Game In A Week XIII

THE SCORES ARE IN!



Despite a few unforeseen setbacks and the need for a last second replacement judge, all the scores are in and ready to go! I'm supposed to show off some fancy reviews too, but those will come later when I'm not about ready to pass out from sleep deprivation. For now, settle with the scores, some brief summations for what the game is, and generally why the judges gave what scores they did.

The ranks are thus!

Spoiler for 13th Place!:

"Ghost Hunt", by SamieltheMDS

Polish - 3.1
Playability - 1.4
Ingenuity - 1.7
Entertainment - 1.3

Final Score - 1.875


This entry is a prime example for what NOT to do in a GIAW contest. I don't say this because it's a bad game, but because the creator focused way too much attention on what he could potentially do with the game and not on what he actually needed to do to get anything done. The result is a thirty second long demo with two bland maps, no story, no gameplay, and tons upon tons of unused scripts and audio files. Let's just say it could use a lot of work to catch up to even 12th place.

Spoiler for 12th Place!:

"An Unlikely Adventure", by Chaos_Zexion

Polish - 7.3
Playability - 4.2
Ingenuity - 4.7
Entertainment - 3.5

Final Score - 4.925


This is one of those rare times where an entry can actually look visually impressive, but have every other part of the game pull the final score down pretty bad. Most of the judges agreed that the game had a really good polish, nice graphics, nice audio. But, like with Ghost Hunt before it, this entry is actually just an extremely small demo that goes nowhere. There's very little actual game to this game yet, and what bits are there are kinda buggy and sounding rather... generic so far. There's potential to better, but at this current point, there's not much to really say other than it looks pretty.

Spoiler for 11th Place!:

"The Wyvern", by Yuyu!

Polish - 4.9
Playability - 6.15
Ingenuity - 3.6
Entertainment - 5.4

Final Score - 5.0125


Personally, I was so looking forward to this game because of Yuyu's RPG Maker experience and because of the teaser info that was posted before she actually submitted the game... and then it turns out to be just a joke game. At least, I think it's a joke game. I wasn't really sure whether it actually was for a long while, and I'm still not certain if some of the judges actually realized that it was all just a joke game.

Despite a nice looking title screen and character selection, virtually everything else about the game was all generic and mediocre at best, with mainly RTP resources and next to no originality. It was reminiscent of a ten year old newbie's first attempt at a game. Plus, the spelling and grammar was bad enough to make my writer of a mate want to bash his head through the nearest wall until either his head or the wall ceased to exist (whichever came last). There's a lighthearted sense of humor to the game, but as the scores show, it wasn't really enough to go very far.

Spoiler for 10th Place!:

"Thirteen Ghosts", by PhoenixFire

Polish - 5.55
Playability - 6.6
Ingenuity - 4.5
Entertainment - 4.4

Final Score - 5.2625


Note, this game is not to be confused with the movie(s) of the same name. This entry is actually just a standard little RPG Maker game with an Arshes-like character who is on a quest to rid the town of ghosts by slashing them with his sword. It's not really a bad game, but there's lots of little things that pull the scores down and not really many redeeming qualities to help bolster the scores back up. The graphics weren't really bad, if lacking for the interior maps, but had small issues here and there for some judges and the audio definitely needed work. The game ran smoothly enough but had a very weird difficulty difference between enemies. The judges all agreed though that it was a rather generic piece that wasn't really all that fun in the end.

Strangely enough, a lot of this entry's scores were actually LOWER than the 11th place scores. The game's main saving grace comes in the form of one single judge having given the Wyvern super low scores for polish and playability compared to this one's, and in the fact that PhoenixFire put more effort into making this an actual game instead of an attempt to troll us.

Spoiler for 9th Place!:

"Farmyard Chronicles", by Flapbat

Polish - 5.5
Playability - 4.4
Ingenuity - 7
Entertainment - 6.4

Average Score - 5.825

Lateness penalty of -0.5 to the final score!

Final Score - 5.325


First off, this game actually could have been ranked 7th place, but due to being late, we had to dock a half point off the final score that ultimately brought the rank down a few places. Additionally, the creator wanted to submit an updated version of his game to fix a couple of bugs in the game, but the judges decided that they would only play the first submitted version of the game due to the time. Thus, the version that the judges played still contained the bugs that would have been remedied in the updated version. Sorry Flapbat, but we were bending the rules already just to accept the first version of the game.

Farmyard Chronicles is, surprisingly, a game made in RPG Maker 2000, which is seemingly a rarity these days with how popular XP, VX, and VXA are. All of the judges seemed to like it well enough and thought it was a cute little game that was pretty original. Personally, the teleporting animals in the opening were outright hilarious to me. Had it not been for one single judge being unimpressed, the polish would have been a pretty good score too, being mostly standard for the engine but well used and rather fitting for the tone of the game. But like most games, the big flaw is in the playability. Combining the angry insects with hammers (IE, game-breaking bugs) and the lack of information for what to do / where to go bombed the scores for two of the judges.

If Flapbat had gotten in his fixed version on time, this game might have done a whole ton better for its ranking than even its original 7th place. But, seven days is seven days!

Spoiler for 8th Place!:

"Lost Island", by Darkness and Axel

Polish - 5.65
Playability - 5.2
Ingenuity - 6.4
Entertainment - 4.3

Final Score - 5.3875


The title says it all for this entry. You're lost and stranded on an island, and must fight to survive while looking for a way off. An interesting concept for an RPG Maker game, but when it came to execution... well, it could have been done better. The judges all agreed that the mapping was decent but a bit bare and repetitious, although the selection of music was well chosen (despite the irony that it was RTP) to boost the polish back up a bit. As far as originality, while I can't say I've ever seen a survival game done with RPG Maker before and think it's a neat concept, most of the judges have seen their fair share of such games outside of RPG Maker and didn't see many new elements. One judge even commented that it's extremely similar to "Lost in the Blue" in terms of the systems.

The main flaw to this entry is that all of the judges felt... well, lost. We had next to no information, no direction, and no idea what we were really doing aside from getting our asses handed to us by the wildlife. Incidentally, wandering around in circles and having my ass handed to me isn't very fun.

Spoiler for 7th Place!:

"Memedroid the Game 2: Prequel", by Kodi123

Polish - 7
Playability - 5.2
Ingenuity - 6.8
Entertainment - 3.8

Final Score - 5.7


Memes. Do I really need to say more? Oh, I guess I do. Dammit, I want to go to bed already!

MtG2 is a strange game in every way, and it's... surprisingly good. When I saw the title, I was admittedly bracing myself for the worst, but most of the judges agree that it's not a bad game really. The visuals seemed pretty fitting overall, with particular note to the cartoonish-ness style of the tileset. With just a little more detail to the mapping and writing, it could really be something. Despite being a joke game that uses an abundance of memes, the concept and story of the game isn't half bad. However, there were some issues with missing music files and a couple of minor game-breaking bugs. Coupled with the difficulty curve requiring you to grind A LOT, it lost a fair amount of points to the playability.

But what knocked this entry down to 7th place instead of something higher was the fact that NONE OF THE JUDGES ENJOYED IT. Most agree that it's a decent game not counting the bugs, but only one of the five judges gave it a good entertainment score, and I'm pretty sure that he/she gave it such for the fun of playing something so difficult rather than for the memes. The rest mostly found the crude humor and overuse of memes not really appealing, and were turned off by how hard of a game it was.

As a note for Kodi though, don't be discouraged by this! The entertainment score is always a bit of a gamble category, and sometimes it simply depends on what kind of judges you've got grading your game. So while the humor of the game might not have gone over very well with us this time, there's bound to be a better target audience for this that'll praise the game much more highly.

