Let's play judge! Top picks for the IGMC.

[Faye Valentine]

2nd Place (RPG): Sunken Spire-How the crap was this all made in just a month? It's really amazing work. I love the puzzles, the characters and the battle system. Ooze had so many useful forms and there was a a lot of strategy at hand to use. Pretty much a full game for free. Can't beat that!

Because it wasn't made in one month. Sorry, but it's the truth. It's an almost (not to say) an exact copy of In Search of Inmortality. Hang on... hang on... i know the creators are the same that made In Search of Inmortality, but it is still a copy. Of course it doesn't have the same plot. In fact, i don't even know if it has the same plot because i just played the first 10 minutes and just closed the game because the gameplay was the same... wear mods, battle everyone... i really liked In Search of Inmortality but with Sunken Spire i feel like i'm playing the same stuff. The starting character is even THE SAME that In Search of Inmortality (am i repeating in search of inmortality too much? xD) which is Alma. So... i don't know, i didn't liked it not even a single bit. They could have done better.

Anyways, in this ocassion i'm with Dekita. It's nonsense to play the judge if you have played like 6 or 7 games of ALL the games that IGMC has. Because of that, i can't really say which game deserves a top place and what game deserves a second place, all i can say is that i only played Little Briar Rose to the end, and was so freakin' awesome. Now that people DID a good job. I want to play Unraveled but i'm sooo lazy right now hahaha but i might give it a shot.

Anyways... just a reminder: don't argue in the interwebz. Just don't do it... no one will win, no one will be right and even if you're right, the other one will say that you're not.

 

[dinkledaberry]

... lol guys what have you done

 

[Shaz]

Back to topic, please. Stop derailing.

 

[_Shadow_]

Hey guys!

Peace!

Anyone can have a top game list of his own.

As everyone can have his/her own opinion.

She/he can also express her/his personal opinion.

Will it be a fair list?

Probably not 90% of the time.

Why? Well the judging of a videogame is not an easy task.

You MUST NOT be biased by fatigue, previous games, personal taste (good luck on that), you HAVE to be fair, and check out all aspects.

The origina post had a list for fun.

Judging a game is not very fun.

And he mentioned it. "Let's PLAY judge!"

Play.

I consider ti as a game. An easily misundersood.

It's no big deal really.

Someone made a list to tell his opinion, expecting people to bring their own lists.

I beilieve his intentions was to share thoughts and debate who will win.

On the other hand, having played only a bunch of games, can be really annoying sometimes. 

For many people.

For me, I really don't care. This was my debut and I am expecting to see what will be my final ranking by judge's opinion.

I am really happy i didn't saw  on your lists so far any... strange participations... you know what I am talking about.

So please allow me to contribute to this thread, with my personal thoughts.

Considering nothing is wrong with any participation with all the games I will mention,

I will give you my personal top list of games I liked.

After all I AM NOT A JUDGE, and I will not be.

And yes it is biased.

My personal taste, being as bug free as possible, having a good story, being well directed, having not a lot of typos, being actually polished, innovation, stretching graphics and the engine in general to its limits, having a great atmoshpere and music score, original content, having a fun gameplay, game balance, were my criteria.

Auto excluded any patched out of time versions, that came after.

I refuse to suggest any one of them for any prize.

Sequence is also random.

If I did not mentioned your game, it doesn't mean your game was lame or something like that.

There were a lot of okay games, and decent and nice efforts that were too vanilla for my personal taste.

What I am trying to tell you here is that, having your game out of my list does not make it automatically a bad one.

There were lots of decent entries (and I was happy about that).

So let's go I will comment on some games I still remember:

 

A Tale of Two Raiders

Daemon Detective Gaiden

Fancy and the Fox

Evertons Deck (this game has no bugs it has features! )

It Lurks ( Hello Don)

Listen ( Similar idea like Unravelled. I voted without finishing it. I was crying like an idiot, cause I understood what it was about to come)

Little Briar Rose

Mercy (saw no mercy, but deserved my vote)

Dear RED (Small but nice. A smart move )

The Wareloo Network (Underrated. The game was nice)

Unravelled (Very moving story, graphics to the engine's limits, music and gameplay awesome, a heroin that gets loved at first glance)

Sunsong (Smart trick to make it green-retro graphics. This makes it look like a top retro. Better than an average modern).

