Please don't force us to make our games all xmassy and stuff. The xmas competition can simply be making a game at christmas time.
I'm fed up with competitions that make up rules for the hell of it and then tell me 'it's there to help creativity' or whatever. It hinders creativity if we are forced to think up everything from day one. Or include something that is announced the day before.
Think about it. If you let people do what they want you'll end up with better games in the end. People can easily shoehorn a given plot into a game they're making anyway. Take that mario fangame and put Santa in his place and there you go!
Surely there is a way to make sure people started their game on the first day without stifling creativity.
I only took part in last years xmas compo but can imagine that if its done EVERY year with a forced xmas theme, people may start to get bored. How about picking a different event each year? Though I suppose that only really leaves Easter and Halloween.
I disagree on your take on the concept, AndyUK.
I believe that restrictions generally inspire more creative thought. Whether it's just a matter of a new concept that one might never have thought of without the idea of a competition's concept, or the fact that a restriction will force one to throw out his immediate ideas and preconceptions and start digging into deeper thoughts or previously unthought-of workarounds, such restrictions, to me, seem more to shake up the creative process rather than stifle it.
...But the X-Mas theme does get a little old after a few years.
I'm not exactly sure how to appropriately make an X-Mas competition without the theme, but I guess that's something to think about.
Lol, I was thinking about the same thing some time ago. "If this year's compo is gonna be Xmas again, I'll probably not enter" is what I was thinking lately. I agree on AndyUK on the fact that the Xmas theme really hinders my creativity
Though, I really like it when a good theme comes up. E.g. last year's grid based was great IMO, but I really don't like it when it always has to be Xmas themed as well Even though the competition is around Xmas, can't we simply make it a Winter Compo or something?
Well, you could always try some other variations...
Like, you could try winter-themed instead of Christmas, specifically.
You could try to deter the more common themes by forbidding standard character use (like Santa and elves), forcing use of other characters, or animals, or even toys.
Or you could try something more abstract, like simply requiring heavy use of the colors green and red, as well as their integration into the gameplay.
...And I'm sure there are plenty of other good ideas yet to be thought that could keep the competition in the sort of Christmas feel without the relying on the ol' Christmas theme.
We had a winter-themed compo in 2002 or 2003 which was fun. I think the xmas theme is pretty cheesy to begin with and it's unfair to people who don't have xmas. I also think the next compo needs a different judging system (not just the admins judging, last years compo results were just wacky).
Also it might not be a bad idea to have the compo end in early december so they can be judged and ready for public play in actual Xmas/winter. We always end up seeing the games in february/march.
There has to be some restrictions. Its a competition after all. You are supposed to find the best ways to complete the different goals within the restrictions that is set. This also helps protecting the competition against cheaters- you can't just submit the game that you've been working on for months, because it doesn't fit the criteria that is already set.
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