idea?

Nikolas · Mon 12/03/2007 20:47:39

You know...

I love looking at the comp forums. They have some amazing stuff in there! BGs, characters, animation, music... the lot!

I just saw venuses entry on the sprite jam and I was stunned! Not only because it's great, but because it's got a story behind it!

I bet that if someone gathered lots of entries from here and there, he could make a heck of a game with ready made stuff. Only the animation would be missing probably... But if you have ready made BGs, characters, concept art, music, etc, why stop at animation?

Isn't it so?

Plus with so much background on every competition (behind the scenes and about the entries) going on, you got an almost ready made story tree, without the trunk! It could be great, couldn't it?

and I bet that I'm not the first to think of it, so what could there be as a problem?

Erenan · Mon 12/03/2007 21:27:39

Maybe people wouldn't want their competition entries to be used in other people's work?

Also, I think there would be quite a bit of stylistic and thematic disharmony. You'd have to build the game plot and themes around a bunch of sprites and backgrounds instead of going the other way around. Granted, this approach can work, but it would probably harm the end result.

And there's certainly something to be said for creating the artwork yourself. I know not everyone can do this like pros, but you can learn. Look at me, for example. I'm not good at pixel art. But I want to be. So I can either lament my lack of pixel art skills, try to enlist artists to help me, steal, or practice until I can do it myself. This last option appears to me to be the most fulfilling and satisfying. So instead of gathering other people's competition entries, why couldn't I just start entering those competitions myself to get myself to practice?

Steel Drummer · Mon 12/03/2007 22:24:36

I've contemplated an idea like that one in the past, but I've hesitated because:

1. The art styles of sprites and backgrounds are TOTALLY different from one another, and it would be really hard to find stuff that matches. Venus' entry, for example is a lot like buloght's except there is more texturing- it won't fit.

2. You'd have to ask every single artist/musician, etc. to use their stuff. Some of them may not want you using their stuff.

3. Other forum members may think the game downright sucks, because well, the art is all 'ripped' (technically).

I agree, a game like that would be cool, but if you think about it, the game wouldn't really work very well.

esper · Mon 12/03/2007 22:28:05

I don't think a game using premade comp entries would be any good. However, as soon as I read Nik's post, I thought of a new competition... like MAGS, only you can only use entries from the previous month's competitions.

Nikolas · Mon 12/03/2007 22:30:25

Well... You are right (all of you).

Just to mention that with weekly comps (or byweekly anyways), you can get 100s of sprites and BGs... I mean it could take lots of imagination to work, but I hardly think that anyone would object to using their art/music, especially since it's for the comp, and it is usually made for the comp...

Anyway... competition, esper? We have quite enough so far I think... But not a bad idea, for an one off

Erenan · Mon 12/03/2007 22:34:07

Well, I have seen people use the sprites they created for sprite jams in their OROW games later on. Um... well, I can think of one, anyway.

Radiant · Mon 12/03/2007 23:06:41

Quote from: Steel Drummer on Mon 12/03/2007 22:24:36
1. The art styles of sprites and backgrounds are TOTALLY different from one another, and it would be really hard to find stuff that matches. Venus' entry, for example is a lot like buloght's except there is more texturing- it won't fit.

Well come on, if I can fit five years' worth of MAGS contest rules into a single game, it's also possible to use such a diversity of styles in coharmony

Steel Drummer · Mon 12/03/2007 23:17:35

Or maybe, you could use all (or a good amount) of the sprites and BGs that one or two people made. For example, you could you use 10 of Krysis' sprites and then find a background style that matches his like..... zyndikate (okay, the styles don't really match, but zyndikate has a lot of entries).

Quote from: Radiant
Well come on, if I can fit five years' worth of MAGS contest rules into a single game, it's also possible to use such a diversity of styles in coharmony.

Ya know, someone should do that for the MAGS rules- using sprites and backgrounds from previous contests. We'd have a lot more entries than we normally do- because games would be so easy to make.