The Daily Click ::. Forums ::. Competitions ::. Some thoughts for possible competitions in the future.
 

Post Reply  Post Oekaki 
 

Posted By Message

AndyUK

Mascot Maniac

Registered
  01/08/2002
Points
  14586

Game of the Week WinnerSecond GOTW AwardHas Donated, Thank You!VIP Member
27th January, 2010 at 03:17:06 -

Although I still love the idea of the Console Wars competition, it does seem to be a bit flawed. So I had a few thoughts about it.

The idea of a kind of role play still seems interesting to me. I was around back in the 80's in the latter part of the british microcomputer boom and think it would be interesting to try to create a game on one of those old formats. Of course I could grab a zx spectrum emulator and make something in pure Z80 language. However I'm not a very good programmer so I could just use MMF2 and get other clickers involved?

What would keep everyone happy in a competition based around roleplaying as a team working to a particular format's limitations? Letting everyone design their own format? letting people choose a real console/computer to 'emulate'? is the fun in the limitations?

I want to know people's thoughts on this.

 
.

nim



Registered
  17/05/2002
Points
  7233
27th January, 2010 at 06:17:49 -

I think the console wars is a great idea. It just needs solid rules (defined specs for each console) and a start/end date. I felt like we were getting somewhere with the last thread about this competition.

As far as the specs go, the main thing is graphics. This includes:

-Sprite size
-Number of sprites on-screen at once
-Colours
-Screen size
-Frame rate

For music, perhaps a "sample mod" can be made for each console, which would include the exact samples that can be used (sine wave, square, noise, etc) and the number of channels.

 
//

noahsummers



Registered
  17/01/2010
Points
  64
27th January, 2010 at 10:03:09 -

I read through the last discussion of this and I must say, this is probably the coolest contest premise ever. I would highly recommend going with Sketchy's suggestion of rigid retro-esque restrictions. For the multiple system aspect, the differences should be significant but balanced. For example, consider the Playstation vs. Nintendo 64: the Playstation discs were able to hold more content, but the 64's cartridges enabled developers to stream content and cut loading times drastically. That would be kind of stupid to simulate for a contest, but I think it's a good example of the concept.

 
eight bit believer

AndyUK

Mascot Maniac

Registered
  01/08/2002
Points
  14586

Game of the Week WinnerSecond GOTW AwardHas Donated, Thank You!VIP Member
27th January, 2010 at 19:26:21 -

It would be hard to force a certain amount of objects on screen at once. Or at least In my limited knowledge of mathematics it seems like it would be hard.
An alternative to this would be a limit to how many separate tiles can be made per frame or at any one time.
A cartridge based system can simply upload new tiles on the fly but with disk systems that is impossible to pull off, so that would have been a large problem for developers.

So in the competition setup that could mean

Disk based or slow loading console/computer = limited tiles
Cartridge system = no limit to tiles.

Also i love the idea of having to create our own music with limited premade samples. I found a Sega Megadrive/Genesis soundfont recently and have been ripping samples from it and making loads of music. I'm sure there are soundfonts for slightly more retro systems too.

Edited by AndyUK

 
.

MBK



Registered
  07/06/2007
Points
  1578

VIP Member
24th February, 2010 at 09:18:11 -

Coding and Graphical Gimmick Competitions:

i.e. 3d, 2.5d (visual and/or code style), altered reality, shapeshifting, weapon charging, character selection screens, fire effects, lightning effects, speed/action lines (like in dbz, comics, pokemon, and other things that use this annoying method), best platformer jump effects/feel, typing in attacks style games, etc.

It's quite easy to come up with ideas, especially for something as simple as a competition.
For me at least, the difficult part is making them happen / putting them into practice / getting people to participate / organising an event / etc.



 
Click Me! http://www.create-games.com/project.asp?view=main&id=1444

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?aoo1dnnlq5i

Blood of the Ancient One, Seen only as Shadow, Faster than Lightning, Fierce as the Greatest Dragon, Nearly Invisible, Floating in a Dream, Entered through the Demon Door, Destroyer of Evil in a Realm with a Red Sky Scarred, Who could I be ?

