It's competition time!

General discussion for topics related to the FreeBASIC project or its community.
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ssjx
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Post by ssjx »

I'm not going to bother quibbling about my score as i agree with most of it (lacking depth etc...), but i notice there is very little between the bottom scores! All i needed was 4 points and i would have shot up the board! :)

I look forward to the next comp!
ciw1973
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Post by ciw1973 »

Yeah, it was pretty close, but I don't think it's that surprising because the quality of all the games was very high.
Conexion
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Post by Conexion »

anonymous1337 wrote:Hey! Don't make this guy broke :-) Maybe just a free one next time?

If I wasn't 17 and jobless I might consider pitching in for funds for the next compo. Not like I'd manage to make an entry in the end anyways XD
ooo. I wasn't even thinking about a prize. I'd love to do this just for fun and learning. Nothing more :D
anonymous1337
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Post by anonymous1337 »

Yay! :D
vdecampo
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Post by vdecampo »

Congratulations to all the winners!

Well I have a few suggestions for the next FB compo....

1. Must be 100% written using FB compiler, including any external libs.
2. Points given for code style and readability
3. Peer judging should be weighted to only 25% of total score
4. Style and Genre should be determined at beginning of compo
5. *uh - damn, I lost my train of thought... I'll finish in a bit *

-Vince
Conexion
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Post by Conexion »

vdecampo wrote:Congratulations to all the winners!

Well I have a few suggestions for the next FB compo....

1. Must be 100% written using FB compiler, including any external libs.
2. Points given for code style and readability
3. Peer judging should be weighted to only 25% of total score
4. Style and Genre should be determined at beginning of compo
5. *uh - damn, I lost my train of thought... I'll finish in a bit *

-Vince
5. Must provide independent Spanish and Japanese translation?

--

I think a variation on a classic NES game might be a good challenge. This one was more arcade based... Maybe trying to recreate the feel of a Mario or Zelda game might be a good challenge. (of course, on a smaller scale)
ciw1973
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Post by ciw1973 »

Could the three prize winners please send an email to ch ris@ ciw4 2.n et (obviously without the spaces) letting me know how they wish to be paid?

I'd prefer to send your prize money via PayPal, but could arrange something else if you'd prefer.
Lachie Dazdarian
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Post by Lachie Dazdarian »

I know I'm getting old with my comments, but I feel a need to make a final statement on this compo.

The first prize was quite a shock to me as I honestly enjoyed 3 games way more than Orb and felt they were quite superior to it. It's not that I disliked Orb, it's just I find it much, much weaker than Sector Shock, Invader FB and Vandris Escape so my need to point out its flaws more than once results from this, and only this fact.

I can only remain puzzled with people enjoying the controls in this game as I found them rather unresponsive and tedious, especially the unintelligently solved jump feature. But even with a better jump future controlling Orb would and is rather frustrating due slow acceleration. I think the level design is very monotonous and uninspired, all levels looking pretty much the same - long corridors through which you zoom holding the fire key and then going back to clean the leftovers, with minimum controlling involved (for me it was mostly height adjusting to pick up the powerups). There was very little challenge for me until level 9 (second attempt), and the way I died there made me much unmotivated to try again. Around 10 nests hidden in annoying narrow corridor requires little skill or strategy, only buckets of patience and luck once the squids starts spawning from them. For me the game was about wrestling with controls and lack of ammo, and not battling the monsters (engaging, dodging, …), what it should have been.

Therefore, scoring the controls in Orb with 9 to me is craziness. Mind you that I’m not the only one who feels about the controls like this.

I also consider the very gameplay quite shallow and unoriginal, only the rotating projectile spawning being anything remotely interesting. So I don’t get how and why people found Orb most exciting.

I don’t understand your scores regarding effective use of graphics and sound with Orb. I assumed it was how well they will be used, not just used. To me, Space Invaders graphics were used awkwardly in Orb with very little score worthy code generated interventions on the provided graphics, which by my opinion is what had to be scored high, like in Invader FB (which you did) and Sector Shock (which you didn’t compared to Orb). Regarding the sound. Of all the entries Orb featured to most annoying set of picked sounds, those rather ear piercing being played too often. Again, I completely fail to see how you scored Orb more than Sector Shock in this category.

So what is the point I’m trying to make? I don’t know. I’m just quite strong-opinionated when it comes to rating computer games. I believe in something called good taste and like to force my interpretation of it. By my humble opinion, all of you who rated Orb as the best entry displayed the lack of it. If you are one of those who think that all opinions regarding creative work are equally valid, you’ll never be able to comprehend the position where I’m coming from.

I’m not revolted or anything. I will probably participate in the next compo. I only wish you had different taste.

P.S.

Please don’t make the next compo restrictive in the sense vdecampo suggested, like it being 100 % FreeBASIC including external libs. Nonsense.
Last edited by Lachie Dazdarian on Nov 28, 2007 20:44, edited 1 time in total.
KristopherWindsor
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Post by KristopherWindsor »

Are you saying people are wrong to like my game?

Anyway, regardless of scoring, multiple people also thought my game was the best.
vdecampo
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Post by vdecampo »

Lachie Dazdarian wrote:Please don’t make the next compo restrictive in the sense vdecampo suggested, like it being 100 % FreeBASIC including external libs. Nonsense.
Why is that nonsense? These compos (I assume) are supposed to spotlight FreeBASIC and its capabilities (as well as the programmers'). There is no reason why following this rule would be a problem (That I can see). My entry in the last compo would have qualified under this rule as would many others.

-Vince
Dr_D
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Post by Dr_D »

Not to butt in, but that means you wouldn't be able to use gfxlib. :p
DaveUnit
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Post by DaveUnit »

PWNED.
vdecampo
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Post by vdecampo »

Dr_D wrote:Not to butt in, but that means you wouldn't be able to use gfxlib. :p
I thought GFXLIB as well as FreeBASIC itself is coded in FB, as well as FBSound. Am I wrong in this assertion?

-Vince
Dr_D
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Post by Dr_D »

gfxlib is C.
vdecampo
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Post by vdecampo »

Dr_D wrote:gfxlib is C.
DOH! Well that makes my suggestion sound like nonsense then! :-)

-Vince
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