#msxdev Compo 2012

Thanks for the additional info, GuyveR800

G800: made somewhat of a tweak there, I think it's ok now.. no?

Know that the original text was from last night, after way too many bits o' cheese, sausage, oil balls, chips, and hilarious anecdotes from my uncle who was in the immigrant shelter business for more than a decade..

Great news! My best wishes!!
This compo could give new life to the msx scene needs (I hope ;-)
 

@G800 (or whoever's reading and/or part of the organisation)

So, I've read the rules a bit and I've seen some regulations that are a bit arbitrary or contradictory, so I'll drop 'm here for discussion..

Submitting

• Registration closes November 30th. All participants must submit a working development snapshot at this time or cancel their participation.

Going down memory lane: we (Infinite) submitted RNFF during the last seconds of MSXdev'06, and only because we spent the last 3 or 5 days creating it after our initial plans couldn't be finished anymore. That's how things go.. large projects may fail, but for sake of fun one could still create a game within a week. Also, for MSXdev'xx challenges there's usually some unannounced game that gets released during the last day/evening. Personally I see no harm in leaving out this registration deadline. Nothing wrong with that sudden surprise when you find another entry in your mailbox at T minus 2 minutes.. no?

Distribution

• Software will be published for free download on the competition website no sooner than when the competition closes in the first week of January.

Ok. As a side note: does this mean that entries are always 'freeware' (and could be included as such in any freeware database)?

• Software is not allowed to be publicly downloadable during the competition.

Ok

• Software may be released on physical cartridge, diskette or cassette at any time during the competition, but this must be the same version that enters the competition.

Huh? So, so it can be released on a medium during the contest year? How is that different from 'making it available for download'? I mean, yeah, formally only those who buy it will have it, but let's face it: we all know how this scene works. Does the name Kralizec ring a bell? Once it's out, in whatever form, you can't control its public availability any more, rendering a rule to forbid releasing it to the public prior to the deadline pointless.
Added to that, releasing on a medium would mean that it's allowed to sell it.. right? Carts, disks and tapes (and boxes/booklets) aren't free either, so one way or another: currency flow is involved..

• Selling improved or extended versions after the competition is strongly discouraged. The competition is not an advertising platform!

'Discouraged' is no hard science, so why make a rule out of it? Why would it be wrong to iron out a few bugs, or heck, even improve a few sprites?
So, if it's allowed to sell (see previous point) the original entry during the contest period, why would it be discouraged to sell an improved version after the contest period? What's there to gain with such a rule?

Also, 'The competition is not an advertising platform!', not really sure about that statement either. Don't you think that any MSX activity such as a contest actually *is* MSX promotion? I do use the term 'promotion' here rather than advertisement. Who loses if someone creates a game for a contest and later on sells it on a cartridge? I would say that everyone wins when someone creates something for a contest, and selling it on a cartridge afterwards is the ultimate cherry on the cake. I mean, each Nijmegen fair I see Bitwise with MSXdev'xx entries on cartridge.. that's cool, no?

Judging

• Each participant judges the other participants' entries. Tactical voting is not allowed.

That's quite arbitrary. I know the idea of tactical voting, I've seen it often enough in the PC demo scene where groups got disks containing voting sheets. And yes, people who compete with some entry give their votes to the lamest entry in that competition. I know the principle. However: it's still arbitrary. For sake of argument: imagine there are 3 entries.

1. A very good looking and sounding Japanese RPG with lots 'n lots of texts - think Sword of Legend Lenam, so you really need to be able to read Japanese to get anywhere, you can't really finish the game by chance.
2. An English clone of Columns
3. An English tracker for FMPAC+PSG

Now, these 3 groups should give each other points? Technically, the RPG has the potential to win on all aspects. Are groups 2 and 3 expected to give their top points to the RPG? Chances are, if I were to be entry 3, that I'd give the top points to Columns, and chances are that the group who made Columns would give their top points to the tracker. Who looses? Yes, the RPG that would actually be the best entry on all aspects. And that's just taking language into account. What if someone simply prefers puzzle games over RPGs? These are all aspects that make a rule like this tricky business. Personally, I would go with one of these three options: (and I've ordered them based on my own preference)

1. an unbiased third party jury
2. third party voting by a crowd (e.g. a poll at some public place)
3. voting by competitors without this tactical voting rule, as it's arbitrary and prone to arguing

• Requirements must be taken into account; eg. great use of weak hardware should be more appreciated than poor use of powerful hardware.

Arbitrary rule again. I do understand the intention of such a rule however, but which game is better? Shalom or Columns? Maybe I should mention a more consistent comparison instead. Which game is technically better? Malaika or Manbow 2? It's the word 'should' in the rule that's (from my p.o.v.) open to debate between competitors (who are supposed to cast their votes). Once again I think a third party jury (with enough experience and knowledge on every aspect of game/utility development) would be the best option.

• Additional voting will take place on the public #msxdev IRC channel.

Will the chat log be made public? At least parts of the jury log in the other MSXdev contest are made public (quotes on sound, gfx, code, gameplay).

So, there! :-)

Note that these are just general ideas about the contest, I've no plans to compete in anything myself so far, so it's not like I"m trying to adjust things to my liking.. I rather think these points are all quite generic and relevant to all contestants.

Oh brother.. the height of posts like these in this new interface.. ^^;

Suggest to Jorito to use only one sidebar, not two !