Upcoming Unofficial GameDev Competition

Cornstalks · 2014-09-18T10:01:28

EDIT/NOTE: This topic was from a competition in 2013 -- there is another contest being run this year (2014) which you can find HERE. Note: This thread is primarily for the organization/administration of the game dev competition. The thread which will have the posted theme and to which entries should be submitted to is located here. Be sure to check that thread the second the contest starts to get the theme! Update: The theme has been announced and the competition has officially started! Check the competition thread to see it!Update #2: The competition is over! Hey ya'll. We haven't had a competition in awhile. Therefore, I would like to create a competition. Here's what I'm thinking: The Week of Awesome What? The Week of Awesome will be a 7 day game development challenge/competition. People will have 7 days to make a game from start to finish, with prizes for the best! It should be a heck of a lot of fun, and 7 days should be enough time that you actually finish something. Please note that while I think 7 days is plenty of time to make a game, it's not enough time to make a large game (even with a team of 3 people). Dream up something awesome, but also realistic for you to complete. I want people to finish their games! This is not a competition for programmers only. Teams of up to 3 will be allowed, and I highly encourage a diverse team (i.e. graphics, sound, and programming, or whatever your game might specifically need). Too rarely do graphics/sound people participate in game dev jams, so I'm really hoping they will form/join a team and participate in this competition. Where? The Internet. It'll all happen here on GameDev.net. When?August 19th to August 26th, 2013. Specifically, it will start Monday, August 19th at 12:00AM (00:00 in military/24-hour time) (that is, Sunday night/Monday morning) and it will end Monday, August 26th at 12:00AM (00:00 in military/24-hour time) (that is, Sunday night/Monday morning) (a full 168 hours from the start time). All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (UTC/GMT -4). Rules? Rules are slowly evolving, but currently: There will be a theme The theme will be announced at midnight when the competition begins; games must incorporate the theme in some way Games must be made during the 7 day period of the competition (i.e. you can't submit a game you made previously or are making now) You may use any library, game engine, tools, art, or audio to develop the game, provided you have the appropriate license to do so (if licensing is required for what you use); note that this means you may use code, art, and audio that you or others may have made in the past (the explicit limitation is that you may not use existing game logic (i.e. you may use libraries and engines, but you still have to actually make the game during the 7 day period)) You may target any platform (but at least 3 judges must play your game, so if you develop for something the judges don't have, you can't be accepted as an entry; I'll post a list of platforms judges have before the competition begins) People may work in teams of up to 3 people (a person may only be on one team, though) Games must work on the judges' platforms (that is, if you have a bug in your program and it works fine on your computer but not on a judge's, you must fix it for it to be judged (during the 7 day period; no work/updates/fixes may be done after the 7 days); at least 3 judges must be able to evaluate it for it to be accepted as an entry) If only 3 judges can run your game (and not of all the judges, if we have more than 3), you will not be punished/penalized (that is, judge scores will be averaged) You must develop for one of the following systems (because the judges don't have unlimited hardware/platforms to test on): Windows 7 Windows 8 iOS Android Google Chrome (latest version) IE 9 IE 10 Safari (latest version) Firefox (latest version) Opera (latest version) Judging? The contest will be judged by the following categories: Graphics: 20 pts (that is, does it look good, aesthetically, and do the graphics contribute to or detract from the game experience?) (note: it's not a contest of who has the most realistic graphics; rather, this category is about how well the graphics help the game express itself and create an engaging experience for the user) Audio: 20 pts (similar to the above, but with audio) Gameplay/fun factor: 20 pts First time user experience: 20 pts (that is, is it easy to install and run and start playing?) (clarification: your game doesn't need an installer; in fact, a download-and-play (without an installing process) is probably even preferable; what I meant by "easy to install" is that it includes all the necessary dependencies (or has good instructions for obtaining/installing necessary dependencies) such that a user can easily run you game without having to fight it; you'll also want to include at least some minimal instructions or a tutorial/in-game hints/tips). Theme: 20 pts (that is, how well the game incorporates the theme) The categories will be summed for the total score (100 pts being the max possible score). At least 3 judges will judge each game (hopefully every judge can judge each game, though); the judges' scoring will be averaged together when computing the final score for an entry. Judges will break any ties for the top 5 entries. There are currently 4 judges, though I wouldn't mind having a 5th: Alpha_ProgDes Cornstalks Gaiiden jbadams There will also be a People's Choice award. This award will be given to one game which the GameDev.net community votes for. The voting will be done in a thread for a period of 1 week (168 hours), and will take place after the competition period has ended. If there is a tie in the People's Choice award, the judges will break the tie. Submitting a game should be done by posting a download link to it in this thread. Alternatively, you may send it to me by PM. I will download it and provide a download link to the general public (so once you post it and I download it (I will tell you when I have received it), you can delete it from your post so as to not waste upload MB limits here on GDNet). If your game is too large to attach to a post in the thread, upload it to some file sharing site (Drop Box, Google Drive, etc. (try to avoid crappy file sharing