When was the last time we had a Christmas Competition? Let's get into the spirit of the holidays and into the spirit of game-making with a grande-sized challenge for the ages! 'Tis the TDC Extravagameza, a year full of creation and a year full of fun! Can you take on a dare as big as this? That's right folks, this competition will be one full year long! That isn't to say you have to work on your game all year. You can work as much or as little as you want, unless of course you want to win!
What's the theme, you ask? If it's a year-long competition, then it ought to be a theme that emphasizes that, no? Well, then how about this? Games in this competition will have a full-year real-time clock! What? Too much? Not so fast! It doesn't have to be based entirely around the clock, simply containing a significant amount of real-time fun! In reality, the only sure rule here is that you'll have to incorporate the four seasons into the gameplay or story. Anything else is up to you. Maybe you set your game up to include major holidays, or play out days and nights, but whatever you do, make it count!
Now, let's get down to the nitty-gritty of things. What exactly do you have to do? What are the rules? Well, the nice thing about this competition is that I'll tell you the rules! So nice, I know.
1. The game can be made by any means (Click, Construct, Game Maker, Javascript, whatever. Paper and pencil games probably won't score well ).
2. Groups are eligible to compete, but the prize will go to whoever submits the game.
3. It has a limit of 20 mb (exceptions can be requested).
4. It must incorporate the four seasons significantly into the gameplay/story (simple graphical changes do not suffice).
5. You have one year to complete the game. The game must not have been started before December 21st, 2009, but you may use engines, sounds, etc. that were made before that day.
6. Any genre is eligible.
7. You cannot use copyrighted properties unless they are your own or you have express presentable proof of permission to use.
8. Games must include a splash screen of at least 2 seconds with the TDC Extravagameza logo, and the creator(s) name(s) during the game's startup sequence.
9. There must be based some element of the game based around the computer clock (realtime.)
10. While the game must revolve around the seasons, it must be possible to beat the game without having to play during all seasons.
11. Games will be accepted at any time, and can be resubmitted until December 21st, 2010. Games will not be judged or played by the judges until that date.
12. Games will be due for submission on December 21st, 2010, one year after the competition's start. To submit a game, you must DC mail it to Jon Lambert or another admin.
The judging criteria will be as follows:
Gameplay (how fun it is to play the game) 35/100
Graphics 10/100
Sound 10/100
Programming (lack of glitches, bugs, freezing) 15/100
Real-Time Clock Usage 20/100
Originality 10/100
And now for prizes! Clickteam has decided that, provided there is a good number of entries, and out of their exceeding generousity, the number one Click-made game in the competition will garner $250 for its' creator! Second place, or if a non-Click game is to win, will receive $100 or a free copy of MMF2!
So, you've got a year left. Let's get moving folks! I want to see some spectacular games come out of this competition!
On with the boring confusion of rules discussions!
The one thing I'm not so sure about it the "real time clock." Do you mean the calendar? Like, the seasons have to match up with the calendar, so when you're playing the game in the fall, it will be fall in the game? Or real-time clock meaning what time of day it is according to the Windows clock, and just create a schedule for the seasons based on what time of day it is?
Either way, a year long competition is kind of odd I think. I think a couple months is long enough. I'll consider entering if I ever finish my main project, by simply altering the game I'm already making to fit a seasons theme.
Seasons should follow the calendar, Spring starting somewhere around March 20th, Summer on June 21st, Fall on September 22nd, and Winter on December 21st.
A year gives anyone the time to make a completely-perfect impossible-to-beat-in-competition game, as well as allowing anyone to start almost any time and still win.
I am definitely entering. But I have a problem. Currently, only non-Click game making products are available to me but non-Click prizes are not as good. This would naturally incline a competitor towards MMF2 and Click products. I personally don't care about prizes, but I think that because you give extra prizes for using a good tool and you posted it on a Click community site then more people will use Click products for this competition.
Awesomeness is Watermelon.
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The reason clickteam products get better prizes and non-click products get a free copy of MMF2 is because as you can see the prizes are FROM clickteam. : /
Originally Posted by AndyUK I'm fed up with competitions. Damnit why do people insist on continuously creating new competitions when everyone ignores the ones currently running?
