Good afternoon, I wasn't too sure where to put this so I finally decided here.
I was just curious what happened to the Four Elements contest that Gamedev.net was running every year? I see the previous ones and unfortunately was not involved in game programming at the time so I was unable to enter these competitions. I have been thinking for the past year that I would like to give it a try but to no avail can I find any information on the next one other than that the competition seems to abruptly end after 2006 with no mention as to it was the last one(which leads me to believe they were going to be....are continued?) What was the reasoning behind this if it did indeed stop running? If the location has just moved (no longer on GameDev.net) can someone point me to the new location?
Thanks.
4
What happened to the Four Elements contests?
Started by XXChester, Feb 01 2011 12:36 PM
17 replies to this topic
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#2 Moderators - Reputation: 5035
Posted 01 February 2011 - 02:39 PM
The original organisers participated less and less as the years went on. Two years ago there was a fairly major problem with the judging process taking a long time. I believe this was 4e6. In the absence of any official competition, last year a member, "Lesan", took it upon himself to organise a "Unofficial 4 Elements Competition", AKA UFEC. It was a relatively small affair compared with previous years.
I don't know if anyone plans on organising something similar this year. Viewing the archived forum will give you more information about what happened (set the "show topics from X days" to "all").
I don't know if anyone plans on organising something similar this year. Viewing the archived forum will give you more information about what happened (set the "show topics from X days" to "all").
#3 Senior Staff - Reputation: 2791
Posted 01 February 2011 - 09:17 PM
Simple lack of effort. No one on staff wanted to run them after a time. Not to say they weren't great, however. We'd certainly like to do an official one again some time. Hopefully once we get things running a bit smoother around here the new site will provide us a better platform to launch another 4E4 contest.
#4 Senior Staff - Reputation: 1354
Posted 01 February 2011 - 09:23 PM
I'd like to get it going again. It was my baby for the first few years of the 4 Elements contest, but it became more difficult for me to organize the contest after a while. Others took it on after I stopped, but obviously it must be more difficult to organize a contest than it looks or else it might still be going. 
So, if the demand is there (hint, hint) then perhaps we'll bring it back this year. It's always been a good summertime contest (for those in the northern hemisphere, anyway).
So, if the demand is there (hint, hint) then perhaps we'll bring it back this year. It's always been a good summertime contest (for those in the northern hemisphere, anyway).
#5 Members - Reputation: 1379
Posted 01 February 2011 - 09:54 PM
I'd like to get it going again. It was my baby for the first few years of the 4 Elements contest, but it became more difficult for me to organize the contest after a while. Others took it on after I stopped, but obviously it must be more difficult to organize a contest than it looks or else it might still be going.
So, if the demand is there (hint, hint) then perhaps we'll bring it back this year. It's always been a good summertime contest (for those in the northern hemisphere, anyway).
I would love for it to be brought back, or even something similar.
-~-The Cow of Darkness-~-
#6 Senior Staff - Reputation: 2086
Posted 01 February 2011 - 10:18 PM
Bring the official count up to three staff members that would like to see it, and contests in general, return.
I'd like to get it going again. It was my baby for the first few years of the 4 Elements contest, but it became more difficult for me to organize the contest after a while. Others took it on after I stopped, but obviously it must be more difficult to organize a contest than it looks or else it might still be going.
So, if the demand is there (hint, hint) then perhaps we'll bring it back this year. It's always been a good summertime contest (for those in the northern hemisphere, anyway).
I would love for it to be brought back, or even something similar.
#7 GDNet+ - Reputation: 319
Posted 02 February 2011 - 06:52 AM
Not had a chance over the previous years to compete in the 4E contests, but would definitely be interested in joining in this year.
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And as they say, what happens in Las Psyche, stays in Las Psyche -Ravyne
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Blitz Games Studios
[ Events 4 Gamers | NeHe OpenGL Tutorials | LinkedIn | Development Journal | How To: Debugging | Twitter: @LeadHyperion ]
And as they say, what happens in Las Psyche, stays in Las Psyche -Ravyne
Often the bliss of not knowing is an important part of maintaining sanity. - frob
#8 Members - Reputation: 1591
Posted 02 February 2011 - 08:06 AM
Yeah, it would be really cool to have one this year...And I'd hope for the good-old 4 elements(fire,earth,water,air) contest since some of the most recent contests were kind of restrictive.
