http://www.udevgames.com/ The Mac Game Development Contest en idevgames@gmail.com Copyright 2008 2008-11-12T02:25:27-05:00 http://www.udevgames.com/site/contact/ http://www.udevgames.com/site/contact/#When:02:25:27Z Contact Us 2008-11-12T02:25:27-05:00 http://www.udevgames.com/site/submit/ http://www.udevgames.com/site/submit/#When:03:29:22Z Please enter your game below 2008-10-25T03:29:22-05:00 http://www.udevgames.com/site/developers/ http://www.udevgames.com/site/developers/#When:16:26:25Z Nothing to see here… move along… move along 2008-10-23T16:26:25-05:00 http://www.udevgames.com/site/prizes/ http://www.udevgames.com/site/prizes/#When:02:26:41Z {assign_variable:my_weblog=“not default_site”} {assign_variable:my_template_group=“games”} {embed=“site/header”} <!— Left Column Start —> <div id=“columnCenter”><div id=“innerColumnCenter”> <!— Content Start —> <div class=“news”> {exp:weblog:entries weblog=”{my_weblog}” orderby=“title” sort=“asc” disable=“trackbacks|pagination”} <p><a href=”{title_permalink={my_template_group}/entry}”>{title}</a></p> {/exp:weblog:entries} </div> <!— Content End —> </div></div> <!— Left Column End —> {embed=“site/sidebar”} {embed=“site/footer”} 2008-10-18T02:26:41-05:00 http://www.udevgames.com/site/sponsors/ http://www.udevgames.com/site/sponsors/#When:02:26:31Z Call for Sponsors Become an Official Sponsor in uDevGames, the Mac Game Development Contest. Now the world’s largest Mac programming event, uDevGames has earned the respect and enthusiastic participation of independent Mac developers and gamers from around the globe. With over 80 games released and more than $70,000 given away in prizes since 2001, uDevGames has generated an enthusiastic response from the entire Mac community and has helped to spotlight a new generation of Mac game programmers. The uDevGames Contest is a tremendous opportunity to display your support for this great event, while spotlighting your products to Mac users. Prizes in the uDevGames Contest will help to draw the best Mac game programmers from around the world and help propelled them into professional game development careers, as well as jump-start new game development houses for the Mac and iPhone platforms. Benefits of Sponsorship uDevGames will draw more than dozen of entries from up-and-coming Mac game programmers. The competition starts Dec 2, 2008 and ends on March 12, 2009, with announcement of the winners. We expect thousands of people to play and vote for this year’s game entries. If your organization wants to reach Mac users there’s not a better sponsorship opportunity anywhere than the uDevGames Contest. In return for their donation, Sponsors will receive: Full recognition on the Official Sponsors page, along with links to their websites A web banner on the iDevGames site for the duration of the contest Listed in the ReadMe documentation that accompanies every game Included in all uDevGames press releases Winning developers are often the best-of-the-best, and having your prize in their hands means a new product evangelist on your side. Developers are also required to submit a review one of the prizes they have won, for publication on iDevGames.com. The benefit of sponsorship does not end there however; In their game’s postmortem, developers of cite prizes won in past contests as “critical” to the development of their entry for the current contest. uDevGames sponsorship is a great way to garner free and continuing product exposure. To maximize your exposure in the Mac market and become an official sponsor, please complete the Sponsorship Form. For a complete list of our generous sponsors, please view our Prizes page. 2008-10-18T02:26:31-05:00 http://www.udevgames.com/site/faq/ http://www.udevgames.com/site/faq/#When:02:24:21Z FAQs Relating To Rule #2 2.1 Can I submit my game early? Is there any advantage? p(()).Yes, you can submit your game before the deadline. This will allow you to receive crucial feedback from others that will help you remove bugs and improve gameplay. It also leaves more time to add polish as the scoring period draws nearer. You may update your submission as many times as you wish before the end of the entry period. FAQs Relating To Rule #3 3.1 What is the entry fee for? iDevGames is a non-profit community-supported website. Entry fees for the contest are used to offset the bandwidth cost of hosting uDevGames entries, prize shipping and the iDevGames website. 3.2 I am unable to submit the entry fee with the methods provided, what should I do? If you are unable to join the contest based on an issue with the entry fee, we suggest that you post in the uDevGames 2008 message board, and a friendly person may pay on your behalf. Please contact us regarding any questions about payment options. 3.3 When should I pay the entry fee? After you complete the Entry Form. The Entry Form and Fee may be submitted any time before the end date of the contest entry period. 3.4 I paid the entry fee, but it says I haven’t! Your payment must be processed manually. It may take a day or two to show up. Be patient. 