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AthenaOfDelphi
06-07-2009, 08:34 AM
If you've got questions/comments about the competition website, please post in this thread.

chronozphere
06-07-2009, 09:42 AM
Any reason why the:

Other Hardware
DXDiag Report
OpenGL Report

memo's have such small fonts. I'm visually impaired and I can hardly see what i typed.

Maybe you could make the memo's a bit bigger and use normal sized fonts instead? :)

AthenaOfDelphi
06-07-2009, 10:00 AM
Any reason why the:

Other Hardware
DXDiag Report
OpenGL Report

memo's have such small fonts. I'm visually impaired and I can hardly see what i typed.

Maybe you could make the memo's a bit bigger and use normal sized fonts instead? :)


I spotted that problem last night when I was getting one of the judges setup. They were originally larger, but I've messed up the style sheet somewhere along the way. The simplest way to fill them in is to follow the instructions at the bottom of the page and use DxDiag and the OpenGL information gatherer thats listed... then it's just a copy and paste operation.

There will be a site update this week and I'll try and squeeze that in. For the time being, I wouldn't worry about it too much because it's only really the judges who need to provide their machine information.

noeska
06-07-2009, 07:04 PM
Where can the design document be uploaded when it is finished?

AthenaOfDelphi
06-07-2009, 07:40 PM
Well.. it's good you should ask that question, but thats the next thing on my to do list.

With work and life going on, I seriously underestimated how much time it would take to put the site together and get everything organised, so I ended up concentrating on features that were needed first.

My plan this week is to implement the upload and download facilities and the scoring forms (and obviously the underlying code) required to handle them. Rest assured that if you cannot upload your document because the site isn't fully functional, you will not be penalised. I will sort out an alternative.

paul_nicholls
10-07-2009, 03:01 AM
Well.. it's good you should ask that question, but thats the next thing on my to do list.

With work and life going on, I seriously underestimated how much time it would take to put the site together and get everything organised, so I ended up concentrating on features that were needed first.

My plan this week is to implement the upload and download facilities and the scoring forms (and obviously the underlying code) required to handle them. Rest assured that if you cannot upload your document because the site isn't fully functional, you will not be penalised. I will sort out an alternative.


Yay! now you can upload design documents...Good job Christina :)

I did notice one thing, it said that the file was successfully uploaded at the top of the screen which was fine, but is there any place to see what files (if any) that you have uploaded so you can keep track?

cheers,
Paul

dazappa
10-07-2009, 03:52 AM
Won't accept mine xD tried winrar and 7zip; neither produced a zip your site liked. Tried with the filename containing underscores and without underscores. Filesize is 400kb; quite a bit less than the 24mb limit.

(Tried both lowercase and uppercase extension (zip) just to be sure too)

paul_nicholls
10-07-2009, 05:01 AM
Won't accept mine xD tried winrar and 7zip; neither produced a zip your site liked. Tried with the filename containing underscores and without underscores. Filesize is 400kb; quite a bit less than the 24mb limit.

(Tried both lowercase and uppercase extension (zip) just to be sure too)



This is what it says on the competition site:


File uploads enabled
Hi all,

The file upload facilities are now mostly complete. Each stage can be configured to request a design archive, install archive, source archive and screenshot. Each successive upload will overwrite the last one you uploaded for that stage. The exception to this is screenshots where the system will only retain the last one you uploaded (not one for each stage like the other types).

The file size limits are specified in the general terms and conditions. You can only upload ZIP, RAR and TAR.GZ archives (any problems with these not working, let me know ASAP) and JPEG, PNG and GIF images for the screenshots (maximum dimensions are in the general terms and conditions).

Please note:- The screenshot upload is not quite finished.
Posted by AthenaOfDelphi (2009-07-09 09:51:01)

Notice the highlighted file types allowed...

I hope this helps :-)
cheers,
Paul

dazappa
10-07-2009, 05:11 AM
Notice the highlighted file types allowed...

I hope this helps :-)
cheers,
Paul

You silly



Won't accept mine xD tried winrar and 7zip; neither produced a zip your site liked. Tried with the filename containing underscores and without underscores. Filesize is 400kb; quite a bit less than the 24mb limit.

