FM Contest 4!!!

[Komag]

Yes indeed, Contest 4 is underway! So come and make a small mission and join in the fun! See the Keep for all details and rules and such

[Gumdrop]

*doghowl*

[amievil?]

small eh? that sorta rules out my level huh

seriously i enjoy playing the contest missions becuase the size of the missions makes it a good thing when i dont have much time to play. but i just cant seem to build something small. but anyway just wanted to support all the authors who are building for this contest, keep up the good work and good luck.

[Peter Smith]

Great! Thanks Komag. These are always lots of fun for the players, and I think the designers, too.

[Bukary]

Originally posted by Peter Smith
and I think the designers, too.

Not always... After week of beta-testing OCOD, I wanted to throw PC out of my window!... (Bugs, bugs, bugs and... bugs).
I usually consider DromEd to be my enemy, not friend. And I loooveee throwing him down to the ground (and kicking his a**!)sometimes. (Unfortunately, it does not happen too often).

[amievil?]

Originally posted by Bukary
Not always... After week of beta-testing OCOD, I wanted to throw PC out of my window!... (Bugs, bugs, bugs and... bugs).
I usually consider DromEd to be my enemy, not friend. And I loooveee throwing him down to the ground (and kicking his a**!)sometimes. (Unfortunately, it does not happen too often).

WARNING: DIDN'T GRAB COPLANER CASE.....err does not compute....


amievil? gets sledge hammer and mutters "i'll show ya a coplaner case..."

[Xcom]

Komag, I have a couple of questions.

1)
quote:
The space that the player can move around in and/or see must totally be within the mission size limitations. In other words, anywhere the player can move or even just see must be within the small boundaries.

That "just see" part is bugging me. What if I have small alcove for a torch which is technically beyond mission limits. Player will never be able to go there (it is too small) but he can still see it. Will that be considered a violation? Or another example: a tiny room outside the limits. The room is connected to the main mission area by a door which will be supposedly always locked to the player. The room's main purpose is to "destroy" AI. (door opens, Ai goes in, door closes, AI disappears). I just don't wanna make them disappear in the mid air. I guess the player may be able to see inside the room if he times it right (which is highly unlikely but anyway..).

I guess what I am asking is how strict is this rule?

2) About Voting Categories. What is exactly the difference between nr.6 Most unique novel idea and nr.8 Best Story?

[amievil?]

xcom, i think he means that best story is the best storyline and best "novel idea" is a certain event or thing that happens in game. komag can correct me if im wrong

[Komag]

Unique can be a wide variety of weirdness or coolness or whatever, story is storyline, like in conversations or in books/scrolls and such.

The boundaries are somewhat strict. Your torch alcove and guard room are not allowed. If you want a torch alcove like that you'll just have to make that wall be like one unit in from the boundary, so that the alcove rear with be right up the boundary. The same with the room - you'll have to build the room within the boundaries if it's possible for Garrett to see into the room when the guard goes in there.

Look forward to seeing what you come up with

[Xcom]

Thanks for clearing that up.

[Peter Smith]

A story, in the theatrical sense, is what happens to characters and how the characters evolve. Unless they affect the characters, events are peripheral to the story. An idea can be anything conceptual, such as the type of story (but not the story itself) or a setting or a special effect. Idea: the FM is about space pirates on Mars. Story: how the good guys defeat the space pirates. The idea could be good while the story is bad, and vice versa. In the above example, they would both be bad.

[Telliamed]

Originally posted by Xcom
Or another example: a tiny room outside the limits. The room is connected to the main mission area by a door which will be supposedly always locked to the player. The room's main purpose is to "destroy" AI. (door opens, Ai goes in, door closes, AI disappears). I just don't wanna make them disappear in the mid air. I guess the player may be able to see inside the room if he times it right (which is highly unlikely but anyway..).

Something I learned from frobber: doors don't have to be completely open for an AI to pass through.

If you just get the door and frame in-bounds, then set the door's properties so it only moves a fraction when open. When the door is "open", the player still won't be able to see into the room, much less sneak through. But AI will still walk through as if it were completely opened. So the room beyond will essentially be a "blue room", and legal for the contest.

[Xcom]

It is quite usefull to know. Thanks Telliamed.

[Komag]

There are just a couple weeks left, but that's enough time to actually build an entire contest mission starting now! I actually got a couple entries within the first two weeks of announcing the contest so I know it can be done!

[Gumdrop]

Originally posted by Komag
There are just a couple weeks left, but that's enough time to actually build an entire contest mission starting now!

Yes...But is it enough time for me to figure out that blasted (excuse the language) fail on sight tricknology?!

[Telliamed]

Yup. While I haven't committed to it yet, I might still toss a second mission in.

You can do a "Casing" style objective. The trick is, the script uses a specific goal number. So, you'd have to make the "don't be seen" objective in the same slot, padding it out with invisible objectives if necessary.

You'd load the 'miss12' script module. Then put "SpecialGoals" on the StartingPoint, and "AICatchPlayer" on the guards.

There's also the source-receptron or the aiwatchlink or the alert-response methods. But there are a lot of buttons in those dialog boxes.

Anyway, I've gotten some good last-minute help on my mission, so I'm all set.