Adventure Maker Game Design Contest 2008/09

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:05 am

Dear forum members and AM users,

Lyberodoggy and me are organizing the 4th AM contest. And here are the guidelines.

Topic:
You can choose one of the following topics:
1) A journey
2) A fateful day
We have tried to find two topics that are rather open. Please pick one of the topics. You are free to use any title for your game, and also to interpret the topic that you choose in your own way. You can either submit a new created game, or create a demo of a game that you are currently working on. However, for the jury and other players it MUST be obvious that one of the topics is included in the storyline.

Further criteria:
The game must be created with AM (any version)
Only games for Windows; iPhone / iPod touch; HTML (no PSP)
The game can be 1st person or 3rd person
Teams are allowed (however there is only 1 prize for the team)
You must announce your participation in this thread
PG rated (can have blood, dead bodies etc., but no nudity)
Max. size: 50 MB (on request in this thread, the file size limit can be increased up to max. 100 MB on an individual basis)
Language: English

Deadline:
January 31 2009

Prizes:
1st prize: full version of AM (commercial licence)
2nd prize: full version of AM (non-commercial licence); or upgrade from non-commercial to commercial if you have the non-commercial license already
3d prize: Agatha Christie Murder On The Orient Express Game From The Adventure Company) it came with a book but I opened it and took the book out to save on shipping ) I will pay for shipping in the US but will ship anywhere if you help with shipping cost.( Candle)
4th prize: 30 days of free downloading from rapidshare.com ( Candle)

A big thanks to GM-Support for the two first prizes, and to Candle for the 3rd and 4th prizes for the contest! Very Happy

Jury in alphabetical order:
Chromegloss55
Lyberodoggy
Mystery
ZeornWarlock
(maybe Harvester, if he doesn't enter as contestant)

Please post in this thread if you are planning to enter the contest, withdrawal is possible at any time.
If you don't have Adventure Maker yet, you can download it here for free.
All contestants will have to submit a walkthrough to each jury member.

If you have any questions about the contest, please post in this thread.
This post will be updated if there is any important new information about the contest (the definitive deadline, where to upload your finished games etc.), so check back regularly.

We wish you a lot of fun creating your games, and hope that there will be many great entries again Smile

Good luck! Very Happy

Just so the members making a game for the contest know , I have the points now to make the Rapidshare account Very Happy

Candle

Submitted games:
Sandbox for 2poam: Camper Escape
http://www.mediafire.com/?dz9agux3nc0 or
http://www.mysterys-games.ch/contest/camper_escape_ver.3.2.exe

Reneuend: Once Bitten Twice Shy (updated version!)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/hzzjjitzomm/Shayne+-+Once+Bitten+Twice+Shy+v1-2a.zip
Walkthrough: http://www.mediafire.com/file/ymunn0gc4mh/shayne+-+once+bitten+twice+shy+-+walkthru.txt

Shafayat: Life Is For Living
http://www.mysterys-games.ch/contest/life_is_for_living.exe
or
http://sss13x.ucoz.net/Miscs/Lisl.part1.rar
http://sss13x.ucoz.net/Miscs/Lisl.part2.rar
http://sss13x.ucoz.net/Miscs/Lisl.part3.rar
http://sss13x.ucoz.net/Miscs/Lisl.part4.rar
http://sss13x.ucoz.net/Miscs/Lisl.part5.rar
http://sss13x.ucoz.net/Miscs/Lisl.part6.rar
Walkthrough: http://sss13x.ucoz.net/Miscs/LisLWT.rar

Expert Member Joined: 06 Aug 2008 Posts: 329

Those who can draw have an advantage over those who cant. Also, those who have programs to make nice background scenes have an advantage also.

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:20 am

For judging the games, several criteria will be used (like for the previous contest):

- Game play
- Graphics (+ Sounds and Music if available)
- Atmosphere
- Puzzles
- Originality/Player Engagement
- Interface

So graphics is one of the points, but doesn't completely decide about winning. If someone creates phantastic screens but there is not much more to the game, this contestant won't win probably.

Of course possible contestants might have different abilities, and the full version of AM might have a slight advantage, too (but for example, in our previous contest, we had a 2nd place with a game created with the free version of AM).
You can use for example Google SketchUp to create nice 3D backgrounds. It's free, and not very difficult to use Smile

There might be other software, too, that is easy to use to create nice frames Smile

Expert Member Joined: 06 Aug 2008 Posts: 329

Are you the creator of Adventure Maker?

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:48 am

pennsteve, I always liked your games without any special graphics... Mercedes creates nice games too, without ZW's drawing skills...

I emphasize more on gameplay rather than graphics. Well, yes it would be nice to have 3d scenery like in professional games, but still, playing a great storyline via a beautifully designed and original gameplay makes the difference...

EDIT: The creator of AM is Giovanni Albani as stated in the credits of AM.

www.dragcave.net/user/nefertiti1122 · New Member Joined: 11 Sep 2008 Posts: 4 Location: Bulgaria

I`m in, (it`s Nef from GH) Thanks for the GoogleSketchUp hint, I was looking for a nice program to make 3D frames. And your tutorial on how to use AM was really helpful, especially the variables explanation. Embarassed

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:51 pm

Welcome to the forums, Nef Smile

Thanks for your nice words, I'm happy to know that my tutorial for new users is helpful Very Happy

Now take your time to gather some practice with Google SketchUp and AM, and I hope to see a nice game from you in the contest Smile

Good luck!

Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:24 pm

This time I hope I can participate in the contest not as a jury like before but as a contestant... it will turn out in the following month. If I can't do what I want, I will gladly participate as a judge. Will inform you as soon as possible of course. But count me in, I will be on one of the sides for sure Smile

PS: Any chance of increasing the file limit from 50mb??

