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Q: What is the "Game-Making Deathmatch" competition?
A: “Game-making Deathmatch”is a game developing competition organized by the U of T Game Programming Club, and sponsored by CSSU and SAC. Given some constraints (i.e. time limit and specific game theme), the objective is to create a game that will be superior (more fun and original) than other games participating in the competition while learning something new.
Q: Who can participate?
A: The competition is open to all University of Toronto students (at St. George, Mississauga and Scarborough campuses).
Q: How can I join the competition?
A: Please fill out the registration form, which is available to download here in PDF : Registration Form.pdf Bring your registration form to one of our meetings, BEFORE the 10th of November. Or you can fill one up in person during GPC meetings (Friday 11am-1pm in Bahen 3000). If you cannot make it to the Friday meeting, contact us via e-mail: game_programming@hotmail.com and we will schedule a meeting with you.
Q: Is there a registration fee?
A: Yes, there is a $15 registration fee for each team. This is a non-profit event; all proceeds go towards prizes.
Q: What is the latest time I can join?
A: The registration form is to be completed and the $15 fee paid before the start date of the competition (last day: November 9). Applications will not be accepted once the topic is released (November 10th during GPC meeting: 11 am - 1 pm). *Special circumstances may apply (if you have any concerns about this, contact us in advance to consider your situation).
Q: Q: Do I have to join the club
in order to participate?
A: No. Although we encourage you to join the GPC, it
is not a requirement for participating in the competition.
Q: Do we have to work in teams?
A: You may work either as individuals or in teams of two. Although we encourage teamwork, since students have a lot to learn from each other, we understand the difficulties of it. If you prefer to work individually, or if you cannot find a partner with common view for a game design, or same preference for development tools, you have the option of working individually. The topic of the game is chosen while keeping simplicity of implementation and team size restrictions in perspective in order to provide everyone with an equal chance of success. Past experience has showed that neither working individually or in teams gives any advantage – prizes are won by students on both sides.
Q: Once I register,
what do I have to do?
A: Wait for the competition theme to be announced (on November 10th). Then, use your creativity to design and implement a fun game while learning something new. Submit your game on or before the due date (December 1st).
Q: When are the
games due? Is there a deadline?
A: The deadline for submission of your game is December 1st, 2006 at during the GPC meeting 11 am -1 pm.
Q: What about U of T of Mississauga students?
A: This year, due to the popularity of GMD downtown, we extended the competition to the Mississauga campus as well. The same rules apply to all students across both campuses. However, for convenience, if you are a U of T of Mississauga student, you may submit your registration form to Darie Petrov at your campus. You may contact him at game_programming@hotmail.com and set up a meeting at your convenience. You may also use the GPC forum.
Q: What are the submission instructions?
A: Submission will be accepted on or before 1st of December, and they will be made anonymous. Bring your game (floppy/CD/DVD) and your paper submission in an envelope (don't seal it). The CD should 1 directory named after your game. Inside this directory you should have the following folders: bin, src, doc, other.
- "bin" has the game executables.
- "src" has game source (and we mean all of it, images, sound too). And don’t worry your code is safe with us. We just want to just skim through it to assure that you haven’t cheated. Do not worry about how bad you code looks. It will not affect our marking.
- "doc" has a file in text format which includes installation instructions, a brief description of your design, controls, rules and anything else you deem necessary for judges to know (like particular features that you'd like them to note).
- “other” has any additional libraries needed to run the game (like .Net Framework, XNA Framework, DirectX, etc.)
Q: What development
tools I am allowed to use?
A: You can use almost any programming language: C, C++, C#, Java, Python, Flash etc. You are NOT allowed to use any 3D engines and game makers available online, physics engines, nor your 3D/2D/etc engine that you have been working for ‘n’ number of years. Part of the competition is for you to learn something new. Thus if you are an expert in Java try C++. If you are an expert in Flash, try Python. Even if you decide to stick to a language you are familiar with try to implementing something you are not familiar with.
Of course, it is impossible for us to judge what you learned during the competition without revealing your identity. However, we do appeal to your conscience and encourage you to play fair. Keep in mind that you are competing against friends, and friends know what you know, and what you are capable of – so keep it fair.
That being said you ARE allowed to use OpenGL, DirectX, SDL as graphic libraries. (OpenGL extensions, Managed DirectX, or the old DOS libraries are also accepted). If you have any specific questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Q: Q: Am I restricted to a certain platform,
like Windows or Unix?
A: No! We support a large variety of platforms, from
GBA and Palm to desktops running Windows, and Unix. As
long as it uses a CPU, and it's not a board game, you
should be fine! Once again, if you are unsure, please ask us.
Q: What kind of game do I have to make? Are there any
restrictions?
A: Yes, there will be restrictions. The actual theme
will not be announced until November 9th, the start
day of the competition to ensure that all participants
have an equal time span for the making of the game.
However, instead of being told what type of game to
make, you can expect to be given a theme for the game.
We strongly promote creativity, thus instead of asking
you to make, for example, a "pong" game, we will ask
you to make a game "with a ball and a paddle". From
there on, it's up to you if you decide to make it 2D,
3D, text-mode or something else (like Britney’s Dance
Beat). The sky is the limit!
Q: What about cheating? How will you make sure that no
one downloads a game of the net and claims it as their
own?
A: Everyone has access to the Internet, and it is
likely that most people will do at least some research
online when developing their game. Thus code stolen
from the net, will be easily detected and cheaters
will be caught quickly. Secondly, one of the main
elements we award is creativity. Thus, if for example,
the theme is “a ball and a paddle,” and somebody gets
a “nice looking pong” off the net, even if not caught
for cheating, the participant will nevertheless
receive a mark of zero for creativity of the game, and
his chances of winning will be greatly reduced. Last
but not least, participants will be asked to submit
their code with the binaries (code will only be used
for catching cheaters; it will not be kept for any
other uses during or after the competition).
