Where is Your City?

[Pepsi Ranger]

This is the condensed version of the Epic Marathon 6 rules. For a complete listing, refer to the post "Where is Your City?" on Castle Paradox.

Sixth Annual Epic Marathon Contest

Condensed Version

This year, contestants will tell the story of people who wake up to a world where Boston is no longer in Massachusetts.

Characters should begin the day thinking everything is normal. When they step outside, the bubble should burst.

Games should have a subtitle attached to the main title.

Each major element of the game must be credited to someone (graphics, music, story, and plotscripting). I will allow ripping, but the source of the rip must be recognized. Anything original from another OHR game must receive permission.

Games can be released as they’re finished (especially if the contestant is trying to submit for the Game-a-thon).

Only one contestant may take official ownership of the game. Everybody else will be counted as “collaborators.”

All the games (or stories) must take place in a displaced Boston.

Entries must not leave the player or viewer hanging on an empty moment (as in the game should be over, but the player can still wander around a desert of nothing).

Entries can be told in any format, but those made into OHR games will receive bonus points. Story and character details should not be revealed to the public until the game is released. Screenshots, video clips of cool features, and music samples are permitted. Private messaging among contestants (for continuity) is permitted.

Scores will be based on a combination of elements including tiered popularity, penalties for breaking rules, completing Design Mission Objectives, and contributor points.

January 25 — Contest begins.

June 30 — Contest officially ends. All games must be submitted by the end of the day (in your own time zones). No episode will be accepted after 6am June 1st EST.

July 7 — Bugfixed games must be released. Anything posted by this date will be considered “final.”

July 14 — Judging begins.

July 21 — Judging ends.

First place winner will receive free mainstream publicity for the game of his choice. Only the owner of the winning entry can take the prize.

Official Game Title:
Boston, Maryland

Special Notes:
This story will be a lot more interesting for the player if you borrow characters from other contestants’ entries. I’d suggest some private messaging for the next six months.

Contestants who make an OHR game instead of a short story or other non-interactive medium will receive bonus points for keeping an OHR-related contest exclusive to the OHR.

Design Mission Objectives:

In the interest of keeping this short, I am removing the Design Mission Objectives from this list. If you want to find out how to add extra points to your overall score, PM me for the objectives or read the original post on Castle Paradox.

Additional details about scoring and judging can be found on the Castle Paradox post “Where is Your City?” Please consult that document before asking me redundant questions.

Okay, go crazy!

[Mogri]

Only one contestant may take official ownership of the game. Everybody else will be counted as “collaborators.”

Note that for Gameathon purposes, anyone who participates in the creation of a game gets 100% credit for that game. Also, Gameathon doesn't require a complete game, so I believe you could release half of your game in early March and the completed game before June. (Correct me if this breaks a EMC rule.)

Official Game Title:
Boston, Maryland

Technically, it should be in Maryland, but I think it would be more fun for you guys to decide where it actually ends up (not to mention it would make the continuity factor a lot more funny).

"Boston, Maryland"? Not, say, "Boston, ______", as in, "Boston, Middle-Earth" or "Boston, Zebes"?

[Pepsi Ranger]

Aw, Moogle, you're gonna make me answer this twice?

Note that for Gameathon purposes, anyone who participates in the creation of a game gets 100% credit for that game. Also, Gameathon doesn't require a complete game, so I believe you could release half of your game in early March and the completed game before June. (Correct me if this breaks a EMC rule.)

No, this does not break the EMC rule. The EMC entry is not official until July 7th, so releasing it, re-releasing it, and re-releasing it again will not affect its place in competition until then. The only rule is that some version of it has to be online by June 30th.

"Boston, Maryland"? Not, say, "Boston, ______", as in, "Boston, Middle-Earth" or "Boston, Zebes"?

I knew someone would bring this up.

I will not penalize for switching out "Maryland" from the title for something else, but I also won't penalize for setting Maryland in the heart of Middle-Earth (as an example).

[The Wobbler]

I will do my best to find time to make an OHR entry, but if I can't I promise at least a short story submission.

[JSH357]

This contest idea is eerily similar to the plot of House 3 Week 7. It wouldn't qualify if I'm understanding correctly because it's not about Boston, but interesting similarity nonetheless.

If only these kidney stone attacks + unemployment would stop, I could potentially focus on finishing the damned thing. (Yes, I find it easier to make games when I have work)

How many OHR users have actually been to Boston? I'd estimate 1-2%

[msw188]

I'm working on getting to Boston! Haven't been there yet though. The band is playing some festivals up in Maine this summer/fall, so we plan on trying to start breaking into the Boston market.

Anyways, is there anything about Boston authors should be aware of, do you guys think? We can turn this into a thread discussing Boston's peculiarities. I'll tell you one thing: that northeastern accent is horrible. "Oh, what kinda guitah do you have?"

[Uncommon]

If I recall correctly, Surlaw at least has a one-up on the rest of us when it comes to proximity to Boston. I can't think of any others off the top of my head.

[Mogri]

Out of curiosity, does the entire city have to be transported or can it just be the hero's house?

