Is it acceptable to simply map all the xbox controller buttons to the same input, along with a set of sensible keyboard keys? It's still effectively a 'one button' game but gives consideration to people who might not be comfortable with standard ergonomics, or be in a situation where 'normal' controls are nasty (like a laptop keyboard, etc.)
you can support keyboard and mouse if you want, but on the xbox controller the only button that does anything is the green A button.
Are we expected to provide a 'quit game' or 'restart game now' option? If so, can we put it on a separate button? Or should we just let the 5 minute timeout take care of it? On a similar note, would you prefer that a game lean towards being completed within 5 minutes on the first try, or are you fine with games that have some difficulty to them (the intent being that a player might not beat it on their first try, but they'd get a taste, be able to watch others play it, and maybe try again later and beat it)?
think if it as an arcade game. try to avoid menus. there's no need to quit the game to desktop during the game. of course, all that kind of stuff can be assigned to keyboard or whatever as debug functions, that's fine. just a start screen that waits for players to join is fine.
What aspect ratio will the displays be on the show floor? 1024x768 suggests square, but if they're going to be HDTV style aspect ratios, that would be good to know. Black letterboxes are kind of nasty looking and so is non-aspect-ratio-preserving upscale.
did you read ANY of the rules or FAQs before asking all those questions?
i quote "The maximum game resolution is 1024×768."
so anything that isnt ABOVE 1024x768 is fine. yeah?
black leatherboxes are alright. you can use any aspect ration you want as long as it dosent EXCEED the MAXIMUM resolution.
Is it fine if the game supports resolutions above 1024x768 (via scaling of vector graphics, etc) as long as it looks totally awesome at 1024x768 or below?
...
In-game menus seem like a bad idea if the goal is to fit into 5 minutes. Is it fine if we have some basic 'system configuration' that can be done one-time at startup, so that the game is properly configured for a GDC show computer, but still configurable for random people who decide to play it? Even if a one-button interface could be used for configuration menus, it's kind of absurd to shoehorn them into it if they're only going to be used once.
you mean a setup or installer tool? yeah that dosent have to work with 1 button.
once that game starts, then it should be only 1 button, but those config options should be available to the players.
Once my entry is finished, is it alright if I release it for people to play before Gamma 4? Or would you rather that we wait until after? Likewise, are videos or anything like that acceptable? How about releasing the source code (but not, say, a playable executable)?
we prefer if the games get unveiled at the event, so we prefer some secrecy.
but its up to you. but if you release your game and make a lot of noise and maybe it gets popular, then you might be less likely to be chosen, as we want some surprises.
the game is yours and you own it, ultimately you do whatever you want we it.
we dont want to enforce a "dont release it before gamma" rule because that would be a bit much but yeah, lets just say wed prefer if you didnt. i think it cheapens the magic if everybody knows what all the games are ahead of time.
i hope this helps.
Community
