FK Competition?

Hey all!

ENTER AND VOTE FOR A COMPETITION THEME HERE!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone, and in the spirit of...well fine, it's not really associated with Christmas, but I kinda miss the 3 day game competition on here, and I think it would be cool to get another one going sometime in the new year!
From what I remember, pseudobot was supposed to be organizing the next one, but I guess that didn't happen :)

Your thoughts/who wants to organize it (I guess I can...)/and theme ideas?

P.

Seriously though, MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!

sounds fun, count me in. What are teh rules and stuff? As i never heard of this.

And maybe you should just be in charge! :D

Honestly, don't bother. The last competition was run by me and was fully automated on my website with a very open-ended theme. We had 0 entries. Best of luck though if you get one going.

Edit: Let me rephrase that. We had 11 entrants at the start of the competition. Fil Razorback was the only one who submitted a game. This forum is not the gleaming beacon of prosperity it once was so there won't be enough interest in something like another competition.

yea, id have to agree. It seems like it takes days to get a response >_< if any

Pfff...I see. I think I now remember the competition. I might have even entered and then withdrawn. (sorry :) )

You just reminded me of all those "This forum is dying" threads...depression...
Then again, as soon as I do get more time in the new years, I might still try. I mean, more community activity on here wouldn't hurt...

P.

As harsh as it may have seemed, I wasn't try to dissuade you from having a go at it. My point was that you'd better not be disappointed when you get little to no interest.

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Originally Posted by Pazil

I mean, more community activity on here wouldn't hurt...

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It wouldn't, but I can't see a game competition sparking any more contribution from the community. My competition was a good example of that as well.

Participate in the ludumdare compos - ludumdare.com

The days of this forum being a place where new games are actually developed / previewed is long gone.

The 48hr comps were great, but that was a long time ago, there hasn't been a successful one since Beatcow ran them ( No offence IP, you were a victim of apathy ).

Now it feels everyone has fallen into the trap of making their big epic, or cloning popular games with no real ability looking for that mochi pot of gold, or moved on.
I don't even bother pimping games here anymore, it feels a little cheeky seeing how I'm no longer an active member, and it just ends up pissing me off having a line of coders who don't actually release games queuing up to find fault ( You expect if from gamers, but from your peers ? ).

Anyway, belated Merry Christmas everyone, hoped you had a good one :)

Squize.

No problem IP, I totally understood you. I mean, I did see the last 2 competitions somewhat crash and burn I guess...
Yes, there is the ludumdare competition, hurrah, I was talking about an FK 48 hour comp. The ludumdare compo's are great, just they aren't isolated to just Flash.

I get so depressed remembering the flowering, thriving forum this once was, and now the wasteland it is...I'll still make a final choice on my part, decide if I'm up to it, and then maybe in a few days will start posting theme threads...

P.

@Squize: Happy belated Christmas (or whatever else you celebrate =) ) to all, yeah =)

@all:
Yeah, its a bit sad that compos here don´t get a lot of support anymore, just like the thread count has dropped a lot in general.
Maybe you´re right with some of your assumptions why that happens to some extend, but i personally have other reasons for not posting a lot of new things here anymore.
A lot of the things i work on for clients are confidential until release.
Then for non client work stuff that is for me often about trying new languages and technologies and well,
each time one brings something up here which is not a flash web game some people moan a lot, so yeah, i got kinda demotivated to even bring it up.
I think forums about game dev definately have their place, but yeah, nowadays i feel like regarding all the things i work and experiment on it is a bit limiting to always only be able to talk about the web flash game side.
Then besides the forum specific issues there´s the side that a lot of people are either busy or maybe rather into selling their stuff or entering it to contests with big prizes or larger than a flash web game forum exposure rather than in a just for fun flash web game forum only thing.
And well, besides such issues, there´s of course the side that meanwhile there are blogs, facebook, twitter etc, so a lot of avenues for developers to post about and talk about things they do.
So yeah, i don´t see it that much as purely an issue of this forum, more a side effect of the web trends going in a different direction than in the old days where all were hanging out together in a forum and doing few else.
It is sad when comparing it to the days when there was way more going on here, but yeah, its also cool to have all those other options nowadays, so i don´t see a need to moan and groan about this a lot, i check in in between here and am glad when there´s something cool to see or talk about, that´s about it =)

You too Tom ( I celebrate Christmas, and the fact that my liver still works :) ).

I think a lot of the older members here are in the same position, most work is work for digital agencies which means NDA 'til launch.
After launch a project is fair game to talk about, but I've found there's not a lot of interest here in any sort of post mortem. This board has always shown more interest in bits of games, wip stuff, than completed ones and that's just become more and more true.
No one wants to post a game they've sweated blood over for a "cool game" reply, or have to defend choices that were forced onto them by the client ( I wrote a blog post about this a while back, to sum it up, every adver-game you'll ever play isn't the designers pure vision for it, it's always diluted and screwed with by someone ).

So that's the older members accounted for.

