I mentioned would do this.



    Note, of course, that we could have several different kinds of competitions (an "anything goes" one, a restricted one like I prefer, etc.). But multiple contests would detract from each other, particularly in a small section like this.
     
    That view on restrictions reminds me of an eventing contest I took part in some time ago, on another site. It isn't identical, but it is a similar view. I think a closer example would be some of the mapping contests I've seen on the same site. The problem with restrictions comes up when someone uses something that is RTP but that most people aren't familiar with, or something that isn't RTP but is very similar to a default piece of the RTP. To be fair, this problem is easily solved if the judges are sent unencrypted projects. (Although I wouldn't need that, but that little tidbit is for another day, as it hasn't really been discovered here yet)

    Anyhow, you've made some valid points, and I am glad there are some people here who are both willing and able to thing on this kind of thing.
     
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