Castle Paradox

[Pepsi Ranger]

This is for all the people who want to make a game for the next epic marathon. Also, if anyone (like Aethereal for example) would like to host these rules on an official site (like the Epic Marathon site that Aethereal set up the last two years for example), please feel free.

Warning, long post ahead.

Third Annual Epic Marathon Contest

Rules

Table of Contents:

Mission Statement
Purpose
Method of Madness
Rules of the Game
Scoring
Contest Dates and Deadlines
Prizes
Story Elements
Design Mission Objectives

Mission Statement:

The Epic Marathon Contest is the reasonably yearly effort to create a community-based series of games that build in accord with each other as an epic, rather than separately as individual microcosms.

Purpose:

Too often community members produce games that only go so far before the story line completes itself or dies in the making. For those who manage to finish a project, only a few make the decision to expand on the game’s universe to include more characters, locations, and situations to enhance the experience. Even then the creator will rarely take the sequel to promising heights.

The Epic Marathon contests pick up where the origin leaves off. Sometimes it will mean expanding an existing game. Other times it will mean creating a chain of games from scratch. Regardless of the subject, the Epic Marathon Contest promises to tie each game entry into each other to form a singular but ongoing epic that conforms to the main story as best as each designer’s imagination and collaboration skills will allow.

This year, contestants will develop an epic in the style of Zelda, where a legendary hero will arise during times of crisis to protect his land from the enemy who is bent on destroying it. The hero may arise during any of five time eras, depending on when the land needs him most.

Method of Madness:

The epic story will take place throughout five time eras. Each contestant will choose a made up year within the era of his choice to serve as the foundation point for his hero’s arrival. The hero will be the same character in everybody’s entry, though his place in the timeline will be different throughout each game (a la Link).

The story can be about anything. The only stipulations to the story content are that the main hero must have a mission, and that the enemy must have a significant reason for being stopped. The missions and the reasons are entirely up to the designer. It can be epic in scale like the Zelda games, or it can be something closer to home (like the enemy is threatening to poison the town water supply, and only the young hero (who may coincidentally be a farmer for this particular story) can destroy the poison before it’s dropped). The story is completely up to the contestant. The more original, the better.

Rules of the Game:

I am fairly lenient when it comes to contest games, so I don’t hold to many of the restrictions that other contest creators will hold. However, some rules must apply to keep this contest running smoothly, so I will outline them here.

1. Each contestant must base his entry on a given era (outlined at the end of this document). The era can be represented through graphic settings, but the year within the era should be eluded to in some form (either in game, through the “About Line,” or in a text file). For those unaware of the “About Line,” it is the text that shows up in the blue bar at the bottom of the Game Menu in GAME.EXE when you highlight a title.

2. Like the last two epics, the episodes of “Mynorety Whispers” must have a subtitle in the main title (i.e. Mynorety Whispers: Silent Auction, or Mynorety Whispers: Not in the Face for example).

3. Each major element of the game must be credited to someone (graphics, music, story, and plotscripting). I will allow ripping, but the source of the rip must be recognized. You don’t have to credit every individual tile specifically, but you must state that graphics were ripped from Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, or whatever other game you might choose to rip from. Same applies to music. Music from a commercial game can be credited as a whole, rather than by individual tracks. Only specific songs must be credited specifically (i.e. Sting—“Desert Rose”). Anything ripped from public domain sources only need to be credited as public domain. You may NOT rip graphics or music from other OHR games without the author’s permission. Violations will result in immediate disqualification (and a possible ban from Castle Paradox). The only exception is the public domain BAM files that are included with the editor (which we all hope you choose to avoid). You still need to give credit to James and Brian though if you use them (or at least mention that it’s OHR public domain).

4. The first contest required each contestant to draft his or her story line in the dark (no one could reveal his story line to another contestant until the end). Like the second contest, I will be much more lenient this time. This year, contestants will be permitted to post their characters, their towns, and even some screenshots of their games on the message boards. The only thing contestants may not do is to outline his or her entire story line in public display. But what you exchange through private messaging is your own business, not mine. Using PMs for story details allows room for outside collaboration without spoiling your plot for those who want to be surprised, so if you insist on sharing the details of your story, do it there.

5. Anybody can work on any game. One contestant may collaborate on two games, two contestants may collaborate on one game, or all contestants may collaborate on all games. It doesn’t really matter this time around. The stipulation is that only one contestant may take official ownership of the game. Everybody else will be counted as “collaborators.”

6. This contest will be flexible in terms of game design, but there will be a couple things that should be addressed to keep each game consistent with each other. Namely, there should be one primary town and at least one major landmark represented in each entry. I’ll explain those a little more in the “Story Elements” section at the end of the document.