Originally Posted by Watermelon876 I am a bit fed up too. Nobody at all cared about my compo and both Console Wars 1 and 2 lay forgotten.
Responses like these are part of the reason that the competition is one year long, so that other competitions can continue to exist with less interruption. If this one is one year long and another competition is a month or two you could easily pause work for a bit and go into that one instead.
I front paged the Console wars. Compo burnout? Slow bit in the forums? I don't know. This compo is long-term, so perhaps one more relaunch of the console wars complete with fanfare and a non-hospitalized organizer is in order? It's also a pretty specific compo. I didn't want to enter because of the format. Maybe it played a role.
It is strange how compos catch on or not. The summer compo we had not too long ago was so epic! And people just don't want to participate in too many compos at once, maybe there should just be a break from them...?
But I figured it would not be done until the beginning to middle of 2011...
I think I can finish either the first town now and fill it full of even more activities than normally planned, or get the first two towns done and enter it with them.
Originally Posted by FlyingPigBoy Can we work in groups? Either way, this sounds awesome. I will (probably) enter this, if I find the time.
BTW, what do you mean by "real world clock"?
Rules have been updated to include that groups are acceptable, but the submitter will be the one to receive the prize, and that "real world clock" means that the seasons start and end on the same dates as in real life, using something such as the Date & Time object to determine that in-game. The dates would likely be March 20th, June 21st, September 22nd, and December 21st.
Originally Posted by Wiiman I think I can finish either the first town now and fill it full of even more activities than normally planned, or get the first two towns done and enter it with them.
I'm going to have to say that if we allowed products started before the due date it would be mighty difficult for some people to even try and compete, so...
Updated the rules to say so.
Originally Posted by Wiiman But are demoes are acceptable?
Oh wow, a proper length compo for once! If this kicks off it could bring out some proper fleshed out games.
I'm not in but I can't wait to see the games for it.
This reminds me of Lego Loco. It would change everything to Halloween-themed objects and have snow and stuff. There'd better be some stinking awesome entries to this. Oracle of Seasons, anyone?
Does it have to be corresponding with the seasonal attributes? I want my game to be set in a reverse world where summer is winter and vice versa. Also would season hopping be possible? I want an item that allows the user to temporarily chnage what season it is to complete some objectives.
Awesomeness is Watermelon.
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Seasons should be based on real-life time and real life seasons. I suppose it should be all right if summer is cold and winter is hot though. It really just sounds like you're swapping the names.
Remember that one should not be required to play during all seasons to win. How does the item work? Is it multi-use? How long will the change take place? I won't be accepting the Rod of Seasons because it defeats the purpose of the clock.
Hmm, i remember playing one of the Bubble Girl games ages ago in which she could transform into different elemental forms. It was an idea i wanted to rip off, er, i mean was inspired by. Now i have a kind of excuse to imitate it - seasonal forms!
Implementing a real world clock might be another matter. Maybe have four levels, but you can only play one level at a time depending on the time of year? .
This item is to prevent having to play all four seasons. If you try to take a story mission but are told you are in the wrong season, you can undertake another mission to access this item. This item will allow you to create a temporary reality warp to another season so that if, suppose, ice is blocking your path to your objective, you can activate a reality warp to summer and bypass it. You can also get one of these items as a very rare random drop from defeating a strong enemy. (maybe Level 350 and up) Certain bosses will also drop it. It has a limited range and only works for two real time days. I wanted it one, but worried that may be two short, then three, but I figured that was too long, so I settled on two. In case they have to leaveafter playing the item. This way, you don't have to play all the seasons. Also, stronger players who beat lots of levl 350 and up enemies can undertake *some* seasonal quests without having to wait. To limit this, I think I will only allow you to amass three of these warps per season.
Another difference I want to make is have day be dark and night be bright. Light has the potential to damage you but at times where there is shorter days (winter or in realtime, summer) there should be moreprotection from the light. Also, do you mind if I have more than one type of gameplay? One is top-down action (think Zelda) for overworld and towns. Another would be farming to get items and such. The next is after you get your spaceship, for some top-down shooting in space and certain vertical shooter missions. With the spaceship, you can also explore more areas and travel quickly from one area to another. Lastly are some good-old action platformer segments. And of course, the minigames. Wow, it seems a lot more when I write it down. Also, in each type of gameplay, you can transcend your bounds to go a spirit-realm type place. I initially imagined it as only a battle mechanic to transcend and use powerful attacks, but the more I thought about it, I realized it could be useful for exploration. You have to return to your body within a certian time limit, though or you lose all the equipment you had on you. It basically counts as a death.
