What do I have to submit and by when?

What is the "Game-Making Deathmatch" competition?

Who can participate?

How can I join the competition?

Is there a registration fee?

What is the latest time I can join?

Do I have to join the club in order to participate?

Do we have to work in teams?

Once I subscribe, what do I have to do?

When are the games due? Is there a deadline?

What are the submission instructions?

What development tools am I allowed to use?

Am I restricted to a certain platform, like Windows or Unix?

What kind of game do I have to make? Are there any restrictions?

What about cheating? How will you make sure that no one downloads a game of the net and claims it as their own?

What if you are caught cheating? What happens?

How will the games be marked?

What is the “paper submission”?

Who will be marking the games?

If I win, when will I get my prize?

What are the prizes again?

Is Electronic Arts sponsoring this event?

Is Microsoft sponsoring this event?

Is SAC also a sponsor?

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 BA2135 within 4-6 pm Wednesday November 30th. Games will not be accepted after 6 pm.

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 EA 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 orriginal) than other games participating in the competition.

Q: Who can participate?
A: The competition is open to all members of the U of T Game Programming Club or University of Toronto (at St. George, Mississauga and Scarborough campuses).

Q: How can I join the competition?
A: Please fill out and submit the registration form, which is available to download here in PDF : Registration Form.pdf Please fill one in and bring it to one of our meetings, before the 16th of November. Or you can pick it up in person during GPC meetings (Wednesdays 4-6 in Bahen 2135). You may also contact us via e-mail: game_programming@hotmail.com for further information.

Q: Is there a registration fee?
A: Yes, there is a $10 registration fee for each team (1 or 2). 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 $10 fee paid before the start date of the competition (last day: November 9). Applications will not be accepted once the topic is released (November 9th during GPC meeting: 4-6pm). *Special circumstances may apply (if you think this is you, 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.

Q: Once I register, what do I have to do?
A: Create/implement a game and submit it on or before the due date (Nov 30th).

Q: When are the games due? Is there a deadline?
A: The deadline for submission of your game is November 30, 2005 at 4 p.m.

Q: What are the submission instructions?
Submission will be accepted on 30 of November, it will be made anonymous. Last year we requested that participants have following directories: bin, src, doc. Where "bin" has the game executables. "src" has game source (and we mean all of it, images, sound too). "doc" is ether a file or a directory with a file in text format describing your design, maybe some back story of the game, rules, controls and anything else you deem necessary for judges to know (like particular features that you'd like them to note).
You may wish to have different structure but we ask that you have this:

1) Necessities
Linux/OSX/Other Unix Systems: You should submit your game, a makefile, what libraries you used.
Windows: The executables and .dll library files.
In other words all the necessities that would make it run on the given operating systems. (I didn't put consoles and other operating systems because I don't know the specifics).
2) Read Me File
This should be a plain text file README.TXT that explain how to install and run your game. Feel free to use your paper submission. This should go in the root directory. You must put what operating system it runs on so we can sort out which game runs on what to speed up the marking process.
3) Source Code
Just to show us you haven't cheated. we will skim through the source code on many a game, don't be bashful about how awesome or horrid your code is please. Put this all in a convenient directory src/.

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, nor your 3D/2D/etc engine that you have been working for x years. 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 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: 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 remebered by your fellow students for trying to cheat them.

Q: How will the games be marked?
A: The final marking scheme is as follows:
Fun: 25 frags
Creativity and adherence to theme: 25 frags
Graphics: 7 frags
Sound: 7 frags
Replay value: 15 frags
Bugs: -5 frags
Paper Submission: 5 frags

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). Replay value may imply many things including multiplayer capabilities.

Q: What is the “paper submission”?
A: The paper is 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’ve 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 1 page in length, single spaced, one side only, size 12 font. It should include a brief manual for the game (including installation), to make the marker's life easier (you don't want the marker to have a bad impression of your game).

Q: Who will be marking the games?
A: There will be a jury composed of a few of the council members of the GPC along with a few volunteers. The judges willl be, NON-participating individuals. If anyone wishes to be part of the jury, please contact us. We will ensure that the jury is fair, that is there won't be a case where everybody on the jury is a friend of person X who is a participant.

Q: Q: If I win, when will I get my prize?
A: Ideally, the jury will finish marking the games on Tuesday, December 8th, 2005. The scores from the different judges will be inputed into a system that will create a average final score(checking for outliers and excluding them). The winner will be announced the following day, December 9th, during the GPC meeting, and the prizes will be distributed then.

Q: What are the prizes again?
A: This year's prizes have not been definitived yet, but here are last year's prizes (if you must know the work in progress, contact the GPC prezident):

Following the tradition, prizes will be distributed in packages, as an ordered choice. This means that you will get earlier pick if you qualified higher (scorewise). I would also like to mention that Electronic Arts is once again interested in the winners. So GOOD LUCK everyone!

Q: Is Electronic Arts sponsoring this event?
A: Yes! Although the prizes are uncertain at this time, EA showed interested in helping this year's GMD with prizes. They look to hire 80% of their programmers out of university, so they are very interested in young talent, and Game-Making DEATHMATCH is one place to find it.

Q: Is Microsoft sponsoring this event?
A: We are unsure at this time whether or not Microsoft is sponsoring this event, we have contacted them but they have yet to reply.

Q: Is SAC also a sponsor?
A: Yes! The University of Toronto Student Administrative Council once again made it possible for students at U of T to have fun and raise school spirit, while learning.