GMC Demo Compo #1 - STARTED ( Demoscene - Code & Art )

Elodman

Member
GMC Demo Compo #1
(experiment :cool:)



THEME:
DEMO DEBUT


ABOUT


The GMC Demo Compo is a Program development & Art contest, run for the 1st time by the GameMaker Community.

GMC Members compete in coding (demonstration programming) and
art (Graphics, Music, Animation, Photo) categories, and submit their entry till the Compo deadline.


The GMC Demo Compo #1 entry submission is now

open

its deadline is:

January 31st, 2021 12:00 (noon) UTC



RULES

  • Any GMC member can take part in the GMC Demo Compo.
  • Coding: you must use GameMaker to create your demonstration program (demo). All entries should work on Windows as a standalone executable / compressed zip folder. No installers, please.
  • Art: no tool restrictions.
  • As natural to Demo Scene, all art (audio & visuals) resources presented in a Demo must be self (team) - made.
  • If you want to participate in the Compo, post in the GMC Demo Compo #1 - Entries topic - till the Compo deadline.
  • All entries are suggested to follow the Compo theme.
  • You may participate alone or in a team. The Demo Category further separates entries into SOLO and TEAM Subcategories, so they will get rankings according to their votes received there.
  • Placing credits in entries is advisable so that the creator(s) could be recognized easily & hopefully unmistakably.


CONTEST CATEGORIES


CODING



Demo

Have all the space you want for creating the masterpiece of the demoscene.
  • Playing time: 10 minutes. We'll stop it afterward.​
  • Entries must quit on ESC.​
  • Maximum size: 128 megabytes archived.​
  • The entry must not write on the hard drive permanently.​
The Demo Category further separates entries into solo and team Subcategories, so they will get rankings according to their votes received there.



ART


Hand-drawn graphics

Still images using any traditional hand-drawn techniques, such as pixelling or freehand painting.

  • If the graphic doesn't look hand-drawn, it will be moved to the freestyle competition.
  • The entry archive should include at least 3 phases or steps of the creation process.
  • No animations are allowed.
  • Only one picture per artist is allowed.
  • Pictures will be shown using XNView, any format that it can display is allowed. (Lossless PNG is preferred.)
-
Freestyle graphics

Still images created by any tool or creation method available, such as photo retouching or 3D rendering.
  • The entry archive should include at least 3 phases or steps of the creation process.
  • No animations are allowed.
  • Only one picture per artist is allowed.
  • Pictures will be shown using XNView, any format that it can display is allowed. (Lossless PNG is preferred.)
-
Music

Musical entries created with either modern studio techniques or oldschool trackers.
  • Playing time: 4 minutes. We'll fade out afterward.
  • Maximum size: 10 megabytes zipped
  • Allowed streaming formats: MP3 and OGG. Also, please fill in the ID3/OGGInfo fields if possible.
  • Allowed tracked formats: XM, IT, S3M, MOD
  • Only one song per artist is allowed.
  • Replaying application: Winamp for streaming, XMPlay for tracked
-
Photo

The competition of camera-twiddlers!
  • HDR and slight retouching is allowed (e.g. color correction and cropping), but the archive must in include the original, unretouched picture too, with EXIF information intact (or the original RAW file).
  • Note: we will perform a quality preselection and only the best 15 photos will be shown at the compo! Please try to be original and creative - the Nth sunset and bug macro don't count as such.
  • Only one picture per artist is allowed.
  • Pictures will be shown using XNView, any format that it can display is allowed. (Lossless PNG is preferred.)
-
Wild / Animation

Entries that don't fit into any other category. Short films, rendered animations, Flash movies, machinima, alternative platform demos.
  • Playing time: 10 minutes. We'll stop it afterward.
  • If your entry is a video file, please use common formats like MP4 / MKV / AVI containers with H.264 / DivX / XviD video and MP3 / AAC / uncompressed audio.
  • If your entry is NOT a video file, consult the organizers before the deadline.
  • Only one entry per artist is allowed.

Tipps:


Ponderings & Plans (no promises)

  • Participants, getting any votes: will be registered in the Sceners’ Hall of Fame + receive a SceneStarter-themed signature badge *
  • Top 3 ranked entries per category – receive some nice signature badge *
  • Game-dev Category is not yet included - mostly coz of copyright reasons & GMC Jam's orientation
  • TO-do: Voting, prizes, etc ….

    *: if circumstances allow (attitude & interest arise + resources will be available, e.g. by community effort, etc.)

Edit: Reddit promo added.


To be continued - presumably, if entries arrive…


(Some credits + thanx to & inspiration from GMC Jam by @GameDevDan,
Category rules from https://2020.function.hu/)







An important note: if you like the GMS manual & the weekly blogs, I, who have tried several paid and non-paid game creator tools, wholeheartedly recommend to follow @Samuel Venable 's brilliant advice here.

// Older posts below:
Ave.


Our traditional Demoparty invitation, held a few weeks ago:



Naturally, these kinds of events are based around a demo Compo.
The very results, along with categories & the entries can be (re)watched at https://demozoo.org/parties/4080/

We can have similar online Compos, on the GMC forum, if demand arises.
Categories & rules could be borrowed (& fine-tuned for GMS specifics) from https://2020.function.hu/ (Compos tag, at the top).