Q: What if you are
caught cheating? What happens?
A: You will be disqualified, your money will not be
refunded, and you will not be allowed to participate
in future competitions. On top of that, you will be
remembered by your fellow students for trying to cheat
them.
Q: How
will the games be marked?
A: The final marking scheme is as follows:
| |
Topic: |
Percentage |
|
| |
Fun |
25.0% |
|
| |
Creativity and adherence to the theme |
25.0% |
|
| |
New stuff you learned |
15.0% |
|
| |
Graphics (if applicable) |
7.5% |
|
| |
Sound (if applicable) |
7.5% |
|
| |
Game Presentation |
5.0% |
|
| |
Replay |
10.0% |
|
| |
Paper Submission |
5.0% |
|
| |
Total |
100.0% |
|
The marking scheme explained:
- Fun - the fun element of a game is very hard to judge. In order to get it as accurate as possible, we will have more people in the jury.
- Creativity and adherence to the theme - this is fairly straight forward. Try to come up with something new.
- New stuff you learned - the idea here is that we want to award students who went through the difficulty of learning something new during competition, vs students who coded the same old genre in the same programming language they are familiar with.
- Graphics - Games may be text mode. In that case, the graphics section will not be marked, and the percentage will be redistributed.
- Sound - If there is such a game out there, where silence is a must, then this section will not be marked and the percentage will be redistributed.
- Game Presentation - This is not something to be concerned about for this competition. We simply want to reward students that take the extra step and make intros / menus / etc.
- Replay - This means exactly what it says: replay value.
- Paper submission - How complete the information you put on your paper submission is.
As the above marking scheme may be deceptive, I will
provide a few examples. It can be seen that graphics
and sound have fairly low weight in the marking
scheme. Since creativity and originality is a prime
priority after the "fun factor", bonus marks will be
awarded in the creativity section if for example you
created some stunning artwork, or wrote and recorded
your own soundtrack for the sound. This applies only
in the case that your effort clearly shows that you
put appropriate enthusiasm into the creation of art
and sound (you felt you could create something good as
opposed to you wanted to get the bonus marks). Also a negative of up to (5%) will be penalized for bugs.
Q: What is the “paper
submission”?
A: The "paper submission" is the paper that you will submit with your game and it serves for a number of purposes. First of all, it should include some basic instructions of how to get the game running, and what the controls are. It should also have a description of what you were trying to achieve, and what percentage of it you have achieved. It must include an explanation of what you have learned during this competition. The paper is also your chance to contact the jury and
explain to them, why you think you deserve more marks.
The paper submission is not the same for everybody.
All participants are unique, and everyone goes through
different circumstances. The paper submission should
reflect your team, your game and your situation.
Ideally you want to promote your game, and make it
look special.
(For example, if your game is unfinished, you describe
what you had in mind and how you thought that was
technically achievable in 3 weeks, and if the jury
agrees that your idea could have been possible and
sounds captivating, you will get some extra marks. If
you are in your first year, and you have used a very
complex and advanced method or technology, the paper
is your chance to point this out. The paper could also
be a simple manual to your game, describing all the
special moves, or the 44 levels and the final boss,
which the judges may not be able to see in the first
few minutes of play). However the paper submission
should not be more than 2 pages in length, single
spaced, one side only, size 12 font (we strongly encourage 1 page but if you really need it, you have the option of using 2 pages). It must be made anonymous.
Q: Who will be marking
the games?
A: There will be a jury composed of a few of the
executives of the GPC along with the university professor: Gary Baumgartner. The judges will be, NON-participating
individuals. If you have any concerns,
please contact us.
Q: If I win, when will I get my prize?
A: You will get your prize and fame during the closing ceremonies on Friday, December 8th, 2006. We will go through all the games on the big screen, and have a great time.
Q: What are the prizes
again?
A: There are MANY prizes and many more to come. For this year we have prepared for you the best prizes in GMD histroy. (And considering that in 2004 the first 20 participants won a prize, that means A LOT!) However we do like to keep some surprises for later. So for now, this is a quick taste of what you can expect. :)
GOOD LUCK everyone!
Q: What do I have to submit and by when?
To submit your game, bring it on a floppy/CD/DVD along with your paper submission to BA3000 within 11 am -1 pm Friday, December 1st. Games will not be accepted after 1 pm.
Q: Is KOEI a sponsor?
A: Yes. Koei has offered us great support by providing us with numerous copies of Samurai Warriors 2 for PS2, Dinasty Warriors Vol. 2 for PSP, and Dinasty Warriors 5 Empires for XBOX 360.
Q: Is GarageGames a sponsor?
A: Yes. GarageGames has offered to sponsor us with $500 US in software prizes: 2 licencees of Torque Game Engine 1.5 and 2 licencees of Torque Game Builder Indie.
Q: Is Pure Pwnage a sponsor?
A: Yes. The Pure Pwnage team has offered their support with "I pwn n00bs" T-shirts and more.
Q: Is Introversion Software a sponsor?
A: Yes. Introversion Software has sponsored us with three copies of their latest game: DEFCON.
Q: Is SAC a sponsor?
A: We are unable to confirm at this point.
Q: Is CSSU a sponsor?
A:No.
Q: Is Microsoft
sponsoring this event?
A: We are currently in negotiations with Microsoft. We will have a confirmation shortly.
Q: Is Electronic
Arts sponsoring this event?
A: No. Unfortunately, Electronic Arts has canceled their university program, and therefore canceled all sponsorship. |
