Summer 2012 Dualstream Day of Zeux Scoresheet:KKairos

Scoring methodology:

• Rank each game as a raw decimal score from 0 to 1 in each category.

• Rank the games in each category to make sure they make sense, e.g. a graphics ranking, a theme ranking, and so on. Note that ONLY the raw decimal score is being considered here; a team's choice of score-sheet may make or break their fate in the end.

• Adjust as necessary until individual categories make sense.

• Check to make sure the final rankings do, at least, make some sort of sense, once category scores are calculated.

There is some subjectivity in these things of course. Here's an idea of what I went for in each category.

Theme was one of the harder categories because I felt like I was comparing apples to oranges. But there were some games that clearly made better use of theme than others. At least judging by my judgments, which are not infallible, the concrete theme was much, much easier to play with to in this competition than the abstract.

In the gameplay category, I took both scope / volume of actual gameplay, and fun factor, into account. So how impressive is the scope and amount of gameplay, and how fun is it in the end? Things affecting flow of gameplay that fell outside of design itself mostly went to

In the graphics category I was mostly trying to think about how charming / beautiful the games were on, well, a visual level.

In the technique category, I scored on ambitions (stuff required to do what the game does) and success (how well it did the stuff, visual glitches, stuff like that.) I kind of felt a bit of the comparing-apples-to-oranges problem with the top four, because the games were all different genres, but I hope I pulled it off alright.

In the story category, I scored on creativity and substance of story as far as I could tell it, and quality of story-telling. There's bound of course to be some subjectivity here. But there it is.

In the sound category, I scored on pleasantness/appropriateness of the music to the game. I also gave more points for sound effects than for not having sound effects, though I gave the lowest score to the game that insisted on having sound so bizarre it was almost painful. I also tried to give a bit more to games that actually used sound in gameplay sections.

Most of my anxiety in scoring came to trying to sort out the top four and where each would land. All are impressive games for this competition, and I'm not sure I could come up with a ranking that I really feel does them all justice, particularly since I've been in a state of flux as to whether my personal feelings do or do not match my initial impressions and do or do not match the final rankings. I'm fairly certain the answer to both questions, at some point or another, is "no."

AND NOW THE GAMES, IN ASCENDING ORDER OF SCORE.

82246 Theme-Light

+-----------+-----------------------------------------------+
| ffffff... | --------------------------------------------- |
+-----------+-----------------------------------------------+

THEME: 2/20

The game boldly asks us to solve slider puzzles to restore an alternate history. I suppose the puzzles were vaguely historical in theme, but I'm not counting that enough to save this theme score.

GAMEPLAY: 12/120

It's a slider puzzle. Joy.

The other portion of the world provides a short glimpse at what might have been; it's too bad it wasn't.

GRAPHICS: 41/90

They're pretty okay!

They're mostly converted images, though.

TECHNIQUE: 28/80

It takes a bit of technique to code a slider puzzle, after all.

STORY: 6/50

See "theme." Not much there.

SOUND: 14/40

There was a good choice of mod for the slider puzzles. I'll definitely give it that.

TOTAL: 103/400

I really wish this had gone further. I would've liked to see where the not-slider-puzzle portion was going.

24966 Theme-Heavy

+---------------+-------------------------------------------+
| Hipster Quest | ----------------------------------------- |
+---------------+-------------------------------------------+

THEME: 50/100

The game questions individualism in hipsters. I can deal with that.

GAMEPLAY: 18/90

You move around and touch some things. It was mildly entertaining.

GRAPHICS: 25/70

This one actually had a decently charming aesthetic, at least in my humble opinion.

TECHNIQUE: 27/60

It required some spriting and whatnot. Decent technique for what it was.

STORY: 10/50

Reflections on hipster individuality. Check.

SOUND: 2/30

The feeling wasn't exactly pain, but the title screen...gah. Even given a slight amount of charm in the rest of the soundtrack, I'm just...no. I think this is the only game that got what is best called an active penalty for a sound snafu.

TOTAL: 132/400

Well, that worked out decently for the author. I think it's alright for what appears to be an art-game, I just wish it had been a bit more of a game and a bit easier on my ears.

69245 Theme-Light

+----------------+------------------------------------------+
| Final Kamikaze | ---------------------------------------- |
+----------------+------------------------------------------+

THEME: 13/20

An alternate telling of the dropping of the atom bomb...or the not-dropping thereof. Check.

GAMEPLAY: 51/120

You're piloting a ship against a bunch of other ships. Then you have to stop a special ship. Fairly basic, but not badly programmed.

GRAPHICS: 34/90

They're alright graphics. They get their job done, but not too much else.

TECHNIQUE: 20/80

Not too much is attempted here with the robots, but what there is is programmed decently.

STORY: 20/50

Stop the bomb. Check. Not much other writing to speak of.

SOUND: 18/40

The main chosen track was decent and got the job done.

TOTAL: 156/200

This was a decent entry; I hope its author eventually gets into doing the sprite thing; I feel he has some real potential to do more in MZX than he does right now.

