pazil were you inspired by last stand by any chance?
And PhobiK I think yours is a truly original idea.... I mean apocalyptical jelly beans? ^^
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pazil were you inspired by last stand by any chance?
And PhobiK I think yours is a truly original idea.... I mean apocalyptical jelly beans? ^^
Ok! Let's start voting and giving constructive criticism Here!
:)
My Shmup could have been 123.45 times better...I had the perfect idea in my head. W/E...I can start making it now, and make a real game...
You're games are all pretty fun! They're ten times better than any mini-game crap you can see on the internet!
yeah I agree yours can have been much better if you put more time. The time limit is what kills people. gogogo!
I am not going to be late for the next one. PM me when the next one starts ok?
@PhobiK, hmm in the Jelly Beans highscore it doesn't let me write the x char.
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Limited time is great though. Some of the greatest were sparked durring short instances.
I admit that ideas thrive when under pressure, like a time limit. It's just the small details and the presentation and actual coding of most ideas that take up time.
Also, the class dispute wasted some of my time. I think there should either be a separate competition forum, or we make our own website (I could host it). It would have a timer that always tells users the time up until the next competition, and when the competition starts, the time up until it ends. Before each competition, users would have a chance to declare the libraries they want to use, and make them available to everyone at least 2 weeks before the comp., so people can at least familiarize themselves with it.
That's just an idea though...I like the tight close circle from these comp.'s though. All the competitors know each other!
Well, I'll start working on a good zombie game soon enough, and give you guys a shout if I come up with anything good...
P.
EDIT: @Jonathanasdf: No actually, the last stand wasn't even in my thoughts. I was basing it on CoD 5, Nazi Zombies mode :D I played it at a friends house, and I love it. Actually, before this competition, the reason I was working on the 3d engine was to recreate it. (but I need to get CS3+ first)...
@Pazil, Nazi Zombies mode? Sounds like the Dead Snow Movie
Cool! Never heard of that movie...plus I don't understand the trailer...
But if you search CoD 5: Nazi Zombies or something, I'm sure you'll come up with screen shots and explanations...
Thanks for pointing that out. Dunno whats happening, I'll try to fix it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Xploder
Is there gonna be another comp. coming up soon?
I also have another idea:
We could have a 3 month competition or something! And with teams! Like partners or something. You team up with someone, and then you gotta make the game together (Obviously). So basically the same as this comp., except longer, and with another person.
I already know now that some of you will say that the point of these was the small amount of time, but I think that it would also be interesting to have longer term competitions.
P.
I like the idea of having teams. Longer term competitions are fine, I guess.
But a 3 month competition, seems way to long. There's no pressure there.
^True, 3 month comps are a bit long. However, I do like the idea of the Partner-comps -But I wouldn't really hae them any longer than 2 weeks. Thats my opinion on it anyway.
I know some people will thank that this is wrong [too many comps after each other] but I think it would be great to have 1 comp every 2 month, so newconmers don't have to waita whole year. An d the comps would be like this:
Feb - Partner comp
April - Single comp
June - Partner comp
...
Feel free to share thoughts & debate.
:)
In my opinion a week would be fine or 2 at the most. It should aim as this comp, doing what you can do within the given time, not necessarily a complete big project. It sounds good actually, I like the idea. And about the time between comps I think that it was good as you did it with these last 2 comps Pseudobot, not shure how much time has passed but yeah, two months is cool.
Actually...2 weeks is a really good time span.
And having lots of competitions is good, a) more people might start joining, since they hear about them more often, and b) it gives me fun projects to actually finish...otherwise I can't pressure myself into finishing something most of the time...
Keep it up pseudobot!
Actually, it was to have a competition in which new and experienced develepors could compete on a leveled playing field where one could learn from one another. The time and use of pre-made classes rules followed out of that as the suggestion to opensource all entries. Another reason was that everybody could get to know the professional world of Flash development: working within an assignment and timelimit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pazil
So I'm not that much a fan of extending the timelimit, but the partnering thing sounds promising. Experienced and unexperienced developers can be teamed up. This way the learning and levelling is guarenteed and it adds the experience of working in a development team. This all can be done by randomly assigning contestants to each other, but I think a little matching might be in order.
Coming back to the timelimit issue. When partnering up, there comes the extra cost of getting to know each other personally as well as programming/graphic techniques used. These need to be made compatible which costs some extra time.
Well yes, I realized that too. But the problem so far has been that the time limit is so short, that nobody learns anything from the other! All the games are so simple, that the only new thing there is the idea, and maybe occasionally something new, but VERY rarely. With a bigger time limit, people have a better chance of making something intuitive, new, and find cool ways of doing certain things.
And back to the class matter...they can all still be open-sourced! The way I see it, is that 2 weeks before the comp., everyone posts the classes they want to use, so people can see them, and take a look if they'll need them or not, and if yes, then learn them somewhat.
Also, this provides an even deeper learning experience, since then people can ask questions about how a class works!
P.
"But the problem so far has been that the time limit is so short, that nobody learns anything from the other"
The whole point to the comps, as TOdorus pointed out so well, is that it makes a level playing field for everyone.
Anyone entering a 48hr comp can win, not just the best coder or the best artist.
As to this almost last minute "Can I include classes I've already written". No. It's meant to be a level playing field. Open sourcing the code for x number of weeks beforehand doesn't alter that or help ( Box2D and Papervision have always been open source, how many here have written a game using either ? Open sourcing your own classes still gives you an advantage, as you're the author. You get all the thought processes that went into making it ).