3.5 I paid the entry fee, but now I must withdraw from the contest. We regret that you must redraw from the contest, but we cannot refund your entry fee. Please understand that your entry fee will only go towards the bandwidth cost of the contest and iDevGames.com. FAQs Relating To Rule #4 4.1 I only released screenshots of my game before the contest. Why can’t I submit it? By releasing screenshots of your game to the public, you have allowed the opportunity to receive feedback on your graphics, style, and polish which can potentially give you an unfair head-start in the competition. 4.1 Can I use source code from a game that was released to the public prior to the start of the contest? The use of source code used in a game released prior to the start of the contest is allowed, provided that the entry is a substantially new work and meets the conditions of Rule #5. FAQs Relating To Rule #5 5.1 Can I use third-party, closed or open source engines, frameworks, libraries, or plugins, in my game? Yes, however, they must be available to the general public before the start of the contest entry period. For example, Unity and Torque are allowed. 5.2 Can I enter a clone of, or “tribute” to, a popular video game? Yes, but keep in mind that Originality is one of the categories games are scored on. In no circumstance will games which infringe intellectual property rights be allowed to enter uDevGames 2008, so make sure you get permission before using anybody else’s creation in your entry. FAQs Relating To Rule #6 6.1 What is meant by “Source Files”? Source Files refer to the editable files the developers used (possibly in conjunction with a development tool or tools) to build the game, including the source code, scripts, makefiles, and project files. In combination with the Assets, anyone with the development tools used by the developers, should be able to build a complete working game, as well as modify any part of it. 6.2 Do I have to use a particular language, programming tool, or IDE? No. You may use any programming language or tool to create your game as long as it does not conflict with any of the rules of the contest. Please note that scoring will not be affected by what you use to create your game. If your development tool(s) utilizes source files and can create a stand-alone double-clickable Mac OS X game that meets the criteria of rule #8, your entry should be fine. 6.3 Why must I make the source of my game available to enter? iDevGames is dedicated to enhancing the Macintosh game development community. One of the ways of achieving this is to demonstrate programming techniques through example. By making the release of the source code one of the uDevGames entry conditions we hope to greatly increase the availability of good, Macintosh-specific, game code examples so that everyone can benefit from them. 6.4 Will the source code for my game be judged, and is commenting required? Your source code will not be judged, nor is it required that you comment your source code. However, the community benefits more if your code is easy to read, so commenting, descriptive variable and function names, and any documentation is recommended and appreciated. 6.5 Are you interested in receiving updates to my source code even after the contest is over? Yes! 6.6 Will others be able to use my source code in their own entries? No, the source code will only be made available after the contest is over and the winners declared. 6.7 What license should I select for my source code? If you are unsure, we recommend using the MIT License. The MIT License is a simple and friendly license with few restrictions. Other licenses are increasingly restrictive. For information on the various licenses, read about the licenses at opensource.org. Also try doing a search on Google for the license you are interested in. Another good resource is the iDevGames’ Forum. 6.8 Do I have to release the assets for my game as open source too? No! The assets used in your game can be licensed in any way you see fit. The only requirement is that the assets must be included with the source code so that anyone can download, build, and run your game. This really comes down to convenience, so that the assets do not need to be scraped from the binary submission in order to build the game. FAQs Relating To Rule #8 8.1 Do you welcome cross-platform games and their code? Yes, cross-platform (Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, etc) entries are welcomed, however all entries must have a native Mac OS X executable. 8.2 Does my game need to support PowerPC? Mac OS X 10.4? Entries are not required to run on PowerPC machines or versions of Mac OS X prior to 10.5.5. However, such support is encouraged to reach the greatest number of voters. 8.3 I am using the XYZ framework. Do I have to include in my entry? If the XYZ framework is not installed on Mac OS X by default, you must include it with your entry, requiring no extra installation. For example, if you are using SDL, you must include the SDL framework with your game, and the user must not be required to install it into a system directory. FAQs Relating To Rule #9 9.1 Can I further develop my game and sell it after the contest? Absolutely. You may simply not sell the game during the contest. FAQs Relating To Rule #10 10.2 Can my game require an internet connection? Yes, as long as the short description of the game on the contest page and the included documentation notes that the game requires a connection to the Internet. 