GiaD 2009: Date and rules announced

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ID:81293
 
Sep 4 2009, 5:23 pm (Edited on Sep 11 2009, 7:13 pm)
Keywords: game_in_a_day
By popular demand the dates for the fourth annual Game in a Day event have been chosen, and are the weekend of September 12th & 13th.

Rules are similar to last year:
  • Participants may choose any 'work day' during that time frame as their 1 day of programming. This will hopefully minimize the effects of differing time zones and work schedules.
  • Entries must be made during the time frame. Libraries and other "modules" may be used. Evidence that a project was started or made beforehand may result in disqualification.
  • To prevent cheating, a entries must be based around a theme which will be revealed as the event starts.
  • Anyone who cannot participate on either of the set days can request an alternate date via email (iainperegrine, gmail.com) with the date you can participate (cannot be more than seven days removed from main event). I will email you a theme on that day. Requests for alternate dates must be received before the main theme is announced.
  • Entries must be emailed to me (iainperegrine, gmail.com) before the deadline. Please attach all files needed to compile and run your project.
  • Unlike previous events, participant may request (in their submission email) that their project's source files not be made available to others; in that case only the files needed to host the project will be made available. Participants retain all rights to their own original content.
  • All work must be either original or used with permission, this includes: programming, graphics, sounds, other resources. Works used without permission will be removed before the entry is evaluated. Extensive use of 'ripped' material will result in disqualification.


Each entry will be ranked both individually (complete, playable, etc.) and competitively (1st Place, honorable mention, etc.). Entries will be judged by several factors: Level of Completion (including "Polish"), Gameplay, and Use of Theme. Each entry will receive one of several ranks:
  • Disqualified - Entry failed to adhere to one or more rules of the event, or was not a game.
  • Unplayable - Entry could not be evaluated for gameplay, because features were missing, broken, to cryptic for me to figure out, or otherwise rendered not worth the effort to try and play.
  • Playable - Core aspects of the entry are present and usable without major headaches during gameplay. However, entry may be missing other features, such as ending conditions.
  • Complete - Entry is not only playable, but can be considered a Game, playable from start to finish. Minor code problems may be fixed so as to evaluate intended gameplay, but missing features will not be added. This is a passing mark.
  • Polished - All aspects of gameplay are present and working, bugs and runtimes are (almost) absent, help file (etc.) is present. Game must be of 'qualifying scope', a term I will redefine at will (a polished version of Tic Tac Toe is of insufficient scope). This last rule is only to prevent participants from making overly simplistic (and uninteresting) games so as to achieve a 'polished' mark.


If you have questions about the event, feel free to comment here, post on the forum, or email me. These rules are subject to change up until the event starts.
Sep 4 2009, 5:29 pm
Looks good. :]
Sep 4 2009, 5:55 pm
Can the games be any kind of theme? Or will there be a set theme?
Sep 4 2009, 6:03 pm
Magicbeast20 wrote:
Can the games be any kind of theme? Or will there be a set theme?

The theme is announced at the beginning of the event.
Sep 4 2009, 6:03 pm
Magicbeast20 wrote:
Can the games be any kind of theme? Or will there be a set theme?

There will be a set theme. I just wrote some extra rules to clarify that point. Note that clarification from me rarely is.
Sep 5 2009, 4:24 am (Edited on Sep 7 2009, 5:06 am)
Unlike previous events, project source files will not be made available with the results document unless the participant states (in their email or source code) that the files may be released. Participants retain all rights to their own original content. However, all files needed to run and host the game will be made available with the results document.

This is a little disappointing. I had much fun examining the last event's games, poking fun at the (understandable!) trash and appreciating the relative quality of others. However, I understand that some people may not wish for other people seeing their code, and so allow me to suggest an alternative rule: entries will have their source code made public unless specifically requested not to by the creator. There difference is that where beforehand source codes would only be released on account of the creator's request, now they only WON'T be released on such accounts; allowing for a more gamesome event.

