Next competition ideas for theme and start date?

[Steve Elliott]

Er... hold on! I thought Qube was going to state (on 1st September) a mandatory twist on the maze concept in order to prevent people getting started (or too started!) before the compo officially begins?

Adam will be posting screenshots on 1st September 

[Xerra]

Be pretty hard to start work on an actual game considering we don't know the theme or what Qube has in mind for the twist. Best you could do is have a general framework for stuff like controls, scores, saving data etc.

All I've done is had a few thoughts about the types of game I might want to do next and then will see if any of them fit the theme once we know it.

[Xerra]

Adam will be posting screenshots on 1st September 

Don't be ridiculous. Adam will have mostly finished by then   

[Steve Elliott]

Don't be ridiculous. Adam will have mostly finished by then   

lol I know, I didn't want to push it too much 

[Derron]

He will post some screenshots - then 3 weeks screenshots of the tools he writes as his development helpers - and finally submits something.


@ frameworks
I had a look at "godot" some weeks ago - and after frustrating hours of "this does not work?" "this is not possible yet?" ... I recognized how much I needed to code again for basic functionality I have with my "Dig"-Framework for BlitzMax already. On the other hand I get 3D support and more reachable platforms.
I consider such a "simple" entry like for this compo might be doable in godot (or unity or ...) to really see how annoying stuff can become.

So... hmm hmm. If I find the time I might consider (I wrote that already in this thread...) to try out 3D stuff. I _bet_ you will have to get used to a full new workflow than the established BlitzMax-2D-workflow of "rendering, saving as PNG, running a little spritesheet-tool, use sprites ingame". Setting up materials, having lights do their job, getting animation data from Blender to ToolXYZ, running animations...

Just remembers me: when I tried Godot that evening I saw 3D tilemaps (called "gridmaps") are available ... seems they only allow static "meshes" instead of "scenes". Scenes are "objects" in Godot (which can contain scripts, children, ...). Means you cannot create eg. a "ground tile + wall" but needed to have it joined already (single mesh). Not that nice. Means if I want a full fledged tilemap thingy, I would need to write it on my own (again, as I already have some stuff written for BlitzMax).

Regardless of the issues I will surely have: I want to use theses compos to learn something new every time. And this maybe means also trying out other programming toolkits.


@ maze with a twist
maybe require the mazes to twist :-)


bye
Ron

[Qube]

I will be adding in a twist - I’ll decide that when I post the comp to try and make sure we’re all starting from the same point in time.

I know I could cheat and decide what the twist will be and make a start myself but rest assured that’s not the kind of person I am. Also I’m not sure if I’ll get the chance to enter but I hope I can.

Maze - that’s a big theme and I can’t wait to see what you dream up

[iWasAdam]

hmmm. I'm sensing hostility creeping my way 

No. I usually don't start until well after a theme is announced and also make a few u turns along the way. And yep I show pics of what I'm doing as it's much simpler to show that to describe (and that the way I think - visually).

Maybe people don't want to see how a project develops? Maybe I should just wait till the end and post at the last minute with everything all completed - but wouldn't that mean people would complain that someone is just posting pre-existing spam stuff???

I also vote on whether I liked a game, how it played, how it looked, etc. with no pre-judgements on who or how it was done.

And I can work fast because I have a tool chain I am familiar with and I've shared those resources so others can use them freely

And. Just so I don't hurt anyone feeling because there are no screen shots being posted. I thought I'de show part of my dock (at least auto correct didn't jump in there)!

so what do we have...?
blitz basic editor, ted21(dev version), ted21 (coding version), fontsprite editor, fontmap editor, palette editor, qasarardio sound editor, activity monitor.

So no, I haven't started anything... But I do loooove mazes

[Derron]

I am interested in development diaries. So come up with your stories and dev-shots.

Think such stuff always informs the dev on potential issues and can keep up motivation. Of course you can also get dis-encouraged if all users nag you to do this and that.


Won't start with my entry before sunday evening: classic board games with buddies this evening (wife gave me the allowance to leave for some hours - ha ha) and tomorrow is mothers birthday. So this means iWasAdam will already have posted first screens, Qube will still state that he is not sure whether he will join or not. I think there will also be some first screens from other users which will not really hmm "impress" (yet!) so I feel a good chance to join on sunday (or later).
I assume the competition participants will be less than in others and mostly be already registered users. Cash prizes (or other "useful" rewards) are a good chance to attract people. Dunno if it is worth to spend xxx bucks to attract 2-3 new users ;-)


@ twist
Oh, a game about mazes and a 60s rockabilly-star (ohhh let's twist again, ... - someone tried to teach me the twist-dance-moves: throw your cigarette to the ground and tear it apart with your shoe). Enough of offtopic/derailing.


bye
Ron

[BasicBoy]

Of course you can also get dis-encouraged if all users nag you to do this and that.

I think that's the main reason I'll be publishing my dev diary after I've submitted my game (if I get that far!).


David.
--

[therevills]

@Adam - I dont there was any hostility, more harmless pulling your leg about how productive you are!

@Timescale - 6 weeks is great for me, any more and its too much time to dedicate to it or just more time to put it off.

[Steve Elliott]

@Adam - I dont think there was any hostility, more harmless pulling your leg about how productive you are!

Precisely, smiley emoticons on my posts.  Don't be so touchy 

[MikeHart]

So tommorow is the date of the announcement?

[Derron]

Just recognized that today is the 31th of August, not 1st of September. Already wondered why Qube stated that he will announce the theme once he fiddled out one.

Hah, so I can happily enjoy some whiskys today (Lagavulin, glenlived etc.).

bye
Ron

[Steve Elliott]

Hah, so I can happily enjoy some whiskys today (Lagavulin, glenlived etc.).

Then maybe some interesting ideas for the competition will happily present themselves 

[Xerra]

Adam was joking too, guys. Thought it was obvious

Come on Qube, let's hear what you've got planned for us. Twists n'all.