Week of Awesome V - Administration Thread - GDNet Lounge

Tim · 2017-08-10T22:43:38

The Week of Awesome V The fifth annual week of awesome is here folks! With this year i've built a website that will be used both for judging and submissions. This years site will be found here: https://neonlightgames.com/woa/ I will also keep an rss feed running during the contest for blog updates, which can be found here: https://neonlightgames.com/woa/Assets/feed.rss You can find last years competition here: https://www.gamedev.net/topic/678978-the-week-of-awesome-iv-fourth-annual-unofficial-gamedevnet-competition-administration-thread/ You can find the third years competition here: http://www.gamedev.net/topic/668847-the-week-of-awesome-iii-the-third-annual-unofficial-gamedevnet-competition-administration-thread/ You can find the second years competition here: http://www.gamedev.net/topic/660249-the-week-of-awesome-ii-the-second-annual-unofficial-gamedev-competition/ You can find the first years competition here: http://www.gamedev.net/topic/645699-upcoming-unofficial-gamedev-competition/ Have questions, you can also find most gd.net and contestants at the gamedev discord chat:https://discord.gg/Njc96xM The competition is over. You can find the judging thread here: The competition has begun!: Dates: This years competition will be held from August 7th, 00:01 (EST timezone) to August 13th (23:59 EST timezone). Live countdown: https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/to?iso=20170807T00&p0=179&msg=Week+of+Awesome+V&font=cursive&csz=1 RSVP for the Calendar event here: Right here, on gamedev.net will be where the majority of the competition will be handling updating, and information handling. There is also a twitter handle which can be used, #gdnjam! as well a site used for submissions, judging and which will have a feed of contestant and blog updates throughout the contest. Rules: No changes have been made to the rules this year(the bolded points are something to take special note of): There will be multiple themes to choose from, 2 must be implemented for full points The theme's will be announced at midnight when the competition begins; games must incorporate 2 themes 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)) however this does not mean you can create assets specifically for your game prior to the start of the competition, this includes outsourcing work to others, or making assets for what your general idea for a game will be. the bottom line is that if the asset existed before the idea for your game, it is ok to use, but it is not to ok to create something specifically for your game before the start of the competition. 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; see the supported platforms list below for what can be developed for.) People may work in teams of up to 4 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) Games will be preferably distributed as stand-alone startables(this means your game shouldn't install itself on the platform. This allows for easier access to testing, and distribution of the games in large packages. Although this doesn't mean disqualification, it will be preferred. Any online game must be provided in an offline format when submitting the game. For each category of points, the top 3 judge scores will be averaged, dropping any lower scores for that category. Multiplayer games are fine to make, but do note that coordinating judge's to play it together can be difficult, it is recommended that multiplayer components not be the primary focus of the game. Supported Platforms: Supported platforms that are guaranteed to be used by the at least 3 judges: Windows 7, 8,(10 should support 7/8 binary's theoretically) please note that this list will change, and is just a preliminary list of what is supported. all platforms supported will be finalized at least 72 hours before the competition begins. Judging Criteria: Once again i didn't feel like the point system needed any changes from the last couple years contests. as such they are the same as before. Gameplay/fun factor: 25 pts 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) Theme: 20 pts (that is, how well the game incorporates the theme, 10 points are given for each theme implemented(a total of 20 points available)) Audio: 10 pts (similar to Graphics, but with audio) First time user experience: 10 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). Participation: 10pts(that is, you post to the relevant threads on your progress, post dev journals, and in general participate with the rest of us rather than locking yourself away until your done. you don't have to go overboard, but a post every couple days with what your doing/upto will likely net you these 10 pnts) Judges score: 5 pnts(this score is up to each individual judge, with no individual category to hold them