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Geek Culture / Acoders Indie Game Making Competition 2004

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MikeS
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Posted: 10th Apr 2004 22:05
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Read all about it here.

http://www.acsv.net/acsite/competition_index.php

Judging:
http://www.acsv.net/acsite/competition_judges.php

I thought since TGC was one of the sponsors, it might be appropriete to post this for all those interested.



A book? I hate book. Book is stupid.
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Flashing Blade
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Posted: 10th Apr 2004 22:09
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Hey Yellow is your surname Smith?
My name's Mike Smith


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MikeS
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Posted: 10th Apr 2004 22:15
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Nope, it's not smith.



Planning on entering the competition?



A book? I hate book. Book is stupid.
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Chaos
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Posted: 10th Apr 2004 22:43
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sounds good i may enter actually nothing to important on.

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Mentor
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Posted: 10th Apr 2004 22:53
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15mb filesize limit? so "hello world" is gonna be too large? curses, what can you write in 15mb? anything?, seriously tho, you don`t want something too ambitious at that, even one of my infamous snippets is over 4mb with no media, I might enter, but I suffer a serious disorder known as "serious lack of originality syndrome", anybody want a copy of space invaders?

Mentor.

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MikeS
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Posted: 10th Apr 2004 22:56 Edited at: 10th Apr 2004 22:56
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15 MB is only to keep things fair. I agree that the limit should be larger. 25 mb is a nice number that would be fair.

Of course, the alienware had a 15 mb limit also, and I thought many of the entries felt complete.



A book? I hate book. Book is stupid.
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dark coder
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Posted: 10th Apr 2004 23:10
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what kind of standard games are they looking for?, is there any previous competitions theve held we can have refrence from?

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M00NSHiNE
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Posted: 10th Apr 2004 23:12
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15Mb is a little small, plus that means that DBPro developers are at a disadvantage because Pro makes such large .exe's. Other languages may not have this problem meaning they can squeeze in more for less.

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Mussi
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Posted: 10th Apr 2004 23:24
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15mb is plenty of space IMO, I mean you can squeze 45mb's with ease to a 15mb .rar. I think I'm going to enter



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jrowe
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Posted: 10th Apr 2004 23:42
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Hey, that's slack! They give you two plugins for truespace/gamespace with the grand prize but not truespace/gamespace!


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stann65
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Posted: 11th Apr 2004 00:01
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sounds like a good idea but i don't know i coult get a game in on time.

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DarkSin
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Posted: 11th Apr 2004 00:09
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Hey cool... think I'll enter since the last competition I didn't feel I had enough knowledge yet .

*Still not sure i do, but what the heck?*


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BatVink
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Posted: 11th Apr 2004 01:08 Edited at: 11th Apr 2004 01:09
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...

BatVink (formerly StevieVee)
http://facepaint.me.uk/catalog/default.php
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Teh Go0rfmeister
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Posted: 11th Apr 2004 03:05
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i got GCSE's but:

1) as soon as patch 6 comes out i can finish off my learning AI

2) i should also have the current demo im working on complete in 3 months (GCSE's finish after 1 n half)

therefore: if the demo is finished on time i can expand it a bit into a small but complete game and ill also enter my learning AI.

i wanna see as many DBP games enter with high rankings as possible, a mate of mine the other day came to the conclusion that DBP was sh*t because no-ones ever made a top selling game with it.

http://www.tinnedhead.tk under re-construction.
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Pincho Paxton
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It took people a long time to make a top selling game in C!!! Believe me, it took about 10 years...honestly. Assembler was the language, and C was like DBPro. It might be interesting to find out the first top selling commercial game written in C. I have no idea what it would be. It would be around the time of the PS1 I reckon.

Pincho.

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Jeku
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Posted: 11th Apr 2004 03:23
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Pincho - Are you sure about that? The PS1 seems awfully recent for the first top selling commercial game. Hell, I was learning C++ before the PS1 came out :p

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Pincho Paxton
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I learned C when the Amiga was around, but I can't remember any big commercial games written in it. I remember reading that C was the future for games makers. Are you sure that C++ was out before the PS1? Seems a bit out of sync with my recollection. I can imagine C+ just coming out during the time of the PS1. Anyhow, most companies in England were still using Assembler before the PS1.

