International Badnik Contest

ICEknight · Post by **ICEknight** » Tue May 24, 2005 9:29 am

Hey guys, just wanted to inform you about a contest I'm starting over at Simon Wai's. You have to make three badniks following some rules and you might get one of these:

PRIZES
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The prizes will consist on the following DIN A3 size prints:

-3rd prize: Featuring four prototype badniks (wasp, gator, dino and snail), and signed by their pixel-creator.
-2nd prize: A facsimile of the original Metropolis concept design, signed by the main guy in charge of its graphics.
-1st prize: You'll be the first (ok, second) Sonic fan to see (and keep) a copy of the very first and only known piece of artwork depicting the original concept for the mysterious Genocide City (then known by a different name). Of course, signed by the "Zone Artist" who was assigned this level before it got cancelled.

Special thanks go to Tom Payne for being such an amazing guy and making this possible.

Please check Simon's place for the updated rules. I hope at least some of you will be able to participate.

Post by **G.Silver** » Tue May 24, 2005 11:15 am

Those "some rules" are ridiculously strict. If he actually provided example sizes and color counts that were acceptable, that would be one thing, but expecting lowly artists to know jack about how to make graphics that adhere to the MegaDrive's ancient standards (as the apply to specific games!) is absurd.

It also seems that I can't register on his forum, something about proxy servers? What the hell?

Baba O'Reily · Post by **Baba O'Reily** » Tue May 24, 2005 2:42 pm

Yeah. Rules are boring. I'd rather sit around and think up more Mace Windu jokes.

ICEknight · Post by **ICEknight** » Tue May 24, 2005 3:31 pm

The Scarlet Scorpion · Wed May 25, 2005 9:58 am

Wow, I really wish I could edit sprites, because I really would like to enter this contest.

Maybe The GHZ should band together and enter as a team? Between all of us, we might be able to pull this off.

Just a thought...

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Wed May 25, 2005 1:03 pm

"One thing's for sure! We all did it together!"

Adamis · Post by **Adamis** » Wed May 25, 2005 2:00 pm

Too bad I can't sprite...it would be great if drawings were allowed...

Brazillian Cara · Post by **Brazillian Cara** » Wed May 25, 2005 4:56 pm

Custom sprites are the proof that there is actual ART in sprite comics.
There, are you happy now?!

Locit · Post by **Locit** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:00 pm

Brazillian Cara · Post by **Brazillian Cara** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:01 pm

Whatever.

chriscaffee · Post by **chriscaffee** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:03 pm

Comics of any form can't be art because they are just stupid.

Post by **Segaholic2** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:04 pm

The crap on the used toilet paper I use to wipe my ass is more art than sprite comics.

Brazillian Cara · Post by **Brazillian Cara** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:23 pm

NOW I'm offended.

j-man · Post by **j-man** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:50 pm

Sprites only? INTERNETS

I want to see this Genocide City artwork. Why not share it to the world instead of giving it away in a discreet brown paper envelope (or equivalent thereof) to some sprite artist?

Spazz · Post by **Spazz** » Wed May 25, 2005 5:58 pm

He's going to display it on his site after he knows the winner has recieved it.

Also, I know it means nothing to anyone here, but from what I understand this contest isn't just about sprites, there is a good amount of programming and other technical know-how involved too.

j-man · Post by **j-man** » Wed May 25, 2005 6:16 pm

So it doesn't matter how creative you are at graphic design, you just have to be a C++ nerd.

Yes, I'm bitter.

ICEknight · Post by **ICEknight** » Thu May 26, 2005 7:50 am

j-man wrote:So it doesn't matter how creative you are at graphic design, you just have to be a C++ nerd.

No, you just have to get the palette order right and be able to cut and paste each 8x8 tile one after another. No programming is needed at all for this contest.

ICEknight · Post by **ICEknight** » Thu May 26, 2005 11:13 am

Adamis wrote:Too bad I can't sprite...it would be great if drawings were allowed...

Hey, I'm sure you'll be able to come up with something in the following months. I'll see if I can add some guidelines for getting started, over at that topic.

EDIT: There's a nice tutorial over at Area51 about how to do the VRAM stuff easily with Graphics Gale after you've made the graphics. You need to register, though...

