Introducing Scary4Digits 2014

Posted by RC on Aug. 31, 2014, 7:41 p.m.

STARTS: September 20th, 2014 – 00:00 UTC

ENDS: November 9th, 2014 – 23:59 UTC

Each entrant will be assigned 3 random themes.

LIST OF ASSIGNED THEMES

It is with great pleasure that I am hosting the 4th annual Scary4Digits game development competition. Since 2011, Scary4Digits has been a staple competition of the community held through the month of October; it is but once a year that the community comes together to make and play each others' games on Halloween night, and this year won't be any different.

This year's competition gives you 41 days and nights to create something spooktacular, but also brings a twist when it comes to the theme. Historically, a single theme has been given and all entrants were required to use it in their creations, but this year… this year it's different.

3 themes will be assigned to each entrant (entrant in this case being a solo developer or team of developers) at random. Entrants will be required to create a game that utilizes these themes, and all themes will be fully open to interpretation.

Teams are allowed, though teams must have a name which must be given by each participant within the team at sign-up.

Sign-up for Scary4Digits by filling out this form. All participants MUST have an account on the site and MUST fill out this form.

NOTE: All participants will receive a free trial for Unity 4 Pro for the duration of the competition.

Instability

Abandoned

Illusion

Emptiness

Grotesque

Imperfect

Madness

Deprived Senses

Omniscient

Alone

Macabre

Possession

Forbidden

Ruthless

Taboo

Shadows

Underground

Reanimate

Disaster

Black Magic

Haunting

Detention

Brokenness

Machines

Invasion

Hunted

Decay

1. Only one entry per participant. Participants may not enter a solo project and work on a team project, nor may they enter multiple team projects or solo projects. If a participant is involved with the creation of multiple entries, all entries will be disqualified.

2. All participants must have an account at 64digits.com.

3. Anyone may be a part of a team so long as their participation is stated prior to the end of the competition. All other rules also apply.

4. Work on an entry MUST NOT begin prior to the start date and time of September 20th, 2014 00:00 UTC, though engines created prior to the start date that were not created specifically for the entry are permitted.

5. All game assets must be original and never before used in a previously released project. This does not apply to tools, engines, etc. Participants must have permission to use any content that is not their own.

6. All engines, programming languages, and platforms are permitted as long as the entry runs on the latest version of Windows.

7. Entries do not have to be in a completely finished state to be eligible for entry, though they must be playable and more than just a tech demo. You have 40 days - I hope you can make something more than a tech demo.

8. Entries may not contain offensive or malicious material.

9. Entries MUST be submitted to 64digits.com using "S4D14" as the genre by the November 9th, 2014 23:59 UTC deadline.

10. All entrants must cast votes during the judgment/voting period to be eligible to win. Entrants may not vote for their own entries.

11. Themes are NOT optional. If you do not like the themes assigned, try to think outside the box and be creative. As long as your entry uses the themes in some way, it will be eligible for entry.

12. The host reserves the right to revise the rules and disqualify entrants/entries if deemed necessary.

*13. You must use the #Scary4Digits and/or #S4D14 hashtags when referring to your entry on the various social media platforms that support the use of hashtags.

*This is not actually required, but would be neat if you could use them.

To submit your entry, you must use the game submission system on 64Digits and set the game's genre to "S4D14", and then send me a PM as notification that your entry has been submitted. There will be two rounds of voting, the first of which starting on November 1st. All participants MUST vote during both periods to avoid being disqualified. The method of voting will be determined at a later date.

Thanks to the generosity of the community, we've got some prizes to distribute to the winners of the competition. They might not be much, but they are what they are.

1st place

$165

Construct 2 Business License OR 6-month Unity Pro Subscription

$30 worth of Steam games (of your choosing)

A 1st place S4D14 badge

2nd place

$70

Construct 2 Business License OR 6-month Unity Pro Subscription (depending on 1st place choice

$10 worth of Steam games (of your choosing)

A 2nd place S4D14 badge

3rd place

$25

A 3rd place S4D14 badge

Prizes are being donated by the following:

CyrusRoberto - $200

Scirra - Construct 2 Business License

SpectreNectar - $60 cash & $40 Steam games

Note: Prizes are obviously subject to change.

Kilin

hel

colseed

Nopykon

Zac1790

Ferret

Iasper

JNyknn

Mega

kakaru

littlebear

Moikle

Toast

acid

Mairu

death

BretHudson

frankie

JID

eagly

SpectreNectar

Deleted

LoserHands

LAR Games

TacoBotProductions

ToadieTechnika

MelonYoshi

stevekb

Charlie Carlo

alexsink

Jawchewa

Rez

ViKing Games

Yaru

blaze157

Kenon

detective

JoshDreamland

Kasmilus

GameCarpenter

jacklehamster

gordy

Cosine

nap

ISODEV

seejay

quaz3l

gekido

pizzadude223

informiac 5

Supercannon

Oana

Ayanami0

nothin

Sponsored By

This year, Scary4Digits is going social! Follow @Scary4Digits on Twitter for the latest information regarding the competition, and use the #S4D14 and #Scary4Digits hashtags when posting about your entry to connect with other Scary4Digiters!

Comments

Acid 10 years, 2 months ago

Well, I'm doing something really fucking amazing if someone wants to team up with me.

Moikle 10 years, 2 months ago

I am in a little bit of a better mood today. I dunno, I'll try.

RC 10 years, 2 months ago

Come on, guys. Don't act defeated already… the competition hasn't even started yet. You'll have 40 days to make something; anything you make (good or bad in your opinion) has a shot at winning, and even if it doesn't, you've still accomplished something.

Castypher 10 years, 2 months ago

Quote:
I am probably not going to make anything worthwhile
That's all subjective. If you don't think you can make a big elaborate game, then just make something five minutes long. If it plays well and gets you to enter when you wouldn't otherwise, then it's worthwhile. You won't get anywhere if you sit back worrying without trying. So just make something short and simple and call it a win.

Charlie Carlo made Cinders for S4D 2012 over a weekend, rather than using the month the rest of us were allotted. His game, with a simple premise and low-stress design strategy, was probably the most popular entry of the comp.

Aim low. Tell yourself you're going to make a game that can be made in a weekend. You'll always need more time, so don't ever tell yourself you're going to make a game that'll require the whole month. If you do something that takes a few days, then you'll have something finished and polished, and you won't have to stress about it.

Yaru 10 years, 2 months ago

Submitted… I totally suck at being scary, hope I can muster up the energy to try it for once :P

Toast 10 years, 2 months ago

I have an idea for a platformer now. It will be fun trying to fit the themes around a concept I've already decided on.

Charlie Carlo 10 years, 2 months ago

New rule, all entries must contain a skeleton somewhere in the game.

On Halloween we can all play all the entries and chat on Teamspeak and take a shot every time we come across a skeleton.

inb4 "Boney Rain, The Skeleton Based Bullet Hell Game"

Acid 10 years, 2 months ago

I'm gonna put a real dead body in my game.not really… probably

Deleted 10 years, 2 months ago

I wonder about rule #8 :

8. Entries may not contain offensive or malicious material.

If I make a scary game, it might offend people, some may find it malicious. That's kinda the point if you want to scare people.

So where should we draw the line, what's acceptable, and what's not?

Rez 10 years, 2 months ago

yeah, gonna set my sights low this time. I don't have a concrete idea yet, but that's half the fun.