PDA

View Full Version : C.Q.C. Deadline Cometh



C-Dawg
05-08-2002, 01:35 PM
I've got a couple of questions concerning the custom quest contest that ends in a little over a month or so.

1) Cyclone initially had a series of metrics for grading each quest, which corresponded to a bunch of rules. Almost immediatly, most of these rules were challanged by a bunch of quest makers. I'm not clear exactly what the final grading scale is going to be; shall I just assume it'll be a generic "how much the judges liked the quest" deal?

2) Part of the rules I do remember was Cyclone asking for the quest password, cheat codes, and a walkthrough to accompany each submission. Since, personally, I have no intention of giving out a password, I'm wondering what sort of effect that has on the judging- will the judges just stop playing if they find it too hard to beat without cheating?

3) How many contestants will actually have finished pieces by the deadline? With the possible exception of DoY (depending how committed my testers end up to be) and DoE, most of the good contest quests out there (Plith's, TSA's, Riachu's) dont seem like they're gonna be finished in time. Are you guys gonna start working 24/7 on them after finals and finish them? Or will the contest be between a bunch of demos?

-C

JayeM
05-08-2002, 02:26 PM
I thought the deadline was August 15th...that's 3 months. Why would you not want to give the password? It won't go any further than the judges. As one of the judges, I guarantee I won't give out the password.

Raichu86
05-08-2002, 03:08 PM
Mine will be done on time. :)

C-Dawg
05-08-2002, 03:37 PM
August, eh? Hm, nevermind. I was under the impression the deadline was sort of smack in the middle of summer... but still, an extra month isnt a whole lot of time.

Why would I not want to give out the pass? Well, because there are already fifty million secrets in DoY, and there will be plenty more in the complete one. I want each person to find them on their own :).

-C

Menokh
05-08-2002, 04:43 PM
August 15. hmm..
I have no idea if I? will finish on time. I am trying my hardest though. And I'm alittle weary about giving the judges the password too, I don't want them cheating too much. Although it would be nearly impossible to skip far ahead, it still would be disasterous if they want to understand the story.

JayeM
05-08-2002, 07:08 PM
The judges are only supposed to use the password if their only other recourse is not finishing the quest. Like a bug that makes further progress impossible. With a walk-through, a fatal bug should be the only thing that would make us use the password. Such a bug would only cost you one point from what I understand, but if we can't play to the finish...

The Silent Assassin
05-08-2002, 07:19 PM
Let me explain the point of a cheat. I garuntee you will overlook at least one bug...and that bug will prevent the judge from being able to move to a certain point of the quest, even if the area is "not" important.

As for me, I'm damn good at Zelda, but sometimes even I die. TO SAVE the trouble of having to waste time getting back to where you were, you allow them to use the "refill life" cheat. This enables them continue without hassle.

Trust me...judges WILL NOTE when they are about to die...and keep a tally to determine difficulty.

It's just a necessity...you need total access to the quest.

Passwords are for level design purposes. You need to be able to get into the mind of the creator, and see their purpose. Yes, efficiency in quest designing is also something judges should consider. Besides, even if you DON'T give the password, I am quite sure Cyclone can get DN to hack yours for the judges.

I never entered the custom quest contest, either. So I'm not a contestant nor related to the event in any way.

Sirklawd
05-08-2002, 07:46 PM
i plan on givign up sleep during the summer to work on my quest. its been very slow so far, and i would really like to finish by the deadline. - c'mon...a meesly demo isnt gonna give c-dawg any competition.

my view on passwords: most of the moderators seem very...uh..um.."high strung" *Cough* anal ;) which also means trustworthy, their not going to use the passwords to just screw over the gameplay. thats the whole point of them judging.

Menokh
05-08-2002, 07:50 PM
Sleep? What's that?
I'm an insomniac and I'm still slow at quest making.

Hopefully they'll never need the password, hopefully the level 4 cheat will be enough.

Kairyu
05-09-2002, 03:12 PM
I don't trust anyone with any kind of power here farther than I can flick a jumbo jet with my pinkie finger after some of the **** they pulled (Or tried to pull) on us multiple times over. I'd advise you do the same. I'm still planning on giving out the Lv. 4 password, though. And the main password. And a list of secrets (which I can remember, anyway.), and whatever else they wanted. It'll be as complete as I can get it, most likely. I don't think I'll forget to mention anything, but like it says in my sig, Memento Mori. :eyebrow:

I still don't trust you guys. :disgust:


:laughing:

C-Dawg
05-09-2002, 04:11 PM
Its a good thing you dont trust me. I mean, I did sleep with your last four girlfriends. And their mothers.

-C

Cronic
05-09-2002, 04:22 PM
why the hell would Cyclone need a quest password? or cheats... jesus... I mean if it's a quest it should have to be played the way the author had intended to preeserve continuity.

C-Dawg
05-09-2002, 04:35 PM
Well, I dont know Darth. But if you recall the original Quest Contest thread, Cyclone specifically asked for those things. I think the idea was that if someone hadn't had time to bug test, he'd need some way to circumvent impassable areas and suchlike.

-C

Cronic
05-09-2002, 04:39 PM
sure...

JayeM
05-09-2002, 08:11 PM
Darth, I think TSA explained it pretty well above. I don't see what the problem is with it, we're not out to steal you quest's secrets and sell them to the highest bidder.

Sirklawd
05-09-2002, 08:27 PM
jayem's rite, whats the worst someone could do with an unpassworded quest??

C-Dawg
05-09-2002, 11:20 PM
It's not a tremendously big deal, but it's a bit annoying to think that Cyclone will be able to have DN rip open your quest at their leisure. The only problem I can see is that a Judge might see an impassable area and think "aha, bug" and cheat past it... when in reality they werent supposed to go there anyway. This would be a tremendous problem in quests that control where and when the player can proceed. Hence necessitating a walkthrough and maps, etc. Just an awful lot of laying your quest naked.

-C