(Tried both lowercase and uppercase extension (zip) just to be sure too)



And it looks to me that zip is allowed

AthenaOfDelphi
10-07-2009, 08:09 AM
Well.. it's good you should ask that question, but thats the next thing on my to do list.

With work and life going on, I seriously underestimated how much time it would take to put the site together and get everything organised, so I ended up concentrating on features that were needed first.

My plan this week is to implement the upload and download facilities and the scoring forms (and obviously the underlying code) required to handle them. Rest assured that if you cannot upload your document because the site isn't fully functional, you will not be penalised. I will sort out an alternative.


Yay! now you can upload design documents...Good job Christina :)

I did notice one thing, it said that the file was successfully uploaded at the top of the screen which was fine, but is there any place to see what files (if any) that you have uploaded so you can keep track?

cheers,
Paul


Not yet, thats one of the things I want to get done this weekend. I'm hoping actually to have it finished tonight as a section on the competition page, with the facility to download it yourself.

AthenaOfDelphi
10-07-2009, 08:13 AM
Won't accept mine xD tried winrar and 7zip; neither produced a zip your site liked. Tried with the filename containing underscores and without underscores. Filesize is 400kb; quite a bit less than the 24mb limit.

(Tried both lowercase and uppercase extension (zip) just to be sure too)

And it looks to me that zip is allowed


Ok, the system picks up the mime type of the file. It could be that Winrar and 7zip generate slightly different mime signatures. I'll look into adding some error reporting where the mime type is wrong so that it includes the mime type it received in the error. That way I can add the additional mime types that may be generated.

Please subscribe to this thread, and I'll post when I've made the changes to the upload routine. Then you can try again. Capture the error message and send it to me so I can add the missing mime types.

AthenaOfDelphi
10-07-2009, 08:21 AM
I have added reporting of the mime type to the error message. When you attempt to upload an archive, if it fails with 'is not a valid/acceptable archive format' messsage, make a note of the exact reported mime type. And send me a mail (instructions in the 'Bugs' seciton of the competition site), I'll review the problem and if a fix is needed, I'll get it sorted.

As a consequence of testing this, I'm about to add the WinRAR mime type application/x-rar to the list.

noeska
10-07-2009, 09:01 PM
You may get a daytime job on these mime types. A bug report is on its way...

Legolas
10-07-2009, 11:04 PM
No way to upload my design document. I have zipped it with both 7zip (as zip archive) and windows "send to compressed folder", rar-ed with rar.exe and tar.gz-ed. These are the MIME types reported:

Reported MIME type - application/x-zip
Reported MIME type - application/gzip
Reported MIME type - application/rar


EDIT: Dunno why, but I have tried with IE instead of ffox and it worked.

pstudio
10-07-2009, 11:13 PM
Ok,
I think I've uploaded my gdd. I used 7zip and didn't get any warnings but a "Upload succeded" message.

AthenaOfDelphi
10-07-2009, 11:30 PM
No way to upload my design document. I have zipped it with both 7zip (as zip archive) and windows "send to compressed folder", rar-ed with rar.exe and tar.gz-ed. These are the MIME types reported:

Reported MIME type - application/x-zip
Reported MIME type - application/gzip
Reported MIME type - application/rar


EDIT: Dunno why, but I have tried with IE instead of ffox and it worked.


The three mime types you reported weren't in the acceptable list. Now they are :-)

There are a plethora of different mime types being reported for the same file type, so I would suggest that everyone who hasn't already done so tries uploading their zipped up design. If you leave it until 5 minutes before the deadline, then you may not be able to upload it.

On this subject, Google Chrome appears to think it's better off not reporting the mime type it's upload. Quite why that should be, I don't know. So try an alternative browser if you experience problems.

On the subject of whether your upload was successful, there is now a section at the bottom of the competition page which lists your stage uploads. You can check there whether your file was uploaded correctly.

paul_nicholls
11-07-2009, 05:57 AM
Great job Christina :)
cheers,
Paul

noeska
11-07-2009, 07:49 AM
Yes now it works...

