DAZ 3D is putting together a contest

[dazpro]

DAZ 3D is putting together a contest and needs some input from the game developer community.

DAZ 3D has already announced that new "game-friendly" licensing is available for game developers on all the content at developer.daz3d.com and that game developer toolsare available to make DAZ 3D models "game-friendly".

DAZ 3D has also announced the availability of game-ready content that is optimized specifically for games.

Now DAZ 3D would like to put together a contest to see who can come up with the best game character using DAZ 3D models and/or tools.

It is expected that the contest will kick off in the next 4-6 weeks but DAZ 3D would be interested in community input on some questions still being kicked around such as:

How much time is needed to create a good low-poly character for a game?

What kind of prizes would encourage the most participation?

Game engine licenses
Passes to GDC
Expenses toward GDC trip
Cash - How much is enough?
DAZ 3D Tools - Bryce, Carrara, Hexagon, DAZ Studio Advance, etc.


If something like this would be interesting to you please provide some input and thoughts on the idea.

[cysphere]

A flight to the International Space Station, same as  Richard Garriott on October 2008 has done.

sry can?t resist... 

[davidochoa]

I think licenses (for Game Engine and Daz Tools) are the best options, instead of cash you can give cupons to buy in the DAZ store, but also you can give a choice to the winner: game engine license OR tool license OR cupons for store, because if someone already has one of these he/she can select another prize.

[dazpro]

I think licenses (for Game Engine and Daz Tools) are the best options, instead of cash you can give cupons to buy in the DAZ store, but also you can give a choice to the winner: game engine license OR tool license OR cupons for store, because if someone already has one of these he/she can select another prize.

Trip or passes to GDC in SF???

What about DAZ 3D suggesting a story line or theme? Would it be better to suggest a theme or genre or just leave it wide open?

[cysphere]

I think a theme is best, to compare the work fairly. And at the end the work
is in some way designconsistent and could be given out as pack.

Is a discountprice at daz-gametools for GC-User possible?
because we are a really nice community 

[BigDaz]

The idea of 'game ready content' and 'best character competition' seems a bit contradictory. If the models are game ready then that's it finished and requires no modification, so there's not much to judge. That's why I started using Daz3D content really.

I think best game using Daz tools/models would probably be better. Make it a regular annual event so everyone knows it's going on and has time to work on it. I'm not sure what the rules would be though.

Prizes - I think cold hard cash is hard to beat as an incentive. If you promoted the game on the Daz website it would become part of the prize, especially for independent developers who don't have an advertising budget.

[dazpro]

The idea of 'game ready content' and 'best character competition' seems a bit contradictory. If the models are game ready then that's it finished and requires no modification, so there's not much to judge. That's why I started using Daz3D content really.

I think best game using Daz tools/models would probably be better. Make it a regular annual event so everyone knows it's going on and has time to work on it. I'm not sure what the rules would be though.

Prizes - I think cold hard cash is hard to beat as an incentive. If you promoted the game on the Daz website it would become part of the prize, especially for independent developers who don't have an advertising budget.

Agreed - the "game-ready" content from DAZ 3D is not the point. The point is to see what cool characters can be created using DAZ 3D content and tools.
However, there might be different levels or categories of "readiness".  There could be an open category that just stipulates a fixed number of polys that the character has to be under. Another category could include animations and actually BE IN a game.

The idea of a whole game contest was definitely considered but it seemed like the emphasis might end up being on the game design and implementation and alot of things that DAZ 3D can't really help with. But DAZ 3D definitely can help with creating awesome characters for the game.

Timing is another issue and it would take significantly longer to create a whole game than just the characters for the game.

DAZ 3D could definitely consider promoting the winner(s) at the DAZ 3D booth at GDC for example or through videos or other promotions on daz3d.com

[dazpro]

I think a theme is best, to compare the work fairly. And at the end the work
is in some way designconsistent and could be given out as pack.

Is a discountprice at daz-gametools for GC-User possible?
because we are a really nice community 

I think a "limited-time" license for the game developer kit could definitely be arranged for the duration of the contest.  We would want to make the barriers/costs to enter the contest low to encourage as much participation as possible.

[cysphere]

sounds nice, thank you