It's competition time!

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

Whoops! I meant to put duke4e, not KW. Edited that. ; )

Also, there is a gameplay hint in green (I think) that tells the holding shift trick. Can't remember if I put it in the readme or not.

Thanks for the support, Lachie. I'm a big fan of your game design, so I appreciate the encouragement.
Lachie Dazdarian
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Post by Lachie Dazdarian »

ciw1973 is a promise breaker.

:P
ciw1973
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Post by ciw1973 »

OK, my flight only landed 30 minutes ago, so I'm a bit rushed here. It's just a good job I only live 20 mintues drive from th airport.

I've totaled the audience scores and am posting up just the scores so you have the results ASAP. I'll edit this and add my comments later this evening.

The results are as follows:

Final Invader - ChangeV

Effective Use of Graphics: 25
Effective Use of Sound: 15
Game Design: 17
Presentation: 10
Originality: 8
Depth: 7
Gameplay: 9
Controls: 10
Progression: 9
Replay Value: 5
Effective Use of Random Numbers: 1
Audience Appreciation: 15
TOTAL: 132


Vandris Escape - vdecampo

Effective Use of Graphics: 15
Effective Use of Sound: 10
Game Design: 10
Presentation: 7
Originality: 5
Depth: 5
Gameplay: 5
Controls: 6
Progression: 7
Replay Value: 6
Effective Use of Random Numbers: 2
Audience Appreciation: 11
TOTAL: 90


Orb - Kristopher Windsor

Effective Use of Graphics: 23
Effective Use of Sound: 13
Game Design: 20
Presentation: 9
Originality: 8
Depth: 10
Gameplay: 10
Controls: 9
Progression: 10
Replay Value: 10
Effective Use of Random Numbers: 1
Audience Appreciation: 13
TOTAL: 137


Invaders - ssjx

Effective Use of Graphics: 15
Effective Use of Sound: 10
Game Design: 12
Presentation: 8
Originality: 6
Depth: 5
Gameplay: 6
Controls: 6
Progression: 7
Replay Value: 8
Effective Use of Random Numbers: 3
Audience Appreciation: 5
TOTAL: 87


Invatris - Lachie Dazdarian

Effective Use of Graphics: 18
Effective Use of Sound: 8
Game Design: 13
Presentation: 8
Originality: 4
Depth: 6
Gameplay: 8
Controls: 7
Progression: 7
Replay Value: 7
Effective Use of Random Numbers: 5
Audience Appreciation: 1
TOTAL: 92


Sector Shock - Ryan

Effective Use of Graphics: 20
Effective Use of Sound: 10
Game Design: 18
Presentation: 7
Originality: 10
Depth: 7
Gameplay: 6
Controls: 6
Progression: 7
Replay Value: 8
Effective Use of Random Numbers: 4
Audience Appreciation: 9
TOTAL: 111


Amaranth - duke4e

Effective Use of Graphics: 17
Effective Use of Sound: 10
Game Design: 13
Presentation: 6
Originality: 5
Depth: 4
Gameplay: 7
Controls: 7
Progression: 6
Replay Value: 5
Effective Use of Random Numbers: 3
Audience Appreciation: 7
TOTAL: 90


Unnamed - aleofjax

Effective Use of Graphics: 15
Effective Use of Sound: 9
Game Design: 12
Presentation: 7
Originality: 7
Depth: 5
Gameplay: 5
Controls: 5
Progression: 6
Replay Value: 4
Effective Use of Random Numbers: 2
Audience Appreciation: 3
TOTAL: 80


So, that gives us the following top three games:

1st - "Orb" by Kristopher Windsor - 100 GBP

2nd - "Final Invader" by ChangeV - 50 GBP

3rd - "Sector Shock" by Ryan - 25 GBP
Lachie Dazdarian
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Post by Lachie Dazdarian »

Bah, I so don't agree with the first place so I'm eager to hear your elaboration. Controls 9?!?! Effective Use of Graphics 23?!?

Anyway, I'm glad at least Ryan got a prize. Sorry about Vince. He also deserved one.

I scored the worst with the audience? Sniff...
duke4e
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Post by duke4e »

Effective Use of Random Numbers: 3
If you haven't noticed, whole levels are random. If that ain't effective use of random, than damn it!

Controls: 7
1:1 mouse to player ratio ain't good enough?

Replay Value: 5
[cough] random levels [/cough]

Presentation: 6
Did it have title screen - yes
instructions - yes
Did it have a proper ending - yes


All in all, either you really like different kind of games than me or you just randomized scores for other than 1st three prizes.
KristopherWindsor
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Post by KristopherWindsor »

I won!!! Well that is all I can think to say for now. ;-)
duke4e wrote: Replay Value: 5
[cough] random levels [/cough]
Even with random levels, it all seemed fairly repetitive.
Actually, hand-crafted levels may have been better because you could makes some combinations of aliens appear at once for more interesting situations.
ciw1973
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Location: Isle of Man (United Kingdom)

Post by ciw1973 »

I'm sorry you feel I've judged your entry too harshly, but I still stand by my scores.
duke4e wrote:Effective Use of Random Numbers: 3
If you haven't noticed, whole levels are random. If that ain't effective use of random, than damn it!
And if you notice, you scored as well as other games using random numbers in a similar way. Lachie scored the highest as his game was the only one where the random elements were core to the game itself.