Spoiler for 6th Place!:

"A Board Game", by Sipsop

Polish - 6.9
Playability - 5.1
Ingenuity - 8.45
Entertainment - 5.2

Final Score - 6.4125


This certainly was an interesting entry. It's quite literally a board game that plays looks and feels a little bit like LIFE. This is a really unique concept, as I don't believe I have ever seen RPG Maker used to make such a game before. As such, this game has an amazing ingenuity score. Additionally, most of the judges thought it was amazingly polished; the game starts out with some very well done intros, a nifty titlescreen, and a very vibrant board graphic combined with some super upbeat music. Two, however, weren't all that impressed, feeling that the music got a little grating after being on repeat for a while and that the sprites, spaces, and backgrounds felt off and contrasting to each other.

Despite how unique everything looks, the one thing that cost this entry dearly is a lack of instructions, or at least a purpose. None of the judges had any idea how to actually play the game; we rolled the dice, landed on random spaces that apparently gave us intelligence/fun/money, went around in circles until the game eventually told us that we won. There was a manual included to explain what the spaces did (which I know at least judge never actually read before playing), but it explains very little and gave us no clue what the stats actually did or what the goal of the game was. As a result, the playability scores were mediocre and entertainment scores low for all but one judge.

On a side note though... despite being in sixth place, this game actually has the highest ingenuity score out of all of the games!

Spoiler for 5th Place!:

"The Rubicon", by Legacy

Polish - 5.95
Playability - 5.6
Ingenuity - 7.85
Entertainment - 6.6

Final Score - 6.5


As the MC, this entry gave me the most headaches out of all of the entries, due to the fact that two of the judges scores were so polarized for this game that I badly wanted to tell both of them to redo all of their scores. But, the final scores for this entry were similar enough to what the other judges actually thought that I let it go through as is.

The Rubicon can be considered stealth game of sorts about a group of people lured into a deathtrap, where they must use quick reflexes and the power to turn invisible to sneak past a whole ton of enemies. Three of the judges agreed that, gameplay-wise, it was a mediocre game with a couple of minor bugs and a detection system that's kinda iffy at best. Visually, it's not too shabby (except for the titlescreen, which was amaaaaazing), but it could use some better mapping that's not so bland and empty. It needs more than just boxes and strewn paper. Also, it's a little confusing whether this is a modern game or a steampunk game due to story sounding like a modern one but the graphics feeling like your standard fantasy RPG Maker game.

Where my headache comes in is this: one judge gave extremely low scores in polish, playability, and entertainment, citing bugginess and as the main issue while being thoroughly unimpressed with how it looks overall. Another judge, however, had the complete opposite of overwhelmingly good scores higher than even the first place game, having found the stealth to be intriguing and fun while the graphics seemed very fitting. Mercifully, the final scores still fit in with what the rest of us thought of the game: it's a decent game, but still has a LOT of room for improvement.

Additionally, ALL of the judges found the story to be quite interesting, but I can't say why without spoiling anything!

Spoiler for 4th Place!:

"Melody's Quest", by NekoBucket

Polish - 7.1
Playability - 6.15
Ingenuity - 7.35
Entertainment - 6.7

Final Score - 6.825


Unlike most of the submissions, this particular entry can actually be considered a simple kid's game. This game, as the title states, is about a little girl named Melody on a quest to find a cinnamon roll for breakfast. It doesn't get much cuter than that, unless you were to come across some mewling kittens while playing.

Almost all of the judges were unanimous in all of their scores. It's a pretty decent game that was easy on eyes, though the mapping could use some improvement) and had unique feel to it. The biggest flaw to this entry is the small number of bugs (like almost all of the games have) and, more importantly, the gameplay itself. It's basically a giant fetch quest with a couple of mandatory side quests attached, and doesn't really do a good job of pointing you in the proper direction. A number of the judges got stuck trying to figure out where they're actually supposed to go, and if it weren't for a Read Me file that showed me where to look for the solutions to the "puzzles", we probably all would have been stuck a lot longer until we gave up on it. That took a good chunk out of both playability and entertainment, as somehow getting lost in the same two maps is not really our idea of fun.

Still, it was enjoyable for what it was, simple as it may be, and I'm told that this is actually NekoBucket's first attempt at ever making a game. While you do still have some things to learn, you've done a great job so far for your starter!

Spoiler for 3rd Place!:

"The Undimmed Tablets", by Bluntsword

Polish - 7.8
Playability - 6
Ingenuity - 7
Entertainment - 7.1

Final Score - 6.975


LET ME GO TO SLEEP ALREADY, I CAN'T KEEP TYPING THESE THINGS ONLY HALF AWAKE.

The Undimmed Tablets is very clearly a game made by a good writer with a sense of story, character, and setting. Despite using almost exclusively RTP graphics, the mapping is very nicely done, the music is very appropriate, and the characters fit very well together both in terms of appearance and in personality. The story itself was thought to be "standard RPG formula" by some of the judges, but in general it's well liked for the direction it takes.

But, as with most of the games so far, bugs take their toll on the gameplay score (and often with it the entertainment score). For example, doing certain quests out of sequence tends to put you in a situation that either prevents you from being able to progress any further or outright crashes the game. However, despite the number of bugs, the game was fairly well liked for the immersion. Any game that can make you look past having to start again from the beginning due to a bug and still enjoy it must be doing something right!

Spoiler for And finally, first and second place!:

Second Place: "Fabulon", by KilgoreTrout

Polish - 7
Playability - 7.5
Ingenuity - 8.4
Entertainment - 7.1

Final Score - 7.5


Okay, no, really, I need to go to bed, I'm going to pass out if I don't and be a walking zombie at work tomorrow.


This entry is a surprisingly amusing game about a stereotypically gay robot who has been banished to the axis of time and must find five fabulous artifacts to return to his own time again. The simplistic graphics are well done, and it certainly has a unique story even if it does rip a fair chunk from Illusion of Gaia, Super Mario, and other NES titles. The gameplay felt a little clunky to some judges, but for the most part handled pretty well with a mash of genres. Overall, almost all of the judges were thoroughly impressed by it.



First Place: "Spirit Summoner Girl", by Hiromu656

Polish - 7.85
Playability - 8.45
Ingenuity - 7.3
Entertainment - 7.4

Final Score - 7.75


This entry is OH SCREW IT I'M GOING OFF TO BED. THE GAME IS GOOD, JUST TRUST ME ON THAT. It's beautfully done, has an interesting story and no real bugs to speak of. Just wait for the full reviews for the lavishing praises. ;-;

Congratulations to one and all! This was certainly an interesting round of Game in a Week!

Spoiler for Original Post:

The city was dying, the streets filthy with death and decay as the faint wind blew nothing but stale air about. Many were the bodies of the dead littering the road, whilst the scarce few living that remained sat about in the gutters, either too sick to move or too drunk to care. As I passed through, I saw a small group of poor, dirty children sitting on the sidewalk and poking each other with sticks as a way to pass the time. Feeling sorry for those unfortunates, I bent down and said onto them, "Pitiful vagrants, I beseech thee: what could I do to help thou to live better than this?"

"Well, you could always whip us up another GIAW..."



We put you to the poll, and the results said that another classic contest was called for. Well, you wanted it, you got it.
Prepare for the thirteenth round of the classic time-crunch competition, GAME IN A WEEK XIII!

Harking back to the days of ole, I, Bayard Zylos, once again rise to leadership to rule guide you all as the master of ceremonies! As this is roughly our thirteenth time doing this, I'm sure everyone is familiar with what the GIAW is all about, but just in case you're brand new to the forum or have somehow been completely oblivious to the last 7-8 years of the competition, the rules are quite simple. Contestants are given exactly one week to create a game with RPG Maker, a grueling challenge with the sole purpose of pushing our game-makers to their limits. In the past, we've had a couple of people who have made absolutely incredible games that I would have paid money to play, while some others have made games I would have paid money to erase from history itself. After the week is done, all of the games are then scored by a panel of judges to determine the best of them based on ingenuity, playability, entertainment and polish. At the end, the person with the highest score is declared the god of all game creation whom everyone must worship, before we pass out the prizes and all head to the nearest bar to have a good laugh about all of the games.



