AGS Awards 2010 - changes & caveat

[ddq]

I just sort of kind of had a bit of a little old idea... but it's not a big deal or anything or something.

I figure it could be nice to do the ceremony as a video stream with, for example, UStream. Since UStream supports co-hosts, we'd have the main channel that would show graphics and text and other such things. There'd be the main ceremony host on one of the co-host streams and we'd have guest hosts to announce winners and such on the third stream. The person who ran the main channel would be in charge of music and switching co-hosts and other behind-the-scenes work. UStream even has built-in chat. If we got some nice people with fancy clothes and silly hats to be presenters, I think it could go really well. Acceptance speeches could be done with Skype or in the chat.

Just an idea, please don't shoot me in the face.

[LUniqueDan]

Yay!!! For Stikam!!! Yay!!!
And we can have nominees showing up in the top windows!

[Iliya]

Ah, you mean bringing back the P3n1s award?

Bring it back! It looks like this community needs black sheep!

[Radiant]

Best Documentation always struck me as rather redundant, since only a handful are usually fit to qualify. It's also a little arbitrary. Is the best documentation one that's slickly produced, or one that explains the objectives of the game in a clear and concise way (something you can accomplish with a plain text file)?

I don't think "best documentation" is any more or any less arbitrary than the other awards.

For instance, suppose there's a game with artsy black-and-white graphics. Some people may want to give this the "best graphics" award for the stylistic choice and artistic impressionism. Other people may think that it doesn't qualify because it's only two colors. Both are valid opinions, and that's why the award is decided by vote count, and not by arbitrarily declaring that one of those sides is "right". Same goes for best documentation.

[cianty]

I would like to see "best documentation" included. I think if a game has a good documentation then it speaks for the overall effort put into the game. So it's a good indication for a "good" game.

Now feel free to prove me wrong with great documentations to shitty games...

[Technocrat]

As someone who has thus far made nothing but non-adventures, I'd have argued in favour of keeping the two categories apart. Then again, seeing some non-adventures in the list of winners does tell me it's not as if it's completely biased in the adventure direction!

[blueskirt]

Yeah, removing the best programming in non-adventure game award will penalize adventure games more than non-adventure games. In a non-adventure game programming is easy to see for the players, the whole gameplay is entirely different so it must have required a whole lot of coding to get AGS to do that.

In an adventure game, good programming is vastly non-linear stories, it's puzzles with multiple solutions, objects with multiple interactions, it's dynamic backgrounds where water flow, leaves shake, rain fall, lights flicker, clouds and sun move, it's NPCs that mind their own business and do their own things, it's conversations that can end on vastly different notes depending of the tone you used, it's music that dynamically change depending on the situation... stuff that is much more subtle and tied to other aspect of the game, and often players have no idea about the hours of coding behind those things.

[Snake]

A. I need lots of beta-testers to fix any chances of bugs that might ruin this.

This was only an idea that sparked after I read the above quote (I didn't think about it much), but, after it's beta tested and ready to go, why not test it for the first time with a pre-awards show type thing? Have it like an hour or even a couple hours before hand. People can log in, hang around and chat for a bit and see if anything major occurs that can be fixed before the actual show?

[Dualnames]

Yes, that was the whole idea behind my saying Snake. (Not really, but I'm pretending to be smart).

Still the only viable way is via  a VPN network such as Hamachi. Which is a shame. And a limit to 16 people.

[LUniqueDan]

Yeah, removing the best programming in non-adventure game award will penalize adventure games more than non-adventure games.

Seconded.

[Iliya]

Is there a nomination for the best demo?

[abstauber]

@Harg: to be nominated, there has to be something in the database

I'd also like to see the p3n1s award back in action, maybe even an ic3y P3nix 

Anyhow the last years' IRC/Skype combination was a hell lot of fun and I'd say: make it Live again. Is there a way to reserve bandwith on Stickam? The typical performance might not be sufficient - I'd even donate a few bucks.

[theo]

Missed the IRC event but just watched the 2008 downloadable ceremony and thought it was awesome. Good fun seeing all these characters we know and love mingle together, presenting awards and whatnot. A neat little thing that certainly bonds the community permanently. Honestly I'm not sure how important the interactivity of it was though. It could just as well have been recorded and posted as a video on youtube. This would no doubts be good external exposure for AGS as a platform as well. Also, being a video it would allow for more crazy editing such as adding short, memorable sequences from games, etc.

I realize making such a ceremony is incredible amounts of work however. I'm impressed by the 2008 effort, it was very well executed in many ways.

So in short, I don't know which is better irc or download, but a video ceremony would -apart from being a fun event - ALSO be good constant, passive promotion for AGS.

edit: just read the whole thread and see that video event has been mentioned, do not confuse this with what I am proposing. Not the same idea. I'm talking edited recorded ags material, not live actor stuff.

[Bulbapuck]

I'm all for IRC!

Last year was awesome

[Wonkyth]

IRC sounds great, if only I can remember it this year... 

[m0ds]

I'd vote irc for the ceremony, always a nice evening to put aside real life and interact with the community in real time!1 Now that I've met biccilotti it makes his hosting even more prestigious for me

And I miss the square p3nix award too...

But whatever happens I'm sure any type of ceremony and categories will be fantastico

[cat]

I did like the award games and thought "why do so many people say that they miss the irc ceremony, this awards game is great". But after last years irc ceremony I can hoestly say - the irc ceremony is even better! It was also fun to have a simultane skype session (however, next time we should find a reliable host first, the QOS was sometimes very bad).

[Dualnames]

Hey don't blame it on the greek! 

I'd also love a reliable skype host. Usually matt hosts and he's great. Matt as in Tier. The IRC ceremony should always be there. Really.

[WHAM]

Downloadable-in-game ceremony, absolutely!

[Ponch]

Downloadable-in-game ceremony, absolutely!

I second this idea.

At the least, even if we go down the IRC road, can't we also have a download ceremony  too? That way cranky old men like me who aren't going to do the IRC can still have something too.

I also second the idea of bringing back the p3n1s award in some fashion!