Awesomeness is Watermelon.
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I have no problem with any of those ideas, Watermelon876, except... would it be too much trouble to make the item affect only the surrounding area? So that it doesn't turn the entire world to summer, just the area you're in? Having it change the entire world seems a bit much. It sounds a bit pushy on the rule, especially since you'd technically be playing in those seasons in game. Also, I don't get this idea:
Originally Posted by Watermelon876 In case they have to leaveafter playing the item. This way, you don't have to play all the seasons.
Jon_Lambert, just something I noticed that you might want to fix and clear up:
There are two Rules Number 12s.
12a says there's a 2 second splash, and 8 says 3 second.
12b is the same as 11, basically.
Also, don't you think this will be difficult to judge? I mean you'll have to keep changing your system clock to the different seasons, and you may or may not get all of the holidays.
Don't you think it'd be a little nicer if each game had a small menu to enter a code to force a season or date?
Holidays are not a requirement. I'd have to change my system clock four times: play every game through, then go back and change the clock, play each game once (I don't have to play a large amount because it shouldn't be necessary), and repeat until I've played all seasons in each game. I suppose for the submission version it might be handy to have such a feature. I'll think about it.
Meh, i was just planning seasonal-themed "quests", four levels (you START on the one that is the current season your system clock is in, but then play through the other three) and then a final one (as all four seasonal ones would have to be the same difficulty as they can all be the "first" level). The quests would be related to seasons, for instance in winter you have to get the christmas decorations from the loft, in summer you have to find stuff to take to a festival in the garage and the like. Except in dream sequences so these quests take the form of huge nightmarish platform games.
I mean some people might find it easier to do a day and night game.
Take a vampire game like Boktai for example. Your enemies would be stronger at night and weaker during the day.
Or you could do a werewolf game where you get stronger at night and dependent on the moon(You can find the moon phase feature on the callendar object btw)
You can do a day and night system. The rule says "It must incorporate the four seasons significantly into the gameplay/story (simple graphical changes do not suffice)." and I will allow this to be interpreted as either/and/or. The easiest way to do this as I imagine would be to have one world, and the world changes over the seasons, things freezing over and melting, trees growing, mudslides, weather, etc.. You would play in this world for the whole game, but the areas you could go to or the quests you could engage in would be altered by the season. Another would be a branching path game, where the level you go to next is determine by the path you've taken and the current season.
Either way, having seasons affect the gameplay and/or story doesn't prevent a person from making a game revolve around day and night, or any other feature.
just putting it out there, I think this idea is one of the worst ever. not so much the theme.. but having a year long compo.. it will probably be forgotten about in a few months. having a 20 event compo lends itself to lots of entries because people can take a break from working on their 'big' project to spend a week or two working on the 20 event game.... but a year long compo kind of makes me think some people will attempt a year long project that will ultimately fail.
That's your opinion. Good to have one. CONTEST TIME!
"it will probably be forgotten about in a few months."
Doesn't happen if it gets promoted properly, and those who are competing won't forget.
"having a 20 event compo lends itself to lots of entries because people can take a break from working on their 'big' project to spend a week or two working on the 20 event game..."
Having a year-long compo means you can devote as much or as little time as you want. Maybe use it as a side project for whenever you get creator's block. You don't have to work on it all year. Virtually anyone can enter at virtually any time and still make a competitive product.
"some people will attempt a year long project that will ultimately fail."
And they will be all the better for it, for they will have learned from the experience. In addition I should think you'd have a good idea of how well you'll do if you've been working for an entire year.