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 3:52 pm

I could help as a judge, as I will not participate in the contest. No worries, I am not that picky about graphics. Wink

ZW.

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 5:14 pm

@Harvester
Thanks for your participation (as contestant or judge) Very Happy

For the file size: I have an old laptop, and my harddisk is pretty full already. So if we had let's say 8 games with 100 MB each, I would have a real problem. Confused

But if a game is a bit over it (e.g. 70 MB), whereas others are smaller, that would be no problem.
What ranges of file size are you talking about?

@ ZeornWarlock
Thanks a lot! Very Happy

I'm going to add you to the list of judges in the first post.

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 6:45 pm

About 70-100Mbs. I understand that problem, but consider the following: if someone uses e.g. animations and doesn't have a good codec, or more songs with larger bitrates, etc. they must make a shorter game because of the size limit. And I feel I fall into this category since I have the plan, and even if it will be just a chapter of the whole story, I don't want to make it too short for that is not that exciting to judge (at least in the previous contests I prefered longer games if they were good...) and play.

By the way, you don't have to have all the games on your PC the same times if you've got space problems Smile

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 7:09 pm

Thanks for the reply on the file size Harvester Smile

I understand that videos and music can take up a lot of space.

Now, let's do it this way:
The general rule is still (like in the previous contests, too) max. 50 MB. This should work for most participants, just as it did in the past.
However, on request we can increase the file size limit on an individual basis up to max. 100 MB. (I'm going to update the rules in the first post with that)

Upon your request, you can submit a game up to max. 100 MB, Harvester Smile

(Btw, the discussions about alternatives to Google SketchUp have been moved here: http://www.adventuremaker.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4304)

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:40 pm

Thanks for the moving Mystery... Wink

Well, harvester, I really have no problem with the size... I do own 400GB of space and I 'm using less than 100 right now (I formatted Razz

), but bare in mind that in game creation, a strong part that can make the difference is "Optimization", meaning the compression of the whole project. That's what stopped Crysis from being the perfect game: It was too heavy for our PCs because of a bad optimization. Anyways, I can download even bigger games than 100mb, so just decide which will be the limit.

Should there be conditions for the 100mb request?

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:45 pm

100 IS the limit, ZW and me are not in your comfortable situation Doggy Wink

I don't think that everyone will need so much space, so if we have e.g. 2-3 games that are up to 100 MB, and the rest of games 20-50 MB, it's okay Smile

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:49 pm

Okay with that...

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:50 pm

I could be a judge if you wanted.

None of my new projects fit into any of those categories and I'm too busy to start any new ones.

Good luck to all who enter!

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:52 pm

Okay, thanks Chromegloss Very Happy

Gonna add you to the list of judges.

Lol, I think you have enough projects on your shoulders already Laughing

Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:53 pm

Mystery wrote:

Okay, thanks Chromegloss Very Happy

Gonna add you to the list of judges.

Lol, I think you have enough projects on your shoulders already Laughing

Well I've got quite big shoulders... Very Happy

I'll be sticking around here regularly so when you need me just post here or send a PM. Looking forward to it!

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 11:32 pm

Hello everybody,
I desire to participate in the contest and I would like to know how should
I present the game (argument, title, features...) and after finish it what should I do for upload it?.

Thanks.

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 11:43 pm

Hi Vairon,

I'm very happy to hear that you're going to participate in the contest

Sorry, I'm not sure if I understand the first part of your question.
Do you whish to know what information you have to give about your game?

Participants will get information by private message where and how to upload their finished games at a later time. Smile

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 8:11 am

Hi Mystery,
My question is whether you need to show the plot of the story,
if you want to view images, and so on
or simply say the title and the topic is enough. Surely I have not
expressed well, my english is not very good, sorry.

The second part is clear, thank you very much.

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 11:43 am

Thanks for the clarification Vairon.

For the contest, you don't need a presentation of your game.
Give us please
- Title
- Which of the 2 topics you have chosen
- Game size
- Send a walkthrough to the jury members by PM

Of course if you want to post your game in the New Games area after the contest, you can present your game there with the description of the story, screenshots etc.

Hope this clears it up for you Smile

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 5:36 pm

Thanks Mystery, I got it all clear. Very Happy

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2008 11:42 pm

Hi guys, I have not been around here lately, I'm working on my new project for the contest.
I already have the story and I started with the storyboard. I am eager to finish it.
It is amazing what can be done with AM, the limit is your imagination.
Well, I do not know if I can say nothing more about the project. Luck to all Very Happy

Junior Member Joined: 12 Dec 2007 Posts: 11

The 2poam game creator team has decided to enter the contest. I am not sure how to go about this so if there is any special thread for what to do now I'd very much like to have the info, please Very Happy

Forum Master Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 718

Welcome to the forums, Sandbox, and good luck!

Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 9:31 pm

Welcome to the contest 2poam.

At the moment, there is nothing to do than to read the first post, and create your games according to the mentioned criteria.
If there are any questions, feel free to post them in this thread.

Further information will be given later (e.g. where to upload your games).

UPDATE:
The voting for the deadline is over, it's going to be January 31 2009.
(I also updated the first post)

Junior Member Joined: 12 Dec 2007 Posts: 11

Thank you Jaked and Mistery for the welcome. We are looking forward to the contest, and learning new things. Very Happy

Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 11:37 pm

I am entering the contest, though I will happily team up with someone. By the way, there's five judges, how many contestants will there be? Like 7?

Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2008 11:49 pm

I thnk 7 is a good number of entrants, and it could rise up to ten before the closing date...