1st Official Gp2x Game And Application Development Contest

[Epicenter]

"Just some old homebrew game" are the entries that I hope wouldn't end up being submitted to the contest in large amounts ... And you see how the announcement says "teams." That indirectly means that the entries shouldn't look like they were made by one person.

I suppose Stargazer: Luminence is probably worth submitting then. It's far from 'some litttle generic thrown-together homebrew game' and is being developed by a proper team; myself (Lead programmer), an artist (soon to be two)-- HydraLancer on this forum .. an assistant programmer (who does not post on this forum) who is mainly providing tips and algorithmic advice, and two music composers. Only thing is, it's not some rush-job game project, it's something we intend to be marketable as a proper commercial product! So I hope a playable technology test or demo would be acceptable for such a contest ...

 

[Azure]

I don't know about you, but I don't know many people that would prefer to buy an import handheld is only available through the internet, has no real recognizable brand or developer backing, and only thrives on an internet community, just for homebrew games that, though they will certainly be very good and entertaining, cannot rival commercial quality games (Just due to simple time and budget constraints between commercial games and homebrew games). I strongly doubt that the GP2X will get more potential customers through awesome homebrew games (Though that DOES help), but rather through more commercial quality titles (And obviously the best way to get the most commercial quality titles with the least amount of effort would be emulation of already great hits that are guaranteed not to fail). I'm just saying, the GP32 was certainly not known for its extensive collection of homebrew games, but rather emulation and game interpreters (along with video playback).

I guess it all depends on the criteria of the judging. If you simply want THE BEST game/application, I think it's fairly obvious that emulators would win (I think we can all agree that such titles as Chrono Trigger and FFVII and what not cannot be rivaled by a small group of homebrew developers). If you are looking for the most innovative, creative, and original game/application, then emulation most likely wouldn't apply.

BTW, "teams" also work on emulators, and emulators often are the result of more than one coder's efforts

I honestly don't care who wins what in this contest. I just hope that we get some good game/apps from this (And possible full speed SNES! PLEASE!!! ) that will make the GP2X more attractive.

OT: Epicenter - Any pics for Stargazer? The artwork looks very intriguing and enticing, I'm guessing it's a shooter?

 

[Epicenter]

BTW at "teams" also work on emulators, and emulators often are the result of more than one coder's efforts \
...
OT: Epicenter - Any pics for Stargazer? The artwork looks very intriguing and enticing, I'm guessing it's a shooter?

Sure; but often this is in the manner that an author writes an emulator and someone else just ports it to the GP2X, or they write a simple emulator and plug in an ARM9 ASM core someone else wrote cutting out weeks, MONTHS of optimization and writing of nightmarishly indepth handcoded ASM. I mean, it works great. But it's not what you could really refer to as a true team or work that seems wholly justifiable to win a contest next to a person or persons who work entirely from scratch.

Yes, Stargazer is a shooter. There'll be announcements about it quite soon, You can see some footage then! I hope you'll like it; I think you will. The art gets a lot better too. That's just a little teaser HydraLancer threw together ..

 

[xafier]

hmm I think some of you are really missing the point of this contest... $5000 isn't for a homebrew game of any quality, $5000 isn't for an emulator of any perfectness.... $5000 is for a commercial game that will sell... they're trying to get real developers involved... were talking about teams of coders and graphics designers...

the only chance we have of claiming any of those prizes are most likely the last couple of prizes and only if someone really works hard and probably with another couple of people...

they're trying to get people to create games for the GP2X, real games!

 

[___]

gosh! That gba post of me was meant as a humorous remark regarding the recent rush of people asking for gba emulation... just a joke! but seriously: I think that homebrew games are totally awesome and done with love but also an emulator can do this. It is also not fair to say that it wouldn't make good use of the gp2x's capabilities. I believe that an emulator is a homage to a system. A lot of love and dedication is needed to emulate one system and a deep understanding of the emulated one and the platform that's used to emulate it. I don't see how this is an unworthy project for the gp2x... I do see that this whole contest is aimed towards commercial developers though.

That being said: emulators are homebrew, too in my opinion and as good as a well done game.

