Win A Pandora

[WizardStan]

But my problem is I only code within my capabilities as a games designer - ie I only code as I go along... I don't have a master plan, other than top down racer, pool game, etc etc. Graphic design is outwith my limited ability..

I think the idea is to *nudge* *nudge* "design" a game. The design doesn't have to be complete, good, or even feasible, it's just a means of entering the contest *wink* *wink*.
I would imagine sending money with "some kind of top down racer" as your idea would be enough to validate your entry *hint* *hint*.
Which will then be judged in some way that is yet unknown and may give the appearance of being entirely random.

 

[Unfathomable Depths]

Ahhh OK I get it now.

I propose a game where a wizard, lets call him Stanley, uses his powers of magic to paint a target on himself (could be anywhere:.). All the players get one shot each to fire arrows of sarcasm into one of his gaping holes.

- points for mouth shots

Still,
if anyone has a decent idea my PM box is open.

No wizards.

 

[WizardStan]

No wizards.

Spoilsport

 

[Unfathomable Depths]

:lol:

In all seriousness - I´d love a bank of game ideas.
From the way the controls should work to how the collisions interact to how it should look.

I'd enjoy that sot of challenge. Doubt it would be perfect but such is life

 

[Prometheus]

In all seriousness - I´d love a bank of game ideas.
From the way the controls should work to how the collisions interact to how it should look.

For some reason this reminds me of a dream I had last year. A fully-formed arcade-style game (housed in a proper cabinet and everything) wandered into my mind, along with every aspect of how it looked and how it worked, and every power-up and game mechanic. Even its name. The only thing I don't fully remember is precisely how it sounded, but I know it was in the vein of 80s stuff like Mappy. It was one of those times when I felt true frustration at being completely unable to pick up any kind of programming.

[/off-topic]

 

[gruso]

I think we should start having a direct discussion on who to give it to. I'm still very fond of the game design comp idea, but from what I observed in the PACC comp, administering it is a lot of work, entrants will really pin you to deadlines (and there will be uproar if you move the goalposts along the way), and selecting & coordinating a judging panel is a big job in itself.

I can't sign up for that, sorry!

It would be nice and democratic just to take nominations in a new thread, let it run for a few days, then do a (drum roll) poll. I know who I'd be nominating; they're obvious choices really, but it would be cool to open up a discussion on some of the less obvious ones too.

ps. Nice bank of game concepts here: http://www.squidi.net/three/about.php

 

[PokeParadox]

OK... I've not made off with the goods, the Pandora is still up for grabs, with a Carry Case!
I think the only possible outcomes due to the donation drive not being feasible is to offer the Pandora directly as a prize for an existing compo or to start a nomination thread with a poll as Gruso mentioned above.

So the thing to establish now is what is better, donate to a dev that will hopefully solve a few software problems for us all... or add it as a prize to an upcoming coding compo.

 

[Javacat]

What about making a members club which requires an admissions fee?

Every couple of weeks one of the lucky members of the club wins a pandora.

The treasurer of the club would decide what to do with the money, and with them being rather generous would most likely donate the money to a dev of the clubs choice.

Unfortunately I've seen that the club will have to be disbanded after just over two weeks due to....... leprosy?

 

[gruso]

We could donate it to the GP32 Spain Wiz comp.

(Dramatic pause for crowd reaction...)

Seriously, it would be a nice community gesture given some of the tiresome rivalry that a handful of people insist on perpetuating. We are all one scene after all. And who knows what the winner could bring to the party.

I know there will be mixed opinions on this, maybe the comp organisers won't even accept the offer. IMO the most important thing would be having the blessing of the person who donated it to Poke in the first place.

Donations close August 15. Discuss. B)

 

[PokeParadox]

We could donate it to the GP32 Spain Wiz comp.

(Dramatic pause for crowd reaction...)

Seriously, it would be a nice community gesture given some of the tiresome rivalry that a handful of people insist on perpetuating. We are all one scene after all. And who knows what the winner could bring to the party.

I know there will be mixed opinions on this, maybe the comp organisers won't even accept the offer. IMO the most important thing would be having the blessing of the person who donated it to Poke in the first place.

Donations close August 15. Discuss. B)

It's a gamble, but I like it... seriously. It annoys me the us vs them mentality that's developed just because someone was in a bad mood one day.
There was some great coding talent from the Spanish community for the GP2X but basically most have boycotted Pandora...
So I do like the idea of building bridges, but at the same time I'm a little nervous that the winner would just ...um... smash it, set it on fire or take a dump on it or something equally !

 

[crow_riot]

donating for the spanish compo is a nice step! but just to mention, there are two categories (emu and game) that have a separate price pool. imo it's difficult to decide which pool should get it.

 

[MonkeyChops]

Finding a dev from either forum that would directly benefit from it sounds like a better idea to me. If there is even a chance that it would go to no good by donating it to the comp then I don't think it should happen. Why not make sure we all get some kind of direct benefit from it by finding a dev in need or having a Pandora coding comp?

