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Metroidvania Themed Contest Discussion


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#1 Architect Abdiel

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Posted 26 June 2017 - 09:10 AM

Hello, Shoshon the Elegant here. I am intending to start up a contest soon. This contest would be a quest designing contest. In this case, I wanted to make a theme where all the quests would be made in a Metroidvania style.

As long as I have at least a few people on board, this will happen. However, I do want to have a short discussion before I begin it.

First off, what would we all agree is a decent time frame to complete this quest in?

My thoughts at the moment are to give everyone either 3 days or a week for planning and then having the contest conclude after a month.

Another thing I was thinking about was prizes for the contest. I am not really sure what kind of prize could be given out, nor am I sure if any would be deemed necessary. That said, any ideas are welcome for suggestion.

So why me to run a contest?

A bit of an unknown fact about me to most people is that I used to run contests on a different forum that I assisted in administration some 5 years ago. There I was the head of role plays and contests.

I put a heavy emphasis on both taking the responsibility as a host seriously, and also being accomodating to the public's ideas and wishes.

I would like to note right now, that should this contest go well, as I intend for it to, it is highly likely that I will continue with my own quest/dungeon contests.

All manner of creations will be acceptable, within the rules of course. Whether they be serious or trollololsy.

So let us speak briefly about this.

What is the community's thoughts on this Metroidvania contest?
How long would you say is good for planning?
Is a month a good time frame for the actual design? Or should this be adjusted?
Any suggestions on potential prizes? Or will just the enjoyment of a the contest suffice?
Should we have categories for Best ofs?

Edited by Shoshon the Elegant, 29 June 2017 - 06:07 AM.

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#2 Sheik

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Posted 26 June 2017 - 10:42 AM

What is the community's thoughts on this Metroidvania contest?
How long would you say is good for planning?
Is a month a good time frame for the actual design? Or should this be adjusted?
Any suggestions on potential prizes? Or will just the enjoyment of a the contest suffice?
Should we have categories for Best ofs?


(1) Why restrict the contest to one genre only? (Also, can somebody give a definition of what a Metroidvania is? At what point does a game/quest stop being metroidvania and is something else?)

(2) A week's time of planning seems fair enough.

(3) A month sounds fair. Come to think of it: While we have seen many two weeks contests in the past I have never seen something substantially bigger, such as an two month contest...

(4) I don't think prices are needed.

(5) Rating the quests in different categories should be more ...differiantiated than just voting for the over all winner, so yeah, that sounds like a nice idea.



#3 cavthena

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Posted 26 June 2017 - 11:20 AM

Metroidvania is a subgenre of action-adventure games. They take mechanics and idea primarily from the metroid and Castlevania games.

The genre is a typical action-adventure game but it keeps the most defining aspects of Metroid and Castlevania. First is the large interconnected map. The map is typically non-linear meaning the player need to traverse the map multiple times to progress. The second is the use of power ups to allow the player to progress.

Some Game examples include: Metroid, Castlevania, Cave Story, Ori and the Blind Forest, and many many others.
Note, that Mario and Zelda are NOT this kind of Genre.

#4 Shane

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Posted 26 June 2017 - 11:28 AM

For anyone interested in wanting to learn Metroidvania design, this blog really helped me! There's also a nice definition which I'd like to quote:

 

Metroidvania: A style of game (2D or 3D) which often features exploration based gameplay where a player controlled character gains new abilities that allow them to progress. These games are often action adventure titles with re-traversal elements. They include a growth system that unlocks meaningful upgrades that are required for game completion. The name Metroidvania comes from mixing Metroid and Castlevania though there are other games which use the same foundational design philosophies. These titles include all of the Zelda games, Shadow Complex and Cave Story. There is really no significant difference in game structure between a Zelda game and a Metroid or SotN style Castlevania.


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#5 Anthus

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Posted 26 June 2017 - 12:59 PM

I like this idea. On the note of the "Metroidvania" definition, I think one important factor that sets it apart from Zelda games in general, is that metroidvanias typically have one large inter-connected world with no clear difference between "levels" or "dungeons" unlike in Zelda if that makes sense. There may be sectioned off areas, sure, but the world is generally portrayed as one cohesive world wherein Zelda clearly separates Dungeon environments and gameplay mechanics from overworld areas. Of course, this can be subjective. This is just my opinion on the differences.

#6 Russ

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Posted 26 June 2017 - 02:20 PM

What is the community's thoughts on this Metroidvania contest?
How long would you say is good for planning?
Is a month a good time frame for the actual design? Or should this be adjusted?
Any suggestions on potential prizes? Or will just the enjoyment of a the contest suffice?
Should we have categories for Best ofs?


1. I love contests, and I love Metroidvanias. Hi. I'm interested.

2. 1-2 weeks is probably ideal. These contests typically have a 2 week planning period, I believe.