7. Entries must have an ending. Contestants are not required to complete the entire game as the story intends, but there must be a defined point where the program ends. Do not submit a game that hangs (leaving the player wondering if there’s anything else to do). There must be a working “game over” script implemented in the last playable area, and it should ideally show up at the end of a completed game, or at least at the end of a completed act. Please do not end the game in the middle of a scene. That would be inconsiderate to the players.

Scoring:

The games will be rated on a traditional judging system. However, each contestant will have the opportunity to add or subtract points from his or her overall score.

The judging phase will be based on a Top 10 system. If there are ten or more games submitted in the contest, then only the ten favorites must be accounted for in the judging. If there are fewer than ten entries, then all the games must be accounted for. The top rated game in a voter’s Top 10 list will receive ten points, the second will receive nine, the third eight, etc. until there are no more games to give points to.

A game that shows up in its “owner’s” Top 10 will be rated according to how it stands in other judges’ Top 10s. For example, if the owner (Bob) honestly believes his game deserves the No. 3 spot, then other voters must also agree that it deserves the No. 3 spot (at the very least) to garner points. The way this works is that for every voter that votes Bob’s game into the Top 3, Bob will earn a point toward his position maximum. Since the No. 3 spot is worth eight points, Bob must have at least eight voters (including himself) place his game into their third spot (or better) to get the full value. If Bob votes his game into the No. 3 spot, but only two people agree with him, then he will only get three points for his game on his list (one point for each voter including himself). If Bob votes his game in the No. 7 spot (which is worth three points), then he only needs himself and two others to vote for his game in the Top 7 to get the full value of that position. Regardless of where the contestant votes his game, he will gain at least one point (or whatever the point minimum will be) toward his overall score. The minimum point value will depend on how many games are entered. The contestant’s vote will always be worth the minimum.

Additional scores will be awarded under design incentives. Contestants will also be awarded an additional ten points for contributing as collaborators to the winning game (which has the possibility of swinging the winning game in the collaborator’s favor).

Points will be deducted for violations of certain rules. The following list will show the point deduction for violating the rules listed above:

Rule #1: Failure to include the year of the game’s story in either the game, the “About Line,” or in a text file
Penalty — 10 points

Rule #2: Failure to include a subtitle into the Mynorety Whispers title
Penalty — 10 points

Rule #3a: Failure to give proper credit for each major design element (graphics, music, story, and plotscripting)
Penalty — 50 points

Rule #3b: Ripping graphics or music from another OHR game without permission
Penalty — Instant disqualification

Rule #4: Giving away entire story line in public
Penalty — 50 points

Rule #6: Failure to include at least one landmark element from the “Story Elements” section
Penalty — 50 points

Rule #7a: Failure to end the game at the end of an act or the end of the story
Penalty — 20 points

Rule #7b: Failure to properly end the game with a “game over” script (leaving the game hanging)
Penalty — 100 points

Note #1: An additional 10 points will be deducted for each day a game is late in getting submitted to the Game List after the design phase ends.

Note #2: Judges will only be required to play the first ten minutes of your game before being eligible to vote on it, so make sure you make that first ten minutes amazing. The idea is to keep them playing past the ten-minute mark.

Contest Dates and Deadlines:

The contest will be divided up into two phases: the design phase and the bugfixing phase.

There is no start date this time around. Just start making your game whenever you’re ready. There will, however, be a couple deadlines.

November 19 — Design phase ends. Bug-testing phase begins. Make sure you’ve uploaded your game to the Game List by this date. You may continue to work on your game for an additional week to fix bugs or to add those last minute gimmicks that you’ve been eager to include. But penalties will accumulate if the base file isn’t up by this date.

November 26 — Contest ends. All entries must be submitted by the end of the day (in your own time zones). No game will be accepted after 6am November 27th EST.

November 27 — Judging begins.

December 11 — Judging ends. Results will be posted sometime afterward.

Prizes:

A prize will only be awarded to the first place winner. That prize will be negotiable between the winner and I. Everybody else will have the satisfaction of knowing that they contributed to an OHR Epic.

Remember, only one person may claim ownership to an entry. That person will be the winner of the prize. Contributors to the winning game may receive ten points to the overall score of the entries that they own (potentially changing the winner), but will not share in the final prize (unless the winner chooses something that he or she is able to share).

In the event of a contributor taking the lead through the ten-point spike, his or her potential contributors will not be awarded additional points for their entries.

