Well, seeing as how this years contest is over, and some of us have already made some suggestions. I thought I'd start a thread of ideas for next years compo. Here is mine:
PGD Casual Gamming Contest
Causal Gamming has become one of the next areas for breakout games. Can you design and build a casual game that will take over the world? This is your chance, make your game, submit it to PGD, and see if you can compete with the likes of Solitaire, Tetris, BeJewled, and many more.
The idea is a simple one, design a game that follows the casual game common features:
• Extremely simple gameplay; usually a puzzle game that can be played entirely using a one-button mouse or keypad
• Allowing gameplay in short bursts, during work breaks with no need for saving games
• No plot or character, or simple ones with no bearing on the game's mechanics.
• Little to no music, but often catchy and musical sound effects
• 2D, abstract graphics (3D is also acceptable, but be careful as its easy to cross the lines into a non-casual game)
Some Rules:
What would a contest be without any rules? Well here are the constraints:
1) Stay within the common features:
a. Extremely simple gameplay; usually a puzzle game that can be played entirely using a one-button mouse or keypad
b. Allowing gameplay in short bursts, during work breaks with no need for saving games
c. No plot or character, or simple ones with no bearing on the game's mechanics.
d. Little to no music, but often catchy and musical sound effects
e. 2D, abstract graphics (3D is also acceptable, but be careful as its easy to cross the lines into a non-casual game)
2) Keep the game download small. Casual gamers’ don’t want do download 800Mb to install your game. Heck most of the time they don’t want to download 20Mb. So keep it small.
3) DO SOMETHING ORIGIONAL! Don’t just build another version of Tetris, we have all seen them, and you won’t get originality points (a large share of the points).
4) Build it in the time allotted. Yep, it looks like a lot of time up front, but keep in mind that you have to meet your deadlines, or loose points for not doing so. In the end the final game is what matters most.
5) PASCAL: All entries must be made using Pascal, Object Pascal or any of the Pascal-based languages available. The most popular of these compiler aned IDE tools are Delphi, Kylix, Free Pascal, Lazarus and Dev-Pascal.
6) PLATFORM: The only platforms we will be accepting games for this year will be Win32 and Linux. Bonus points for cell phone versions, but if it wont work on the judges phones no points from that judge.
7) OPEN SOURCE: This year we are letting the competitiors choose to include source or not. This will allow the games created in this competition and their engines to be used for commercial use afterwards. The option is yours, but you don't have to include it to compete this year.
8) STAGES: Again this year we will be breaking the competition into several stages. Each stage will have a set deadline. Each stage you will be given a set number of development goals to complete which will each be worth a set amount of points.
If you have any number of incomplete goals, you may still continue until the end!
9) SCORING FOR GOALS: Each stage will be scored as FULL points or NO points for completed and in-competed goals. If a goal is partially completed, it will be scored as incomplete and awarded NO points.
10) FINAL SCORING: After all the stages are complete and the final submissions are uploaded the judges will then begin awarding each entry with scores for each of # categories; graphics, sound & music (minimal), stability & lack of bugs, most importantly fun factor and addictiveness.
11) SUBMISSIONS: You must submit a working executable on or before each stage deadline to show your completed goals. If no entry has been submitted by the deadline all goals for that stage will be considered incomplete and NO points will be awarded.
Each submission will be either a single archive, compressed with a common format(Zip, RAR or GZip), that contains the executable and ALL other required game data and library files that are CLEANLY organized within OR a single installer that will both install and uninstall cleanly.
The easier it is to setup and run you game on any Linux or Windows system, the happier the judges will be about trying your entry!
12) SIZE: Even though casual games should be small, we will allot a total Zip compressed size of 20Mb to your game. Over this and your DQ’d, staying under this could gain you some extra points.
The Stages:
Stage 1: Design (1 Week)
20 Points, submit a full workup of your game idea. This should be a complete design similar to what you would put in front of a major game design firm. Yes, you can add/remove things as you go, but your final game will be judged against how closely you followed your design.
Stage 2: Basic Concept (2 Weeks)
10 Points, Get a basic engine up and running.
10 Points, Get a mockup of your game running in this engine (this could be as simple as scrolling though some bitmaps showing the idea).
Stage 3: Get it running (2 Weeks)
20 Points, Get the final version of your game flow working. This means making the game actually play the way you want. No sound or advanced graphics are necessary at this stage.
Stage 4: Make it flashy (2 Weeks)
20 Points, Now is the time to put those pretty graphics in place, add the sound effects, background music, and the rest. Remember to keep the common features list in mind, and don’t go overboard taking from your games addictiveness and size.
Final Scoring:
Size:
0-2.0Mb: 20 Points
2.1-5Mb: 10 Points
5-10Mb: 5 Points
Over 10Mb: 0 Points
Time Management (Stages 2-5 Goal Points Added) - Max. 100 Points x 2 Judges = Max. 200 Points
Graphics (Judged Score) - Max. 100 Points x 2 Judges = Max. 200 Points
Music & Sound (Judged Score) - Max. 100 Points x 2 Judges = Max. 200 Points
Game Stability (Judged Score) - Max. 100 Points x 2 Judges = Max. 200 Points
Fun & Innovation (Judged Score) - Max. 100 Points x 2 Judges = Max. 200 Points
Total Score - Time Management + Graphics + Music & Sound + Game Stability + Fun & Innovation = / 1000 Points
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