Marko

I like you You like you

Registered
  08/05/2008
Points
  2804

Has Donated, Thank You!Game of the Week WinnerVIP Member360 OwnerDos Rules!Happy FellahCrazy EvilI am an April FoolGingerbread House
24th February, 2010 at 18:22:31 -

I like the idea of emulating the ZX-era style consoles and would defo be interested, more so than doing NES/SNES/Mega Drive era games (as this is what i see alot of Klikers doing as projects anyways!)

One limitation i would try and simulate would be the memory limit, preventing you from using over a certain amount of lines of code. This would be similar to the 20-event compos, but not quite as restrictive (40 events??)

 
Image

Subliminal Dreams. . ., daily gaming news and the home of Mooneyman Studios!
www.mooneyman-studios.webs.com

AndyUK

Mascot Maniac

Registered
  01/08/2002
Points
  14586

Game of the Week WinnerSecond GOTW AwardHas Donated, Thank You!VIP Member
24th February, 2010 at 20:27:17 -

Well, since the games were coded in assembly that would take up an extremely small amount of memory so there wouldn't need to be such a huge limit. The only reason there ever was a limit is when arcade games were converted and squeezed into 48 kilobytes or something. I'd say graphics probably take up the most memory.

 
.

UrbanMonk

BRING BACK MITCH

Registered
  07/07/2008
Points
  49566

Has Donated, Thank You!Little Pirate!ARGH SignKliktober Special Award TagPicture Me This Round 33 Winner!The Outlaw!VIP MemberHasslevania 2!I am an April FoolKitty
Picture Me This Round 32 Winner!Picture Me This Round 42 Winner!Picture Me This Round 44 Winner!Picture Me This Round 53 Winner!
25th February, 2010 at 00:01:51 -

Try making a game for a cell phone in mmf 2.
Only then will you realize how much power your pc has.

(Yes I know mmf is less efficient then a native java app)

I had the drop the frame rate down to 12/sec in order to have more objects and keep it from crashing.

 
n/a

AndyUK

Mascot Maniac

Registered
  01/08/2002
Points
  14586

Game of the Week WinnerSecond GOTW AwardHas Donated, Thank You!VIP Member
25th February, 2010 at 01:22:15 -

yup, this was also the case with various 8 bit microcomputers.

Manic miner for the zx spectrum runs at about 17 frames per second and that is just a single screen collect em up.

 
.

MBK



Registered
  07/06/2007
Points
  1578

VIP Member
22nd April, 2010 at 01:37:50 -

How about an open-source graphics editor in under 40 events competition?

 
Click Me! http://www.create-games.com/project.asp?view=main&id=1444

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?aoo1dnnlq5i

Blood of the Ancient One, Seen only as Shadow, Faster than Lightning, Fierce as the Greatest Dragon, Nearly Invisible, Floating in a Dream, Entered through the Demon Door, Destroyer of Evil in a Realm with a Red Sky Scarred, Who could I be ?

Muz



Registered
  14/02/2002
Points
  6499

VIP MemberI'm on a BoatI am an April FoolHonored Admin Alumnus
26th April, 2010 at 14:49:47 -

Lol, what exactly would a graphics editor be?

 
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.

Image

nim



Registered
  17/05/2002
Points
  7233
26th April, 2010 at 14:51:32 -

How about a 4 events competition

 
//

Marko

I like you You like you

Registered
  08/05/2008
Points
  2804

Has Donated, Thank You!Game of the Week WinnerVIP Member360 OwnerDos Rules!Happy FellahCrazy EvilI am an April FoolGingerbread House
26th April, 2010 at 18:12:43 -

Seriously nim, i like that idea alot! let's do it!!

 
Image

Subliminal Dreams. . ., daily gaming news and the home of Mooneyman Studios!
www.mooneyman-studios.webs.com

Phredreeke

Don't listen to this idiot

Registered
  03/08/2002
Points
  4504

You've Been Circy'd!VIP MemberPS3 Owner
26th April, 2010 at 20:19:24 -

Sprites were generally limited per line, not per screen. IIRC the NES and SMS could show 8 sprites per line, the Colecovision could show 4 and the Atari 2600 could show 2 (in addition to three rectangular missile and ball objects)

If you're mimicking a spectrum game you should simulate color clash (or just make the whole game monochrome with a color border) I made a demo a while back: http://www.create-games.com/download.asp?id=6084



 
- Ok, you must admit that was the most creative cussing this site have ever seen -

Make some more box arts damnit!
http://create-games.com/forum_post.asp?id=285363

Fish20



Registered
  03/12/2007
Points
  263

VIP MemberPS3 OwnerI like Aliens!I'm a Storm TrooperIt's-a me, Mario!I am an April FoolPicture Me This Round 48 Winner!
4th May, 2010 at 03:21:13 -

It would be cool if you could "buy" the games. The winner would be whoever "sells" the most copies.