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Rage_Matrix
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Posted: 11th Apr 2004 15:33 Edited at: 11th Apr 2004 15:47
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Pincho.....are you sure about that? I know for a fact that there were loads of PC games written in the late eighties and early nineties that were written in Watcom C (with a bit of assembly thrown in).

EDIT: Bit of research on the C++ release date....Bjarne Stroustrup (the creator of C++) released the definitive book on the subject in 1986, so I'm assuming the language came out on or before this date.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/020112078X/qid=1081683835/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_11_6/026-4158050-3106814

www.tronsoftware.co.uk
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Dave J
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Posted: 11th Apr 2004 15:40
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Interesting theme although I don't have any immediate ideas that spring to mind, I'd love to do a bullet-time effect but that's been done too much when the criteria is based heavily on the originality of the theme.


"Computers are useless they can only give you answers."
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Pincho Paxton
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Posted: 11th Apr 2004 19:07
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Quote: "Pincho.....are you sure about that? I know for a fact that there were loads of PC games written in the late eighties and early nineties that were written in Watcom C (with a bit of assembly thrown in).
"



Ok, I am still interested in the evolution of C in games. I think it is quite important. If anyone can find anything out about this.

Pincho.

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MikeS
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Posted: 11th Apr 2004 19:12 Edited at: 11th Apr 2004 19:12
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@Exeat

Yeah, I've got a couple ideas yet they don't seem to original. I wrote a short story on Time Travel before, so that might be my best bet.That'd also save a lot of design time since all the images are already there.



A book? I hate book. Book is stupid.
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M00NSHiNE
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Posted: 12th Apr 2004 00:01
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I remember a magazine from 1995 where they compared loads of programming languages and interviewed some games developers to see waht they used (Rowan Software, Bullfrog, Argonaut and Revolution).

Here Ive just found it. PC FORMAT, issue 44, May 95.

They compared 8 languages and rated them:

MS Visual BASIC 3.0: 90%
MS Visual C++: 80%
Borland C++ 4.5: 86%
Borland Turbo Pascal for Windows: 82%
Borland Delphi (which had just come out): 85%
Borland Turbo Assembler: 76%
GFA Basic for Windows: 75%
Klik 'n' Play( ): 64%

Rowan Software's current 3d engine at the time was Assembly, as was their language of choice. They planned to changee over to C in 96.

Bullfrog used C and a small amount of assembly. They planned to change over to C++.

Argonaut Software used Watcom C++, when programming for Windows they used MS Visual C++.

Revolution used C, then converted time critical routines to assembly.

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Jeku
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Posted: 12th Apr 2004 00:13
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Pincho: I remember we got Borland C++ around '92 or so. Come to think of it, I always just assumed all the good games were programmed in C or C++ mixed with assembly. Back in the early 90's, though, PCs were slow so I imagine they would have had difficulty getting any sort of lightning speed performance without using assembly

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Toby Quan
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You know ... this competition might be a good thing. It actually gives DarkBasic a chance to make games and compete against other languages:

DarkBasic Games can be entered.
BlitzBasic games can be entered.
OpenGL Games can be entered.
C++ games can be entered.
VB Games can be entered (ha ha ha...)

You know, I just might do it. Thank you for posting this thread!!!
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MikeS
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Posted: 12th Apr 2004 03:52
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No problem Toby.

The thing that makes me really happy is the deadline.

Although I'll be booked all through the end of May and the first week of June, the competition runs till August 7. That gives me 2 and 1/2 months summer vacation to work on an entry.

Heck, my Alienware entry was done in 3 days!

Even if TGC does another competition through summer, I'll probebly enter that too. I just love competitions.

(Might also see Retro Remakes 2004 summer competition if they do it annually.)



