The time has come again for the Official Ridiculous/Terrible Games competition. This year, there are a few additions and alterations to the rules, which should streamline the process of entry and also voting. I'm looking forwards to the entries this year. This year's theme is perhaps its most controversial ever.
There has been something of a theme this particular year in getting to know many of the the newer faces and personalities within the broader OHR community. In previous years, game-makers were tasked with the prospect of making a fan-game or "gaiden game" based off of another OHR game dev's works. Indeed, the prospect of making a game in another person's distinctive "style" has come up before. This year's theme isn't that much of a stretch from these previous goals.
Your goal is to create a game about an OHR game maker or user.
You may choose to make your game about their works overall, or even tell a fictionalized biography about them. You may also choose to substitute the person in question with a stand-in, or character that they are somewhat well known for making games with/about. You may make a game in their "style", or choose to tell a story using their characters. I leave it to you on how to go about interpreting this theme. Dating simulation, jrpg, sidescroller, first person shooter, any game form is acceptable.
THE OPT OUT
Because the theme of this contest is to make a game about someone, this might lead to the possibility of bruised egos and hurt feelings. If your goal is to hurt someone - then you're an awful person, and this isn't the contest for you. Shame on you.
If you DON'T want to be the recipient of fan games, for whatever reason, simply state that you're not interested in participating in this. Your reasons are your own, and you won't be judged for it. You have until the start of the contest (March 1st) to make your wishes known. If you do - you are off limits - and any games about you are disqualified. If you "Opt out", then you also cannot participate in this contest. You have to be able to take a joke to dish them out!
A word of forewarning - there may be people out there who cannot reasonably make their wishes known regarding this "Opt Out Clause". They may no longer be a part of the OHR community. They may be banned, no longer have an internet presence, or have shuffled off this mortal coil. If you choose to make a game about someone who does not "Opt out", and the community consensus is that your game is in exceedingly poor taste, then your game will be disqualified.
COMPETITION RULES
Previous R/TGC entries had rather elaborate rules regarding their eligibility, which some people felt detracted from the spirit of the competition, which was to make a terrible game. As is tradition, I have decided to leave the definition of a "Terrible Game" intentionally vague. Some of us think that games like STOAT.RPG are hilarious. Others have nothing but disdain for them. To each their own.
*1* The most important rule, and the theme of the competition. Your goal is to produce a video game/s about "An OHR game maker/user". Again, how you choose to interpret this theme is up to you.
*2* The subject of your game MUST be a member of the OHR community. A quick look at the Slime Salad forums or discord server should give you a pretty good idea who among us is a possible subject for whatever silliness you plan to get into. Reach out to them. Get to know them. The OHRRPGCE has always been a very close-knit community since it's earliest days over twenty years ago.
*3* Whomever you select as the subject of this playful excursion of yours MUST be able to "take a joke". You are NOT to use this contest as an excuse to dredge up private details about someone's past that they wouldn't be okay with being made public. Furthermore, people who have openly stated they do not want any part of this contest are off limits! Moreover, all of Slime Salad's current terms of service STILL APPLY here - no doxxing, no undue harassment, etc. No exceptions!
*4* You MUST construct your game/s using the OHRRPGCE engine. This is a game about OHRRPGCE community members, after all. You may use the current release version of the OHRRPGCE engine, a nightly version, or even a custom build if you see fit. Whatever your choice, you MUST package a version of the game.exe so we can play it!
*5* The actual opening date for the competition shall be March 1st, and will last an entire month until April 1st, which is when your submission is due. I will not be checking for if you started on your project before this date, nor will you be penalized for doing so. Feel free to upload your game before this time, though whatever is up on April 1st will be considered the final product.
WHAT IS A TERRIBLE GAME?
I will not be judging what constitutes a "terrible game". Therefore, I am continuing prior years' practices of allowing people to vote for which games were the "best/worst/whatever". Beauty, or in this case Ugliness, is entirely in the eye of the beholder. It is your obligation to construct your game according to your own notions on what makes a game good or bad, so long as it stays within the very nebulous constraints of the competition's theme.
A final point concerning the entries. All the previous winner/s of the competition/s actually put effort into their games - they were fun to play (more or less). This is your opportunity to make the game that you'd have to be criminally insane to produce otherwise, or for which no other competition exists to release one.
VOTING AND SCORING
Voting this time is a bit less complex, and more streamlined than in previous competitions. When the competition ends, voting will begin from April 1st to April 15th, effectively giving you half a month to play each game and vote whose games were the best.
Anyone may vote on the games, and may rate each one on a scale of 1 (awful) to 5 (best). You may have games that have identical scores, if you so choose. What constitutes a bad or good "ridiculous/terrible" game is your decision, as is the nature of the competition. As always, comments on each submission are welcome and ultimately helpful to the games' creators. Your score sheet should look something like this:
Scorecard:
- Ninjas of Nippon - 1
The Book of Gizmog - 5
Goldenchan - 2
Barely Legal Fennecs - 4
Wandering Turnip - 2
Mr. Square's Acceptable Adventure - 3
People who are NOT regular OHRRPGCE game creators are free to join AND vote. The only requirement for an "outsider" to vote is that they MUST register an account on Slime Salad, or join the main OHR related Discord Servers where I'm active (Slime Salad). I won't be checking Castle Paradox. That site's time has come and gone, sadly.
You may only vote ONCE. Yes, you can vote for your own game. I will officially be taking your votes on a thread to be created at some point in the future on Slime Salad, or if for some reason you'd prefer to remain anonymous in your voting results then I will accept them via personal message. Voting shall begin April 1st and will end on the 15th, to allow people enough time to play the games and vote on them.
After the votes have been tallied and the points added up, any deductions incurred on your behalf will be subtracted from your score. The game with the MOST points on the 15th of April wins, and its creator gets a -PRIZE-!!
PRIZES!!
Oh god, there are prizes? Last time around, the winner of the RGC got to host the contest for the next time around. So we'll just continue that tradition, along with whatever other prizes get dumped into the local prize pool for good measure. I'll even throw in a short doodle/comic about your game if you win. Those are popular, right?
Right?
Anyway, good luck, and godspeed!
