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[cloo]

The general idea is that we click one button, and the game installs; one button, and the game launches. That's not a lame extension on the theme-- it's just a practical consideration since we have to get a whole bunch of games running in a short period of time so we can play and review them, and fussing around with install instructions is a huge pain in the ass.

[moboid]

"The game may be a Windows .exe or Mac .app, and must use an installer if ANY additional files are required to play."

Ok so let me get this straight, I'm currently a little confused. Does the JoyToKey install have to be wrapped in our game install or can the J2k count as our install, then use a self contained .exe to play the game and read for those keys defined by J2K?

Clarified rule:  The game may run under Windows or OSX, and you must provide an installer or ZIP archive containing all files required to play.

So, JoyToKey could be included in your game's ZIP archive or installer.
And as Cindy was saying, the install procedure needs to be on the level of near-instant gratification.

[jclaine]

All is clear now. Thank you.

[Kyrn]

Just want to make a quick clarification: Will the displays be "always on" or potentially toggled? I'm asking to check if I will require some proper saving functionality to handle a high score table, or if I can just store it in a persistent array instead. (not that I can't, but it leaves me more time for balance and polish if I do not need to handle saving/loading errors and etc)

[jclaine]

Another question for you guys. If our game supports more then one player how many judges/players will be used to judge the game?

[GregWS]

I can only assume 4?  Kokoromi is 4 people, after all. 

[AlbeyAmakiir]

(I think my question got lost on the previous page...)

The Windows systems that the games will be run on, they aren't Vista, are they?

[JamesGecko]

(I think my question got lost on the previous page...)

The Windows systems that the games will be run on, they aren't Vista, are they?

You should really be submitting Vista-compatible exes anyway. Seriously. Game Maker 8 will be released soon and Game Maker is really cheap compared to the contest prize. There's not much reason not to either upgrade your middleware or to get someone to test your game beforehand.

[GregWS]

compared to the contest prize

Yeah, I knew attending GDC was expensive, but I didn't realize that all access passes were $2000! 

(thankfully some of the other passes aren't so ridiculous, but even then...)

[grapefrukt]

Yeah, I knew attending GDC was expensive, but I didn't realize that all access passes were $2000! 

(thankfully some of the other passes aren't so ridiculous, but even then...)

If I was buying a pass today I'd go for the summit pass. The indie games summit was easily my biggest takeaway last year, and the rest isn't worth the additional $850.

[nitram_cero (2bam)]

I really want to go, but for me the $2000 pass + $2000 flight there is really a kick in the crotch :/

A game professional is winning $1000-1600 USD a month down here  

[Dom2D]

Very inspiring! It'll be my first competition, I hope I can do something good in such little time! (it's not a lot of time for me )

Just want to make a quick clarification: Will the displays be "always on" or potentially toggled? I'm asking to check if I will require some proper saving functionality to handle a high score table, or if I can just store it in a persistent array instead. (not that I can't, but it leaves me more time for balance and polish if I do not need to handle saving/loading errors and etc)

That's a very good question! What's the answer?

Could you use flashjoystick so you can create a game in flash?

Thanks I was gonna ask that! :D
Flash is all I sort of know!

[cloo]

Just want to make a quick clarification: Will the displays be "always on" or potentially toggled? I'm asking to check if I will require some proper saving functionality to handle a high score table, or if I can just store it in a persistent array instead.

It will be always on ideally, but it's certainly possible the game could be turned off accidentally, the plug could get pulled out of the wall etc. So it's up to you.

[JamesGecko]

Just want to make a quick clarification: Will the displays be "always on" or potentially toggled? I'm asking to check if I will require some proper saving functionality to handle a high score table, or if I can just store it in a persistent array instead.

It will be always on ideally, but it's certainly possible the game could be turned off accidentally, the plug could get pulled out of the wall etc. So it's up to you.

Related to this...

yup.
everything has to only use 1 button.
you cant use a d-pad to go in options and then its just one button when the game actually start.

all one button all the time.

oh yeah.

It seems like there might be an issue with people accidentally quitting games at the conference? I mean, in previous years games have used the Xbox 360 controller, and you had to hit escape to exit the game. This year it will be easier to quit the game, and you'll be able to use the controller to do so.

Would it be ideal to have the game run with a "-gdc" flag or something to disable accidentally quitting the game via the A button?

Edit: Oh, never mind. It looks like the A button doesn't need to exit.

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.

[Captain_404]

Does flashjoystick or any similar program support multiple controllers?