Castle Paradox

[Pepsi Ranger]

Okay, I had hoped to get these posted by March 1st, but I missed it by ten minutes, so I lose a few points. But nevertheless the official rules are now ready to be displayed. The design details of the contest will be posted on the day of the contest two months from now.

Some of you wanted to see these rules before expressing an interest. If after reading these rules you'd still like to consider entering, feel free to let me know here. You can also use this thread to voice your opinion about design ideas or anything else that you feel would be relevant.

So without further adieu...


Second Annual Epic Marathon Contest


Mission Statement:

The Epic Marathon Contest is the reasonably yearly effort to create a community-based series of games that build in accord with each other as an epic, rather than separately as individual microcosms.


Purpose:

Too often community members produce games that only go so far before the story line completes itself or dies in the making. For those who manage to finish a project, only a few make the decision to expand on the game’s universe to include more characters, locations, and situations to enhance the experience. Even then the creator will rarely take the sequel to promising heights.

The Epic Marathon contests pick up where the creator leaves off. Sometimes it will mean expanding an existing game. Other times it will mean creating a chain of games from scratch. Regardless of the subject, the Epic Marathon Contest promises to tie each game entry into each other to form a singular but ongoing epic that conforms to the main story as best as each designer’s imagination and collaboration skills will allow.

In 2002, the OHR community attempted to create a chain of games based on the newbie classic Magnus, a game that many of us recognized as “needing more.” This year in 2004, we will leave the world of Magnus behind to create a new world involving three continents, a chain of islands, and a series of renegade kings who abandoned their kingdoms to find a greater fortune oversees. This new world is the home of the Volcanic Kings.


Method of Madness:

The Magnus Sequel Marathon required contestants to create an entry into the Magnus universe by taking an assigned sequel number and build from it a story line based on what he or she thought the creators of the prequel and sequel to his game would develop. The end result was wild both in story development and contestant commitment. By the tail end of the contest, entire installments were missing while others were reassigned due to contestants bailing out halfway through the project. To remedy that catastrophe from repeating, the Volcanic Kings story line will be told according to a timeline, rather than a sequel number, allowing more freedom for contestants to enter or drop out at will.

The epic story will take place within a five-year time block. Each contestant will choose any month of any year that he or she wants to adopt during this five-year time span to represent the chapter that he or she decides to develop.

Story development will have two stages. The first stage will be to recognize and refer to the chapter backdrop, which will be defined at the start of the contest in the epic’s timeline. This backdrop will be part of the epic story line (not necessarily the individual story line), which I will define when the contest begins. For example, if a contestant chooses March 2003 as the entry chapter (if we were basing the game off of this world and this time), the beginning of the war in Iraq could be the backdrop of the story. The game would recognize the existence of the war somewhere in the story line, though it wouldn’t have to directly relate to it. This will serve as the epic’s cohesion factor. The second stage will be to develop the game’s focused story line, which will center on the events of the main character’s life during that month in time. In this case, the designer may choose to focus his game’s story line around a character that needs to find a job on account of losing his old job from complaining too much about the war in front of patriotic customers. Or it could be the story of a girl who journeys to Iraq to smuggle her husband out of the war. Or it could be about anything really. And that will essentially be the design method for this contest.

The epic story line (or backdrop) and its timeline will be revealed on the first day of the contest. The contestant can then decide what kind of story that he or she wants to tell, whether addressing the epic story line as backdrop or directly.


Rules of the Game:

I am fairly lenient when it comes to contest games, so I don’t hold to many of the restrictions that other contest creators will hold. However, some rules must apply to keep this contest running smoothly, so I will outline them here.

1. Each contestant must base his entry on a given month in the timeline. The month and year that he or she chooses must be written out in the “About Line” of the game file. For those unaware of the “About Line,” it is the text that shows up in the blue bar at the bottom of the Game Menu in GAME.EXE when you highlight a title.

2. Like the Magnus games, the episodes of the Volcanic Kings must have a subtitle in the main title (i.e. The Volcanic Kings: Hardened Hearts, or TVK: Blood on the Moon for example). The main title can be spelled out or abbreviated in the game menu.

3. Each major element of the game must be credited to someone (graphics, music, story, and plotscripting). I will allow ripping, but the source of the rip must be recognized. You don’t have to credit every individual tile specifically, but you must state that graphics were ripped from Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, or whatever other game you might choose to rip from. Same applies to music. Music from a commercial game can be credited as a whole, rather than by individual tracks. Only specific songs must be credited specifically (i.e. Sting—“Desert Rose”). Anything ripped from public domain sources only need to be credited as public domain. You may NOT rip graphics or music from other OHR games without the author’s permission. Violations will result in immediate disqualification (and a possible ban from Castle Paradox). The only exception is the public domain BAM files that are included with the editor (which we all hope you choose to avoid). You still need to give credit to James and Brian though if you use them (or at least mention that it’s OHR public domain).

