Castle Paradox

Moogle1 · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 3:06 pm Post subject: Gameathon 2009

Gameathon is back for 2009! No signups are necessary unless you'd like to judge. You can both judge and enter; see below for details.

Previous Gameathon thread

What is Eligible

Any game uploaded to Castle Paradox or Slime Salad between February 1 and March 15 (inclusive) is an entry in the contest. There are no signups; every entry will be judged. The contest ends at 12:00am PST March 16.

While the contest is called "Gameathon," it is not restricted to games. Non-games like OHR House are also considered for entry.

Winning the Contest

Every game you upload will be judged by the entire panel of judges. They will award you points:

0 points: The game has little merit.
1 point: The game is okay.
2 points: The game is good or enjoyable. (Re-releases may not earn two points.)

Judges are encouraged not to be stingy with the zero and two point categories. A game doesn't have to be great to get two points; it doesn't have to be abominable to be worth zero points.

Judges will keep track of points given to each game and will PM me their score sheets at the end of the contest. I will give the score breakdowns for all of the games. Each judge will also award any ONE game an additional 2 points at the end of the contest as Best of Show.

A game's score is the combined point total from all judges. An author's final score is the combined score of all of the games he helped create. The author with the highest score wins.

Judges

There is currently no judge panel. Sign up here to be a judge!

Judges are required to play at least the first ten minutes of any entry before judging it. A judge may not award his own game Best of Show. If a judge gives his own game a higher score than any other judge, that score is reduced to the highest score given by any other judge. Judges are expected to play all entries.

A game's score is the sum of all judges' scores. (If for some reason a judge is unable to play a given game, his vote will be the average of all other judges' votes for that game.)

Bonus Points

Similar to the design missions from the Epic Marathon contest, bonus points add 1 point to your overall score. You can score only one bonus point per entry and you can only score on each rule once.

1. Featuring as an important character any three of the following: a pirate, a ninja, a robot, a zombie, a vampire, or a cowboy. (You must have three different characters -- three zombies or one zombie-cowboy-ninja doesn't count.)
2. Using the default battle engine to do something other than an RPG battle. (I will be fairly liberal with this one. Be creative!)
3. Including an original composition as one of the game's songs. (This should be composed by someone credited as an author for the game, but it doesn't have to be a new song made just for the game.)
4. Scripting a new engine for the game. (This could make the game a sidescroller, for example, or just give it a new battle engine. This counts even if you didn't write the script.)
5. Creating a game without any traditional fantasy elements. (This includes swords, crystals, dragons, magic, etc.)
6. Making character stats influence gameplay out of battle. (For example, using Agility to determine if you can pick an NPC's pocket.)
7. Replacing experience and levels with a different method of stat growth. (Any method of stat growth besides the default is acceptable.)
8. Qualifying for at least three other tiebreaker points in a single entry. (You still only receive one tiebreaker point for the entry.)
Extra Bonus: If an author scores all 8 other bonus points, he receives additional bonus points equal to the number of Gameathon judges. (Note that you would need to release at least 8 games -- one for each bonus point -- to qualify for this extra bonus.)

I will be judging the bonus points. I plan on being lenient on most of these so as to allow for creativity. You may include in your game's readme which tiebreakers you feel your game qualifies to earn, but be aware that my decision is final.

An author's entries will be awarded the highest number of bonus points possible for that author. This means, for example, that if two authors collaborate on a game, they could each receive a different bonus point for that game.

Each rule is worth one point, even though some rules are harder to achieve than others. A game that earned zero points from all judges may still receive a bonus point.
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Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

Blue Pixel · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:54 pm Post subject:

!? this is awesome. we havnt had an event in awhile. So, when do we start?
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Moogle1 · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:45 pm Post subject: Re: Gameathon 2009

Mariel · Joined: 15 Oct 2008 Posts: 78 Location: In your dreams

Hmm, I might be up for judging, I'll have to see what my life is like in March but you can put me on the list if you like. Might even enter a game myself...

Does it have to be a full game, or can it be a demo?

Jack · **the fool** Joined: 30 Jul 2004 Posts: 773

Moogle1 · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:47 pm Post subject:

I should clarify; it doesn't even need to be an RPG file as long as it is an executable game. In other words, OHR isn't required.
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Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

TMC · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:15 pm Post subject:

Hmm.. I have a bunch of unfinished games I could try to release or rerelease...

Moogle1 · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:37 pm Post subject:

Spoon Weaver · Joined: 18 Nov 2008 Posts: 421 Location: @home

So making more then 8 games doesn't give us any points?

Moogle1 · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:28 am Post subject:

No. Making more than eight games doesn't give you any bonus points. You're still getting the regular scoring from the judges, which will outweigh the bonus points anyway unless all you're putting out are real steamers.
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Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

NeoSpade · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 11:57 am Post subject:

Moogle1 · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:11 pm Post subject:

Yes, or a space cowboy or the untapped space ninja genre. ("Space robots" are no different from normal robots.) As long as they're recognizably pirates or cowboys, it counts. (You don't have to make them wear a pirate hat or a cowboy hat, just make them recognizable as such.)
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Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

TMC · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:47 pm Post subject:

What if you release a game more than once during the contest period? If it's major enough, will it count as a different release? Are judges required to play the latest version of a game?
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"It is so great it is insanely great."

Moogle1 · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 9:44 pm Post subject:

Hmm. Here's how it will work in that case: since a month and a half is a very short period of time to release the same game twice, only the latest version will count. For the benefit of judges who played the earlier version, you may want to summarize any changes between versions.

I think this is an unlikely case, though.
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Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

Moogle1 · Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 2:03 pm Post subject:

Ready set go!

If you're posting an updated version of your game, you'll need to mention it somewhere. New games (any game with an ID over 940, for our purposes) are automatically entered.

To commemorate the start of the contest, I'm releasing an updated edition of Super Concentration Headache Battle Warrior. Look for it in the February issue of Hamsterspeak!

(Note to judges: If you volunteered to judge, you're a judge. I'll PM everyone soon.)
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Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design