The newer / younger members have more choice than we did. Back in the day this forum was pretty much the best Flash game resource on the net, now there are a lot places, the mochi forums are really active, FGL too, even NG and Kong coders forums are really good resources.

It's a real pity, but it's not exactly new, this forum has been on the slide for a couple of years now, pretty much the same time that the indie market started to mature. I remember the days when if a new good game came out we'd all be surprised if the developer wasn't a member here, it'd be like "Who the hell is he ?", now unfortunately, it's the opposite.

Squize.

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Originally Posted by Squize

You too Tom ( I celebrate Christmas, and the fact that my liver still works :) ).

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I believe in there being a big Chief somewhere who started all of this off but am not really into any of the religions all that much, so yeah, for me it is about celebrating with friends and family and forgiving faults and being generous for some days.
Next to drinking lots :-D Yeah, my liver is still recovering, too :)
Eating, drinking and chatting with the family, playing lego duplos with my baby nephew, trying starcraft 2, doodling around on flash playbook stuff, trying udk in between and yeah, then getting back to client work, busy end of year for me :-D

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Originally Posted by Squize

I think a lot of the older members here are in the same position, most work is work for digital agencies which means NDA 'til launch.
After launch a project is fair game to talk about, but I've found there's not a lot of interest here in any sort of post mortem. This board has always shown more interest in bits of games, wip stuff, than completed ones and that's just become more and more true.
No one wants to post a game they've sweated blood over for a "cool game" reply, or have to defend choices that were forced onto them by the client ( I wrote a blog post about this a while back, to sum it up, every adver-game you'll ever play isn't the designers pure vision for it, it's always diluted and screwed with by someone ).

So that's the older members accounted for.

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yeah, totally agreed. I actually love post mortems but yeah, tough balance of putting all the work for it in and then maybe not getting that much nice feedback because it could be seen as spammy or something..
When i read ones myself i only rarely post lengthy feedback on them, because with a work in progress thing i feel like it could be useful to give constructive feedback, with talking lengthy about the details of a finished game, well, i don´t want it to sound like just taking it apart in flaming manner.

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Originally Posted by Squize

The newer / younger members have more choice than we did. Back in the day this forum was pretty much the best Flash game resource on the net, now there are a lot places, the mochi forums are really active, FGL too, even NG and Kong coders forums are really good resources.

It's a real pity, but it's not exactly new, this forum has been on the slide for a couple of years now, pretty much the same time that the indie market started to mature. I remember the days when if a new good game came out we'd all be surprised if the developer wasn't a member here, it'd be like "Who the hell is he ?", now unfortunately, it's the opposite.

Squize.

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yeah, exactly. Well, i guess that´s what comes with both the web evolving to allow way more outlets easily and also flash evolving to something where there are so many options to make and publish things that it spawns all sorts of different communities =)

Wow, Squize and Tom nailed it - I've not been to the forum in a LONG time (year at least) but I've been a member forever - longer than anyone in this thread even. I remembered it being a lot busier but I thought I was mistaken or it was just a slow week. Clearly it is a lot less traffic'd then it once was. Too bad, for a good number of years this was the place to learn new tricks and techniques.

To be honest, I think there is another reason the old timers drop off. In at least several cases I suspect it's because they were here to learn new techniques and ideas but after a while it became them telling everyone else new techniques and ideas and at that point it was no longer of interest.

-Mike

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Originally Posted by Squize

The 48hr comps were great, but that was a long time ago, there hasn't been a successful one since Beatcow ran them ( No offence IP, you were a victim of apathy ).

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When I originally started that competition, my interest was getting the senior members semi-competitive again. I'm the low guy on the totem pole in this category, but even I can remember when the big names on the forum were kind of battling for the most bragging rights.

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Originally Posted by Squize

I don't even bother pimping games here anymore

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I don't even bother coding in flash anymore. I went to developing Java for freelance work (and this also had to do with my total migration to Linux, I can't get flash-dev'ing working in Linux yet). The only two reasons I still visit this forum are 1) out of pure habit (back in the day I used to refresh the forum every few minutes and find new posts), and 2) on the rare occasion there's a new thread I don't mind taking a few seconds to give my two cents.

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Originally Posted by ImprisonedPride

I don't even bother coding in flash anymore. I went to developing Java for freelance work (and this also had to do with my total migration to Linux, I can't get flash-dev'ing working in Linux yet). The only two reasons I still visit this forum are 1) out of pure habit (back in the day I used to refresh the forum every few minutes and find new posts), and 2) on the rare occasion there's a new thread I don't mind taking a few seconds to give my two cents.

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Java web apps or desktop? I'm always interested in making more money, and if I can get more performance/better jobs with Java, I'll brush up on it! :D

I have a bit of the same goal as you had with your compo, IP...hell, I'm even lower than you on the seniority totem pole :), but like you, I remember the big names, even though many of them have gone away.

It's time for us to breed new big names! :P

Alright, back to work on my game...and then post compo thread soon enough...

I haven't been here for months, looks like I chose the right time to check in.

