Build & Win Contest: Judging Criteria

[BlueScope]

Heh, not what I'm saying XD
No, I just meant to say that if you're going with he innovation approach, you need to sacrifice a lot more (and risk a lot more the further you take it) than if you're just going for strict bug extinction in a basic game. That aside, a ruling system that works for programming tasks doesn't have to work for other areas. But that kind of explains the whole thing I mentioned...

Either way, I was not and am not trying to argue the system, so yeah ^^

 

[Venetia]

Bump: The OP was updated to clarify a couple of things and be a little easier to read.

 

[PixelRebirth]

Good to get a detailed overview on how the judging will take place. Seems like a properly thought through process, although I'm a bit alienated by the whole marketing aspect of this contest. Time spent hyping a game is time lost for actual development. And with a running time of a mere month this is problematic in my opinion.

 

[Venetia]

A very nicely done thread with no outside marketing at all will still net you a 2-3 (so long as it's a really nice thread!). Making social networking pages takes very little time at all. Linksharing and posting in other peoples' threads to help them is just a flat-out nice thing to do

A good part of making a good game is in making it stand out and having the masses play it! What is a game if it is not played?

Anyway if you feel like you may be lacking in any department, then that just means you need to work that much harder on the other departments ... ;o

And also guys: It will be HUGELY unlikely that ANYONE will get a perfect score. Don't shoot for perfection ... Shoot for the best you can do in the time allotted :D

 

[Glitchfinder]

If I gave myself a score using the criteria given, I think it would be along the following (including tiebreakers):

Stability: Currently, between 2 and 3, depending upon the release. Typically, it goes from 2 to 3 pretty quickly. I seriously doubt it will ever be rated a 4 by a programmer. (Programmers know there is no such thing as being bug free in something this complex)
Fun: Either 2 or 3, depending upon preferences. The game is not quotable as amazing, although it can certainly be addictive. It's not incredibly fun, and it tends to be a bit challenging.
Innovation: I would have to say a solid 3. While there are games that play in a similar fashion, the design and actual gameplay differ enough not to seem like a rip-off or clone. However, I don't really think it's unique enough to warrant a 4, especially seeing as it IS a sequel to a similar game for RPG Maker XP.
Graphics: This one, I'm unsure on how to rate. It's two criteria in one. The graphics, in a sense, are totally unoriginal. Yes, I made them myself, but 2D blockworld has been done from here to the ends of the earth for over two decades now. However, I believe the graphics are utilized quite well for the format, making it clear when something can be interacted with (potentially in a deadly fashion!), and when it's just a static block. The graphics will be changing (COIN animations, for example), but as it is, I would probably rate it a 2.
Sound: The sound I would rate a 2-3. I'm not particularly sure on how original it is, although I know that by the time games were able to reproduce the audio I use, that kind of synth had mostly fallen out of fashion. However, I think the sound effects make it quite clear when something has happened, and so I think it's worth the score.
Marketing Relations: As Ven herself has said, in this category, theory and I would score a 4. We're hyping the game, we're social networking, we're responding to feedback and improving the game, and we're challenging the players to prove their worth and strut their stuff.
Public Vote: I honestly can't say where this would fall, as I am not everyone here. However, based on the popularity of my thread, I would guess it would probably score at least one point.
Community: This is my weakest area at the moment. I'll be working to fix that in the coming days, but as it is, I would score a 1 at best, simply because I haven't posted much of anything to help anyone here.

Totaling it all up, I would have given myself between 15 and 19, and in the event of a tie, would have given myself between 17 and 21. Hopefully, I can improve that score as time goes on, because some of the competition is obviously going to do better than that.

 

[BlueScope]

Just because I seemed to miss is... who are the judges anyway? Seems to me that Fist and Ven are among them, but I must've completely missed any information given regarding that :blank:
Ah, and one more thing I wonder... which category (if any) would game magnitude be factored in? As in, one level to play vs. ten levels to play (assuming there's no difference between them already in other categories).


