The Fourth Creation Game Competition.

Post by **Oobles** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:56 pm

After five years its time to have a fun competition to put all the hardwork that has gone into ps2sdk, pspsdk and all the other great tools to some use. The goal is simple, write your own homebrew original game in the next 2months. The best entry for PSP and PS2 win a prize. Simple!

I(Oobles) will be the official ajudicator of the competition. I won't be entering the competition and I will be one of about five judges.

What are the prizes I hear you ask!? Well, I'm hoping to get hold of a new Homebrew compatible PSP (firmware 1.5) as a prize to the best ps2 game. And I'm hoping to get hold of a new modified slim line PS2 for the best PSP game. When I've got these things confirmed, I'll update this post! Remember if you wait to find out if we get these, you'll be giving everyone else a head start. :)

The Basic Rules.

- There is two competitions. Best entry for PSP game and PS2 game wins.
- Games must be entered by the end of June 19th (2 months).
- Entries will be judged on Gameplay, Originality, Graphics, Sound and Polish. Scores will be out of 10 for each.
- There will be five judges for each competition.
- All games must be suitable for a teens. No Adults only content please.
- All entries must be original. (ie no ports of games)
- All entries must be submitted here with a link to where it can be downloaded. If you need a hosting location talk to me via private message.
- All entries must include a Fourth Creation splash on the openning title.
- All entries must include a readme, that describes the game, the author, contact email address, and other special info.
- All entries must be freely distributable. Source code does not need to be included, but would be nice.
- Multiple entries are allowed.
- Rules (and prizes) are subject to change without notice.

The Playstation 2 competition

- Prize is hopefully a new PSP for best entry supplied by gamefreax ( http://www.gamefreax.com .
- Games must be playable using the PS2LINK 1.46 via Host.
- Games should be playable on at least one of PAL or NTSC (hint: working on both counts towards polish points)
- Games can be entered which require special peripherals (eg gun controls), however, judges are likely not to own the required peripherals and final scores may be highly effected by this.

The Playstation Portable competition

- Prize is a Playstation 2 ready for homebrew (fitted with a crystal mod chip) for best entry. Supplied by gamefreax. http://www.gamefreax.com
- Games must be playable on a PSP with firmware 1.5
- Games should not run in kernel mode unless you can give a good reason.

If you have any questions, please post them to this thread. If you are interested in being a judge for either competition please send me a private message. You may not enter if you are a judge.

If you would like to provide prizes, please send me an email to oobles at hotmail dot com

Goodluck!
David. aka Oobles.

*UPDATE*
The official "The Fourth Creation '06" splash screens are now available at http://makeshift.halifrag.com/tfc/ If you need a format which is not provided please contact Drakonite

subbie · Post by **subbie** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 3:34 am

Question. Can we submit newer versions of our games?

Like can I submit a fully updated version of my 3d game Iris since it is an original game (in the sense it's not a port)?

Post by **Oobles** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 9:11 am

Yes. You are free to submit games that you update.

David. aka Oobles.

DrNicket · Post by **DrNicket** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 6:55 pm

Is it accurate that the PS2 comp get a PSP and the PSP comp gets a PS2?

Post by **Oobles** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:55 pm

The prizes are not confirmed at the moment. At the very least I'll organise some ps2dev t-shirts or something. But yes, the idea is that the winner of the psp competition gets a ps2 and the winner of the ps2 competition gets a psp.

David. aka Oobles.

Heretic · Post by **Heretic** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 5:05 am

Are LUA-made games given as much weight in the psp competition as C coded ones? This would seem sort of unfair to the C coders, like an RPG competition between C++ game coders and kids using RPG Maker 2000.

Also, to try and prevent the possible flambé, let me state the following:
I know programming with LUA is still programming, whereas RPG Maker is for script kiddies with no knowledge of coding. I'm just saying that C coding is a lot harder, and should at least gain some weight in the "polish" section.

