Remove the caps from subject??

First comment - may help if you give them some sort of idea as to what it will be marked by - cause honsetly, you HAVE to have criteria to go from, otherwise it will be pretty unbalanced in the marking part.

the basic idea isnt bad.
question is: how far should the modding go? take SDK as base and only allow to edit the system files (&bases&rooms but nothing else like FX, cmp hacking, or any other stuff)

set up some "rules".

but you need to set up criteria after the submittions will be judged.
like giving 0 to 10 points on the following things:

- fields architecture (asteroids, nebula, ...)
- objects architecture (the big&complex stations, locations, object adjustment)
- zone popolation (variety, balance in toughness)
- patrol paths (show the popular routes on the map!)
- color selection (aaargh, my eyes, my eyes, ... )
- quality (no bugs, no server errors, ...)
- additional subjective score for design/theme/topic from the judge

just throwing out ideas into the open.

Fjord

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Excelcia Mod Leading Developer

ok sorry i hav worked out all the criteria...i just wanted to know what everyone thought of the idea first.

so here are the criteria and the guidelines so far (as always...any suggestions would be great...as this is as much for you guys as it is for me)

ok first of all it is to be a completely working system....
by that i mean people in bars, rumours, news, missions, patrols, pop zones,

as for artistic things go....its up to the creator

one thing that is essential though is that there has to be at least 1 planet and 2 stations...fully working etc, at least one nebula or asteroid field, at least 2 tradelanes, and the jumpgate must go to NY.(makes it easier to judge)

ok the "marking guidelines" = what the judges are looking for...

The marks will be out of 100

ARTISTIC - 60%

The system has to LOOK nice...must be eye candy. This does not mean really bright colours or anything, it could be really dark...but it should still look good. 20 points are for the looks of the system

The positioning of the objects. Planets, tradelanes, bases, nebulas, asteroid fields, wrecks, etc. They should all be in a realistic position (ie the tradelanes shouldnt be 5K from the base etc.) 20 points for the object positioning

NAMES. I really hate seeing systems with names that do not fit at all. names of things should all be related in someway. You can base the names on other things if you want...eg: babylon 5, startrek, starwars, etc, but they should really fit. This will be worth 20 points

TECHNICAL - 40%

The actual working of the system, people in bars, rumours, news, missions, patrols, pop zones, etc. If this all works then its an easy 10 points

10 points will be for how it all comes together. If there are any bugs then points will be taken off from this category. By bugs i mean names not showing up on objects, the game crashing or other general faults.

10 points is simply for EXTRAS. If you want to have your own ships, or have really good custom rumours, or include your own factions, and all that, then you will be given 5 marks for that. Also the BIG and COMPLEX bases will be included under this category. If you want to include big bases then go for it...you might get some extra points.

(I dont want to make that last point essential because people might not be able to do all that...so only 5 points will be awarded for that.)

10 points CAN be given from a judge if he/she thinks that any particular part of the system has been done exceptionally well. think of it as bonus points

so i hope this helps to explain a couple of things
keep posting back with feedback

thx kaegogi for your input...i have modified the score system accordingly


Edited by - Phoenix_IRA on 8/31/2004 2:10:55 PM

Well, basically you're giving 75% of the points out for pure mechanics and only 25% out for artistic originality. For some folks that 75% is going to be very easy to achieve. Maybe you should consider lowering the technical score and raising the artistic score? I mean this is about originality, something that's pleasing and satisfying right? Make it 50/50? Just a suggestion, good luck with your contest it's a good idea.

Thx ppl

I will be talking to BP to see if i cant get a notice put on the front page. I will then take 2 weeks to get entry forms. After the two weeks are over and the entries are in...the competition will begin.

Question/suggestion. How about allocating 5 points to compatability? Try to get people to make their systems in script form so that they can be more easily used in other mods or so they can be combined into a system mod.

ok kaegogi......

i think that script format would be great, but not many people can do scripts effectively, so i might include that in the extras part of it

im not sure but there doesnt seem to be much interest in this mod...maybe because of the EXTENSIVE reading involved...(seems not many people like reading)

oh well

i will make a new post outlining the competition in (hopefully) much fewer words