Castle Paradox

[Pepsi Ranger]

Hey Everyone,

In a recent post written by Shadowiii about how the contest trend needs to take a rest, I posted my response to the situation by stating my desire to hold off the launching of the next Epic Marathon Contest until the road is finally clear for it to take off.

I had gotten one response that this was the only contest that the said individual wanted to participate in. Even Shadowiii himself expressed his interest in this contest more so than in the others.

So here's the deal. I need community feedback on the issue at hand. I started preparing for this contest back in September, but stopped about halfway through because I didn't see any evidence of the contest trend slowing down.

What I want to know is if I decide to set a date for this contest, will people participate? Regardless of what contests are randomly generated between now and then, will a good number of you give this one a shot?

I know some of you are probably thinking, "Well if you want to start this contest, then start it. If people want to participate, they will." However, I must stress the fact that such a solution is not so simple with this contest.

The subject for this year's epic takes a LOT of planning and preparation on my part. Let's just say it involves more than I really have the time or patience to give to it. So if I decide to move forward and set a date for this contest, I need to be sure that a certain number of you will participate so that I don't waste a lot of my own valuable time that could go to something else that needs my attention.

So what I'm asking for is a general interest response. If this is a contest that you're interested in, then let me know of your interest in this thread. If I get at least eight people telling me that they want to do this (and are serious about sticking with it), then I will proceed with the prep work.

For those who are new to the community and have no idea what I'm talking about, the Epic Marathon Contest challenges the designer to create an "installment" or "chapter" for a gaming series. The first contest challenged the designers to add chapters to the Magnus series in an attempt to explain the story line better. This year will feature an original series that I'll elaborate more on the closer we come to the contest date.

So if this is the one contest you've been waiting for, please tell me now so that I can finish the prep work this month.

If I get the response I'm asking for, I would like to aim for a March 15th start date and a May 9th end date if possible.

So let me know of your interest as soon as possible.

Thanks.
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Progress Report:

The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition

Currently Updating: General sweep of the game world and dialogue boxes. Adding extended maps.

Tightfloss Maiden

Currently Updating: Chapter 2

[TMC]

I think thats a good time. Theres chance I'll take part in it, but mostly only during my 2 weeks of holiday during that time. Having it start another week or so later wouldn't hurt, if needed.

In the meantime, we can try and discourage other people from starting any contests around the same time and leading up to it.
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"It is so great it is insanely great."

[Chaos Nyte]

I'd need to know a whole lot more about the contest, rules, and prizes before considering commiting myself to it.

[RedMaverickZero]

I really don't care what it's about. Sign me up Pepsi. And if it's over Spring Break I will be able to do a lot of stuff for it. Hopefully you will get a good turnout so I can see just how good this contest is supposedly.
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---------------Projects----
Mr.Triangle's Maze: 70%
Takoyaki Surprise: 70%

[Flamer]

i'd probably participate, but some people live on the southern-hemisphere and it's autunm around here, the season where school start and older people start university/college.

no promises, i'll post about my participation when the contest arrives
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If we were a pack of dogs, IM would be a grand Hound, CN would be a very ficious little pitball, and Giz...well, it doesn't matter breed he is, he'd still be a bitch
(no offense to anyone that was mentioned)

[Sephyroth]

I start spring break later than most people, so I'd have plenty of time to participate in the contest (And yet, I voted that I'd be in Daytona by Spring Break and have to think about it...). So.. you can sign me up for this too.
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im realy ded

[LeRoy_Leo]

YES! If it takes place in march, I think I will be able to participate in it! And I agree with you guys. You should wait for the "road to be cleared" for this contest. Reserving times would be the best solution to our contest overflow problem. One contest at a time, you know?

Anyway. How does this contest work? Do people take turns adding chapters to the series? Is each chapter another game? I think one would have to know what took place in the last chapter in order to continue it.
Maybe I just didn't read the rules clearly enough
I need a simplification of them in a single post please.

Thanks!
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Planning Project Blood Summons, an MMORPG which will incinerate all of the others with it's sheer brilliance...

---msw188 ---
"Seriously James, you keep rolling out the awesome like gingerbread men on a horror-movie assembly line. "

[Mr B]

Not anytime soon, please.

And not around finals. And not before a holiday. And most certainly not around both (like the last Human Day contest). I enjoy contests in moderation, but twins three times in...oops. *flush*

Anyway, just make sure it's placed at a time when people can work on it. I had a really good game for the Human Day contest but I couldn't finish it because the first two weeks of the contest were the last two weeks of the semester, and the other 1.5 weeks were just before Christmas which is really rather not a slow, personal-project-y time of the year. So I never got it finished.