10.3 Can my game download or stream additional data from a remote server? Yes, as long as the source code for the custom server software and the Assets being served are also included in the source submission in accordance with Rule #5. FAQs Relating To Rule #11 11.1 What is a postmortem? A postmortem documents what went right and what went wrong during the development process of your game. Hopefully the lessons you learned along the way will be communicated to others so that they can repeat the successful parts of the development process, and avoid the pitfalls you encountered in your project. To learn more about writing a postmortem, see the article “Conducting a Project Postmortem”. http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article977.asp Other questions Why are winners required to submit a prize review? uDevGames is generously sponsored by donations from individuals, indepentent, small, and large companies. A direct benefit to these sponsors for supporting uDevGames is the product evangelism of prize receipients through word of mouth, prize reviews, and mentions in future postmortems. Do all team members need to register separately? No, exactly one Entry Form is submitted for each game entered into the competition. Once the form has been submitted, any of the team’s members may contribute to the entry without any further registration. How are you going to stop “ballot stuffing” during the voting period? It is regrettable that people might try and attempt to skew the results by scoring a game more than once, but we take precautions to deter and prevent such actions. If you feel that there has been any element of cheating by any entrants or their associates then please contact us as soon as possible. We would like to emphasize that any attempt to cheat during this competition will lead to instant disqualification. I do not have time to create the game assets AND program a game. What do you recommend? iDevGames has a large selection of sounds and graphics that you may freely use in your game. There are also many other websites with game assets that have licenses allowing you to use them in your games. Team up! Many developers are in the same boat, with limited time and skills to complete a finished game. Use the iDevGames forums to find someone to partner with. Entries using copyrighted materials without the express consent of the copyright holder will be immediately disqualified. If you are unsure of the legal status of any particular game assets then we would recommend not using them. I don’t have a server where can I host my game, what should I do? All entries, including the binary and source submissions, are hosted by iDevGames to be available to the public. What genre should my game be? Any game genre is acceptable. It should be noted, however, that some game genres are more suitable than others given the time constraints of the competition. For example, a puzzle game should be fairly easy to implement in the given time, but a detailed 3D multi-player online role-playing game is perhaps unrealistic. Most games these days are 3D; does mine have to be? No, your game does not have to be 3D. Graphics is just one area that games are voted on, and 2D games with good gameplay and polish can do just as well. Are their any language requirements for games? The contest is open to developers (and gamers) all over the globe and so no language has been made mandatory. However, the majority of players and developers speak English so we would recommend you use English if possible. Can I promote my entry on my Web site? Yes, this is fine, however we ask that you provide a link to the contest page as well as a short explanation of uDevGames so that gamers can try all the games in the contest. Why have you allowed iDevGames’ staff to enter? All staff, with the exception of the editor, have been allowed to enter. The majority of iDevGames’ staff are volunteers and active game developers. To exclude them from the contest would penalize them for helping to make iDevGames the great resource for Mac game developers that it is and could also hinder our recruiting efforts for more staff members. Please be assured that no favoritism will be shown to staff members. Do you need any help regarding this competition? Word of mouth is key to making uDevGames a bigger and better event each year. Please post to the forums and mailing lists you visit about the contest. Whether you decide to enter or not, we encourage you to play the submissions, provide feedback to the developer(s), and vote on which one you think is the best. You can help by playing video games! 