 

[gaterooze]

they're trying to get people to create games for the GP2X, real games!

Note the competition name includes *Applications* as well.

Let's wait until more info is given, but if it's like other competitions, then ANY type of program will have a chance.

 

[PokeParadox]

Well atm I'm entering.

 

[icurafu]

I'm entering.

Anyone interested in forming a team?

 

[wipeout2000]

When does the contest end?

 

[nickspoon]

30th September.

I think that GPH will choose the games/emulators/utilities that will sell the GP2X the most, which is not necessarily the same as the ones that people will find fun. Indeed, I much prefer a quirky little homebrew game like Spout to an emulator like GP2PSX (no offense to zodttd, he's worked hard on the emulator) because it really defines what the GP2X and gaming as a whole is about. Unfortunately quirky little homebrew games aren't going to win a competition.

That won't stop me entering a quirky little homebrew game, of course.

 

[rixed]

hmm I think some of you are really missing the point of this contest... $5000 isn't for a homebrew game of any quality, $5000 isn't for an emulator of any perfectness.... $5000 is for a commercial game that will sell... they're trying to get real developers involved... were talking about teams of coders and graphics designers...

the only chance we have of claiming any of those prizes are most likely the last couple of prizes and only if someone really works hard and probably with another couple of people...

$5000 is not that impressive.
Hire a team of developpers / graphists for a game (several month), and see how it cost you

Some years ago in France a government institution started a competition like this. First prize was 10000 euros (more than $10000).
The entries were not comparable with a real commercial product (by far).

So, every individual or team have a chance, actually.

 

[Flavor]

Man, this makes me wish we hadn't released RACE! yet. h34r:

 

[deadlychicken22]

I'm entering.

Anyone interested in forming a team?

Yes!
I already have some interesting ideas for games that i've written down but haven't gotten around to actually starting (mainly due to my artistic disabilities I tried to draw them, but they never look the way I want them to).
Anyways, i'm sending you a PM, where we can discuss this further.

BTW, my brother is working on composing MIDI music for games of mine, and already has about 4 good songs done.

 

[Phil]

Man People should really spread the news to other dev sites. I.e PSP devers.

5000 grand is too tempting for fanboyism.

 

[jamesthejust]

So emulation is mediocre now? blink.gif What would be one of these GBA/PSP-quality applications you're talking about (games aside)?

Don't be so critical, I was just restating the title of the topic.

Would an emulator REALLY be worth $5000? Or even $1000 to say the least? Sure emulators are great to have, but do they provide anything UNIQUE or inspiring for the GP2X. This contest would be such a waste and a fault on GPH's part if all the entries are like typical releases that people upload to GP32X. A first place game should be of at least Payback quality.

look at it this way. if a GBA emu were to win, its just like GPH paying someone to make a GBA emulator. which in turn would probably make a lot more people buy one, increasing sales? wheras a homebrew game, no matter how kick-ass cool it is, wouldnt really bring in the massess would it?

im just looking at it from a money-for-gph point of view

http://digg.com/gaming/GP2X_Coding_Competi...0_up_for_grabs_

(yeah, realised i was $500 short, but i fixed it but link is still the same)

DIGG IT!

Would it be helpful if I asked members of other forums I frequent to digg it?

 

[Azure]

Man People should really spread the news to other dev sites. I.e PSP devers.

5000 grand is too tempting for fanboyism.

[Shaft]Can you dig it?[/Shaft]

 

[Julius]

DaveC type of pessimism: Damn that means no big releases till the end of September

 

[yuujin]

i just hope that at least one of the entries that get a prize will use the second processor somehow...

 

[freddykreuger666]

screw homebrew games
i wanna play 1000's of gba games on my soon-to-come gp2x.
emulator is going to draw lot more customers then a good homebrew game is. Come on you gba or psx emulator!

 

[lippy]

screw homebrew games
i wanna play 1000's of gba games on my soon-to-come gp2x.
emulator is going to draw lot more customers then a good homebrew game is. Come on you gba or psx emulator!

Lol, i see the gp2x is drawing in a nice community!