PGD's Annual Game Programming Competition...

[savage]

Well the New Year is nearly upon us and that means that the annual game programming competition is drawing near. WILL and I both have some ideas, but I thought it would be interesting to find out what the visitors and prospective entrants of said competition would suggest what 2006's competition theme should be about.

So post your most interesting suggestions on this news item's thread ('http://www.pascalgamedevelopment.com/viewtopic.php?t=2717').

[LP]

I would suggest free style but with original limitations like 320x240 retro mode or 64kb game size. I mean, most of us do "regular" games but going out of our usual environment is refreshing ;)

Oh and I might finally participate in this one :mrgreen:

[JernejL]

hmm.. *brain wheels starts crunching*

i have an idea:

space station racer game

1. scene: a steel / digital eletronic space station city with artifical gravity
2. what you do: race around its streets with flying cars (starwars style)
3. requirements: must run on a average PC
4. the vehicles must be damageable (if you want you can go for real deformation or just parts changing between damaged / normal but they must fall off)

[K4Z]

I've been waiting all year for this :P , missed out last time and hopefully with participate next year 8) .

Fresh outta ideas for a theme at this stage though :P .

What ever the theme is, I hope it's something that's open for interpretation. Like the last one, 'Dog Fight', everyone had their own meaning.

[Mirage]

I hope there will bw no limitations like 64KB in size, software rendering only etc. They are only disturbing.

A good example of competition theme and limitations is PGD Dogfight Competition. What a pity that I wasn't able to participate... :(

[Sascha Willems]

I'd suggest some "themed" contest, where you have free choice of the gameplay, but where you should stick to a certain theme for visuals and style.

My personal fave would be an abstract (hope this is the right word) themed contest. Since almost everyone (including me) is dissatisfied by the current lack of innovative gameplay in modern games, a contest that would force you to create some abstract and innovative games would certainly get interesting.

So my vision of the next PGD-contest :
"Create a game with an abstract or innovative (often both are connected) gameplay and and also abstract visuals, using e.g. cel-shading or other NPR-rendering methods."

I think that would make up for some nice entries and isn't too restricting on what games can be entered in the contest.

[JSoftware]

i agree with sir Willems. Themed contest without restrictions. Actually i think that an abstract themed contest could get quite interresting

[technomage]

Not sure what would make a good compo, I'd like to take part this year (I would have loved to competed in Dogfight).

What kind of time scale are we talking about?

What would be really nice is if all the entrants could use the same engine. What judging Dogfight I found that teams that used engines that we're already half completed or Complete (e.g GlScene) had an advantage ovet people who wrote their own from scratch especially given the time frame.

I like the abstract idea, not should what I would do for that.... :?:

[MikeS]

I say a holiday themed game, since the holiday season is coming up.

I also don't recommend putting any restrictions on what we can develop(64kb games). While they're fun to attempt :), it does put a limit on what we can do visually(Well, at least with a short time period).

8)

[alexione]

I liked A LOT an idea of Water Competition. What about Snow Competition?? :) Could be really interesting - do whatever you like to do with snow!

Unfortunately, I wont be able to compete this year, I'll be in army at that time... :salute:

[LP]

...it does put a limit on what we can do visually(Well, at least with a short time period)

There is no limit in creativity so 64k shouldn't be a problem :) It was just an idea though...



What would be really nice is if all the entrants could use the same engine. What judging Dogfight I found that teams that used engines that we're already half completed or Complete (e.g GlScene) had an advantage ovet people who wrote their own from scratch especially given the time frame.
Actually, I think using the same engine might be difficult, since The Great Elite uses FreePascal and noobs like me still use Delphi (j/k :D).

However, engines that work with both Delphi and FPC seem to have great limitations (SDL, for instance, is very limited with visual effects IMHO) and such limitations bring us to the same critics of 64kb.

[Traveler]

Can't say I'm too keen on the restricted theme either. With the previous competition in mind and the number of participants, I'd say we need a theme that is as open as possible.

With that said, I think that pretty much cancels the 'same engine' idea as well, as we will be giving people an advantage if they already know the engine.

The fact that people can choose their own basis, can't really be considered an advantage. Remember we want to see games, not half done demos. If an entrant decides to write a new engine just for the competition its his choice, but he should also realise that he will loose valuable time. Every hour spent on a engine, means an hour lost for the game.

Abstract sounds cool. It needs some creative thinking for a game concept. I think I'm up for that though...

