2006 PGD Annual 'The Big Boss' Game Programming Competition begins
Dominique Louis
competition, the annual Pascal Game Development game programming
competition is getting underway.
You can register for the competition here (
http://www.pascalgamedevelopment.com/competitions.php?p=details&c=1 ) !!
The competition details are as follows...
This year's game theme title is 'THE BIG BOSS'! Each team or individual
will design a game that features levels and bosses to challenge at the
end of each level. You will do this in a series of stages each with a
set deadline and set of goals to complete for that stage by that deadline.
All the stages are setup to give you an overall progression to follow
with the development of your game. Do each set of goals in turn and
don't fall behind on deadlines! The idea is to help teach you to stick
to a development road-map that will not get you side-tracked and to
plan, design and develop under a steady schedule.
Sponsors:
This year's competition is sponsored by: 3Impact.com, Borland, Delgine
3D Tools, Firelight Studios, Lazy Dog Software, Savage Software
Solutions, Spiral Graphics and the PGD Team.
The Rules:
REGISTRATION: All competitors must register (
http://www.pascalgamedevelopment.com/competitions.php?p=details&c=1 ) to
compete. We will nee your full name, email address and mailing address
to be able to contact you and send you any prizes that you win. You may
register as a team or as an individual. We will ask the team leaders how
they want their prizes split in the case of teams' winnings. All this
information will be kept private and will not be used for anything other
than this competition!
PASCAL: All entries must be made using Pascal, Object Pascal or any of
the Pascal-based languages available. The most popular of these compiler
aned IDE tools are Delphi, Kylix, Free Pascal, Lazarus and Dev-Pascal.
GENRE: Pick and game genre you wish. Either 2D or 3D graphics is fine.
Just make sure whatever game you create is organized into LEVELS and has
BOSSES your player(s) go(es) up against. All else is open for your
creativity.
PLATFORM: The only platforms we will be accepting games for this year
will be Win32 and Linux. We were unable to provide a MacOS X system this
year.
OPEN SOURCE: This year we are letting the competitiors choose to include
source or not. This will allow the games created in this competition and
their engines to be used for commercial use afterwards. The option is
yours, but you don't have to include it to compete this year.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: You will have to design to the judges hardware
specs. If they cannot run it, then they cannot score or check it. See
below for judges hardware and operating system specs.
To be sure that your game will run on the judges hardware by the next
deadline, make sure you submit early enough to make the nessissary
changes to meet it with a working copy, as you will not be able to make
any changes for that submission after the deadline.
STAGES: This year we will be breaking the competition into several
stages. Each stage will have a set deadline. Each stage you will be
given a set number of development goals to complete which will each be
worth a set amount of points.
If you have any number of incomplete goals, you may still continue until
the end!
SCORING FOR GOALS: The first stage (the planning stage) will not be
scored. Each stage after will be scored as FULL points or NO points for
completed and incompeted goals. If a goal is partially completed, it
will be scored as incomplete and awarded NO points.
FINAL SCORING: After all the stages are complete and the final
submissions are uploaded the judges will then begin awarding each entry
with scores for each of # categories; graphics, sound & music, sability
& lack of bugs and fun factor.
SUBMISSIONS: You must submit a working executable on or before each
stage deadline to show your completed goals. If no entry has been
submitted by the deadline all goals for that stage will be considered
incomplete and NO points will be awarded.
Each submission will be either a single archive, compressed with a
common format(Zip, RAR or GZip), that contains the executable and ALL
other required game data and library files that are CLEANLY organized
within OR a single installer that will both install and uninstall cleanly.
The easier it is to setup and run you game on any Linux or Windows
system, the happier the judges will be about trying your entry!
The Stages:
Stage 1 (1 week): Jan 15th - Jan 21st
Planning stage! Plan your game, your engine, level editor and your
initial project deadlines, resources, etc...
Stage 2 (3 weeks): Jan 22nd - Feb 11th
Goal #1 (5 Points) - Make a basic playable game engine.
Goal #2 (5 Points) - Make a basic level editor.
Goal #3 (5 Points) - Create a simple level with editor to test (and show
off) the engine features.
Goal #4 (5 Points) - Include a basic documentation of user controls.
Stage 3 (3 weeks): Feb 12th - Mar 4th
Goal #1 (5 Points) - Add basic enemies to game engine.
Goal #2 (5 Points) - Add player pick-up items/weapons to engine.
Goal #3 (5 Points) - Design a better level to test out new features.
Goal #4 (5 Points) - Provide an 'exit' for the level.
Stage 4 (3 weeks): Mar 5th - Mar 25th
Goal #1 (10 Points) - Add a boss to your level that you fight to finish
the level.
Goal #2 (10 Points) - Basic 'game over' death sequence. Player must be
able to die.
Stage 5 (3 weeks): Mar 26th - Apr 15th
Goal #1 (10 Points) - Engine must allow you to play more than one level
per play. Design a minimum of 2 levels to be played by optional
selection or in sequence.
Goal #2 (10 Points) - Add basic menus, game options and settings.
Stage 6 (3 weeks): Apr 16th - May 7th
The last run for it!
Add to your game any way you like,the final result must have:
Goal #1 (2.5 Points) - Create a min. of 3 playable levels.
Goal #2 (2.5 Points) - Add game music and sound effects.
Goal #3 (2.5 Points) - Have a game splash screen showing your game's title.
Goal #4 (2.5 Points) - Add an in-game list of credits listing all
involved of it's development.
Goal #5 (2.5 Points) - Have a minimum of 2 mini-bosses you must fight in
the game.
Goal #6 (2.5 Points) - Have a minimum of at least 1 kind of enemy per level.
Goal #7 (2.5 Points) - Add an ending sequence of some kind.
Goal #8 (2.5 Points) - Add and design The Big Boss at the end of your
game that is tougher than the mini-bosses.
Final Scoring:
Stage Goals (Stages 2-5 Tallied) - 100 Points x 3
Graphics (Judged Score) - 100 Points x 3
Music & Sound (Judged Score) - 100 Points x 3
Game Stability (Judged Score) - 100 Points x 3
Fun & Innovation (Judged Score) - 100 Points x 3
Total Score - / 1500 Points
Prizes:
1st Place
- A copy of Borland Delphi 2006 Architect - $3,490 USD value
- A copy of Userbase from Lazy Dog Software - $60 USD value
- PGD & Savage Software Solutions Ltd. will sponsor the team that wins
for the full entry fee into the 2007 Independant Game Festival!
2nd Place
- A free Shareware Licence for FMOD playback engine from Firelight
Studios - $100 USD value
- A Licence for the 3Impact Game Engine from 3Impact.com - $99 USD value
3rd Place
- A copy of DeleD Pro from Delgine 3D Tools - $63 USD value
- A copy of Genetica 2 from Spiral Graphics - $399 USD value
Best Of Categories (Best Graphics, Best Music & Sound, Most On-Time,
Most Innovative)
- A specially designed, one of a kind Coffee Mug stating your game's
winning category! *
* Graphics designed by Alexander Rosendal and materials & printing
supplied by CafePress.
Judges:
Dean Ellis
Dominique Louis
I hope to see you competing.