 
All your base are in another castle, take this.

Jenswa

Possibly Insane

Registered
  26/08/2002
Points
  2722
5th May, 2010 at 18:16:30 -

I think limitations would do the trick. A palette restriction like 4 colors for example or size restriction like 512 KiB. I also like the 4 lines of code restriction, that would drive innovation real hard.

 
Image jenswa.neocities.org

Hayo

Stone Goose

Registered
  15/08/2002
Points
  6946

Game of the Week WinnerHas Donated, Thank You!VIP MemberGOTM 3RD PLACE! - APRIL 2009Weekly Picture Me This Round 27 Winner!Weekly Picture Me This Round 41 Winner!Weekly Picture Me This Round 45 Winner!
5th May, 2010 at 20:02:36 -

I would really like a 4 colour compo

 
www.hayovanreek.nl

Jenswa

Possibly Insane

Registered
  26/08/2002
Points
  2722
9th May, 2010 at 14:18:15 -

Me too and some sane size restriction for your *zipped* game. How about 4 colours, 16 lines of code and 64 KiB size restriction? Or isn't MMF able to create such little executable files? Anyways, I like everything lower than 512 KiB.

 
Image jenswa.neocities.org

Hayo

Stone Goose

Registered
  15/08/2002
Points
  6946

Game of the Week WinnerHas Donated, Thank You!VIP MemberGOTM 3RD PLACE! - APRIL 2009Weekly Picture Me This Round 27 Winner!Weekly Picture Me This Round 41 Winner!Weekly Picture Me This Round 45 Winner!
9th May, 2010 at 14:34:12 -

An empty MMF2 exe is around 400kb.

 
www.hayovanreek.nl

Marko

I like you You like you

Registered
  08/05/2008
Points
  2804

Has Donated, Thank You!Game of the Week WinnerVIP Member360 OwnerDos Rules!Happy FellahCrazy EvilI am an April FoolGingerbread House
9th May, 2010 at 17:47:37 -


Originally Posted by Hayo
An empty MMF2 exe is around 400kb.


64kb would make for a great challenge then! lol

Seriously, i like the idea of Jenswa's rules (apart from the size which'll need a little tweaking

 
Image

Subliminal Dreams. . ., daily gaming news and the home of Mooneyman Studios!
www.mooneyman-studios.webs.com

Xhunterko



Registered
  07/05/2003
Points
  1015

VIP MemberHas Donated, Thank You!Hasslevania 2!Pokemon Ball!
9th May, 2010 at 19:08:37 -

Well, in a couple weeks I'm going to open up voting for theme ideas for a 48 hour compo. Then the first weekend of June is when the contest will start. So look forward to that.

 
All platforming problems can be mostly solved here:

http://www.clickteam.com/mbfiles2/277308-engine.zip
http://www.angelfire.com/games5/psywakd/platform.gam
www.zephni.com

These are very excellent examples by other people and are very informative.
Image

I work at the speed of "maybe".

Coming Soon: Diary Of An Indie Developer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaF6H9MrgH8

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/xhunterko

Hayo

Stone Goose

Registered
  15/08/2002
Points
  6946

Game of the Week WinnerHas Donated, Thank You!VIP MemberGOTM 3RD PLACE! - APRIL 2009Weekly Picture Me This Round 27 Winner!Weekly Picture Me This Round 41 Winner!Weekly Picture Me This Round 45 Winner!
9th May, 2010 at 19:57:34 -

What we need is a big summer compo like in the old days.

 
www.hayovanreek.nl

OMC

What a goofball

Registered
  21/05/2007
Points
  3516

KlikCast Musician! Guy with a HatSomewhat CrazyARGH SignLikes TDCHas Donated, Thank You!Retired Admin
9th May, 2010 at 22:32:06 -

The Tourey 2? (The Tworey? ) I could go for that.