To be honest, my knee-jerk reaction is that this premise sounds really difficult to pull off in any medium. I don't know much about Boston or Maryland -- I certainly don't know what about Maryland would make someone realize that they're not in Boston anymore. This is mostly mitigated by the fact that Maryland can be Mars in this scenario, but it's very difficult to envision how transporting an entire city to a different location = RPG.

I could maybe make a workable simulation out of it if I thought about it long enough, but I'm curious how other participants are envisioning this theme playing out.

[Spoonweaver]

Mogri, I think you're going too deep into potential plot details. Though, I do agree that the general idea of the hero waking up and noticing that Boston has moved to a different state seems hard to explain or even pull off. I read the rules and Pepsi Ranger mentions a couple times how he doesn't want us sharing plot information openly.

I also agree that making it Boston, Mars (or Boston, Middle Earth) does seem to make for not only easier plot development but most likely a better story.

[The Wobbler]

Anyways, is there anything about Boston authors should be aware of, do you guys think? We can turn this into a thread discussing Boston's peculiarities. I'll tell you one thing: that northeastern accent is horrible. "Oh, what kinda guitah do you have?"

1- Most people don't talk like this. The ones that do are often white college males faking it.
2- There are more openly racist people here than in Georgia.

[chill-e]

I'm Canadian and so i know nothing of Boston or Maryland......

Although, from my understanding, Pepsi Ranger simply wants the hero to start off in Boston, then suddenly "Oh Toto, I don't think we're in (Boston) anymore"

[Spoonweaver]

Although, from my understanding, Pepsi Ranger simply wants the hero to start off in Boston, then suddenly "Oh Toto, I don't think we're in (Boston) anymore"

Well no, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the understanding is that the whole city has been moved. Not just the hero. I think just moving the hero wouldn't really keep with the theme.

Also, the city HAS to be Boston right?

Where Boston is now, is up to you, but Maryland is strongly suggested.


Anyways, this is my understanding. I would very much like to know if I'm wrong.

[Pepsi Ranger]

There's too many questions to quote, so I'll generalize here. Let's start with the top tier and work our way down.

About sharing plot ideas:

I don't want contestants sharing what they are going to do. Discussing ideas about how a city can be displaced is okay. Discussing how to handle the Maryland side of things as a group is okay. But what you actually put into your game, keep to yourself (or at least keep it off the public forums).

About the city transport:

I never claimed that all of Boston had to be uprooted. Of course, if you can manage it, by all means relocate the whole city. But I also never claimed that Boston had to be "pieced together" in the same way that it is in Massachusetts. Something has to alert the hero that something about his town is wrong. He may not know he's in Maryland (or wherever) right away--it is an RPG after all, sometimes the hero has to walk around for awhile before he knows what's going on--but something should get his attention initially (like maybe his street is aiming the wrong way). It's really not as complicated as it sounds.

About Maryland:

Again, this can be revealed as the game goes on. If everything is dumped onto the player at once, it might not be as fun in the long run.

About recognizing Boston and Maryland:

It's an OHR game. It doesn't have to be true to detail. If you want to be authentic, then search Google Earth for some ideas. If you just want to bat this thing out, I doubt anyone's gonna make a fuss over the lack of specific landmarks. (I think the Cheers bar is in Boston, though, so there's one landmark for you.) You can build a few generic city landscapes and have a few of your NPCs or signposts allude to Boston if you need to. The only recommendation I'd make is to at least take a quick look at Boston-style architecture in Google Images so that your graphics will resemble the city somewhat.

With Maryland, you really need to just make it evident in dialogue. If you want to get tricky, you can melt Boston in with Baltimore, but again, I'm not making your game. And as we already discussed, Maryland itself can be elsewhere.

Don't be overwhelmed by the box. Think outside of it.

Let me know if there's anything I'm missing.

[msw188]

Well, maybe it gets worse the further north you get (or the further from the cities you get), but when we played in Maine last year there were these two aging hippie women who had the accent rediculously bad. And most of the festival organizers had it to some degree - not bad, but definitely noticable to someone from Pennsylvania. And the one person from Boston I knew somewhat personally (a girl I met in Budapest, Hungary, actually) tried to hide it, I think, but it slipped out from time to time.

Listen to me talking about an accent like its some kind of disease or something. Ha ha, we've got some thick Pittsburgh accents around here too. Some of them are pretty horrible.

Anyways, trying to get back on topic: if you want players to recognize they are in Boston, you need to emphasize (maybe overly so) anything about it that you can. The accent might help, or maybe some sports references. Not many people know that the Cheers bar is in Boston (I didn't), but I bet they know the Red Sox and the Bruins are from Boston. What else can we think of?

Oh, and I've been in the Baltimore area from time to time. They have a pretty famous aquarium there. But Maryland in general, well, you have the coastal areas that are highly developed, but western Maryland is practically West Virginia - forests, hills, and more hills. Lots of Americana folk out that way, lookin' to bust out the banjo and fiddle.

[chill-e]

I don't want contestants sharing what they are going to do.

That basically says to me that the interpretation is entirely up to you. So i'll play it with that and see where it'll lead me.

I just hope I can muster up the engine that i have in mind.... muahaz