[Event] Game Making Competition

[Maruno]

Game Making Competition
​

This is the Game Development section's first game-making competition. There have been several attempts to hold one before, but they've all failed for various reasons (people complaining, mainly). But this one's different.

This competition is all about creativity. It is about being given a set of things, and seeing who can put those things together in the best way. It is about equal opportunities, where everyone starts off at the same level. It is about finding out how RPG Maker XP actually works, and what it can do. It is about the most important aspects of making a game. It is all about fun. It is not about giving unfair advantage to those who cannot script or create good graphics.

You have one week to notice this announcement and decide you want to enter.


The Rules

In the beginning:

1. You have exactly 1 month from the start of the competition in which to create a game and submit it to me.
2. Your game should be made in RPG Maker XP, using only the default RTP graphics/music/data. You are not allowed to modify any scripts.
3. The competition will begin in a week's time (1st August 2010).
4. Your game must follow the additional rules to be announced when the competition begins. There is no point attempting to start a game before then, but you can use this week to warm up on how to use RPG Maker XP.
5. Anonymity is important, as we want to keep bias to a minimum. Do not announce your game (e.g. in a thread), and do not say anything that will make it obvious which game is yours. This includes in-game dialogue.
6. You may submit multiple games, and you may form a team to create a game.

When your time is up:

1. Games must be submitted to me uncompiled. This will allow me to make sure you have followed the above rules.
2. Tell me that the game is yours, for the purposes of announcing the winner at the end.
3. The entered games will then be compiled by me and uploaded somewhere. The entrants will be listed here.
4. Voting will take place over the following two weeks. A vote consists of your ranking of the best three games, and should be sent to me via PM. You should not indicate how you voted to anyone else (to avoid bias), although commenting on the games is allowed (within reason).

At the end:

1. At the end of the voting session, the votes will be tallied. A "top best" vote is worth 3 points, a "second best" vote is with 2 points, and a "third best" vote is worth 1 point.
2. The scores will be revealed, along with the authors.
3. Then there will be cake.

PLEASE NOTE!
The competition has now started. For an up-to-date list of the rules, see this post.​

 

[lx_theo]

Hasn't July 1st already past? O.o


EDIT: Oh, and the cake is a lie

 

[Colbex]

The cake is a lie.

But yea, this sounds fun. I'll give it a shot.
Also, it says

The competition will begin in a week's time (1st July 2010).

You may wanna fix that... o.o;

EDIT: I got double ninja'd by lx_theo...

 

[Maruno]

Bonus points for a time travel-related game, maybe? :D

Yeah, fix'd.

 

[Poeman]

My only complaint is having to use RMXP, other than that seems like a good contest, but sorry I won't be entering.

 

[thepsynergist]

I wish I had time to participate in this. I've too little time working on my own Pokemon game. I wish luck to all those that do take part in this however.

 

[Yuoaman]

Just posting to let everyone know that I support this competition, as I'm all for trying to boost activity and creativity in this section. I may also decide to enter, but I am undecided at this time.

-Yuoaman.

 

[Zeffy]

So, we just PM you our entry?

Sweet, using the RMXP RTP is my specialty. :D

 

[DarkDoom3000]

RMXP?

Spoiler:

Meh, Im too busy with Eevee Edition and Uni to enter anyway.

 

[Infinipede]

man, I'd love to make something Yume Nikki like for this but the RTP just doesn't work for that type of game.

I may end up entering, but probably not.

 

[Maruno]

Yes, RPG Maker XP. The reason being that most of us use it already, or at least have used it in the past, so we at least know the principles. The restriction on the RTP allows you to focus on the plot, mapping and eventing, rather than also faffing around with graphics and music. There's a similar argument for not allowing script modifications.

As I said, this competition is all about being given the same pieces, and using your imagination to put them together in interesting ways. It's about the basics of making a game, and actually getting something finished (rather than ending up in development hell fiddling with your scripts/graphics, like some games here I could mention). Giving everyone the same starting point also means the games will be easier to compare at the end, because they'll at least be similar - future competitions can have different rules, but for now we'll stick to something (relatively) simple.

Sorry, but the rules stand. RPG Maker XP only, and RTP only. Unless, of course, you can give me a more concise reason than *facepalm*.

So, we just PM you our entry?

Sweet, using the RMXP RTP is my specialty. :D

Well, presumably you'd need to upload it to the Interweb first, and then send me the link (in PM) so I can download it from you. The main thing is that I need to check the games for rule-breaking first, and then I'll upload them all again anonymously and equally for everyone to have a go at them and vote.

I look forward to seeing what an RTP user can come up with.

man, I'd love to make something Yume Nikki like for this but the RTP just doesn't work for that type of game.

I may end up entering, but probably not.

You can still have a go at that kind of game, of course, but as the RTP doesn't really cater for surreal dream sequences (as you say) you'd probably want to change a few aspects of it. Or just make a different game instead - it doesn't necessarily have to be an RPG; you could make a puzzle game or an interactive story, maybe some kind of dating sim even!

And of course, don't forget the additional rules that will be announced at the start of the competition. You may or may not be able to fit them in anyway (although I'll try to make them flexible so they don't restrict the options).



