Prize Pool #4

Make games! Discuss those games here.

Moderators: Bob the Hamster, marionline, SDHawk

User avatar
Pepsi Ranger
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 1457
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 6:25 am
Location: South Florida

Prize Pool #4

Post by Pepsi Ranger »

Hey Guys,

So, not sure how many of you are watching the calendar, but March 1st is just around the corner, and that means one thing...

Heart of the OHR 2016 is approaching like a train out of nowhere fast.

So, that means I need to start soliciting for the prize pool.

How It Works:

If you want to contribute to the prize pool, I need you to let me know what prize you're contributing, how the contestant can earn/win it, and any additional notes we should all be aware of.

The prizes can be anything from artwork, to inspired music, to cash, to Steam games, to pizza deliveries, to engine features/bugfixes, to whatever you want. You decide what you can handle and what the contestants and/or winners deserve. You can also designate placement winners if you'd like.

Recommended prize categories include:

Grand Prize (First Place)
Second Place
Third Place
Submission Prize (historically, an engine feature/bugfix bounty has been the main entry prize, but I want to give James a break this year, unless he WANTS to contribute this classic prize once again this year)
Objective Prize
Etc.

The prizes don't have to be limited to these categories, but these are the most popular. When volunteering a prize, be sure to label which category it falls under. Prizes can fall into multiple categories if you wish.

I'd also recommend setting a minimum entrant condition to prevent having to give a prize by default if just one person enters. I tend to favor an eight-contestant minimum, but you can set whatever limit you want.

Types of Prizes:

If you're going to designate a reward as "grand prize," keep in mind that only the winner of the contest will receive it. If you designate "Top 3," for example, then first, second, and third place winners will all get the same thing. If you designate a prize to "last place," then you celebrate mediocrity, but awesome for the last place guy. And so on.

"Submission Prizes" or "Entry Prizes" are given to anyone who submits an eligible game during the allotted submission window. Please note that these are not issued to would-be contestants who say they'll enter and then disappear. As stated above, the engine feature and bugfix bounties occupied this spot during the last three contests if you need a point of reference. I don't know if they'll be back this year or not. But I would like something to take the place of bounties if James is too busy to accommodate them this time around.

"Objective Prizes" are prizes issued to those who meet a specific condition based on criteria the prize giver sets. This can be whatever the giver wants, like a win to the entry with favorite boss battles, or the entry with the cleverest storyline, etc. The winner for this prize should be decided on by the giver only, either subjectively or through a vote. For my part, I will be removed from this option.

Conditions:

I know how transient the OHR community can get, so I know that anyone who volunteers a prize may not be around to issue it when the contest window closes in August. I say this to remind prize givers and potential contestants alike that:

1. If you are volunteering a prize, you are merely offering up the opportunity to reward the contestants/winners in good faith; you are not committing to anything.

2. If you are a contestant, please note that the prize pool is subject to change without notice and that nothing mentioned here is promised, only suggested with the likelihood of delivery.

3. If you enter the contest (starting March 1, 2016), you do it for the fun and the joy of sharing your creations with the community under the Heart of the OHR banner, not for a prize, because no one here is promising you one--only promising that there could be one or several or many.

So, on that note, please let me know what you would like to contribute to the prize pool and what conditions the contestants need to fulfill in order to win it. And even though you have an out should you find yourself unable to commit to the prize you mention, I do ask that you do your best to follow through with delivery because commitment builds accountability and accountability builds character and character builds happiness.

For reference, the contest will begin March 1st, close its window July 31st, and require bugfixes by August 15th. If you know you won't be around here in September (when votes will be cast and tabulated), then it's best you don't volunteer a prize.

Thanks. This post will remain active until the contest closes.

If you've never been part of Heart of the OHR, here's a link to contests past to give you an idea what it is and why you should be a part of it: http://rpg.hamsterrepublic.com/ohrrpgce ... of_the_OHR

Get those entries ready.
Place Obligatory Signature Here
User avatar
Feenicks
Metal Slime
Posts: 696
Joined: Tue Aug 10, 2010 9:23 pm
Location: ON THE AIR IN THE AIR
Contact:

Post by Feenicks »

Might as well do what I do best and draw whatever I end up liking most in the submissions.

Might even throw a game together for it, too.
User avatar
RMZ
King Slime
Posts: 1695
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 12:39 am
Contact:

Post by RMZ »

I'll submit an official OHR Mousepad to the top winner. I think I have a few left in my reserves still.
User avatar
Spoonweaver
Liquid Metal King Slime
Posts: 6462
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:07 am
Contact:

Post by Spoonweaver »

I will submit an official spoonweaver coffee mug™ and some buttons and magnets to the winner and maybe buttons and magnets to [s]second place[/s] my personal pick.