 

[Mofokubik]

There was some great coding talent from the Spanish community for the GP2X but basically most have boycotted Pandora...
So I do like the idea of building bridges, but at the same time I'm a little nervous that the winner would just ...um... smash it, set it on fire or take a dump on it or something equally !

Someone who has the patience to code programs for handheld devices in his spare time probably for fun wouldn't set fire to the product of his hard work.

But even if he did, would it matter? It would just give the pandora much needed attention.

 

[PokeParadox]

Well I think... The GPSpain idea is quite poetic, it would be a nice gesture, so I shall have to make a post on the forums there.
Does this sit right with everyone?

 

[Javacat]

You could just stick it on ebay when you get it and then donate all the profitz. You'll probably have more than enough to pay back the donater (several times) as well :/

 

[WizardStan]

Well I think... The GPSpain idea is quite poetic, it would be a nice gesture, so I shall have to make a post on the forums there.
Does this sit right with everyone?

it is, basically, "your" Pandora, and you are free to do with it as you wish.
Personally I thought the raffle idea was the best, most community-esque thing to do with it, with the money being used to drive the coding competition, but the logistics of such a thing may be outside the realm of feasibility.

 

[gruso]

More accurately, the legalities.

Some interesting info on prizes vs competitors in the GP32 Spain comp:

Prizes:

Games
First prize: 600€ (762,98$) + special diploma.
Second prize: 360€ (457,79$) + special diploma.
Third prize: 240€ (305,19$) + special diploma.
Fourth prize: 1 GP2X WIZ + Pack LIAR + full WIZ accessories + participant diploma.
Fifth prize: Pack LIAR + full WIZ accessories + participant diploma.
Other entries: participant diploma.

Emulators
First prize: 600€ (762,98$) + special diploma.
Second prize: 360€ (457,79$) + special diploma.
Third prize: 240€ (305,19$) + special diploma.
Fourth prize: 1 GP2X WIZ + Pack LIAR + full WIZ accessories + participant diploma.
Fifth prize: Pack LIAR + full WIZ accessories + participant diploma.
Other entries: participant diploma.

Entrants:

Games:

* Aggressive Pong (EugeneP)
* Before We Were Dead (Daniel Eriksson & Marcus Fredriksson)
* Coapres (endaramiz)
* Coral Sea (Isidor)
* Cubex ((SOD) THOR)
* Firewhip (Coelophysis)
* Fy.WoD! (Schnatterplatsch)
* Guru Logic Champs (Ian Price)
* Ken's Labyrinth (Pickle)
* Operation Phoenix (Colombian Developers)
* OTO Engine (Nuria)
* Polarity (TJ Hooker)
* RotaCuadre (melow)
* Screen Break Time (Futublog, Fede, PrinceMegahit & Drumpi)
* Sqrxz (Thor, Kojote & Others)
* TankRobot (Neurox)
* Wiz Shooter (JQJDE)
* Zombie Sorbet (Linda Randazzo & André T. Johansen)

Emulators:

* Ginge (notaz) [GP2x emulator]
* PCSX4ALL (Franxis & Chui) [Playstation emulator]
* PocketSnes v7.0.0 (Bitrider) [SNES emulator]
* WS4ALL (Puck2099) [Wonderswan emulator]

 

[emcee]

If there's any dev with a track record of dealing with tedious "nuts and bolt" issues on other systems, I say hand it over to him (or her).

The game and emulator front seems to be progressing nicely, and will likely continue, regardless of who gets the Pandora. But there's still glaring issues with the firmware that aren't being addressed. Some of the preinstalled software just doesn't work out of the box, the window manager crashes if you look at it wrong, a lot of the windows and dialog haven't been adjusted for the Pandora's screen, and a lot of people, myself included, are still having issues with the wifi. I can sit in the same place and connect to the same router, and achieve about 15x the speed on my n900. On my n900 I can watch videos directly over wifi from a Windows share on my file server, on my Pandora I can just sort of limp along on basic web browsing. And then there's "Please select the date".

Really the whole OS feels like early beta software, and I find myself restarting at least once every time I use it. Either way, as soon as I have my second batch Pandora in hand, I'll gladly hand my current one over to whoever I believe can fix even a few of these issues. But God knows when that will be.

 

[gruso]

^ I agree that would be good, if we could find the right dev with enough time & energy, and the guarantee of results. Checking all those boxes is close to impossible though. With some patience we will see these things improved over time anyway, thanks to multiple contributors. I don't think there's one grand dev out there who will make it all better.

That, and this thread has been open for two weeks and we're still dithering. It's time for action!

 

[PokeParadox]

If we could find the "perfect dev" it would be fantastic.
I agree Gruso action must be made.

Currently I'd nominate smoku to advance the Amiga stuff, and then hopefully anything else he turns his hand to.

OR

Donate to the compo.

I'm not sure who'd left that has the "mad skillz" and is Pandora-less. Most of the big names already have their Pandoras.
Come on guys shout out some names then we can make a thread with a poll(we like those!) Don't just nominate gp32x people there is some great talent in the gp32Spain side too!