Also, it chances me that I happen to have quite some free time this September, so this makes an opportunity to join GiaD for a change! At the very least, people could amuse themselves on account of MY code. :)
Sep 5 2009, 6:20 am
Yeah, releasing the code is half the fun, it should be a requirement.
Sep 5 2009, 1:49 pm
why is this getting nays? BYOND has the most inane trolls

anyways, on another unrelated topic, will the action/adventure project see some progress after GiaD? the talk of its mechanics has me hungry to see it grow
Sep 5 2009, 3:29 pm
Zaole wrote:
why is this getting nays? BYOND has the most inane trolls

I can think of at least one person who'd have a valid reason to nay this: LummoxJR. Though I doubt he would nay it, he has valid criticisms about its format and time frame.

anyways, on another unrelated topic, will the action/adventure project see some progress after GiaD? the talk of its mechanics has me hungry to see it grow

The action adventure project was going very well and rather fast right up until my development computer caught some virus. Some fake AntiVirus 2009 or something. Until I get that under control I don't want to transfer any files or anything to this computer.
Sep 8 2009, 11:15 am
I done a (rather long) post relating to Game in a Day and documenting before-during-after a project on my blog. Might be interesting to some people, might be a total waste of time :p
Sep 8 2009, 4:55 pm
I just updated the rules. Most notably I added a rule about work used without permission ("ripping"). This has been the policy since the beginning, I just forgot to include it in the rules this year.

Toadfish wrote:
allow me to suggest an alternative rule: entries will have their source code made public unless specifically requested not to by the creator.

Good compromise, though to be honest I didn't know anyone actually examined the source code. I've made this the official rule.

Acebloke wrote:
I done a (rather long) post relating to Game in a Day and documenting before-during-after a project on my blog. Might be interesting to some people, might be a total waste of time :p

Cool, I just read it. Post mortems (if done right) make great reads.
Sep 9 2009, 1:32 am
I'll see if I can find the time to participate - I wouldn't want this to be the only GIAD I didn't do anything for, but it's also my last semester of uni, and I'm drowning in work.
Sep 9 2009, 6:03 am
What are the exact bounds on time? We get both Saturday and Sunday, but the game has to be made within 24 hours?

Must it be made within 24 hours straight, or can you take a nap inbetween those 24 hours and not be disqualified?

Exactly how is this timeframe built up? I'd like to join, but my iconmaker isn't keen on pulling an all-nighter.
Sep 9 2009, 6:24 am
Android Data, it's an event (not a contest), so from what I understand it's going on the honor system. Work on the game for no more than 24 total hours throughout the entire event timespan. It's just a fun thing, sort of a "personal best" challenge.

(tl;dr wait for Iain to reply)
Sep 9 2009, 12:52 pm
Airjoe is correct, we work on the honor system. I don't like to stress 24 hours, though. You could get almost three work days out of 24 hours. I like to think of it as "one work day" however you would define that. If you need to take a break in the middle, that's fine.

If you don't like the "one work day" thing, and would rather take 24 hours at a stretch, that works too.
Sep 10 2009, 10:08 pm (Edited on Sep 10 2009, 10:31 pm)
Well... without a strict 24 hour timeframe, the GIADs really lose a lot of their appeal to me. I like the tension and the stress and pumping something amazing and cool out of that.

Is anyone pitching in for prizes, or is that not going to happen anymore?

And also, is there even going to be top places awarded? Like first place, second place, and third place? Again, I feel that a vital part of the GIAD is the competition. I love to see how well I did, according to the Judges, in relation to the others and I like to see the scores.
Sep 10 2009, 11:12 pm (Edited on Sep 10 2009, 11:17 pm)
D4RK3 54B3R wrote:
[...]

Those are all contentious issues which have come up every year when doing the GiaD. I have strong opinions about how the event should be held, but they may not be in sync with what this community wants. I'm more than willing to consider any input, just keep in mind that I'm the only person judging these entries. Until that changes, the reality of bias in my preferences and judging style must be accepted.

Is anyone pitching in for prizes, or is that not going to happen anymore?
And also, is there even going to be top places awarded? Like first place, second place, and third place?

Purchasing and distributing prizes is a logistical hassle I'm not suited to handle. That being said, the main reason I don't award "1st Place" or anything like that is because a lot of what I do is highly subjective. I play the games, I write up a review, take a screen shot, and then talk about what I liked or didn't like. If there were four of us judging then I could feel more confident about the relative rankings, but until that happens I don't feel that it's fair to the participants to comparatively rank the entries.