The contest might be open till the end of the Summer, although I still haven't decided yet. I guess it will depend on the number of entries, interested people and such.

Oh, and yay for double post.

Post by **G.Silver** » Thu May 26, 2005 12:30 pm

Oh, and yay for double post.

We're looking out for you, though twice in the same thread is pretty bad! BTW, sorry for refering to you in the third person up above, I didn't realize it was YOUR contest.

No, you just have to get the palette order right and be able to cut and paste each 8x8 tile one after another. No programming is needed at all for this contest.

Does it not also require that you count out the number of tiles each enemy in the game takes up in order to maximize your available space and pick the right enemy and stage to allow for the best colors available? Also, if we're dealing with low pallate entries, why does the submission itself have to have its 8-odd chosen colors in the correct order? If someone wants to dump it into the game then leave the technical stuff to him! And what's this stuff about "compressed images" between Sonic 2 and Sonic 3? That has to do with the way the game itself stores the data, it should have no effect on the submission itself!

If your contest really is about art/concept and not about being some kind of l33t romhax0r (which also has little to do with actual programming) then I'd recomend some simplified rules:

Size - Specify a reasonable block limit for ALL entries according to each game (ie, Sonic 1 submissions may be different from Sonic 2 submissions). This puts down a level playing field, won't scare people away by using terms like "VRAM," and ensures no risk of getting entries from people who thought that they had more space than they actually did.

Colors - You could keep it as-is, or you could just say "you are allowed this many colors," but drop the palette order crap--run a color count on the image if you have to, but judge the submissions on their external appearance, not whether or not you have to make adjustments to the palate order. Different programs sort palettes differently, different file formats sort it differently, I know the spirit of your forum is "do the research yourself, cockwit!" but if you're gonna INVITE people into this contest you should have the info laid out for them, don't assume they have have the same interest in the inner workings of the games you have and already know this stuff.

VRAM Style - I'd let this stay only as easy confirmation that the entry is in fact made out of 8x8 tiles, otherwise drop it.

A three month deadline is huge for something like this, if you can get the word out fairly quickly I think you'll have most of your entries within a month, especially if it's in summer and people are out of class. After that, it'd just be dragging out needlessly and people will probably lose interest. I'd put the deadline at the end of June and maybe keep the option to bump it back if it looks like people want more time.

I do think it's interesting to work within the limitations of the hardware of the time, but the hacky "reverse engineering" spirit of the contest is where you lose me and you're sure to lose other people as well--when Sonic Team made the games in the first place they were working more within the limitations I've described, they were not trying to "fit" pieces into a game that someone else made. They probably still had the palette order bit to worry about, but they made the games, I'm sure they had that info handy and didn't have to Google for it.

(No Imagination) · Post by **(No Imagination)** » Fri May 27, 2005 5:52 am

There's a nice tutorial over at Area51 about how to do the VRAM stuff easily with Graphics Gale after you've made the graphics. You need to register, though...

Not for the Lost Library forum.

I think.

Koosh Koosh! · Post by **Koosh Koosh!** » Fri May 27, 2005 11:09 am

What the fuck? Sprites only? Pallette restrictions? Such bullshit. I'd rather do some markered designs ala the Sonic 1 manual.

j-man · Post by **j-man** » Fri May 27, 2005 11:13 am

Second'd. I barely know what RAM is without sticking a V in front of it, and as such am completely and utterly excluded from entering already.

Gwilym · Post by **Gwilym** » Fri May 27, 2005 12:04 pm

It's not real art!!! :O

ICEknight · Post by **ICEknight** » Sat May 28, 2005 12:21 pm

j-man wrote:Second'd. I barely know what RAM is without sticking a V in front of it, and as such am completely and utterly excluded from entering already.

You can always ask for help at the topic and somebody might be able to help you. It's not really that hard.

Brazillian Cara · Post by **Brazillian Cara** » Sat May 28, 2005 5:05 pm

On the art-making topic...
Does anyone knows how I can make .jpg files? I already tried typing ".jpg" after making the stuff in Paint, but the computer (and the Internet) still sees it as an .bmp file!