Gary13579 · Post by **Gary13579** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 6:57 am

Heretic wrote:Are LUA-made games given as much weight in the psp competition as C coded ones? This would seem sort of unfair to the C coders, like an RPG competition between C++ game coders and kids using RPG Maker 2000.

Also, to try and prevent the possible flambé, let me state the following:
I know programming with LUA is still programming, whereas RPG Maker is for script kiddies with no knowledge of coding. I'm just saying that C coding is a lot harder, and should at least gain some weight in the "polish" section.

Mmm.. everytime I see the word "PSP" and "RPG Maker" in the same post, I tend to go into a flaming mood. So sorry for the following post :)

There is no RPG Maker for the PSP. None at all, official or non. There aren't even plans for one. Sure, there are official RPG Makers for the PS2, but I'm sure those will not even be considered for being accepted.

*notes to put in his next release of Dragon Fighter that it was NOT made with RPG Maker, for the 50th time*

Heretic · Post by **Heretic** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 9:02 am

I'm sorry, you have misunderstood my post. All I wanted to do was illustrate that in the PC indie dev world, nothing makes me angrier than someone who makes a game with RPG Maker then declares themselves "teh r0Xx0r", while I slave away for months to make something half as pretty as what they made in 2 weeks. Seriously, I know that when used properly, it takes some level of skill to do a good job with RPGMkr, and I'm not trying to offend these people.

But I digress, my point was, LUA games are by comparison much easier to code than C programs, so I feel that C programs should be given a bit of weight.

The RPG Maker reference was not meant to apply to PSP in any way, just a comparison.

Post by **Oobles** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:30 pm

Can people please post if they intend to enter the competition. We haven't got a lot of traffic in this thread yet, so I'd like to know if people are entering. The reason is that I'm having some trouble getting the prizes organised. If there is enough interest I'll try harder. :)

In regards to games written in C versus games written in Lua. Games won't be marked with this in mind. They will be marked with the criteria above. Games written in C should be faster and be able to do more, and this should show up in the final score. However, someone could do some great stuff with Lua and win the competition. A developer should choose the best tools to do a job, not be a hard core C programmer for the sake of being a hard core C programmer.

David. aka Oobles.

Post by **Drakonite** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:25 pm

I fully plan on entering a few small games. I have nothing overly extravagent planned, but not everything has to be gigantic 3D games ;)

daurnimator · Post by **daurnimator** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:53 pm

i wish i could enter, but i have no psp anymore and i don't know enough about the ps2

chp · Post by **chp** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 1:03 am

It's not 100% decided yet, but I & emoon have some plans on entering a game. First we need to get through of this Breakpoint-thingy though. :)

Post by **ooPo** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 3:27 am

I'm going to enter a used copy of God of War.

Hope I win!!

Post by **Drakonite** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 8:17 am

Not that we don't all enjoy a good trolling... But I think we need to keep this thread serious.

Don't you agree ooPo?

Heather · Post by **Heather** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 10:21 am

Is it ok to enter a game that me and a team is working on? Or does it have to be a single job created by one person? I'm talking about Harvest Moon: Summer Harvest which me and my team are currently working on.

Post by **Drakonite** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 10:50 am

Team entries should be okay.

hardhat · Post by **hardhat** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:05 am

I'll be working on a submission for sure. I'll post once I have a game ready next month. I hope that it'll be fun. Now I wonder if I need a team to make it happen. We'll have to see.

subbie · Post by **subbie** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:39 pm

Well since you gave me the thumbs up for revisions. I will be entering with a heavly upgraded iris (plan to do 1 release before i start on the compo version)

streak · Post by **streak** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 7:33 pm

What about psx / psone competition? Maybe someone could make some stuph for this. What do You think?

Post by **Drakonite** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 11:59 pm

Sorry for the delay.. The splash screen, in a variety of formats, is available at --------

EDIT: Link temporarily removed. The splashes have changed to include sponser info, I'll have updated splashes up soon. The NEW splashes will of course be MANDITORY.

