Retro Rennaisance
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Welcome to the first Ever Retro Rennaisance Game Development Challenge!.

The Retro Rennaisance is a game development challenge to produce a retro style 2D game, that incorporates a modern element into is gameplay. Please be aware that this is not an official GameDev.net contest and has been created by a few GameDev.net users, the rules, regulations, time frame, and prizes reflect the conversation by these GameDev.net members.

Parameters
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The parameters for creating the game is that it must be a 2D retro style game that incorporates a modern element of some sort, by 2D retro style I mean it has to reflect the graphics from the SNES era and below, for example a 2D ps3, or gamecube game do not constitute as retro. Even though the game must have a 2D retro feel you are allowed to use 3D effects which in turn can be part of the modern element. Examples of modern elements can range from things like network play, shader effects, or just processing power that the SNES console would not be able to handle. These of course are just examples of modern elements and you can come up with anything that you think fits the mold, if you are unsure that your 2D elements, or modern elements dont fit the criteria please reply to this post and I will give you the go ahead on whether its acceptable or not. Any submussion that does not fallow the guidelines, depending on the severity wont necessarily be disqualified, but harshly penalized in score.

Scoring
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The scoring is as follows, everyone who participates in this contest is a judge and we will all play eachother games. We will rate them on a 5 star scale on the categories of...

(Presentation)
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How "pretty" the game is, and how well was the art used.

(Polish)
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How well does the game run?, are there any bugs or annoying slow down?

(Fun)
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How much actual fun did you have playing this game, were you bored after a minute, or did you want to play it some more?

When the judging stage is done the average score of the games will be used to see and determine who is the winner. If by chance you dont get to finish your game in time, you can still submit it and we will grade it for whatever you did get done, and regardless if we see you put in the time to create something we will still give you the chance to be a judge.

Time Frame
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The contest officially starts as soon as you read this post, and the end/submission date is set for oct 3 11:59pm, details on submission will be made a few days before the deadline.

Rules
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Besides the parameters for creating the game there are a few rules you must follow if you do not want to be disqualified.


1. It must run on windows, it can run on multiple platforms, but you must be sure it can run on windows.
2. It can not be a mod of an already existing game, you are free to use whatever engine you want tho.
3. It can not contain any offensive content such as but not limited to racism or sexism.
4. You must give credit to the sources use to create the game, such as the team you worked with, any art that you your self did not create*, or any engine/game creator you used to make the game.

*** You are allowed to use non copy righted art in your game that you or your team did not make as long as you site
your sources.


Prizes
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Stay tuned for any future updates on prizes, but the list of prizes are as follows

1. Grand prize winner gets 100USD$ via paypal.
2. Grand prize winner also wins a copy of Revenge of the Titans! courtesy of the people over at PuppyGames.Net

We look foward to all your submissions, and good luck!

P.S If anyone wants to chat related to the contest feel free to join in on IRC, QuakeNet channel #RetroContest

SUBMISSION INFORMATION!!!
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For submission please package and email your entry to retrorenaissance@gmail.com, In the email include your Gamedev.net account name, a description of the game, a possibly a screenshot(not required but would greatly be appreciated) and your team information/information on any resources used not your own. If this information is already somewhere in the game it is not required that you type it up in the email.

You have a 3 day grace period to submit your entry, after wednesday no entries will be taken. Hopefully I will have everything up in a nice displayable manner by Thursday.

[Edited by - The_Neverending_Loop on October 4, 2010 6:26:34 AM]

Is it OK to use any programming language, or does it have to be something the judges are familiar with? I probably won't have time to participate, but if I do I'd probably want to try out how well Haskell works for a retroish game like this.

Also, are Touhou and other bullet hell games retro enough for this contest? I don't think one was ever released for a console (at least not for western audiences) but according to Wikipedia the genre stems from the early 1990s.

You can use whatever you want, programming languages, game makers, whatever as long as you created the game yourself and it runs on windows. But remember to site your sources if you use a game maker, you must say that it was built using it.


Also Bullet hell games are fine, it doesnt actually have to be a game that existed before, just make sure it is 2D, and vector 2D is not allowed unless it is for special effects.

Quote:... and vector 2D is not allowed unless it is for special effects.

Yo, Vectrex is as retro as it gets, man.

Just ask Tom Sloper!

Ok point proven, vectors like asteriods is ok, but I meant more like flash type vectors kinda like southpark or paper mario where everything is smooth, maybe vectors wasn't the right term.

Quote:Original post by The_Neverending_LoopThe parameters for creating the game is that it must be a 2D retro style game that incorporates a modern element of some sort, by 2D retro style I mean it has to reflect the graphics from the SNES era and below, for example a 2D ps3, or gamecube game do not constitute as retro.

That's not at all clear to me. How do you class 2D as PS3 Vs PS1? Resolution? Number of colors? Or something subjective?

I'm all for simple games but I never get the desire some people have to create deliberately ugly games exactly like the graphics of old consoles (I realise this contest is a bit different, it's a general point). It's not like the old games did it on purpose, they would have loved SVGA! Maybe I just hate pixelated graphics...

I think some of it is subjective, but in general I would say its a combination of resolution and things like antiliasing, you could actually notice the pixel of older games, I actually think old school games have a very endeering quality to them. I agree with you completely that back then they would of loved better GPU's but theres something about trying to make the best of what you have to work with that makes them special I guess.

I've been thinking of doing an old-school, Das Boot-esque submarine simulator at some point. Think low-res (probably the actual resolution would be 640x480 with the intent to look like old Mode X), low-poly flat shaded 3D with bitmapped control panels and such. Would that qualify as retro enough for this?