30154 Theme-Light

+--------------------+--------------------------------------+
| President Skeleton | ------------------------------------ |
+--------------------+--------------------------------------+

THEME: 8/20

I'll count an incumbent Skeleton and challenger Robot as an alternate history, sure.

GAMEPLAY: 36/120

You get to fight some things in classic MZX style. Fairly basic.

GRAPHICS: 47/90

The story boards are fantastic, but the gameplay graphics aren't so much. And the gameplay boards matter.

TECHNIQUE: 32/80

Goop responds with a short story when touched. Stuff seems to sometimes explode, sometimes not. The level generator doesn't do too much good; the author might've been better off with intentional design rather than designer-design.

STORY: 30/50

A somewhat creative use of theme in story, and the writing is clever in a punny way. Its writing is actually the main thing pushing this game to the third-highest score for story.

SOUND: 20/40

A decently-chosen set of songs. But they don't do all that much work for the game itself; they do get the job done, though.

TOTAL: 173/200

Graphics and humor really saved this one from being lower on the list.

85538 Theme-Heavy

+--------------------------------+--------------------------+
| Ken: A Matter of Individuality | ------------------------ +
+--------------------------------+--------------------------+

THEME: 60/100

Ken starts fairly strong with the main character trying to figure out who he is, as opposed to those around him. For what was there, the use of theme was pretty good.

GAMEPLAY: 32/90

Walk around the house in a typical wake up and save the world style ZZT/MZX game; I would've liked to see where this was going. The menu was partially functional!

GRAPHICS: 28/70

Ken's house needs a new interior designer. The title screen wasn't bad, but palette could use work here; a little of that could've gone a long way towards graphics on this one, even keeping the char-set as-is.

TECHNIQUE: 20/60

Robots! Also, the menu was partially functional! Good for what it was. I would've liked a shorter wait time on the dialog.

STORY: 29/50

It's a shame there's so little of this. I have hopes for where it could've gone if it had gone beyond leaving the house.

SOUND: 9/30

The music was alright in this one. There wasn't really any sound to speak of.

TOTAL: 178/400

Overall, I liked this one; it had its charm. It's a shame it didn't get finished further, I wanted to know where it was going.

83889 Theme-Heavy

+--------------+--------------------------------------------+
| weltschmerz  | ------------------------------------------ |
+--------------+--------------------------------------------+

THEME: 45/100

Totalitarian government kills individuality. I can dig it.

GAMEPLAY: 36/90

Hot crate-pulling action.

GRAPHICS: 53/70

Fairly decent graphics, actually. Somewhat reminded me of an old Unique software game, in a good way.

TECHNIQUE: 26/60

Nothing particularly ambitious here, and I think there's some flickering on the train jumps.

STORY: 28/50

I enjoyed where this started and was curious about where it was going; it's too bad the author ran out of time.

SOUND: 15/30

This wasn't too bad at all. The music fits the mood.

74770 Theme-Light

+------------+----------------------------------------------+
| Ununhexium | -------------------------------------------- |
+------------+----------------------------------------------+

THEME: 6/20

Yes, we got that the player is alone. I don't know if solitude was particularly the notion I was looking for, but it's close enough for me to avoid a DQ.

GAMEPLAY: 60/120

It was pretty alright technically, definitely. I wasn't totally engrossed, but I enjoyed the runs I did well enough.

GRAPHICS: 54/90

I liked the game's aesthetic, as far as it went. Fairly simple.

TECHNIQUE: 53/80

Definitely not badly programmed by any stretch. Hits the mark it sets, and the snazzy title screen helps a bit. Not all the PGC is equal, though.

STORY: 25/50

You're alone. There's stuff trying to kill you. It gets the job done.

SOUND: 22/40

It got the job done, sound-wise.

TOTAL: 220/400

A fun little diversion with decent aesthetic, and fairly decent tactical gameplay.

74588 Theme-Light

+--------------+--------------------------------------------+
| Spirit Quest | ------------------------------------------ +
+--------------+--------------------------------------------+

THEME: 10/20

Individuality was involved, but things kind of took a turn into more generic save-the-world territory. Still fairly solid implementation.

GAMEPLAY: 78/120

I seriously enjoyed this. I liked the battle system, it was quite enjoyable, and the scope of the game was fairly impressive; a couple of initial design/exceution flaws keep this one from getting higher scores.

GRAPHICS: 72/90

These were fairly well done. The running char maybe ran a bit fast, but I'm not sure what else there is to complain about.

TECHNIQUE: 56/80

Technique was actually pretty good in this game. There's a few visual glitches that result when things don't go as planned, and there was a fatal bugfix in the bug-fix thread on DigitalMZX, but overall the author did a good job here.

STORY: 31/50

Fairly standard stuff, the story of being joined by different spirits as you went along was entertaining. Writing was alright.

SOUND: 26/40

I liked the music; more sound effects would've helped this one along in this category; instead it seems to be mostly a 'bump' effect during battle. And while the battle music somewhat fits the game in its brooding-ness, and definitely isn't bad, it also seems like something more upbeat might've better fit battle.

