Length of a Contest Deadline...

[savage]

As some people were unable to finish their entries in time, I thought I would hold a poll to get an idea what others think would be enough time to complete a competition game project. Keep in mind that it can't be too short so that the entrant can't finish, or too long so that competitors lose interest in the idea totally.

[tux]

i think an extra month would have given more entries time to finish

[Huehnerschaender]

I think the deadline was ok. The only problem was that things happened which couldn't be foreseen. An additional month could have saved my $%A§ ....

[Eriken]

I'd say 2 1/2 aint bad..

You'd probably always get an amount of people not finishing projects. It's a matter of what people want to do, and how much features they put into a game. Some over do it, some think they have it under control and start programming abit late :roll: Some gets a doze of reality where other things are more important

These things will probably occur even if you add a few months, so I don't think it makes a difference. An example, the Remakes 2004 compo was for 3 months, 322 people expressed an interest to enter, and only 76 completed a game. Not really good numbers, but it's apparently a common problem.

It's down to better planning, and organizing instead of more time I guess.

And then again, that's just my 2 cents.
_____
Eriken

[Legolas]

Why not 2 categories like "finished" and "unfinished"? :lol:

[Sly]

Ludum Dare is running this weekend and they have two, or is it three, days.

The length of the contest should be dependent on the topic of the contest. For example, a single player game would have a shorter deadline than a multiplayer game.

[WILL]

Sly: So would that make an RPG contest 1 year? :lol:

I think that the deadline wasn't too bad really. It's just that so many people here either are not super experienced at doing programming competitions (time management) OR something happened and they couldn't work on them anymore.

BUT I think that the main thing is that word of the competition got out there late. And was not as well advertized in the begging(or before-hand) than after it started and well into the first month. It's understandable though why some of this happened, it is the first competition and with that the administration of it had to go through a bit of a learning curve.

I think that the response and turnout for the next one will be much bigger and of course better organized given the possitive experience we have gotten by this one. I am quite pleased at how things turned out and I htink that Dom (aka savage) did a great job here.

[Huehnerschaender]

I think the announcement of the prices should come at the same time as the start of the contest. This way the entrants can start as soon as they hear of the contest, without waiting some weeks to decide if it's worth it for them.
I saw many people getting really hot to make a game after savage announced the first price (Delphi 2005). But at that moment there were already some weeks gone...

[Traveler]

I don't think the prices were the problem. Afterall most people (me included) claimed prices were not important and that even without prices they were going to join in. Besides, getting prices is not an easy task. Many of the manufacturers don't want to join or want something in return.

IMO the length of the contest wasn't all that bad either. It's like savage says, too short aint good, but too long isn't good either.
The only thing I'd like to see changed (if we're ever going to do this again) it would be to not keeping it a surprise.

[savage]

Traveller, I don't know any competitions where they tell you what the subject/theme will be before the competition starts.
Please name any that you know of.