2008-10-18T02:24:21-05:00 http://www.udevgames.com/site/rules/ http://www.udevgames.com/site/rules/#When:02:23:01Z Terms Source Files – The editable source code and project files which are required to build a working version of the game. Assets – The audio, video, image, and data files which in combination with the Source Files can be used to build a fully working and playable version of the game. Team – A team is composed of one or more people. A team member is defined as any person who contributes privately to an entry. If the contribution to the entry is not freely available to every other entrant, then the contributer is part of the team for the entry they contributed to. Rules of Eligibility Only one entry per team is allowed. A person may contribute to multiple teams. Teams must complete the uDevGames 2008 Contest Entry Form by January 18, 2009 at 11:59 PM GMT. Each team must pay the $10 USD entry fee by January 19, 2009 at 11:59 PM GMT. Entries with screenshots, movies, or any playable form (i.e. beta, demo, release, etc), released to the public or outside testers before December 2, 2008 at 12:01 AM GMT are ineligible. All entries should be substantially the team’s original creation. Entries may use publicly available libraries, frameworks, engines, artwork, audio, and other resources as part of their projects. However, (a) such use must be acknowledged in the game’s credits, (b) the entry should have substantial original material apart from such public content. Teams are required to submit the Source Files and Assets for their entry as described under the section “Source Submission” by March 2, 2009 at 11:59 PM GMT. Entries are required to include the “uDevGames 2008 Read Me.pdf” file in the download. Entries must be in a “double-clickable” form, and run on a fresh install of Mac OS X 10.5.5 on a 32-bit Intel-based Mac without the aid of translation software (such as Rosetta) and without requiring the installation of any libraries, frameworks, or plugins. Web browser-based entries (“web players”) are also not allowed. Entries may not be sold during the contest. All prize-winning entries must supply a written postmortem by March 25, 2009 at 11:59 PM GMT. General Conditions This contest is void where prohibited by law. By participating in this contest, entrants agree to be bound by these rules and acknowledge that all decisions made by iDevGames are final. Submission of an entry constitutes permission to use the entrant’s name, entry, hometown, likeness, and information regarding the entry by iDevGames and the uDevGames sponsors in promotion of the Contest, except where prohibited by law. This contest does not convey an endorsement of any product or service, nor does a third party’s donation of any prize have any influence on iDevGames editorial coverage. iDevGames and the uDevGames sponsors are not responsible for lost or misdirected prizes, or prizes damaged during transit. Any prizes that have not been claimed by April 30, 2009 may be returned to the donating sponsor. Failure to comply with the contest rules will result in the disqualification of the entry and the forfeiture of any prize. iDevGames reserves the right to change or alter these rules at any time without notice. If, in iDevGames’ exclusive judgment, the contest becomes compromised in any way, iDevGames reserves the right to withdraw the contest, cancel any method of entry, to void any entries deemed to be submitted fraudulently, or select winners from all eligible entries received prior to act that compromised the contest. Source Submission All teams are required to supply the Source Files and Assets for their game to iDevGames by March 2, 2009 at 11:59 PM GMT. In preparing your source submission, the following points should be observed: Entrants are required to submit the Source Files for their entry (excluding any 3rd party libraries or frameworks which may be copyrighted) under a license listed at http:// www.opensource.org/licenses/. The Assets for the entry may be distributed under any terms the entrants choose, however the Assets must still be included in the submission with the Source Files. The Source Files and Assets, in combination with the use of any required tools, should be able to successfully build a complete working version of the game. Such tools must be available to the public (freely or commercially) prior to the start of the contest. The “uDevGames 2008 – Read Me.pdf” file must be included with your entry. The license(s) governing distribution of the Source Files and Assets must be included. The source submission should be archived in a compressed read-only Mac OS X Disk Image (dmg) file. Scoring The scoring period begins on March 3, 2009 at 12:01 AM GMT and ends on March 10, 2009 at 11:59 PM GMT. During that period anyone may download, play, and score the entries. Entries will be scored by the public (including entrants) for “Best Overall Game.” Entries will be scored by entrants only, in six additional categories: Best Gameplay Best Graphics Best Audio Best Story Best Presentation (aka Polish) Most Original Players will assign a score of 1 to 10 for each game in each category. The highest average score will determine the winner of each category. For the six “peer” categories, each entrant will score every entry besides their own. However, the final score for an entry is calculated by the average of each team’s score. A team’s score is the average of the team members’ submitted scores. Teams who have not met all requirements of the competition will not be allowed to participate in the peer scoring process. Scoring results will be kept confidential until the scoring period has ended. Any attempt to artificially influence scores will result in immediate dis-qualification. See General Condition #8. Prize Distribution The contest winners will be announced on March 12, 2009. The prizes in the prize pool will be distributed in “rounds.” Each round consists