Description

Game Chill is a winter game making contest, the goal of which is to make a game in a little over three weeks. Entries will be commented on by a quartet of judges and ranked accordingly. A simple theme is given, but the point is to just have fun making games!


THEME
Design a single winter-themed dungeon for the player to navigate through.

You are required to include in this game at least 3 items from the following list, in some way, shape or form:
  • Gingerbread Men
  • Prayer
  • Frosty the Snowman's hat
  • Hockey
  • Fancy dinner party
  • Bing Crosby



RULES
  • The contest starts now (December 19th, 2013) and goes until January 9th at 11:59pm GMT. Entries must be made during this time-frame. Existing games and projects are not eligible entries for this event.
  • Only completed games are allowed
  • Teams of any size may work together to create a game.
  • All art, music, and sound should be original, public domain or purchased by yourself. When you made it is not important so long as you have proper rights to it. Entrants may stray from this rule if they wish, but should expect harsher judgments towards ripped content than original.
  • Your game must run on the Windows platform. Your game should not require any additional components that a judge would have to purchase or download.
  • Games should come with a readme.txt file of some sort, describing how to play the game, listing any resources used that are not yours, and describing what components the game needs to run.
  • At the end of the contest, 4 judges will rank each game using their own scoring system, and provide commentary for the entries. The final outcome will be determined by the judges. A winner and a runner-up will be selected.
  • Entries not submitted by the end time will not be accepted.
  • Extensions might be possible, but will be granted only by popular vote and judge approval (ie. don't rely on it). If extensions are given, they will apply to everyone, for fairness. If an extension does occur it will be only a few days at most.
  • Your game can be of any genre, not just RPG. (You don't need to have battles, for example!)



HOW TO PARTICIPATE
  • Step 1: Sign up for the contest in the "Registration" section below this event description. You can enter this event solo or as a team. Additionally, you may submit as many games or join as many teams as you'd like.
  • Step 2: Create your game page. Normal submission rules apply.
  • Step 3: Post your download to the game page once it's approved.
  • Step 4: Submit your game download to the contest by using the commands on the upper-right corner of this page.



PRIZES
All participants who successfully submit a valid entry to the event will receive a participation achievement worth 50ms. The winner will receive an additional 100ms achievement for being so awesome. (Hey, not every event needs hundreds of dollars in prizes! This event is "old school RMN".)

Good luck and merry Christmas!

The amazing banner art is the work of Alex Stone: http://www.alexstoneart.com/

Details

Achievements

Registration

You must be logged in to sign up for Game Chill 2013.

Teams Members Entry
Return of the Bludgeon of Inspiration
Gunning It Solo!
Ginger
halo's subterranean prayer column
Ok, who spiked the eggnog THIS time? (And with what!?)
Bleak
The A is for ARCTIC
How Alex Saved Christmas
Powered by Frostbite
Mug O' Tea wit Too Much Milk
OOStudios
A Cold Day in Hell
Benny
Snow Angel
IceCliff
Too Cool
hiromu "might make a game this time" 656
CZARINA MUST DIE
Team Sadists
Snowed Out
The Original Broskis
Dudesoft Productions
Winter Wonder What-now?
Back to Basics
Mecha-Industries
Snowmen
This will be better than All Hallows Eve.
The Tall Tale About A Bear And His Lumberjack
Snow for the Snow Owl
Paladin-Cleric of Awesome!
Team milkwad
Team Fruitcake
Team Flaker
Hammer Time!
Project BOUNDD
TheHoboassassin
Wintersmash!!
Blizzard Of Tyranny

Posts

author=dragons_fire
Question... Does the dungeon have to be a single map, or can it be a series of maps to make up the dungeon?


You can have more than one map as long as it counts or is a part of the overall dungeon. So, for example, placing a town right before your character(s) enter the dungeon doesn’t count. You can, however, place a travelling merchant that sells you items in various parts of the dungeon instead. I dunno, be creative.

author=dragons_fire
I suppose it's not allowed to have a Bing Crosby song in the game. sigh. that would be the awesomest dungeon crawling music ever!


You can have a Bing Crosby song in your game if you want to. In fact, I would recommend it. ^^

author=Dudesoft
My fare city will never win.


Hey, join the club.
(At least you guys won a cup. As for us Canucks fans - we're still waiting just to get ONE!)


author=Addit
author=dragons_fire
Question... Does the dungeon have to be a single map, or can it be a series of maps to make up the dungeon?
You can have more than one map as long as it counts or is a part of the overall dungeon. So, for example, placing a town right before your character(s) enter the dungeon doesn’t count. You can, however, place a travelling merchant that sells you items in various parts of the dungeon instead. I dunno, be creative.


B-but Kentona said!:

author=kentona
author=thatbennyguy
author=kentona
"dungeon" is being used in the loose D&D terms, as in "a particular area in which the heroes can quest" (vs the specific "medieval jail").

Like, the entirety of the original Diablo takes place in a single "dungeon".
Can I clarify that a dungeon consists of one single map, or several maps that comprise a single area?

If so, that means there can't be a town and a cave, because that will be two separate areas, right? Or does the cave count as a dungeon and the town as a general area?
Several maps if you like, and I wouldn't object to there being a "staging" area like a town just outside of the "dungeon". Again, like Diablo!

