[entivore]

Maybe I'm just unlucky, but it seems like pretty much every compo since I joined this place has had bad timing. . . like last (buckle down) week of a college semester timing. What's up with that? Hehe. Maybe there should be a "72" hour compo, where instead of squeezing it all into 3+1 days, you just have to spend no more than 72 hours, stretched out over as many days as you want? I don't see any real problems with the idea. I suppose it's possible to cheat, but you can cheat on the regular system that goes now too.
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[Rainer Deyke]

72 hours seems too long to me. That would allow an average of over 10 hours per day throughout a whole week, which is far more than I would be willing to invest in a min-rpg for a contest. 24 hours seems more reasonable - four hours per day for six days, or 12 hours per day for those who only want to do it all during a weekend. I don't want to stretch development time over a period longer than one week.

[Bjorn]

Well, I agree that we could try something else instead of picking one weekend and code to death. A (not so succesfull) week-long compo has been tried earlier, but I think people just expect too much from a week of development. From personal experience, it's more realistic to think of something you think you can do in a weekend, and then try to finish it in a week.

Does anybody have any suggestions has to wether we should restrict the amount of time put into the game or the amount of developers? In my opinion, this is not really necessary. Especially not if we're going into a joint venture of creating several games within the same game world, as was suggested in another thread. In the end, the goal is just to make a few cool games and if people got a whole free week and a few friends willing to help, it doesn't make sense to me to restrict them in their time they spend on the game.

[white_door]

well if you don't limit it, we lazy people will not finish anything. many don't anyway (I'm guity of this too)

I think 72 hours at once (not spread out) can be okay, but it would really help if it started earlier than it normally does. Normally the contests start on friday midnight(GMT) which means many usa people get friday evening.. then the whole weekend.. europe just gets the weekend and monday evening if they aren't tired from work...

But spare a thought for those of us in AU or NZ... We end up not starting until saturday noon! at GMT+12, we don't get to start the contest until half of saturday is finished... which totally sucks. yeah we get monday.. and tuesday morning.. but some of us work.

I propose that all future contests be started half a day sooner like friday noon GMT. that means that everyone will get atleast the full 2 days of the weekend.

[entilazy]

well, another idea would be to simply have different "brackets" for the compo. I.E. You announce in the thread about the compo when you start, then 72 hours later you post what you've got. That way you could time it around your schedule and it would still have that contest feel.

[Adam]

I thinks the reall problem with compos, which bjorn touched on, is what people try to do. That or they don't start with a completed engine (me) and are lazy programmers (me too).

I think the start time of the compos for australia has been good, simce i get up at 1 in the arvo on weekends anyway. And the last 2 RPGDX comps have coencided with my holidays so its been good.
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[Jihgfed Pumpkinhead]

Re: Splitting up Compo Time

I can see the advantages to that idea, but the compo would lose a little of its charm, I think. The frantic hustle is half the fun. I also think that, were it to be done that way, 24 hours is a more reasonable time limit (36 might be better).

Re: Poor Australians

Or just screw standard time. Have everyone start at midnight on Friday, local time, whenever that is. Or as entivore suggested, let people start whenever they want (on Friday, that is), and just make sure they're done by compo's end.