Castle Paradox

[Fenrir-Lunaris]

Ridiculous Games Contest - 2010

OPENING

The time has come again for the Official Terrible Games contest.

Wait, no, it's not. This is the RIDICULOUS Games Contest. But you should have seen that coming, since I've been dropping hints about it for the past year or so.

This year, there are a few additions and alterations to the rules, which should streamline the process of entry and also voting. I'm looking forwards to the entries this year, and have some interesting prizes to hand out as an incentive. This year's goal is to create the most ridiculous OHRRPGCE game you can.


CONTEST RULES

Previous TGC entries had rather elaborate rules regarding their eligibility, which some people felt detracted from the spirit of the contest, (which was to make a terrible game). And so the Terrible Games Contest went on for a few years with only minor changes to the way it was carried out. These simple rules came about because THEY MADE SENSE, and were EASY TO FOLLOW. Because the Ridiculous Games Contest is its' spiritual successor, it only follows that the rules should be more or less identical.

*0* The most important rule, and the theme of the contest, the "Zero Rule". Your goal is to produce a video game/s that is ridiculous. Katamari Damacy, Muscle march, Nobynoby boy, Irritating Stick, Birdman - attourney at law, etc. This time, you are doing it "for the lulz". You are NOT to make a terrible game. Put effort into this one.

*1* You MUST construct your game/s using the OHRRPGCE engine. Ypsiliform, Werewaffle, Hasta-la-QB, Voxhumana, a nightly version, or even a custom build are acceptable. If you use a version of the OHR that is in testing, or one which is no longer widely available (Yggdrasil, Zoidberg, or the 4 map version perhaps), you MUST package a version of the game.exe so we can play it! In fact, I recommend using a nightly version so you can find and report bugs directly to James, or the other programmers!

*2* The actual opening date for the contest shall be April 1st, and will last an entire month until April 30th. If you begin work on your game within this timeframe and submit it before the deadline, you will not be penalized (obviously). For each day past the deadline your game submission is late, a single point will be deducted from that game's score, to be determined in the voting. If you have begun your game BEFORE this contest was announced; I will only deduct 5 points from its final score - you're already at a disadvantage for not knowing the contest's rules (as nebulous as they may be).

*3* You are only allowed to release your completed game/s to the public on April 30th. This is primarily to allow everyone an equal shot at the prizes, and also to not intimidate potential contestants into dropping out. You may however post spoilers, and screenshots, etc., so long as you do not leak your game early. If you pass it to a few friends/rivals/whatever ahead of time, then I'll be officially taking a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, but your game must be released on the 30th of April. If you release your game before April 30th, I will deduct 5 points from your final score.

*4* You MAY rip and use ANY and ALL graphics from the game "Vikings of Midgard" should you feel your entry will be penalized by other contestants' voting because of a lack of graphical abilities. The game is available in the Castle Paradox download list for you to use for this reason. You may also modify these graphics for your own purposes, but do not claim either the original content nor the modified graphics as your own original work. The same goes for any other games you wish, HOWEVER, you must obtain permission from the game's maker before doing so. That just wouldn't be cool.


WHAT IS A RIDICULOUS GAME?

I will not be judging what constitutes a "ridiculous game". Therefore, I am continuing last year's practice of allowing people to vote for which games were the "best/worst/whatever". Beauty, or in this case Ugliness, is entirely in the eye of the beholder. It is your obligation to construct your game according to your own notions on what makes a game good or bad, so long as it stays within the very nebulous constraints of the contest's theme. All you have to remember, is that it must be ridiculous.

A final point concerning the entries. All the previous winner/s of the contest/s actually put effort into their games - they were fun to play (more or less). This is your opportunity to make the game that you'd have to be criminally insane to produce otherwise, or for which no other contest exists to release one.


VOTING AND SCORING

Voting this time is a bit less complex, and more streamlined than in previous contests. When the contest ends, voting will begin from May 1st to May 14th, effectively giving two weeks to play each game and vote whose games were the best. This is also to collect data for Hamsterspeak Magazine, whose subsequent June issue will reveal the contest winner.

Anyone may vote on the games, and may rate each one on a scale of 1 (awful/unplayable) to 10 (best ). You may have games that have identical scores, if you so choose. What constitutes a bad or good "ridiculous" game is your decision, as is the nature of the contest. Based on the theme of this contest, you must take into account whether the game's creator successfully created a ridiculous game. I will not be checking to see whether your score is an accurate reflection of that, or upon what other criteria you have for voting the way you've chosen. As always, comments on each submission are welcome and ultimately helpful to the contestants. Your score sheet should look something like this:

Scorecard:
Put on socks - 2
Put on pants - 8
Salom Lancoven: Attourney at Law - 4
Cross the street - 10
Barely Legal Seals - 1
Wandering YOU FOUND THE SECRET WORD! - 2

If you fail to vote on any one game, I will assume you DID NOT play it, and accordingly give it an automatic score of 3. If enough people fail to play one particular game, it may quickly rise to the top of the voting and be a declared the winner. Consequently, it is in your own interests to play each game, even if only for a little bit, so you can judge it yourself.