The Rules:

• You may choose any starting date for your seven days anywhere from Sunday, August 10th, to Sunday, August 17th. For more detailed time slots, see the choices below the rules. You MUST declare when your start date is. Any starting date after the 17th but before the 24th will still be allowed, but you will still have to submit by the latest date of 23rd, and thus will have less time than the other competitors.
• You will have exactly one week from the your starting point to turn in your submission. Seven days is the strict limit. For example, if your starting date is August 12th, then you start at midnight on August 12th and your final submission must be in my PM box by 11:59 PM on August 18th at the latest, or else you will be disqualified.
• You may NOT start work on your game until the your week begins. You may plan out the story or download pre-existing resources and such, but you may not create new resources, scripts, or events. If you're not sure, ask.
• You may use any resource you wish, as long as you provide proper credit for it and the creator has no specific objections.
• You may sign up for the contest either as an individual or as part of a team. Teams can not consist of more than three members at most though, and the members of such must be made known. No signing up as an individual and working with your private creative team from some other forum.
• Games may be made using any RPG Maker, but only with RPG Maker. 2k3, XP, VX, VXA and the like are all permissible. Other programs like the Game Maker programs are off-limits.
• You may not post playable builds or demos of your submission until after the judges have finished scoring all submissions. Screenshots are allowed.
• Finished submissions must be given UNENCRYPTED for judging purposes. Don't worry, the judges aren't going to tamper with anything they shouldn't or steal anything of yours; this is mainly to check for any cheating and forcibly getting around any bugs they might encounter.

Time Slots:

• Sunday, August 10th - Saturday, August 16th
• Monday, August 11th - Sunday, August 17th
• Tuesday, August 12th - Monday, August 18th
• Wednesday, August 13th - Tuesday, August 19th
• Thursday, August 14th - Wednesday, August 20th
• Friday, August 15th - Thursday, August 21st
• Saturday, August 16th - Friday, August 22nd
• Sunday, August 17th - Saturday, August 23rd

To join in, simply post us a shout out that you'd like to enter in and tell us when your start date is gonna be. If you're super late to join in and want to start in after the 17th, you will be allowed, but you'll still have to submit your final product in by the last due date of the 23rd. This way the contest may properly end on time without being unfairly dragged on for those who are already done with their submissions.

When you're ready to submit, upload an UNENCRYPTED COPY of the game to someplace like a Dropbox account or Sendspace and PM the link to me. It's also very helpful to tell me the name of the game and give me a brief description of what your project is about so that the judges will know a little bit of what they're getting into before they start your game.



Scoring Guidelines:

When your project is handed over to the judges, they will play through your game to the best of their abilities and give it a score from one to ten in four different categories: polish (visuals and audio), playability (gameplay and general mechanics), ingenuity (originality and story), and entertainment (the fun factor). Obviously, a score of 10 in a category is like having commercial quality greatness, while a score of 1 is our polite way of saying that you suck. However, even a game that looks absolutely terrible and is scored a 1 in polish could easily make up points by, say, being addictively fun and scoring a 10 in entertainment. For more details on what the judges will be looking for, see below.

Spoiler for:

• Polish is how the game visuals and atmosphere feels, the sound and appearance of everything. Breath-taking original graphics or an amazing selection of music would be scored highly here. If the maps look empty or unappealing to the eyes, the judge would lower this score. Essentially, how does it look overall? Things like visual glitches, poor audio (or lack of sound completely), distractingly different art styles, or bad mapping would be affected here.
  
• Playability is the underlying mechanics and gameplay of the project. If the scripts and events are magnificently executed, the judges would give a good score here. If there are things like bugs or errors that take away from the game, the judges would score lower here. How easy is it to play the game? How much does it feel like an actual game rather than a chore for the judges to play through? The judges will be on the look out for glitches, game length (ie, demo vs. full game), difficulty, and the general components that make a game a game.
  
• Ingenuity is how new and original the ideas of the game feels. Even the poorest of projects might have a captivating storyline or concept, or a unique gameplay idea that we've never seen done before with RPG Maker. Things like having an inspiring story or showing cleverly created plans would get good marks, while being cliche or having nothing but bland default RTP stuff would hinder this category.
  
• Entertainment is... well, the entertainment value of the game. How fun of a game it is, how captivating or addicting it is, and above all, how enjoyable of a game it is versus how boring or frustrating of a project. The score here will likely be a representation of how much the judge liked playing through the game no matter what the scores were in the other categories.

Additionally, I'll be having the judges write small reviews of your game to show why they gave you the scores they did in the particular categories. It'll be up to their own anonymous discretion for how detailed those reviews are, possibly ranging from single sentence explanations to giant essays depending on how they want to do it. We learned our lesson from the last contest!



But wait, there's more! This time around, we've got more than little trophy icons for you... WE HAVE PRIZES!!!


The Prizes:

• Origin Game - Medal of Honor (From IAMFORTE)
• Origin Game - Battlefield 3 (From IAMFORTE)
• Origin Game - Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Uprising (From IAMFORTE)
• Origin Game - Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box (From IAMFORTE)
• Origin Game - Dead Space (From IAMFORTE)
• Origin Game - Mirrors Edge (From IAMFORTE)
• Origin Game - Crysis 2 Maximum Edition (From IAMFORTE)
• Steam Game - "Enclave" (From Kodi123)
• Steam Game - "To The Moon" (From Zylos)
• Steam Game - "Binding of Isaac" + DLC (From Zylos)
• Steam Game - "McPixel" (From Zylos)
• Steam Game - "Organ Trail DC" (From Zylos)
• Steam Game - "DLC Quest" (From Zylos)
• Steam Game - "Thief Gold" (From Zylos)
• Steam Game - "Terraria" (From Zylos)
• Steam Game - "Final Fantasy VII" (From Zylos)
• Steam Game - "Nuclear Dawn" (From Zylos)
• Steam Game - "Papers Please" (From Zylos)
• Steam Game - "Five Nights at Freddy's" (From Zylos)
• Steam Game - "Dishonored" (From Zylos)
• Steam Game - "Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light" (From Zylos)
• RMRK - Free selection of Pokemon! (6 regular)* (From Roph)
• RMRK - Free selection of Pokemon! (3 shiny)* (From Roph)
• RPG Maker - Complicated puzzle or event system request!* (From Zylos)
• Other - PIZZA NIGHT #1! (From Sophist)
• Other - PIZZA NIGHT #2! (From Zylos)

The top placers will get their pick(s) of some neat stuff we've piled together, while everyone who participates will at least be walking away with their free choice of any RMRK Pokemon! Most prize options, aside from the pokemon and RPG Maker stuff, are first come first serve and not tradable, so obviously the higher you place, the more likely you'll be able to pick out something you like before someone else grabs it.




Again, all you need to do to join in is simply post in this thread that you'd like to join (along with telling us your starting date). The more people that join, the more fun the contest will be, so don't be shy!


Contestants:

• Exhydra (13th to 19th)
• Bluntsword (17th to 23rd)
• hiromu656 (10th to 16th)
• llama32 (16th to 22nd)
• PhoenixFire (13th to 19th)
• Legacy (11th to 17th)
• Chaos_Zexion (15th to 21st)
• SamieltheMDS (15th to 21st)
• yuyu! (11th to 17th)
• NekoBucket (11th to 17th)
• flapbat (12th to 18th)
• kingjing (14th to 20th)
• akatharsia (13th to 19th)
• Namagomi (17th to 23rd)
• sipsop (17th to 23rd)
• Darkness & Axel (15th to 21st)
• worrierjeb (17th to 23rd)
• Lige (16th to 22nd)
• Kodi123 (16th to 22nd)
• KilgoreTrout (17th to 23rd)
• Malson (15th to 21st)
• Urbanlord3000 (16th to 22nd)

Judges:

• Zylos
• Boe
• IAMFORTE
• Acolyte
• Brady

And that's it! Come on in and let's make some GIAW magic for our lucky 13th run!

I would fancy to be signed up as a judge my friend. Smashing.

