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Easter Hack
amarillion
Member #940
January 2001
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I (ab)used Krampus hack to motivate myself to improve an existing game. So I thought, why not do it again and even make it explicit? Easter is coming up, so.... Easter Hack.

Here are some of the rules I was thinking of:

  • Use an existing game that you always planned to improve (well, you may start something new if you don't have anything yet)

  • Start with something that is playable, and keep it in a releasable state all the time. So even if you give up halfway, you still have a playable game that is no worse than what you started with.

  • Keep a progress record here on allegro.cc

  • Bonus rule: You have to add an Easter egg to your game

  • Deadline: Easter Sunday (April 16)

Who wants to join?

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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I was just thinking it's about time for a TINS or something. This'll do. :)

I'll join.

[EDIT]
What do you propose for a starting date? The 14th?

Mark Oates
Member #1,146
March 2001
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I'm down. I know exactly what game of mine needs the most improvement: The Path.

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amarillion
Member #940
January 2001
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Any more ideas for the kick-off date? The 14th of March would mean a whole month. Won't the focus be diluted too much if we do that? Also, it would give very little time to sign up.

On the other hand, I don't mind if you already want to get started.

I was thinking we need another sort of motivational rule. The ***-hacks motivate through peer pressure. In the case of speedhack, the pressure comes from votes. In the case of krampushack, the pressure is in the form of not letting down your secret santa. For EasterHack, voting is tricky because you're not starting from scratch. But we could do a round of reviews. If we pre-assign reviewers, then it would be sort of like secret santa, but without the whole secrecy business.

Or maybe we could use the Seinfeld strategy and make the rule that you have to post a progress update every day during the competition, or you're out. It's just an idea at this point, let me know what you think.

it's about time for a TINS

You're right, it's been almost a year. Personally, I'm looking for an opportunity to work on an old game rather than create a new one. However, one does not have to preclude the other. If there is sufficient interest, I might do a TINS soon after EasterHack, maybe somewhere around June.

Mark Oates
Member #1,146
March 2001
avatar

Haha - I invision a logo for Easter Hack with a game controller rising from the grave. A game is risen again.

I think a week of hacking is ideal for hackathon, starting on a Friday (so you can get a whole weekend) and ending on a Friday (so you can recover before the next work week). The only down side to that plan is you would be working during the work week your game would be due on Friday. :-/ (I really like "cheating" by doing some light preliminary work before the actual hack starts.)

With month of hacking, it's a little too easy to let it slide. Also, I feel like 72 hours isn't enough to get something good, as it gets harder to pull all-nighters as we get older.

We could vote on areas of "most improved". For example, a star rating from 1 to 5 in different categories:

  • Most improved graphics

  • Most improved gameplay

  • Most improved audio

  • Most improved codebase

  • Most improved overall

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Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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The 14th of March would mean a whole month. Won't the focus be diluted too much if we do that? Also, it would give very little time to sign up.

Sorry, I meant the 14th of April. That would start on Friday and end on Sunday, like "traditional" hacks do. But I'm cool with a longer time, too (pulling an all-nighter is tough these days).

The concept of taking a working game and building upon it is nice. I've only made two previous games so far, and neither of them I care to extend though. Oh, and the code is totally spaghetti. I'll still give it a shot though.

Edit
I think voting on improvements might marginalize contestants who decided to make a totally new game, rather than improving on old ones (especially if they haven't made a lot of games before).

Niunio
Member #1,975
March 2002
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People asked me to complete my TINS'16 entry. May be I should do it. I hope I have time enough.::)

We could vote on areas of "most improved". For example, a star rating from 1 to 5 in different categories:

  • Most improved graphics

  • Most improved gameplay

  • Most improved audio

  • Most improved codebase

  • Most improved overall

I like this.

-----------------
Current projects: Allegro.pas | MinGRo

GullRaDriel
Member #3,861
September 2003
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Count me in too. I have some entries that may be cooler with some extra work.

Edit: I also like what's proposed.

"Code is like shit - it only smells if it is not yours"
Allegro Wiki, full of examples and articles !!

Elias
Member #358
May 2000

Start with something that is playable

Oh no, so I can't work on any of the things that aren't even playable...

Anyway, I like this idea, count me in!