The Drop

The postman

Wait  (Laggy but well directed. Loved it. Incredible use of Khas light effects)

The Tea party

I hate you I miss you (Very interesting and fun game)

Mind merge

Recurrence

Tess

Little Wil (I think.. sorry if I mispelled that one)

The Detectives

1 Push

=============================================

I downloaded ALL possible to downoad games out of 755.

ALL of them.

Monetizing links were instantly excluded,

since there is always a Dropbox and a Google Drive for free.

Jusdges do download, I did not. That is considered unfair but I am not a judge.

So no I didn't did any favors to people who did not took their game seriously,

to put a good and convenient ad free link.

Sorry If I sound harsh here, but someone actually HAS

to tell people that, so they will not do the same mistake again next time.

If that sounded bad to you, my apologies.

But I won't do any good if I wont help you avoid a mistake right?

Ethics are relevant to our intentions really, not on what we do in my opinion.

Played all of these games I could play out of 755.

Even "Burger can't touch this".

It seems that this one will get banned by Mc Hammer's song copyright issue, if the guy didn't had the rights to use the song.

But still I played it!

Took me a lot of time.

But that's how I voted.

I wanted to have a full view of things to be fair.

Do I expect the same from everyone else?

Hell no!!!

People see something in a list, they like what they look, they download it and play it.

It's that simple.

Not everyone would go for a marathon of game sampling.

 

[Alexander Amnell]

Because it wasn't made in one month. Sorry, but it's the truth. It's an almost (not to say) an exact copy of In Search of Inmortality...

   I'm pretty sure the rules said that you could use assets that were created prior to the start of the contest, in fact more than half of the entries would be disqualified if that wasn't true. I enjoyed both In search of immortality and Sunken Spires equally and thought both were great games. sequels/spiritual successors have existed almost as long as games have, why should it be okay for big companies with millions of dollars and hundreds of employees to copy their own engine and sell it to you if it isn't okay for small dev teams who aren't even charging you (for either of those at least) to do the same? Demons-Dark Souls, Assassin's Creed, and hell, Bethesda has reused the same core engine for all of their elder scrolls/fallout games since Morrowind and still haven't bloody changed it. If we're condemning games because they are sequels then we'll lose a lot of good games in the process.

   As to the topic, I won't select any winners, both because I haven't played all of the games and because I like to many of the ones I have played to make such a judgement. I will, however mention a few that I really enjoyed.

Peace of Mind: Really shocked me with how the story went, quite easy to get into but the atb seemed unnecessary.

Lost Spires: Already covered above.

The Alchemist's son: Not really at all in the running but I enjoyed it just the same, the holographic puzzles were especially fun.

Ashworth: The closest thing to an actual horror game I've seen in a while, sadly the genre is fairly void of anything worthwhile these days and it's refreshing to see someone try.

 

[Cinnamon]

   I'm pretty sure the rules said that you could use assets that were created prior to the start of the contest, in fact more than half of the entries would be disqualified if that wasn't true. I enjoyed both In search of immortality and Sunken Spires equally and thought both were great games. sequels/spiritual successors have existed almost as long as games have, why should it be okay for big companies with millions of dollars and hundreds of employees to copy their own engine and sell it to you if it isn't okay for small dev teams who aren't even charging you (for either of those at least) to do the same? Demons-Dark Souls, Assassin's Creed, and hell, Bethesda has reused the same core engine for all of their elder scrolls/fallout games since Morrowind and still haven't bloody changed it. If we're condemning games because they are sequels then we'll lose a lot of good games in the process.

   As to the topic, I won't select any winners, both because I haven't played all of the games and because I like to many of the ones I have played to make such a judgement. I will, however mention a few that I really enjoyed.

