24 hour mini-contest "Space"

[Corun]

Man, I hope these mini contests can become quite regular. With that in mind:

The theme of the next contest is "Space"

The contest starts at 12.01am GMT, Saturday September 17 and ends 24 hours later.
If you're on the west coast of the US, that's 5pm Friday to 5pm Saturday.
If you're on the east coast of the US, that's 8pm Friday to 8pm Saturday.

The contest IRC channel is #idevgames-mini-contest on freenode.

[diordna]

Are you sure you want to do it again so soon? And with such a broad theme?

[Corun]

Are you sure you want to do it again so soon? And with such a broad theme?

Nope :-)
And the theme isn't _that_ broad... The game must be set in space. Meh... Maybe it is broad. Any other ideas?

[unknown]

Space is quite a broad theme, maybe a ceartain type of space game. Or a specific place in space?

[Andrew]

Space is quite a broad theme, maybe a ceartain type of space game. Or a specific place in space?

How about black holes?

[unknown]

Originally Posted by Andrew
How about black holes?
Or worm holes?
Or worm holes and black holes,
Space holes

[EvolPenguin]

I think a better idea for the future would be to have them every 2 weeks. I have an idea that could be interesting for the next one.

Alex

[BeyondCloister]

I see no problem with having them every week. It allows people who are not free one week to have a go straight away without waiting for a long time.

When I first saw the theme 'Space' I instantly thought of game ideas confined to a particular space or problem space rather than outer space.

[EvolPenguin]

I think thats what it should be. Not "outer space" but just "space" in general. More interesting ideas could come of that.

Alex

[unknown]

Game Idea: Personal space, you walk about pushing past people!

[BeyondCloister]

Game Idea: Personal space, you walk about pushing past people!

People seem to lack manners as it is these days without games to inspire them :(

[EvolPenguin]

Still, it's a better idea than the generic space shooter set in "outer space".

Alex

[BeyondCloister]

There are lots of good ideas to be had on the theme of non Outer Space. How about going along the Fantastic Voyage idea?

[FreakSoftware]

To what extent is code reusability acceptable?

[EvolPenguin]

Good question! I have some classes and functions that I would like to reuse.

Alex

[whogben]

I think any code you can reuse you should be able to. Obviously nobody will reuse their vector classes and stuff - so things that are not specific to any particular game should be free to reuse - after all, someone using a different SDK may already have the code that your reusing built into their package. Why reinvent the wheel?

[whogben]

So... I'm interested to know whos entering, afterall I have my own projects, so I dont want to enter unless a few other people are as well. We should have optional RSVP, so here it goes:


whogben RSVPing!


Your turn...

[BeyondCloister]

My taking part all depends on how much time I have free. Not going to know that until Saturday morning UK time.

[sealfin]

If we're going with the "Space" theme, this is sealfin RSVPing...

[FreakSoftware]

Pinky? Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

[lightbringer]

Pinky? Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

That we don't get enough exercise?

[EvolPenguin]

I should be entering if I can get an idea and school doesn't swamp me.

So, I RS (not the full RSVP yet ;), yes I know that doesn't make any sense)

Alex

[aarku]

Pinky? Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

Wuh, I think so, Seth, but if we didn't have ears, we'd look like weasels.

-Jon

[whogben]

I really miss that show

[Nick]

I might enter it. You said (for EST in Michigan, US) that it'd be from 8pm Fri - 8pm Sat? I could try something.

[EvolPenguin]

I also really miss that show too. I decided to devote my weekend to "space", but I still need an idea.

Alex

[maka123]

I'll try to think of something, but I'm not sure I'll have time this weekend...

BTW I assumed code reusability was always allowed... I'm not going to write all the basic code for each project :) I've got a code base I did from my last game GravityWells and I'm using it as a start... (although it could really use some tidying up :) )

[OneSadCookie]

ReadySetGo!

#idevgames-mini-contest on irc.freenode.net (irc://irc.freenode.net#idevgames-mini-contest)

[unknown]

http://www.geocities.com/ed72678954/PrimumMobile.zip
I feel so ill from eating way too much chocolate so im turning in for now..

