Four Elements - Unofficial Contest?

Well 4 and 5 started the first week of June. And the 1 through 3 started in May. Last year started at the end of September, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if 4E7 starts sometime after January 2009.

SO is there going to be a 4e7???

This is a very old topic. There have been newer topics about 4E7, check this unofficial response:

http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/viewreply.asp?ID=3502383

We could always hold an unofficial contest...

Indeed...
However, I'm quite busy, so I'm not sure whether I'd join atm.

Good idea about holding an unofficial contest.

However, I am in process of programming a game and I want to finish it, not interrupt it. However, I may be able to do both at the same time - my game and my Unofficial4E game.

We could use this forum (GDNet contests) for the Contest. I propose we would follow pretty much the same rules as were in 4E6, same time period, same judging criteria.

Now, heres a poll:

If this Unofficial4E contest started, lets say, 30th October, and lasted for six months, and had interesting elements and a guarantee that it would be judged on time, would you participate?

Quote:

Original post by Lesan If this Unofficial4E contest started, let`s say, 30th October, and lasted for six months, and had interesting elements and a guarantee that it would be judged on time, would you participate?

Whether the elements are interesting or not doesn't concern me. Making an interesting game out of uninteresting elements is part of the challenge, in my opinion.

Whether it would be judged on time or not does concern me.

I would join up.

My main concern is, with a six month time frame, I'd only be interested if there was both a lot of interest and the elements fall into something I would do anyway. The main draw of the contests for me is the community feeling of all working towards a similar goal, so if there's hardly any buzz about the contest there's little incentive. Likewise, if the elements turn out to be too weird, I'm extremely likely to drop it during the concept phase.

However, I'd be at least interested in the concept. I'd probably not use the whole six months, but if it were something I could work on a couple of hours in the weekend I'd be keen. If not, I could always give a hand with the judging.

I would consider joining. One of the main reasons would be like Trapper Zoid said, having a common goal with a group of game programmers. The fun part of this is showing your advancements and comparing them with the advancements of others. Or see what creative ideas others have come up with for the contest.

So for me enough interest would be important. I guess whatever the elements are, some creative thinking would allow a fun game (to make and to play) anyway. Challenging and fun elements can pull a bigger audience though.

Another important item for me would be the minimum system specs. Personally I'm programming in OpenGL 3.x now, so I'd like to see some decent machines (DirectX 10 class hardware) as minimum specs on which the game should run. I'd also really appreciate if Linux would be allowed again as a platform to run on, as Linux is my main development platform.

I'm game. Count on some buggy stuff from LX-Games...
Looking forward to it. And I don't care about the elements, I will definetly find some ideas around "Windows" - "Wow" - "WTF" - "Windle" - "Welcometothebahamasandhaveaniceday".

Well... it looks like it isn't happening right? Not much responses to this topic...
Perhaps if somebody created a special topic for it, announcing a community edition of the 4E contest it would gain some more interest? Maybe if that happened, and the gamedev crew could give it some attention on the front page?

Not really feeling like the person to arrange that kind of stuff... but if somebody else feels like it, that is what it takes to get things going I guess.

I wouldn't mind it, but I'm really quite busy at the moment.

To be honest, for me the competition isn't about the prizes or anything like that - I just enjoy getting people all riled up about the stuff they are working on (especially the unofficial screenshots thread). For the last 4E contest I didn't get any sort of an entry in (I was a full-time student at the time, and getting good grades took priority), but I did plan out a rather thorough game design which is something I haven't done before (or since). To me, that was a learning experience. If we were to have another contest, I might try a bit harder to get an entry in, but for me it's in the learning and the community interaction that I find enjoyment.

For me the same Moe.

Its all about the learning experience and checking out what other contenders are working on. That is the fun part, prices don't mean much. Such a contest might just push you over that edge of completing a game, thinking through a nice concept, etc.

I don't have time now to set up a contest, but I could help thinking about what is necessary (say if somebody would put up a topic in which a community organized contest is seriously discussed) for the contest, what the elements should be etc. I also wouldn't mind spending a weekend on judging games in a couple of months (as long as more people are helping).

Right.

Since I have quite some time now, in October, I will set up the contest, the contest page, the rules, topics etc. It will be very similar to the last 4E6. There wont be any prizes but there will be feedback for every participant and there will be judging. It will be a six-month contest, for both Windows and Linux. If anybody wants to lend a hand, judging, creating logo, suggesting elements, feel free to PM.
I dont mind how many participants there are. As long as there are at least two, the contest won`t be cancelled.

You can imagine it starting at the end of October.

Here we are.

http://fourelementsseven.ic.cz/index.php

I don't expect the contest to have as many participants as 4e6 or even 4e5. But for those of us who will participate I hope you will enjoy it. And since this is a community contest, let us make the rules together:

How should the elements be picked up?
Do you agree with the six-month timeframe?
Do you agree with the judging criteria for 4e6? Do you want other ones, too (for example, Elements Integration)?
Who should judge? A panel of judges who would volunteer to give both points and text feedback to every contestant (my entry, Seven Crystals of Power, has a pretty detailed feedback, for example)?

Thumbs up, Lesan.
Great work. As posted above I don't care about the elements. Timeframe is ok for me and rules of 4E6 are excellent. Can't wait to see your selected elements.
Keep up the good work.

Personally, I would advocate using a different name for the contest, to avoid confusion with the 'official' GDNet competitions.

You also need a decent panel of judges before people are likely to commit to entering. I would be happy to volunteer to be a judge, but it would be good if you are able to attract a few judges with more impressive credentials [smile]

Edit: As for the elements, they need to be a little less obtuse than the last two competitions. Lets avoid a repeat of the 'pony' element, please...

I would also suggest a different name, and possibly a bit shorter time-period, depending on how many people join and how seriously it will be managed/judged. If it's a smaller contest then 6 months seem like a really long time.

EDIT: You could let people suggest elements, then have a vote for the best elements, and take for example the 10 elements with the most votes, and randomly select 4 out of those.

Well I think the idea is good,however,if we are going to do this I must ask the moderators for a little help (like flagging this thread as important or create a new one) [EDIT : I just saw this may be unnecessary since there are not that many threads here]

Also I have an idea for the elements.Instead of picking them by hand why not generate them randomly ?
Here is what this noun generator returned when I ran it for the first time :
1. Aftershave
2. Baby
3. Difference
4. War
As you see the elements are pretty tough :)

Also what do you think of judging the entries by voting?Only participants in the contest will be able to vote, and they won't be able to vote for themselves.