3. One month is as good a time frame as any. Longer than that and people lose interest. For comparison, during the last one month contest, Moosh and I made the original version of Forbidden Ascent while ywkls produced most of Metroid Origins. That's not to say a good Metroidvania can't be produced in an even shorter time frame though; Shane's Rite of the Storm (top quest in the database) and Moosh's Freedom in Chains were both made in two weeks (though the latter made good use of its two week planning period to prepare graphics and scripts).

4. The enjoyment of the contest and bragging rights have always been sufficient in the past.

5. Yes, definitely. As a point of comparison, the Summer Two Week Quest Contests that used to run every other summer (and hey, this would be one of those summers) typically included a variety of auxiliary polls with categories like Best Presentation or Best Story, see here.
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#7 runaru

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Posted 27 June 2017 - 03:06 AM

I will be entering the contest! I can't promise I'll finish the quest in time but I'll at least try :)



#8 Eddy

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Posted 27 June 2017 - 04:59 AM

Probably gonna have to pass on this since I have other projects to worry about, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing this go through. Even though I probably won't have time to participate I'll respond to the questions anyway:

 

What is the community's thoughts on this Metroidvania contest?
How long would you say is good for planning?
Is a month a good time frame for the actual design? Or should this be adjusted?
Any suggestions on potential prizes? Or will just the enjoyment of a the contest suffice?
Should we have categories for Best ofs?

1. I'm definitely all for it, we never really had genre-specific contests (except for the nth quest contest I guess), so I think this would be quite a nice fresh thing to do in the community.

 

2. About a week or so should be good enough. I think it's usually been around this length of time for previous contests.

 

3. A month sounds about right. Most contests have been 2 weeks, but I wonder what people could come up with a longer timeframe this time round.

 

4. I don't think prizes should be necessary, and would be best to leave them out. I kinda see these contests as more of having fun and enjoying ourselves rather than competing like mad for prizes.

 

5. Sure, I wouldn't mind that. Having things like "best story" and "best graphics" can definitely open up the polls a bit.


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#9 ywkls

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Posted 27 June 2017 - 09:35 AM

I would enter myself, if there aren't too many restrictions.

 

Usually these are limited to something along the lines of "make no screens" prior to the contest development period.

Allowed things usually include but are not limited to the following:

  • Tiles
  • Combos
  • Enemies
  • Scripts
  • Sprite setup (for weapons)
  • Music/sound effects import and selection

I have a working tileset and array of scripts already done, so the bulk of work for me would be the creation of areas and testing it. Given that, I might be able to make something that was playable in two weeks, but I can't guarantee it.



#10 Astromeow

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Posted 27 June 2017 - 02:35 PM

I like designing side scroller games n such.



#11 coolgamer012345

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Posted 27 June 2017 - 02:40 PM

Mr Shoshon, I'd like to suggest the allowance of partner projects.



#12 Shane

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Posted 28 June 2017 - 05:02 AM

What is the community's thoughts on this Metroidvania contest?
How long would you say is good for planning?
Is a month a good time frame for the actual design? Or should this be adjusted?
Any suggestions on potential prizes? Or will just the enjoyment of a the contest suffice?
Should we have categories for Best ofs?

2 weeks I'd say, good enough time to get everything ready for design.
A month sounds like a good time frame. Might give a little more room for testing and polishing.
No prize, I think the satisfaction of people playing your work is good enough.
Maybe best exploration, best upgrades, best story... You know, things that make up a Metroidvania and a ZC quest.

#13 Lüt

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Posted 28 June 2017 - 08:21 AM

What is the community's thoughts on this Metroidvania contest?
How long would you say is good for planning?
Is a month a good time frame for the actual design? Or should this be adjusted?
Any suggestions on potential prizes? Or will just the enjoyment of a the contest suffice?
Should we have categories for Best ofs?

I think it would be fun and bring out some creative results, as all these contests seem to do. I wouldn't have the time to enter, but I'd certainly play the entries.

Timeframe is hard to determine. Depends how people work and what they want to do. I think a month overall sounds good - how you want to split that between planning and production, I don't know.

Prizes: 3 internets for the winner, 1 link for second place, and a collection of tracker cookies for last place. (Enjoyment.)

Best-of categories would be good, since most of these entries tend to excel in at least one area while perhaps lagging in others.

 

I also think partner projects are a good idea. That's how we got Rite of the Storm, after all.



#14 Avaro

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Posted 28 June 2017 - 11:26 AM

Im definetly for this. Not sure if I'll join myself yet.

 

I think it's time to post the rules and such :D



#15 Jamian

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Posted 28 June 2017 - 04:21 PM

Some Game examples include: Metroid, Castlevania, Cave Story, Ori and the Blind Forest, and many many others.
Note, that Mario and Zelda are NOT this kind of Genre.

 

I think Zelda 1, at least, nearly qualifies as a Metroidvania. Replace the numbered dungeons with areas that are seamlessly connected to the overworld (instead of having distinct "dungeon" phases and "overworld" phases) and you have the genre's main elements.




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