Specialised contest musing

[papillon]

I've repeatedly talked about sponsoring a small VN writing contest with tight restrictions to give people a safely-bounded sense of competition. However, this is not the time as we're just coming off ReNo. Any preferences for what *would* be a good time?

The general idea I'm thinking of at the moment is that I will provide a Game Premise and a bit of Art. (Most likely I'm just going to have a single custom sprite made, backgrounds will need to be obtained from stock photos.) The idea is for everyone to be working off the same premise and art, so that it comes down to writing and execution. There will be a word limit. Entries would be submitted to me personally and then posted without the creator's name attached for the community to discuss, compare, and eventually vote on. I could contribute a small cash prize (if it picked up, perhaps others would be motivated to sponsor with small prizes as well).

Since all the works would be very obviously created for this specific purpose, this should prevent some of the possible pitfalls of more general awards failing to recognise people who've put their hearts and lives into games that didn't become popular.

This is not a guarantee, just something I've kept wanting to do for a long time. Any feedback on the concept?

[Auro-Cyanide]

I'm not interested in competing (obviously) but I think it sounds interesting and I don't think I would mind putting some money towards it

[Shoko]

I think that sounds awesome! The amount of variety that one could put into such a game would be huge and really emphasize the novel part of visual novel, without sacrificing the medium as a whole. Not to mention it be a great conversation starter about what good writing really is in a visual novel, and how it should be handled alongside. the context of art and music. If you do it, I'm joining.

As for the time, any time should be good if there's a small (2,000/5,000?) word limit. Summer would probably be when a lot of members would have free time, but since it's near there it shouldn't be a problem if you do it now.

[KomiTsuku]

IDHAS would be willing to back such a contest (being purely writers), though I'd recommend a panel of judges as well as the community vote. Never been a fan of the community vote because that means you have to tailor to the community if you want a chance to win.

Personally, I see coming off of NaNoRenO to be the best time to do it. Keeping the community live and producing, not to mention that we will soon be through playing the NaNo games, is a solid idea. Maybe push it back a little closer to summer, but...

[papillon]

Trying to actually wrangle together a panel of judges is easier said than done, though. Part of my intended point is for the community to work together to discuss what does and doesn't work well in game writing. For that reason, discussion will open earlier than actual voting does.

One thing I've thought of is that tracebacks can give away author identity by revealing directory structure. Should I take extra steps to minimise that, or is that too paranoid?

[kaleidofish]

Someone going through the trouble of finding out the author's identity through the tracebacks sounds a little extreme to me, but there's no harm in trying to eliminate any chances of someone possibly doing that. I'd prefer to have the contest closer to the beginning of the summertime (as early as possible), especially if the word limit's short. That way, I'd be able to finish my entry, then spend the precious summer months on my other projects.

I'd love to compete in something like this if it happens (as long as the word limit's short enough that it won't take away from my other projects...I've neglected them for too long because of NaNoReNo).

[SusanTheCat]

It would also be interesting to have a similar contest for artists. i.e. Have a standard script and the creator has to create sprites, bgs, and animations for it. (Hmmm, didn't someone do a NaNoRenO project like this. )

Susan

[DaFool]

This is a good idea... it levels the playing field to find the best writers instead of just writers who were lucky enough to snag the best artists. The writers I'm following are for the most part old-timers (when everyone was working with shit art) but it's hard to discover up and coming talent unless they're already in a kickass team.

[Sapphi]

I would love to enter this contest. I'm not sure if I make a better artist or writer, but it sounds very stress-relieving to just write for a change and not have to worry about drawing the sprites to match.

[HikkiPanda]

It would also be interesting to have a similar contest for artists. i.e. Have a standard script and the creator has to create sprites, bgs, and animations for it. (Hmmm, didn't someone do a NaNoRenO project like this. )

Susan

I like this idea!

The first contest is to decide the best story and the second contest is about drawing characters for that story. That way hopefully we can combine the best story with the best artwork

[gekiganwing]

I know this topic has been quiet. But I've thought about it lately, and decided that it's a rather good idea. Give people restrictions, and then see what sort of creative things they can make with those restrictions.

[lepapillonrouge]

Maybe it should be during the summer? A lot of us are students right? I'd like to do this kind of contest too.

[EternalDandelions]

Maybe it should be during the summer? A lot of us are students right? I'd like to do this kind of contest too.

I agree, summer vacation is perfect for contests.

[papillon]

Summer was my original thinking; at the moment, though, both artists I've approached on this concept sounded initially interested and then immediately vanished and quit answering emails, and I'm unexpectedly tied up with other things at the moment, making it difficult for me to herd cats enough to rustle up the resources. I'd like to do it sometime but organising this is not high up my priority list right now.

[Auro-Cyanide]

Summer was my original thinking; at the moment, though, both artists I've approached on this concept sounded initially interested and then immediately vanished and quit answering emails, and I'm unexpectedly tied up with other things at the moment, making it difficult for me to herd cats enough to rustle up the resources. I'd like to do it sometime but organising this is not high up my priority list right now.

What kind of sprite are you going to need? If it's not overly complicated and you give me a bit of time I could probably help out.