sites)) and post a link to it. If you have issues or struggles, PM me. Prizes?First place winner: +X participation rep points (thanks GameDev.net!) (actual value not yet specified) $75 (USD)* 2 early adopter licenses for Spriter (thanks jbadams!) (valued at $25/each) (if there is a 3rd team member on the winning team, one team member will get an extra $25 while the other two members get the Spriter licenses) (if there is only 1 person on the winning team, only 1 license will be given) Second place winner: $40 (USD)* (if the first place team only has 1 team member, then the second place winning team will get the extra Spriter license; in the event that the second place team has two team members, one member will get the Spriter license and $7.50, and the other member will get $32.50; if there are 3 members, 1 will get the Spriter license, and the two other team members will get $25 each) People's Choice winner: $20 (USD)* Every person who submits a working and valid game: +50 participation rep points (thanks GameDev.net!) If you'd like to contribute to the pool, let me know! Interested People I have looked through this thread and come up with a list of people who have said they are interested in participating. If you form/join a team (whether it's a 1-man team or more), please let me know so I can remove you from this list and add you to the Teams list. This "pool" might be useful for forming teams. I suggest you form and organize your team (and plan who will do what) early. If you want your name added to this list, let me know! slicer4ever Endurion game of thought ShadowValence ryan20fun DareDeveloper Tha_HoodRat jms bc Adam West sketche99 Teams Here is a list of teams I have been informed of. Remember, teams are limited to 3 members. If a team has < 3 members, feel free to PM the team and see if you can join them, if you'd like (teams: let me know if you're not interested in extra/new members so I can put a note letting people know not to PM you; also please let me know if your team changes). If you form a team, please let me know so I can remove you from the "interested pool" and add you to the team list. cowsarenotevil Servant of the Lord + unnamed artist Oberon_Command + mechanixis Vilem Otte + friend SeraphLance + friend FuzzyRhombus (Ryan) + friend (Max) + friend (Travis) wolferaven + Ecker00 + Thortrillion viniciusepiplon minibutmany You may leave your team at any time (though I suggest you don't be a jerk and leave your team stranded). You may join a team at any time before the competition. Once the competition starts, you may still leave your team, but you may not switch to a new/different team. Additionally, once the competition starts, you may join or form your own team at any time, provide that you (and your members) were not previously on a team. Q & AWhy 7 days? I wanted something short, but long enough that most people can still finish something (if they don't dream too big). I think 7 days gives you enough time to quickly make a game, even if you're busy with work and/or school, as you have several days you can work, even if it's just a few hours each day. What if I don't have 7 days to dedicate to a competition? I don't expect people to dedicate all 168 hours to making a game. I specifically chose 7 days so you can develop a game while still taking care of normal, every day life things that you have to do. (If you don't dream too big, you absolutely can finish a great game in 7 days while still working or going to school). Where will updates be posted? This thread. I will modify this post to be up to date at all times. You can check its history if you're curious about past states. Can I participate? Of course you can! Unless your country/state/city says you legally can't. I'm no lawyer. How can I help? The biggest help would be to get excited and participate! Also, spreading the word and encouraging others to participate would be great. Prize donors would be appreciated (even if it's small; it'll grow the pool). I want to be a judge; what should I do? Just post here or PM me letting me know. I'll put together a list of actual judges later. I'm hoping to get ~5ish. Can judges participate in the competition? I'm not decided on this. If they do, they will not judge their own game. If we get a lot of participants, probably not. If we don't get a lot of participants, then I'll probably let judges compete. Let me know what you think about this. Why are you doing this? I think this will be a fun event that will help to grow/strengthen the GameDev.net community. I like having fun. Any hints/tips? I'll try to put together a good list of hints/tips, but I'd recommend picking your weapons of choices now (language, libraries/engines, target platform, etc. and making sure your development environment is all set up). I also recommend you don't have 3 programmers on a team. Get an artist and/or a sound engineer on your team. They'll help make it pretty (which yes, is important). Do I waive any rights to any of the work I submit? Can I sell my game after the competition? You get to retain all rights to the work that you submit, so don't fret. The only thing that is required is that the game you submit for the competition must be allowed to be downloaded by the general public (even after the competition ends). If you update or progress your game after the competition, you don't need to make it publicly available. You also get to retain all source; source code is not required for judging. I have a question you didn't answer! Please ask it! Here, in this thread. I'll answer it and put it in this Q & A. *Paid via: Google Wallet (which means you'll be able to send money via Gmail/Google Wallet if you currently haven't received the necessary invite to do so), or Amazon WebPay, or an Amazon gift card for the cash amount, or a Steam gift card for the cash amount (you pick). If there are multiple team members, the amount will be divided evenly among the team members. If there is a remaining penny or two (due to not being able to perfectly divide the $ by the number of team members), the extra penny (or two) will be randomly given to a member (that is, if dividing $10 amongst 3 team members, two will get $3.33 and one will get $3.34).

jbadams

26,386

August 20, 2013 02:34 AM

Can you post all the iOS devices as well? And Android for those that may be targeting that as well?

