Good afternoon, I wasn't too sure where to put this so I finally decided here.

I was just curious what happened to the Four Elements contest that Gamedev.net was running every year? I see the previous ones and unfortunately was not involved in game programming at the time so I was unable to enter these competitions. I have been thinking for the past year that I would like to give it a try but to no avail can I find any information on the next one other than that the competition seems to abruptly end after 2006 with no mention as to it was the last one(which leads me to believe they were going to be....are continued?) What was the reasoning behind this if it did indeed stop running? If the location has just moved (no longer on GameDev.net) can someone point me to the new location?

Thanks.

The original organisers participated less and less as the years went on. Two years ago there was a fairly major problem with the judging process taking a long time. I believe this was 4e6. In the absence of any official competition, last year a member, "Lesan", took it upon himself to organise a "Unofficial 4 Elements Competition", AKA UFEC. It was a relatively small affair compared with previous years.

I don't know if anyone plans on organising something similar this year. Viewing the archived forum will give you more information about what happened (set the "show topics from X days" to "all").

Simple lack of effort. No one on staff wanted to run them after a time. Not to say they weren't great, however. We'd certainly like to do an official one again some time. Hopefully once we get things running a bit smoother around here the new site will provide us a better platform to launch another 4E4 contest.

I'd like to get it going again. It was my baby for the first few years of the 4 Elements contest, but it became more difficult for me to organize the contest after a while. Others took it on after I stopped, but obviously it must be more difficult to organize a contest than it looks or else it might still be going.

So, if the demand is there (hint, hint) then perhaps we'll bring it back this year. It's always been a good summertime contest (for those in the northern hemisphere, anyway).

I'd like to get it going again. It was my baby for the first few years of the 4 Elements contest, but it became more difficult for me to organize the contest after a while. Others took it on after I stopped, but obviously it must be more difficult to organize a contest than it looks or else it might still be going.

So, if the demand is there (hint, hint) then perhaps we'll bring it back this year. It's always been a good summertime contest (for those in the northern hemisphere, anyway).

I would love for it to be brought back, or even something similar.

[quote name='Kevin Hawkins' timestamp='1296616980' post='4768293']
I'd like to get it going again. It was my baby for the first few years of the 4 Elements contest, but it became more difficult for me to organize the contest after a while. Others took it on after I stopped, but obviously it must be more difficult to organize a contest than it looks or else it might still be going.

So, if the demand is there (hint, hint) then perhaps we'll bring it back this year. It's always been a good summertime contest (for those in the northern hemisphere, anyway).

I would love for it to be brought back, or even something similar.
[/quote]
Bring the official count up to three staff members that would like to see it, and contests in general, return.

Not had a chance over the previous years to compete in the 4E contests, but would definitely be interested in joining in this year.

Yeah, it would be really cool to have one this year...And I'd hope for the good-old 4 elements(fire,earth,water,air) contest since some of the most recent contests were kind of restrictive.

I'd like to see the 1W1B contest again too...it was the only one I actually finished a game for

A bit off topic, but since we're talking about contests, it's quite related. In addition to 4 Elements, I'd also like to see the GDNet Arena contest brought back. Only one edition was held but it was fun.

Thank you everyone for the replies and information. I am glad I am not the only one that misses these contests and wishes they come back.