Heroux · Post by **Heroux** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 1:07 pm

Oobles wrote:Can people please post if they intend to enter the competition. We haven't got a lot of traffic in this thread yet, so I'd like to know if people are entering. The reason is that I'm having some trouble getting the prizes organised. If there is enough interest I'll try harder. :)

David. aka Oobles.

Heroux here.

You can expect an entry from IFM Production Studio in the PSP competition on June 5.

E-mail me if there is any changes/queries:
heroux [at] illfoundedmind.com

Thanks,
See you there.

Bouba · Post by **Bouba** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 12:49 am

Oobles wrote:Can people please post if they intend to enter the competition. We haven't got a lot of traffic in this thread yet, so I'd like to know if people are entering. The reason is that I'm having some trouble getting the prizes organised. If there is enough interest I'll try harder. :)

David. aka Oobles.

Hi!

I'm also going to enter the competition with a litte funny game ;) Nothing huge, but cute I hope.

Bouba

Heretic · Post by **Heretic** » Thu May 04, 2006 3:00 pm

Yeah, I'll probably enter... that is if I can stop being such a lazy ass and finish my first game. (Oh, and figure out psp's damn sound libs)

My game will roxx. (and lose, lose very badly)

tumnes · Post by **tumnes** » Tue May 09, 2006 3:58 pm

I'm hoping to put something together for this though I don't know if i'll be done in time.

Post by **Oobles** » Wed May 10, 2006 10:38 pm

Great to have so many people entering. I'm pleased to announce that gamefreax has agreed to supply the prizes of a PS2 fitted with a crystal chip and a new PSP. The PSP will be a new one with recent firmware. It seems the homebrew ones are becoming harder to get these days.

The splash screens which are part of the competition will be updated in the next few days with a "supported by gamefreax" logo on it. Having this updated splash will be a requirement for the competition.

As I mentioned in the news on the main page, I've extended the competition to the 19th of June so that hopefully more people will get time to enter.

Thanks for everyone entering so far.. and looking forward to seeing the entries!

David. aka Oobles.

Arwin · Post by **Arwin** » Wed May 10, 2006 11:05 pm

Oobles wrote:Great to have so many people entering. I'm pleased to announce that gamefreax has agreed to supply the prizes of a PS2 fitted with a crystal chip and a new PSP. The PSP will be a new one with recent firmware. It seems the homebrew ones are becoming harder to get these days.

The splash screens which are part of the competition will be updated in the next few days with a "supported by gamefreax" logo on it. Having this updated splash will be a requirement for the competition.

As I mentioned in the news on the main page, I've extended the competition to the 19th of June so that hopefully more people will get time to enter.

Thanks for everyone entering so far.. and looking forward to seeing the entries!

David. aka Oobles.

The extention is great news. I won't be able to make anything that wins, but at least I get some more time to entertain the thought of entering this, even though I probably won't be able to make something original in that time.

Post by **Oobles** » Wed May 10, 2006 11:14 pm

You don't need anything that is completely original. There is plenty of things you can do to make old game ideas more interesting. Just look at things like lumines... ie tetris clone with funky music and blocks instead of lines.

Anyway.. look forward to seeing anything people do.

David. aka Oobles.

Kagato · Post by **Kagato** » Sat May 13, 2006 5:12 pm

Hi,
I'm coming a bit late to the party, but I'll have a go at entering something.

Is it okay to submit something that I'm entering into another competition? (It'll be updated a bit futher from that entry though.)

Kagato

cools · Post by **cools** » Sun May 14, 2006 12:04 pm

Just a quick question. I'm going to release a beta of monopoly tommoro, would it be considered as a port ( all the code is original ) ?

Post by **Drakonite** » Sun May 14, 2006 1:28 pm

cools wrote:Just a quick question. I'm going to release a beta of monopoly tommoro, would it be considered as a port ( all the code is original ) ?

A lot of people seem to have a misunderstanding of what a 'port' is.

A port refers to taking a program and modifying it to run on a different type of system.

Starting a program from scratch that happens to look like another is not a port, it is a clone.