See the Entries

Soul Blob by litewarri	Baaler by Glidisen
Duality by Amarth	BrainBall by remigius
Snark Attack by kseh	Heaven and Hell by asteve
Mandala by jazzuo

Vital Information

Theme:	Data duality
Description:	Create a game prototype based around two simultaneous views of the game world. These could be as simple as two simultaneous camera angles (forwards and backwards, side and top, etc), or could look at presenting different families of information about the game world, such as an infra-red or x-ray view, visualisation of sound or smell, or even things entirely specific to a fictional game world. The views do not have to be equal sizes, but both views should be presented to the player at the same time throughout gameplay, and the game design should favour a player who will make use of both displays equally (so both views must be equally useful - a minimap in the corner of a regular game display is probably not sufficient). Views should be primarily graphical; text is permitted provided it is not over-used (i.e. a simple text listing of health and position of monsters in the level will not be acceptable).
Basis for Judging:	Creativity in choice of views; clarity of information presented; effective use of the dual-view mechanic; quality of gameplay; fun factor. Technical and artistic factors, and polish, will not enter into judging except where they affect the listed basis or impede the judges' ability to test the game.
Recommended Level:	Anyone
Contest Start Date:	Noon, EST - Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Contest Due Date:	Noon, EST - Thursday, March 16, 2006

Contest Rules

1) Entries that do not feature the two views simultaneously throughout gameplay, or that are deemed not to feature both views to a sufficiently equal extent, will be immediately disqualified. Sections that can reasonably be considered to be not gameplay, such as menus or cutscenes, are not required to present both views.

2) All files required to use and execute the entry must be submitted to qualify, excepting those already present on the target system as described by the minimum spec (e.g. .NET runtime). If the entry as submitted does not run on the min spec machine, it will be disqualified.

3) Source code submission is not required, but is encouraged for educational purposes.

4) Submissions should be in the form of a single archive file in ZIP, RAR, or DMG formats, or as a single executable file that is an installer or self-extracting archive.

5) Use of 3rd party technologies such as engines or "game makers" is both permitted, and, given the short timeframe of the contest, encouraged.

6) All entries must support the taking of screenshots. Unless an entry provides its own mechanism, it is assumed that pressing the print-screen key will take a screenshot of the game and save it to the clipboard. If an entry provides an alternative mechanism it must be clearly documented. Any entry that does not support taking screenshots will be disqualified.

7) You may enter more than once, but entries will be judged individually.

8) You may work individually or as a team, but we'll award the prize to no more than one person per entry ONLY. If you work as a team, and your entry wins, it'll be up to you to determine who gets the prize.

9) The contest is open to everyone that abides by these rules, except for the contest administrator (Richard Fine). However, GameDev.net reserves the right to disqualify any entry if it is felt that the entry is not within the spirit of the competition.

10) GameDev.net reserves the right to cancel the contest at any time without prior notification.

11) GameDev.net reserves the right to modify the contest rules at any time without prior notification.

12) Entries are permitted on both the Windows and Macintosh platforms. An entry is only required to run on one of the two platforms, but any entry that runs on both will be considered a single entry i.e. you cannot enter seperate Mac and PC versions unless the game itself is substantially different (in which case rule 7 applies).

13) Any entry that infringes the intellectual property of any third party will be immediately disqualified. This includes but is not limited to the use of 'ripped' sprites or graphics from other games, the use of sound effects and music from other games, and the use of registered trademarks. Use is permitted if the entrant has permission from the owner of the IP, but you should be prepared to prove that you have permission.

14) No submission may exceed 200MB in size.

15) Any entry that uses third party technology without a valid license to do so will be immediately disqualified. If in any doubt as to whether your license permits distribution of your entry as per our terms and conditions, check with your licensor.

16) Entries exhibiting poor judgment in character as determined by GameDev.net may be reviewed and acceptance possibly refused. For example, an entry that should be sold in an "Adult bookstore" will be disqualified.

17) Multiplayer games are acceptable; however, the two-views requirement applies per player. Traditional split-screen games, where each player has only one view of the world, would not meet the criteria.

Minimum Specification

PC Specification:

• CPU: 1.5 GHz Pentium 4
• Memory: 512MB RAM
• OS: Windows XP Home with Service Pack 2
• Graphics: Intel i915 chipset (pixel shader 2.0, no vertex shader support)
• Sound: Generic onboard audio chipset
• Input: Keyboard, Mouse, Xbox 360 controller
• .NET Framework 2.0
• Java 5.0 update 6
• IE 6, Firefox 1.5, Flash 8, Shockwave 10
• Quicktime 6.5.2, Windows Media 10

Mac specification (basically just a Mac Mini):

• CPU: 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4
• Memory: 256MB RAM
• OS: Mac OS X 10.3.9
• Graphics: ATI Radeon 9200 32MB
• Sound: Generic onboard audio chipset
• Input: Keyboard, Mouse
• Java 1.4.2
• X11 v1.0
• Safari 1.3.2, Quicktime 7.0.4, Flash 8, Shockwave 10

The Prizes

Top prize is six months free subscription to GDNet+, and, of course, the adulation of your peers.

Submission

Submission for this contest is closed.

Legalities

By entering, the entrant represents and warrants that they have the right to grant GameDev.net the rights set forth above and hereby warrants that (1) the entry material is original and they are the sole author of and owner of all rights including copyrights to the entry and that the entry is not subject in whole or in part to claims of ownership of others or (2) the entry is subject, in whole or in part, to claims of ownership and copyright by others but that the entrant has the right to grant GameDev.net the rights set forth above. The entrant retains any and all rights of ownership, intellectual property rights and all other rights entrant may have in and to the entry. Notwithstanding mentioned ownership rights, by entering, the entrant personally or on behalf of their company grant GameDev.net permanent, non-exclusive, world-wide rights and a license, but not an obligation, free of any charge or compensation, to use, edit, copy, distribute and publish all or part of the entry, and all rights subsidiary to and derivative from the entry, in any medium now known or invented in the future, for promotional, advertising or demonstration purposes for GameDev.net's products or services or for GameDev.net generally.

If source code is submitted with the contest as per the requirements, then it is up to the entrant to include any terms of use licenses with his/her source code.