In the event of a tie, each winner must write an essay of 250 words or less why he or she thinks his game is the better of the two (or three, etc.). I will judge which essay is the most convincing (with two other judges giving second and third opinions for objectivity) and award the prize to the last man standing.

Note: A prize will only be awarded if eight or more playable entries are submitted by November 19. For a game to be playable, it has to have at least ten minutes of game time (not including battles) and an ending script. I will not waste my money on half-hearted participation.


Story Elements

Official Game Title:
Mynorety Whispers

Characters:
Mynorety—The hero of the game, he dresses in gray pants, black shirt, has brown hair, blue eyes, and fights with melee weapons (clubs, swords, lightsabres, etc.). He is the one who rises out of obscurity to fight off the impending assault of The Echo. He only speaks when he absolutely has to (which is hardly ever). He typically lets the other characters do all the talking.

The Echo—The villain of the game, always out to cause havoc in Arsevus, he’s burly, surly, and changes appearance on a whim. He has an uncanny weakness to grapes. He is very talkative.

Lonina—The princess who is always giving Mynorety advice, and occasionally gets into trouble. She dresses in blue, wears a tiara, and has blonde hair and blue eyes. She likes to ballroom dance.

King of Arsevus—He’s a nice guy who never really knows what he wants for his land. The Echo understands his weakness and finds ways to manipulate him whenever he can.

Weapons:
The Grapes of Wrath—The weapon Mynorety must use to end The Echo’s terror spree. How this weapon is used depends on the situation.

Landmarks:
Arsevus—The Hyrulean land where our hero conducts his adventures. It sets in a valley surrounded by mountains, with the only passage out leading to the east.

The Village, Town, City—The name is always changing, but its position always remains as the center for market trading, living, and all out having a good time. Sometimes the palace lies in the city, sometimes it doesn’t. Its size depends on its era of existence.

Lake Loch—The major lake of Arsevus, fishing communities tend to thrive along its shores.

Cave Antiphileo—A long winding cave in the mountains that often yields unprecedented mysteries.

Heartfire Forest—Strange civilizations make their homes under these mysterious trees.

Silius Grove—A farmer’s paradise ripe with fields and produce fit for a king.

Cetchacold Swamp—A deadly place that no man of wisdom would dare venture, unless he was trying to kill himself.

Quiet Rush River—A water channel that flows from the mountains into Lake Loch.

Falina Crater—A deep pock in the world that leads to mysteries that most people don’t want to know about.

Keeper’s Keep—A dungeon kept for the worst criminals in the land, which always changes locations.

Herald’s Peak—A lookout shelf of land atop the highest mountain in Aresevus.

Special Notes:
Each entry must use Mynorety and The Echo in some capacity or another. Lonina and the King are optional.

Each chapter of Arsevus must feature the town (or village or city) in some form or another. The designer can decide the town’s name himself.

Each chapter of Arsevus must also feature at least one of the landmarks on the list. More landmarks make for a more completed story, but one is all that’s required.

Eras:
Five eras make up the history of Arsevus. The game designer can set his story within any of them—
Prehistoric (including Ice Age) (years 1-10000 1st Age)
Dark Age (Lord of the Rings type fantasy) (years 1-2500 2nd Age)
Medieval (including Renaissance) (years 1-1500 3rd Age)
Modern (Revolutionary War era to present) (years 1-2000 4th Age)
Futuristic (Fifth Element and Blade Runner fantasy) (years 1-5000 5th Age)

Obviously, the world of Arsevus has bookends like the real world. You can choose the first year of the prehistoric age to set up a creation story, or the last year of the futuristic age to set up an Armageddon story if you want, but it would be more interesting to keep the story off the bookends if you’re feeling so inclined.

Design Mission Objectives:

The design mission objectives are a series of options a designer can take to enhance the experience of playing the game, as well as to make a game out of the design process itself.

Typically, the incentive for taking design mission objectives is to increase your overall score in the judging. For this contest, a designer will receive an additional 10 points to his overall score for each design mission he or she implements (up to three).

Mission #1:
Create an alternative battle style. Obviously the Zelda battle system would be most appropriate for this type of game, but if you have one better, go for it.

Mission #2:
Successfully implement up to three landmarks or more within the game play (in other words, make them fit into the story, and make them fun to explore).

Mission #3:
Design a subplot where another character thinks he’s the hero and Mynorety must convince him otherwise (by rescuing him from a mountain ledge for example).

Mission #4:
Have an intelligent character convincingly use the phrases “I like beans,” “I’ll show you France if you show me England,” “You ever dream of wearing soup on your head?” and “Somewhere in the world, a dog is eating a tangerine” in a single conversation. Remember, it has to be convincing, and the character cannot be crazy.