Humm ... I'll enter a game this time around.

Wednesday, August 13th - Tuesday, August 19th
PST time zone

EDIT: All the time slots end on a 'Saturday' regardless of the date, by the way.

I will also lend my services as a judge!

*Edit* Might I add that the end dates are all Saturday

I'll judge this time around.

Saturdays?

What, no, I don't know what you all are talking about?   

Ok fine I'm in. Participant. Starting August 10th!

I'm not sure if I'll have time to take part unless there's a team looking for a spare member or something...bit short notice for me sadly, but I'll see what I can do~

Any chance you're still after another Judge though? Would love to still take part in the event somehow, see all the action! x

There's still the last judge position, although I can't recall if there was someone else who had already said they wanted it before the contest even started. Still, if you need a little more time, you can start as late as the Sunday after next while still getting in your seven days. Would you still rather judge than compete?

If there's a judging position available I'd rather take that to be honest. As much as I'd like to compete, there's only two weeks left on my internship and it'd be quite good not to have a reason to be preoccupied for a week of it; judging is best of both worlds for me

If it comes to it though, I have some minigame ideas I might try to squeeze some time in for ~

Added. :3

Great! Looking forward to it

I'd like to give this a shot.

Sunday, August 10th - Saturday, August 16th

I'd be interested in this. Single game developer (no team). My preference would be the Saturday, August 16th - Friday, August 22nd time slot.

I'll start Wednesday the 13th.

I'll join and start Monday the 12th! Is there no category this time around?

I'd love to participate but making an entire tileset for a single set of rooms would take me the whole week.
So if anybody is in need of an original midi or mp3 i could help.

Good luck to all participants.

Added all of you. And to Legacy, nope, no special themes this time; it's classic style with no extras and no limitations!

And to all: May the odds be ever in your favor!

I'll start on the 15th

I'd like to clarify my reward, since PIZZA NIGHT is kinda vague:

If the GIAW winner is in the US, I will buy them one large pizza if they so desire. Good luck to all our American contestants!

Being our 13th one, I would like to suggest maybe giving out bonus points if the "lucky 13" theme is incorporated into the game somehow?

Nah, there's no bonus points this time around. We had a poll to ask around for what kind of GIAW we should do for this one, and classic version with no extra advantages or disadvantages took the top. Keeps it nice and simple.

Okie doke

Well I seem of missed GIAW XII somewhere along the line since I was in GIAW XI so I'll try and see what I can do for this one I suppose.

I'd like to be entered in the time frame Friday, August 15th - Thursday, August 21st.

Also best of luck to all the contestants on their projects as well. ^^

The people starting as early as the 10th will be able to begin in just a few hours in my timezone. This means IT BEGINS!!!

There's still plenty of time to join though, so come on in while things are heating up!

*Hype Intensifies* Good luck everyone!

Ok, I'll join and start Tuesday...on my own this time. B)

Prepare uranuses

Added. ;o

I would like to enter! And would like to start on the 11th.

I'll try my hardest but I'm not sure if I can make it in a week...but I would really like to try anyway!!

Added ;o

Looking over my work week: I need to change my start date.

On my honor, I haven't even opened up rpg maker! Please adjust my start date to August 17th, central time please.

Pumped!

it is done ;o

Sign me up!  That's right, none of you have any idea who I am, but this sounds like fun and I'll do it.  I'll start the night of the 10th.  I can use RPG Maker VX Ace... but it would be more fun to use RM2K for some ultra old-school retro action!  RM2K wasn't listed as an option...  Can I use it?

Of course you can!

Though personally I'd suggest making it officially the 11th to the 17th, so that you're not shorted a day.

Welcome to the competition flapbat!

I was going to say welcome to Rmrk, but it appears you've actually been around awhile!

Looking forward to playing the games. :)

I do notice that one contestant is somewhat bending the rules by using a non RPG Maker program (least that I know of), but I'll probably let it slide unless one of the other judges or contestants raises an issue with it. We let it slide for NAMKCOR back in VIII as I recall too.

Edit: Nvm, I'm a dumbass who needs to do his research a little more thoroughly.

Oh, what program?

Or, as it turns out, I could be completely stupid and find out after-the-fact that said program actually IS an RPG Maker program, albeit one I had never heard of before now. The more you know!

Oh, what program?

Probably IG Maker, I am guessing.

Were you talking about RMxpAce?

Yes, yes I was. Namkcor used XNA for a project in GIAW VIII, so I got it mixed up. x.x

I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER AHHH

Can I start today (it's 12:48am Mon cst here ) and have my project due on the 17th instead? :-) I was going to wait until Tuesday (tomorrow) because I work today, but that's okay. Only a 4 hour shift.

Let's do this.

I'm a little late, but I see no problem with it if you've already started.

I'll try my best this time around!
I'll be starting on the 14th.

Le Kingjing has be le added to ze list~

I'll start on the thirteenth!

Very good, sir, very good.



Remember everyone, the most important thing you need to do for a GIAW contest is simply SUBMIT SOMETHING. It's far better for you to turn in your work in the end instead of just giving up, even if doesn't turn out nearly to be the project you originally had in mind or even if it's not wholly complete. Not only is there a chance that you'll be pleasantly surprised by the judges scores for it compared to your competitors, but even the absolute worst of the worst of projects are a good laugh to play through, and you can be certain that yours is better than some we've played in the past.

Couldn't agree more. It may be a competition, but it's still all a game. About games. About making games! To be played! Even making them is playing part of the game, it's all just about having fun and sharing creativity and ideas with people who just want to have fun and experience others' creativity and inventions.

Even a frankly terrible submission would still be a valuable learning experience for the creator, still get them valuable critique from the competition and, as Zylos said, may even still pleasantly surprise you.

Giving up and submitting nothing will do nothing but ruin your confidence and creative drive. Make a game and have fun

Hey, I have a quick question, would it be okay if I have my husband playtest for me? If not that's fine~ Just figured I'd ask before doing something I'm not sure about.

That's perfectly fine, I always get the boyfriend to test out my projects for me before submission.

Awesome, thanks!

~anxiously awaits start date~

Just got back from my last day at work! :-) So far, the game is coming along nicely. I'll try to get some screenshots for you guys! (We need more GIAW screenshots ;_; )

I just started my project today in RM2K.  Gonna be quite a time-crunch!  Can I please have my official start date changed to today (Monday) instead of yesterday??  I'm really having fun, but I didn't start until 2 hours ago.

Introducing...the Wyvern! ;o Here's a teaser with the backstory (and logo) of my game!




Centuries ago, the Ice Lord, God of winter, sought to
freeze the world and bring mankind to extinction. Only
the mighty wyvern clan, with their blazing breath,
could sustain in such eternal winters.

The noble dragons suggested a bond between wyvern
and man - a soul pact that would create the existence
of the Dragonmen. These new beings contain the great
combined power of the two races and can resist the
harsh winters of the Ice Lord.

Unbeknownst to the Dragonmen, the Ice Lord conspires
to destroy the soul pact and eliminate both races once
and for all.

Yuyu!  That sounds great!  I'm excited to see and play it!

My project is a light-hearted action/adventure game with some fun mechanics that seem to be turning out pretty well so far. : )

Thanks! :-) I'm excited to see these features!

First screenshot?! (I think? Too lazy to go back and check ) Here's my (animated!) title screen ;o

Signing up for a timeslot of 17-23.  Here's hoping I don't make any design mistakes like last year.

For those who were curious, last year's mistake involved a large class system, 200+ skills and 80+ statuses.  I tend to think huge.

You'll do ten times better this year then. We always learn from our past mistakes to improve in future projects. :3

Aim small and add on later!

(Now I just need to take my own advice... I'm *trying* that method this time...)

Judge bribes always work

Wait, that was always an option in the past? FUCK I NEED TO GO BACK IN TIME BEFORE I WASTE TOO MUCH OF MY LIFE AWAY FROM THESE CONTESTS!!!

