2007 PGD "Multiplexity" Game Programming Compo

LP · 10-02-2007, 07:40 PM

One question to PGD Compo staff: we're working on a 4-day game that we started a day ago, which will be finished soon. Does this qualify for the compo? Is the registration still open?

The style is puzzle/real-time strategy/arcade (not sure how it's translated to PGD compo "colors"), it contains all stages complete except the design documents (which we thought as a time waste for a mid-term project made in such hurry). It also has no story-line, which is useless for that type of the game.

**AthenaOfDelphi** · 10-02-2007, 07:52 PM

It translates to Grey/Green/Not sure because there is no 'Arcade' genre.

As far as I know, providing it fits the multiplexity theme, which it appears to from what you've said, providing of course its all Pascal, which I assume it is because otherwise you wouldn't be asking, then you could enter it.

And yes, registrations are still open.

WILL or Savage will need to confirm it, but I don't see why you can't enter it providing you've complied with all the competition rules. And I think the same will go for any late comers to the competition.

**Clootie** · 10-02-2007, 08:06 PM

Here are some comments from me after judging competition Stage 1

I'm quite impressed with some of entities design documentation. And already impatiently await to play some of the announced games. I've commented only entities that needed some correction to succesfully complete at later stages. So, if you have not recieved any comments from me - everything is going fine!

While scores given for completing this Stage are rather small (and some teams have done only minimum amount of work to justify scores) - I believe what investments done at this stage will really play out later in competition.

Good luck to all teams at next stage!

**Clootie** · 10-02-2007, 08:10 PM

Originally Posted by Lifepower

Is the registration still open?

Yes, registration is still open. And you have not yet lost a lot of scores to other teams. So, you should register right now!

**WILL** · 10-02-2007, 09:05 PM

Go for it Yuriy!

You'll lose the 60 points for the design doc, but there is still another 3540 to go around...

The only requirement for each stage is that you upload a submission for that stage to get the points for that stage. If you finish some of the goals early, great, just resubmit your game for that next stage to get the points. If you manage to enhance/add things along the way that'll help you win over the judges in the final scoring too.

You are more than eligible to join in at this stage of the competition. :thumbup:

EDIT: And just to make mention of this... registration will not close until the start of the last (6th) stage. Only at that point will we stop taking in new teams for the competition.

**AthenaOfDelphi** · 10-02-2007, 11:05 PM

Since a recurring theme in my questions thread here is about my hardware and performance....

If any of you want me to test things on my machine BEFORE deadlines, then post a request in my questions thread. This doesn't necessarily have to be your game, it could be test applications to check performance etc.

Just let me know and I'll try to get it sorted asap.

**cairnswm** · 22-02-2007, 09:09 AM

What defines a maze game?

From Wikipedia

Maze games have a playing field which is entirely a maze. Some may be simple puzzle games in which the player must navigate to the exit, others may be action-based.

An example sub-genre of the action-based maze game is the maze chase game in which the player needs logical thinking to foresee where the enemies come. One must be able to foresee hostile attacks about the flanks to escape from them. The most famous game of this genre is Pac-Man. This genre frequently crosses over with Puzzle, but it often gets by completely without jigsaw puzzle elements and demands only reaction and planning. Notable games include Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man

So does this mean a map where there are obstaces to avoid counts as a maze game or does it mean that the players movement has to be restricted based on the walls around them?

PacMan didn't actually use a Maze - so saying the game has to occur within a maze doesn't really count.

**WILL** · 22-02-2007, 04:12 PM

It means that the game has

a playing field which is entirely a maze.

Which is pretty much the basis of the concept.

Pac-Man was a maze game because the whole world he inhabited was generally a maze. In design anyway. It just didn't have an entrance and an exit. Have a look at the Wikipedia article on 'maze': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maze

It sort of simplifies what the definition of a maze is.

A maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route.

You can sort of see what it's getting at. A series of walls making up passages from which you have to traverse to successfully enter and exit from within it.

Lock 'n Chase was also a maze game. It used the same maze concept, but this time it had an entrance and an exit. More true to the concept of a maze in definition.

There were other games that were maze-based, thought some may have been mixed genre. [size=9px](even for way back in the 80s

)[/size] Some others that I recall playing myself at an early age were; Ms. Pac-Man, Burger Time, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Cloudy Mountain, Night Stalker, and Adventure. Iirc, there was some old racing game with two cars that wasn't very good for the Atari, but it would likely fit into this genre aswell.

**cairnswm** · 22-02-2007, 04:13 PM

Is Doom a maze game - the original Doom?

**WILL** · 22-02-2007, 04:21 PM

Now you're starting to see why the Maze genre is somewhat antiquated.

I'd say it's too far removed from the original concept to constitute as a maze game.

In fact some of my previous listings above that are very loose as it is would be Adventure and Cloudy Mountain as they take away from the simplistic aspect of being in a maze-based play-field.