[OneSadCookie]

Well, it's been over for more than two hours now, so I guess "unknown" is the only entrant and winner-by-default.

Congrats :)

[FreakSoftware]

Oh!!! Silly me. I forgot to post. Here's my written-in-24-hours-entry: http://www.freaksw.com/games/spacespuds2/

:rolleyes:

[unknown]

Hey, I won because mine was the best!!
Ill finish it later probably, because its not actually a game yet. :lol:

[EvolPenguin]

Great turnout eh?

Alex

[unknown]

That game crashes, on 10.3.9 G4,
the menus work but when you try to play the game the screen goes white with a shaded bar at the bottom.
If it didnt, I think you would win....

[diordna]

Heh, what did I say about another contest too quickly? Corun, why didn't you enter your own contest?

Wow, 2 entrants. Mmkay.

[BeyondCloister]

Having contests back to back like that does mean someone who misses one can play again straight away.

Unfortunately in my case I had two busy weekends in a row.

What on Earth is Mmkay?

[OneSadCookie]

just one entrant, stephen. Your sarcasm detector is set too low.

[diordna]

Not sure what you mean. I was counting Freak's and Unknown's.

Mmkay = Americanized slangy "okay." Sorry, it just kind of slipped out...I promise I'll never do it again.

I think that these should be about every 3 weeks or so. That gives everyone time to regroup, or develop their idea to see if it's worth pursuing as their "main thing."

[OneSadCookie]

seth's is not an entry. It is an ancient project of his that he didn't even touch within the 24 hours. I thought that was obvious from the web site and the smileys in his post, or at least when it was pointed out that it was sarcastic :???:

[unknown]

I thought he was just cheating when I saw on his page that it started development March 13th.

[Volte]

Even though I dont participate in these games, I would strongly suggest making them rare. Not too rare however.

About one every month would be prefect, especially for the mini contests. That way the quality output would be greater, people could be givin the month to work on said topic, and at the end of the month, post their project. Then a small poll thread with all the games (and download links) would be presented and all members of the forum allowed to vote on said games. As mentioned before, if you make these things too frequent, the value of them, and the anticipation of the games is greatly diminished - "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." - thus the frequency should be reduced.

Now I haven't been here that long, so my historical knowledge of this community is poor, and if you already have something like what I have been suggesting, please forgive me. And if that is the case, I believe you should scratch the "mini" contests all together. It takes a good amount of thinking to produce something worthwhile, and I don't think you want small (pardon the french) shitty programs popping up all over every two weeks from developers who:

A) had little time to plan.
B) had little time to exicute.

Which is at the root of BIBE (Bad Idea, Bad Exicution). It's hard enough having a Good Idea and failing to exicute it properly, which is where the month-long developing spree really comes into play. The reduced frequency also builds up anticipation, as well as providing advanced notice to potential participants who can then rearange their schedual to a more fitting one in regards to the compitition.

With all these things combined, the turn out will be much greater as more members will join in the compition, which will in and of itself, call a greater audiance.

No real competitor likes to compete against himself.

- Carry on.

[lightbringer]

Even though I dont participate in these games, I would strongly suggest making them rare. Not too rare however.

About one every month would be prefect, especially for the mini contests. That way the quality output would be greater, people could be givin the month to work on said topic, and at the end of the month, post their project. Then a small poll thread with all the games (and download links) would be presented and all members of the forum allowed to vote on said games. As mentioned before, if you make these things too frequent, the value of them, and the anticipation of the games is greatly diminished - "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." - thus the frequency should be reduced.

Now I haven't been here that long, so my historical knowledge of this community is poor, and if you already have something like what I have been suggesting, please forgive me. And if that is the case, I believe you should scratch the "mini" contests all together. It takes a good amount of thinking to produce something worthwhile, and I don't think you want small (pardon the french) shitty programs popping up all over every two weeks from developers who:

A) had little time to plan.
B) had little time to exicute.

