I agree. I was annoyed to have to have spent so much time dealing with compressors. I just wanted to write my game.
Also, judging these games is nuts! There are so many, I’ve still got like 50+ left. Maybe my reviews are too long. I’m having fun so far, but there are almost no games I can simply write 3 sentences on, everyone has done so well!
Keep up the great judging! Especially as my game is the last on the list! 
Personally, I wouldn’t mind if the judges got more then 2 weeks to judge, as that works out to be about 5 games to play and review every day!
Yeah, which is probably too much, and is at least more than I’ve been able to get to so far. I’m going to try to play catchup but if I can’t then I’ll likely see if Appel will extend the deadline. Otherwise the last few I review will much shorter.
And I’ve already played yours (and really liked it) but haven’t written a review yet. I’m mostly going in sequential order but I’ve been occasionally breaking that order to review more interesting ones or my favorites (like L4D I already reviewed).
Either way, rest assured I’ll get to all of them.
I have a feeling the judges will need longer time, this is heavy work. I wanted to see how the work progressed before putting down a deadline longer than 2 weeks, but now I realize two weeks are insufficient time. I’ll notify the judges this week, no reason to make them think they have longer time just yet 
Possibly something to think about for next year would be to give each judge a list of the order to use, either individually shuffled or shuffled once and then rotated so that they start at points equally spaced. It’s more hassle for the judges, which I realise is a downside, but the upside is the marking should average out to be more consistent.
Agreed.
Another suggestion for next year: Once the game is finished, show either the full list or none of the 2009 games on the front page; the effect has been somewhat less prominent this year, but last year, the games that were on the front page on the end of the compo were roughly the most downloaded ones.
When I went to the page yesterday it was showing random games from 2009 rather than the most recent ones.
I have already changed the front page of the site. I did it within a few days after the contest closed. Now random games from the 2009 contest are displayed. Maybe the last submitted games received slightly more time on the front page, but in any case this does not affect the judging.
Excellent - thanks!
It’s been 2 weeks =0
The judges will receive 1 more week due to high volume of games. It’s been announced on Java4k.com, and now here.
Hey, give them longer - the quality of the games this year is so good. Let’s give the judges a chance to give them all a fair go. I haven’t played them all yet and I’ve been really impressed so far. This really is a bumper crop. Go Java!
I’m judging also. I’ve finished reviewing nearly 2/3 of the games. It’s a time consuming job, I’m lucky to review 10 games per evening. So, that’s a full week every day 10 games a day. 1 minute to read the game description and instruction, 4-8 minutes playing, 4-6 minutes writing review, 2 minutes clearing the head for the next game. That’s about 15 minutes per game when optimal. You take a 5 min break every 3rd game or so, so with 3 breaks that’s 15 minutes. 10 * 15 + 15 = 175 minutes, or 3 hours just for 10 games.
But it’s fun. As I said, I’m nearly done.
Hopefully we’ll be able to recruit judges next time :persecutioncomplex: ;D
[quote]The judges will receive 1 more week due to high volume of games. It’s been announced on Java4k.com, and now here.
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No need to rush the judges. Perhaps you should actually give them to the end of the month.
Until the results come in, here is what I suggest. Go to java4k.com. Eight randomly selected games will get listed. Post reviews of the first 4 on the list to this forum. Everyone wants feedback on their efforts.