4. The first contest required each contestant to draft his or her story line in the dark (no one could reveal his story line to another contestant until the end). I will be much more lenient this time. This year, contestants will be permitted to post their characters, their town choices, and even some screenshots of their games on the message boards. There will also be a thread for posting story ideas in the “Story Time” thread. The only thing contestants may not do is to outline his or her entire story line in public display. But what you exchange through private messaging is your own business, not mine. Using PMs for story details allows room for outside collaboration without spoiling your plot for those who want to be surprised, so if you insist on sharing the details of your story, do it there.

5. Anybody can work on any game. One contestant may collaborate on two games, two contestants may collaborate on one game, or all contestants may collaborate on all games. It doesn’t really matter this time around. The stipulation is that only one contestant may take official ownership of the game. Everybody else will be counted as “collaborators.”

6. On the date of the contest, I will release the document outlining the story, the continents, and details about the game in general. Because this document is so time consuming to create, I will require that each contestant use at least one town from the list. There will be plenty of room to get creative with the game’s geography (including other towns), but at least one of the official towns must be featured in the game somewhere.

7. Entries must have an ending. Contestants are not required to complete the entire game as the story intends, but there must be a defined point where the program ends. Do not submit a game that hangs (leaving the player wondering if there’s anything else to do). There must be a working “game over” script implemented in the last playable area, and it should ideally show up at the end of a completed game, or at least at the end of a completed act. Please do not end the game in the middle of a scene. That would be inconsiderate to the players.


Scoring:

The games will be rated on a traditional judging system. However, each contestant will have the opportunity to add or subtract points from his or her overall score.

The judging phase will be based on a Top 10 system. If there are ten or more games submitted in the contest, then only the ten favorites must be accounted for in the judging. If there are fewer than ten entries, then all the games must be accounted for. The top rated game in a voter’s Top 10 list will receive ten points, the second will receive nine, the third eight, etc. until there are no more games to give points to.

A game that shows up in its “owner’s” Top 10 will be rated according to how it stands in other judges’ Top 10s. For example, if the owner (Bob) honestly believes his game deserves the No. 3 spot, then other voters must also agree that it deserves the No. 3 spot (at the very least) to garner points. The way this works is that for every voter that votes Bob’s game into the Top 3, Bob will earn a point toward his position maximum. Since the No. 3 spot is worth eight points, Bob must have at least eight voters (including himself) place his game into their third spot (or better) to get the full value. If Bob votes his game into the No. 3 spot, but only two people agree with him, then he will only get three points for his game on his list (one point for each voter including himself). If Bob votes his game in the No. 7 spot (which is worth three points), then he only needs himself and two others to vote for his game in the Top 7 to get the full value of that position. Regardless of where the contestant votes his game, he will gain at least one point (or whatever the point minimum will be) toward his overall score. The minimum point value will depend on how many games are entered. The contestant’s vote will always be worth the minimum.

Additional scores will be awarded under design and timetable incentives. The design incentives will be revealed on the first day of the contest. The timetable incentive will depend on how early a quality game is submitted. Contestants will also be awarded an additional ten points for contributing as collaborators to the winning game (which has the possibility of swinging the winning game in the collaborator’s favor).

Points will be deducted for lateness and for violations of certain rules. Ten points will be deducted from the overall score for each day that the game is late up to seven days. After the seventh day, the game will no longer be accepted. The following list will show the point deduction for violating the rules listed above:

Rule #1: Failure to include month and year of the game’s story in “About Line”
Penalty — 10 points

Rule #2: Failure to include a subtitle into the Volcanic Kings title
Penalty — 10 points

Rule #3a: Failure to give proper credit for each major design element (graphics, music, story, and plotscripting)
Penalty — 50 points

Rule #3b: Ripping graphics or music from another OHR game without permission
Penalty — Instant disqualification

Rule #4: Giving away entire story line in public
Penalty — 50 points

Rule #6: Failure to include at least one town from the “Continents List” (to be revealed first day of contest)
Penalty — 50 points

Rule #7a: Failure to end the game at the end of an act or the end of the story
Penalty — 20 points

Rule #7b: Failure to properly end the game with a “game over” script (leaving the game hanging)
Penalty — 100 points


Contest Dates and Deadlines:

The contest will be divided up into three blocks of time. The first block will be the planning phase, which will give each contestant time to prepare graphics, develop characters, and anything else that he or she needs for the construction of the game. The second block will be the design phase, which will allow the contestant to install the elements and put the game together. The third and final block will be the bug-testing phase, which will permit the contestant time to clean up his or her entry for playability and release.

