Pre-Generated Character Mini-Module Design Contest

[hans]

I've done a few more Freedom Force skins, and I now expect to do as many characters as I can using this approach.  I will then be able to pose the characters for Pics, rather like a director, using the FF CTool proggie.  It should be an interesting creative process for me. 

To better show off the models, after I'm done, I'm also considering using Mid-Pics (as I did for the still-stuck-in-progress Rocco Taku SHUA design).  I won't have to decide that for awhile, tho, as Pics will be one of the last art chores I do for this mod.

[Dinonykos]

I will join with "Snow Tigress".

It may be a little unfair since I have worked on this already a lot of time before the contest was announced (actually, I wanted to use it in the winter contest...  ), and others will start their entries from scratch as I see above. I hope this is still allright with the other contestants? Since I plan to finish another design in autumn, I will anyway probably not have time to work on "Snow Tigress" until October, so that may be a compensation. 


 

[hans]

I will join with "Snow Tigress".

It may be a little unfair since I have worked on this already a lot of time before the contest was announced (actually, I wanted to use it in the winter contest...  ), and others will start their entries from scratch as I see above. I hope this is still allright with the other contestants? Since I plan to finish another design in autumn, I will anyway probably not have time to work on "Snow Tigress" until October, so that may be a compensation. 

 

Used to be, someone who broke a rule, in our mod contests, was in danger of having points removed by the "judges."  But even in those days, the judges were pretty forgiving about such things.  I won the first SHUA mod contest with my Marshal Mars: Mars in Misalignment (mars.zip) even tho it was completed too early to use the actual SHUA Worldhack!  By rights, it should've been heavily penalized, and finished last in the voting. 

Nowadays, our contests have no judges or official 1st place "winners," so there's virtually no risk in breaking one or more of the rules. 

And, really, the whole purpose of these contests is motivate people to produce designs for us to play.  When they succeed in that, we're all contest winners.

[GoldBoxFan]

I will join with "Snow Tigress".

It may be a little unfair since I have worked on this already a lot of time before the contest was announced (actually, I wanted to use it in the winter contest...  ), and others will start their entries from scratch as I see above. I hope this is still allright with the other contestants? Since I plan to finish another design in autumn, I will anyway probably not have time to work on "Snow Tigress" until October, so that may be a compensation. 

Most people who enter contests had an idea for a design or were working on a design. I think I used a module from NWN1 I converted for the winter contest. The Retracting Ice (retracti.zip).  I see no problem with starting a design ahead of the contest.

Used to be, someone who broke a rule, in our mod contests, was in danger of having points removed by the "judges."  But even in those days, the judges were pretty forgiving about such things.  Nowadays, our contests have no judges or official 1st place "winners," so there's virtually no risk in breaking one or more of the rules. 

And, really, the whole purpose of these contests is motivate people to produce designs for us to play.  When they succeed in that, we're all contest winners.

That's not entirely true. I believe Dinonykos got one design reduced for being somewhat outside the rules. (He seemed to agree with the ruling.) It might also have been the winter contest. Ultimately the person who begins the contest is the final judge. That's usually been me. Which is weird since I also usually have 3 designs in the contest. Which is why I ask for votes. I've become really lenient as designers keep disappearing. I see no conflict with Dinonykos design as stated.

[Olivier Leroux]

I seem to remember that at one point (before you joined the active community, GoldBoxFan, and also due to the decreased size of it) we were starting to call events like this a "challenge" instead of a "contest" (see "Mystery Challenge"), and that's how I would approach it, similar to what hans said. There would be no first place, second place, last place etc., and so there wouldn't be a need for disqualification either. Everyone's a winner as long as they manage to create a module in time, and the reward would be your module being played and reviewed by a jury, so that you have a guarantee of getting feedback for it (which, of course, could include a short analysis of how well the challenge's requirements were met).

[hans]

I seem to remember that at one point (before you joined the active community, GoldBoxFan, and also due to the decreased size of it) we were starting to call events like this a "challenge" instead of a "contest" (see "Mystery Challenge"), and that's how I would approach it, similar to what hans said...

 

Ah, yes, I seem to have had some kind of flashback.  But then, it's been so long since our last contest, and I am easily confused.   

[Dinonykos]

... (which, of course, could include a short analysis of how well the challenge's requirements were met).

