2005 SL Game Developers Contest Update

There is officially one month to go before the July 26th deadline for the game developers contest, so how bout those of you who arn't afraid of divulging trade secrets give us a project update. Are you done? Is your team going to finish. Are things going as planned?

With one month to go, the game is in very good shape. The core builds are complete. You can find them by clicking the teleport link on the Riddle City Ransom Lands page . Half of the mini-games are complete leaving plenty of time to finish the rest of them. In Beta testing the games have proven to be fun, and high score competition has already been fierce. Our social networking trade scripts are in beta testing and the Sidekicks who help the Metaverse Samurai complete each quest are under development. We hope to have the remaining php on our website complete by the end of the week. Our team is really excited. We've been working really hard these last two months, and its really encouraging to see it all come together. We think our game which will open on July 26, will be fun for newbies and oldbies alike.

We've essentially lost two teammates and are plowing ahead anyway. Since I've done 100% of the code for our game, and my remaining teamie Alan Beckett provided most of the core unit design, our game still looks to be finished on schedule.

Instead of building finite art on a per-level basis, we're using a randomizer. This was my Plan B from the outset in case my team fell through, which it has for the most part. More details will be provided as the contest comes closer to completion.

But the short version is we look to be done by the end, even though we may have to trim back the original design a bit to finish. Since this contest has become mostly a solo/dual project, you can bet it'll at least be consistent!

And once this is done, I am so taking a well-earned rest to catch up on my artwork.

And Reuben, if you're reading this, expect an email in the next couple of days.

kewl i am looking forward to see it done jeff

Yup, I was thinking of getting some sleep in the beginning of August to tool up for whatever my next project is... I'd also like to cook dinner... ordering out has become a regular habit in my place (you can even eat it and play SL! at the same time)

I got really excited the day before the winning entries were announced, because a new RC Car kit arrived at my front door. Since we were selected it's been sitting in its box staring at me with sad eyes.

That being said, besides for the contest stealing the better part of my summer (I recommend Winter Game Dev contests), I'm having great fun. Using SL, in 3 months, we'll have created a game that would have taken years if we started from scratch.

Friends and fellow residents,

This may be my last opportunity to alert you to a very real and possibly sinister situation unfolding before our very eyes.

If you care about the future of the Metaverse -- the virtual future of humanity itself -- this matter deserves your attention.

A team of dedicated freelance investigators has uncovered startling evidence that an external organization has infiltrated the "Game Developer Contest".

Do not believe the misinformation portraying them as a simple 'entertainment' project.

We believe this fetid industrial cabal has already compromised the very foundation of SecondLife itself, and is pursuing an even darker agenda which could alter the course of the metaverse forever.

Great minds from all over are combining their talents, bridging realities to resolve this trail of deceit. What they have already uncovered would alarm you.

We fear this is only the tip of the iceberg.

We need your help.

There is a =day&year=2005&month=07&day=29"]time and place for each of us to stand with both the strength of our mind and the fortitude of our heart.

That moment is drawing near, my friends. Will you stand with us?

As amusing as the sales pitch is, Looking Under...

/3/53/43550/1.html

Perhaps it would be better to give us a less "hyped" status update, yes?

Heh good point Jeffrey... not that I'm oppossed to a different thread called something like "Hype your Game Here!" We have a plot too, one that winks an eye toward Stephenson and Gibson [ our scripter just reminded me that all sci-fi uses samurai, and that perhaps the previous comment was just a wink towards my favorite authors, lol]

My biggest problem with Eva and all other "One Time" games, is that I'm too busy developing to actually play. Replayability has always been a desireable trait in my game world.

I was also wondering about some of the other contestants. There are 16 of us but the same handful of people responded to Hamlet's IM or posted in the forums. Are those teams just not into the forum/blog/responding to IM's culture? Or do they view thier entries as top secret?

Ditto. I also happen to not be good with "roleplay" through said media. I feel the fourth wall should be closed and broken at a player's discretion.