One point I want to raise is that I'd quite like to enter this competition myself. However, you'd probably suspect me of cheating in one way and/or another, which is why I'm asking whether I'd be allowed to do so. Am I trustworthy enough for you?

 

[mr. ck]

May I suggest something like a Blog or a Log of work that is done...

Might be unfair for somebody to complete their half done game and claim it to be done in this time.

 

[Maruno]

A blog sort of goes against the idea of anonymity, I think. I'm not sure how it'd work without giving away who's making which game. And if someone really wants to cheat, they'll just make fake "updates" anyway.

I understand your concern - it's one of the first things I thought of too, and it'd certainly be unfair if that happened. I think, however, that the fact people have to use RPG Maker XP plus RTP only, as well as the requirement to include several additional features to be mentioned only when the competition starts, should mean such a thing is kept to a minimum. I mean, who's got a half-made epic game lying around that was made in RPG Maker XP and which doesn't have any custom content?

And it'll probably be obvious anyway if amongst all the 2-hour-long-or-so games there's a 20-hour epic; in which case I'm not sure what'll happen. As it stands, though, I think the worst case scenario is that people spend this introduction week making the game as well (and be forced to work in the additional rules later, however difficult that may be), but apart from this being discouraged (obviously), I trust that people will be honest about it.

I wanted to announce the competition early, so that people would have a chance to see it first and know it was going to happen, before starting the clock. That way they'll have the full time available to use. History will judge whether that was a good idea or not.

 

[Colbex]

I say Maruno's trustworthy enough to enter, besides, everyone will be voting anyway if I understand correctly so no harm done.

and @Mr. Ck: If we all make blogs and logs, wouldn't that basically show whose games is whose some way or another. I doubt any person already making a game with standard RTP already hasn't edited with something like music, graphics, animations, or tilesets. Besides, the additional rules have yet to be posted. o.o They may have to start over anyway.

EDIT: Wtf? Why do I keep getting ninja'd? ._.

 

[Poeman]

Even though I'm not entering, since you are making the rules and know them ahead of time you have an advantage, you may not think it but in your head you probably already thought of some ideas.

Don't count this as a vote though, just look at it as an opinion that doesn't matter.

 

[TBM_Christopher]

I'd like to echo the disappointment at RMXP-exclusive contests, as I only use Unity and have never used RPG Maker XP past making a few maps out of boredom(I don't even own a copy of RMXP). Ignoring my complaint since I am one of the few people who uses Unity, there are other game development platforms such as Game Maker, VisualBASIC(and any other programming language for that matter) and Flash.

 

[Lyzo]

I'd like to echo the disappointment at RMXP-exclusive contests, as I only use Unity and have never used RPG Maker XP past making a few maps out of boredom(I don't even own a copy of RMXP). Ignoring my complaint since I am one of the few people who uses Unity, there are other game development platforms such as Game Maker, VisualBASIC(and any other programming language for that matter) and Flash.

This has all probably been taken into account, but the problem with these programs is that they require you to start from scratch. Which means that the contest depends on your skills with programming and graphics making. This contest is meant to be fair, that is why we're not allowed to add custom graphics and custom scripts.

RPG maker is also used by a large part of the community making it the most sensible choice in the first place.

 

[Maruno]

Even though I'm not entering, since you are making the rules and know them ahead of time you have an advantage, you may not think it but in your head you probably already thought of some ideas.

Don't count this as a vote though, just look at it as an opinion that doesn't matter.

The only rules I've come up with so far are in this thread already. I'll be spending the next week coming up with the additional rules. It's quite tough to do if you think about it, what with trying to keep them fair and not restrictive. I'm also wondering how many additional rules there should be.

I know it may give me some advantage, though, which is why I'm asking if everyone is okay with me entering anyway. If you're not, I won't, simple as that (and I'll try to not let it put me off organising future competitions too, if this one goes down well).

This has all probably been taken into account, but the problem with these programs is that they require you to start from scratch. Which means that the contest depends on your skills with programming and graphics making. This contest is meant to be fair, that is why we're not allowed to add custom graphics and custom scripts.

RPG maker is also used by a large part of the community making it the most sensible choice in the first place.

That's exactly it. To me, game-making is NOT about drawing graphics or writing music. There are other forum sections for those things. No, game-making is about putting things together to create an enjoyable interactive experience. How much simpler can you get than giving everyone the same things to start with? And as Lyzo said, most people here have it already (because of Essentials), and will at least know how to work it, so we will get some interesting creations out of it. Future competitions can allow other platforms and a wider range of games, but I'd like to keep things simple for now.

Another factor with this competition is that it should have a reasonable time scale. Thus far no one's complained about only having 1 month to make a game in, and I'll assume most people find it reasonable considering what is required. I didn't really want it to last any longer, in case people became too attached to their games and stopped considering it as just a competition entry (and thus stepping out of the competition), or became complacent because they had "ages".

 

[davidthefat]

IDK Man, if its made in RPG Maker, its ALL RPGs... You really can not put in new type of gameplay. Which is #2 reason I hate Programs like RPG Maker (You can guess reason #1) So its basically judging on the storyline, nothing else...

 

[Poeman]

Uhh davidthefat, having ALL RPGS isn't an issue, and I have made other types of games in RMXP, mini games, puzzle games, and shooters even.