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The 2015 OHR Summer Harvest Agricontest
What’s Going On?
• Make a game with a farming theme.
• It doesn’t have to be a farming simulator, it just has to involve farming or the harvest.
• The aim of the game is creativity. Games will be scored based on effort and imagination. Because of this, length and coding skills are small factors when judging the winner of this contest.
• Bonus points will be awarded to those who make their game educational. Details will be outlined below.
Knowledge is Power!
Each contestant is encouraged to return to this thread every day during the contest in order to increase their chances of winning and potentially the quality of their game. Every day that the contest runs, I will post a fact of the day about farming to help give ideas and add educational material for bonus points. Try not to simply put in farming facts in text boxes and spew information at the player. Instead use them to make your game more accurate, whether it be through characters, enemies, game mechanics, etc. For example, if you know that turnips are typically a fall crop, have the environment in your game reflect autumnal qualities when there are turnips growing.
It is also encouraged for contestants to spend some time each day to make a post logging the progress he or she has made on his or her game. Everyone knows the difficulty of maintaining a productive schedule when it comes to making games. Let’s all work together to motivate one another through this thread to ensure progress every day. I guarantee that working on a game every day, even if it isn’t much, will significantly increase your game’s quality and therefore the satisfaction they bring to the creator!
Important Dates!
The contest begins officially on August 3. Each day after then I will post a new fact of the day and discussion question (which are suggested but not required).
The contest will end and judging will officially begin on August 17. At this time people will be invited to play each game and vote for their favorites in order based on which they found to be the most creative and inspiring. Feel free to vote subjectively.
The winner will receive bragging rights, a congratulation from me, and artwork for your game, drawn by me (I will try to make it worthwhile). Further details will be discussed with the winner when they are crowned as such.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
OHR 2015 Summer Harvest Agricontest
Tue Jul 28, 2015 8:59 pm 
Fri Jul 31, 2015 9:01 am
Interesting. Did you or someone else suggest running a farming-themed contest? I seem to remember it mentioned before.
I'll have to wait and see whether I come up with an idea for this that appeals to me, though it's not seeming particularly likely despite living on a (hobby) farm. It seems like a fairly narrow theme. Normally contests try to use themes able to be broadly interpreted to give people more choices, such as a collecting a "grim harvest" playing the grim reaper. Suggesting
I'll have to wait and see whether I come up with an idea for this that appeals to me, though it's not seeming particularly likely despite living on a (hobby) farm. It seems like a fairly narrow theme. Normally contests try to use themes able to be broadly interpreted to give people more choices, such as a collecting a "grim harvest" playing the grim reaper. Suggesting
Fri Jul 31, 2015 10:59 pm
I don't remember saying or seeing anything about a farming themed contest. I may have either forgotten or picked it up subconsciously.
Technically the grim harvest is still the harvest, so I'd still count that as following the guidelines. The theme is meant to give direction rather than narrow potential ideas. Because of that, I'll accept anything relating at all to farming. Perhaps this theme is too specific. It could be farming in order to sustain life on Mars. Or as my friend suggested, a top down shooter where you attempt to plant seeds and water them while fighting off pests and weeds.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
Technically the grim harvest is still the harvest, so I'd still count that as following the guidelines. The theme is meant to give direction rather than narrow potential ideas. Because of that, I'll accept anything relating at all to farming. Perhaps this theme is too specific. It could be farming in order to sustain life on Mars. Or as my friend suggested, a top down shooter where you attempt to plant seeds and water them while fighting off pests and weeds.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
Sun Aug 02, 2015 8:47 am
If anybody is interested I'd like to collaborate with someone (If it's allowed). I have some ideas and I'm an artist. So you wouldn't have to worry about graphics ;D I'm not that good at programming so I'd need a good programmer. Just PM me if you're interested.
Sun Aug 02, 2015 5:31 pm
If I had the time, I'd give this contest a try. Years ago I started a game file called "Cracked Harvest," which was gonna be a sort of No-Holds-Barred, No-Proper-Way-To-Farm type of farming adventure--think Harvest Moon with dynamite as a potential harvesting tool. I got only as far as listing the items before realizing I already had plenty of projects to work on, but it's something I still think about from time to time. I began the file sometime before I started Entrepreneur: The Beginning, and I know many of the conventions I used in Entrepreneur would likely have shown up in this one (not the shopping mechanic, though--that would remain RPG style).
But I've got too much on my plate right now. I haven't actually put much time into the OHR since May. Can't run with yet another new project at the moment. But this would be a fun game to develop at some point. Good contest idea. I wish I could join.
Place Obligatory Signature Here
But I've got too much on my plate right now. I haven't actually put much time into the OHR since May. Can't run with yet another new project at the moment. But this would be a fun game to develop at some point. Good contest idea. I wish I could join.
Place Obligatory Signature Here
Mon Aug 03, 2015 7:22 am
Well, it's officially August 3 and no one has signed up, which I had anticipated after the low traffic. This contest is officially no longer proceeding as it was. Perhaps I will run it later after tweaking the guidelines a bit.