I was also thinking of starting a terrible indiegogo campaign in hopes to drum up prize money for a contest. This one seems like a good choice for such a thing.
Last edited by Spoonweaver on Thu Feb 11, 2016 8:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Bob the Hamster
Lord of the Slimes
Posts: 7658
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:34 pm
Location: Hamster Republic (Ontario Enclave)
Contact:

Post by Bob the Hamster »

I am not going to do feature requests for this one (I haven't even finished all the feature requests I promised last time!)

However, I will donate $20 for first place, and $5 for second place.

Spoonweaver, I like your idea of a fundraiser campaign. What if instead of indiegogo, we made a community Patreon account? People could sign up for $1 per month to go into a prize pool which could be collected by the winner of whatever contest was currently running. Does that sound more, or less crazy than your idea? :)
Last edited by Bob the Hamster on Thu Feb 11, 2016 8:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Foxley
Metal Slime
Posts: 832
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2013 5:54 pm

Post by Foxley »

Just a little clarification needed, since the project I began for HOTOHR in 2014 has mutated significantly over the past year and a half...

Is HOTOHR strictly for games with next to no plotscripting, or are games that extensively use scripts for story/presentation related elements but still use the engine's walkabout and battle features also allowed?
User avatar
Bob the Hamster
Lord of the Slimes
Posts: 7658
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:34 pm
Location: Hamster Republic (Ontario Enclave)
Contact:

Post by Bob the Hamster »

If I remember correctly, previous HotOHR contests allowed any amount of plotscripting, but the game does need to be an RPG

I think fully scripted battles are allowed, if they are RPG. Pepsi Ranger will have to clarify the actual rules for this time around
Last edited by Bob the Hamster on Thu Feb 11, 2016 10:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Spoonweaver
Liquid Metal King Slime
Posts: 6462
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:07 am
Contact:

Post by Spoonweaver »

Oh, patreon might be good.
A community Patreon would be very cool in fact.
Attachments
IMG_0300.JPG
IMG_0300.JPG (98.51 KiB) Viewed 6452 times
Last edited by Spoonweaver on Thu Feb 11, 2016 10:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Foxley
Metal Slime
Posts: 832
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2013 5:54 pm

Post by Foxley »

I've been waffling between my main RPG project (one of my lofty goals is to come up with a freaking name for it) and Hollowkeep lately, but I'll commit to the former for now and come up with a full featured chunk of 1-2 hour gameplay at the beginning of the game, for the sake of this contest. This is actually a good thing, because I really need to focus on finishing parts of the game, not just drawing random concept art stuff for the whole thing.

Also for the contest winners I'll chip in an Amazon gift card or a Steam/GOG/etc game worth ≤$20 to first prize, ≤$10 to second, and ≤$5 to third.
User avatar
Matokage
Slime Knight
Posts: 275
Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 11:48 pm
Contact:

Post by Matokage »

OK, that's the deal.
The best Original Sound Track (OST) will win a presentation of it's tracks on my recently made Cymascope.

I'm using salt but any other "Sample" will do.

Here's a demonstration video:
https://youtu.be/4OsvN1AFC34
"I can't buy food with glory"
User avatar
kylekrack
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 1240
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 8:58 am
Location: USA
Contact:

Post by kylekrack »

Just to confirm (I read through 2014 rules, but couldn't find an explicit rule on this), a game that already exists in concept but not in reality counts as a fresh new game, right? I'm planning on making the wife.rpg game that Willy Elektrix proposed. I haven't made any game aspects, only writing the first act.

I only ask because there is record on this forum that the idea was conceived prior to the beginning of the contest. Otherwise, I just wouldn't say anything.
My pronouns are they/them
Ps. I love my wife
User avatar
Pepsi Ranger
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 1457
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 6:25 am
Location: South Florida

Post by Pepsi Ranger »

I haven't worked out any significant rule changes or updates since 2014, and I don't anticipate any major changes from previous contests coming, either. The only change I do know I'll be making officially, I've pretty much announced at the end of the last contest, and that's that any "in the spirit of 1999" game released during the window will be accepted. See T4R4D1DDL3 or any OHR game released between 1998 and 2000 for an example of what that means.
Matokage wrote:OK, that's the deal.
The best Original Sound Track (OST) will win a presentation of it's tracks on my recently made Cymascope.
I think this is a clever idea. However, just be aware that original soundtrack isn't something the community will judge, unless you ask them to. Unless you ask, you'll have to award the prize to whichever soundtrack you personally like the most.