I can't speak for the other judges, but I have access to an iPhone 4s, a Samsung Galaxy S4, and a first generation iPad. I don't have exact specs on hand for those, so I'll leave it as an exercise to contestants to research in more detail if necessary. I also have a 7" D703B DXtreme Android Tablet; 1.2GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, Mali-400 320MB 2d/3d graphics, 512MB RAM, running Android 4 (ICS).

Hope that helps!

- Jason Astle-Adams

dmatter

4,872

August 20, 2013 09:50 AM

I guess I can be added to the list of interested people/teams. I'll be working solo.

David Gill :: GitHub :: twitter .

Ganoosh

774

August 21, 2013 12:19 AM

Can you post all the iOS devices as well? And Android for those that may be targeting that as well?
I can't speak for the other judges, but I have access to an iPhone 4s, a Samsung Galaxy S4, and a first generation iPad. I don't have exact specs on hand for those, so I'll leave it as an exercise to contestants to research in more detail if necessary. I also have a 7" D703B DXtreme Android Tablet; 1.2GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor, Mali-400 320MB 2d/3d graphics, 512MB RAM, running Android 4 (ICS).

Hope that helps!

Very much, thanks!

Now just need to hear from the others :)

Mainly I want to make sure I'm safe only supporting OGL ES2.

CaseyHardman

2,769

August 21, 2013 02:40 AM

For the record, we would love everyone who's willing to do so to post status updates in journals! Those of you with Twitter could also submit screenshots with the #screenshotsaturday hashtag to submit images to our screenshot showdown.

Sorry if this is a kind of stupid thing to fret about, but does that mean we can just post all our screenshots on Twitter using the #screenshotsaturday hashtag even if it isn't Saturday?

EDIT: Also, how am I supposed to know what skills people on the list are capable of, if I were to try and gather a team? The list just shows usernames, not what people are interested in contributing.

[twitter]Casey_Hardman[/twitter]

mousetail

2,541

August 21, 2013 12:38 PM

will this be a one-time thing or will there be another one in a few weeks?

My CVMy money management app: ELFSHMy game about shooting triangles: Lazer of Death

jbadams

26,386

August 21, 2013 01:03 PM

We'd love to have these sort of contests more regularly, but in a few weeks is pretty unlikely -- this is just organised by community members!

We're also very likely to have an official competition in future, but we can't say when we might get to it yet.

- Jason Astle-Adams

Cornstalks

Author

7,033

August 21, 2013 05:53 PM

will this be a one-time thing or will there be another one in a few weeks?

If I organize another one of these, it probably won't be until next year. I dunno if anyone else is planning on organizing a competition. I'm also looking forward to GDNet's official competition, whenever that happens.

Mainly I want to make sure I'm safe only supporting OGL ES2.

Absolutely you're safe.

[size=2][ I was ninja'd 71 times before I stopped counting a long time ago ] [ f.k.a. MikeTacular ] [ My Blog ] [ SWFer: Gaplessly looped MP3s in your Flash games ]

tisdadd

313

August 21, 2013 06:13 PM

Don't know how much I will get done, but figure I will give it a shot... wish I had noticed this earlier, I was spending the week converting a program to the .net languages, but this seems a lot more fun.

I will contact my friend who does art/audio and see if I can get him to join in on my team as well... just need to think up a concept...

EDIT: Thought up contest, but seems my graphic/audio dude is out of town for the week. :(

Oh well, if nothing else it provides a great opportunity to test a few things I have been meaning to get around too for concepts applied to actual coding.

Alpha_ProgDes

6,963

August 22, 2013 01:38 AM

It would be nice to have some sort of page that has all of the journals that reference this contest on one thread. It could be by tagging the journals with "Awesome" and "Contest" or having someone just gather all of the links on one thread. It would be a nice read for anyone interested in future contests or game developers in general. Maybe one thread to see what's going on during the week and another thread for thoughts (ex: mistakes, epiphanies, learned lessons) after the contest is over, a postmortem* of sorts.

*There's another term but I can't think of it.

Beginner in Game Development? Read here. And read here.

cowsarenotevil

3,015

August 22, 2013 02:15 AM

My apologies if this has been answered already, but do we waive any rights to things submitted as contest entries (beyond the obvious of allowing them to be judged, etc.)? Specifically I'm wondering if I'll be able to re-use things made for this in other (including potentially profitable) projects.

-~-The Cow of Darkness-~-

Upcoming Unofficial GameDev Competition

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