down, overall it's up to each judge to define what criteria they will choose for this category!) for Participation you are free to post blog updates, dev journals, and twitter updates and such, but you must drop the link into the competition thread(That is not this thread, but a thread which will be running during the competition) Your posts will also be added to the websites feed so that is easier to see the activity amongst everyone. As with last year, here are some guidelines that you can expect the judge's to follow: Remember each game is only built in the 7 days, so not all functionality may be straight forward, if you can't figure out a game, give them some leniency and contact the lead dev, this can reflect in the FTUE, or even the judge category, but should not spill into the other respective category's! I will generate the participation points i feel each team has obtained, each judge is free to figure out their own points, or simply use the numbers i distribute, expecting each judge to read through every persons dev blog, journal, and post is a daunting task, and I won't expect each judge has the time to dedicate to such a task, but you are certainly free to do so. don't normalize your results, yes this is a competition, but don't explicility boost/lower scores so that you have a linear worse->best of all the games, if we end up with ties in the prizes category's, we'll deal with how to resolve them then Please stick to whole points, and no half point system. I expect each judge to include at least 2 or 3 sentences about each game, so please remember to write down your thoughts on the games directly afterwards! eck has written up a great guideline on what expectations are for each category: http://www.gamedev.net/blog/2108/entry-2261430-ecks-unofficial-judging-officially-explained/ Prizes and sponsors: First place 225$ USD Second place 150$ USD Third place 75$ USD Fourth place 50$ USD Fifth place 25$ USD Sponsors: 200$ USD - slicer4ever (unfortuantly due to living arrangment changes, the amount i can put forward for this year has been reduced :(. ) 200$ USD - josh petrie 125$ USD - Lactose Becoming a sponsor To become a sponsor, drop a message in this thread and i will pm you, or pm me directly. please note that if you wish to contribute with a monetary prize, i must have your contribution before the start of the competition. Judges: At this moment, i'm aiming for 4-5 judges total, if you'd like to be a judge please contact me. slicer4ever riuthamus Alpha_ProgDes jbadams Participating Teams: Team: dmatter Members: dmatter Website/Blog/Twitter handle: gilldave.co.uk/blog Team: Scouting Ninja Members: Scouting Ninja Website/Blog/Twitter handle: - Team: New Old Things Members: Endurion Website/Whatever handle: http://www.georg-rottensteiner.de Team: Avalander Members: Avalander Website/Blog/Twitter handle: https://www.gamedev.net/blogs/blog/2227-avalanders-journal/ Team: braynzar Members: iedoc, Friend Website: https://www.braynzarsoft.net/ Team name: Sjs-Studio Team members: stenol26 Website: http://sjs-studio.com/en/ Team name: Strange Lights Team members: Thaumaturge Website/Blog: http://thaumaturge-art.com Twitter handle https://twitter.com/EbornIan Teamname: DogAndRocket Members: ArThor, ArThors Wife. Journal: https://www.gamedev.net/blog/2098-arthors-journal/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DogAndRocket Teamname: Pooch Members: markypooch Website/Blog/Twitter handle: - Team name: Scrambled Eggs Members: __Toz__ Website: - Team: Kseh Members: Kseh Blog: https://www.gamedev.net/blog/878-ksehs-blog/ Team: PizzaFest Members: SilviuShader, DeadCP, WaLee, Kavarna Journal: https://www.gamedev.net/blog/2213-silviushaders-woa-dev-journal/ Team: Spectre Members: zeldax + friend Website: - Team: Aubergine Elephant Members: JoshGrams Website: - Team: mousetail Members: mousetail Website: - Team: TeamNova Members: NoVaTecK, Louni, ElectroDrill, Alex Website/Blog/Twitter handle: https://www.nova-life.fr/teamnova/ Team name: Digaly Members: Digaly Blog: https://www.gamedev.net/blogs/blog/2492-week-of-awesome-v/ Team name: Running Man Members: josehzz Website/Blog/Twitter: - Team name: Racsoth Members: Racsoth Blog: - People looking for teammates iedoc Is looking for an artist to pair up with.__Toz__ Is looking for someone to work with, an artist or someone with some art skills is preferable. This thread is both here for asking questions, and telling us you will be competing, as we like to get an idea of how many people to expect. so please post a team name for your team, as well as your members(and be sure to drop an update to us if the team members change) please try to follow the following format for declaring your team: Team: Members: , , , Website/Blog/Twitter handle: try to be creative folks with your name!(please remember the sites rules still apply here!)