Aim... Small?

Hmm. This concept. It seems so foreign.

Aim for the moon, shoot for the stars, but really just hit the buses and the cars

Sophist finds the perfect words again! ;]

Speaking of aiming small, I'm just going to go ahead and use the generator this time around, to save myself the work of making a ton of characters. ._. I'm also obviously aiming small with the story - going for something pretty simple. Anyways, the Dragonmen are going to have pointy ears, facial markings, and (of course) wings. ;o

One of the select-able heroes, Dragon Knight Emeran:




I'm just posting random pictures because I like them GIAWs filled with pictures ;] we didn't get enough of that last time.

I like it! Nice character yuyu. I'm really wanting to start on mine, but I have a conference this thursday and friday and a full Saturday. Just gotta hold off until my start date and get going then!

Thanks, bluntsword! B) I can't wait to see what you come up with this time! ;o

Also, just to be clear:

"Monday, August 11th - Sunday, August 17th"

Means my project is due 11:59pm on Sunday, August 17th? So, I have the 17th to work on it, up until midnight when it hits the 18th?

Correct. You may work and submit anytime before the 18th.

Got it! :-) Thanks for gettin' back to me so quick! B)

You are prompt, good sir! *_*

Here are some screenshots from my game. I'm worried I won't be able to finish on time.

But... But... Dad!?

One last screen.



I submitted my game. Good luck everybody.

Can't wait to see more screenies and teasers, looking exciting so far o:

Hang on, did I forgot to press my brain switch or am I missing something?
I thought you were judging, boe? Are you submitting one just for fun, or has something changed?

I was gonna post a teaser and then I realized I have literally nothing to tease. My game is so stupid. I want the judges to get the full blast of stupid when they play it. I don't wanna ruin it.

Also yeah boe is definitely judging he's just a silly nerd. :3

Hiya Boe.  Want me to clean up thine Auld Ingrish a bit?  Thou/thy/thine  eth/est  hast etc.  There are actually some fun rules for second and third person context:

"I am dead, but thou must findest my slayer, dear boy.  'Tis the only thing thou canst do."

If you like, if it's not too late... I'd be glad to help!

No need, but thank you. :3
As people guessed, I was just having a bit of fun. Those screen shots are the only thing that exists of that game, and I don't have any plans to make more.

I'll start on Sunday 17th (i hope!)

I couldn't understand all the Zylo's speech but it seems like:
rules are same as always,
game theme is free
and keep short and nice.

See you all in the finish lane

Good luck to everyone!

This is turning more into Game in 3 Days for me, I'm kinda lazy. But I drew my main character, she's a Dead Ghost Summoning Girl (that's probably going to be my title).

Is she a dead ghost girl that summons things, a girl that summons dead ghosts, a dead girl that summons ghosts or a ghost that summons dead girls?

O_O

lol yeah, which is it?! Love the art by the way!

The last game is due on the 23rd, also Doctor Who. Who's looking forward to episode 1 or season 8?

So, it appears I'm putting alot of detail into some of the simplest things! Perfect example, just stumbling across a little group of health potions on a table, triggers this event to check if you have 0, 1, or 2+ health potions in your inventory, and changes what is displayed based on this.



I do hope the judges like the detail put into small things like this

Well I see people are getting into it and I might join in with some spoiler/teaser stuff here and there depending on how things go (since I have yet to get much prep work done yet before my start date, though it is on my to do list). Regardless hopefully I can get what I'm hoping to get in the end out of it.

The idea is that this time I'm going with something of a adventure/survival horror kind of deal again except I'm taking some influence if you will from Another and Corpse Party, but if anything I'm thinking you should expect zombies. This is subject to change but I'll see how things go towards this idea first at least.

Other than that I'm curious exactly how we are to submit our entries, do we just put a link here or do we PM it to Zylos or what exactly? I don't recall seeing anything about it on the main post so I'm assuming it is just a PM unless we want others to be able to check out the entry.

Yes, PM it to Zylos. He'll give it out to all the judges.

Some of the entrants should be finished in the next couple of days as well, looking forward to seeing what people have got to offer!

How exciting

I'm not sure when I start. Do I start/end in my timezone, or is there a specific one for the contest?

@PhoenixFire:  Your dialog and text branches remind me of Parasite Eve 2!  Love the detail!

@Boe:  That's awesome.  Quirky screenshots for a game that doesn't exist, lol 

SamieltheMDS - You upload it somewhere private-ish like a DropBox account or Sendspace or whatever hosting sites you prefer, and then you simply PM the link to me (preferably along with the title and a brief description/summary of your game) whenever you're ready to submit. When the last of the projects are in, I compile everything and pass it out to each of the judges myself as I go over some details with them.

Chaos_Zexion - You may start in your own timezone, we trust ya on that. It's usually easy enough to check where a contestant is timezone wise anyways, although it does help letting us know in advance instead of looking it up.

Alright, thanks zylos.

We will participate, we are two makers, the other maker have to register? and we take Friday, August 15th - Thursday, August 21st if today when you see the post is 14th. Which is the time zone of the competition? cause we dont know if we have problems with the time cause the time zone.

Nope, just one registered person is good enough to enter in both of you, though a name for the partner would be greatly appreciated. As I mentioned for Chaos_Zexion, you may start and end in your own timezone, it's not specifically based.

Ok, thank you then ^^ Im prefer be called Darkness, and he is called Axel.

The Axel of Darkness. Or the Darkness Axel. Either way, welcome to the competition!

Since I did not use my idea during the last GIAW due to judging, I decided to start over and change the story somewhat.

Pretty much everything in the background is rotating or scrolling (too lazy to make a video capture). I am hoping to have the introduction complete by the end of the day. I am already a day behind, due to bumbling around, trying to decide what to do ... so I am really rushing to catch up, at the moment.

exhydra you outdo yourself as always

Looks awesome, Exhydra!

Exhydra, your work is inspiring and I hate you.

It's complicated I know, but it's a compliment. Well done on that title screen sir!

-I go Boe and Exhydra confused. I apologize.

Just curious - are you guys going to be passing them out as they come or waiting until the last day to distribute them to all judges? I think the first way might go a little faster, but that's your call, good sir host! B]

Also boe is ready to play some gaems B)

I'll be joining in on this again! I'll do the Sunday, August 17th - Saturday, August 23rd Schedule!

Got time off for next week, excited for this!

What yuyu said, actually.
If we start getting them as they're done over the next week, we can start trying them and judging them ...well, as they come in.
If we wait and do them all at once though then it'll be a matter of waiting until everyone has time to sit and do all of them.
I know that I'm travelling on the finishing date so won't even be able to start until a day or two after the finishing date at least, while I have all week before that designed for little other than arse-scratching

I suppose I'll join, although I cannot promise I'll have anything to submit.

Sign me up for Saturday, August 16th - Friday, August 22nd.

Just popping in to say "Good Luck!" to all of the contestants this GIAW.

Hope to see some amazing games.

@Lige: Just wrap up loose ends and submit whatever you do have by your close date, don't stress too much about it, just try to learn and have fun doing it

Yuyu - Actually I was planning to wait until I got all of the games so that there's no chance of bias for having to wait for that one last game or anything, but I agree that it would speed up the process to start the second that they're in. We'll see what we actually do when we start getting the entries in. Meantime, GET BACK TO WORK TIME IS RUNNING OUT AHHHHHHHH!

Worrierjeb and Lige, you're in. I'll update the list when back at my PC.

If you're after opinions, Zylos, I think that getting the games spread out a bit would be in aid of preventing bias against them.

I expect that getting a couple of games to play and judge every few days would keep you fresh and clear so you can play them at a decent pace with breaks.
Getting given over a dozen games (people still joining every day) all at once and being told "Go!" will immediately feel as if there's a time pressure on to not fall behind other judges and have everyone waiting on me. Whether it be the intention or not, I'd expect people would feel a bit more pressured to sit and play through them in bulk, which is what will lead to far less attention being paid to whichever game gets played last. "Right, last one, then I can go to bed" or some such.