Peace of Mind: Really shocked me with how the story went, quite easy to get into but the atb seemed unnecessary.

Lost Spires: Already covered above.

The Alchemist's son: Not really at all in the running but I enjoyed it just the same, the holographic puzzles were especially fun.

Ashworth: The closest thing to an actual horror game I've seen in a while, sadly the genre is fairly void of anything worthwhile these days and it's refreshing to see someone try.

That's true! Technically Sunken Spire did nothing wrong. I personally think it's a little bit cheap (or does that sound too mean?) to copy & paste the exact same game mechanism into a contest entry. By that logic I could've used any of my full games that took years to develop, taken the elaborate features and just made some new maps and story for them. But the beauty of this contest is that you can try out new things and experiment. Therefore I think games like Perspective should win. They're trying something new, you know? Like Unraveled as well. The platforming and battle system are highly experimental, and it's been a great way to receive feedback on these features.

D is for Drama

 

[Archeia]

Regarding some of the commments/concerns about Oneshot:

• Yes, it is using the unofficial RPG Maker 2003 runtime by RPG Advocate, plus my own function hooking.
• No, that doesn't violate the rules of the competition, or even the RPG Maker 2003 license. The RPG Maker 2003 runtime is (and always was) freely distributable and modifiable. You don't need to own an RPG Maker license to distribute or play an RPG Maker VX game (e.g. 30 day trial version). RPG Maker XP+ games also frequently have modified unofficial executables (e.g. custom icons).
• The decision to enter the game in the RPG category was a last-minute decision after I didn't get a reply from the admins of the competition after I asked them which category I should enter considering the engine (which was probably incorrect, considering the gammeplay, but I chose it mostly because the other engines in the RPG category were mostly RPG Maker games).

I hope this clears some things up!

This is incorrect. Rm2k3 was NEVER free to use and modifiable. It was pirated and abused.  You used an illegal maker to create the game. Therefore you have no rights to make a game in it and send it to the contest. This is almost an unspoken rule to any contest as it breaches that program's EULA, but we also have stated it in the game contest page. There was never a legal English version for RPG Maker 2003. IF you had used the legal Rm2k3 that is Japanese, that's another story. Even the RTPs themselves have a separate EULA. Except in RM2k3's case it's in Japanese so people think it's 'free' for those who don't speak it.

 

[Cinnamon]

This is incorrect. Rm2k3 was NEVER free to use and modifiable. It was pirated and abused.  You used an illegal maker to create the game. Therefore you have no rights to make a game in it and send it to the contest. This is almost an unspoken rule to any contest as it breaches that program's EULA, but we also have stated it in the game contest page. There was never a legal English version for RPG Maker 2003. IF you had used the legal Rm2k3 that is Japanese, that's another story.

So wait, is Oneshot disqualified? And wow, you're a judge. I didn't realize judges monitored this forum. *facepalm* That's pretty awesome.

 

[Archeia]

Yes it's disqualified the moment it used RPG Maker 2003.

 

[Cinnamon]

Wow, alright. I always thought Oneshot would win the the First or Grand Prize. Guess not... Thanks for clearing that up. Hope the poor fellow reads this so he becomes aware of the situation.

 

[TungerMan]

*sigh* It's a good game. Could've been a great contender for the grand prix, but oh well, the devs can only blame themselves.

Contest aside, they still have created a memorable title.

 

[??????]

Yes it's disqualified the moment it used RPG Maker 2003.

Maybe I'm mean, but this made me laugh quite a bit.

Wasn't it stated right at the start of the contest that RPGM2k3 was not allowed?  Like, somewhere in that big list of 'allowed engines' ?

 

[Cinnamon]

Maybe I'm mean, but this made me laugh quite a bit.

Wasn't it stated right at the start of the contest that RPGM2k3 was not allowed?  Like, somewhere in that big list of 'allowed engines' ?

Why DID he use RPG Maker 2003 anyway, I wonder. Nothing in that game couldn't just as easily have been done in XP or VX.

 

[??????]

