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Twine Competition Ideas

In honor of the new forums, or maybe in honor of Twine version 1.4 or version 1.4.1, or maybe "just because," I think it would be fun, interesting, educational and motivational to have a Twine competition.

We need a name and some guidelines, but most of all some participants.

Let's say we need ten participants to make this a go. To sign up, post in this thread that you're in like Flynn.

Like I say, we need a good name. So, good name-comer-upper-withers, think of something totally rad.

Next, we need guidelines toward a goal. Like, should there be a time limit? Should there be a game theme? Should this be a judged competition?

Here's what I propose, and I've given this as much thought as it took to so far type this post.

Let's say we select three judges. I say three and not more because it's going to be hard to even get ten people to participate at all and to me, it seems kinda silly to have half or more of the participants be judges.

Another suggestion, let's make it a 72-hour competition starting on some Thursday/Friday at midnight and ending Sunday/Monday at midnight. In other words, participants will have all Friday, Saturday and Sunday to work on their games.

If there's a theme, it could perhaps take the form of a genre such as contemporary fantasy, magical girl, sword-and-sorcery fantasy, paranormal romance, or space opera, to name some examples. Or, a theme could be something like, "A game about gender roles," or, "A game about bullies," or, "A game including space aliens," or "A work of fandom."

A theme would be open to wide interpretation by authors. For example, I would despise writing "a game about gender roles," but in an instant, I'd would write a pulp sci-fi about a spaceship captain crash-landed on a planet solely populated by man-hungry blue Amazons. I could never write a mopey high school drama against the evil of bullies, but I would gladly write about a switchblade-flicking greaser who's terrorizing the whole town and even has the local 70-year-old sheriff and his bungling deputy cowed. So, no theme should discourage any creative author from participating. Working around a theme is part of the fun!

Regardless if there's a theme, the judges will select and specify a unique game element that will take some consideration and effort to use effectively. For example, a game where the protagonist is blind or a game set entirely in a single roomon Pluto.

If there's a theme, it is announced early, like as soon as it's selected. However, the unique aspect isn't announced until the start of the competition. That way, participants are less likely to have started on the game early or created a game in the past that's eligible for submission.

If the competition has categories, it can't have as many as, say, the XYZZY Awards because we're just not going to have that many entries. Like I say, we'd be lucky to get ten games actually submitted (honestly, a half dozen is probably pushing it). Also, not all of the XYZZY Awards' categories are likely applicable to a Twine game.

Some examples:
  • Best Game
  • Runner Up
  • Second Runner Up
  • Best Writing
  • Best Character (any one character, for example the antagonist or protagonist)
  • Best Use of Twine?
So, what say ye? Think this can happen?

All suggestions are welcome!

Comments

  • Also, I volunteer for position as judge and offer to donate $25 via PayPal to the winnerif we get at least one game submitted from ten authors.

    Anyone else volunteer to be a judge or want to donate a prize?
  • I would participate!

    I think 72 hours over a weekend is actually a great amount of time. It avoids common workdays and allows enough time to get something put together. So you have me sold on that.

    What I am a little dicey on is voting and/or winning. Do we have the ability to do this with a poll? Obviously the concern with that approach is going to be cheating. If that's all on lockdown through, it seems like a good idea. (And then, hey, you encourage people to say 'vote for my game' which is free publicity.) I'm not gonna pretend I know the answer, but it's something to consider.

    Themes would be cool. If I can throw in a couple suggestions that highlight Twine's functionality, "Impossible Choice," "Labyrinth," and "Old School" are pretty good. But I think there's just as much merit to letting people surprise us.

    I know I'm not being super helpful this early in the morning as far as decisions go, but I am behind the idea of a contest.
  • Cool! Well, that's two of us so far. :)

    As for the judges and votingif we go that routethe judge's scores would be public so the only form of possible cheating would be bias in that regard. The issue I foresee with allowing anyone to vote is that it might turn into a popularity contest. People who want to vote on such-and-such game or so-and-so's game may not give more than a few other games a fair shake. For example, some people might vote on a game never having played it or any of the others. I think that scenario is quite likely, actually. That's in no way a knock on the Twine community; I think any contest is vulnerable to that.

    This forum does have polls, tough. I've not used them yet, but I know SMF has that option, stock, if I remember correctly.
  • I'd love to participate.

    Something like this was tried before (http://forums.adventurecow.com/index.php?topic=71.0), but hopefully with a bigger community like Twine it will get more participants.

    I think there should be a time limit (72 hours works for me) and I'm liking the idea of a theme, but I don't think the themes should be plot or genre-related. I agree that part of the challenge is working around the theme, but I think it helps to allow that theme to be broader in the first place to encourage the greatest amount of variation between games. I'd prefer the one-word style themes that Ludum Dare has (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludum_Dare)--they're not always literally one word, but I think they're more up to interpretation. I also agree that there should be a unique game element. That'll be sure to spice things up.