[Specis]

I have no idea about theme,

Abstract sounds good, but atm im kinda blank on idea's :) but im eagerly awaiting the contest and im defaintly entering this one.

[K4Z]

I think alexione has a good idea, a theme of Water or Snow, etc. It's mostly a visual theme, so it's in no way restricting anything, and there's tons of posibilities for all genres of games.

[LP]

Uhh, people, please, *no snow theme*!!
I'm Ukrainian but currently living in Mexico now. Haven't seen snow in years... damn, how I miss it... :cry:
When I'll be doing my Ph.D. in US, I guess I'll be going to ski a lot :D

[cairnswm]

I'm 36 and have seen snow only twice in my whole life :) Ok so I'm the lucky one :)

How about the PGD Adventure Game Contest? An Adventure game theme is as open idea as Dogfight.

So will the contest start on the 1st Jan again? I'll be on leave from about December 10th to Jan 2nd so I hope it start sometime in Dec :)

[FNX]

Hello,
maybe this year I hope I'll have time to get into the compo too! :)

I always have too much ideas or none, depending on days but, what
about coding a single key/button game? Of course i mean one plus
keys/pad for movement (but it wouldn't be necessary).

I think about keyboard-smashing titles like the old olimpic game for nes
but i don't remember the title... where you have to press left-right as quick
as possible to run faster and a button to jump (long jump, obstacles)..

Said that, the game can be of course both 2d or 3d or 4-5-6d
whatever.

I know it's a stupid idea but I'd like to see if people still have some
imagination in game design ;) (don't flame :oops: )

Bye

[cairnswm]

I'd also like to see that the contest is a unique contest. I know so far this year there have been contests for:
Shooter (ongamedev.com)
Dogfight (PGD)
One Button - (www.remakes.org)
Robots/Zombies/Pirates/Ninja (gamedev.net)
Horror - (72hour GDC)
Light and Dark (LD48)
Another I can remember was - Water

Lets try make it something different from those done in the last year.

I actually also support the idea of just having everyone make a game. Last year there were only 11 entries. If it was more open we could possibly get more entries.

[BojZ]

=]

Most addictive 15 minutes (possibly multiplayer) game? =]

BojZ

[savage]

How about a theme based on a colour, example Red/Yellow or a sound ( ahhh ) or even stranger a taste?

[pstudio]

What about a "your-own-country-theme"? I mean you make a game inspired by your own country's history, culture or whatever you can think of.

example:
I'm from Denmark I'll make something with vikings
Your Italian, you'll make a game that takes place in Rome or is about pizzas.

This way, you can make any kind of game you'll like, and perhaps other people can learn something about your country.

[Br@iner]

When'll be a new PGD Compo. :?:

[Traveler]

Probably sometime around january next year.

There was a suggestion to have one this november. But if thats going to be the case, its probably going to be more of a 'warming up', meaning a no-prices-and-just-for-the-fun-of-it competition.

PS. welcome to PGD Br@iner :D

PS2. pstudio, I like your idea a lot! More so than the abstract idea.

[K4Z]

I agree, I like pstudio's idea a lot too.

Sounds really fun :wink:

[technomage]

What about a "your-own-country-theme"? I mean you make a game inspired by your own country's history, culture or whatever you can think of.

That is a really good idea...it should allow people to be extremely creative. What would it be judged on... :?:

[JSoftware]

What about a "your-own-country-theme"? I mean you make a game inspired by your own country's history, culture or whatever you can think of.

That is a really good idea...it should allow people to be extremely creative. What would it be judged on... :?:

The normal requirements to a game: Gameplay(fun, multiplayer, etc), interface(visuals, sounds, controlling, etc)?

[savage]

What about a "your-own-country-theme"? I mean you make a game inspired by your own country's history, culture or whatever you can think of.

I also think this is quite a good idea, but the thing that should be avoided is using stereo types. Everyone has stereo types about other cultures and I think this should be avoided, so if I were to use this theme for the next competition I think the rules would say something like....
"The game must show an uncommon or stereo typed aspect of that country"

Basically tell us something that most people would not know about your country.

This would then truly push the developers to pick something about their country that others would know very little about. So it would be both entertaining and truly educational.

[FNX]

"The game must show an uncommon or stereo typed aspect of that country"

Ok but... How can I know what you all know about Italy (for example)??
Maybe I can code something I think that you don't know, but if you
know? :lol: :lol:

I hope you can understand that :P ;)

[savage]

Stereo types of Italy, from an English/Australian point of view would be things like Pizza, Pasta, the Roman Empire, hand movements when talking.