--
"Either help out or stop whining" - Evert

Mark Oates
Member #1,146
March 2001
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Elias said:

Oh no, so I can't work on any of the things that aren't even playable...

Mine barely qualifies :P

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Arvidsson
Member #4,603
May 2004
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I have an empty game loop that I've always wanted to improve on :)

amarillion
Member #940
January 2001
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How do you feel about doing the competition from 8 to 16 April? So that is a full week plus an extra weekend day. That's a period that is similar to Krampushack.

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Voting on "most improvement" is difficult to do right, because you might not know how the game was at the start, which means that essentially you'll have to review two games, and it's easy to miss small things. That means you'll have to rely more on the evidence provided, e.g. documentation and progress logs.

Why not keep it simple an vote directly on the progress logs instead? Seriously, think about it. The motivation factor is there. Trying to have good entertaining logs with lots of interesting content is only possible if you make progress on your entry. And besides, marketing is an important indie developer skill.

So here is my proposal:

  • we review the games (but not vote on them), and

  • we vote on the progress logs

What do you think?

---

Elias said:

Oh no, so I can't work on any of the things that aren't even playable...

What are you talking about, you've got lots of playable games...

By the way, I've always wanted to play an expanded version of this:
http://tins.amarillion.org/2008/reviews/entry/91/

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
avatar

So here is my proposal:

we review the games (but not vote on them), and
we vote on the progress logs

What do you think?

Sounds good to me. :D

Elias
Member #358
May 2000

By the way, I've always wanted to play an expanded version of this:

Oh, I completely forgot about that game :D Not sure it's a good candidate for improving as my pixel art skills are worse nowadays than they were in 2008.

Maybe I should finally work again on our old TeamHack entry instead... although just converting that from A4 to A5 is probably a big enough task for a week...

--
"Either help out or stop whining" - Evert

Niunio
Member #1,975
March 2002
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IwantIwantIwantIwantIwant...

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Current projects: Allegro.pas | MinGRo

Neil Roy
Member #2,229
April 2002
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If you have a 1999 speedhack entry... improve that. :) (I still have all of those saved on my hard drive somewhere)

---
“I love you too.” - last words of Wanda Roy

amarillion
Member #940
January 2001
avatar

So who is signing up so far?

  • Amarillion

  • Mark Oates

  • Eric Johnson

  • elias

edit: I'm updating the list

  • GullRadriel

  • Arvidsson

How about you Niunio? Neil?

Arvidsson
Member #4,603
May 2004
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I'm in! I have something old probably that I could improve on if I dig around, or I might create something new.

GullRaDriel
Member #3,861
September 2003
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Man, I have the impression amarillion black listed me.

COUNT ME IN FFS !!! >:(

"Code is like shit - it only smells if it is not yours"
Allegro Wiki, full of examples and articles !!

amarillion
Member #940
January 2001
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Sorry Gul, that was just an oversight. I've added you to the list.

Mark Oates
Member #1,146
March 2001
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I've added you to the list.

The blacklist >:(

--
Visit CLUBCATT.com for cat shirts, cat mugs, puzzles, art and more <-- coupon code ALLEGRO4LIFE at checkout and get $3 off any order of 3 or more items!

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GullRaDriel
Member #3,861
September 2003
avatar

Mark wins ^^

"Code is like shit - it only smells if it is not yours"
Allegro Wiki, full of examples and articles !!

Elias
Member #358
May 2000

Can we just put random people on the list? I'll add Edgar Reynaldo in that case :)

--
"Either help out or stop whining" - Evert

GullRaDriel
Member #3,861
September 2003
avatar

Yeah. That pesky one needs something like a easter hack.

8-) ;D

"Code is like shit - it only smells if it is not yours"
Allegro Wiki, full of examples and articles !!

Neil Roy
Member #2,229
April 2002
avatar

I wasn't planning on joining but... the last one I took part in was the first Speedhack in 1999 so, maybe it's time to join again. ;D

Sure, sign me up. Maybe I'll update the Speedhack 1999 entry <shrug>. ;)

Elias said:

Can we just put random people on the list? I'll add Edgar Reynaldo in that case :)

Yes, I second that for Edgar! ;)

---
“I love you too.” - last words of Wanda Roy



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