As for the other contestants, while I'd prefer they speak for themselves, from what I've seen roughly a half of the original list is coming up with something interesting.


To list some of the other games I've seen:

- "The Board" (Game Dev 1), pretty self-explanatory (board game), seems like it'll be finished by the end. Really wish it wasn't so hard on the sim, but eh.

- "Podlets" (Game Dev 1) seems to be a very simplistic game, and is run by several long-time friends of mine. I'm not quite sure what the overall game will be like, but the little hover dogs are cute.

- "Ghosts in the Machine" (Game Dev 2) shows some promise, with remakes of several popular games like Intelligent Qube, Solomon's Key, and Pipe Dream. I've talked with Oneironaut extensively on it. I'm not sure how finished he'll be by the end, but I love these games.

- "Game Matcher" (Game Dev 2) has a working Go Board. Not sure what else, but Go is fun.

- "Legion" (Aleph/Game Dev 3) is not vaporware. Adam and company are developing this game privately. I've not visited it for this reason.

- "Full Gravity" (Game Dev 4) is strangely MIA. Not sure what became of it.

- "Gamesylvania/Centralia" (Game Dev 4) is an interesting experiment. Not quite sure how it'll work.

- "Sailboat Racing" (Game Dev 5) is an interesting one. Not sure how far along they are.

- "Rift" (Game Dev 5) was posted on by Kyrah before the edit. I'm hoping they finish despite losing one of their coders to some unforseen problems.

- "Krytterz" (whole grid game) seems to be an amusing Pokemon clone. I've seen a working prototype, but I'd still like to see the little guys animate.




Those are the only ones I've seen so far. I've not seen EVA, your game (Riddle City Ransom), The Gathering, CyberLife, or Sim Havoc.

My expectation is that a quarter to a half of the games will be done by the end of the contest. Hopefully the authors will give us more insight.

I'm a little suprised at your reaction. After all, you contrived this 'status update', immediately replying on your own behalf. Maybe other contributors simply prefer to wait for real Linden announcements?

Nonetheless, the serious matter which I have brought to your attention is no game.

You may choose to believe the propoganda you cite - that is your prerogative.

But readers who seek the truth will be greatly informed by the updated information I've provided.

My response is an accurate depiction of the state of this investigation - those of you interested in the progress of these efforts will find what you are looking for therein.

I will not be able to contact you through this channel again. Find the friends.

But... but....

Oh, nevermind.

LOL, wouldn't it be a contridiction if I asked how everyone was doing, and then didn't report my own status?


I suspect that is the reason for some... that's why I was asking... however I was kinda thinking that people were interested in protecting their IP. It never crossed my mind that someone would think "Who is this Satchmo guy? Screw him, I only respond to Lindens!"

To be clear: This isn't an annoucement, it's a forum post.

I totally respect people's decisions not to respond to this... I also understand some of us are having a lot of fun with this, are active parts of the SL community and want to share an inside look at the Game Dev contest with the rest of the community.

Hey, y'all see this?

Doug Church has very generously agreed to help us evaluate and judge this year's Game Developers Competition. Currently with Crystal Dynamics, Doug (full credit list here) was one of the main developers on classic PC games like Ultima Underworld, System Shock, and Thief: The Dark Project. Doug was also an influence on the early origins of Second Life itself...

I've been biting my tongue not to reveal our judge, because I'm a big fan of him myself, and know several folks in the contest are into the games he's worked on, too. He also happens to be a very cool, humble, totally down-to-earth dude, so I'm triply looking forward to having him come to SL to check out your games. With luck I'll be able to do an on-the-spot in-world interview with him (though unfortunately, we probably won't have time to do a one-on-one audience thing like with Harvey Smith last year.)

Doug Church seems like the perfect celebrity judge. His commercial stuff is great and the the stuff the've done at Indie Code Jam is amazing. It's nice to have a judge with experience breaking genre's (IndieCodeJam) and who cares so much about the Game Dev community. Looking forward to your interview Hamlet.

3 months, no funding, lots of sweat... we're all indie game developer's on this one.