Not saying that's the attitude anyone would like or want to take, but there's always that worry. I reckon opinions will be fresher when there's fewer games to play at once.

Just my opinion ofc, up to you; not sure how the others feel

Just lettin everyone know that I'm starting today

Good luck! :3

Sign my team up! We're the... Ehhh.. We've got no name yet xD Just sign us up as "Kodi's Team" for now and I'll PM you with proper name when I have it. We're taking dates from 16th to 22nd. I lost last years but I hope to get somewhere this year! Good luck to all too! Hope some good fun games come out of this ^,^

#Edit
Just got the team name lol. We're "Team Bayside", thanks again!

 Lots of promise for this competition, good luck to all involved. 

More random pictures :

Lonil Ilrussa - Lead Programmer and Researcher


Random News Reporter used in the introduction

I am using 192x192 animated faces during the introduction before switching to the normal 96x96 animated faces in the game itself. I wish I had more time to customize each character ... but, must hurry!

Also, some hastily written background information for the setting (mostly just to solidify the idea in my head). Most of the following will only be touched on very lightly if at all within the game, so I thought I would go in detail for anyone interested (probably not many).

Spoiler for Setting:

— Quiasas Energy and Rapid ProgressThe denizens of Earth charged into the third decade of the twenty-first century on the back of a new energy resource. The man-made element Quiasium and reactors powered by the material had been pioneered in the later half of the decade prior, the output of which surpassed nuclear energy in efficiency. Touted as the answer to energy woes which plagued humanity in the past, the year 2035 saw Quiasis energy plants constructed in almost every country, thanks in part to the low safety requirements of the element.


— Global Quiasas DisasterAt 17:31 on the 15th of August 2041, the Quiasas plant in Bloemfontein, South Africa suffered the first critical containment failure of fourty-nine that would occur that day in different areas of the world. There were two culprits. First and foremost, the incredible solar storm which dwarfed even the 1859 phenomenon, smashing against the magnetic field of Earth and wrecking havoc with electronics. The second, an unforeseen issue with Quiasium and exposure to massive amounts of geomagnetically induced currents, overpowering weak and in most cases, poorly implemented protection systems.


— Arrival of Foreign EntitiesHowever, the Quiasas energy plants that suffered failures did not cause explosions or melt down, they did something far worse. The failing reactors opened massive spacial rifts, causing large portions of continents from foreign worlds -- including the cities and the inhabitants therein -- to abruptly overwrite the Earth at or around an area of a critical failure, instantly annihilating millions of lives over the course of the day. Amid the rampaging solar storm which disrupted or destroyed orbiting satellites as well as other options for communication on the ground, the chaos only mounted.


— Global Political Instability and PeaceThe catastrophic situation spiraled further out of control as the aggressive and territorial race called the Xa'Dess lashed out at the technologically inferior neighbors which they had acquired, seizing further amounts of land beyond what was brought with them. The slightly more advanced Raui, the second race to be tossed upon the Earth, opted for a defensive posture whilst attempting to determine what had occurred. Eventually, the combined effort of other races assisted in stemming the constant advance of the Xa'Dess and forcing an uneasy peace; saber rattling and brinkmanship becoming a bi-yearly event.


— AftermathAustralia, South America, New Zealand and New Cuba are the new power centers of the free world while nearly all of North America, Europe and portions in Russia and Asia have been seized by the Xa'Dess. The current year is 2048, with the conflict dragging out for nearly three years before reaching the constantly contested peace which has since lasted for almost ten years. Adaption to the radical changes has been embraced by some and rejected by others, creating tension and aggression which is certain to last for decades to come. However, the sharing of Raui technology has aided humanity as well as their foreign benefactors, providing new fields of science to explore.

I'd like to announce my intent to join.  This might be a repost, this forum confuses me. 
Let me know if there's any other information I need to include.
edit: my starting date is the 17th.

:)

Time Slots:

• Sunday, August 10th - Saturday, August 16th
• Monday, August 11th - Sunday, August 17th
• Tuesday, August 12th - Monday, August 18th
• Wednesday, August 13th - Tuesday, August 19th
• Thursday, August 14th - Wednesday, August 20th
• Friday, August 15th - Thursday, August 21st
• Saturday, August 16th - Friday, August 22nd
• Sunday, August 17th - Saturday, August 23rd

To join in, simply post us a shout out that you'd like to enter in and tell us when your start date is gonna be. If you're super late to join in and want to start in after the 17th, you will be allowed, but you'll still have to submit your final product in by the last due date of the 23rd. This way the contest may properly end on time without being unfairly dragged on for those who are already done with their submissions.

Woot! Good luck, everyone!!

For once, I'm pretty sure I'll actually make a (FULL) game on time. ;_; Oh, wowz!

Yuyu - Actually I was planning to wait until I got all of the games so that there's no chance of bias for having to wait for that one last game or anything, but I agree that it would speed up the process to start the second that they're in. We'll see what we actually do when we start getting the entries in. Meantime, GET BACK TO WORK TIME IS RUNNING OUT AHHHHHHHH!

I actually think it really helps to have one day set aside (or a couple hours) to go back and adjust the scores. That helped me out a ton when I was judging. I played the first couple games with high expectations and by the end of the contest, went back and adjusted them. Even with them all spread out, I think it really helps!

Just popping in to say "Good Luck!" to all of the contestants this GIAW.

Hope to see some amazing games.

U stay forever

Sign my team up! We're the... Ehhh.. We've got no name yet xD Just sign us up as "Kodi's Team" for now and I'll PM you with proper name when I have it. We're taking dates from 16th to 22nd. I lost last years but I hope to get somewhere this year! Good luck to all too! Hope some good fun games come out of this ^,^

M-Memedroid ?! (unless I'm mistaking you for someone else)

Starting now. Friday August 15 till whenever the next Thursday is.

im gona beat u malson

thats my desicsion because i deside who lifes and who dyes

Welp, I'm done! Game has been submitted!

I honestly think this was one of my absolute favorite games to make...ever. ;_;

*edit* Now I wish I didn't have to wait til the scores are out to make my project public. I never knew why we did that, but rules are rules. ;]

Can still post screenies and stuff, just nothing playable

'Tis true! B) Still confuses me though. Malson and I talked about it briefly today (very briefly).

I was thinking it was set up after something ultra annoying happened in the past or something, back in the RMRK stone age.

Whoo, my game is turning out pretty fun, at least to me!  It's super cute, actually.  It involves a lot of animals and, uh, wizards... Man, that sounds weird, but I don't want to give away too much!

Anyway, just thought I'd update.  I have been working all week on game mechanics.  Just finishing them up tonight.  I don't even have any maps made yet...  Eek!  Only two more days!

*___* you can do it!!

Yuyu is the first to submit an entry! We have one person (hiromu656) who will be due by the end of today (16th) and a small group of people joining in at the last minute to make things all that more interesting. It's slowly starting to get intense now, and we've barely even had the trash talk levels that we usually do!

KilgoreTrout - As Boe said, just let us know when you begin (or have already began), otherwise I'll assume you're starting on the 16th and will need to be ready to submit by the 22nd. Other than that, it's straightforward. :3

Mine is due tomorrow and I am almost finished...but I feel like I am gonna get blown out of the water, some of your guys' previews are so fricken cool! Ah well, whatever, I learned some stuff so I guess it was worth it....I really want that dang pizza though.

Also I'm not gonna show any of my game because it's so short showing even like one thing would probably ruin it ahahahahaa... *crying*

You never know~

Just do the best that you can with what you got, and you might be pleasantly surprised. :3

'Tis true! B) Still confuses me though. Malson and I talked about it briefly today (very briefly).

I was thinking it was set up after something ultra annoying happened in the past or something, back in the RMRK stone age.

I think it was to make sure that judges made their own first impression of the game, rather than being able to see the feedback of the community first. That way, the judges couldn't modify their opinions based on what other people were saying about the game.