English Stereo types would be bad food, British Empire, driving on the wrong side of the road :). Australian stereo types are probable, Booomerangs :) Kangaroos, people saying Streuth and Sheila and there are probably loads more.

Maybe a better rule would be "Yes you can use stereo types, but it must contain at least one thing that others would not generally know".

Cultures are more than stereo types so it would be good for all of use to know more about these things.

[{MSX}]

Stereo types of Italy, from an English/Australian point of view are would be things like Pizza, Pasta, the Roman Empire, hand movements when talking.

English Stereo types would be bad food, British Empire, driving on the wrong side of the road :). Australian stereo types are probable, Kangaroos, people says Streuth and Sheila and there are probably loads more.


LOL :P
Australians also have Boomerangs, don't they? :P
Btw this theme will not work for team whose members are from different countries :P
For example what if I and K4S work together? Should we develop Pizza-eating kangaroos ?
Apart from jokes, if you don't use stereotypes, what else do you use? I don't think it would be so interesting..
Maybe with stereotypes.. :P

Also, i don't like so much the abstract theme, since i never likes games that uses that kind of style.. They just don't catch you.

Snow and water could be good but i really can't think of a gameplay that doesn't involve extremely hard to code water/snow dynamics..

In a very nice compo i've seen there was a theme like "indirect control". That is, the main characters of the game weren't controllable by the player, but moved autonomously. The player was only able to act on the settings and somehow interact indirectly with the characters.. Example of this game is Popolous. In the compo all games were very different and innovative, there was a game with a shepherd that had to control sheeps, a kind of simple rts, etc. But of course this idea is already taken :P

I'm for theme limitations but without a strict theme.. Something like Dogfight. Looking at it now, it was a very clever idea for a compo. It gave you the possibility to make games of whatever complexity (from extremely simple to very complex) and to choose most of the gameplay.

I can't actually think of something like that.. Maybe that idea of "color" or "taste" isn't that bad :P (sound is less interesting maybe :P).

I'll think and post later :P

PS Sorry if i'm not on PGD very much lately.. I'm always quite busy with other stuff.. But i'm still working on games :P

[K4Z]

Hmm, a Boomerang throwing, Pizza eating Kangaroo, I'd pay to see that :D :D .

I think teams would just pick one home country, and go with that.

Stereotypes should be alowed, as long at they aren't offensive, like whatever said country does with siad national animal :? (In which case your just offending yourself, it's your country your portraying :o ).

It would be more fun with stereotypes, people would enjoy it more, and understand the game a little better :wink: .

The Your-Country theme will also be a nice learning experience, I havn't even heard of some of the countries that some members of PGD are from :lol: .

[Legolas]

:idea:
What about a "mouse controlled" game compo? Or a graphical adventure one? Or maybe a game puzzle? :D

[JSoftware]

I think that we would need a "theme" like we had last time. The word dogfight can be interpreted in many different ways.

My ideas for "themes":
History
Transport
Or a multiple choice theme like the 4E3 compo(the game must contain some elements out of a list)

Bah.. i'm not the great idea-man here you see :P

Come on PGD staff.. just find a theme and let us get started! :P

[marmin]

Why a theme?
It would only cause less submissions.

I would say no theme, just a general yearly competition.
One can make catagories:

- 2D
- 3D
- Platform
- RPG
- Simulation.

and a grand prize for the best programmed game (in size and code).

in that way any competition will be appealing to any participants.
(I am also referring to the imho very annoying 'theme'of the Gamedev.net competition. Why has there always have to be theme. Themes tend to be boring and childish.
Just make your game and put it in my metioned cats.

b.t.w. I am also thinking of making my own competition, 2 times a year, only Object Pascal. The rest is free.
When I am serious I will seek Sponsors and make a site. (also Pascal Tutorials)

[K4Z]

I think a game dev compo really needs a theme, it makes it a whole lot more fun.

Otherwise, without a theme, it's just another project. Why wait for Jan/Feb when I could start right now and have tons of time, no restrictions, no real goal :D .

It's more intersting seeing all the varied ideas people can achieve with the same theme.

I'm still for the 'Your-Country' theme, sounds like fun :wink: :wink:

[Paulius]

How about a superhero theme, but we?¢_Td probably have a ton of delphiman games then :)

[LP]

By the way, there is One Week/One Button II contest (http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=357020) which is about to begin.