I feel that is a vital part of the GiaD, that the entries are evaluated individually, and not comparatively. Each entry is categorized based on completion, polish, gameplay, and use of theme. I believe that any competent developer with a good grasp of the development process should be able to achieve a rank of Complete given the time frame and restrictions. Requiring that they then best all other developers robs them of this achievement.

In the past I have tried to balance both sides in the same document, and (unless someone changes my mind) I'll be following the same basic format. Each entry will be judged according to the criteria and will be given one of the categorizations. Then I will order them on the page according to how well I feel they did comparatively. If you look at the results for 2007 you'll see that JP's Ragnarok is listed first, followed by CaptFalcon33035's Frost Fortress, which are both fantastic games. (I seriously wish Frost Fortress were expanded on, I would probably be playing it right now). Even though there is no formal declaration, I felt JP's was the strongest entry in terms of scope, depth of play, and replay value, none of which are determining factors in evaluating whether or not a game is complete.

I hope that I'm striking a balance, that that both sides can be satisfied with the result. If not, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

without a strict 24 hour timeframe, the GIADs really lose a lot of their appeal to me. I like the tension and the stress and pumping something amazing and cool out of that.

So do I. This has been a concession I've had to make given the geographical distribution of BYOND members. Acebloke and Elation are in England, and isn't JP is Australia? For them, a time frame of 6:00pm Saturday to 6:00pm Sunday doesn't make a damn bit of sense. I'd like the rule to be midnight to midnight, your own local time, but I have no way of enforcing that without giving each time zone its own theme. I, personally, work from midnight to midnight, and I think that anyone else who can get that time free (from work, etc.) should do the same. In the end it does come down to the honor system, but at least it's a fair honor system.

I hope the above addresses your concerns. It is an imperfect system, and if you have any ideas for improvement please let me know. For the sake of clarity allow me to summarize my thoughts:

1. In keeping with the spirit of the event, games are judged individually, not comparatively. Game are, however, ordered (highly subjectively!) in the results document based on their comparative strengths. The first game in the document is analogous to the first place winner in a competition.

2. A strict 24hr time frame is preferable, but not feasible given the worldwide distribution of developers. An honor system wherein developers choose their own 24hr period from a 48hr window is the best compromise I can think of while still announcing a unifying theme at the start of the event.
Sep 11 2009, 4:32 am
IainPeregrine wrote:
without a strict 24 hour timeframe, the GIADs really lose a lot of their appeal to me. I like the tension and the stress and pumping something amazing and cool out of that.

So do I. This has been a concession I've had to make given the geographical distribution of BYOND members. Acebloke and Elation are in England, and isn't JP is Australia? For them, a time frame of 6:00pm Saturday to 6:00pm Sunday doesn't make a damn bit of sense. I'd like the rule to be midnight to midnight, your own local time, but I have no way of enforcing that without giving each time zone its own theme. I, personally, work from midnight to midnight, and I think that anyone else who can get that time free (from work, etc.) should do the same. In the end it does come down to the honor system, but at least it's a fair honor system.

Yeah, I live in Australia - Adelaide, to be precise.

For reference, 6 PM saturday->6 PM sunday in the American Central Time Zone is 9:30 AM Sunday -> 9:30 AM Monday for me - not unworkable, but annoying. I think Iain's done a great job with the GIAD to date, and changing it to an honour-system-based "Do a day's work some time in this weekend" thing is one of the best things I think he's done for it. Some previous GIAD events basically required me to stay up all night - Sunday->Monday - in order to participate, and that is, to be honest, not my favourite thing to do.

I'm also very much behind Iain's way of handling judging, and not just because he liked Ragnarok. Completion is easy to judge, but which games are better than which other games is a helluva lot harder. More judges would certainly be a good idea, though - not necessarily because reducing biases -> maybe comparative judging, but to take a load off. I'm certainly open to helping if it'd be handy, Iain, but I imagine conflict of interest would be a problem...
Sep 11 2009, 9:33 pm
Iain, i have a question. I live in Australia and i am a student. Can i still enter this competition?
Sep 11 2009, 10:07 pm
Gamemakingdude wrote:
Iain, i have a question. I live in Australia and i am a student. Can i still enter this competition?

Of course. The GiaD is a BYOND thing, not an American thing. The event ends on Sunday at 11:59pm eastern time, which is UT -5hrs, so make sure that you get your entry in before that time.
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