I guess I'm in a slightly different position to most. I've been a member here for a reasonable amount of time but I don't think I really fall into any of the categories mentioned. I still make flash games on a more or less regular basis, and I still do it primarily for fun rather than because it's my job (sure, I make money from it, but I'd still do it if I didn't).

The reason I don't post here any more is because my generation has moved on. Flashkit used to be an exciting hive of activity where people would discuss what they were working on, show alphas and betas and just get on well in general.
That's not the case any more for reasons that have already been mentioned. For that I have to go elsewhere.

I don't mean to sound overly negative, but I wouldn't bother trying to save this place. It's never going to be what it used to be.

Ali

Pazil, I just do desktop applications. I could write a few widgets but they don't really make me any money. No, instead I just write desktop-based applications to utilize a simple persistent data procedure I use. (It could never hurt to brush up on Java, the syntax is much the same as AS2.)

Alillm, you don't sound overly negative; you sound like the grim truth. From the aforementioned changes that have taken place on this forum, it's clear to see that this place could never regain the momentum it once had. It's unfortunate and it saddens me to see the place that got me my start into Actionscript go down, but I guess I can only look back on it as a truly good learning experience.

But if anyone needs a reason why this happened, blame RipX. :p

As I was typing the theme voting thread, I came up with a few questions to ask the vets:

What were the rules?
-Working alone
-48 hours (no ****)
-No libraries? <<< Not sure about this one, because I remember having a huge debate about it...

Anything else I need to remember before setting this off?
Thanks guys!

P.

Just use a few categories for the winners. Best overall game is the true winner, best gfx, best gameplay, etc, but just use your imagination.

Set a time limit. 48-72 hours works best for people because they can do the work on a weekend and it's done.

I am against using libraries. A few of the classes I used to use were not my own code so it kind of takes away from the spontaneity of the contest if you ask me. In the end it is up the host (you) to decide.

Again, working alone is entirely up to you. If you decide to go with teams you'll need to allot extra time for people to team up.

Lastly, be firm with the deadline. When the submission period is over, it's over. Do not extend it as I did because it provides some with an unfair advantage (although in my comp it did not make a difference as the extra week I gave people did not produce any extra entries).

Best of luck (I'm not participating).

Alright, thanks dude. Why aren't you participating? >:(

Should theme voting be restricted to participants?

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Originally Posted by Pazil

Alright, thanks dude. Why aren't you participating? >:(

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Because as I previously mentioned I no longer develop for Flash anymore.

*facepalm*

Oh it's this thread again...

I wont post views about the forum's apathy because the old timers did that quite well. Looks like we've parted ways (I'm on TIGSource if anyone wonders).

What I just want to say is that I'm still fresh as ever and that I'd probably enter another 48h competition even though the last one ended in a sad sad way.

Well, you can sign up and vote for a theme here!

Aw, did I miss a date poll earlier ? This one won't work for me >.<
'looking forward to playing entries though.

Yikes, we didn't even vote on a date...I tried to simplify the process to hopefully get some more people in on it...
Pfff...I can see this competition not amounting to anything. Maybe there should be a quick post in both of the actionscript forums? I think those get more activity than the Games forum...

P.

I think FK now is popular among veterans, who air their views with authority.
It is less for amateurs, who want to learn more about flash games, code development, and improve their scripting skills. To meet this requirement, the veteran programmers, and other developers as well should publish their games, and program codes, as open source. They should also participate in discussions about what they have published.

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Originally Posted by Eager Beaver

To meet this requirement, the veteran programmers, and other developers as well should publish their games, and program codes, as open source.

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You realise, however, that most of the veterans who have posted games pimp them for their clients, right? Most of the quality games that have post-mortems here can't post source because the game doesn't belong to them.

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Originally Posted by ImprisonedPride

You realise, however, that most of the veterans who have posted games pimp them for their clients, right? Most of the quality games that have post-mortems here can't post source because the game doesn't belong to them.

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Ok! IP. I think you are partially correct. I haven't lost hope.

I've got no qualms about open sourcing things, but its really not worth it.

Even if I went through and commented the code well ( Which I wouldn't to be honest ) I'd have to replace all the assets to avoid them turning up in the wild in other games and give at least some support to get it working in Flash as opposed to Flex / Flash Develop.

That's a ton of effort for giving something away, which at the end of the day only a really small handful of people will bother with.

Going back to the comp, Pazil just go back and see how Beatcow ran them, he nailed it every time, and any dilution to his approach always ended up with a poorer comp.

Squize.

I sorta miss old flashkit.

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Originally Posted by .hooligan

I sorta miss old flashkit.

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I think it's like the famous saying "Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it" LOL. :lovers:
Regarding open sourcing I am of the opinion that it would increase the knowledge base. Other developers improve upon these games, and we ultimately get high quality games. This would also reduce to a certain extent hacking of the games.

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I think it's like the famous saying "Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it" LOL.

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Yeah thats true. But what can you do? I don't see a way to rekindle it. I saw this same scenario about to happen a few years back but then renderhjs came out of no where with some really cool work and everyone became interested. Also I think the limitations of the flash player brought people together to push its limits. But now its easier and people are over it :)