Heart of the OHR asks for votes based on the game as a whole, or on whatever's new, in the case of rereleases, or on the first impression based on 30 minutes of gameplay. Anything beyond that will have to be to the discretion of the prize holders.
kylecrack wrote:Just to confirm (I read through 2014 rules, but couldn't find an explicit rule on this), a game that already exists in concept but not in reality counts as a fresh new game, right? I'm planning on making the wife.rpg game that Willy Elektrix proposed. I haven't made any game aspects, only writing the first act.

I only ask because there is record on this forum that the idea was conceived prior to the beginning of the contest. Otherwise, I just wouldn't say anything.
For a game to be counted as a rerelease, it has to appear as a playable file either on Slime Salad, Castle Paradox, or any other OHR-affiliated website or forum before the contest window opens (this year, it's March 1st) and resubmitted sometime during the window. If it appears as a playable game file on or after March 1st for the first time, then it's considered an original release. Note that personal websites or any site that the community does not generally know about that hosts a game for storage or posterity or whatever will not count against a game's "original" status. You can upload your game to your personal website before March 1st and still call it an original if it's uploaded on Slime Salad after March 1st. Hope that makes sense. The only exception I'll make to this rule is if you've uploaded it to a commercial site like Steam or Google Play ahead of the release window. If that's the case, then you'll have to file anything released on or after March 1st as a rerelease.

And, while we're on the subject, I think this year I'm going to ignore tech demos as official releases, since tech demos wouldn't normally be accepted into the Heart of the OHR in the first place. I can clarify that more when we get closer to the window. If you're wondering what classifies a file as a tech demo for the purposes of categorizing a game for the Heart of the OHR, I think any abstract game taking less than 10 minutes to finish without any foreseeable ending or goal (like Calculator RPG) could be considered a tech demo, and worthy of being submitted as an original release if given enough content to justify its spot in the Heart of the OHR. Just spit-balling, but that'll probably be another addition/change to the rules for 2016.
Bob the Hamster wrote:I am not going to do feature requests for this one (I haven't even finished all the feature requests I promised last time!)
Called it!
Bob the Hamster also wrote:However, I will donate $20 for first place, and $5 for second place.
But I was not expecting this. Thank you. I hope you'll still help me out with the wiki. We'll probably need a 2016 feature/bugfix wiki that says simply, "Normally, this is where we would post this year's Heart of the OHR bugfix and feature bounties, based on the games released within the contest window, but we've decided to take a bugfix break in 2016 for the simple reason that we're still fulfilling promises made way back in 2010 and we need some time to catch up. Maybe we'll be back in 2018 with a fresh crop of requests, but 2010 was six years ago, so no promises. You should still submit to the Heart of the OHR anyway. It's fun!"

I may supply an entry prize this year (not as OHR-centric as the bugfix/feature requests are, but still something reasonable), so if I do, we can amend the wiki to reflect that.

Thanks, guys. Keep the prize pool growing. I'll compile them into a list when the official announcement goes live in a couple of weeks.

EDIT: And Spoonweaver, I think the host of this contest should win one of those official spoonweaver coffee mugs™.
Last edited by Pepsi Ranger on Sat Feb 13, 2016 11:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Place Obligatory Signature Here
User avatar
Spoonweaver
Liquid Metal King Slime
Posts: 6462
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:07 am
Contact:

Post by Spoonweaver »

Winner only. Hosts, as always, get nothing.
User avatar
Willy Elektrix
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 910
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 11:30 pm

Post by Willy Elektrix »

I'll match James and also donate $20 for first place and $5 for second.
User avatar
Pepsi Ranger
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 1457
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 6:25 am
Location: South Florida

Post by Pepsi Ranger »

Spoonweaver wrote:Winner only. Hosts, as always, get nothing.
Okay, contest cancelled.

Just kidding. Those mugs are really nice, though. I'll be officially jealous of this year's winner. Thanks for including it.

Remember, guys and girls, if you win the Heart of the OHR, you'll get a really nice mug (along with some cash, mousepads, and other fine prizes), so be sure to enter this year. I want to see records broken, and not just the kind of records you listen to (those are like iTunes on a vinyl disc if you're a teenager and have no idea what I'm referencing, and thanks for making me feel old if that's the case).
Place Obligatory Signature Here
Post Reply