There was an incident in the past where someone posted his or her game early in another community and he got trashed, but I think that was after the rule was in place and he or she got disqualified anyway.

Right on the the head of the nail. Least that's what I've always thought about that particular rule.

Additionally, people can't go "Oh man, this is such an awesome game!" and then flip about the judges giving mediocre scores and vice versa for what people think to be a terrible game given decent scores. Having screenshots and details can help build hype and fun tension for the contest, but it's yet to be enough to sway anyone one way or the other, while the full game release could potentially do so.

You never know~

Just do the best that you can with what you got, and you might be pleasantly surprised. :3

Thanks for the encouragement. :3

Now I need to motivate myself to ACTUALLY FINISH THE DANG GAME!!!!!

Sign my team up! We're the... Ehhh.. We've got no name yet xD Just sign us up as "Kodi's Team" for now and I'll PM you with proper name when I have it. We're taking dates from 16th to 22nd. I lost last years but I hope to get somewhere this year! Good luck to all too! Hope some good fun games come out of this ^,^

M-Memedroid ?! (unless I'm mistaking you for someone else)

Well.. I'm not too sure who you think I am lol but you might have had played my last year's entry. It was called Memedroid: The Game. Currently working on continuation, and let me tell you one thing. We've just begun today but it looks promising

Sounds like fun, I'll start on the 16th

The 16th is today, but as long as you're okay with the slight time difference between starting today and starting tomorrow, I'll put you down for the 16th.

My game has been submitted! I am so frickin tired of looking at it thank the lord it's out of my hands now.

In all seriousness I hope I do well and I enjoyed making it, and learned quite a bit from doing so.

Starting at midnight tonight. Trying to see if actually starting then is a good idea...

Things are starting to roll now. Hiromu656 is due to turn in their project before midnight tonight. Yuyu and NekoBucket both weren't due until tomorrow night, but they managed to finish early and turn both of theirs in already. That leaves Legacy and flapbat as the next ones due in for the day after tomorrow.

I think it was to make sure that judges made their own first impression of the game, rather than being able to see the feedback of the community first. That way, the judges couldn't modify their opinions based on what other people were saying about the game.

Ohhh, that makes perfect sense! Thanks for clearin' that up, Modern!

There was an incident in the past where someone posted his or her game early in another community and he got trashed, but I think that was after the rule was in place and he or she got disqualified anyway.

I think that was jomar, right? That was basically his debut (GIAW 9, I think?). Unless I'm not remembering correctly.

Well.. I'm not too sure who you think I am lol but you might have had played my last year's entry. It was called Memedroid: The Game. Currently working on continuation, and let me tell you one thing. We've just begun today but it looks promising

I didn't just play it - I was one of the judges. :p Actually, I was hosting the contest that time around, so I was the one that signed you up (via IRC, I believe).

This is amazing. I mean, regardless of the prizes I think that this contest really encourages creativity in a very funny and also complicated way. I wish good luck to everyone  !

Things are starting to roll now. Hiromu656 is due to turn in their project before midnight tonight. Yuyu and NekoBucket both weren't due until tomorrow night, but they managed to finish early and turn both of theirs in already. That leaves Legacy and flapbat as the next ones due in for the day after tomorrow.

Looking back at my post, it was written a bit confusing. I said "Monday the 12th" which doesn't exist. I started Monday, so mine is due Sunday night tomorrow!

Never mind. I'm out. The idea I have isn't fleshed out enough to warrant me spending any more time on it.

Booo B(

that's the winning spirit

Aww, I was looking forward to seeing what you could do. Maybe next time. :)

By the way, I started Monday on a PST time, so it's midnight PST for my due day right?

YOU ARE NOT WELCOME TO THE MAIZE ANYMORE, MALSON.


Yes Legacy, you start and end in your own timezone. Makes it easier for everyone that way. :3

Also, we've gotten our third entry in! Surprisingly, Malson is the only one to have dropped out so far. =O

Never mind. I'm out. The idea I have isn't fleshed out enough to warrant me spending any more time on it.

You can't do this to us!!


I mean, my game certainly isn't going to be done either, even with the fact that I decided to split it into 13 chapters, and the 1st chapter is what my entry will be; I have ALOT left to figure out too, but it's going to give me alot more feedback by releasing a partially complete demo versus a full on game.

Surprisingly, Malson is the only one to have dropped out so far. =O

I don't want him to feel like a loner; I'm dropping out as well.

You two are making for a sad fox. ;-;

3 in, 2 out. ;_;

Still a bunch more to go, though. ;o You guys got this!

Pssst...I hope you guys liked my game. >B) Bwahahahahhahahaha!

Yeah, I don't mean to jump on the bandwagon, so I wont >.>
But honestly, I dunno if I'll finish it on time. I'm having a lot of fun making it though, so I'll keep going at it as best I can. I just don't know if I'll get to do everything that I have planned. I've still got most of the days left, so, fingers crossed!

You don't need to worry about getting everything done, just submit what you have got done.
Honestly, the only reason to drop out really is if you have nothing to submit at all by the end~

*Collapses on desk* I... *breathes* finished it.

*dies*

I literally scored the entire game in 20 minutes at 11:00 PM. Don't expect much xD. I started getting that panicky laugher you get when you get close to a deadline. It...It was quite the show.

Well done, but I wouldn't worry; we all get our best work done on a tight deadline

Looking forward to trying it out! Had fun with the submissions so far

Four people who finished and only two quitters. I'm liking the numbers so far! Next up on due dates is flapbat by the end of today, and Exhydra, PhoenixFire, and akatharsia all due in tomorrow. I'm looking forward to this~

Wow already few out? Well that's a surprise. Anyway. Don't count on us backing out. The work is going more than smoothly so far. Game is starting to take shape really well too. Unfortunately it will only be a prequel to the full game so don't expect too much out of it. One thing I can say though. The game is much more polished already than my last year's entry. Good luck to all. Back to work now ^.^

That's definitely good to hear. I'll fully expect to see your game in my PM box then before midnight on your due date then with such confidence.

You don't need to worry about getting everything done, just submit what you have got done.
Honestly, the only reason to drop out really is if you have nothing to submit at all by the end~

Oh, that's good to hear. I'll definitely have something

Good to hear! You'd be surprised at how good unfinished things can be; it's a real shame when otherwise good work goes to waste and goes unseen just because it was never handed out due to "not being finished".

A story being complete isn't what makes the game good, and you'll get plenty of benefit out of submitting something and getting critique! 

Speaking of critique, will we get to actually see what the judges thought about our game this time around? I was kinda disappointed that I didn't get to read any feedback after the competition was over.

Yeah. The games are being played and scored as they're being submitted, but none of the scores or feedback is being posted until a set date after the completion of the whole event; everyone's will be getting revealed at once.
You will definitely be getting feedback, and feedback from each judge as well as possibly the community too

I swear, this has to be true about all game makers... So I literally just finished up about~80% of the demo/game/chapter, and all that I have left is to polish up the graphics a bit, such as replacing some of the RTP defaults, add a few more customization mechanics to the start of the game, and, make sure there aren't any obvious bugs, like typos, or portals into a room, but not out of it...


Yanno, I think I may actually finish a game/demo for once. Less than 24 hours to go though (I'm on EST, so I have about 23 hours lolz)

I finished, but I think I'm past due and therefor disqualified?

Will the judges still play it?  I've never worked this hard on a game in my life, and I'm really happy with how it turned out!

-flap

I'm not a judge this time around, but whenever we did GIAW XI (the genre one), we still accepted late projects, but with point deductions. What about something like this?

Late by less than 1 hour = -.5 points from the OVERALL score.
Late by 1-24 hours = -1 point from the the OVERALL score.
Late by more than 1 day = disqualified OR -1 for every day late the project is. So, a project 3 days late would only be able to score 7/10 at MOST (projects very rarely score 10/10 or even 9/10 anyways).