Indeed. Hell, that big bundle was recently on humble and could have gotten ace for like $6... (along with mass quantity of dlc)

Doesnt really matter now though. Maybe they knew it would be disqualified but wanted to participate anyway - just for the fun of it

 

[nhubi]

Probably liked the engine, and was comfortable with it. Given the shortened timeframe using an engine you know would help.

 

[GIRakaCHEEZER]

Maybe I'm mean, but this made me laugh quite a bit.


Wasn't it stated right at the start of the contest that RPGM2k3 was not allowed?  Like, somewhere in that big list of 'allowed engines' ?

The contest said you could use any engine you wanted, so long as you had full rights to use said engine and tools and acquired them by legal means. The problem here is that rm2k3 is unobtainable by legal means, or more specifically the English rm2k3 because it's only sold in Japanese.


Basically they (most likely) used pirated software, and now are paying the price for doing so. Shame, because I really liked Oneshot too.

 

[Jesse - PVGames]

I know this is the first time this contest has run, but something occurred to me that might be of benefit should the contest be run again in the future.

During this contest run, people were allowed to vote on entries and then entries were screened by judges with many being discarded for one reason or another (unable to play the game, inappropriate engine, etc). It seems that it would make more sense in the future to do the screenings first and then post all of the eligible games so that only they can receive votes for people's choice (if there even is a people's choice in the future). It seems that invalid entries can easily siphon off many votes. Further, having the screened list of games makes it easier for people to actually only play the valid games. Playing all 650 games is a huge task, but playing 100-200 seems more manageable.

 

[Cinnamon]

The contest said you could use any engine you wanted, so long as you had full rights to use said engine and tools and acquired them by legal means. The problem here is that rm2k3 is unobtainable by legal means, or more specifically the English rm2k3 because it's only sold in Japanese.

Basically they (most likely) used pirated software, and now are paying the price for doing so. Shame, because I really liked Oneshot too.

Yep. And I don't know how you can check with which version it's made, but the developer just confirmed it was made with the illegal English one so he basically shot himself in the leg. :/

I know this is the first time this contest has run, but something occurred to me that might be of benefit should the contest be run again in the future.

During this contest run, people were allowed to vote on entries and then entries were screened by judges with many being discarded for one reason or another (unable to play the game, inappropriate engine, etc). It seems that it would make more sense in the future to do the screenings first and then post all of the eligible games so that only they can receive votes for people's choice (if there even is a people's choice in the future). It seems that invalid entries can easily siphon off many votes. Further, having the screened list of games makes it easier for people to actually only play the valid games. Playing all 650 games is a huge task, but playing 100-200 seems more manageable.

Agreed. It would also make the screening more obvious than being on an ask-only basis.

 

[B.Ultimus]

During this contest run, people were allowed to vote on entries and then entries were screened by judges with many being discarded for one reason or another (unable to play the game, inappropriate engine, etc). It seems that it would make more sense in the future to do the screenings first and then post all of the eligible games so that only they can receive votes for people's choice (if there even is a people's choice in the future). It seems that invalid entries can easily siphon off many votes.

This is a great idea.

 

[dinkledaberry]

During this contest run, people were allowed to vote on entries and then entries were screened by judges with many being discarded for one reason or another (unable to play the game, inappropriate engine, etc). It seems that it would make more sense in the future to do the screenings first and then post all of the eligible games so that only they can receive votes for people's choice (if there even is a people's choice in the future). It seems that invalid entries can easily siphon off many votes. Further, having the screened list of games makes it easier for people to actually only play the valid games. Playing all 650 games is a huge task, but playing 100-200 seems more manageable.

Totally concurred! 

Why DID he use RPG Maker 2003 anyway, I wonder. Nothing in that game couldn't just as easily have been done in XP or VX.

Probably because it's the only way he could have the game read the player's system. As well as keep it so the player only had one shot. 

Doesnt really matter now though. Maybe they knew it would be disqualified but wanted to participate anyway - just for the fun of it

Pretty much what I was thinking. This contest was at least a great motivator.