Real Software Forums

I figured I should start a thread about this...

I think having a contest would really get people inspired. But of course, I contest needs rules/guidelines and of course some kind of prize.

Ideas:
- On March 1st a topic is announced. It could be something like "Squares", "Gravity", "Flying", etc.
- 2 Months later (or 3?) You need to submit it.
- Prizes: Maybe grand prize is some money and copy of RealBasic, etc.
- Runners up get a copy of RealBasic, etc.

And of course... someone actually at RealSoftware needs to be into this idea

Thoughts?

-Carmine

Get someone at RS to buy into this and get back to us.

agreed, while it would be very fun and promote the language it would be up to RS if they would support something like this.

I would definitely be interested in this, a contest and deadline might help me actually complete a game project.

Well then why don't we start an informal contest here on the boards, maybe a month to work on it and have the public vote?

Hello All,
I've been emailing with some people at Real Software and they are interested in the idea. The prizes will probably be credit towards buying Real Software products. I'm working out the details with them.

They're into us making the rules, and them judging. I think it would be good if we came up with the rules/guidelines and all that and was able to just hand it to them.

Also... it would be nice if some of you came up with the guidelines... because I want to participate

-Carmine

Some of the guidelines should be a month to produce and source code released to the community upon completion for starters. Perhaps a built version for each platform (mac, windows and linux) but I'm not sure how many people have professional and could accommodate that, maybe a built copy for their main OS and the source code would be acceptable for those without professional?

I'd definitely be interested in entering!

And from experience in past contests, some things to consider:

1) If previously developed/released games are eligible for entry or if development has to start when the contest is announced (this would be the latest GameStop contest vs. something like the Experimental Gameplay Project -- GameStop put no rules on when entered games were developed, resulting in some entries that had been in development for years, which made it seem like less of a development contest and more of a pre-release awards show.)

2) Whether or not teams are allowed, and how big/what roles people can take on (three people can produce more faster, obviously... would this be a solo contest or would you allow teams of up to x? And would somebody like myself, who does all the programming but often has friends do music or help with art, count as an individual or a team?)

3) Would we have to produce all the game's assets or could we use pre-built libraries and graphics? And could those graphics or libraries have to be open source or could someone use something like Monkey Bread? (I personally don't own any of the MBLs, but I know you can run them in demo mode without a license, so the person judging the game wouldn't necessarily need to own the library)

4) What categories would games be judged in and how is that weighed? (I hate to keep on harping on the GameStop contest, but they never really explained how any of the games in the contest were going to be judged, so no one knew how finished and polished a game would have to be, nor if there were different categories for gameplay and graphics or if it was all just based on personal preference, and no final breakdown was given, so the method remained obscure...)

5) The uDev Mac games contest was a lot of fun because one of the rules of the contest was to maintain a developers blog as things progressed -- it gave a good snapshot into how each programmer worked and what issues they were facing and how they overcame them. This would be a great thing for the RB community, getting people reading and discussing their development process and solutions to a project everyone can eventually download and poke through instead of just individual solutions to obscure bugs and gotchas. Maybe more people would start developing games with RB!

From the Real Software staff:

"This is an awesome idea! Reminiscent of the RB competitions we used to hold at REALWorld. We are happy to offer a $150 credit to the REAL Software store to the winner of the game competition and a $50 credit to the REAL Software store to the 1st and 2nd runners up (each)."

My Vote:
- Yes to: Libraries, Graphics, Music, Sound etc. from other sources. There are plenty of freely (or inexpensively available) royalty free graphics, sounds, etc.
- Teams are fine.
- Releasing code is a great idea if everyone agrees.
- I love the blogging idea. Maybe everyone has to blog every Monday.
- They could even do it in the Games Forum, just start their own topic: "Game Contest Blog - Carmine" (as long as this doesn't discourage other people)
- Using already written code is fine... I'm sure to use some of my own, however.. see below about "topic"

(ignore exact dates)...

One possibility is:
- April 1st Real Software announces a topic at random such as: "Zombies" or "Space" or "Blue", etc.
- Maybe we could give them a list of 10 topics and have them pick one at random
- Submissions are due May 1st. (or 15th)

A requirement to release code seems to discourage submissions. I'm unlikely to enter if I can't use existing code -- I just have no interest in reinventing the wheel. I also don't necessarily want to give all my code away. Some might not be mine to give away.

I suppose it comes down to the goal of the contest. If the goal is to showcase best efforts, then the fewer restrictions the better. If the goal is to encourage sharing of best practices, then open-source is better.

What platform(s) does an entry need to run on?

Sound like a great idea.....

However.... I think that the use of plug-ins, declares and things NOT native to the RB language structure should be discouraged....

Afterall... isn't part of the competition to see how creative you can be with the the tool set at hand?

And not everyone has access to all the 3rd party tools that might/could be used....

So.... my opinion.. is the project must be written in 100% RB "out-of-the-box" code.....

"Blue"????? is that a game topic?? [or an Adult oriented entertainement?]

DaveS: I think Blue is just a game centered around the color. It could be anything (the way I see it) as long as Blue is the focus in the game.

Everyone else:
My thoughts here are that restricting code to RB itself is a little too strict. RB IS capable of plugins and thats a FEATURE that can be exploited with this contest. Although, I feel that if you were to make it fair, allow only the FREE plugins to be used. Nothing against the paid for ones, but not everyone can afford those.

I'm actually working on apps for building games within RB (such as a tile map editor), but the games are written in C# for the Xbox 360. I started that project (the tiled map editor) years ago and recently picked it back up. This means I won't be able to participate in this contest. But I wish all those that do the best of luck!

I think releasing the code is up to the author.

Since RealStudio is distributed and used in other states such as Italy precisely, the rules can be written in Italian?

I'd like to participate in this contest, let me know.

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Visto che RealStudio viene distribuito e usato anche in altri stati come per l'appunto Italia, le regole possono essere scritte anche in lingua Italiana ?

A me piacerebbe partecipare a questo concorso, fatemi sapere.