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Credit to Eien Nanashi for the logo. The Game-Making Period has ended! Entries are closed! The contest's theme is "Silence". It is up to you on how to interpret, and implement the theme into your game! Good luck, and most importantly, have fun! Happy game making! Lists: --- Hello there! Do you remember the other two contests? If you do, then I've got great news, it's back again! If you've never heard of this, then here's a brilliant new contest for you to enter. The rules are quite simple on the surface. Make a game. Simple enough? Okay now try it in a week. That's what this contest is all about. I would spoiler all the categories but you must read everything or, something like that. Let's get started! Q: So Jackus, who's taking part? Glad you asked! Here is the list of people who have entered so far along with some info about their entry. (Like if they've dropped out or finished) Use this as a kind of contestant tracker. Clicking a name will take you to their profile for now. Later it will take you to their project post. [see LISTS at top of post] Q: And who's going to be judging these? Good question, you could if you wanted to! That's right, the contest is judged by volunteers. (And me!) Anyone can volunteer to contribute towards the judging. Even if you're a contestant! Be aware you can't judge your own game though. That would be unfair. The overall score is an average of all the judges. You can provide reasons, although they're not required. Also I might ask you to justify your scoring so be prepared for that. Especially if you are also a contestant, I'll be keeping a closer eye on you. [see LISTS at top of post] Q: So, how are we being judged? What do judges need to look out for? Well, since I lack any creativity in this section, I'm sorry to say I kind of stole the guidelines from the IGMC. But they work so well, so I guess they stay. Here they are: You got all that? :3 Basically, you will be scored (by the judges) in three main categories. Presentation, Gameplay, and Engagement. But actually, it's four categories. You will also be scored in Theme (or, The Twist). The scoring will be in a scale of 0 ~ 20 for each category, meaning you can have a maximum of 80 points. The Theme is, well, the theme of your game. It will be announced when the game-making period starts (see below for Dates). It will be completely up to your interpretation. Making a game completely unrelated to the theme will give you no points in the Theme category. Taking the theme literally (basically, in a boring/predictable way) won't give you much points, either. A clever use of the theme will give you more Theme points. Still, don't let the Theme stop you from making a game if you think you can't make up a clever interpretation. That's just 20 of the 80 points you might get a score on. Q: Okay that's all well and good, but what if a game has a major glitch or bug? Will we be disqualified for a single mistake? Since it's in a week, I'll be kind of lenient on minor typos, and I ask that the judges do the same. However there are a few rules. Repeated minor issues such as typos or wrong tiles will result in a few points taken away. Try not to be too harsh with this, judges. Major issues which affect gameplay will also decrease from the total score. Judges, try to use your judgement with this. A game breaking problem which prevents continuing will hold a fixed penalty of 10 points, with additional points maybe being lost in categories if content is missed. Any issue upon loading the game(Such as missing files or broken intro scenes) will mean you are disqualified! Please remember to playtest your game at least once all the way through before submitting it. Q: And what about length? What's stopping someone from holding up judging with a 60 hour grinding masterpiece? And when does a judge stop judging? About length, the game can be realistically any length. However don't expect anything over an hour to be judged. A judge can stop when either they reach the end, are stopped by a bug or reach 1 hour. They don't have to stop over an hour, but after that point they can quit anytime without a reason. If you believe a game is frustrating or unplayable you can also stop, but make sure to tell me your reason if you stop early. Just don't stop because it's a battle system you don't enjoy or anything like that. Q: So I notice this is INDIE in a Week 3, does that mean you're not allowed teamwork? What about other people playtesting?? Ah, this old topic, this one got much debate before. Basically, anyone actually working on the game (Creating maps, events and enemies etc...) is not allowed except for you and you alone. This is a one man army challenge, a team would throw it all off balance. You can brainstorm with other people, and bounce idea off them, as long as the one doing everything is you. As for others playtesting, sure. They can even give you bug reports and stuff too, as long as they don't actually fix the bugs in your project and send it back. You must edit everything. Q: So I've gotta do all of this, in a single week? I'll never make it, I'll end up procrastinating or getting caught up in real life situations Ah, about that. I'm not looking for the next Final Fantasy, I don't expect a fully fledged RPG in a week, heck I don't even expect that in a month. But what I do want is your best shot. If you're short for time you could always cut it short. The games I like best in past Indie in a Week contests were short, sweet and concise. For a (terrible) example, check out Glory Quest which I made in a single hour! And as for real life, I understand that sometimes (Most of the time) these situations are unavoidable. My only advise is this, be prepared. You should have something ready, don't wait until the last minute to submit. Try to get it in at the very least a few hours beforehand. You don't' need to squeeze out every second of game development, some of the best games for previous IIAW contests were submitted days before the deadline. Q: And resources? Can I use resources made by others? Can I make my own before the contest starts? You can use any public resources, and even commissions (Although I don't recommend it) as long as you have the author/artists permission to use it in a contest. Despite the lack of cash prizes, some consider a contest like this to be commercial use, so tread carefully. As for your resources, anything made before the contest is fair game, you can use any of it since you obviously have your own permission. However, any resources created for the game cannot be made before the contest starts (March 1st) however, anything made in this time that wasn't for the project can be used. It's a bit weird, but use your best judgement. Or go full RTP. Q: Okay, enough of this. Let's get down to serious talk. What do I get out of this? What do I win? I agree, this is the most important part All prizes are donated Steam keys, so you will need Steam to redeem them. Any RPG Maker DLC will need the appropriate RPG Maker engine activated on Steam. I haven't yet decided how to distribute these prizes, and I welcome more! If you have any spare steam keys (Or any other kind of gift) then feel free to PM me with details Current Prize Pool: Another Perspective Beyond Reality Death Ray Manta Detective Case and Clown Bot in: Murder in The Hotel Lisbon Savant - Ascent Spoiler Alert Collectors Edition Stealth Bastard Deluxe Q: Alright! Now how exactly do I compete? Glad you asked! All you need to do is, between 23rd February and 1st March (6pm GMT), make a post in this topic asking if you want to enter. You can also PM me, but I don't see why since your name will be on the list here anyway so you won't exactly be anonymous. Q: Ah, what about the dates? The dates? Dates: Contest Information made public: 23rd February - 6pm GMT Contest start and signups close: 1st March - 6pm GMT Contest end and judging starts: 8th March - 6pm GMT Judging finishes: Anytime before the end of March. Results announcement: A few days after judging finishes. Indie in a Week 4 starts: Sometime in April/May. Maybe June. Q: Wow. Any last words? Not really. I think we've covered everything, thanks for reading all of this... me talking to myself! I hope it.. informed you..? Or something. Bleh, I'm tired. Here's a summary of the rules, just for convenience. Rules: Anyways, any questions, stick 'em in the topic, I could have missed something (As usual) Happy game making! (Thanks to Eien Nanashi for cleaning up some typos, making things stand out in a cool way and making the summary) Bonus section! These questions weren't me talking to myself, but actual questions posted in this topic.