But that's just my opinion. Maybe I'm not getting some of the logic.
haha i'm not trying to be a hater, I just think this compo is doomed to fail, but maybe i'll be wrong... I have one more complaint "Clickteam has decided that, provided there is a good number of entries" haha I would feel sorry for anyone who works on a year long project only to find no one else submitted an entry and so, no prize for you...
i would possibly enter if the season theme wasn't real time based... many more creative ideas would be possible if the game was about season/season manipulation, but as it stands now you're just making a game that is a marginally different experience depending on what time of year you decide to play it.
also i live in Australia and our seasons are backwards.
There's not much I can do about the prize parameters, since I'm not the one providing the prizes.
How much of a difference, what the changes are, are all dependent upon the creativity of the creator. If it is only a matter of changing the graphics each season then that's a fault of the creator, not of the theme.
If your seasons are backwards it doesn't matter because they're all there. Winter doesn't even have to be snowy if there's no snow that season.
well the problem with having it real time is 'you have to be able finish the game in any season' if you ever played zelda oracle of seasons for example, you'd see how creative the puzzles were that involved doing things in 1 season that changed things in another.
there is a reason why 99.9% of games don't use a real time clock, because there is only so much you can do with them. with an artificial game world clock you could create a seasonal farming simulator, a seasonal puzzle game, any kind of adventure game where seasons play a big part in progressing etc. a farming simulator with 3 months of the same season would be boring, imagine a zelda game where you can't progress past the ice temple until the ice melts in 2 months time etc.
haha anyways that's my thoughts concluded, it's your compo so do as you please
Since it won't be long before I get Raycaster for Christmas, I do have a question. Is it okay if I use Doom 1 & 2 sprites? As they are in technicality "open source" as Doom mods containing them aren't illegal, yet full doom engine creations containing them are not allowed.
To get to my point, is it okay if I use Doom sprites if I properly credit id software? Or if I contact them and get permission?
What I meant was have an object that can project a kind of field of summertime around it so that you could perhaps pass through some ice. It would be limited to only one area. The effect lasts for two days. That's a lot simpler isn't it?
Awesomeness is Watermelon.
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Originally Posted by Watermelon876 What I meant was have an object that can project a kind of field of summertime around it so that you could perhaps pass through some ice. It would be limited to only one area. The effect lasts for two days. That's a lot simpler isn't it?
Originally Posted by Matthew Wiese Since it won't be long before I get Raycaster for Christmas, I do have a question. Is it okay if I use Doom 1 & 2 sprites? As they are in technicality "open source" as Doom mods containing them aren't illegal, yet full doom engine creations containing them are not allowed.
The Doom sprites, sounds etc are NOT "open source", only the source code is. The clue is in the word "source" .
iD said they wouldn't "go after" people who use mildly-edited Doom resources in thier own Doom wads, for instance re-coloured barons of hell. However it's frowned upon to insert unedited Doom resources into your own wads, as it both breaches copyright and, as the people playing it will already have the Doom iwads, be wasted bandwidth anyway.
Not that i care overmuch, and i love fan-games and crossovers. Just clarifying .
Jon, do you have to use the system clock? Or would it be acceptable to create some way to hook up to a weather website by using the user's ZIP code then change the game based upon the current weather? I'm not sure how simple that would be, but it'd be a rather cool game to play with.
Thanks for the clarification Deathbringer, I didn't really know what to call the sprites. Because I know you can create your own wads from their source (as I have done many times) but I wasn't so sure about the sprites. Thanks for the help.
I don't really see the point in a year-long competition. If someone's going to spend a whole year on a game, they're going to make it exactly the way they want it - and not change anything just to meet someone else's fairly arbitrary criteria.
I also don't think you should be starting another comp now, just as the 20-event comp has begun.
What always seems to happen, is someone announces a competition, and then all of a sudden, another 5 are launched. Consequently, none of them get enough entrants, and they're all forgotten.
Much better to just run the one "definitive" competition at a time, and publicize that as much as possible.
Personally, I'd like TDC to have a kind of competition waiting list. Let people suggest competition formats, and then each month, have everyone vote on them. The most popular comp idea would be run that month (unless there's a major comp running on another site, as with the current gamebuilder comp). The rest would have to wait until the next month before they can be voted on again.
Having a monthly competition roster with each compo listed up to two or three months away is a great idea. With that, there could also be a yearly compo to sum them all up and the end of the year.