So, the Planned Compo would include both Art & Code Categories....

...and wouldn't have a strict time-frame for making entries, just a dead-line, for submission.

Compo seasons: winter & summer.

(Btw., just to remain historically accurate: why am I not a phenomenal GFX-coder nowadays (as I stated recently)?
Coz the mentioned event organizer comp. club was the once not too virtuous place for holding 8-16 bit games copy parties, too. 🙄)



Don't forget to cast a vote.



/* OLD, Original post: */

Sometimes one can spot very cool (3D / 2D, scrolling, lighting, primitives, etc.) effects of GMS veterans on forum pages, or on status update sections. Vividly remember @TheSnidr and @chance had really impressive materials - but who knows where these are now. And of course, even novice coders can achieve unexpected and / or perhaps worthy-to-look-at results, methinks.
If we collect them, they will not be forgotten. If the author is willing to share some of its source code, the better enjoyment for all of us.

Need inspiration?
Demoscene
Demo_effect



Remark to moderators: place / edit this thread as you wish.
 
Last edited:

Elodman

Member
Welcoming bold pioneers & adventurers to a realm of unexpected pleasures.

@Elodman casts some spells….
“Invoke greater demons of GM”,
“Summon archmages of Graphics Know-how”


So...suggesting an open discussion, as many of you must have mastered GM, and besides may have valuable opinions. And after all this initiative is for GMC, not else.

Btw. Demo development is much fun, speaking from my (small, err, tiny, short) memoirs.

Pending Ponderings:

  • Demo category: satisfying to divide into SOLO / TEAM, or would tech-savvy members suggest other ones?
    It must be quite a gr8 cut on FX side for Solo entries, but perhaps there are some, who would prevail.
    Perhaps limits could be set by program size (MBs), or room_numbers, who knows?


  • Photo cat.: how to decide if it was really shot by a camera? Ask for a few other similar photos?
    Perhaps no need to be too rigorous, maximum we can see some nice photos hunted from Net.


  • Prizes: Artists are welcome to draw some nice badges. Recommending @RichHopefulComposer, as his 5-7 min. sketches r quite admirable!

  • Voting: Do you like GMC jam’s system, or suggest another one?
    (https://forum.yoyogames.com/index.php?threads/the-cosy-gmc-jam-39-discussion-topic.80459/)
 
Last edited:

Bart

WiseBart
About the categories, I could think of a couple of additional ones that might be interesting:

* Resolution
* (Designed) framerate, i.e. game speed (30/60)
* (maybe vertex format size)
* DLLs/no DLLS used
* External tools used

All of these can have quite an impact on what you can or can't do with GM:Studio.
Not sure though to which degree the focus should be on the graphical/technical side of things.

A dedicated post in the new topic would be nice :)
 

Elodman

Member
If anyone follows this topic, entries can be submitted to GMC Demo Compo #1 - Entries topic.


Thanx for your contribution!

- Resolutions
were sometimes changed within a demo, as this may have nice effects for different purposes

- Framerate
maybe it can also add some variation, so perhaps wouldn't fix it

- (vertex format size)
Don't have experience with this.

- DLLs/no DLLS used
Yes, was on my mind! Just being afraid of totally losing GM realm.

- External tools used
Don't have experience with this.


Yes, maybe no need to further restrict/refine the Demo Category.
 

Elodman

Member
Greets @Bart & others interested in our affairs,

would u like to postpone the demo compo (eg. till summer), coz of the running GameMaker Holiday Sequences Jam?

Just not sure if we had sufficient contenders.

We can also have a Mini Poll if there were numerous opinions:
- if you wanna keep this demo compo held now: *WOW* on this post
- if you wanna postpone it till eg. summer: sign *SAD* on this post


Thanx, bye.
 
Last edited:

Bart

WiseBart
Hi! Not too sure indeed who else is certain on participating.
Both options are okay for me. I'll probably continue working on the project I started anyway.
 

Elodman

Member
Ave @Bart (& others watching, lurking),

Many thanx for your participation & interest in the Demoscene!

Hope, next time nothing will stop you from finishing your fabulous entry - though I know, winning a jousting tournament is not so triumphant with just one knight riding.

Next Compo is planned for summer, though I have gr8 plans till then, but will possibly "host & promo" it again.
As the could-be winner, would be nice if you could suggest a theme for that compo :)

Anyway, good-luck on the GMC jam!
 

Bart

WiseBart
Thank you, @Elodman!

It was a lot of fun to create something for this compo but, as you say, I think I was the only contestant :D. Also, other things got in the way at one point.
Once I come up with a good idea for a theme, I'll send it to you via PM.

Thanks for organizing this!
 

Elodman

Member
Superb, thanx & hope your visualized Compo - Theme will appeal to Public taste, too :)

Now busy on fine-tuning the Summer Demo Compo rule-set (soon to be published, just registering it as a TM :cool:)
to make it more accessible to more contenders - we need much-much more "Settlers" !!!
 
Top