Which is at the root of BIBE (Bad Idea, Bad Exicution). It's hard enough having a Good Idea and failing to exicute it properly, which is where the month-long developing spree really comes into play. The reduced frequency also builds up anticipation, as well as providing advanced notice to potential participants who can then rearange their schedual to a more fitting one in regards to the compitition.

With all these things combined, the turn out will be much greater as more members will join in the compition, which will in and of itself, call a greater audiance.

No real competitor likes to compete against himself.

- Carry on.

I completely disagree. Every week it shall be!

[unknown]

No real competitor likes to compete against himself.

Except me then..

Yeah, Ill enter every week if Im not doing somthing else!

[EvolPenguin]

I thought he was just cheating when I saw on his page that it started development March 13th.

my birthday :D

Alex

[whogben]

I think Volte's points are all legitimate - but they leave out the fun of rushing to throw together a shitty program. I think the large volume of shitty games has value because sometimes people are inspired to make them into full better games - ex: Diordna. I like the longer contests, but I cant really take that much time out of my schedule for them - especially without prizes. I vote frequent weekend contests.

[Volte]

Hey whogben. Thanks for an intelligent counter argument.

[whogben]

Hmm: I'm not sure if your being sarcastic so I will reply in both cases:

If you were sarcastic:

First of all - there is no need to get hostile and sarcastic. To quote myself: "I think Volte's points are all legitimate"

If my argument was so extraneous or simply unintelligent - why do you feel the need to attack me? I wasn't countering any of your points - I was simply bringing up others: The fun of a rush, the fact that many people dont have time to make a competitive entry over a few weeks, the fact that it enables people to test out ideas and prototype, and in Diordna's case is resulting in a larger game.

Furthermore - I didn't bring those points up to change anyone's mind, I did it simply to justify my own vote of more mini-contests. I don't have any quarrel with you and I think everything you said is valid. Please be aware that not all conditions apply equally to all people, and that I am

If you weren't sarcastic:

Thanks :D

[Nick]

Hmm: I'm not sure if your being sarcastic so I will reply in both cases:

If you were sarcastic:

First of all - there is no need to get hostile and sarcastic. To quote myself: "I think Volte's points are all legitimate"

If my argument was so extraneous or simply unintelligent - why do you feel the need to attack me? I wasn't countering any of your points - I was simply bringing up others: The fun of a rush, the fact that many people dont have time to make a competitive entry over a few weeks, the fact that it enables people to test out ideas and prototype, and in Diordna's case is resulting in a larger game.

Furthermore - I didn't bring those points up to change anyone's mind, I did it simply to justify my own vote of more mini-contests. I don't have any quarrel with you and I think everything you said is valid. Please be aware that not all conditions apply equally to all people, and that I am

If you weren't sarcastic:

Thanks :D

I love the size comparison between your two responses :lol:

As for my opinion on the frequency of the 24 hr contest (even though I've yet to get to do one) is that they are fine for the community. whogben has some good points about the rush. It's fun to see how good people are at at least prototyping games in less than a day.

One thing I was thinking is that we could do something where we do a few 24 hour contests in the first 2-3 weeks of a month and then have a week long contest at the end of the month where people can take their best 24 hour entry and polish a bit more. Then we could vote on the best week long entry. Maybe it's the worst idea in the world, but it sounded amusing.

[diordna]

I think that it's good to have them every 3 weeks or so, because it forces us to get creative. It's like practicing design constantly, which is good. Keeps you on your toes.

And yeah, like Whogben said...I like my game from last 24 Hours that I'm gonna expand on it.

[Volte]

Yikes! Sorry Whogben. I was completely Sincere. I enjoyed the way you expressed your opinions in an intelligent way, and offered counter arguments. Rather than the common "No. I like it so it stays". I of course was not trying to stir up trouble, or even provide a platform for argument, I was simply pointing out a few suggestions. And since I was being sincere, I don't need to counter your counter to my appreciation of your counter :P. Anyway I see where you (and the community) is coming from, yet I still stand by my suggestions. No hard feelings. And I'm done :D.

[EvolPenguin]

Yay for peaceful arguments!
(no sarcasm)

Alex