@Sketchy The reason for a year long compo is just that, so you have enough time for the 20 event compo, and others which are a month or two long. So you can work on the game for the year long compo in bits and pieces throughout the year.
Originally Posted by FlyingPigBoy I dunno about this...
With this much time, It just seems like the winner will be the one with no life who works the most.
You could work an entire year and still churn out a piece of crap.
Originally Posted by Sketchy Personally, I'd like TDC to have a kind of competition waiting list.
Are you talking about TDC competitions or competitions in general?
I'm talking about TDC competitions - you can't control what people do on other websites.
At any given time though, there seem to be 3 or 4 contests on TDC alone, and they're effectively all in competition with each other. Noone has time to enter more than one or two, so they all suffer (or fizzle out altogether).
If another site's contest is getting a lot of entrants (esp. if clickteam are putting up the prizes) then it's stupid to try and compete, so under those circumstances you would just postpone that months comp.
IMO the actual contest theme/rules don't matter that much anyway - most people would rather enter a lively contest with plenty of quality entrants, rather than one with a more interesting theme but only two other entrants.
By TDC contests I meant ones that TDC admins organize, and by competitions in general I meant TDC members' competitions. The former could easily be limited and suggestions for them could be taken, but I do not think regulating when members can have a contest is a good idea at all. It's up to them to decide when a good time is. Perhaps we could suggest that competitions should be held off if another one is in progress, but that's as far as I would go.
Also note that at least one or two of these recent competitions that have plagued the forums all at once were poorly organized. I seem to recall one of them being along the lines of "OK SPONTANEOUSNESS FOR THE SAKE OF SPONTANEITY 48 HOURS GO MAKE SOMETHING GO GO GO GO GO!" Even when we only have one competition, that doesn't guarantee a good turnout.
I'm in.
Just some things i feel i need clarify. I'm somewhat new to this site.
- I don't get the 'judging criterias' 35/100 means its more inportaint than 10/100?
- A prize is only awarded if 2 or more have entered the competition? Dave C said somthing about this
- Do i loose any rights to the creation i submit, by including the TDC Extravagameza logo, or in any other way by entering the competition?
- Does each playthrough necessarily have to play through all 4 seasons, or is it enough that its probable and possible to play through them all?
- Is there any problem having the game take a long time to complete? Not saying you have to play as long
- Does my 'time'n date' changing utility have to affect my windows clock directly?
-No competitor has to make the time-and-date utility, because I will make it and provide it for the judges.
-The fractions 35/100 and 10/100 and the like are the number of total points possible for that category over the maximum score, so in a way it does say what is most important.
-You do not lose any rights to the creation at all by including the logo or by entering the competition. The logo is necessary to both confirm it as a submission and to help prove you made it.
-The rule says it should not be necessary to play in all seasons. It's okay if the game is long though.
-The "minimum number of entrants" clause exists because if only one or two people entered then they would be sure to getnthe prizes and it wouldn't be much of a competition.
I would actually be up for such a long compo - but the theme has several flaws. You say simple graphical changes will not suffice, yet also be complete-able in any season... so the scope there to include the seasons in any real respect is very small. One route is obviously to create a path-like system whereby you can do different tasks to reach the same point (ie the game's end), but this is not desirable for two reasons; 1. because it creates four times the workload and 2. because much of your game won't be seen by most people. Think about it; if I spend months making a game which is different in every season, and then it gets played when it's released (in winter next year), people are only going to see a quarter of my game. As a more clever poster than me said before, there is a reason why 99.9% of games don't use a real time clock - because it's a bloody awful idea.
And, as Duncan Bannatyne would say, that's why I'm out.
That just sounds like the inability to come up with original ideas
You are looking at this from a completely wrong angle. You are going in thinking you're supposed to make 4 different games for the seasons, and you can definitely incorporate the realtime clock but keep a singular path for the game.
An example of a seasonal change thats not just graphics: have the ground be ice in the winter, so the player slides on it. Or in rainy April, have the player buy an umbrella from the shop, or the rain will hurt your health. Same idea for summer, staying out in the heat too long burns at your health.
