2007 Text Adventure Competition

[kevin]

2007 Text Adventure Competition

 In this competition, you'll be tasked to create the best text adventure your brain can muster, and you'll be pitting it against other aspiring game designers who are vying for the same great prizes. Along the way, we're hoping your project will help you learn new things about writing great stories, and push you to develop your good ideas into fantastic ones.


What could I win?

GRAND PRIZE:

• One (1) free copy of PlayBASIC.   If you're readin this here, the you probably know what that is!.  http://www.playbasic.com



• One (1) free copy of Dark AI, supplied by The Game Creators. One of the most requested features for DarkBASIC Professional, along with physics were A.I. (artificial intelligence) commands. Commands that would help with pathfinding, and adding intelligent behaviour into your games, making opponents and allies smarter. To this end we're pleased to present to you the Dark A.I. extension.



• One (1) free copy of eXtends, supplied by the Game Creators. This pack extends the core features of DarkBASIC Professional, and expands it into 4 new areas. The new features include dynamic media handling, the XGui system, the XFont system, 2D special effects, perfect pixel sprite collision, a billboard system, a virtual 3D lights system, a custom particle system, and a real-time sky system. Plus, this includes a bonus Asteroids game, which showcases the various features of this awesome plugin.



• One (1) free copy of the game Eternal Equinox, supplied by MISoft Studios. In this commercial text adventure, you assume the role of a tropical islander whose village is threatened by an incoming tsunami. To save your people, you'll need to track down a magic artifact, known as the Hoto, before your people are completely annihilated by the coming disaster.

KUDOS AWARDS' PRIZE:
For each kudos award we hand out this year, we'll be giving one (1) free copy of Eternal Equinox. Read on to learn more about the kudos awards and their various categories!

PRIZE CATEGORIES

Grand Prize: The grand prize package will be awarded to the entrant who scores the highest overall score in four distinct categories: Originality, Story Development, Writing Ability, and Technical Design. The game's scores in each of these categories will be averaged to figure out its overall score. Each category can earn a maximum of 10.0 points. For more about each of these categories and how they are defined, please read the "Kudos Awards" category below.[/li][/list]

Kudos Awards: These awards are given to the best entries in each of the four main categories (originality, story development, writing ability, and technical design), as well as a few other categories. Here are the categories of kudos awards.

• - Originality: Depicts the overall originality of your game's concept, including (but not limited to) the uniqueness of the game's plot, characters, locations/ environments, etc.


• - Story Development: How well your story is developed from beginning to end. This covers your ability to provide detailed descriptions of the events, characters, locations/ environments, and plot (and sub-plots) of your story, and otherwise your ability to present said story in a fluid and consistent manner.


• - Writing Ability: Rates your mastery of the English language. Avoid spelling and grammar errors, typos, and the like if you want to score well in this category.


• - Technical Design: Rates the game's functionality, control layout/ design, and general playability. Keep your entry glitch- and bug- free, simple to understand, and easy to command to score highly.

(And the other categories)

• - Best Media: The game that contains the best media, from the front-end to in-game media. Please note the rules about media usage prior to using media in your game, and ask for clarification if you don't understand the rules!


• - Most Addictive Game: The game that the judges simply can't stop playing will earn this kudos award.


• - Best GUI: The game that has the most interesting and aesthetically-appealing interface/ HUD/ GUI.


• - Retail Award: Last year's entries showed us some really awesome games, many of which I personally would have paid money for. It inspired me to make a retail text adventure, so this year we'll offer the retail award to the entry that the judges would most be willing to pay money for.

RULES

NOTE: The judges have the final say in how each rule is interpreted. Attempts to intentionally deviate from these rules will result in disqualification. The competition's judges reserve the right to disqualify entries if they feel the need, and will present a written statement as to why these entries have been disqualified so as to avoid confusion or unfairness. The judges have been selected because they are mature, trustworthy, contributing members of the TGC community, so don't worry about any judges treating you and/ or your entry unjustly!

• -Your entry's text must be presented in English. US, UK, and other well-known interpretations of English are acceptable (so the word "color" can also be spelled "colour" with no effect on scoring either way).


• You may present your text in various colors and/ or fonts, but please try to be prudent with how you apply this rule. You must use a font that is included standard with Windows 2000 and XP machines. Alternatively you can use bitmap fonts or a 2D image of the pre-written text, so long as they do not violate the following rule (regarding media)


• Your entry may not contain any "media" beyond the use of a HUD/ GUI (explained in the following rule). "Media" is defined in this competition as 2D images, 3D images, sound effects, music, 3D models, and/ or animations of any kind. You CAN use a simple 2D image of text to present the text for your game, but this must be simple and cannot violate this rule with non-textual imagery. Because we know you might release this game beyond this competition, you may use any form of media that you want to use in the game's front-end (the "main menu" area and any splash-screens you'd like to use prior). Also, you can use media if you present an option to turn off said media. This option must be available either in an "Options" menu in the game's front-end, or as an in-game option available during play. All entries containing media will be eligible for the "kudos award" for best media, but entries violating the stipulations of the rule we've just defined will not be eligible for the grand prize.


• - The game is allowed to have a HUD/GUI. The image used must be static (cannot be animated), and the same HUD/GUI must be used on all screens. Also, the HUD cannot contain images that depict the location(s), character(s), environment(s), or any other aspect(s) of the story. Judges have the final say and will determine if an image used for a HUD/GUI violates this rule.


• - Your entry must be programmed using a language officially available on TGC (www.thegamecreators.com). These include, but are not limited to, DarkBASIC, DarkBASIC Professional, DarkSDK, or Playbasic. You may use, at your discretion, any additional expansions, plugins, and/ or DLL's that you see fit, so long as you include a list of these additions. The language/ tool used must be available from The Game Creators on a date within the run of this competition (June 7th 2007 to October 19th 2007).


• - You must provide source code to prove that you wrote this software. You are allowed to remove certain aspects of your code that you wish to remain secret, but you must use a reminder statement (the "rem" command or (`) symbol followed by a description) to explain that a portion of the code has been removed. Most of the game's functionality must be presented in source. Judges retain the right to determine if your source code meets this requirement.


• - The game must be controlled using only the keyboard. You can employ mouse usage in the game's front-end only. If you plan to include mouse control, the game must have an option to not use the mouse and only use the keyboard for input.


• - All games submitted to this competition must be fully compiled. Submitted source code that is not compiled will not be judged. Your entry must come in the form of an executable file. You can include additional files and folders, but one executable (EXE) file should run the game.


• - Copyright Law: Any media used in this contest must be made by you. Otherwise, proof of permission to use said media must be presented (even for freeware games), including the author of the images/ music and some form of contact information, albeit a website address or e-mail address. Any entry that does not meet this standard will be void from participation.


• - There is no length requirement for this contest, although you should try to keep your game relatively short to play so that it can be judged fully and fairly. Try to introduce the judges to your best features early because they may not have time to play through the entire game if we receive a large number of entries.


• - Judges, TGC employees, employees of prize furbishers, and/ or the families of these parties may not enter the competition.


• - Submissions: You may submit your entry via e-mail (e-mail the game to me) or via these forums. To submit, you can include a compressed file (zip, rar, etc.) or a direct download link. By "direct link," we mean said link should open a download window immediately once clicked. All entries must be received no later than 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time on Friday, October 19th 2007. No exceptions!

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