PGD Annual 2009 - Information Needed

[AthenaOfDelphi]

Hi all,

Well, it's clear there is a desire amongst you all for a big competition this year. Whilst there has been an increasing amount of chatter about it, no one has really stepped up to the plate and said 'I'll get it sorted'.

So, whilst I may regret this, I'm going to try and get things organised. I've started writing a back end system for entrants, scoring etc., and I'm already making noises with some past sponsors to try and get some prizes sorted.

But, I'd like you, the people who will be entering to provide me with some information so that I can discuss it with Savage and Traveler and finalise the competition plans... I need to know when you would like the competition to run, what theme, and how you think it should be organised (competition specified stage goals, entrant specified stage goals, or one long run to the finish - personally I would go for entrant specified stage goals because I think it allows you to pace your own work, completing things in a sensible order, but most importantly instills some professionalism in the competition).

So what do I want from you in this thread... a simple single post... this is NOT a discussion thread. Simply answer my questions above.

Thanks

Edit reason: turned into sticky

[AthenaOfDelphi]

One other thing... no competition is complete without judges, so do we have any volunteers? Unless of course you want the entrants to judge?

[marmin]

(I moved this post to another thread, because it might be a discussion).

[pstudio]

Personally I would prefer the competition to start during the summer. Many of us possible contesters are students and don't really have time before.
I then wouldn't mind if the contest lasted about 6 months. This would allow you to work on and off on your game. We all know, that sometimes you just don't have the time or energy to work on your game, and I don't think people should be punished for taking a rest and charging up the batteries.
If you insist on having stage deadlines it should be the competitor who decides what the deadlines are for his/her own project. And there should be about a month between each deadline. But I don't think that people should be scored on how well they succeed on adhering to the deadlines. The deadlines should only be there to help us all through the development progress.

[Mirage]

I would like a themed competition with stages (competition specified or by entrants) any time this year.
The competition theme should be specified immediately before the compo I think.

[WILL]

I'll judge. I have 2 machines, a gamepad and both modern versions of Windows at my disposal now.

Also I can help advise you on some of the pitfalls and helpful tips that both Dom and I ran into running 2005 - 2007. But beyond that I cannot do too much. I really need to focus on my school and training.

What I've observed...

Stages: Some like it, but most get bogged down by it. I'd get rid of it personally, it had it's purpose in the past.

Competitors: Make everyone register with real names and contact information and agree to a small, but specific legal agreement to cover your butt! Dom and I had a big incident about this in the Big Boss. I won't get into the details, but lets say a legal agreement would have saved us a headache. Also registering lets you count the interested. You really do need these numbers to gauge the event's success and the community's reception.

Judges: Don't look only in the PGD community, Dev-Mag and other groups would probably be more than willing to do the job as well. Also machine specs of judges will dictate tech level in the competition too.

Sponsorship: Don't just go looking for prizes alone. Also see if they would be willing to front some cash to help create other prizes and advertisements too! ie. T-shirts, award mugs, etc... Be sure to ask all previous sponsors, especially the loyal ones that were with the event since 2005. Also tangible prizes speak a bit louder than software.

Themes: You can either go with the PGD Annual tradition where you pick and aspect of gameplay OR you can make a change and do something else. For my personal feeling on it; I'd like to do casual games/thinking games OR for the non-tradition perhaps go with a genre like Arcade, board game or Platform/Shooter.

Event Timeframe & Length: I'd say 3 - 4 months is optimal. But this depends on when it's held. I don't know if the summer is better or worse for me. I'll be moving (possibly across country) sometime after July. Then again if I'm judging then add 3 to 4 months to that... it might not matter.

[Traveler]

I can only offer one machine, but I trust it'll do the job well.
Count me in as judge #2

ps. Since a competition is taking a more solid shape now, I've stickyfied the two main threads and demoted all previous Annual compo threads.

[pjpdev]

I'll be a judge... I have only one PC, but it will do the job - running Windows XP and Linux...

I can also help with a bit of planning on the compo, if that's not a problem.

[igel457]

I'd really love to see a competition this year (summer) - I already had in mind writing a game during the summer holidays, so it would be perfect if I could also use it for the annual. It will also help me to improve my graphics library.

I would prefer a competition without topical limitations, but to prevent people from posting stuff they prepared years ago, some kind of progress should be shown during the competition process.

[NecroDOME]

Theme: Something like 'arcade' (not remake), boss fights, lots of action as long as you have some freedom.

Time span: Around 3-4 months, stage-based.

Maybe something to think of: give everyone that joins the same graphics, sound and music, and let them make a game out of it (theme would be free, but content is fixed)