[POLL] What should the Autumn 2012 competition theme be?

[Moosader]

There are two categories left (Controls & Story Elements) and both have a tie.
I'll also include some newer competition theme suggestions.

Voting for the Autumn Competition!

2 weeks to vote, 3 choices per person.

How soon do we want to have another competition?
Sept - Nov time period. Two weeks, four weeks, six weeks?

I will go ahead and say, I'm thinking that the winter competition should start in November, and I think the theme should be something like "gift game", or "tweak a little, give to everyone!"

Sorry, I changed the poll options!
The theme of "Use preexisting engine" was a bit vague; what is an engine vs a framework? etc. etc.
So I removed that and the bottom few options.

In my mind, engine was something that let you create a game much quicker than using something like C++ with SFML. Less overhead, etc.

It also tended to constrain what you could make, but also gave you more power to get things done quicker.

I added three new genre constraints (Adventure, Visual Novel, 3D), and if there's a tie or if one of 'em are really popular, we'll merge that with one of the top themes.


Competition Theme Options:
Play as a villain... [stop the hero?]
Whether you're taking over the world, the boss of a crime syndicate, or merely just a cat burglar, play as the villain!

Unlikely hero
Super Granny Sisters, Garbage Man: Revengance, or other unlikely heroes of video games!

One-button controls
The entire game, including menus, can only use one button. On the keyboard. (Mouse could be cheating

Mouse-only controls
Games using the MOUSE (or finger!) only!

Video game adaptation of a movie, theme doesn't quite "go together"
Seinfield Real Time Strategy game? Aliens dating sim? Being John Malkovich the JRPG!
Make a game based on a movie (though, make it a knock-off rather than using actual IP), and make the genre completely opposite!

Language learning game
Make a game prototype to help people learn a foreign language!

Games made with pre-existing engines (AGS, Unity, GameMaker, RenPy)...
This would probably have to be combined with another theme, but making a game with a pre-existing engine: No C++ coding here!

Fan games of other peoples' competition games
Make a fan game of one of the previous competition entries! Of course, we'd have to get the creator's permission.

Update a previous competition entry!
Dust off a previous entry and improve it, or complete it!

[Moosader]

Haha, if "Play as a villain" and "use a pre-existing engine" tie, we should merge both!

I'll make a baddie visual novel / dating sim. xD
"COCK BLOCK" - Stop the hero from finding the girl of his dreams! XD

[Moosader]

"Games made with pre-existing engines (AGS, Unity, GameMaker, RenPy)..." is currently in the lead;

What do you guys think-- do you want it to be a global "Everybody use xyz" (would have to be cross-platform!) or just "use a preexisting engine"?

What would classify as an engine?

I'm mainly thinking of this as "Learn something new!"

I compiled a list of engines and frameworks I could find here:
viewtopic.php?f=80&t=50

Stuff like Allegro, SFML, etc. wouldn't count, but things like Ogre3D, Unity, or GameMaker would.

[Sangfroid]

i was thinking about that just now, too. it's hard to say what exactly is _not_ an engine, so the theme almost becomes "create a game". i don't like the idea of restricting it to a single engine, but it might be fun to have a reasonable selection to choose from or have the community build the list with some moderation regarding whether their suggestion is an engine or not, or you could just define it as anything listed on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_game_engines (including the freeware section at the bottom).

[rabrant]

"Games made with pre-existing engines (AGS, Unity, GameMaker, RenPy)..." Would a game "framework" also be included in that? I've been experimenting with libgdx as of late, and I like it a lot. It has a physics system, as well as convenience wrappers for 2d and 3d graphics and built-in Tiled Map loading. Plus more, and a bunch more stuff that I haven't even got to yet.

So, will that constitute as an "Engine" even though it claims to be a "Framework"?

I'm going to hold off on voting until I can get an answer. Cuz that will be the deal-maker-breaker.

[Moosader]

Yeah, since it's so vague, I went ahead and changed the options. Here are teh original results:

Play as a villain... [stop the hero?]
7
18%

Unlikely hero
0
No votes

One-button controls
7
18%

Mouse-only controls
4
10%

Video game adaptation of a movie, theme doesn't quite "go together"
5
13%

Language learning game
3
8%

Games made with pre-existing engines (AGS, Unity, GameMaker, RenPy)...
9
23%

Fangames of other peoples' competition games
2
5%

Update a previous competition entry!
2
5%

[Ratstail91]

I just had an idea from that engine thing: maybe for the next comp (after this one) we could make a game using other people's code? I have the Codebase and a map editor which I'd love feedback from, and I'd love to see and learn how other people work!

There could be a peer review to choose one set for everyone, or we could choose partners, or we could do a round robin.

If we did this, people who wanted their code used would be motivated to make it better/more usable beforehand, which in turn would help to get them attention.

It could also show people new ways of doing things that they'd never have thought of, which is pretty cool in my books.

[Moosader]

It's really close but "Play as Villain" is currently in the lead! Voting ends Sept 11th!

[Lith]

Looks like "Play as a Villain" wins.. Will this be combined with another option? Like "one button controls" for example.

[simon17]

Looks like "Play as a Villain" wins.. Will this be combined with another option? Like "one button controls" for example.

I think it ought to be. You could make any game Play as Villain, just by saying the main character is bad. ("You are the evil Mario, trying to kidnap the Princess, who is under the protective custody of Bowser")