I felt the same way as PixelRebirth about the marketing thing, even all the way back when there just was 'hype your game, it will affect your standings'. On second thought, though, it makes sense to rate a game based on that, and even though I'd consider that a strong point of mine in general, I don't think I'll pay too much attention to it here, as getting my game out in the state I want it to is more important to me. I think it's a nice and different criteria for a contest, even though it'll definately hurt me here.
As far as social media and userbars go... I don't know, it just seems artificial to me. Except for posting other's userbars on the same page your game is (I just saw that on the Pinball's page... liked it a lot), it seems like "hey look, I get points for posting userbars in my signature - sounds easy enough!". I don't know, it's not really my kind of thing to promote everyone else blindly, so even though it'll give me a massive pushback in score, I'm afraid I'm willing to take that punch...

I also made that point statistics for myself I saw Glitch and EventingGuy do before... right now, I'm nowhere near where I'd like to be to still make it to the Top 12/Top 3, but who knows what'll happen.
As far as Glitch's statistics go, I'm following very close though... makes me wonder if those ranges of points really will make the race in the end, because of what Ven said about perfect scores won't be reached...

And just why am I not thinking positive things about the public vote :huh:

 

[Venetia]

You guys are too pessimistic. What do I keep saying? Just do your best and you will be rewarded for the work you put in.

As for the public's vote ... The game that scores highest in public opinion wins 2 points towards the 6 possible tie-breaking points. If games tie in public vote then each game tying for 1st place in public vote wins 2 public vote points. Anyone under #1 in public vote ranking won't earn any points from it.

Also I'm not giving out the precise list of judges until after judging is done.

As far as social media and userbars go... I don't know, it just seems artificial to me. Except for posting other's userbars on the same page your game is (I just saw that on the Pinball's page... liked it a lot), it seems like "hey look, I get points for posting userbars in my signature - sounds easy enough!". I don't know, it's not really my kind of thing to promote everyone else blindly, so even though it'll give me a massive pushback in score, I'm afraid I'm willing to take that punch...

It sounds to me like you're thinking too hard.

Marketing and hyping isn't about thinking too hard about how "artificial" a ploy may be. It's about spreading the word any way you can.
You don't have to do linkshares. You can do whatever you want. But if you make a real effort in garnering interest in your entry, why should that go unrewarded?
Remember that even if a marketing ploy is done, and it only ends up garnering one single click, that is one click you wouldn't have gotten if you hadn't have done it.
It's about effort, and how much effort you're willing to put into it. If you want to expend your effort elsewhere, then please do! You'll make up for the points in other categories.
And being innovative in advertising is sometimes just as important as making a good product.

Some game devs are all about marketing, and not so much about making a good game. So their game may sell more than it should, but it not be reviewed or remembered well.

Some game devs are all about making a good game, but do nothing in marketing. So their game will become another great game that no one hears about or plays.

And a few game devs spend extra effort in both game development AND marketing -- and those are the games which are good AND sell well.


P.S.: Any time you spend arguing this post could be better spent in marketing or development of your entry! :D

 

[BlueScope]

Heh... yeah, I definately would agree on the last part if I wouldn't have posted from work

And yeah,I realize how the whole marketing apperatus works, but I rather make a game so good it'll spread through word of mouth. Might not be factored in in your scores, but definately sounds like a good excuse not to spend too much time on it :D

K, actually gotta go back to my game... there's interface to be done :/

 

[Glitchfinder]

Heh... yeah, I definately would agree on the last part if I wouldn't have posted from work

And yeah,I realize how the whole marketing apperatus works, but I rather make a game so good it'll spread through word of mouth. Might not be factored in in your scores, but definately sounds like a good excuse not to spend too much time on it :D

K, actually gotta go back to my game... there's interface to be done :/

Damn. You're working on the interface now. You're one of the best GUI developers I've ever seen, so you've probably got the graphical category maxed out.

