Competition Genre Suggestions...

[jdarling]

Been a while since I had time to check the boards (job hunting sucks). I like the "Big Race" idea as it doesn't alienate anyone, and gives quite a bit of flexibility to the designer as you could easily make a checkers race game (LOL).

Another thought would be to give a canned set of graphics (say from Lost Garden or reiner´s tilesets) and say create a game from these graphics. You can't introduce any new graphics, but you can extend from the existing ones that are given.

Anyways, can't wait to see if/what the compo is this year.

[Chobley]

Does anyone know when this competition starts and what the theme is?

Also how long it will run for?

Sorry, don't often look at these boards - so apologises if I'm missing something...

[User137]

I like the idea of media given ready. I'm a programmer, not an artist.

[chronozphere]

That's true... most of us are coders.. but i still want to make my own graphics. Being a coder is no excuse for not learning how to work with Photoshop or 3ds Max. I would like to become an all-round game-developer.

However If you can get free graphics that fit in your game, you should use them.

[jasonf]

The ready made media idea is great. It would make a competition similar to those found on AcidPlanet - where people have to make remixes of existing songs only in their own style. The basic samples are provided, but it's down to the artist to make it their own.

With game development, if you had a pre-defined set of graphics to use (probably best to keep it 2D to avoid scaring away those who don't do 3D (although the 3D bods could use them as textures)) then teams could set about creating their games utilizing the graphics to suit their game.

Imagine a tileset where there's a sheep sprite.
In one game, a sheep would be an ambient creature,
another a sheep may be the hero,
in another a sheep might be an item to be collected
and another may see the sheep as an invading force to be defeated.

I would suggest that if we're going to do this based on a fixed media set, make sure that the media set is modern and comprehensive enough...
The Rienor tileset has been around forever.. and there appears to have already been a challenge by Lost Garden featuring their tiles from last year. http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2007/...challenge.html)

If a site were to make a new tileset and are interested in allowing us to get involved in a competition, then it could be the best competition we've done yet.. However, I would advise against limiting to *ONLY* using the tiles provided... using an existing media set would provide a consistent base but you don't want to hold back those with more artistic skills who want to add their own slant to things.

Also, don't just think graphics... Sound and Music would require media sets too.

[Chobley]

If you enter a competition should not everything be from the scratch up?
Surely sprites, sounds and whatever should they not be solely, and uniquely user created?

[jasonf]

It depends entirely on the scope and rules of the competition..

A competition can be about anything.. the artwork used doesn't have to be unique.. it's the game and coding which are the important things.

Some developers get put off releasing games because of their lack of graphics ability, but they are amazing coders.

Using pre-fab graphics gets around this issue by giving everyone a head start. There is still an amount of creativity required for level design and even game concept, but by removing this initial stumbling block creating good source art, a developer can get something working faster and make progress without spending ages coding a really nice engine only to have it look bad because of a lack of graphical ability.

[De-Panther]

liked the idea of already made graphics
it will give the competition unique look, and it will save some time

[technomage]

Good idea J, I like it. On of the major drawbacks on my own projects is artwork and assets.

[Chobley]

It depends entirely on the scope and rules of the competition..

A competition can be about anything.. the artwork used doesn't have to be unique.. it's the game and coding which are the important things.

Some developers get put off releasing games because of their lack of graphics ability, but they are amazing coders.

Using pre-fab graphics gets around this issue by giving everyone a head start. There is still an amount of creativity required for level design and even game concept, but by removing this initial stumbling block creating good source art, a developer can get something working faster and make progress without spending ages coding a really nice engine only to have it look bad because of a lack of graphical ability.

Thanks, did not think of that at all - you probably can tell I am only just starting...! ...And have not much of a clue!