As for this incoming context, I think that you should use a theme - that's fair. However, in my opinion country theme is actually *limited*. You can't do a space shooter nor anything futuristic there (otherwise it's not a country theme - you don't know the future of your country :wink:). Personally, I wouldn't enter such compo, because I dislike historical games :( (That's why I disliked Age of Empires kind of games ever since I saw them). This is very personal though, so you may just ignore this... :roll:

Finally, I don't think a theme should be discussed here, rather just simply announced, to ensure that everybody starts in time.

What I think you *should* do in this contest is to evaluate completeness as #1 factor. The last time people aimed at really complex projects and most enries were unfinished. I think one important point of the contest is to define your game project. For instance, if a game is multiplayer, in 3D but all you can do is to move your character, then it's a test app, not a game and should be qualified as such. This will really make people think how to finish their game in a month, and not just do anything that "sounds cool".

IMHO it's not just a "coding" contest, it's game development contest and the game development process includes the fact that the game should better be finished to the deadline. :)

[savage]

Lifepower, I think it's good to discuss things and exchange ideas, as something extraordinary may come out of it.

At the end of the day, we will decide what the theme will be and post it in the New Year. It may be a theme that has been mentioned here, but there is probably a higher chance that it will not be a theme mentioned here as I would want it to be more of a surprise.

[cht666cht]

I do like the abstract theme, I think it allows more creative ideas and, for programmers, it's easier to make abstract art than real art, or make it programatically.

[marmin]

quote: Can't say I'm too keen on the restricted theme either. With the previous competition in mind and the number of participants, I'd say we need a theme that is as open as possible.

I agree here. What about a theme, and a section without a theme?
That's logical and simple.
The reason is, my games are taking months to develop, so if I am going to participate, then I am not going to modify my game to fit a certain theme. -- however themes are very nice and can boost creativity of course..


Marmin.

[WILL]

What do you guys feel about team-based(but individuals can compete alone too) entrants?

And what do you feel about a 4 month competition? Pending on what the guidlines and goals of the competiton are...

[LP]

What do you guys feel about team-based(but individuals can compete alone too) entrants?


Now that I think to participate, Soulhab (another developer) left our team... looks like I'll be on my own (with a lot of music from our musicians :lol:)...


And what do you feel about a 4 month competition? Pending on what the guidlines and goals of the competiton are...
This is rather long time (you can make a commercial app in this interval). I think it's ok as long as you don't have to provide source code :)
Otherwise something like a month is more like it...

[K4Z]

I think 4 months may be a bit too long and 1 month way too short. Somewhere in between, like 3 months again sounds perfect.

(I think you should try to encourage more open source for this contest, not strictly but open source would be nicer)

[Traveler]

This is rather long time (you can make a commercial app in this interval). I think it's ok as long as you don't have to provide source code Smile
Otherwise something like a month is more like it...

I don't think it is. Look at the 4e4 compo. Participants had 5 months to work on a entry. Still, out of 43 entries, I think only half of those really were finished.

Although 4 months is a long time. The endresults will be better.

[{MSX}]

I think 4 months are too much. Yes, you could have better quality, but you'll have MANY unfinished games. The more complex a game is, the more possibility you have that it won't be finished..
Maybe 2 month would be ok.. One can think of a simple game and implement it in that time

[JernejL]

how about making a game that runs in kernel ring0 space as a driver? :O :idea:

[LP]

I'm repeating myself, but I think in terms of "project completeness" 4 months is as same as 1 month and is the same as 1 week. If you don't choose your project correctly, no matter how much time is given to you, you may not complete it. Perhaps even the more time is given, the worse it gets - people will tend to choose much bigger projects and less projects will be complete.

However, if we have too much time to compete (say 4 months) and the project has to be open-source, I will seriously reconsider participating myself, because in this time I can make another game instead, which could be of "any kind" (not limited by the rules) and which can be commercial (in overall this gives much bigger reward, no matter what prizes you give here). Besides, the bigger is the time, the more disparity among participats there is - some people have full-time job and will have weekends for doing it, while others will have plenty of time.

P.S. In the title "PGD\'s Annual Gama..." you may want to remove "\" ;)

[Mirage]

I think 4 months is too long. Personally I haven't so much time. :(
2 month or less is a good term I think...

[savage]

I hope everyone from last year is getting ready for this year's competition. The prizes should be announced in a few days.