Edited by OMC

 

  		
  		

AndyUK

Mascot Maniac

Registered
  01/08/2002
Points
  14586

Game of the Week WinnerSecond GOTW AwardHas Donated, Thank You!VIP Member
10th May, 2010 at 01:01:32 -

You guys have kinda hijacked my topic.

The original topic was to suggest ideas on how the console wars competition could work.

Edited by AndyUK

 
.

Watermelon876



Registered
  16/04/2009
Points
  27

I am an April FoolVIP Member
10th May, 2010 at 02:13:54 -

Is there anything wrong with hijackign topics???

 
Awesomeness is Watermelon.
*/l、
゙(゚、 。 7
l、゙ ~ヽ
じしf_, )ノ
This is Koji. Copy and paste Koji to your sig so he can acheive world domination.

OMC

What a goofball

Registered
  21/05/2007
Points
  3516

KlikCast Musician! Guy with a HatSomewhat CrazyARGH SignLikes TDCHas Donated, Thank You!Retired Admin
10th May, 2010 at 02:16:11 -

Was it? Hayo suggested that it be in a summer-long format.

 

  		
  		

Xhunterko



Registered
  07/05/2003
Points
  1015

VIP MemberHas Donated, Thank You!Hasslevania 2!Pokemon Ball!
11th May, 2010 at 03:45:35 -

Oh, sorry. The title said some thoughts for possible competitions in the future. So I tought anything goes here. My bad.

 
All platforming problems can be mostly solved here:

http://www.clickteam.com/mbfiles2/277308-engine.zip
http://www.angelfire.com/games5/psywakd/platform.gam
www.zephni.com

These are very excellent examples by other people and are very informative.
Image

I work at the speed of "maybe".

Coming Soon: Diary Of An Indie Developer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaF6H9MrgH8

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/xhunterko

columbo borgi :C



Registered
  07/12/2003
Points
  296

VIP Member
11th May, 2010 at 09:11:06 -

what about imaginary consoles?

you could make balanced limitations to them then!
and they still could be "nes-ish", "n64-ish" and "snes-ish" consoles, just u dont have to stick to its real limitation.

 
:C

Jenswa

Possibly Insane

Registered
  26/08/2002
Points
  2722
11th May, 2010 at 14:08:28 -

Oops, sorry for that. I think I was mislead by the suggestive title and the fact that the limitations could imply consoles, but not necessarily have to.

Thankfully the GB has 4 grey values which could be a restriction for a console compo. It also has a nice tone generator for composing tunes which could be another useful restriction. The cartridge have sizes going from 256 Kib (that's 8 KiB) till 8 Mib (that's 1 MiB).

Anyways, not favoring the GB, but just to put out an example for a console compo. Sure, you should look up some more details from this system, like the number of sprites, backgrounds, screen sizes, etc... Too create a more accurate competition for this console.

 
Image jenswa.neocities.org

AndyUK

Mascot Maniac

Registered
  01/08/2002
Points
  14586

Game of the Week WinnerSecond GOTW AwardHas Donated, Thank You!VIP Member
11th May, 2010 at 20:06:23 -

Yeah I'm partly to blame for the confusion even though the topic was made some time ago shortly after my second attempt at a console wars competition was fresh in people's memories.

Here's the original two threads.

http://www.create-games.com/forum_post.asp?id=247167&show=all
http://www.create-games.com/forum_post.asp?id=262580&show=all

But hey you know what? A gameboy competition would be a good starter to see how it would all work.

 
.

OMC

What a goofball

Registered
  21/05/2007
Points
  3516

KlikCast Musician! Guy with a HatSomewhat CrazyARGH SignLikes TDCHas Donated, Thank You!Retired Admin
11th May, 2010 at 21:02:18 -

As always, I'll throw in front pages and DC Points (as piddly as they are as prizes).

 

  		
  		

AndyUK

Mascot Maniac

Registered
  01/08/2002
Points
  14586

Game of the Week WinnerSecond GOTW AwardHas Donated, Thank You!VIP Member
11th May, 2010 at 23:25:58 -

Well, i'm currently in the teams competition at the moment so don't wait for me. Not that I expect anyone to.