The point of the comp is that you have to think on your feet. You're given a weird ass theme and 48 hours to come up with something original to make.
It doesn't have to be perfect, just imho a 100% complete.
Now there's this wealth of enthusiasm for extending the comp, and twisting and updating the rules, but to me this is just diluting the core concept.
Less people entered the comp this time, then there were people dropping out, joining back in, dropping out again etc. That's in 3 days. Imagine what that would be like over 2 weeks.
As to the "nobody learns anything from the other", did you look at the source code from the last comp then ? Every single person who entered ( Not just those who blew a lot of hot air about entering and bitc'hing about every little thing, only to not even bother ) open sourced their code.
There's nothing to be taken from any of that code ?
Squize.
I was referring to this competition. Nobody has made any of their games open source yet.
The reason people were dropping out, and joining back in, was because of the short time limit! In 2 weeks, anyone can definitely find enough time to complete a decent game! Plus, it allows more thinking time when you're not actually working on it, and lets you think it through!
The time limit doesn't encourage spaztastic last minute ideas. With more though put into something, an idea develops, and becomes something even better.
Again, as for classes. Yes, Box2D and Papervision are always open-sourced, and the reason nobody used them, is because they didn't need them. If someone truly needs one of those class packs, then they would go, and learn them. The average developer doesn't need perfect physics, or 3D!!! And anyways, 3D isn't a really big advantage over everyone else! It's a different way to display things! In fact, it's harder to make a 3D game good! And then why would you use it, well, because sometimes certain ideas are meant for different formats!
The playing field will never be even. Even in just 2 days, the more experienced already know what to do for their idea off the bat, and can get started immediately, not making many mistakes. Newer people though, will need to toy around more, fix certain problems more often, etc., taking up lots of time, since it's always finding a tiny bug that does that!
I'm not denying that nobody learned from the other. What I meant was that you don't see lots of new concepts, clever work-arounds, that sort of thing.
P.
I think we're on different pages here.
You've made the point that the lack of time is why no one has open sourced their code for this comp yet, although everyone managed it in the last 48hr comp.
"The reason people were dropping out, and joining back in, was because of the short time limit!"
This is the 8th comp I've seen in my time here. Usually you get 15 people putting their hands up that they're going to join in before kick off, 5 / 7 of those will drop out before it even starts, but as a rule everyone else sticks with it and submits a completed game.
Again, you're using the tight time limit as an example of why things aren't better / smoother, and yet in every other comp with a shorter time limit, these points haven't been issues.
With a two week time window it means that one or two people will work all the way through those 2 weeks, great good for them. Others who may have an interest in the comp know full well they can't commit to two weeks, maybe only a couple of days.
Personally I wouldn't enter a comp where my game has had about 3 days development time and will be up against a game that's had 14 days dev time.
This is why the short 'n sweet comps work so well. Anything greater and you may as well enter a mochi ( For example ) comp with a prize.
Plus, lets be honest, less people are going to want to open source a game they've spent two weeks on rather than one they've spent 10 or so hours one weekend on.
"Yes, Box2D and Papervision are always open-sourced, and the reason nobody used them, is because they didn't need them"
"The average developer doesn't need perfect physics, or 3D!!!"
The average developer should be learning both these packages, there are a lot of job postings asking for both these ( I'm often asked by new clients if I have experience with them ). They're industry standard.
Whose to say no one needed them ? Whose to say no one thought to do an asteroids game for this using box2D ?
Just 'cause you ( I assume, feel free to correct me ) haven't used them and therefore didn't think to use them in this comp, doesn't mean to say anyone else thinking of entering didn't want to use them.
Again, in a two week game, more people will be inclined to use them.
"The playing field will never be even"
Does that mean you shouldn't try then ? Ok, for the partner games that have been mentioned, I'd like to team up with Tonypa please. I mean if the playing field isn't ever going to be equal, it shouldn't be worried about at all then ?
No, it's never going to be equal. The comp isn't really about winning, as I've said in the huge disc. for the last one ( Before being told to "man up" ). It's about people having fun, hopefully learning, and pushing themselves into completing a game for themselves.
48 hours is the perfect time scale in which to do all that.
Squize.
Well yeah, because this one does prove your point. The earlier comps show otherwise.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pazil
I'll bring it up again: I don't expect an authors best work. If you want a competition with that much committed to it you need more motivation then bragging rights. As Squize said, just look for the drop-outs.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pazil
That piont of view kinda blew me away. As Squize pointed out, you already understand the mindset behind the classes. The logic and concepts may make perfect sense to you, doesn't mean that it does to anyone else. I prefer to develop my own classes because I'll better understand their behavior and it makes bughunting THAT much easier when they start to interact with other classes. To bring it closer to home: you're developing your own 3D engine, while those packages are out there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pazil
Now that's just the variation in quality when experience is multiplied by two days. Now multiply it by two weeks... It may never be even, but we could at least try.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pazil
I think the main conflict in this whole discussion of expanding the comp is what you expect from it. If some want top-notch sponserable games coming out of it, I think that's a misconception. To repeat it again: if you commit that much to a game, you want money for it.
EDIT: and ofcourse I've been beaten to it :)
:) Probably the most foul-mouthed visitor of this board has been told he isn't manly enough. I must be such the wuss