The answer is an open world game. Otherwise, my idea was that since I cannot stand less than 100% completion add season specific quests/bonuses for 100% completion, as well as some day specific bonuses. One example would be have dark and spirit attributes be stronger on Halloween. Have an unnatural fog descend on the town and have the town locals comment about it, misspelling unnatural, of course! I thought that I should have postcards hidden everywhere and in different seasons because I restarted an made a game about mail. If you deliver all the postcards, you fight a secret boss.
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Originally Posted by Eliyahu That just sounds like the inability to come up with original ideas
You are looking at this from a completely wrong angle. You are going in thinking you're supposed to make 4 different games for the seasons, and you can definitely incorporate the realtime clock but keep a singular path for the game.
An example of a seasonal change thats not just graphics: have the ground be ice in the winter, so the player slides on it. Or in rainy April, have the player buy an umbrella from the shop, or the rain will hurt your health. Same idea for summer, staying out in the heat too long burns at your health.
I'm not looking at it from the wrong angle - the fact is that most (especially klik) games get paid for a week or two at most, and unless the player tweaks with their system clock, the 'seasonal' aspect of the game is completely lost. How annoying would it be if the only seasonal bit of the game which you had so lovingly created was some ice on the ground? How can you possibly keep the path singular when seasonal variety demands more than just graphical changes? So you buy an umbrella from the shop - so basically that's all that's different in April than any other month - once you've bought it, and are wearing it, is that not just a graphical change in the end?
I'm not against the idea of different things happening in different real-time time-spans (a game which changes with a weekly calendar would be a good thing), it's just the fact that a year-long clock is unrealistically optimistic of a klik games replay value.
I am unrealistcly optimistic about the replay ability of my games. And I'm not making a Klik game either! Wait I suddenly thought of something... Is the game allowed to be commercial? I mean, I would give you a free copy, of course to judge.
Awesomeness is Watermelon.
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This is Koji. Copy and paste Koji to your sig so he can acheive world domination.
Originally Posted by Watermelon876 I am unrealistcly optimistic about the replay ability of my games. And I'm not making a Klik game either! Wait I suddenly thought of something... Is the game allowed to be commercial? I mean, I would give you a free copy, of course to judge.
If you aren't making a klik game, what are you doing on this site?
Originally Posted by Watermelon876 I am unrealistcly optimistic about the replay ability of my games. And I'm not making a Klik game either! Wait I suddenly thought of something... Is the game allowed to be commercial? I mean, I would give you a free copy, of course to judge.
There is nothing limiting commercial games. However, if you win with a non-Click game the maximum prize is $100.
Originally Posted by Watermelon876 I am unrealistcly optimistic about the replay ability of my games. And I'm not making a Klik game either! Wait I suddenly thought of something... Is the game allowed to be commercial? I mean, I would give you a free copy, of course to judge.
If you aren't making a klik game, what are you doing on this site?
Cos I used to make click games. Also, I'm not using XNA, not gamemaker. XNA is exactly like MMF2, but it's completely different.
Awesomeness is Watermelon.
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This is Koji. Copy and paste Koji to your sig so he can acheive world domination.
I dont get all the sobbing over the central theme here, its your job as a designer to make this work and be interesting.
I believe the real-time clock concept is a highly interesting concept that calls for a lot of creativity. If you cant wrap your head around how to exploit a real-time clock element, thats not a fault in the concept, there are tons of possibilities in such a concept.
The 'sobbing' over the central theme is because it is exactly that - it's integral to your game. And I personally believe it's unwieldy and rather gimmicky.
Well, i have no problem with the theme being integrated in my game. I agree that the task at hand might not be as easy as a walk in the park, but i DO see the possibilitys here and i find it a rather interesting challenge myself.
Matt, you are obviously having no influence on whether any of us are entering, so I would politely ask you to save your words, they are doing nothing to harm or help this compo. I feel that these words are pointless.
Awesomeness is Watermelon.
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Why? I haven't read everything thoroughly but I see no harm in expressing thoughts on the compo theme. Especially when they've been expressed in an attempt to make it better.
I'm sorry if i seemed a bit cocky or something Matt. I can understand how this real-time clock can putt restrains on a project, and i probably don't like to be told how to make a game or what to put in in any more than you do. But i believe sometimes restrains can be good for ya, and produce interesting results.
