Game Concept Design

I put a pattern on the background, because I didn't like how plain it was. I wanted to use metallic streaks, but because the image is so small they just looked like a bad jpg. Now it looks slightly holographic, and at least not quite as plain.

[PokeCommunity.com] Game Concept Design
[PokeCommunity.com] Game Concept Design
[PokeCommunity.com] Game Concept Design


Any opinions on these?
 
The patterns you used in the emblems look really good! I think the black outline of the speech bubbles are a tad too thick, though. Dunno if you can edit that still.

You could end the contest using EDT/Eastern timezone (Zach's timezone) to give Americans a few more hours to get their entries in.
 
What, they'd need longer than the 4 days they already have? If I'm going to close the thread on time, it'll need to be at a time when I'm awake (I'm GMT).

That also means I should create the thread in the first place (at midnight tonight which is in about 5 hours for me), and I don't know where it's going. I seem to recall mention of a special forum section, but I don't see one yet and it's getting pretty late.

I think the thought bubble outlines are fine. They make the "it's about thinking up things" more obvious. I generally prefer a cartoony style anyway.
 
Just scooting in to say that I'll be happy to join this as the final judge you need. Read pretty much everything and it looks like it will be fun to judge for.
 
The emblems, just in case you have something to say before they're submitted.

[PokeCommunity.com] Game Concept Design

Pokémon Game Design Contest Winner!
You came up with an amazing game idea which we just had to declare as the best. It definitely needs to be made into a real game. Congratulations!

[PokeCommunity.com] Game Concept Design

Pokémon Game Design Contest Runner-Up
Your game idea didn't quite make it through to the end, but it was still really good. Thanks for taking part!

[PokeCommunity.com] Game Concept Design

Pokémon Game Design Contest Participant
Thanks for taking part in the PokéCommunity Get-Together 2013's Game Design Contest.
 
Right, now it's time for some judging! There's 16 entries, so I think we'll want 1 overall winner and 3 runners-up. Post your decisions in here once you've made up your mind, then we can have a chat about them and see if we can come up with a final list we're all happy with. As mentioned in the first post, use whatever criteria you want, but remember that these are supposed to be games, not stories or character profiles.

Now for the daunting task of reading through them all...
 
My overall winner is:

PokéKart: ExtremeSpeed

My runners-up are:

Pokémon Neo
Pokémon Rumble Dungeon
Pokémon Roaring Heart

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It's obvious that molivious put a lot of thought into his Pokémon Neo idea, but the vast majority of it was talking about battle changes. There's no mention of a story (not even a "there isn't one"), and no indication of how the world looks (standard overhead view or what?) or what's in it (he barely mentioned that the game including all regions, or at least the Gym Badges and Leagues from them). The time system isn't described properly; I assume time is supposed to pass anyway, otherwise from his description it's impossible to lose and become an Adventurer; this is something he should have explained. Some of the changes to the mechanics seem gratuitous (there for the sake of being different) or over-complicated (the type-specific bonuses), and the apparent push for "realism" doesn't suit the Pokémon franchise which is very much a fantasy world.

Instead I went for ExtremeSpeed as the overall winner because it was fully explained and seemed like fun (even though I've never played Mario Kart). The point is that the description basically said "like Mario Kart except..." which is a good thing to do - it avoids needing a lot of explanation of how the more basic things work, and lets you get to the points that make it unique and a Pokémon game. It's easy to imagine the game.

I chose Rumble Dungeon because it's a similar case to ExtremeSpeed, in that it said "like these games but...". There was no story provided, but it has a significant multiplayer aspect to it which doesn't need a story (plus playing with others is what Pokémon is all about).

It seems we can all agree on Roaring Heart being a runner-up, at least.

I didn't choose Rolling Adventure (the board/card game) because it was too much a game of chance. The only part of it that requires any input from the player is choosing which Pokémon card to send out for battles (if you have more than one), and that's not much of a game. The idea was certainly up there, though, due to it being different. If its mechanics were redesigned, it could make for a great game, but we're not judging on what might be.

I didn't choose Survivor because it didn't really explain how to play it. When I was reading it I was thinking of Don't Starve, but the guy could easily have been thinking about something remarkably different. There were no examples of what you can actually do with your Pokémon, apart from battling (but what battles are these, and why do they happen?).

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Your thoughts?

When it comes down to it, I'm not really willing to concede to having Pokémon Neo being the winner, because the shortcomings I explained above (and others) are quite important issues. Did you guys think it was the clear winner, or was it just a little better than the next best game in your eyes?
 
I'm gonna revise my choices:

I will go ahead and choose PokéKart ExtremeSpeed as my winner because there was indeed good thought into the game, and because it's a very original idea for the Pokémon franchise (as I don't think there's ever been a Pokémon-based racing game). The characters are also well designed and thought out and have backgrounds to them as well. There's also a villainous thought into the game as well, and how to play the game is explained very well.


My Runners-up include:

Pokémon Neo
Pokémon Roaring Heart
Pokémon Rumble Dungeon

---------------------------------------------------------------

I decided to remove Neo from my winner and down to a runner-up because of the fact that it's not an original idea (meaning it follows the idea of most normal Pokémon games). It has a good storyline, a great development and a very detailed plot, but originality of an idea was key in my judgement.

Roaring Heart was also good because it has a detailed explanation of the storyline and describes the setting very thoroughly. However, what took me away from it being #1 was the fact that the characters were not developed into the storyline. Surely the hero/heroine got a mention, but that was it. No antagonists or supporting characters. Also, I have to give them credit as well for showing the controls.

Rumble Dungeon appears to be a spinoff of Mystery Dungeon. And I decided that it should be a runner-up because I saw a developed character line, such as Professor Aggron. I also like the idea of how you have the questionnaire that decides which Pokémon fits you best, just like in the original Mystery Dungeon games. I also liked the idea of it being a spinoff of the Mystery Dungeon games and being for home consoles rather than portable consoles. I also like how the two different player modes, Battle and Exploration are explained thoroughly.
 
rly sry for forgetting

Just go with what you and zach say, as I agree. I looked at the pokékart extremespeed entry and realised how much it explaind it's core idea better than Neo. While I may like the concept for Neo just a little bit more, the Pokékart entry explained the world it was set in, and overall sounded most like the actual pokémon company would release.
 
Winners have been announced, and emblems have been handed out.

This event is officially over now. Thanks for helping out with judging!
 
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