hmmmmm - ya really why does there need to be a theme. I'll run that by NeHe :)

Quote: Original post by NeHe_Lover
hmmmmm - ya really why does there need to be a theme. I'll run that by NeHe :)

If there isnt a fairly unquie theme I or any one else can use some old stuff that they have worked on, getting an unfair advantage.

It would also be hard to judge between entrants.

I think there should be a general theme; that is to say, general enough to restrict the use of preproduced material, but broad enough to allow different effects (so you can use cell shading if you want but it's not a requirement).

With that said, its logical that we dont repeat any earlier themes bc ppl already have work done for them.

I also propose that we share art, bc it seems as though (at least from my experience) that the art takes away from the time you could spend coding.

Yay! Long time since I've seen a thread like this. [smile]

It might be nice to have theme, for reasons already mentioned. But, then again, it's the same problem when it comes to the framework being used for the demo. If a framework is provided, everyone is on the same level when starting. If not, some people might use their graphics engines which they've been working on for the past two years...

In my humble opinion, I don't think we really need a specific theme.

I suppose one way to get slightly around the problem is to change the type of entries. The only thing i can really think of is to do a game (which requires a different framework). I recommend a retro game theme; rewrite your favorite game from the 80's-early 90's.

Quote: Well i got to about april, it's not a full mmorpg(more like a tecnical demonstrator that has the capability of greatness), and im not the only one on the team, we got four coders besides me, But im the one that has to do all the graphics, animations, textures and UI.
I think i can safely say that i officialy have no life from now on to until im done.

Four coders and one artist. Not bad. You will have much work though. :)
I've been working on such project for more than three years and we've just finished the engine and starting to start the levels. We're four coders, three artists (two for 3D, one for sound) and another person dedicated to story and background. However we're only working on our "spare time", and we'd like some very good result (be in in terms of gameplay, story, graphics, performance, etc). That explains the long work.

back on topic, I like Ysaneya's idea. It's free enough to be open to anyone, it's restricted enough to be able to compare entries, and it's somewhat easy to do with computer graphics !

A theme-less contest would be much less fun I think. Apart from the problems mentioned (like someone already worked on a specific effect for years and just uses it for the contest), I think it's much more challenging to try to stick to a specific theme/effect, and in the end it's awesome to see what was the point of view of every entrant.

I remember when the first LOTR contest was finished ; dowloading all entries ; looking at the various features of all engines ; and ... looking at how entrants viewed the movie ! Some people were focused on the ring only, others focused on a specific scene, others on a specific place, or on a specific monster. It was awesome to see what point of the movie got the attention of the entrants. But if the contest was too much open (like, "make a fantasy contest") it would not have been so interesting to look at the entries. jm2c

NPR!=Cel Shading

It's far far more then just that, it's any kind of rendering that not intended to be realistic. So stuff like crazy blurs, crazy post-processing, crazy frame buffer distortions, and in general crazy craziness. lol.

I still think that the theme should be "the transformation of an idea into reality". It's somewhat specific and very flexible. Personally I was envisioning a sketchbook with all kinds of characters and scenes that gradually come to life and jump out of the page. But you could also focus on like the objects being built in the creators mind and stuff too.

EDIT:

btw, vincoof your post was post number 77,777

Quote: Original post by lc_overlord
UI.
I think i can safely say that i officialy have no life from now on to until im done.

For in game GUI's I highly recommend CrazyEddies Gui System. It is a very usefull project.

I agree with vincoof. Having to stick to a common theme does help with a contest like this. It gives a common reference for the entries, and allows for more objective comparrisons. With an entirely open ended contest it can be difficult to compare some entries, and many comparrisons would end up being purely subjective.

I also think that Ysaneya's idea of doing a city theme is a good one. There are several special effects that would be great for this context, both realistic and non-realistic.

J.W.

Quote: NPR!=Cel Shading

It's far far more then just that, it's any kind of rendering that not intended to be realistic. So stuff like crazy blurs, crazy post-processing, crazy frame buffer distortions, and in general crazy craziness. lol.

Actually, what NPR means technically is a shading model not using photo-realistic-oriented models like Phong. NPR includes models such as Cel Shading or Sketch Rendering, but I wouldn't call NPR something like blur or buffer distortions, simply because they can happen in life (for instance, blur happens in the depth-of-field effect and distortion happens behind non-flat glasses).

Quote: I still think that the theme should be "the transformation of an idea into reality". It's somewhat specific and very flexible. Personally I was envisioning a sketchbook with all kinds of characters and scenes that gradually come to life and jump out of the page. But you could also focus on like the objects being built in the creators mind and stuff too.

But isn't the goal of 3D graphics to transform ideas into reality ? In some way, all kind of entries would fit to the theme.
OTOH, if you're limiting the contest to "dudes coming to life from books", I pretty think all entries would look the same, except that the "book" will be replaced by a film, a dream or a drawing.

Quote: btw, vincoof your post was post number 77,777

LOL almost the port number of Unreal Tournament.
I love those kind of coincidences </off topic>

If you guys want this contest to happen you better come to an agreement about what you want. There's what 2 pages to this post full of idea's for the contest - lets make a decision:) I love to see your guy's demo's. So lets get a move on (j/k)