A book? I hate book. Book is stupid.
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AsriCE
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Wooo .. I'll certainly enter this compo! It's time for us to show what DarkBASIC can do, and give a "x=x+1 : wrapvalue(sin(360+72)/x+80)" degrees kick to the *fill in the blanks here*. wahaha!!

BTW, pls answer me here. Can we use the Alien model from the Alienware competition?? I sure hope we can. **fingers cross**

AsriCE Crew,
- Da Kid

There's only one hope.
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Great Knight
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So it has to based on time. I will make a game based on setting the correct time or your world blows up muahahahha.

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Toby Quan
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I'm sure you could use the Alien 3D Model if you want to, but there are probably better 3D models of just about anything availalble on other websites, such as http://www.3dcafe.com

You know, the theme for this competition is difficult. With an alien, for instance, it was very easy to come up with TONS of ideas. But with the theme being time manipulation, you really have to be creative.

With an alien, come on - in five minutes, you could come up with 20 ideas for a shooter, 10 ideas for a racing game, and 10 puzzle games.

But with time manipulation? That's going to require some serious thought!

This competition will certainly craft some very creative games!
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Dave J
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Posted: 12th Apr 2004 07:22
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Yeah, agreed. Can't wait to see what some people think of.


"Computers are useless they can only give you answers."
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citizen
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Posted: 14th Apr 2004 19:21
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hey guys...glad to hear some interest in the compo.

just wondering if anyone was going to make a game for it.

really would be nice to see some great games from this part of the indie game scene.

.:www.acoders.com:.
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Great Knight
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Yeah. I am making a game for it. Still in the planning stage. Story is pretty cool for it so far. Hope I do well

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MikeS
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Posted: 14th Apr 2004 23:59
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Yup, I'm planning on entering. Won't be able to get much work done until the summer comes, yet I'm slowly chugging along.



A book? I hate book. Book is stupid.
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Toby Quan
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Posted: 21st Apr 2004 00:39
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I have decided to drop 3D for this competition and try my hand at a nice 2D game. 3D is nice, and it does have many advantages over 2D, but 2D also has its share of advantages!

My game title is currently TC033. It stands for "Time Crime". It will be a mix of the old Ghostbusters game from the 80's, anime, time manipulation, and some funky hip/hop music.

You know, I think anime looks much better in 2D than 3D. Every cartoon that gets transferred to traditional 3D models (Simpsons, Power Puff girls, etc) look worse in 3D! Now of course you do cartoon shading, but that doesn't work on at least 75% of standard video cards. In the future, when cartoon shading comes standard on every video card, I'm sure it will be much more widely used!

I may also decide to code my game in DarkBasic Classic instead of Pro, because I want to make sure it runs fast on older machines. I remember the rules talking about the games running on a Windows 98 machine...
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Dave J
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Posted: 21st Apr 2004 11:11
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Err, that's the first I've ever heard of DBC running faster then DBP. Even if it's an older machine, DBP should and will run faster.


"Computers are useless they can only give you answers."
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Toby Quan
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Posted: 21st Apr 2004 17:56
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I believe DBC can run faster than DBP on older machines because it relies upon DirectX7 instead of DirectX9. On older machines, DirectX7 runs faster than DirectX9. It's really nothing to do with DarkBasic really - just more on DirectX.

Do you remember Roswell Racer? Remember that you had to have a 2.8 gigahertz or faster processer? And it was true! On my 2.1 Gigahertz processer, the game didn't work correctly. The creators of the game specifically said, you have to have a high end machine. You never saw such slowdowns on a DBC game, and no DBC game ever had such high system requirements.

My DBC games run a lot faster on older machines than my DBP games.

I also remember during the last competition, some people saying they couldn't enjoy the winning games either, because they wouldn't run fast enough on their computers. Of course, the winning 2 games were in DBP.

Now on newer machines, I believe that DBP would probably run just as fast, or maybe even faster than DBC.
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Illusion Games
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It certainly sounds interesting however, I am so busy working on my current projects I just don't have time to enter the competition! Bummer!

Mikel Johnson
Illusion Games Studio
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Kharnor
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I'm going to have a shot at this compo - probably won't get a game finished though. I don't have a very good track record when it comes to finishing games. (current tally: 0!)