Mission #5:
Elude to an era of time that you think the hero may have been active in, or will eventually come to, and give a brief back story of how he had, or will overcome evil. The intention here is to try to link your story to someone else’s.

Mission #6:
Use NPC animation to show the story unfolding. For example, if the hero pulls a switch, show it. If the hero drops from a cliff, have him land on his head. If he goes swimming, show the splash in the water. Isolated events don’t count. All action must be shown, not told.

Mission #7:
Implement a clever puzzle (that doesn’t involve NPC-pushing) to unveil a mystery.

Mission #8:
Design memorable characters. At the end of the contest, voters will be asked to name their single favorite NPC character in the series. If yours is picked, you get the points.

Note: Unlike the last two contests, designers will be encouraged to include supplemental materials with the game file, including story documents (a word document outlining any back story or design element that might not be apparent within the game), graphic documents (pictures of your favorite characters), timelines (how your story fits into the overall history of Arsevus), music files (songs about your representation of the character), or anything else you can think of to enhance the game experience. Supplemental materials will be awarded 10 points each, up to 30 points total.

Last Thoughts:

Remember the contest starts whenever you’re ready. Just be sure to have the rough draft file submitted by November 19 and the final draft file by November 26. Keep the stories out of public view until the 19th, and make sure you hook your players within the first ten minutes, because they’ll only be required judge the first ten minutes. Also, outline your design missions in a separate text file just so the judges (and I) know what to look for. And have fun. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.
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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

[Blue Pixel]

now im definatly entering this contest. i call the frist year!
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[Rimudora]

Okay, I'm in. I call Modern Era, year 1000.

[Ysoft_Entertainment]

I call first age year 100
oh, and I am in:)

edit: Hm... first age is kinda hard to pull off, remark me for dark age, year 500
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Try my OHR exporter/importer.
OHRGFX
Striving to become better pixel artist then Fenrir Lunaris. Unfortunately the laziness gets in the way of my goals.

[Moogle1]

Shoot, I like this. A lot.

I'm in for Dark Ages, willing to take team members.
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Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

[Fernurion]

Ok then, Dark age year 500.

Now you know who will come last

[Iblis]

There is a good chance I will want to enter this (depends on how exhausted I am after the 168 hours contest). If I do, I will take Dark Ages as well, year 50. (Changed the year)
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Locked
OHR Piano

[RedMaverickZero]

If I happened to enter this, which I may have time for, I'd go for Dark Ages for sure.
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---------------Projects----
Mr.Triangle's Maze: 70%
Takoyaki Surprise: 70%

[Retrogamer]

Futuristic, the year 4999-5000... there's a lot of potential in an apocalyptic setting, considering the guidelines.

[SilentAngel]

Still haven't decided if I'll enter yet, but if I do, I'll take late 4th age (so year 1800-2000) or early 5th age (1-200ish). Still undecided as to which one as of yet.
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Current Projects:
Hikari no Senshi - Inperiaru Taisen: ~10% Complete
http://www.castleparadox.com/forum/download.php?game=392

Stepmania Online Stats:

Next song to pass on Stepmania: Paranoia Survivor Max (Heavy)
Next song to pass on DDR: MaxX Unlimited(Standard)

[LeRoy_Leo]

I really want to try this again. I feel that I have WAY more advantages this time around than last time. Last time I was REALLY serious about this all summer long, but certain people who controlled my computer privelages did not.

[Edit] I don't know if I wanna do Prehistoric if so many are already doing it. I'll go with Future/Midevil. Turst me. It'll work.
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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. "

[Moogle1]

Re-reading this, I realize that multiple entrants can have the same era. I'll take the end of the prehistoric era and the beginning of the dark ages; in other words, the transition between the two.
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Slime Salad :: Independent Game Design

[Blue Pixel]

o and by the way im doing midevil 1000-1500
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[Ssalamanderr]

I think I will try to enter this contest...

I'm tempted to do a futuristic game and call it "Mynorety Report" but I have some ideas for an industrial story (if that makes sense) so I'll probably do 4th age 50 or so.

Also, Mission #4 is nearly in the bag... I just have to find a way to work in the soup one. Oh, and Mynorety is totally being told he is the chosen one by a Link look-a-like.

Just one question: Should Mynorety never talk, thus keeping the spirit of the Zelda games, or just talk very rarely (or does it matter?)?
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Ssalamanderr's Journal!: http://www.livejournal.com/users/ssalamanderr/

Ukelele no good!

[Pepsi Ranger]