As the contests are the most eminent feature of this forum by far (the contests subforum has about as many posts as
all others combined) it's in my (and hopefully your as well) interest to keep them as running as smoothly as possible, and also keeping them interesting. To this end I've recieved various suggestions and also have some own thoughts. Now, with the experience of 10 more-or-less successful contests under our collective belts I think it's time to formulate the rules in an unambigious way and also determine the form the contests should take in the future.
Following is a list of topics and my current opinion of them - as well as a try at summarizing the current state of affairs where I think it's necessary. Note that this is all up for discussion - that's what this thread is for, so if you think that some decision/rule is wrong or could be better, speak up now or remain silent forever. The rules and results from this thread will be organized in a better way and moved to a locked announcement thread after they're finalized.
1) Multiple contest types/leagues
This idea was first brought up by BFC in response to some discussion due to the complexity of a level he designed for the original contest. It recieved some support from other long-timers and prospective rules and differentiating factors for the leagues were also discussed. I put this point as the first one because this decision will obviously influence a lot of the later ones.
I would like to adapt the proposed system of A and B type contests, with details as follows. I could not find any argument against this except that it splits the user base, which may lead to fewer submissions per contest. However, based on the recent past and the steady, if slow, growth of the forum I believe that is acceptable.
2) Contest Level Design
Tradition dictates that the main winner of the previous contest gets to design the level for the next one. Up until contest 5 or even later, there were no additional rules. However, since then, some bugs/features in the physics engine were discovered that made certain constructions very unpredictable and a pain to tweak. Also, some people showed discontent with levels of high complexity and non-standard rulesets, while others enjoyed them. The first concern can be remedied by following simple guidelines during level design. The latter problem should be nicely addressed by the 2 leagues system.
The guidelines in detail -
General, applicable to both A and B:
- Only use rubber when it is unavoidable. If you just want to build something indestructible, iron between only anchor points works nicely.
- Keep small gaps between longer runs of iron. This will detach them and prevent most problems with strangely interacting solutions.
- Related to the above: If there are multiple areas where the players will need to build independent structures in your level, try your utmost to keep them disconnected.
- Provide an ample budget for the level (it doesn't really matter for the contest if there are a few thousand remaining - but you needn't go totally overboard either!) and test the solvability of your level with it.
- Try to design the level in such a way that there is no immediately obvious cheapest method. Ideally, design it such that multiple different paths arrive at nearly the same score.
We understand that this is very hard.
- Please follow this naming scheme:
ARFC_[type: A or B]_[RomanNumeral]_[YourNameForTheLevel].lvl
Numbers start from I again and are counted individually for each type, roman numerals are used to prevent the game from thinking the level is part of a set. The level name should now be at the end of the string, that just makes a LOT more sense from a grouping perspective I think. The final string should contain no spaces.
- Remember the highest goal: the contest should be
fun!
Additional guidelines for type A:
- No special per-level rules regarding scoring or non-destruction of components. The cheapest (legal, see contest rules) solution wins.
- Only levels that were created using the ingame editor exclusively. (No multiple armadillos, portals, overlong metal bars etc.)
- Levels should be solveable (not cheaply, just solvable!) in no more than 1.5 hours by an average player that has finished the main game and extra levels.
Additional guidelines for type B:
- You may add additional rules, but try to keep them simple enough to be described in, say, 3 sentences. And not run-on ones like I'm prone to writing
- You may meddle with the level file in any way you wish, as long as you
test it well
- One contest may consist of more than one level. This fits into the naming scheme by just varying the [YourNameForTheLevel] part.
- Levels should be solvable in 3 hours by regular contestants (higher level of experience compared to the normal players above).
3) Contest Duration and Administration
This is also a point that has been discussed quite a bit. I initially wanted to do 48 hour contests, but it was soon apparent that many people had various real-life obligations that made such a set-up unworkable. So the duration gradually lengthened to about 4 to 5 days. With the new dual system, I propose the following:
- 2 A type contests per week, from sunday to wednesday and from wednesday to sunday
- 1 B type contest per week, from sunday to saturday (to balance the excitement a bit
)
How to keep the contests running
For the classic contest (cc) most administrative issues were handled by me, mostly because I wanted to make sure that all the files would stay accessible indefinitely (or at least as long as the forum) by putting them on this server. I also wanted to keep the threads formatted in a uniform way to increase usability. But as I probably won't be able to keep up with all this stuff in the future I would like to handle it like this:
- The winner of the previous contest creates a new thread with this headline: ARF Contest [A/B] #[num] (yyyy-mm-dd to mm-dd hh:mm Forum Time)
- Inside the post, they link to the rules, their email address and attach (yes, attach, I'll finally try to install the mod tomorrow) the lvl file (or a zip archive with the lvl + extras)
- Some moderator stickies the thread (and edits it if some crucial information is missing)
- After the deadline is over, the contest host creates a thread with this title: ARF Contest [A/B] #[num] Results
- There he (or she? I fear we have not a single female member
) announces the winner and attaches a zip containing all solutions.
- If possible, he should also post a short description of the various methods used and post screenshots of a few interesting solutions
- This thread will again be stickied, until the next arrives.
One remaining administrative question I have is this: Should I create 2 seperate subforums for the A and B contests? I believe it could increase the clarity, is there any reason why I should not?
4) Contest Rules
The rules for participation will be the same for A and B contests (except for additional per-contest rules introduced in B). They are closely related to the ones used up to now in the cc. However, there are 2 points that came up recently and not-so-recently that warrant attention:
One is the matter welding: What is welding, what is the force? Answering this question is not trivial, and it is probably the most complicated part of the current ruleset. Thus my question: should welding - and indeed, any form of object interpenetration - be relegated to the "dark side" of solutions? It would certainly make formulating the rules easier.
The other open question that was brought up recently is the posting of scores during contests. There are good arguments on either side here, and I see 4 ways to go: Either a) allow posting and bluffing like up to now, b) allow posting but no bluffing, c) allow only vague posting, for example in steps of 100 or d) allow no posting at all. Personally I would prefer a) or c), as it would be awfully quiet around here otherwise
So, here is my draft:
ARF Contest rules:
- To participate, you must submit your solution(s) (*.lvl file) to the email address provided in the contest thread before the cutoff time.
- You can (and are encouraged to) create multiple solutions. The best one will count, but all that are sufficiently different from one another will be included in the .zip
- However, please don't send in many successive iterative improvements to the same general idea. Rather, wait until you believe you have fully explored and tweaked one path before submitting. (However, a few updates are OK)
- Name your solutions like this: [YourForumName]-[DollarsRemaining]-[SolutionName,optional], for example: PeterT-5866-OverTheTop
- During the contest, you may not talk about the level or your solution in any way, except making very general remarks (i.e. "Nice level!") or posting your current score. [DRAFT - CAN CHANGE]
- However, it is also allowed to bluff - that is, post scores you have not yet reached. [DRAFT - CAN CHANGE]
- To be eligible to win the contest, your solution may not use any bugs in the physics engine. This includes any form of overlapping materials and "the force" that is generated by them in specific configurations. It also includes having the armadillo go outside the level boundaries to fall through solid obstructions. [DRAFT - CAN CHANGE]
- Designs that make use of the above elements can still win the "Dark force" prize, if they score higher than the best "clean" solution.
5) Miscellaneous Issues
Here are a few things that came up that don't fit in with the above.
Collecting medals
Currently, medals are displayed below the username. I plan to keep this up and make no distinction between A and B medals in this case. Also, as soon as any individual reaches 3 or more medals, he turns into a "Contest Legend" and cannot advance further (see BFC for reference). This is both because it would look ridiculous after a while, and because it would be even more of a nightmare for me to administrate.
However, to keep track of the individual medal counts and overall standings, I'll make a scoreboard thread that keeps track of each members exact medal count and ranking. For the purpose of ranking I would like to make a "force" win count 2/3 of a full win. I hope the moderators will help with keeping the first post in this thread up to date.
Equalisers
One idea I had recently was to add a small amount of "cost" to solutions based on the amount of medals owned by the submitter. This would allow newer players to have a better chance at winning, and increase the challenge for the "Legends". However, there are many problems with this:
- To be meaningful, the $ amount would have to vary with the complexity of the level, which is very hard to do in practise.
- It would complicate the scoring.
- Some people may feel offended or treated unfairly because of this.
All in all, I'd
reject this motion for now.
Design Contests
Kingofthespill brought this idea up quite a while ago. Many voiced their interest, and I'd think it would be quite a nice change of pace as well. As I understand it there would be a theme proposed and then people would design levels according to that. Of course, the "scoring" would be much harder to do than in normal contests. (Polls? Specialists? Whoever came up with the theme? None at all?) If there is still interest in this, I'll be happy to create a new subforum for this unique type of contest.
Whew, that's it for now. Please don't hurt me for any errors or confusion, it's nearly 5:00 here now
Before anyone asks: It took me about as long to research, compose, write down and check the above as it takes to listen to Nightwish's "Oceanborn" and "Wishmaster" albums, and then "Recipe for Hate" by Bad Religion as well. Finally, I had time to listen to the first 3 songs on the "Best of Slayers" OST while reading, correcting and reformatting/formulating based on the preview.