    I'm not sure about judges versus general readers voting. I'd actually prefer a system more like Ludum Dare where the participants vote on games, but I'm not sure how feasible this is at this point. If there were some way of guaranteeing that voters have read the story and perhaps incentivising participants to read/review others' games, this might be possible. For the first compo, though, it's probably best to have judges.

    The categories are good. Can games win more than one? Also, are teams allowed to participate?
  • Awesome! That's three! :)

    Great link. I really don't have any experience with this sort of thing, so it's cool to see what other competitions do. Here's the heart of the conversation (note: quote links won't work):

    Vhillain wrote:

    I suppose the final call would be up to Chris, but some brainstorming wouldn't hurt.

    Major Elements
    • Theme: Theme-based Compos are popular and help focus the devs or at least provide a little inspiration.
    • Prizes: Monetary prizes might be out of the question because of resources and the problems they can bring, but sometimes community/creative recognition is more than enough. As much as I could use a few bucks, I'd be happier with a collective pat on the back. But that is just my opinion.
    • Restrictions: Primarily team-size and time...
    As for additional restrictions: They should likely just be viewed as suggestions to add an additional challenge, not a rule set in stone. My suggestion is to treat them like extra credit for judging purposes.Here are my judging criteria very loosely inspired by those of Ludum Dare:
    • Innovation: Creative interpretation of theme, unexpected and novel use of tools, etc...
    • Impact: Does the game/story have an impact (intellectually, emotionally, ideologically, etc)? Good examples of this are games/stories that stir up emotions in the player/reader, ones that stick in the their mind (for whatever reason), or ones that provide substantial surprises/shocks (not cheap twists, but genuine instances of Fridge Brilliance or Ascended Fridge Horror).
    • Presentation: The value of visual (and audio, if applicable) elements only in terms of how well they enhance the game/story. Doesn't matter how much or how little, just how complementary or integral it is to the work as a whole.
    • Extra Credit: Adherence to "extra" limitations or criteria, such as... Word and/or passage limits (minimum or maximum), no or limited macros, required use of a particular repeated word or phrase, etc.
    These criteria are looser and somewhat more abstract than Ludum Dare's and other compos, so that way they don't compel devs to cater to expectations like catchy soundtracks or pretty graphics. My goal with this is to encourage a more holistic appraisal of the entries rather than separating them into disparate elements. Devs should endeavor towards creative synergy of a work's elements rather than concentrating on parts and pieces.


    Chris wrote:

    There are so many possibilities here that I think the challenging bit is not coming up with ideas but reducing it to just one plan!

    Vhillain: What was your experience like in Mini-Ludum Dare 42? Can you say a little bit about what was fun about it?


    Vhillain wrote:

    What I liked the most was the feeling of focus from having a theme and a time restriction. The idea of having a built-in audience that might offer constructive feedback was nice, but I have no idea how many views I got.

    While we're on the subject, here is the announcement post. My entry is titled "Revelations" and is hosted here at AdventureCow.

    I hope this idea comes to fruition, but there are pitfalls to be aware of, like greed (if prizes are offered) or competitive ill-will.

    Competition is good and all, but it should come second to building a creative-community that drives its members to improve their craft and have fun while doing it.


    Do you have a link to the results, dacharya64?

    I liked the theme for the Mini Ludum Dare competition mentioned: "The Earth will be Destroyed!" :)

    Links from that thread also led to this page to help us plan our little event, if we manage to find enough competitors: http://compohub.net/

    Having all participants vote doesn't sound like a bad idea, but like you say, there are issues to overcome in that regard. If we have ten participants, can we really get all ten of them to review every one of the other games submitted? Some people like reviewing games more than making them; others hate doing so. Expecting everyone involved to play and vote on all other games might be too much to ask.

    I just think having three judges is simple and has the least drawbacks.

    As for teams, if that's what people want to do, then I'd be willing, but that will cut down on game submissions (at least halve them). On the other hand, it might make the games better! So, it's up to you all! :)
  • The competition never really got underway, so there aren't any results to speak of.

    I agree that judges would probably be best. Also, as far as the team thing goes I'm thinking we go the Script Frenzy route and allow people to be on teams if they wish, but not make it mandatory. In some ways its easier to be on a team, but in other ways there are drawbacks (planning, having to be online at the same time, etc) so overall I think it's fair.
  • I'd be down for "teams if you wanna." :)
  • So now do we just wait for more people to sign themselves up?

    Should we promote this any?

    http://www.intfiction.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=10509&start=10
  • I would be interested to participate as well.