But you only get a message once that your archive is uploaded with succes. On a next visit there is no evidence that you already have uploaded an archived design document.
Some feedback on that would be nice...

pstudio
11-07-2009, 10:25 AM
Yes now it works...

But you only get a message once that your archive is uploaded with succes. On a next visit there is no evidence that you already have uploaded an archived design document.
Some feedback on that would be nice...


On the subject of whether your upload was successful, there is now a section at the bottom of the competition page which lists your stage uploads. You can check there whether your file was uploaded correctly.

chronozphere
11-07-2009, 01:44 PM
A have a little question:

I see a "Withdraw from competition" link on the competition page. Does it ask for confirmation? Would be a shame if someone accidently clicked it. ???

And no, I don't feel like trying myself. :no: ;D

AthenaOfDelphi
11-07-2009, 02:26 PM
A have a little question:

I see a "Withdraw from competition" link on the competition page. Does it ask for confirmation? Would be a shame if someone accidently clicked it. ???

And no, I don't feel like trying myself. :no: ;D


No, it didn't have a confirmation... it does now, but in reality, once you've submitted something you won't be able to withdraw.

AthenaOfDelphi
11-07-2009, 08:19 PM
To provide you with a better service ;) I've setup a project on our issue tracker to record software and other issues (feature requests etc.). Full details of this are on the 'Bugs' page available to logged in users of the competition site.

Please continue to post requests for assistance with the site functions here, but please check the wiki (http://wiki.pgdannual.com) first (although at the moment, the information there is fairly sparse). If it's an urgent matter, then please email me (including PGD2009 in the subject).

Thanks

AthenaOfDelphi
19-07-2009, 06:54 PM
Just to let you all know so you're not waiting for scores...

The judges are all primed and ready to score your entries. Unfortunately the competition site isn't. In preparing to write the scoring system this weekend, I've found a few quirks in the existing database structure that I'm not happy with.

So, to ensure I don't make a mess of things, I'm taking my time getting the scoring system finished off. I could rush in, but we want to be able to use this system for other smaller competitions so everything needs to be just so.

paul_nicholls
01-11-2009, 10:37 AM
Hi Athena, I'm curious, when it comes to voting for the entries on the site, how will that work?

Is it just judges voting, or can the general public vote too?
cheers,
Paul

AthenaOfDelphi
01-11-2009, 12:22 PM
For this competition, it will, as usual for the PGD Annual, be judged by a select group of judges. Their names and details should be available on the competition website. This year, I've done something a little different. Normally the judges are just non-competing PGD members, but this time around, I've tried to get the sponsors a little more involved.

So, for (I believe) the first time in the history of the PGD Annual, the majority of the judges are representatives of some of our sponsors, and they are:-

Representing Outer Reaches Studios (this is the company a friend and I setup to run our games), we have Teri-ann (aka Spirit). She designs our games and makes all the decisions about game play etc. She's an avid gamer both on the PC and the Playstation consoles.

Representing Ixchel Studios, we have Yuriy (aka Lifepower).

And finally, representing Cengage, we have Vicky, one of the marketing managers at Cengage, who have supplied us with a range of books related to game development.

To make up numbers, and ensure we can't end up in a dealock situation, we also have Traveler and WILL judging.

Once I've finished the judging and scoring section of the competition site (as I've said elsewhere, time has been my enemy since starting my new job back in May), the judges will be getting to work.

paul_nicholls
01-11-2009, 07:36 PM
Cool...one of my friends wanted to know if he could vote for my game when it came time for that.

I said I think it was judges only, but I would ask :)

Thanks for the info Christina :)
Havea nice day ;)
cheers,
Paul

AthenaOfDelphi
01-11-2009, 08:10 PM
It's a interesting thought... public voting. The only problem with it is that it could be open to abuse if it was truly public, but then we could allow registered users to vote. We could also (in the next competition possibly) introduce the concept of The Competitors Choice award :-)

Some ideas for the future I think.

