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View Full Version : Pascal annual = dead?



hateshinai
14-01-2008, 06:20 PM
Is there going to be a pascal game development compo this year?

pstudio
14-01-2008, 07:07 PM
I don't know the answer but if there is gonna be a compo I would request a different structure.
In theory the small stage deadlines may sound as a good idea, but at least for me it can have a devastating effect. When I missed a deadline due to time issues I found it hard to motivate myself to continue on the game. Not so much of the lost points, but because I could see that I couldn't follow the time schedule that had been given to me. I could perhaps have made something playable if I had bothered spending time on the project the last two weeks, but my motivation was totally gone.
For me it would have been better if we just had one final deadline to follow. It was an interesting idea using stage deadlines an try to force us to use a more professional development process, but most of us only have some spare time from work/school to work on the game. We're not a proffesional game company and we should be allowed to work in our own ways without feeling being punished.
This could possibly give some more finished games. Something this compo could need if it is supposed to survive (if it isn't already dead).

paul_nicholls
15-01-2008, 05:02 AM
I tend to agree with pstudio on ths one...

cheers,
Paul

Mirage
15-01-2008, 10:19 AM
I think stages really helps to get finished games in the end because these milestones forces to make an effort to complete the tasks.
Motivation gradually goes away in any case.

jasonf
15-01-2008, 01:10 PM
The Stages were a double edged sword for the competition I think.

From personal experience..

One the one hand, they were great for pushing me towards completing certain aspects of my game on time, meaning that I didn't get to the end and realise I'd still got a lot of stuff to do.

But on the other hand, it meant that I really had to push myself during those times when spare time wasn't always readily available.. I still had real life (tm) to worry about, a house purchase, a pending redundancy looming and a wife who needed my attention too. It was very hard to find enough time.

Perhaps having fewer deadlines would help or instead of deadlines, have publishing dates where you have to publish your game for peer inspection, regardless of state it's in. make it so that no points are gained or lost by publishing, but you have to keep publishing something to remain in the competition.

I think the peer pressure would force people to get as much ready as possible for these dates without worrying about meeting certain targets..

While I was developing, I did see some of them as tick the box, get the feature working to get the points.. where I wouldn't have normally included the feature.

But they were a good driving force, making me focus on building the foundations of the game early on so that I could polish it later, but that's sort of forcing a process and it's not everyone's cup of tea.



it would be a shame if the compo was canceled this year.

I won't be entering this year, but I'll be a judge.

chronozphere
15-01-2008, 03:19 PM
have publishing dates where you have to publish your game for peer inspection, regardless of state it's in.


That sounds cool to me. :D

I think i will join the compo for this year, but i'm also quite busy with school and exams, so my time is limited too. However.. My engine (NashaENGINE) is coming along nicely, so i hope i can use it in the compo. :)

JernejL
15-01-2008, 04:10 PM
What about a compo with a simple goal of finishing someting and then judging the game's completeness?

FNX
17-01-2008, 11:52 AM
A "Resume and finish an old game" would be nice, i've lots of unfinished
project that i may resume, and so have you all i imagine :D

chronozphere
17-01-2008, 03:24 PM
A "Resume and finish an old game" would be nice, i've lots of unfinished
project that i may resume, and so have you all i imagine Very Happy


LOL... yeah.. could be an option. :D

But i must say, that i have more unfinished 3D engine-attempts, than unfinished games. The unfinished games i have, have crappy code (made when i was 14/15), so i need to rewrite 90% of it.
Moreover, I might have started to dislike the game-concept and lost motivation, which is the reason i cancelled the project. So it would be ALOT easier for me to make a new game. :razz:

It would be a shame, if i couldn't join because i don't have any games i want to finish :lol:

FNX
17-01-2008, 05:36 PM
t would be a shame, if i couldn't join because i don't have any games i want to finish

Well, let's say then, "Resume and finish an old game OR Project" :D

I think it's not bad to have different products to judge on, we can have
something like categories in this one:

-2d Games
-3d Games
-Game/3d/2d Engines
-Tools

each with podium (so that judges won't have to compare an engine with
a game). I think there will be more material and more people getting in.