Thank you greatly to those who commented. It makes me feel less alone in this world. hamlet.jpg
EDIT: DISCARD THIS, APPARENTLY
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
Thank you greatly to those who commented. It makes me feel less alone in this world. hamlet.jpg
EDIT: DISCARD THIS, APPARENTLY
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
Mon Aug 03, 2015 12:33 pm
We had to sign up?
Mon Aug 03, 2015 12:38 pm
Shit dude, I thought we just started making our game on the third, I didn't realize there was any registry or weird shit going on. My bad!
Mon Aug 03, 2015 3:34 pm
I'm pretty sure we were all just keeping quiet about it to trick other people into thinking there wouldn't be a contest.
Mon Aug 03, 2015 5:32 pm
I for one think this is a fun contest concept. I'm not going to have time to enter this month, but I have to admit, the urge to start drawing rutabaga sprites is strong
Mon Aug 03, 2015 6:53 pm
Lol, if you're makin' a game then keep on making it. (I assumed peeps would say something) I guess I'll follow through with the farming facts.
FOR THOSE INVOLVED
Fantastic Fun Farming Fact #1:
Wheat was consistently the staple crop among Europeans throughout the Middle Ages, for both commercial and domestic use. However, other cereals, such as buckwheat, rye, and barley grow more readily in poorer soils and therefore were often used as substitutes for wheat in poor conditions.
In places of lower farming potential, such as Ireland, barley was replaced as a food crop by the potato after its introduction from the New World. Barley became instead a cash crop for Irishmen who previously had none. Barley could be sold to distilleries to make beer (drink responsibly) and potatoes could be grown for sustenance. The inevitable shift in the Irish economy as a result of the potato was the reason potato famine was such a devastating plague on the Irish.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
FOR THOSE INVOLVED
Fantastic Fun Farming Fact #1:
Wheat was consistently the staple crop among Europeans throughout the Middle Ages, for both commercial and domestic use. However, other cereals, such as buckwheat, rye, and barley grow more readily in poorer soils and therefore were often used as substitutes for wheat in poor conditions.
In places of lower farming potential, such as Ireland, barley was replaced as a food crop by the potato after its introduction from the New World. Barley became instead a cash crop for Irishmen who previously had none. Barley could be sold to distilleries to make beer (drink responsibly) and potatoes could be grown for sustenance. The inevitable shift in the Irish economy as a result of the potato was the reason potato famine was such a devastating plague on the Irish.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
Mon Aug 03, 2015 8:40 pm
I will try my hand at this. I will join since the contest ends, pretty much right before my semester starts.
Tue Aug 04, 2015 11:33 pm
This is something I'd like to do. I don't know if I'll have time for it in this schedule, but I want to make a farming game at some point.
Mega Tact v1.1
Super Penguin Chef
Wizard Blocks
Mega Tact v1.1
Super Penguin Chef
Wizard Blocks
Wed Aug 05, 2015 2:45 am
Oh dear! I thought I'd posted today's fact but I think I forgot to submit it.
PhFenomenal Festive Fun Farming Fact #2:
Hot chocolate was invented in the early 1600s in America, then was brought to Spain and spread throughout Europe. There were chocolate houses that began opening in London in 1657 and the Netherlands in 1660 that were similar to current day coffee houses, except with hot chocolate. Coffee originated in Arabia in the early 13th century, then spread to western Europe in the 17th century. The coffee bean was essentially hidden from the rest of the world because it was cherished so greatly, until some fertile beans were smuggled out of Meca.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
Hot chocolate was invented in the early 1600s in America, then was brought to Spain and spread throughout Europe. There were chocolate houses that began opening in London in 1657 and the Netherlands in 1660 that were similar to current day coffee houses, except with hot chocolate. Coffee originated in Arabia in the early 13th century, then spread to western Europe in the 17th century. The coffee bean was essentially hidden from the rest of the world because it was cherished so greatly, until some fertile beans were smuggled out of Meca.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
Wed Aug 05, 2015 10:25 pm
Fabulous F!@#ing Fascinating Fun Farming Fact #3:
Corn, more accurately called maize, does not grow in the wild and various scientists have worked to extrapolate that maize’s closest relative is a Mexican grass called teosinte. This seems strange because teosinte is so drastically different from maize and was even initially considered a closer relative to rice.
However, maize has become such a staple crop throughout history, stretching even into the current day. For how many products which use the stalky vegetable, miles upon miles of corn can be found across farmland.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
Corn, more accurately called maize, does not grow in the wild and various scientists have worked to extrapolate that maize’s closest relative is a Mexican grass called teosinte. This seems strange because teosinte is so drastically different from maize and was even initially considered a closer relative to rice.
However, maize has become such a staple crop throughout history, stretching even into the current day. For how many products which use the stalky vegetable, miles upon miles of corn can be found across farmland.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife