Game compeition poll - version 2!

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#21

There are other limits which could be used. Like 500 or 1000 lines of code with a max length of 80-120 chars per line. LWJGL/JOGL and the like would need some kind of usable framework in the first (500 line) case. (*)

Or like… only being allowed to use a single 512x512 texture for everything (no draw line, no shapes, nothing).

I mean… it’s a just for fun contest and the barrier should be as low as possible for getting lots of entries.

(* That 500 line (max 80 chars) limit is used for a open source contest currently running (till 15. nov) - you can win two books there.)

#22

I like the idea of providing the content (textures, sounds) to use for the game.
What about a theme as well?
Like “retro ‘shoot everything that moves’ style game”, or “Maze game” or “Platformer”, “Racer” etc, using the provided content.
The theme needs to be broad enough to be able to be not too constrained and have room for creativity, but detailed enough to be able compare the entries (apples to apples and all…)
It would be nice to see what people come up with, when given a certain theme and content.

Just a thought…

#23

I like the theme idea as well. This would give a better way to compare…

If everyone has to make a mario clone, we can actually see which one we thought was the better mario clone, etc…

#24

Uuuuh… mario clone. Worst example ever ;D

A jump’n’run is way too much work and the barrier is also too high. There are just too much things you’ve to care about and scrolling by itself demands lot’s of content.

However, having a theme could be pretty neat. Eventually something like… “single-screen shot’em up”.

#25

WORST?? Come on, I could have said MMORPG :slight_smile:

#26

For size-constrained entries, ‘rogue clone’ theme could be used. There is plenty of tiles available on the net, trick would be to come with some kind of interesting gameplay in let’s say, 4 or 8kb of compressed classfiles (not counting tileset size).

With bigger class size, it would become too serious task. With non-compressed size, you would need to write uncompressing classloader in addition to writing game - and it is not really the point of the competition.

It might be nice to allow usage of jogl/lwjgl if somebody wants to do something funny with graphics.

#27

You can’t meaningfully differenciate code size from assets size. Binary data is binary data, regardless of whether it is a class file, or image data.
If there is a size limit, it must be a limit imposed on the total size of the app. not simply the compiled game code.

#28

While unfair on the other contestants, this does highlight the importance of a good soundtrack.

I think it is often easy to ignore, but the soundtrack is very important in games and movies. While a good soundtrack can’t often salvage something that is bad - it can turn something good into something truly memorable.

Two examples of this are Red Alert (both versions) and Total Annihilation. The latter was innovative in that it changed the tempo of the track depending on the level of action in the game. Both soundtracks are good enough to listen to stand-alone and really add to the mood of the game during play.

Will.

#29

Ok, to state it in different way - in case of rogue clone, I would suggest making few tilesets ‘free’ and count everything besides these tiles and possible libs.

I’m absolutely pro very small code size. In case of jars in 1MB range, this can be full-time job for few months to come up with something which really uses the limits. With limit small enough, size will become limit - and amount of work which can be put into the competition is limited, which is good IMHO. At the same time, in case of free graphics, there is no point in limiting use of them - they will make game look better at very small development cost.

#30

I’m absolutely pro very small code size.

Like 4kb? It’s really painfull… believe me. It cripples structure, good programming practise etc. Size optimisation to the death really slows you down (a lot).

“Or like… only being allowed to use a single 512x512 texture for everything (no draw line, no shapes, nothing).”

I think that could work pretty well… or even 256x256 (65536 pixels)… a texture in that size would fit perfectly (ddraw limit).

The rules should be easy but somewhat flexible and the barrier should be low. The problem with those 4k contests was that a lot of people didn’t participate, because doing a game in 4k is actually more work than doing a game in let’s say 16k. And there might be people who want to use some lib like lwjgl (eg because they want to use some nifty alpha stuff).

So… hmm… eventually…
-2 weeks
-download size of max 256kb for java2d games and max 512kb for opengl games (download size includes libs)
-a maximum of 65536 pixels texture data. Eg one 256x256 texture (embedding pixel data in your class files is not allowed)

A game using lwjgl could use the space like this:
-300kb lib
-up to 50kb supporting classes
-50-100kb for the texture
-20-50kb for the actual game
-remaining space filled up with samples

Something like that maybe? :slight_smile:

#31

Looks like 1mb would be a good limit. There’s a tradeoff in there after all: LWJGL apps lose a third of their available space for graphics and sounds but gain vastly in slickness and special effects capability.

You can’t do much in a meg but you can certainly get a whole decent game together.

Cas :slight_smile:

#32

re: sounds…

I’m in talks with some of the companies that license royalty-free sounds to games studios to do a special free (but non-reusable) sounds pack for a competition.

There’s even some interest in supplying sounds for a series of compos, but don’t get your hopes up yet.

#33

This is a heads-up: JGF v3 is close to being ready to go live. Which means we’re close to actually starting the competition.

I’d guesstimate that the competition will be announced sometime between Dec 20th and Jan 5th, starting probably within a week of the announcement (unless you’ve got better ideas, e.g. “don’t start it until January because we’re all on holiday with no computers until after new year’s eve”).

#34

this sounds good, though i am one of the ones on holiday so january would be better.