    To add the ideas already discussed. Here in my country (New Zealand) each year there is a 48 hour film competition. Each year there different several things all of the films must include, this is announced just before the actual start of the competition. Like a specific character name, a specific prop and a specific phrase. It was up to the film makers how they will place those into their films. The teams were randomly handed a theme (which would not fit with this competition because having one theme for all would be best). But I think it might be interesting to have a phrase, the more weird the better perhaps and maybe an object/prop that everyone has to include in their game somehow, and maybe a weird character name to make it a little harder.

    I think it will be interesting to see how other people incorporate those things differently into their game as well as the chosen theme. I think it would make it slightly more interesting than just having a single theme on its own.
    It might curb some people submitting a game have already been working on. Sure they could insert those things into an establish game late but it might be more obvious than a game that might use those things pivotal to their plot. I also hope, how well those things are used in a game will go towards the total score as well.

    The community could offer up ideas for those three things, then the judges (or polling vote) decide which ones they will be and be announced right on the starting time of the competition.
  • Just real quick, I hadn't planned on promoting this until we get the forum rules established.
  • Dazakiwi38 wrote:
    I think it will be interesting to see how other people incorporate those things differently into their game as well as the chosen theme. I think it would make it slightly more interesting than just having a single theme on its own.

    Right. My suggestion is a theme that everyone knows ahead of time, plus announcing one unique aspect at the competition's start. So, we agree. :)

    I think we could take a general vote on the theme. However, I think participation is going to be so low that the nucleus we have right now in this thread should probably just decide it ourselves for this first (and perhaps only) competition. This thread has less than 60 views. If one out of ten participated (an astounding percentage), we'd only have five or six entrants total. ;D

    By the way, has anyone thought about a name? We need a name before we can promote this.

    Here's our participants so far:
    [list type=decimal]
    CoraBlue
    dacharya64
    Dazakiwi38
    Sharpe

    Let's all do two things:
    [list type=decimal]
    Come up with a name.
    Come up with a single solid clearly-defined theme (e.g., "World War II").

    The quicker we get those two things, the quicker we can start promoting this.
  • While I personally liked CoraBlue's "Labyrinth" suggestion for a theme, I know there's a strong dislike for mazes in the IF community. Like I say, no theme should discourage a creative mind since "Labyrinth" could be interpreted any number of ways. For example, someone could write "Return to the Labyrinth" based on the George Lucas/Jim Henson fantasy movie that doesn't include a single right/left turn in it. Or they could write something like Dante's Inferno taking "labyrinth" to mean nothing like "maze" but instead being more like the traditional spiral. However, I wouldn't want to make it something so potentially discouraging right off the bat.

    As for Cora's "Impossible Choice" suggestion, I'm not sure exactly what that is, and all three of the games I'm currently making could be considered "Old School," so I'm not into that for the competition.

    However, I'll be very happy if any of those are the chosen theme.

    That all said, here's my suggestions:

    Name: Twine Comp
    Theme: Choices.

    I'm the worst sort to come up with a good name for a competition. I'm terrible with names.

    Since a majority of Twine "choose your own adventures" are sorely lacking in the "choose" department, my suggestion for a theme is "Choices." :)
  • Okay here is my 2cents for name and theme ideas..I did say 2cents.

    If we are going to have the competition set to run for 72 hours..

    Name ideas:

    >Twine-72
    >1472
    >The Twinery Brew
    >Seventy Two Twinery Comp
    >The Seventy Two Hour Twine
    >72Entwine
    >Twine-Yarn-72
    >The 259200 seconds of Twine
    >Fist full of Twine Comp

    Theme ideas: (I like the WW2 suggestion already given.)
    Some of these are a bit general..

    >B-Movie (eg. this could be coming up with the most cliche B-Movie plot)
    >Disaster
    >Survival
    >Discovery (eg. The protagonist makes an amazing discovery of some kind)
    >Diplomacy
    >Passage of time (eg. a story to span a life time, highlights)
    >Sentenced to...

    That's all I have for now. Will update if I have some more ideas.

    [quote]Right. My suggestion is a theme that everyone knows ahead of time, plus announcing one unique aspect at the competition's start. So, we agree. :)

    Are we going to come up with the unique aspect idea after a theme is picked and then one is chosen randomly at the start? If we have enough good ones we could have two unique aspects..?
  • I really like the name Twine 72! Good suggestion, Kiwi! :) I hereby cast my vote for Twine 72, subject to change. :)

    We could bill it at first as Twine 72: The Seventy-Two-Hour Twine Competition. It's horribly redundant, but no one's going to know what T72 is at first.

    As for the unique aspect, which I think I should start calling the secret element, the judges in my suggestion would pick it. If it's meant to help curb the chances of submitting a previous game, then it can't be chosen publicly. If the participants are in favor and the judges want to pick more than one secret element, that's up to them. However, we already have a theme and a secret element, some participants might find that adding more will be restrictive. Just saying.