Basically, I agree with slash.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
Well, there is nothing wrong with having wandering merchants in your game. However, to support slahspheonix/kentona, having towns, or other "break zones", is a viable option.

*Edit: Having a traveling merchant in a "break zone" might be a good move. Probably.
So the game has to be contained to one location, and that location has to be the dungeon? Thanks, you just made a decision a lot easier! Expect mine to be set in a school
While I think it is kosher to have a town sitting atop a giant labyrinth to HELL, please keep in mind that I am not a judge for this event!
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
4158
A town on top of a dungeon is cool with me!

My loose definition of an RPG dungeon is something like "an area where a large amount of heightened action and excitement takes place", where "excitement" usually means battles or puzzles, and towns are the obvious opposite - a rest period where the player can recoup.

Anyway, if you still have any questions or you're not really sure what qualifies as a "dungeon" and what breaks the rules and what doesn't, just ask here! I'm sure me or one of the other judges will pick it up quick.

EDIT: Oh wait, Addit said the opposite... well, okay, how about this - make the town part of the dungeon! Like in Diablo 1, the dungeon is a church in the town that leads down into hell, and the church is slowly corrupting the town. Integrate the two! What do you think, Addit?

(I mean, I really doubt I'm gonna hammer anyone on that rule unless you're trying to squeeze in four distinctly different dungeons :P)
This should be fun! I've had VX Ace for some time, but have been rather lackadaisical with it. This smaller project with a clear time-frame has proven to be just the thing to bolster my ambition haha! I guess I've just been approaching it all wrong, instead of learning things so I can make games, maybe I can make games to learn... well, how to make games.

Eh, some winter proverbs for ya'll, good luck to everyone!
Really wanted to get an earlier start on this but I just spent 51 hours without power.

Ah well, I will attempt something anyway.
author=slashphoenix
A town on top of a dungeon is cool with me!

Oh wait, Addit said the opposite... well, okay, how about this - make the town part of the dungeon! Like in Diablo 1, the dungeon is a church in the town that leads down into hell, and the church is slowly corrupting the town. Integrate the two! What do you think, Addit?

I guess that’s all right if people want to integrate the town as part of their dungeon or make the town area separate before entering the dungeon itself… Yeah, I'm cool with that!

Yeah, guys, just ignore what I said earlier. Just listen to slashphoenix; he knows what he’s talking about.
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
OUR DUNGEON is OUR TOWN

IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR STREET
wow, mine is going to be pretty dang short. lol.
Just finished messing with the maps and starting the puzzles... I should probably think about making up a Game Page. And a readme file.

Question. In regards to the "How to play the game", do you mean just general, load and play, or like a walkthrough... because I don't think there's enough of my game to make a walkthrough. lol.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
author=dragons_fire
Question. In regards to the "How to play the game", do you mean just general, load and play, or like a walkthrough... because I don't think there's enough of my game to make a walkthrough.


I interpret that to mean this: What you put in your readme/manual file is ultimately up to you. Minimally, outline what buttons do what, give credit to resources you used that are not yours, and note any external dependencies (such as: if an RTP is required, specify which one, and where to get it).
I'll pretend I'm making something and then (snow) flake out.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
author=Marrend
I interpret that to mean this: What you put in your readme/manual file is ultimately up to you. Minimally, outline what buttons do what, give credit to resources you used that are not yours, and note any external dependencies (such as: if an RTP is required, specify which one, and where to get it).

Taking a closer look at the relevant rules...

  • All art, music, and sound should be original, public domain or purchased by yourself. When you made it is not important so long as you have proper rights to it. Entrants may stray from this rule if they wish, but should expect harsher judgments towards ripped content than original.

  • Your game must run on the Windows platform. Your game should not require any additional components that a judge would have to purchase or download.

  • Games should come with a readme.txt file of some sort, describing how to play the game, listing any resources used that are not yours, and describing what components the game needs to run.

...I retain my opinion about manuals/readme files, with the proviso that games with an on-line multiplayer component would include an outline of how/where to connect. It would fall under "how to play the game" and, possibly, "describing what components the game needs to run".

However, I must revise my opinion about external dependencies. Submissions should have the base graphics/music/whatever that they need to run. That is not to say that you cannot have "DLC" that includes additional resources/quests/whatever. If you go that route, getting the DLC should be OPTIONAL and not REQUIRED.
Backwards_Cowboy
owned a Vita and WiiU. I know failure
1737
I'm just going to go ahead and admit that I'm not the brightest person, and thought we were designing a Winter-themed game up until just now. I have a small city with characters and conversation, and not a single thing even resembling a dungeon. Unless you count a convenience store that was closed down for health violations as a dungeon.
Craze
why would i heal when i could equip a morningstar
15150
looks like your thinking was a little backwards there, cowboy
"Game Chill is a winter game making contest, the goal of which is to make a game in a little over three weeks.
THEME
Design a single winter-themed dungeon for the player to navigate through.
"
I take that as the point is to make a game with just a single dungeon. A full game.
I'm just making a dungeon, which is probably the final dungeon. The "game" basically starts at the point where the heroes enter this particular dungeon. It's not a full game, but rather a small piece of one. The word game is in the description because we use game makers, I don't think it means that it has to be a full complete game.
I love how I'm actually getting things done when the project is a lot more manageable, and with an end in sight.
Doesn't guarantee a complete game by the end of the deadline though!