Halloween competition, anyone?

Posted by RC on Aug. 25, 2014, 12:07 p.m.

Note: This is not an official announcement! Any sign-ups and theme voting will take place once an official announcement has been made. This is for discussing your ideas for the competition.

Please take this poll to voice your opinion on how themes should be handled.

Competition Starts: Saturday, September 27, 2014 00:00 GMT

Competition Ends: Sunday, November 02, 2014 23:59 GMT

This timeline - while essentially a month - gives developers 37 days and 37 nights to make their games, which also means developers get a total of 12 weekend days (or 17 if Fridays are included).

Instability

Abandoned

Illusion

Emptiness

Grotesque

Imperfect

Madness

Deprived Senses

Omniscient

Alone

Macabre

Possession

Forbidden

Ruthless

Taboo

Shadows

Underground

Reanimate

Disaster

Black Magic

Haunting

Detention

Brokenness

Machines

Invasion

Hunted

Decay

Halloween

It's been a couple of months since the last competition here (I think Kilin did something with completition after the spring competition, but I don't think anything became of that), so I'm wondering how you guys feel about having another one?

You know the drill: one month, prizes, lots of entrants, not as many entries, etc…

We all know how competitions go: 100 people can enter, but only 15 or so actually submit entries. I want to try to combat this, but I realize that some people just can't get motivated to make something or just don't have the time.

Anyway, I'm planning on a late September start and an early November finish since Halloween falls on a Friday this year, which gives people two more weekend days to apply any finishing touches to their entries or to do as much work as they possibly can to finish them knowing some of you guys. The current schedule would give entrants a total of 37 days and 37 nights to create something magnificent and spooky.

There would, of course, be a theme to follow. With themes, I'm all for something completely interpretive, but not something that could potentially be restrictive; the spring competition's theme was limited color palette, which was completely interpretive, but I felt it would most likely be interpreted into the restrictive theme it sounded like to me.

I know open themes can sometimes be counterintuitive as developers have a hard time coming up with something to make when there are so many possibilities, and sometimes it's fun to see what everyone can do within a specific set of development rules; if you know Johnny's going to be making a game based on the same idea as yours, it can sometimes trigger that competitive spirit and motivate you to make the best you can.

In the end, though, it all comes down to this question: are you interested in a Halloween competition this year?

Thoughts, opinions, etc… are welcome.

Comments

Mega 9 years, 7 months ago

I'm a sucker for competitions, so I'm interested.

death 9 years, 7 months ago

I'm up for it, as usual. Horror is my thing and it's usually the only thing I can do moderately well. I was actually thinking about this a few days ago, I got a few ideas I would like to try out. If we do this though, I really do hope the turn out is bigger than last year's. (wow it's been a year already?)

Iasper 9 years, 7 months ago

I thought Charlo was hosting S4D?

RC 9 years, 7 months ago

I've not heard any mention of anyone hosting S4D this year.

Castypher 9 years, 7 months ago

Quote:
I think Kilin did something with completition after the spring competition, but I don't think anything became of that
Actually, you said it yourself:

Quote:
We all know how competitions go: 100 people can enter, but only 15 or so actually submit entries.
The Completition went from having a pitiful roster to having one or two people who still even remembered it, all in a mere two weeks of the start date. After having been pressured into it from the start, I decided that this year just wasn't the time for it. Nobody seemed to care, so I'd say the decision wasn't a bad one. Apologies to the people who did care, or are otherwise looking for something to complain about.

Anyway, I've been looking forward to S4D 2014 but unless we have a flood of activity in the next few weeks, I don't see this turning out well. I suppose with a good, active host, things could at least turn out better than they did in 2013.

I don't have as much time as I used to. Most of my work these days is spent on my job, school, and a Super Secret Game That About Four People Know About. It'd be refreshing to open up GM again and make something like the good old days, but not if everyone drops it in the first week.

I'd be happy to participate if we could get a good roster. Regardless of my pessimism on the subject, I'd love to get back into stressing about making a cool game for a competition.

Charlo did express an interest in hosting, but he's been sucked into the world of Dark Souls for the past two months and none of us have heard anything from him during that time.

Mega 9 years, 7 months ago

Quote:
Charlo did express an interest in hosting, but he's been sucked into the world of Dark Souls for the past two months and none of us have heard anything from him during that time.

I'll go put on my Marvelous Chester hat and find him…

RC 9 years, 7 months ago

Prizes don't motivate people. Just doing it for fun doesn't motivate people. I wonder if there's actually anything that could motivate a person to create and finish something for a competition.

Granted, not everyone has that issue, but the turn out of all of the past competitions show that the majority of people do.

Mega 9 years, 7 months ago

I think a lot of people get into a competition without any clear goal in mind, and can't find ways to motivate themselves because they don't really know why they're entering.

Personally, I like to challenge myself. Compete against other people. The competition itself is my motivation, and winning is a nice bonus :P

Quietus 9 years, 7 months ago

another competition? i've had enough personally. i missed last year's Halloween competition prize of 200 dollars. so winning second in a prize-less F4D left a really sour taste in my mouth. somewhere in F4D i realized i'm wasting sweat, blood and tears for no one and nothing.

tl;dr i'm burned out. but that's just one person's perspective.

RC 9 years, 7 months ago

There will be monetary prizes involved in this one, but naturally no one is guaranteed to win. If the fun of making something isn't your primary objective, competitions are definitely a gamble as far as making money is concerned.

Games entered don't have to be finished in the sense of being done forever. They can be updated, sequels made, or redone into an entirely new game and potentially sold if you've got a good game and idea on your hands, so it's not a complete loss to make something for a competition that doesn't win if in the end you have a pretty decent game. If you make something good and it wins, excellent! It doesn't have to end there, either, as the same applies whether you win or lose.

Just something to consider. I'm not saying you should enter if you don't want to, as it's completely understandable if you don't.