    In addition to a best use of Twine award, we could add best use of theme and best use of secret element. At that point, though, we might have more awards than entries.

    Sounds like you'd be willing to volunteer as our second judge, Kiwi! I would personally consider it very helpful and considerate of you to volunteer. :)
  • Sharpe wrote:

    I really like the name Twine 72! Good suggestion, Kiwi! :) I hereby cast my vote for Twine 72, subject to change. :)

    We could bill it at first as Twine 72: The Seventy-Two-Hour Twine Competition. It's horribly redundant, but no one's going to know what T72 is at first.


    I think that would be fine for first billing on a page promoting it and the rules and then refer to it as Twine 72 wherever else.

    [quote]As for the unique aspect, which I think I should start calling the secret element, the judges in my suggestion would pick it. If it's meant to help curb the chances of submitting a previous game, then it can't be chosen publicly. If the participants are in favor and the judges want to pick more than one secret element, that's up to them. However, we already have a theme and a secret element, some participants might find that adding more will be restrictive. Just saying.

    In addition to a best use of Twine award, we could add best use of theme and best use of secret element. At that point, though, we might have more awards than entries.

    That is a good idea, rewards creativity where its due. The fact that there might not be many participants first time round doesn't mean we can't lay the ground work expecting more entries next time round. The secret element will have to be a good one to stand out from just a run of the mill 72 hour comp. I hope in future we could add another element. I don't think it restricts, but rather challenges the imagination to take advantage of those secret elements rather seeing them as hurdles. What will be interesting is playing those games and seeing how creatively they applied them. But anyway we can start with one and see how that goes.

    [quote]
    Sounds like you'd be willing to volunteer as our second judge, Kiwi! I would personally consider it very helpful and considerate of you to volunteer. :)


    Does this mean as judges we will not be able to enter a game? unless perhaps the the judge's games do not go into the final running of the 'best game' but can be judged by the community in the category of best use of theme and best use of secret element? via polls. Or judges cannot enter a game full-stop? How does it normally work?

  • So apparently a different Twine Jam has been attempted before, and it worked out very well!

    http://pathofnowandforever.tumblr.com/post/73212956786/naked-twine-jam-wrap-up-46-games-at-bottom-of-post

    I like the creator's ideas of having a "naked" jam without any fancy CSS, etc. We don't have to do this ourselves, but it's nice to see that there's interest in the community.

    I also think that implementing a restriction (maybe capping number of passages or the total length of one story thread) would increase the challenge of this compo and kind of give a leg up to those of us who might not have as much time on their hands to write a 3-day epic. A word-count goal could do the same, but to me would be harder to plan going into the writing/production.
  • I really didn't know there was an ongoing Twine jam or I wouldn't have made this thread. Well, actually, the post initiating that jam seems to have been made a day after this thread started, but I digress. Had I known, I would have just advertised that jam.

    Let's just chill on this for a while. There's little sense in having two Twine jams so close together anyway. I'll e-mail some people and get some advice in the meantime.

    Until then, maybe someone can link to a bunch of Twine-related pages/blogs. Without such pages' publicity, we'll never get any participation. Obviously.
  • I had no idea about that Twine jam either! I would have totally entered. Thing is it had forty odd entries so clearly a lot of people knew about it, so its surprising no one brought it up here. A central community announcements thing of the main Twine page would be cool.
  • haha I was going to post about that here, except by the time I thought "you know, someone should probably post about that on the twinery forums" there were only ("only") two days left.

    That being said, since a lot of game jams only run for a day or two, it's not like you need a lot of build-up -- no reason to not just push this to next weekend.
  • mostly wrote:
    A central community announcements thing of the main Twine page would be cool.


    Other than the Twitter thing? Other than the forum? If those two things aren't enough . . .
  • xax wrote:

    since a lot of game jams only run for a day or two, it's not like you need a lot of build-up -- no reason to not just push this to next weekend.


    I agree. I think this shows that people would be far more interested in doing a jam than far less interested in doing /another/ jam.

    [quote]A central community announcements thing of the main Twine page would be cool.

    I think something like Planet IF (http://planet-if.com/) for others' twine blogs/tuts/announcements would be pretty useful.
  • By all means, jam away. Maybe it's one of those, "If you announce it, they will come."

    Also, Chris might be open to other stuff on the front page, like a blog type of a thing or whatever. He's pretty responsive to e-mail.
  • I'm interested in entering the competition, too. If you give it the right "hook," you could pass the word onto people like Emily Short who have large reader bases among interactive fiction people, and she could mention it.
  • She's on my list to e-mail, yeah. I've already e-mailed a few, but received a less than overwhelming response.
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