GIAW XIII Idea Poll

Heyo everyone! Yes, I'm still alive, and to prove it, we're gonna do another round of Game In A Week soon! But before we begin, the judges/coordinators want some feedback on the specific type of GIAW to do this time around. We were originally planning to do a very complicated one, but with school right around the corner and a number of people busy at this time, we figured it might be best to do a last minute switch to a different kind of GIAW.

That's where you come in! Take a gander at the ideas for GIAW twists, themes, and variations that we could try out from our 13th round of GIAW, and pick out your three favorite ideas. We'll go with the most popular and get it underway ASAP to potentially get everything up and running as soon as this next Sunday!





Here's the ideas for themes and GIAW variations we could do:

Spoiler for Classic GIAW:

The Classic GIAW, the traditional contest as it was intended to be with no bonus themes, funny twists, or new rules. You simply have one week to impress us however you want by making the best game that you can, with any sort of genre, theme or story that you wish. While this might seem a little bland compared to the variants and themes we have tried, there are far fewer restrictions and we're able to go back to the roots for what the GIAW was meant to be. You simply can't beat a classic!

Spoiler for Old Style GIAW:

Party like it's 2008! Back before NAMKCOR took over the MC process for GIAW: V onwards, the GIAW's were a lot smaller and community based with everyone voting for the game entry that they liked the best rather than judges scoring the entries in categories. The Old Style GIAW takes the classic GIAW back to its origins in the Arrow-1 era, keeping the freedom of the basic GIAW style but removing the entire judging/scoring process in favor of open community voting. This way I can legitimately look you in the eyes and say "Hey, I'm not one to judge, if that's what you're really into..."

Spoiler for Summer Theme GIAW:

With school coming upon us and the fun of a free summer coming to a close, there's no better time to hide away in your dark bedroom and waste your time away in front of a computer while thinking longingly of those fun summer days. The Summer Theme GIAW is the basic GIAW with the addition of a bonus category for a theme; adhering to a summer-related theme will earn you extra points based on each judges discretion. This could be as simple as including a beach level to your otherwise non-summer RPG, to having the whole of the game's plot revolve around some kids enjoying the last few days left of summer vacation. I hope you still have some sunblock around for this "heated" competition.

Spoiler for Random Theme GIAW:

Sometimes it's difficult to come up with ideas for a quick new game; should you go with that super Blizzard-approved rainbow-powered RPG about collecting four magic crystals, or should you make that ultra-awesome, super nova action styled FPS about bounty hunters and space pirates? Well, WE CAN HELP YOU DECIDE! The Random Theme GIAW is the classic GIAW setup but with an added category for theme. The real catch, however, is that the judges will be randomly assigning you the theme that you need to work with. Each participant's theme is varied and up to the game creator to figure out how to utilize in a creative manner. Good luck trying to shoot down those crystals while figuring out how to include a theme of "Game Creation", Samus!

Spoiler for Genre Grinder GIAW:

After a while of using RPG Maker, most users tend to find comfort zones for the specific type of games they make; some are famous for their heart-wrenching drama stories, while others may be notorious for creating dark horror games. The Genre Grinder GIAW, however, takes everyone out of their comfort zone and challenges them to make something completely different than they're used to. In this type of GIAW, each participant either picks out or is randomly assigned a unique game genre from a list of varying "non-traditional" genres, and must make a new game in the style of that genre no matter how strange it might seem. If you really wanted, you could get two genres; be prepared for the dawn of stealth ninja dating sims!

Spoiler for Mix-A-Story GIAW:

Are you tired of playing (or making?) RPG Maker games with bland, predictable stories that have been used in a million other games that people have made? Then the Mix-A-Story GIAW should wake you back up again! Whereas some of the previous GIAW's have given you specific themes or game genres to work with, the Mix-A-Story GIAW gives you a small number of specific story elements and tropes that you have to use in your game, such as "Nice Job Breaking it, Hero" and "Villain of Circumstance". Try not to browse TV Tropes for too long.

Spoiler for Mentor/Newbie GIAW:

No matter how experienced you are at programming or how great you are at coming up with game ideas, there is always more you can learn and do to improve your skills with RPG Maker. That's why with the Mentor/Newbie GIAW, we're pairing all of the contestants up with partners of opposite skill levels to encourage growth and training (along with hilarious moments of one partner wanting to murder the other). Master veterans of the RPG Maker scene will be paired up with fresh greenhorns in need of some guidance to help with some valuable tips and pointers for what you should do and what you should never ever do in a game in a rush to build a better game than the other newbies. Warning: We are not responsible for any chalk related injuries.

Spoiler for Scene In A Week:

While our Game In a Week contests have had some pretty story intensive entries in the past, the focus has always been on creating the best "game" overall rather than just story. This new type of contest, however, is called Scene In A Week, and it removes the entire gaming element from the whole picture in favor of having people create the most well-done cutscenes that they can come up with. The "cutscene" can range from a single moment that you might find in an actual game, to a full length visual novel type of project, just as long as the audience doesn't have to do anything other than press the start button to begin. If you do well enough, your character actors just might win little pixel Oscars for their performance!

Spoiler for Cross Forum GIAW:

The GIAW contests have always been RMRK's own exclusive little competition that we do for fun. However, after several bouts of internal competition now, aren't you curious now how all of us together would hold against some of our rival forums? The Cross Forum GIAW is your classic GIAW contest but with the major addition of having other forums brought in on the action too. You're not only competing against your fellow RMRK members, but now you've got members from other sites like Chaos Project and RPGMakerVXAce.net to deal with too! And, when the dust clears from all the game creation, not only will the individual entries be scored and ranked but the site they belong too will be ranked from first to last based on the overall score average of their top ranking members. Even if you manage to win 1st or 2nd place, your site could still come in last place in the long run if your fellow members don't keep up! YOU MUST ALL BRING ULTIMATE GLORY TO YOUR FORUM BY PROVING IT TO BE THE GREATEST ON THE INTERNETS, OR DIE TRYING!!!

If you have other ideas or if I've accidentally missed something obvious (not including ideas purposefully skipped over), feel free to mention it. Remember, you get three votes, so use them wisely!

can we just skip to XIV? XIII just looks wrong now due to a bad game.

Cross forum GIAW sounds kinda awesome.

I kinda like the scene one, too ;_; it's like making a movie

but I ran out of votes

can we just skip to XIV? XIII just looks wrong now due to a bad game.

And skipping to XIV fixes that? I thought I was told that XIV was even worse of a game than XIII was. ._.

Le thread, it has been moved to a public board and the time extended a little bit. Rawr.

Hmm.. We could also potentially combine the leading vote (currently classic GIAW) with the cross-forum idea. So, whatever theme (or lack or one is selected) can be what theme everyone cross-forum needs to use. Yeah. I like that idea..

That's generally what the cross forum idea is to begin with.

Isn't 13 considered an unlucky number? I think that would be a fun theme to work with.

Also FFXIV is by far the greatest MMO on the market after they redesigned it.

I was going to post that a cross forum one would be cool, but we'd have to plan ahead with the other boards admins and mods. if we want a quick end of summer giaw blowout, we should put that idea off for a bit.

Poll's closed, accidentally added a little more time to the deadline than I meant to when I edited something last night. Be on the look out for the GIAW very soon!

Cool, Classic GIAW.

I wonder if the first GIAW is still around here something. I was there was it was born in IRC.
The only person I remember being there was Arrow, who else was there?

I was looking through the old GIAW, what was the first one even called? I know I entered the first "Game in a Week" but I can't find and of them that I've entered.

yay for classic!

I've searched the old GIAW threads. There are some real gems there.