Alright then, I'll say no more on the matter. I was simply stating why the central theme put me off entering the compo, and why it might put off others.
4. It must incorporate the four seasons significantly into the gameplay/story (simple graphical changes do not suffice).
10. While the game must revolve around the seasons, it must be possible to beat the game without having to play during all seasons.
i believe those are a conflict of interests. if the gameplay/story relies on the four seasons, how do you make it "beatable" without having to actually play within all the seasons.
i believe boothman is right to say it is offputting. and its kind of ridiculous. day and night realtime stuff i can understand but realtime seasons? thats a bit of a stretch dont you think?
this is a HUGE limitation on what could potentially be a great competition. since the time limit is an entire year, i might be inclined to try and work up a game if this problem with the realtime seasons is resolved.
Actually, now that I think about it, day/night sounds much better. And I didn't mean to be offfensive. I just don't like useless arguments.But now that I think about it (like I said before) Matt makes a few good poitns such as the average player only being able to see one season. Realtime is good when properly applied such as in Animal Crossing, but only when properly applied to certain genres. Such as those which do not have a win condition.
Awesomeness is Watermelon.
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The player will only be able to see one season if the player only plays the game one time. By having the game change depending on the date/season would add to the replay value of the game, if done correctly.
Hey everyone some vigilante went and made two polls about this and the one leads to the other so I'm gonna post a link to that one so give you opinions and the only reason I'm running on without enthusiasm is because the iPod only has one active page and so if I try to put in both links the page reloads and I lose everything I type and I'm too lazy to go about remembering the number at the end of the other link so yeah enjoy: http://www.create-games.com/forum_post.asp?id=267212
Originally Posted by CakeSpear The player will only be able to see one season if the player only plays the game one time. By having the game change depending on the date/season would add to the replay value of the game, if done correctly.
And how many klik games - seriously now - would you play for a matter of months? I don't think I've ever played a klik game for longer than about two weeks, but even avid players I think would get bored/finish the game in the span of an entire season (which is about four months).
True, most games here (i havent played all of them) arent designed to last months long, but that doesn't mean a click game couldn't be designed to work that long or even longer. And I'm not talking about just adding an enormous amount of levels, or stretching the storyline here.
Ookay urbody, rule change! Realtime and seasons are no longer connected. That is, the seasons do not have to be based on the system clock. However, they still need to be a significant part of the gameplay or story, and you still need some sort of realtime clock aspect. We'll see if I have to change it again. Not many people used the polls...
I don't think you'll have to change it again. I couldn't think of a way to implement real-time seasonal changes in anything other than a game hosted on a server that wouldn't be using the player's local clock (which could easily be changed at any time to cheat the system).
While real-time day/night can still be cheated, I think it's far less likely to happen if it won't give the player any kind of significant advantage (such as progressing through the game more quickly). For example, one of my favorite implementations (and I thought this was the COOLEST. THING. EVER. when it came out) was in Pokemon Gold/Silver. The game featured an in-game clock (which I think could only be set once, at the beginning of the game, if I remember correctly), and when you went out at night, not only would there be different characters out and about, but you could find different Pokemon.
It could still be considered advantageous to cheat this system, but there's less incentive. So you could implement something in the real-time aspect to deter jumping ahead. For example, in Harvest Moon, if you were to somehow jump ahead in time, all of your crops would die. I don't know if it would be possible to make the game "realize" that the player had jumped ahead, though...
Edit: I learned something interesting while typing this. Not capitalizing "pokemon" registers as incorrect in Firefox's spell check.
Yeah they did it in the new ds ones as well. Speaking of which, can't wait for HeartGold and SoulSilver because I never got to truly experience the originals. I played them on an emulator for a while, but never remembered to continue.
Awesomeness is Watermelon.
*／l、
ﾞ（ﾟ､ ｡ ７
l、ﾞ ~ヽ
じしf_, )ノ
This is Koji. Copy and paste Koji to your sig so he can acheive world domination.
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I might try though. I've already got a pretty nice idea in mind.
If this one is one year long and another competition is a month or two you could easily pause work for a bit and go into that one instead.
Maybe I'm not getting some of the logic.