Just random ideas anyway ;)

savage
18-01-2008, 09:45 AM
The annual is not dead, but I think delayed.

I'm holding down 2 paying jobs at the moment and life is a little hectic. Ian and I are hoping to flesh out some ideas for a competition or we may hold a poll with the ideas we have to see what everyone thinks.

Stay tuned.

technomage
19-01-2008, 01:29 PM
Just an idea.

With the recent release of the Genesis Device. How about a compo that uses just that engine as a base. You can create any game with that engine that you want, also modify the engine with new features (providing the changes are put back into the project).

Or perhaps a 2D category and a 3D category that uses one of the open source pascal engines.

Just a thought.

marmin
20-01-2008, 02:14 PM
?çf you want to make a game, make it. I never have understood the need for these 'compo' s.

pstudio
20-01-2008, 02:18 PM
About the Genesis Device Engine and similar engines. Not everyone has a computer that can run all the latest technologies. I primarily use my labtop to program in and it's not a very high-tech computer and it wouldn't be able to run Genesis. Even though I have a stationary computer that can run it I wouldn't bother developing a game on it.
Besides that. I don't feel it's a good idea to force the contestants to use a specific technology. It likely would keep some people away from the contest, and some people would have been able to create a better game if they had been allowed to use a technology they're comfortable with.

Huehnerschaender
20-01-2008, 03:53 PM
?çf you want to make a game, make it. I never have understood the need for these 'compo' s.

If you want to play soccer, just play it.... I never understood the need of a World Championship ...

:)

Its the same. You compete with others!

NecroDOME
20-01-2008, 07:03 PM
Im preparing my engine for some basic rendering. So when there would be a compo I would join. Currently I have an game idea in my head. Some flight sim that I wanted to make the previous compo. We got new plans for that game.

I'm still gonna make that game is nothing is interfering, but I agree: when you think of making a game: just make it! (thats how I started, no compo needed)

jasonf
21-01-2008, 12:58 PM
While it is certainly true that no Compo is *required* to make a game, no-one can deny that the PGD Annuals do tend to get the creative juices flowing.. just look at the PGD list of games video WILL created last year, how many of the games shown were compo entries?

Also entering a competition does add that little extra incentive to do what most of us find the hardest... finishing the bloody thing ;-)

NecroDOME
21-01-2008, 01:33 PM
I agree. But also the compo defines deadlines and the fun of competing each other (and winning prizes (or at least try)) and a game gerne (or at least a starting point for some).

dmantione
22-01-2008, 05:52 PM
I'd say the PGD Annual was one of the most successfull Pascal promotion events during the last years. Because:
* It results in good publicity
* It motivates people doubting about the language to code their next project in Pascal. After all not everyone is a Pascal fanatic.
* It shows what amazing games you can make in Pascal. More in general it convinces people start of the art commercial quality games are no problem in Pascal. It helps eradicate the myth that only C is usable.
* It motivates people planning to write a game to actually write one and finish it.
* It inspires the next generation of Pascal coders who is just learning Pascal and show them that the horrible programming excercises they make one day will make them do great things.

I fully understand organizing the PGD Annual is a hell of a lot of work, and my credits to the people that helped make it happen. We should try to continue this great event to what is in our possibilities.

WILL
25-01-2008, 09:20 PM
Hey guys. Interesting to see this thread after finding some time to come visit PGD after so long. :lol:

Well I certainly hope that the PGD Annual isn't dead. Though last year seemed to have a touch of bad luck in the timing department, it showed that there was still strong interest in the event and making games in Pascal overall. Proof of this was a record breaking turn-out of registrants!

I was also quite proud of the fact that there was finally some advertising done too. And this may or may not have helped with attracting interest, but it's now out there as a mini-showcase of whats happening in these competitions. Which I think is pretty important to show interested developers and sponsors to further increase it's audience.

As for need; well, why not? Multi-player is just so much more fun that single player no? ;) It's the same sort of deal here. Why program in obscurity when you can join with others and learn, challenge yourself and strive to get that competitive edge.

The idea overall is to have fun and improve your skills. All else is really just tantamount to that end.


On that note, I wish the coordinators of the next PGD Annual event the best of luck in generating the same successes that it's had so far. :D