NecroDOME
19-11-2009, 10:15 PM
I was just browsing the competition site and I saw the note: Uploads - Install, Source, Screenshot. Is the source-upload optional or a must??

AthenaOfDelphi
20-11-2009, 09:03 AM
Hi NecroDOME,

The source is optional (as stated in the competition rules). At the moment, I can't remember whether the screen shot upload is working on the site yet. I know it's working on my development machine, but I can't remember whether I uploaded that version (sorry), so for the time being don't upload screenshots.

I've set aside this weekend to try and finish the site, because obviously we have the final deadline fast approaching :)

Stay tuned for more updates :D

NecroDOME
20-11-2009, 09:07 AM
:) thnx for your information. I was in a hurry when I read it. Good luck with the compo-site!!

Traveler
21-11-2009, 01:18 PM
Just so you all know, as of today my specs have changed.

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 870 @ 2.93GHz
ATI Radeon HD 4870
4GB RAM
Windows 7 Home Premium

These changes are not yet reflected on the competition site.

paul_nicholls
21-11-2009, 09:12 PM
Hi Christina,
I have a question about uploading entries to the competition site...

If I was to upload my entry today for example (as a safety precaution time wise), could I then upload a replacement updated version closer to the closing date?

cheers,
Paul

AthenaOfDelphi
21-11-2009, 09:48 PM
You should be able to, yes. I should point out that I've probably not tested it, so if you could do me a massive favour and check, I'd be very grateful.

WILL
22-11-2009, 10:24 AM
Hey all! I'm sort of back online since we finally got cable internet hooked up after almost 2 months of being offlne. :o I didn't honestly think I'd make it. ;)

Anyhow my specs will be pretty much the same except for my other laptop will be running Windows 7. ;)

I may or may not get Ubuntu Linux running on my laptop for the competition. Not that many really make a Linux version of their game for the competitions, but hey... it's out there...

Anyhow keep at it guys only a few days left. Can't wait to try out all your games and see what you all did!

paul_nicholls
22-11-2009, 09:33 PM
You should be able to, yes. I should point out that I've probably not tested it, so if you could do me a massive favour and check, I'd be very grateful.


Thanks, I will test it as soon as I can :)
cheers,
Paul

noeska
22-11-2009, 09:52 PM
Err, i totaly forgot my password :-[ . Trying the forgot password link did not provide me with a password reset mail :scared: .

AthenaOfDelphi
22-11-2009, 10:39 PM
Err, i totaly forgot my password :-[ . Trying the forgot password link did not provide me with a password reset mail :scared: .


I know at least one user has already used the password recovery facility and as far as I know, it worked correctly. Can you let me know whether there were any problems reported and whether you've received a mail yet as the system logs show everything occurred as it should.

Thanks

NecroDOME
23-11-2009, 08:12 AM
Last time (last week) I reset my password the mail ended up in my junk mail.

noeska
23-11-2009, 05:53 PM
Found it in my junkmail. Thank you.

paul_nicholls
27-11-2009, 03:16 AM
You should be able to, yes. I should point out that I've probably not tested it, so if you could do me a massive favour and check, I'd be very grateful.


Hi Christina, I thought I'd better let you know that (for better, or for worse ;D) I just uploaded my competition entry archive (DOD.zip) file to the competition site (not sure if I will have time to do any more work on it prior to the due date, so I uploaded now).

I did also uploaded a screenshot too.

I have noticed that neither show up in the "Your submissions" section right down the bottom of the competition page.

Any chance you could check to see if the upload was successful? :)

cheers,
Paul.

AthenaOfDelphi
27-11-2009, 07:35 AM
Hi Paul,

As I suspected, the software version currently on the site does not support screenshots, so the screenshot isn't there, but I can confirm that the install archive is.

As a general notice, unfortunately, real life has gotten in the way of my attempts to finish the site... I'm still working on it, but I have bills to pay so my job is coming first. I have a few updates I'm going to try and upload later today if I can, one of which is the support for screenshots.

