well, its about that time isnt it? who's up for another one in the upcoming uni break? ideas on format/libraries/topics?
MattD
This is just a crazy idea, but what about having something where programmers and artists team up? Of course then it isn't a programmer challenge, so it would probably mean changeing it into like a 7 day game dev challenge or something, but the results would be pretty cool.
Or if not, what about having a programmer challenge that goes for a bit longer? Say 4 days or something?
Or, it would be really cool to pick a free game engine of some sort that everyone has to use. Though it takes time to learn an API...
...still, that could be part of the challenge?
-Just thought I'd throw around some ideas. [:)]
as for the date, i dont know, when does uni finish for you uni student types?
quote:
This is just a crazy idea, but what about having something where programmers and artists team up? Of course then it isn't a programmer challenge, so it would probably mean changeing it into like a 7 day game dev challenge or something, but the results would be pretty cool.
could be fun, but uless you know an artist it makes it a little hard.. :) anyone else like to comment?
quote:
Or if not, what about having a programmer challenge that goes for a bit longer? Say 4 days or something?
i think too many people work fulltime for a longer comp unfortunately. unless theres a 4 day weekend anytime soon ;) (although itd be fun)
quote:
Or, it would be really cool to pick a free game engine of some sort that everyone has to use. Though it takes time to learn an API...
...still, that could be part of the challenge?
any particular engine you had in mind? theres a lot of talk on ludumdare at the moment about open and hardcore entry streams and all that, but i dont think we quite have enough entrants to split the field.
perhaps using a standard API or toolset might be a better option rather than using an entire engine?? especially for things like 2d games?
Matt D
quote: am i wrong in saying that it was open to use artists in the last programming test ?
From the rules of the last one:
quote:?You may work in a pair of two programmers if you wish (the intent that a less experienced programmer can work with a more experienced programmer). No artist+programmer teams allowed!?
I was thinking of something where an artist and a programmer from Sumea team up, and over a period (like a few of weeks maybe), develop a game ? more like the modeller challenge then the programmer challenge in implementation. The benefit being that at the end we would have a cool game that could be added to a portfolio if desired.
This idea isn?t really for a programmer challenge though; it?s a hybrid artist/programmer challenge ? something new for Sumea.
To organise teams, we would just start a thread where people state their skills (what they plan to do) and try to team up with interested people. I think it would be interesting to work with new people, and team work is good experience. Of course, it?s always a problem bringing artists and programmers together! [;)] And it could bring up issues if someone doesn?t pull their own weight.
I guess another option could be just to have a straight programmer challenge that is implemented over a few weeks, like the modeller challenges are. Wouldn?t need to rush so much then! I guess the programmers like the 48 hours thing though.
But the more I think about a Hybrid programmer/artist game dev challenge, the more I like it. Anyone else think so?
GBA development is quite simple as long as you're not worried about performance too much (which shouldn't be a problem with simple games that aren't using much memory etc.).
However, the time required to learn the system would vary depending on peoples experience, which is one of the reasons we allowed the first comp to be done in any language etc.
So, if you wanna do GBA stuff it should be optional IMO.
Artist/programmer teams is a nice idea, but it runs into trouble when communication comes up. I can't really see a 48hr artist/programmer team working unless (like Kane) you actually can talk to the person in reality. Trying to communicate this stuff over the net in such a short period would be difficult.
As far as having competitions over an extended period of time, i think that is a fine idea. I understand that some people dislike this idea because of school/work etc. but i think really you just would have to bite the bullet and resolve that you may not be able to spend every waking minute on it, and just deal with it. With these sorts of competitions it's just not easy to be entirely fair to everyone :) Howver, i think the other problem with longer term competitions, and particularly a group one, is that they do require a certain commitment, which people may be unwilling to do. They may just get bored of the project, or completely run out of time, and they don't want to let other people down etc.
I actually have some fairly crazy off the wall ideas about a next comp which i'll elaborate on in a later post, after oiling them up with a bit of indy conference tomorrow :)
CYer, Blitz
I think teaming up like maybe an artist and a programmer or two or something could work quite well. GBA wouldn't be too challenging, the best thing we could do is to decide on the platform early enough that people could research a little on the GBA without actually knowing what kind of game/theme that they will make.
I *strongly* advise that it be set to the Uni holidays (hehe)
The dates for me and daemin's uni are
7th June -> 20th June is SWOT-VAC (study!).
21st June -> 4th July EXAMS (argh!!)
5th July -> 25th July mid year break (woot!!!).
Cool, another programmer challenge. I'd be up for a side scroller theme this time.
Artist/Programmer team would be cool but we'd need some design time prior to the competiton to coordinate tasks, etc. It can be very frustrating trying to make artists and programmers play nice together, especially under these sorts of time constraints.
As for a date I'd suggest somewhere in the first half of July. All Unis should be on holidays by about the 5th of July (most people will finish earlier if they don't have exams on that date).
The 5th of July (just under a month away) seems like a nice time for everyone, I think. With the modeller challenge coming pretty soon, I'm not sure if the artists are free enough to do two projects if the two challenges run at the same time.
And how long do you reckon the next challenge to be? A weekend or more? A month long challenge?
48 hour challenges are better. Makes you think of what's really needed in a game instead of what you think would be cool tech to research and trying to fit that in to a game that doesn't need the tech. Especially if you find out about the challenge 24 hours before it starts and work out the design and what's needed in that time :)
I like the idea of themes for the programmer challenge, where the programmers can come up with any sort of game to suit that theme and it's really open. Of course, I think we have to be a bit more strict when it comes to voting to stick to the theme this time [;)] Anyway, let me know what you think.
Can you programmers who will be taking part give me a yay or nay on 48 hour, 2 week, month long, topic/theme ideas?
yay 48, nah for anything longer...
we could steal some of the reject ideas from the ld48... there were some pretty good ones there.
I think i like the one or two word themes.. gives more scope because it doesnt nail down exactly what it has to be. Mind you the last one we had here was pretty successfull too. The harder the topic the better :) keeps the game simple.
What date?