 
.

Jenswa

Possibly Insane

Registered
  26/08/2002
Points
  2722
12th May, 2010 at 11:50:55 -

After having read the two original console wars competitions, I seem to understand the idea a bit more. And I noticed that everybody loves the GB limitations, not really.

The fact is you've multiple consoles, each with their own set of limitations and you should choose what you like best for creating your console game. And there is actually no deadline, so it's not really a competition then. Since I think a competition should include a deadline.

Keep in mind that most competitions needs a number of incarnations before the rules and judging are set out right.

I'am not sure which limitations should be applied to this console compo, but maybe something like: one custom 16 colors palette, compressed 4MiB size including everything, maximum resolution of 320x240, 4 layers, 64 sprites, 8-dir keypad with 4 buttons: A, B, C start, console style sounds and music ...

Sounds and music isn't really my best part that's why I putted in the dots (...) maybe someone can fill in the blanks on them?

O and I probably forgot to mention the magazine part All entries will have a little review in a magazine for this compo, could this be an online magazine? Like a little website with reviews, screens, downloads, final scores, etc...

What about the compo length Should it be like a month? A week or two weeks? Meaning it should run in the summer holiday or could be held along a smaller set of vacation days?

Graphics dimensions from sprites/tiles/backgrounds could also be limited which technically only means a limitation of your sprites and layers any further. With a maximum of 128x128, you need 3 sprites or layers to cover 1 background. And actually I don't think these kind of limitations are meaningful, just like the "you can only have 10 sprites per scanline" limitation. But what do you guys think?


 
Image jenswa.neocities.org

MBK



Registered
  07/06/2007
Points
  1578

VIP Member
17th May, 2010 at 22:51:36 -

Maybe limitations should be something else besides having to do with Consoles eh?
How about restricting the sizes of the characters and enemies (bosses could have a different size requirement, maybe HUGE)
Or restrict the way it's made a bit ... lets say something like 5 levels within ONE frame.

Perhaps restrict it to complete total non-violence and no educational/school themes either, .. no weapons or fighting, and no learning games. It might seem tough but not really cause it'd leave you themes like pizza delivery, taxi, bus driver, restaurant management, hacky sack, jumprope, avoid/evade games, drawing, puzzles, sports, multiple choice story driven text games, etc.

How about limiting it by type? .. a scrolling 2.5d Beat-em-up game contest, or a one vs. one tournament fighter game contest.
Make your own Mr. Potato Head Contest?
Building blocks game contest?
Mega Man knockoff contest?
Favorite FairyTale as a game, contest?
Hentai game contest?
Romance/dating themed game contest?
Game with a shapeshifter as the hero contest?
Unicorns, Leprechauns, Rainbows and Rainbow Trout contest?
Giant sized main character contest?

Why are so many competitions about different console's limitations anyway? What's the point?, if you want it a little more difficult (or easier depending on your outlook) then you could just add a number of colors limit on top of the theme, 3 or 4 is a good limit (not counting the clear color of course).

Edit: you know, technically, this thread shouldn't even be in this section as it's only meant to announce contests and declare their winners. That's it.


Edited by MBK

 
Click Me! http://www.create-games.com/project.asp?view=main&id=1444

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?aoo1dnnlq5i

Blood of the Ancient One, Seen only as Shadow, Faster than Lightning, Fierce as the Greatest Dragon, Nearly Invisible, Floating in a Dream, Entered through the Demon Door, Destroyer of Evil in a Realm with a Red Sky Scarred, Who could I be ?

AndyUK

Mascot Maniac

Registered
  01/08/2002
Points
  14586

Game of the Week WinnerSecond GOTW AwardHas Donated, Thank You!VIP Member
19th May, 2010 at 04:21:09 -

But yeah there's no difference between making a limitation for no reason whatsoever and making a limitation because thats what a particular (imaginary) hardware is limited to.

I thought it might make it a bit more fun if there was something more than just 'here's an idea now make games'.

 
.

Matthew Wiese

The Fencer

Registered
  01/02/2009
Points
  149

VIP Member360 Owner
11th June, 2010 at 18:51:19 -

All those competitions you listed sounds like fun MBK!

 
n/a
   

Post Reply



 



Advertisement

Worth A Click