I had hoped to get the site finished by now... unfortunately life likes to throw us curve balls right when we could do without them. Anyhow, good luck to everyone. Hopefully we will get more submissions than just the people who have been posting progress updates etc. on PGD. I'll keep you all appraised of the situation regarding the site and judging.

paul_nicholls
27-11-2009, 08:11 AM
Hi Paul,

As I suspected, the software version currently on the site does not support screenshots, so the screenshot isn't there, but I can confirm that the install archive is.

As a general notice, unfortunately, real life has gotten in the way of my attempts to finish the site... I'm still working on it, but I have bills to pay so my job is coming first. I have a few updates I'm going to try and upload later today if I can, one of which is the support for screenshots.

I had hoped to get the site finished by now... unfortunately life likes to throw us curve balls right when we could do without them. Anyhow, good luck to everyone. Hopefully we will get more submissions than just the people who have been posting progress updates etc. on PGD. I'll keep you all appraised of the situation regarding the site and judging.


No worries Christina, and thanks for the confirmation about the upload...that is a real relief :)

IF I get time, I will upload a newer version prior to the competition end (I have some quickly added ideas for game variation)...but we'll see if I get around to that ;)

Take care :)
cheers,
Paul

chronozphere
27-11-2009, 09:55 AM
Hi Christina,

No problem. I'll submit my entry when I'm finished (probably a few minutes before the deadline lol :D ). I'll also mail my entry to you, just to make sure. :)

WILL
27-11-2009, 03:02 PM
As an alternative you could offer up an FTP site should the website scripts to upload entries not be completed in time. You simple then have to shut it down (or lock out uploading) on the midnight of whatever timezone you will work off of.

Just an idea...

Keep at it guys you can do it! ;)

AthenaOfDelphi
27-11-2009, 03:37 PM
Just to be clear... the scripts to handle uploads of install ZIPs (and the optional source archive ZIPs) are working correctly. The one thing that isn't available on the site at the moment, is the ability to upload screenshots.

I have an updated version of the script which handles uploads, and I have tested it with a variety of screenshot formats (it resizes the file and compresses it to reduce disk space/bandwidth usage) and it appears to work great, I just need to upload it to the server with a few other bits and pieces a little later today.

If you want to upload a screenshot in the interim (or if you just want to be sure it gets onto the site), you can always email them to me directly at athena at outer hyphen reaches dot com.

paul_nicholls
28-11-2009, 10:21 AM
Hi Christina, I've uploaded my final submission to the competition site now :)

cheers,
Paul

Traveler
29-11-2009, 01:39 PM
I've tested your upload and it's all there :)

Looking forward to see the other entries!

NecroDOME
29-11-2009, 09:52 PM
Hi, I also uploaded our entry - FUR :)

paul_nicholls
29-11-2009, 10:43 PM
I just re-uploaded my entry to the competition site.

This is because I had to add an important note in the instructions and a separate read-me file regarding my entry "Day Of Destruction!" and Windows Vista...

When running the .exe on Vista, you need to run it as administrator, otherwise it locks up when it attempts to access the on-line high-scores...at least it did on the only Vista machine I got access to.

I only found this out yesterday...it seems to work just fine if you do this on Vista, and it works ok running it as per normal using XP.

As a bonus, the download has shrunk back down to 6MB instead of 8.8MB though! LOL

cheers,
Paul

paul_nicholls
01-12-2009, 06:16 AM
Hi Christina,
Just curious, is there somewhere that we can download any of the uploaded entries from the competition site so we can try them out ourselves?

Or is this one of your to-do list things? ;D

Great job, BTW, thanks for the site :)

cheers,
Paul

AthenaOfDelphi
01-12-2009, 07:56 PM
Hi Paul,

There isn't a download link for other entries at the moment, it's on my list :-)

paul_nicholls
01-12-2009, 09:34 PM
Hi Paul,

There isn't a download link for other entries at the moment, it's on my list :-)




No worries Christina :)

necroDOME gave me a link to their game so I can try it out ;)

cheers,
Paul

epiece
09-02-2010, 04:05 AM
Is there a PGD Annual 2010 ? :(

AthenaOfDelphi
09-02-2010, 09:34 PM
At my present rate of progress, I'm not sure as I'm currently struggling with a deluge of work and study. But if someone wants to step up to the plate and organise it, I can provide contact details etc.

chronozphere
10-02-2010, 09:51 AM
Is there a PGD Annual 2010 ? :(


Be patient! :) If enough people want to join, there will be one. It won't be organized soon though, as everyone seems to be quite busy.