Also, I tend to agree on the word of mouth thing. People are far more inclined to listen to a friend, or even an overly forward stranger, than they are to listen to pretty much any kind of ad. In point of fact, to get them to pay attention to an ad, you have to bypass their conscious thought entirely. Thus, Old Spice commercials. That's also why, during back to school sales, my managers like to have us wear backpacks during the week where you get 100% back in rewards (if you have a rewards card) for buying a backpack. People ask someone why we're all wearing backpacks, and it allows us to explain the event with them paying attention, which, from an advertising standpoint, is nearly priceless. (I say nearly because some companies will pay any amount they can afford for just that sort of opportunity)

 

[BlueScope]

I actually got quite the interface for this... problem's just time, event limit and that I'm working towards a "finished" version I might release after the contest when I actually got the time (and hopefully the license ) for it... so I'm kind of developing two interfaces at once, so... it's taking a lot of time ^^"

My only fear right now is that what I'll have at the end of the contest is not much more than a tech demo... but I'm far from giving up

 

[rosareven]

The test of popularity that the marketing criteria challenges is always going to be subjective. An under marketed game is not going to be a bad thing, but on the other hand it is a reality that an under marketed game will not be able to get the name out there as quick, when words of mouth take some time to kick in.

Just think about it this way, there are probably quite some games made with construct 2 free edition within March that may very well be eligible for the contest, but they didn't know there was a contest here.

 

[BlueScope]

Yeah, but to be fair, it's still supposed to be a hbgames contest. Of course it's good for the competition to expand to as many people as possible, but if it's 400 contestants from which 5 are previous .org-members, I'd think they'd miss the goal.
I get your point though.

But yeah... the word-of-mouth thing has something to it I value a lot personally: a more honest impression on the person that's being interested, as there's no marketing bullshit to it that tells you how awesome something is - might be true, might as well not.
But you almost always trust someone's recommendation if you know them and their ways.

 

[Venetia]

I updated the OP with some notes about lag and load times affecting your rating in the "Stability" category.

If a game takes an absurd amount of time to load, or lag a very noticeable amount, it may minorly affect your score. We will be more concerned with bugs & errors, but if a game takes an extremely long amount of time to load on a good internet connection, or if it lags badly, these would probably be considered stability issues.

Note that excess of 30sec to 1min of initial loading, on Chrome with a very good internet connection, may dock you up to 1 point.

I can't say I've seen an entry yet where this is an issue (so don't panic!!!!) but I wanted to note it.

 

[Jason]

Will it be an issue in a game where the music has a 5-10 second delay before playing? Since I can't seem to fix it, and it'd suck if I lose points! D:

However, in my defence, it only happens the first time you play the game, if you let all the sounds load and stuff, play the game, then close it and decide you want to play again, the next time the music SHOULD load straight away, lol

 

[Venetia]

You can cut this down by compressing the audio file, however I'm instructing the judges to only allow that to affect their opinion if it takes a really noticeable amount of time to load, like 20+ seconds.

 

[Jason]

Ah well that's okay then lol, I don't think anyone has had to wait that long yet... and the only reason I don't want them compressing too much is due to sound quality, but meh we'll see...

 

[Wink]

@Jason Have you tried preloading all your sounds. That might help with your audio issue.

Something like this:

+System: Every tick
-Audio: Preload (Your Sound)

But I wouldn't try preloading your music though. I tried that once and it took 15 min to load my game on a fast internet connection. lol

 

[CrayFlail]

+System: Every tick
-Audio: Preload (Your Sound)

I've seen different things on this...but preloading every tick doesn't sound (pun intended) correct. Preloading your most used sound effects once at the beginning, regardless of layout, should be what needs to happen to get them cached client side. I'd do it on the title screen. Preloading music is asking for load time and probably isn't necessary.

CF

 

[Nemo]

+System: Every tick
-Audio: Preload (Your Sound)

But I wouldn't try preloading your music though. I tried that once and it took 15 min to load my game on a fast internet connection. lol

Only the most important sounds should be preloaded. These should be preloaded only once maybe in the start event of your first layout.
Never preload music, because it's streamed in Construct2. You should always make sure that your audio files are in the Music folder, and not in the Sounds folder.

If the late start is an issue with the music I can come up with a one trick.
I don't know if this works, but it should be possible to have a short loading screen/story intro or something similar.
Set mute "GameMusic", Play GameMusic, stop"GameMusic", Unmute "GameMusic".

And play it normally when the level starts.

 

[Jason]

I never actually managed to fix it, so it's up to peoples internet speeds I suppose when it comes to streaming it, you guys should be nice and check for me, just play my game and see how long it takes for the sounds to kick in :thumb: