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[Cassyblanca]

Cassyblanca

Rapid Prototype Development Sessions

Alright, time for another idea from your beloved God, Ken/Sam/Ireallydontknowwhatthefuckheorsheis.

This is an idea from a popular SHMUP development community I visit. Basically, regular "sessions" are run, challenging members (registration for the events is open to all members) to create a game prototype that fits within the specified rules for the event. Each of these sessions would focus on a different theme and challenge, and each session would run for approximately one or two months each, with a new one starting hot on the heels of the last.

While SHMUP-DEV's sessions focus on, obviously, SHMUP games, I think it would be better to have an open theme for this group of session, rather than limiting the sessions to Zelda, or even Action/Adventure games. An example from SHMUP-DEV is their first session, which focused on creating a shmup prototype where the player's avatar couldn't fire a single round on their own.

I'd be more than willing to hold these sessions, if the community's interested in the project. I think it would be an interesting monthly add to stand alongside the Project of the Month awards, and could help encourage experimentation with the community's game development groups.

There's such a double standard about religion in the modern world. Catholics can gather, wear white robes, and say "In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti" and be considered normal.

But if my friends and I gather, wear black robes, and say  "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn", we're considered cultists.

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[4Sword]

4Sword

Re: Rapid Prototype Development Sessions

Having little challenges every month would be a good thing for development; for some reason it makes me think of going to KFC and ordering popcorn chicken. If that were to happen though they'd have to be such that they didn't take up too much time for what they were trying to accomplish. Preferably each "session" having a month as its maximum duration, and if a major development event were to happen that the "session" wouldn't conflict with that. If the Community Project ever were to have a related contest or there was a z3, for example, the sessions might not happen that month possibly.

Anyway, additionally, I said this elsewhere somewhere, but the Site Staff is something which is being reevaluated and fixed. It'll be hiring based on people willing to do things consistently and for them to be the ones doing it; it really sucks to have a person with ideas who doesn't do anything, need more doers. Not sure though who this would work out though. I am not totally saying that you could be hired for this because it isn't established yet if the session stuff would be sustainable and practical to do enough to where its existence was justified. If you could do something and it was a reasonable turnout, chances are getting to be on the site staff that way would be a possibility.

Then again I don't know, right now I am really really braindead from school.

[Cassyblanca]

Cassyblanca

Re: Rapid Prototype Development Sessions

Then again I don't know, right now I am really really braindead from school.

Really, I couldn't tell >.>; You *look* braindead in that topic - it was barely comprehensible.

Having little challenges every month would be a good thing for development; for some reason it makes me think of going to KFC and ordering popcorn chicken.

Yeah... I'll just pretend that last part made sense. ;P

If that were to happen though they'd have to be such that they didn't take up too much time for what they were trying to accomplish. Preferably each "session" having a month as its maximum duration, and if a major development event were to happen that the "session" wouldn't conflict with that.

That was kinda the idea, if you read the initial post in the topic >.>. Having them last longer than a month would cause members to lose interest due to frustration, or some other crap.

If the Community Project ever were to have a related contest or there was a z3, for example, the sessions might not happen that month possibly.

I don't see why either of those would be reasons to stop a session. The entire point of sessions is to allow members to have small, unimposing mini-projects to work on to keep their skills sharp and to allow them to have a small reprieve from work on their main projects. Z3, if I'm not mistaken, has been just an expo sort of thing, just like NCFC. Also, why would the Community Project have a development competition? That just makes no sense to me.

Anyway, additionally, I said this elsewhere somewhere, but the Site Staff is something which is being reevaluated and fixed. It'll be hiring based on people willing to do things consistently and for them to be the ones doing it; it really sucks to have a person with ideas who doesn't do anything, need more doers. Not sure though who this would work out though. I am not totally saying that you could be hired for this because it isn't established yet if the session stuff would be sustainable and practical to do enough to where its existence was justified. If you could do something and it was a reasonable turnout, chances are getting to be on the site staff that way would be a possibility.

Not really all that concerned with a "Site Staff" position, or any position on staff for that matter. I'm just interested in running monthly development challenges. The sessions should focus on people challenging themselves to accomplish a task within the set parameters for the session, not on people trying to outdo each other. If it focuses on people outdoing each other, then it loses the spirit of stretching the boundaries for creative thought and development, and people will be less inclined to try new things if they're trying to defeat their perceived "opponents."

All-in-all, this community used to have a very high focus on development, which has waned in recent years. I'm just trying to work on things that can help bring a development focus back to the community.

There's such a double standard about religion in the modern world. Catholics can gather, wear white robes, and say "In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti" and be considered normal.

But if my friends and I gather, wear black robes, and say  "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn", we're considered cultists.

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[4Sword]

4Sword

Re: Rapid Prototype Development Sessions

The comment I made about the duration of the sessions was to the effect that one month would be the absolute maximum duration; your first post indicated that two months was a possibility which would be kind of long. This limit would actually really only be imposed if you had a board for this or were using the news feed; to where if sessions were too long with underwhelming outcomes that having those abilities wouldn't be necessary in that you wouldn't be using them so often.

About not having a session when a potential z3 or other special development related event or contest would occur, it goes back to the assumption you'd be using the news feed or that you had a board for this session stuff. During those months we'd want distractions I guess. Now that I think about it though, that actually sounds stupid. It'd probably be fine and not too distracting at all - it'd just be more development which would fit the point and would be good.

The Site Staff position idea was just me saying that the Site Staff and later Developers for the Community Project, or rather the open hiring in the near future, is going to for those working on stuff - with favoritism given to development. I was thinking that a Site Staff position would enable you do support what you are doing effectively. The turnouts thing I said probably doesn't matter too much either, as essentially you'd be doing something for the focus. This would mean that so long as the quality of what you were putting out was good and at least getting someone interested it'd be worth it.

I guess if I had to ask a question though, where and how would you envision having these sessions though? What would you need to do what you want to do?

[Cassyblanca]

Cassyblanca

Re: Rapid Prototype Development Sessions

Basically, I think it would work best just to have a Game Development Sessions board, along with an archive board in which to place past discussions. SHMUP-DEV handled it through a separate board for each session, with old sessions becoming a child board of the Old Sessions board (www.shmup-dev.com/forum/index.php <-- In case you want to see how they handled the boards, if I wasn't clear enough), which I think would work well by allowing members to see an archive of old development discussions. But, if you're not willing to do a new board per session, which I can completely understand, I'll probably just need all of the to-be-archived topics to be merged in an organized manner into a single topic, keeping the discussions of individual projects untouched, and moving them all into the Archive board.

All development throughout these sessions is completely open - you can have groups of people working together with several projects in the sessions, discussing your design ideas and posting your results as they come. The only real thing that I would need is local moderator privs in the related boards, so that I can sticky, lock, edit, and do all of the general management stuff that's needed to maintain any boards related to the sessions.

My comments on the site staff position were just to point out that I don't care what you do in that regard - my goals don't really encompass becoming staff at this point, I just want something to help cure my constant boredom, to bring about more intelligent people with whom I can hold competant development discussions, and to possibly increase the quality of both design and programming of the various projects spread throughout ZFGC. Who knows, perhaps people will build on their projects from these sessions to release an interesting game.

On an unrelated note, the footer of the site template still has 2007-2008 as the "copyright" dates (to be honest, I see nothing on this site that is property of ZFGC, but that's another point entirely), and we're about to enter 2010. Might want to update that, no? <.<

There's such a double standard about religion in the modern world. Catholics can gather, wear white robes, and say "In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti" and be considered normal.

But if my friends and I gather, wear black robes, and say  "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn", we're considered cultists.

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