NecroDOME
10-02-2010, 10:17 AM
We can do a small compo like building a simple platformer within 2 months to keep the community busy.

Just a simple theme like: make a super-mario-clone
No prices, just pure fun
In this case it does not matter what you use or started the project already

paul_nicholls
10-02-2010, 10:19 AM
We can do a small compo like building a simple platformer within 2 months to keep the community busy.

Just a simple theme like: make a super-mario-clone
No prices, just pure fun
In this case it does not matter what you use or started the project already


That sounds like fun :)

cheers,
Paul

epiece
10-02-2010, 11:01 AM
Yah! Prize is not a priority. We just want to keep us busy and spend more time developing applications in Pascal/Delphi. This way we can discover new technology in game programming. :yes:

JSoftware
10-02-2010, 11:22 AM
What about doing some sort of small demo compo?

I think it could be fun, and maybe be a morale booster for some to see what other people technically are capable of

Legolas
10-02-2010, 11:35 AM
I'm for small, easy competitions, even without prizes. What about a P-ROBOTS (http://corewar.co.uk/probots/index.htm) tournament? Easy to organize, easy to manage, easy to participate :yes:

NecroDOME
10-02-2010, 12:00 PM
How about:
Make a demo, race game, platformer, astroids, you name it.
Minimum requirements
- Should have some visual graphics (GDI, windows forms stuff, Direct3D, OpenGL, ...)
- Should have some sound (DirectSound, OpenAL, ...)
- Minimum 1 level/scene with a defined begin and end.

No menu required (as this only takes time and can be added later) (adding a menu does not get you bonus points so beginners have a chance too).
Controlles are also not required as a demo can run without any input. This way you can show off your AI. But there is no limitation of NOT using controls.

chronozphere
10-02-2010, 07:30 PM
Those are great idea's. I encourage anyone to organize a small compo. :)

If it's taking place soon, I can't join because ATM I'm drowning in projects lol. ;D
However, I might do some judging (if it's not too much work) or just give feedback, because I know every game-devver loves that. :D

paul_nicholls
10-02-2010, 07:38 PM
I'm for small, easy competitions, even without prizes. What about a P-ROBOTS (http://corewar.co.uk/probots/index.htm) tournament? Easy to organize, easy to manage, easy to participate :yes:


yeah! I love this idea even more!! I've always wanted to make or participate in one of these programs before :D

cheers,
Paul

epiece
03-03-2010, 04:02 AM
Sounds Quite again here :(
PGD 2010 - Up :yes:

AthenaOfDelphi
03-03-2010, 08:45 AM
It's quiet on the competition front because all the admins are really busy I'm afraid. I've hardly stopped since the start of November so I've not even had the time to finish off the competition site, but it is on my list of things to do.

This is why I've basically asked if anyone else wants the challenge of running this years competition... any takers?

dazappa
03-03-2010, 08:32 PM
I hope someone decides to host some competition (whether or not it's the PGD annual). I'm open for almost anything, even programming a game that's just pure AI as someone suggested.

Ñuño Martínez
04-03-2010, 10:09 AM
I hope someone decides to host some competition (whether or not it's the PGD annual). I'm open for almost anything, even programming a game that's just pure AI as someone suggested.
I'm tempted...

What about a 3 days (from Friday noon to Monday morning UTC) competition? This is not a promise, though... ::)

dazappa
04-03-2010, 01:01 PM
I hope someone decides to host some competition (whether or not it's the PGD annual). I'm open for almost anything, even programming a game that's just pure AI as someone suggested.
I'm tempted...

What about a 3 days (from Friday noon to Monday morning UTC) competition? This is not a promise, though... ::)

Sounds like fun ;)