For what it's worth, I didn't really think many of the other games made particularly good use of random elements, and in some cases they were ill-judged and the random elements could make things too difficult at times ("Vandaris Escape", which scored the same as your game, because his used random elements to generate the cavern as well as enemy positioning/firing etc.) or mean you simply had to wait around for ages doing nothing (aleofjax's entry) so I wouldn't be too upset about that if I were you.

duke4e wrote:Controls: 7
1:1 mouse to player ratio ain't good enough?
Using the mouse made the game *way* too easy, especially as you could simply hold down the left button to fire continuously.

Using the cursor keys, the ship movement just felt too linear. If you'd added some inertia to the player's ship, then I actually would have given you an additional point. Believe it or not, that actually went through my head as I was scoring your game.

duke4e wrote:Replay Value: 5
[cough] random levels [/cough]
Yes, but there's very little new after the first few attack waves.

I know the order may be different each game, but the game plays the same over and over, and if you're using the mouse it also presents surprisingly little challenge.

Getting past the first level does reward you with the space level, which I personally think is much more visually interesting than the first one, but then the action is still the same until the boss, and dealing with him (or her?) presents no new challenge either, just more shoot and avoid.

duke4e wrote:Presentation: 6
Did it have title screen - yes
instructions - yes
Did it have a proper ending - yes
I'm certainly not saying the presentation of your entry was bad, but if you compare it to the other entries, in my opinion they were just better.

duke4e wrote:All in all, either you really like different kind of games than me or you just randomized scores for other than 1st three prizes.
I marked all of the games separately, and then when I compiled them, I did tweak the odd mark here and there where two games scored the same in a particular category, but I felt that one game was actually better. There was no totaling until I was completely happy with the individual scores relative to each other.

It's interesting to note that I put your game in exactly the same position as the other competitors did.
ciw1973
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Post by ciw1973 »

KristopherWindsor wrote:I won!!!
You certainly did.

A truly magnificent shooter on many levels, which breathed new life into the graphics and sound provided, which was an important part of this challenge.

ChangeV had you beaten on the controls, presentation, effective use of graphics and sound, but there wasn't much in it, and I think the consistently high scores elsewhere are all thoroughly deserved.

I know some people didn't like the controls, but they reminded me a lot of the magnificent "Wizball" from back in the C64 days, and getting to grips with the controls of that game also paid huge dividends. Whilst I got by just fine the first time I played your game, by the second game I was fully able to control the orb, and began to genuinely enjoy the way the control mechanism worked.

Whilst playing the first two levels I was sure you'd made it all too easy, but when ammunition became scarce from level 3 onwards, it required a major rethink of tactics and the clever level design shone.

I felt that the level design and orb controls were perfectly matched, and whilst it's always possible they just fell into place, I suspect there was actually a lot of tweaking as the game and levels developed. ChangeV's rock sold, very immediate and intuitive controls across 3 completely different sub-games, combined with the need for you to explain the "two second jump" rule to players, are the reasons he took the 10 points in the controls category.
anonymous1337
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Post by anonymous1337 »

Congrats, everybody! ^.^;;

Sorry I couldn't enter. Studying soooo much :D It's a lot of fun to study, but I've been following along with the competition too . . . sorta.
Mysoft
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Post by Mysoft »

CONGRACTULATIONS FOR ALL o/

the result surprised me a lot, even i have loved Final Invader, but i not tough that it will get that good position ^__^

anwyayz...
Orb - Kristopher Windsor

Effective Use of Graphics: 23
care to explain how you end in this conclusion? ^^"
Conexion
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Post by Conexion »

So when does the next competition start? I came in a bit late for this one, but would love to try the next one :)
anonymous1337
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Post by anonymous1337 »

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
KristopherWindsor
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Post by KristopherWindsor »

ciw1973
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Post by ciw1973 »

Mysoft wrote:
Orb - Kristopher Windsor

Effective Use of Graphics: 23
care to explain how you end in this conclusion? ^^"
Certainly, but first I need to make it clear that the marks in this category were for how effectively the *original* graphics were used, and not how good they looked after processing or in conjunction with graphics generated in code. I did make this clear, and it's why despite being extremely impressive visually, I didn't score duke4e's game as highly in this area as I think some people might have expected.

Like ChangeV, Kristopher used the graphics to build up larger objects rather than just using them exactly as they were. The main "orb" is a good example of this, and the fact that the shots come from the orb's turrets shows that the actual shape of the graphics is integral to the game, rather than just being aesthetic.

Using the invader's shots for the sections which provided lift to the orb was again a good, effective and novel use of the graphics.

Little touches like using the "+" sign for stars in the background to give a simple parallax effect as well as using an invader for the menu select indicator were also nice uses for the very limited graphics provided.

Again, if you look at the relative scores in this category, then I feel that they are all as they should be relative to each other. I guess I could have given one less point to "Orb" in this category, and one more to "Sector Shock", but this would make no real difference to the scores and none to the overall positions.
ciw1973
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Post by ciw1973 »

Mysoft wrote:CONGRACTULATIONS FOR ALL o/

the result surprised me a lot, even i have loved Final Invader, but i not tough that it will get that good position ^__^
The only real problem with Final Invader was that it was too easy and a very short game, and was penalised for this in the Replay Value and Depth scoring categories. In pretty much all other categories it did well, and thoroughly deserved to.

Final Invader was the one entry where I felt the programmer had taken a good look at the scoring categories and made sure his game ticked all the right boxes. It looks great, is has variety, a true sense of progression, it uses the graphics and sound very well (especially in the second level), the controls were pretty much perfect and very intuitive, and the presentation was superb. There was a lot of very nice programming went into this game, and all those cut scenes and mid-game stuff in the final stage are tricky things to put in well. It also told a story and the dialog was quite funny, something which I liked a lot.

Had it been a longer and more challenging game then it definitely would have been destined for first prize.
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