But yeah -- I would do a contest. Just...don't do it too soon or too late. (whatever that meant)

[Pepsi Ranger]

Leroy--

Each contestant (or team) develops a separate chapter in his or her own game file. Think of it like writing a chapter in a book. You wouldn't necessarily pass your chapter along to another writer to finish it (though I suppose you feasibly could), but rather you would pass your chapter to the person organizing the novel. Does that make sense?

The way the last contest worked was that each contestant wrote their own "sequels" for an existing OHR game. Nobody knew what the other was doing, and that was part of the challenge of keeping with consistency (and part of the fun). Of course nobody managed to make sense of the games to proceed or succeed theirs, which invariably made the game series even funnier (if you can call it that). But again it added to the challenge of creating a successful story line.

To everyone else (and Leroy too if you're still reading)--

This contest will be a little more liberal about leaking secrets than the last, but I'll elaborate more on that in the rules section once they're posted.

If I have a chance this week, I'll go ahead and draft up the rules to give you guys a better idea of what we're working with. I'll likely repost them again (or have Aethereal set up a contest site again) as we get closer to the start date. Be aware that whatever I post in the next week may not necessarily be final as circumstances may change minor details along the way (the original contest was after all an evolving work), but it will give you a reasonable idea of what to expect.

And for those who are concerned about school and holidays, you may not need to worry about that much, unless your workload is so ridiculous that you don't even have time to see the sun. The epic contests last a little longer than most other contests, allowing you time to adequately prepare. Granted this one will NOT be anywhere close to the length of the last one since most of the participants in that contest proved that they had no commitment skills whatsoever, and I certainly wouldn't want to repeat that. But I think nine weeks should be adequate for those who participate to fit in at least a little bit of time into working on it. The rule of thumb of course is DON'T PROCRASTINATE!!!!! That was the main reason why the first contest had such a horrible turnover rate. Everyone had eight months to work on their games and a majority of them didn't start until the absolute last week that I would allow them. If you want to join, try to get as much done as early as you can so that your entry (and this contest) doesn't get screwed at the end.

Also, to help with planning (and this will be restated in the rules), the development timeline will look like this:

First two weeks--planning phase (create story, characters, graphics, music, etc.)

Next six weeks--development phase (download the game file and put your stuff together, including the addition of stuff you didn't do in the planning phase) Note that because of issues with exporting, XP users will skip the planning phase and go straight into development.

Last week--playtesting phase (clean up your game, squash bugs, and be sure to have your ending in place)

And that will more or less be the schedule.

Since the planning phase is more of a challenge than a requirement, I'll be lenient toward those who don't have time to utilize it.

So that's the basic overview of the scheduling and such. It's set up so that if you manage to spend three hours a week working on your game, you should be able to turn in something decent by the end of the last week (at least up to the caliber of an average 48-hour contest game).

Once again, I'll post the complete rules once they're written. Maybe within the next week or so.

The details of the epic itself however will have to wait until the contest start date. I wouldn't want you guys to start too early on the planning.

Hope that helps in clarifying a few things.
_________________
Progress Report:

The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition

Currently Updating: General sweep of the game world and dialogue boxes. Adding extended maps.

Tightfloss Maiden

Currently Updating: Chapter 2

[Grandtrain]

The last epic marathon was a lot of fun. Hopefully, I’ll be able to turn something in this time as well.

As for the date, I think the most appropriate time would be to start before spring vacation begins for many. However, I would prefer the due date to come after May 9th. That’s right in the middle of the final exam cramming session for me and probably other as well. June 1st would be ideal for me. I’m not planning to procrastinate (who would?), but, in case my workload get worse, I would still have 10 completely free days of summer vacation to tie everything up.

Also, I was a bit disappointed that almost all of the places and peoples you created in the last contest were not used. I recommend a new rule or bonus that will reward the maker for using them.

[Kay S]

Any news on this contest?

[Aethereal]

If there is more news regarding this contest it'll get posted somewhere by Pepsi. Please don't revive dead threads. :\
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[Pepsi Ranger]

I'm posting the rules tonight. Pending that everything works out accordingly, the contest will start on May 1st.
_________________
Progress Report:

The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition

Currently Updating: General sweep of the game world and dialogue boxes. Adding extended maps.

Tightfloss Maiden

Currently Updating: Chapter 2