It makes a huge difference in the scoring and in most cases would prevent someone from winning that GIAW, but I think it's fair to still let that person receive the feedback necessary for their projects - and we all know the feedback is the best part! B)

But that's just my opinion. It's up to the host and judges!

Thanks for your input.  I'm not concerned with winning, although pizza does sound nice!  I just want my game to still get played!  It's not fair to go past deadline anyhow.  There was no way I could have finished my game without the extra almost 24 hours.  So there's no point in comparing it to games that made the deadline, imo.

Up to Zylos in the end, although I'm happy to play and score it either way
Think yuyu's on point though, instant DQ for being late is a bit harsh and beyond the spirit of the game.
If you'd come back a week late I wouldn't accept it (personally) as it defeats the point of GIAW, but a couple of hours or a day...? Seems fine to be with point deductions of some degree.  Will wait till I get a decision from Zylos~

Only a few days left for me. I'm not sure how much I'll have done, but here's a screenie!

Spoiler for Reggina the chicken soup lady:

You can play as a male hero, or female hero. The one you don't choose ends up being your neighbor/ally.
I definitely want to continue this game after the contest, but for this week, I'm only planning on creating the first quest and battle.

Flapbat - I remember you asked to delay your start so I put you down for Tuesday, August 12th (since that was the time of your post in my timezone) to the 18th. Taking into account the timezone differences and when you actually started according to your post, you're still technically late by a few hours, but not nearly as bad as you thought you were. I'll discuss it with the judges; either way, it'll get played still. :3

Thanks Zylos!  I still feel like I'm breaking the rules though 

Speaking of which, I've been playing through and had to re-upload.  There were a number of errors that stopped game progression...  So please do redownload from the same link!

-flap

For today, we have Exhydra, PhoenixFire, and akatharsia all due before midnight tonight. Exhydra and PhoenixFire have both posted some screens/info about their projects, so I've high hopes to see both of your projects in my box when I wake up tomorrow. Akatharsia hasn't really posted anything except when their start date is, but Imma cross my fingers that all went well and there'll be three projects submitted tonight.

After these three, we've got Kingjing due in tomorrow, followed by Chaos_Zexion, SamieltheMDS, and the Darkness & Axel duo due in the day after. I wonder who will be able to finish, and who'll fall flat of their deadline~ >:3

At this point, it's polishing up details for me (which I should be doing instead of being on here ), correcting typos, small glitches, etc.

I'm actually pretty damn proud of myself. It's far from the best work I've ever done, and now that I have a base to start from, I think I will actually be continuing this after the contest is over

I'm excited about my project for sure, but I think I'm going to reveal the details of how I came by the premise after the judging is completed.

Screenies to come. Possibly tonight!

A blurb about my game, since I didn't have time to write one while I was making it!

Title:
Farmyard Chronicle

Genre:
Adventure/RPG

Synopsis:
A whimsical adventure full of magic and farm animals!

Screenshots:

Castle Towers

Minecart Mini-game

The game is full of exploration, puzzles, and prizes.  And I managed to cram in some optional content and multiple endings!

-flap

Looks cool! :-) It's neat to see games from makers other than XP, VX, and VXA!

Submitted, and with two hours to spare even..

I know of one bug at the moment, but it's a flaw we're trying to work out with the XPAce engine itself, so faior warning to the judges: Trying to "use item" and selecting an empty space returns an error

Only happens in battle though, so, I have no idea =/

Fixed. Re-uploading. Still 1 1/2 hours before the time limit

Thanks Yu-Yu.

The issue with RM2K games is unpacking them...  They're a pain to try and share with people!  I'm working on an upload that will install easily.  The judges all have the project, but I've got to make it easier to share with anyone else who wants it.

Yeah, this isn't gonna happen. Way too much work and I'm behind on sleep as it is. Someday, though, really! It's good to see others getting into it all, at least. 

Well I could back out but I think I'll try to get just a demo in at the least to enter in and it will be the prologue/tutorial I'm thinking. Who knows how it will end up going though. :/

So like it's gettin there, but I am not sure that it will be that great :\ This is actually going to be my first game demo, aside from the rpgmaker contest game, and it's really the first using traditional mapping/eventing and stuff, so this has been a really good experience for me lol. Also, I don't think I've mentioned it but I'm on central time (u.s)

Working on screens. Here's a title:

...This is actually going to be my first game demo...

Holy crap, me too! This is the first demo I've ever finished to be more specific lolz

...This is actually going to be my first game demo...

Holy crap, me too! This is the first demo I've ever finished to be more specific lolz

In the case of Darkness and me it's the second one, but it is the first time we try to do a game without using resources or scripts of other people. For this one we decided to use the default RTP resources or the ones we were able to do in one week from scratch. Although I am proud of the game we've got in our hands.

The most important thing we want to achieve with this we already got it, which are the knowledge obtained this week and the test of our habilities. The feedback is only an interesting plus.

Working on screens. Here's a title:

Spoiler for:

'Looks good, bluntsword! It brings me back to your book-cover making game thread and the short story challenge. ;_; The good ol' couple-months-ago days.

In the case of Darkness and me it's the second one, but it is the first time we try to do a game without using resources or scripts of other people. For this one we decided to use the default RTP resources or the ones we were able to do in one week from scratch. Although I am proud of the game we've got in our hands.

Very cool! :-) I mostly stuck to the RTP, but I used a couple scripts that generally made my life easier (such as Modern Alg's formatting script. I've started using that in every game since I realized I should have done it in the "Postman" ;_; ).

If you decide to stick with RTP-Only for that game, you should check out our RTP-Only Challenge. It hasn't been active for awhile, but everyone is always free to jump in and join at any time. No time limits or anything, just a personal challenge to not use any outside resources or scripts. :]

Well, I'm officially disappointed. Akatharsia dropped out and Exhydra is past due, so they are unfortunately both out. I may still accept the latter since he hasn't even been online since before his deadline, but he'd have to have a very good excuse that would have prevented him from even touching his game between now and then, and even then it'd be up to the judges discretion and scrutiny.

Exhydra, when you get around to reading this, send me a PM ASAP so we can see if you can still submit or if your circumstances are beyond even just applying a penalty for lateness.



Additionally, Kingjing is also past due at this point and hasn't even been heard from since his starting post, so he too is out. Every now and then, we do get the odd ones who join and then absolutely forget to even make a game. Oh well. Next up is Chaos_Zexion, SamieltheMDS, and Darkness & Axel sometime today, followed by llama32, Team Bayside, and Urbanlord3000 tomorrow. Out of six potential projects, we're guaranteed to get at least a couple of finishers!

COME ON LETS DO THIS GUYS

ARE U IN IT TO WIN IT OR WHAT YEAHHH

We have ended our game, we only need finish 2 events and adjust the difficult, we have our own time , so we have yet 12 hours, I'm finishing it right now adjusting the difficult, I want it to be hard.
We have create all the game around a script we make in 4 days, I have never see this type of game in rpg maker.
So you will have today our game without problems.

And sorry for my english XD.

Bleh, I have been feeling rushed the past few days, and I tend to get distracted at that point. I spent so much time doing really pointless things that the game is not turning out the way I planned at all xD
It's 8:30AM for me atm, let's hope I can work some magic.

Less than 8 hours for us and I'm getting a bit nervous... too many things I want to add and the problem that if I break something with my scripts I could be unable to repair it in time... What a dilemma! At least I know that the survival part of our game is the best I can program in one week.

That's part of the point of GIAW. You have so many plans to make something awesome and feel like you can push yourself to do it since it only takes a single week of your time. However, when you get down into it, you realize that in order to even finish you will need to cut back on some of your ideas and just go with what works for you. Some of the best games I've ever seen done in a GIAW contest have had small, simple ideas for the base of what they wanted to do, and then expanded out from there once the base was in place. It especially helps people with overly ambitious plans to really focus on the core of what they need to do to make a good game.

Lengthy attempt at being wise aside, I've seen some good stuff so far and look forward to seeing the rest of it. :3