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Playing The (IntyBASIC Programming Contest) Judge


So, today is the last day for the judges to submit their entry scores for the IntyBASIC Programming Contest. As a judge, I took the job very seriously.

I will be honest, though, it was a lot of work. It was also tough because you want to make sure to be fair and consistent, while at the same time you wish to promote and encourage only the highest quality standards for the community.

I think I may have been too tough on some of the games, but it's because I think the talent is good and the games have great potential, and I don't wish to just "award a ribbon" for participation. Other judges may think differently, and that's their prerogative, but I have seriously high and very particular standards for what constitutes a good Intellivision game.

That's not to say that other judges celebrate mediocrity or have low standards (I really do not know, and actually do not care), but that everyone's judging criteria is personal and different, and therefore very subjective. Mine doubly so. ;)

Anyway, so 12 entries were submitted to the contest and they varied greatly in theme and style -- which is exceptionally good for our community. We need more games and we need to move beyond the typical arcade/micro port. That said, some of the entries were typical arcade/micro ports, but even those had a nice twist and offered an interesting take on the original.

Of course, as it always happens, some entries were better than others, and even some of the best games with the most potential for greatness were less polished than other more simple ones, raising the latter above the former. This variation in conceptual quality and implementation polish is also a good thing: it shows that programmers are following their own beat rather just re-using established libraries or ideas.

Honestly, I can see that most of the flaws of some of the games are due to experimental techniques or game-mechanics of dubious feasibility. Yet, the fact that they followed through and implemented such features, even if not entirely successfully, makes our community richer.

And that's a reason to celebrate: whoever the elected winner of the contest prize is, the Intellivision Community is the ultimate winner. :)

As a final word, I want to congratulate all the programmers who participated in the contest, and I want to thank them for putting their time and effort -- their blood, sweat, and tears, as it were -- into their projects. I may not have liked them all, and I may have judged some of them poorer than others, but I am absolutely glad that they were all made, and wouldn't want it any other way.

Cheers!
-dZ.

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A pro crastinator is much better than an amateur at delaying to get things done.

 

Ha! There ain't no pro-er castinator than me! :lol:

 

...

 

Nah, seriously, I left the writing down of my judgement to the last minute, but I followed each project carefully during their development and played every single ROM provided throughout the competition. What I had to do was just a few final play-throughs on the console of each entry, and finalize my impressions.

 

At least some of them showed major improvements in quality and stability from the last published version prior to submitting. It's been a treat. :)

 

-dZ.

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By the way, I don't know if the judges' individual scores will be published, but if they do, I want everyone to know that I did not score them "on a curve." That is, to me "1 to 10" is relative to what a great Intellivision title would be, not just the best among the 12.

 

In other words, a "10" in a category does not represent the highest mark among the entries, but the highest possible mark the best Intellivision title would get.

 

I understand that this may seem a bit harsh, but for criteria like "Presentation" and "Execution," I wasn't judging the potential of the game, but the actual implementation that was submitted. My comments on each one do reflect my views on their potential, which is why some games get high praise from me with relatively lower scores.

 

That's what I thought would be most fair. Every judge's mileage may vary. ;)

 

-dZ.

In 2015, only the scores per game and criteria were posted, not the scores per judge. However comments from each judge were posted.

 

Oh, then, I should have stayed quiet about my personal scores. Hmm...

 

TO EVERYBODY: Ignore all my comments above. I gave 10's to all games on all categories. So if you lose, it's not my fault. :ponder:

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