TOTAL: 273/400

I very much enjoyed this one. If I were scoring all on the fun factor, it would be second place in the competition. I'm looking forward to the post-contest version that the author is working on.

20027 Theme-Light

+-----------+-----------------------------------------------+
| Wild Fire | --------------------------------------------- |
+-----------+-----------------------------------------------+

THEME: 13/20

Alternate WWII where the Japanese have technology from the future, or something. I can dig it.

GAMEPLAY: 84/120

Solid gameplay. I was quite happy for a this side-scrolling shooter, I'm not gonna lie. While the quota system took a bit of getting used to, it made sense in the end, and the game might've been too easy without it. Having options for how to play was also cool.

GRAPHICS: 65/90

Standard graphics. These work pretty well for the author. I might've liked a bit more from the background, though.

TECHNIQUE: 60/80

Technique was all-around solid, and the ambitions of this author push the score up. There's one random fatal bug (randomly getting killed) but there was a fix posted in the DigitalMZX bug-fix thread.

STORY: 28/50

Fairly standard "save Europe" stuff, except "hey, people have stuff from the future." It definitely does the job.

SOUND: 34/50

Having sound effects really helps. The game tracks weren't too bad either.

TOTAL: 284/400

I appreciated this game. It wasn't my absolute favorite but it holds its own with good, solid shooter convention. If anything, gameplay suffered from the limitations of MegaZeux.

49932 Theme-Light

+---------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Thanatos Insignia 2 | ----------------------------------- |
+---------------------+-------------------------------------+

THEME: 8/20

You're inside your self? I can dig it. And I guess the line at the end sort of comes together with the rest, but this one was pretty weak on theme, to be honest, to me.

GAMEPLAY: 89/120

Gameplay was all solid. A bit much of grinding for my taste, as someone without Amazing Gameplay Skills. But still solid.

GRAPHICS: 80/90

These were pretty awesome graphics. I enjoyed them.

TECHNIQUE: 64/80

Technique was good. Having to release a fatal bug-fix, not so much, but still good technique. For the record, in my raw scores, this one gets the biggest technique score, with or without factoring in buxfix thread fixes.

STORY: 20/50

Dialogue is somewhat clever. I'm not sure I caught most of what the plot was, or if there really was much that could be discerned. Writing, what there was, pushed it up a bit.

SOUND: 33/40

Sound effects are your friends. I honestly wasn't the biggest fan of music, but sound effects helped here. By their default volumes, sounds were maybe a bit high for me, so I wasn't the absolute viggest fan of the game's dynamics, but the sounds fit decently enough to bump this up.

TOTAL: 294/400

A very solid entry from the author here. I'm very technically impressed. I kind of wish there'd been a bit less grinding, but I'm also not the Best Gamer Ever. It's worth noting that I did manage to beat the game once with more of a stats focus, and again with more of a glyph focus.

80483

+----------+------------------------------------------------+
| DUI 20XX | ---------------------------------------------- |
+----------+------------------------------------------------+

THEME: 75/100

Solid, solid use of theme here. Time travel is maybe a bit off the mark, but the game definitely begins with an alternate history.

GAMEPLAY: 65/90

Thoroughly enjoyed the gameplay on this; the flow is fairly solid and it doesn't wear itself out before it wears me out, which is something that I don't think I can really say for any other entry on the list.

GRAPHICS: 60/70

These are charming graphics. Backgrounds could have been a bit better on the tracks, perhaps, but little details helped get across the different time periods visited.

TECHNIQUE: 48/60

Technique is absolutely solid here, the game does what it sets out to do: MZX racing, and does it well. I don't know if there's going to be a game with similar physics that looks this smooth in MZX for a very long time.

STORY: 33/50

Hands down, this was the best/most creative story in the competition, combining substance and execution. Humor never hurts either.

SOUND: 24/30

Music was pretty solid in this game. I don't know if the chosen songs fit the time periods perfectly, but they definitely got the job done for a racing game. Sound effects would've been helpful here.

TOTAL: 305/400

Good use of theme and story really helped pull this one ahead. On fun-factor alone this game would be the winner, but other considerations like length/ambition of gameplay and technique requirements made it a closer match. However, I'm as pleased as with any other result, if not moreso, that this one came out on top.

FINAL RANKINGS:

• 11. 82245 ffffff... _________________________ 103/400
• 10. 24966 Hipster Quest _____________________ 132/400
• 9. 69245 Final Kamikaze _____________________ 156/400
• 8. 30154 President Skeleton _________________ 173/400
• 7. 85538 Ken: A Matter of Individuality _____ 178/400
• 6. 83889 weltschmerz ________________________ 203/400
• 5. 74770 Ununhexium _________________________ 220/400
• 4. 74588 Spirit Quest _______________________ 273/400
• 3. 20027 Wild Fire __________________________ 284/400
• 2. 49932 Thanatos Insignia 2 ________________ 294/400
• 1. 80483 DUI 20XX ___________________________ 305/400