jpetrie

13,223

June 03, 2017 08:11 PM

I don't think you need to be poking around in source code to realize something is different or unique when it comes to tech. The whole point of these sort of competitions is to foster new ideas, try new things, innovate, and be creative. It should apply to the tech side as much as the art, audio, or gameplay side IMHO.

For example: if a game was completely ray traced, or perhaps a game where all the assets were generated procedurally like .kkreiger. Having a category for technical creativity, innovation, or prowess gives incentive to try new things.

Neither of those things would qualify as "new" tech at all; both have been done before.

Even if you discard the "novel" aspect, that still doesn't answer the important question of what the judging criteria for "technology" would be?

Scouting Ninja

4,574

June 03, 2017 08:34 PM

A small suggestion. Perhaps add a judging category for technical prowess, 10pts, 20pts or something to reward those 'games' that might not be as fun or as pretty, but have some awesome new tech

Judges score: 5 pnts(this score is up to each individual judge, with no individual category to hold them down, overall it's up to each judge to define what criteria they will choose for this category!)

Isn't this what the judges score is for, if they like your tech or concept they give the points. Maybe take 5 points away from graphics and move it to the judge points.

It bothers me that graphics is double the worth of sound, both are feedback. True a game will always need some kind of graphics, and sound can be skipped, however good sound can work better than graphics if used right.

Really don't know why this bothers me so much, I always leave the sound in my own games for others to do.

slicer4ever

Author

6,773

June 03, 2017 11:08 PM

Judges score: 5 pnts(this score is up to each individual judge, with no individual category to hold them down, overall it's up to each judge to define what criteria they will choose for this category!)

Isn't this what the judges score is for, if they like your tech or concept they give the points. Maybe take 5 points away from graphics and move it to the judge points.

No, Judge's points can be any criteria the judge wants, it's completely dependent on them to allocate however they feel.

It bothers me that graphics is double the worth of sound, both are feedback. True a game will always need some kind of graphics, and sound can be skipped, however good sound can work better than graphics if used right.
Really don't know why this bothers me so much, I always leave the sound in my own games for others to do.

There was a fair amount of discussion back during the first few WoA's on how to categorize points and distribute them. ultimately we settled on the disparity between graphics and audio points because as you said, graphics are almost always apart of every submission(barring the text game that was submitted a couple years ago), audio was initially equal to graphics in point distribution, but with the inclusion of the participation and judge's category, points needed to be taken from somewhere, so they were ultimately pulled a bit from audio, and first time user experience to work them in. If people want to see the points redistributed, i am open to it, but at the moment i feel we have a good balance for each category.

Check out https://www.facebook.com/LiquidGames for some great games made by me on the Playstation Mobile market.

Scouting Ninja

4,574

June 04, 2017 12:31 AM

No, Judge's points can be any criteria the judge wants

Yes, that is what I meant. If a judge likes the graphics made by some new graphics tech; they add it to graphics. If a developer makes some kind of interesting world generation tech or new mechanic it would be what convinces the judge to place points into gameplay.

Any tech worth while, will be the tipping point that makes the judge invest the judge points.

aid, graphics are almost always apart of every submission

If it's tried and tested, then it's probably best to keep things as they are for now.

If someone feels really feels cheated by the system, they would say something after the contest. After all that is probably how the current score system was formed.

Endurion

5,546

June 04, 2017 04:46 AM

I'm on vacation during that time, might be hard to get internet. Which actually would be good for productivity.

Chalk me up please!

Fruny: Ftagn! Ia! Ia! std::time_put_byname! Mglui naflftagn std::codecvt eY'ha-nthlei!,char,mbstate_t>

Avalander

2,418

June 04, 2017 12:28 PM

Sign me up!

slicer4ever

Author

6,773

June 04, 2017 04:20 PM

I'm in as usual! Sign me up!

I'm on vacation during that time, might be hard to get internet. Which actually would be good for productivity.

Chalk me up please!

Great to have you both again for another year :), i added you both in, and used the same info you provided last year for teams, let me know if anything's changed!

Sign me up!

Awesome, added you in, let me know if you want me to add a team name/website or anything.

Check out https://www.facebook.com/LiquidGames for some great games made by me on the Playstation Mobile market.

dmatter

4,872

June 04, 2017 05:46 PM

Great to have you both again for another year :)

Thanks Slicer and it's excellent to see you're running the compo again this year!

I can't quite believe this is the 5th one -- the fact it has been 5 years since the first one just doesn't seem possible.

David Gill :: GitHub :: twitter .