I like the theme. I think something vague like "time" makes it easier to think of ideas. The drawback is that every game that gets entered will have at least 20 of the ideas in it that i thought of. Makes it very hard to be original.

As for my entry, lets just say i'm going to pack it so full of stuff about time that you'll be sick of "time" by the time you finish it.

Time to go work on it, methinks.

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Peter H
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at first when i saw how much time was left i thought *surely this comp has been going on for a long time and my entry would be poop becuase everybody else has more time to work on it*...but then i saw the time that it ended and realized it's time counter had only been going down for 5days! so i decided i have enough time to finish a game about time...


Formerly known as "DarkWing Duck"
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DARKGuy
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Nice competition, although I never finished a game for the AlienWare compo, now I'm more advanced in DBC and I'm gonna make one

If one of the sponsors are TGC......the game must be really complete or somewhat like the AlienWare compo?

Anyway, I'll try to do my best .......ouch........exams in the way...........damn.......

Quote: "Err, that's the first I've ever heard of DBC running faster then DBP. Even if it's an older machine, DBP should and will run faster."


Is not ever like that, for example, I have a demo of DBP and, with my "secret game project" that I translated to DBP for testing, I got some AWFUL 5 FPS!!! but when I test it on DBC I get my 24-30 FPS! (and I'm not using the Windowed - Desktop setting!).

:: Pentium 300 Mhz, old 8Mb video card, 64Mb RAM, 5 gb & 1.6 gb HD's, W98 SE, Sound Blaster AWE 32 ::
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flibX0r
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If i finish my C++ enchancement engine for DBPro soon, i'll enter. Otherwise i'll just stick to working on a DBPro showcase example to make all the people who said "DBPro was crap" shut their holes. Its coming along nicely. Working on particles and an uber optimised level system.

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DarkSin
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Posted: 30th Apr 2004 10:48
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[BUMPING The Great Competition]

So how many people from TGC products line are entering so far?


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Peter H
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Posted: 30th Apr 2004 17:45
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i'm entering...but don't bump this topic...i don't want any more compitition


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MikeS
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Posted: 30th Apr 2004 23:28
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The more who enter the more they'll want to do another with even bigger prizes.

I'm planning on entering and my entry,I make will be using my Indoor level editor.



A book? I hate book. Book is stupid.
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MikeS
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Just thought I'd bump this up a little. Not sure if this was mentioned in the newsletter or not, but this would be good for as many DB'ers as possible to enter in.

Let's get DB(P) on the top folks.



A book? I hate book. Book is stupid.
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DarkSin
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Posted: 19th May 2004 06:04
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Enter everyone! Even if yea dont think you can do that much for it, what yea got to lose!?


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Dave J
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Posted: 19th May 2004 10:55
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Oh shyte! I forgot about it! Oh well, too late to start now.


"Computers are useless they can only give you answers."
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Peter H
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Posted: 19th May 2004 16:20
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@Exeat- i know of several people who are only starting now! there are still a little less then 3 months left! ....actually.....that's not much time....i better get to work


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MikeS
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Posted: 19th May 2004 23:27
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Heh, I haven't really started my game either, just working on a few DBP editors that I'll be able to use for my project.

Heck, I didn't start my Alienware entry until 3 days before the deadline. Probebly won't get around to creating media until July. Will have all my editors done by then though, so by early August I can put something together for the deadline.(Aug. 7)



A book? I hate book. Book is stupid.
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ReD_eYe
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Pitch: A 3d(2d if i can't find/accquire 3d models) battleship game.
Plot: You've been sent back in time to the second world war by professor <insert stupid name here> your aim is to stop the war in its tracks by destroying the german fleets near the beginning. Saving hundreds of thousands of people lives etc etc. Its not even remotely historically accurate and will just be tacked on to a battleship game remake.

You think i should make+enter that? Its such a shaky story though...

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Zenincanin 14
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Posted: 19th May 2004 23:38
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Froogle: what's GCSE


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