Moreover, if you release your game early (before the 30th of April), you lose 5 total points. Remember, you CAN gather your materials first, just don't put anything together before the 1st!

People who are NOT regular OHRRPGCE game creators are free to join AND vote. This means that PEOPLE FROM OUTSIDE THE INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY ARE FREE TO JOIN IN THE FUN. I fully expect outsiders to rock this contest to its foundation. Unlike previous contests, REGISTRATION ON ONE OF THE FORUMS IS NOT A REQUIREMENT. Total strangers may now participate in the fun.

You may only vote ONCE. Yes, you can vote for your own game. I will officially be taking your votes on a thread to be created at some point in the future in Castle Paradox, and on the Surlaw home of Squids and Walruses, and also on Slime Salad, since some of the entrants may be exclusive to one or the other. I will also be taking Emails at Fenrir_lunaris(at)hotmail.com. Voting shall begin May 1st and will end on the 14th, to allow people enough time to play the games and vote on them.

After the votes have been tallied and the points added up, any deductions incurred on your behalf will be subtracted from your score. At this point, a maximum number of deducted points can be 5, so if you feel you can beat out your competition by a wide enough margin then more power to you. The game with the MOST points on the 14th of May wins, and its creator gets a -PRIZE-!!


PRIZES!!

The point values that each game receives will translate directly into larger and larger amounts of $limebucks on Slime Salad. I have yet to decide on how many slimebucks each point will translate to, but I promise it will NOT BE INSIGNIFICANT. As an added bonus, and because EVERYONE IS A WINNER, everyone will get an amount.

The GRAND PRIZE winner will receive either a cash payment (or equivalent Paypal), AND/OR their game featured as a cover of Hamsterspeak Magazine (at some point, you know how these things go).

Because Castle Paradox offers no such point-money system like Slimesalad does, Games released here for the contest are eligible for the GRAND PRIZE ONLY.

Good luck, and godspeed.

[TMC]

I like the new contest theme/name. So much clearer and easier to grade.

But not going to attempt to enter this year; too busy.

[Joe Man]

I don't know about 1-10 versus 1-5 scales. 1-10 seems a little too precise unless the judging is based on specific criteria, for example humor, gameplay, originality, and use of the OHR engine. The only advantage I can see to 10 point over 5 point is the penalties weigh in less. so it's more forgiving to people who work outside the schedule.

However, I do have some problems with the rules...

First of all, rules 2 and 3 are quite explicitly contradictory. Consider rewriting rule 2.

Second, rule 3 is unflexible. I suggest a slightly broader window for entries. Even a 48 hour timeframe should suffice.

Third, I think there's a bit of a flaw in your scoring system. I'm not sure why you chose 3 (I think on a 10 point scale you meant to make the value 5), but if you do weigh scoring in favor of unrated games, you run the risk of a game being submitted at the last minute so noone has time to grade it, getting automatic points from everyone while only losing a point per day. In this case this is 14 points and that penalty will probably be plenty to balance this loophole, but it's a loophole nonetheless. I suggest a 2-5 day submission window and not allowing late games (if they need recognition just throw a brief "Late Games Contest" judging).

Forth and finally, Vikings of Midgard is in the public domain, and therefor I have no obligation to attribution. End of story. Don't make silly rules.
_________________
"Everyone has 200,000 bad drawings in them, the sooner you get them out the better."
~Charles Martin Jones

Last edited by Joe Man on Fri Dec 13, 1957 1:21 am; edited 2,892 time in total

[FnrrfYgmSchnish]

[Bob the Hamster]

[Joe Man]

[Bob the Hamster]

Ridiculousness = Anarchy?

I can work with that >:)

[Baconlabs]

[Fenrir-Lunaris]

[Joe Man]

[Ronin Catholic]

How will you know the difference between a game I start throwing together tonight and one I've been working on since the 8-bit contest started, but not released?

Because I just told you, fox-boy.
_________________
"I didn't start the flame war;
I don't know what you thought here
'Twas that way when I got here"

"I didn't start the flame war;
I can't understand a word you're saying
nor the game you're playing~"

[Newbie_Power]

[Joe Man]

Ah, very well then. Carry on.
_________________
"Everyone has 200,000 bad drawings in them, the sooner you get them out the better."
~Charles Martin Jones

Last edited by Joe Man on Fri Dec 13, 1957 1:21 am; edited 2,892 time in total

[Fenrir-Lunaris]

Today is the last day to work on your Ridiculous Games Contest games. Are you prepared? There will be a reckoning...



I̪̗̖̤̟̪t̴͉͑͗ͬͪ ̡͚͔̗͉̝̳cͥ͒̑̄ͭͯŏ̙̭̳͚͍̜̖ͨm͖̯͈̳̪͕̬̓̑̌ͦ́e͈̻͎̳̭̽͋̂́́s̘͗ͤ.̡͓̪̪̞̍͑̃̎

[Pepsi Ranger]

On a related note, this is your last chance to take home a double title win, which is what can happen if your game is eligible for the Cliffhanger Contest and you choose to double-submit it.
_________________
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