I must admit I like the "contest" feeling, so what about giving marks for different aspects, including "contest's/challenge's requirements". In the DC "House (with secret passage) contest" in 2009 (which, if I remember correctly, resulted in 4 quite good adventures), we had the criteria "Story", "Events and Riddles", "Graphics" (for own art), "Presentation" and "Gameplay". If we did something similar for this contest (maybe GoldBoxFan as the initiator could decide which aspects and how they are weighed), we could find a winner, and everybody would get quantitative and qualitative feedback. 

[manikus]

Okay, I'm through lurking on this thread... I'm going to try and have something done for this by December 1.

I am hoping that a deadline will be good motivation.

[Dinonykos]

Excellent, another Manikus Design would be great!

[manikus]

Excellent, another Manikus Design would be great!

Well, lets make my work on this official then.
http://ua.reonis.com/index.php?topic=3070.new#new

[GoldBoxFan]

I seem to remember that at one point (before you joined the active community, GoldBoxFan, and also due to the decreased size of it) we were starting to call events like this a "challenge" instead of a "contest" (see "Mystery Challenge"), and that's how I would approach it, similar to what hans said. There would be no first place, second place, last place etc., and so there wouldn't be a need for disqualification either. Everyone's a winner as long as they manage to create a module in time, and the reward would be your module being played and reviewed by a jury, so that you have a guarantee of getting feedback for it (which, of course, could include a short analysis of how well the challenge's requirements were met).

There have always been both challenges and contests. The UANL editor generally asks for contests, everyone else calls for challenges. The exception is DC where manikus called for a Fall 2009 Design Contest. You wrote reviews for it. I can't seem to find a winner anywhere. I had to go back to UANL 31 to find Contest results from August 2003 Design, Art and Monster contests.

Ben Sanderfer called for a May 2010 Challenge in UANL 39. There was a Mystery Contest for 2008 in UANL 38 (which you reviewed) but it is called a Design Challenge in UANL 37. There are challenges in UANLs 34-36.

I think I initiated my first contest in UANL 44 with a Winter Contest.

The UANL editor needs content. Contests give us a page of winners to show off. Plus more previews and reviews as a result of the entries. Gives the newsletter more heft.

[Olivier Leroux]

My memories are fuzzy; I wasn't active during most of these events, I only remember those that I participated in myself. I'm pretty sure the first was called Mystery Challenge and had no winners, the other one was that House contest(?) for DC, I think, but I can't remember anything about winners, only reviews with ratings. Maybe it's because I'm hardly competitive at all (well, apart from expecting no less than perfection of my own work; but that has no relation to competitors).

I'm generally fine with both; I see the risk of some being intimidated and shying away from a contest if they see the big names participate in it, but on the other hand, I guess competition and the ambition to win can be very motivating factors for some, too. So it's all good. 

[hans]

So it's all good. 

 

I am in complete agreement.   

[Dinonykos]

(Concerning past contests: I must admit I am still confused - was there a second winter contest? I remember the one with 4 GoldBoxFan-Designs vs 1 Dinonykos-Design , and also one with Hans' Yukionna-Design, in which I did not manage to submit "Snow Tigress" in time. I assume Hans won because nobody else could come up with a design in time, is that right?)

If a winner would be nice for the UANL, we could either decide the winner by vote as we did in the winter contest, or we could proceed as in the Fall 2009 Design Contest (with marks for different aspects as described above), but e.g. calculate an average of the marks and make the design with highest average mark a winner, or let the jurors give one "overall mark". I personally like the mark idea, since it would probably include more detailled feedbacks for the designers.

[GoldBoxFan]

(Concerning past contests: I must admit I am still confused - was there a second winter contest? I remember the one with 4 GoldBoxFan-Designs vs 1 Dinonykos-Design , and also one with Hans' Yukionna-Design, in which I did not manage to submit "Snow Tigress" in time. I assume Hans won because nobody else could come up with a design in time, is that right?)

If a winner would be nice for the UANL, we could either decide the winner by vote as we did in the winter contest, or we could proceed as in the Fall 2009 Design Contest (with marks for different aspects as described above), but e.g. calculate an average of the marks and make the design with highest average mark a winner, or let the jurors give one "overall mark". I personally like the mark idea, since it would probably include more detailled feedbacks for the designers.

I found the results of the first one: http://frua.rosedragon.org/pc/uanews/uanl45/mc-winter.htm

We also had a vote: http://ua.reonis.com/index.php?topic=1942.0

Don't think we had the second contest because the two other entries required never got finished. Must have 3 entries to have a contest. That's why I try to do 2 or more to give us 3.