May 1 — Planning phase begins. All relevant documents will be posted. XP users may skip right to the Design phase on this date. Private Message me first to let me know.

May 15 — Design phase begins. Official game file will be uploaded for the game’s construction. Planning phase may continue.

June 26 — Planning and Design phases end. Bug-testing phase begins.

July 3 — Contest ends. All entries must be submitted by the end of the day (in your own time zones). Time penalties begin after 6am July 4 EST.

July 10 — Judging begins. No more entries will be accepted.

July 17 — Judging ends. Results will be posted sometime afterward.

Note that the planning phase is more of a design challenge than a requirement. Anyone who insists on jumping right into the design phase on May 1st may do so. Just private message me by May 15th to let me know your intention so that I can tell you what you need to change in the game file so that it will comply to the official file.


Prizes:

A prize will only be awarded to the first place winner. That prize will be negotiable between the winner and I. Everybody else will have the satisfaction of knowing that they contributed to an OHR Epic.

Remember, only one person may claim ownership to an entry. That person will be the winner of the prize. Contributors to the winning game may receive ten points to the overall score of the entries that they own (potentially changing the winner), but will not share in the final prize (unless the winner chooses something that he or she is able to share).

In the event of a contributor taking the lead through the ten-point spike, his or her potential contributors will not be awarded additional points for their entries.

In the event of a tie, each winner must write an essay of 250 words or less why he or she thinks his game is the better of the two (or three, etc.). I will judge which essay is the most convincing (with two other judges giving second and third opinions for objectivity) and award the prize to the last man standing.
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Progress Report:

The Adventures of Powerstick Man: Extended Edition

Currently Updating: General sweep of the game world and dialogue boxes. Adding extended maps.

Tightfloss Maiden

Currently Updating: Chapter 2

[Shadowiii]

It all seems fine and dandy to me. I'm in.
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But enough talk, have at you!

[MultiColoredWizard]

Sweeeeet. I'll probably end up being someone's graphic whore, though.

[Kay S]

I'd love to participate in this contest, while hoping that I'll have the time necessary to creat a half-decent game during May. Oh, and I'm an XP user. I'll remember to PM you about this, so you know, when the time comes.

Btw, I'll be known as the Valiant of the Flame from now on.

[MultiColoredWizard]

Why do XP users get to Design early?

[LeRoy_Leo]

*A curse has befallen CP* Leroy Wishes to join... And don't worry about the curse thing. I will be ready to help when the supplies (aka. list of towns and such) are delivered.

PS: Also an XP user... A particularly feeble one... But does that really matter?
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Planning Project Blood Summons, an MMORPG which will incinerate all of the others with it's sheer brilliance...

---msw188 ---
"Seriously James, you keep rolling out the awesome like gingerbread men on a horror-movie assembly line. "

[Sephyroth]

Good to hear that this is going to be based on an original story. You can count me in for sure.
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im realy ded

[RedMaverickZero]

*Worthy* you and me old friend! If worthy goes works with me I am in for sure. Looks like good fun too.
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---------------Projects----
Mr.Triangle's Maze: 70%
Takoyaki Surprise: 70%

[Mr B]

*happy shiver*

Oh, oh, oh, count me in!

Perhaps I will be able to finish a contest game on my own this time. This sounds like it will have enough time for me to make all them little decisions that I obsess over.

Wait a second... Hmm... So the contest will start two months from now? That's May... How long will the game creation phase last? I am certain that you said, but I couldn't find it the second time I read through.

The reason that I ask is because it sounds like this will go right smack dab in the middle of finals. That happened for the Human Day contest, too, which prevented me from completing it. Is this contest in the middle of finals also? (well, depending on when people have finals...)

[Pepsi Ranger]

To answer a few questions:

[Sephyroth]

Hmm.. I remember the Magnus marathon had one of these.. Would someone be allowed to make a "prequel" to the epic? That is, a game that reflects the backdrop story rather than the events that transpire afterwards?
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im realy ded

[MultiColoredWizard]

Eh. The prtscrn thing makes no sense to me.

[TMC]

I will probably enter.. I'll decide closer to the start of the contest.
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"It is so great it is insanely great."

[Pictoyaya]

[Pepsi Ranger]