of the following steps: First place in the “Best Overall Game” category will select one prize from the pool. Second place in the “Best Overall Game” category will select one prize from the pool. Third place in the “Best Overall Game” category will select one prize from the pool. The first place winners in each of the five categories will then each select one prize from the pool, in order of descending overall score. The second place winners in each of the five categories will then each select one prize from the pool, in order of descending overall score. The third place winners in each of the five categories will then each select one prize from the pool, in order of descending overall score. No winner may select a prize from the pool more than once per “round.” The process will repeat for as many rounds are required until the prize pool has been exhausted. If there is a tie in the overall score, the tie will be broken by the highest average score in each category. If there is a tie in a category, the tie will be broken by the highest overall score. Postmortems Prize-winning entries must supply a postmortem to iDevGames before March 25, 2009 at 11:59 PM GMT. The postmortem should document what went right and what went wrong during the development process of the game, to communicate the lessons learned during development to others so that they can aim to mimic the successful parts of the development process, and avoid the pitfalls encountered during the project. The postmortem should: Be no less than 1,500 words Have a minimum of four screenshots (640×480 or larger) of your game or your development tool in action A listing of all software and hardware tools utilized in the development process Be submitted in UTF-8 Plain Text, HTML, or RTF, along with separate screen images. Prize Reviews Prize-winning developers must also review at least one of their prizes (if it is a reviewable good, i.e. not cash) for iDevGames by May 31, 2009. The review should: Be no less than 1,500 words Discuss the pros and cons of the product, and how it fits into your workflow Discuss the usefulness related to game development (if applicable) Have a minimum of four images (640×480 or larger) of the prize in use Be submitted in UTF-8 Plain Text, HTML, or RTF, along with separate screen images. Questions about the uDevGames Rules? Please see the FAQ for more information. 2008-10-18T02:23:01-05:00 http://www.udevgames.com/site/about/ http://www.udevgames.com/site/about/#When:02:18:42Z iDevGames established the uDevGames game creation contest in 2001 to encourage innovation in Macintosh game development and to recognize the best developers in our community. Last year’s contest, uDevGames 2003, featured over 40 games created by independent Mac developers from around the world, awarded entrants from a total prize pool valued at more than $27,000, received international press coverage, and was featured by leading Macintosh sites such as Inside Mac Games. This year’s contest marks the debut of the Official uDevGames Website, which will serve as a central location for the contest: past, present, and future. We encourage you to stay involved during the course of the contest by following the development progress of the entries via the developers’ weblogs, trying the beta playables as they are made available and then providing feedback to the developers, and, most of all, by spreading the word about uDevGames! During the public voting period of the contest, participation is especially appreciated as all Mac users are encouraged to download the free games and vote to help determine the contest winners. As an added bonus, door prizes such as commercial games and software donated by our sponsors will be awarded at random to lucky voters. uDevGames is made possible not only through the efforts of iDevGames’ volunteer staff and community, but most of all by the generous sponsors who donate prizes to encourage developer participation. We appreciate your patronage of our sponsors and hope you will drop them a positive note about their support of uDevGames. If you’re a programmer, designer, artist, sound or music guru, or just think it would be fun to try to create a game for the Macintosh, we encourage you to enter this year’s contest. Visit our forum to join or form a development team, or start work on your own game as a lone-wolf developer. It is a rewarding, fulfilling experience, and there is no feeling quite like sitting down and playing your very own game that you helped create! uDevGames 2002 alumni, and developer of MAFFia: “Having MAFFia in the contest certainly inspired me to finish and polish it. Essentially, uDevGames gave me an external deadline and a goal to work towards, and hence imposed a structure (however loose) that had been sadly lacking in my earlier programming efforts. In addition, the prospect of a wider public release than I could have engineered alone compelled me to polish the game more than I might otherwise have done.” – William Reade, Zonic Ltd. About iDevGames iDevGames was established on December 3, 1998 to educate, elevate, and expand the Macintosh game developer community through featured articles, the latest industry news, tutorials, an active forum, downloads, and competitions. 2008-10-18T02:18:42-05:00