I'd like to see the 1W1B contest again too...it was the only one I actually finished a game for
I'd like to see the 1W1B contest again too...it was the only one I actually finished a game for
#11 Members - Reputation: 630
Posted 03 February 2011 - 01:11 PM
How were the four elements previously chosen? By staff members I'm guessing.
I think it would be interesting if someone made a small program to randomly generate the four elements from some sort of list just to make it a little more random.
I think it would be interesting if someone made a small program to randomly generate the four elements from some sort of list just to make it a little more random.
#12 Members - Reputation: 451
Posted 03 February 2011 - 01:50 PM
Ha, as if the elements before weren't "random" enough. Ponies? Accountants? Economics? These elements would turn me away from participating. Yeah, they encourage creativity but it's hard to relate to some of them. I enjoyed the fire/water/etc. and pirate/zombie/etc. ones. Maybe it's that they had unity and variety at the same time. Picking 4 random, unrelated topics is a bit harder to work with.
#13 Members - Reputation: 630
Posted 03 February 2011 - 02:28 PM
Ha, as if the elements before weren't "random" enough. Ponies? Accountants? Economics? These elements would turn me away from participating. Yeah, they encourage creativity but it's hard to relate to some of them. I enjoyed the fire/water/etc. and pirate/zombie/etc. ones. Maybe it's that they had unity and variety at the same time. Picking 4 random, unrelated topics is a bit harder to work with.
I think more interesting things would come out of the unexpected. I'd love to see a great game that was somehow about ponies and accountants. Plants vs. zombies would just be another game if it was Guns vs zombies. Half of what makes the game good is the ridiculousness of it.
#14 GDNet+ - Reputation: 1348
Posted 03 February 2011 - 06:33 PM
The problem I had was as the elements got more ridiculous it was hard to think of anything that properly incorporated three or more of the elements. All the game ideas felt more like "Here is a game about Ponies (with some accountants etc. in the backstory)" rather than have them all at equal billing. But the random elements could still work if the rules were that only two of the four had to be major components; it was incorporating all of them into something that also felt fun and implementable in a few months that became too overbearing.I think more interesting things would come out of the unexpected. I'd love to see a great game that was somehow about ponies and accountants. Plants vs. zombies would just be another game if it was Guns vs zombies. Half of what makes the game good is the ridiculousness of it.
Elements that are conceptually easier to implement would be nice too. I think "ponies" was the one that broke me down last time. On the one hand you've got to include ponies, but on the other they're a right devil to draw!
#15 Senior Staff - Reputation: 1354
Posted 04 February 2011 - 08:24 AM
A bit off topic, but since we're talking about contests, it's quite related. In addition to 4 Elements, I'd also like to see the GDNet Arena contest brought back. Only one edition was held but it was fun.
We could always give that one another try. We'll need a better framework for the AI bots though.
#16 Senior Staff - Reputation: 1354
Posted 04 February 2011 - 08:28 AM
How were the four elements previously chosen? By staff members I'm guessing.
I think it would be interesting if someone made a small program to randomly generate the four elements from some sort of list just to make it a little more random.
Yeah, staff. The original 4E with air, water, fire, earth was of course the traditional elements. I think it was changed to the other elements when there were some complaints about people getting a head start every year before the contest would be announced.
I agree with other posts - if we're going to have non-traditional elements then the elements need to at least have some sort of relation to each other. It's okay if it makes the contest "easier" if it means that the games and their story lines actually make sense. You never know - with the right mix of elements some entries could be marketable games.
#17 Senior Staff - Reputation: 1354
Posted 04 February 2011 - 08:29 AM
The problem I had was as the elements got more ridiculous it was hard to think of anything that properly incorporated three or more of the elements. All the game ideas felt more like "Here is a game about Ponies (with some accountants etc. in the backstory)" rather than have them all at equal billing. But the random elements could still work if the rules were that only two of the four had to be major components; it was incorporating all of them into something that also felt fun and implementable in a few months that became too overbearing.
Elements that are conceptually easier to implement would be nice too. I think "ponies" was the one that broke me down last time. On the one hand you've got to include ponies, but on the other they're a right devil to draw!
This is good feedback. We'll keep this in mind for future 4E contests.
