[Spanner]

Click here to see the latest post. The contest is now open!

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(logo by Cinossu)

It's that time again. The 2013 contest was very successful with what we had done this time, with the site submissions, a good load of entries and of course the rather popular Contest Week which went well without much issues. So it would be obvious that we should do the same again...in 2014!

Things are largely the same as the 2013 contest with a few changes. We have a new judge, a few rules have been amended and there'll be stuff to be announced as the contest progresses including the Contest Week. So let's start...

JUDGES
This year's judges will consist of myself, Cinossu, D.A Garden, Shadow Fire, MegaGWolf, Mercury, Reverie (that new judge I was on about) and SuperEgg. This team will be reliable and will be able to deal with contest judging as soon as possible in order for us to progress through the contest and get the results out as soon as possible. Judges will be able to submit their own hacks, but will not be able to judge it themselves, nor will they be able to judge submissions that they have been involved with (such as team hacks). Please note that the final decisions are subjected to the Judging Team, and may not reflect your own opinion. Judges may change at any time.

TROPHIES
Allow me to show you the list =):

First are the normal trophies. Please note that any level specific trophies are now hack specific meaning they no longer go by individual levels in a hack.

Hidden Palace Trophy
Grand prize / 1st place. This is given to the overall best hack in the contest. At the moment there is no cash prize but instead we have this.

Wood Zone Trophy
2nd place.

Dust Hill Trophy
3rd place.

Green Hill Trophy
Hack (or specific level of a hack if non-applicable) that plays most like a Sonic game.

Windy Valley Trophy
Best art in a hack submitted.

D.A. Garden Trophy
Best music in a hack submitted.

Lava Reef Trophy
Best level layout in a hack submitted.

Genocide City Trophy
Most difficult hack (or specific level of a hack if non-applicable) submitted.

Generations Trophy
Best 3D Sonic game mod.

11000101 Trophy
Best technical / proof of concept hack submitted.

Fang Trophy
Best new enemy/badnik in a hack submitted.

Eggman Trophy
Best new boss or miniboss in a hack submitted.

Spin Dash Trophy
Best new ability in a hack submitted.

Carnival Night Trophy
Most innovative game play feature in a hack submitted.

Emerald Trophy
Best Special Stage in a hack submitted.

Robotnik's Revenge Trophy
Best fresh concept using existing concepts as the backbone in a hack submitted.

Casinopolis Trophy
Most entertaining / fun hack submitted.

Polygon Jim Trophy (previously WTF?! Trophy)
Most unique hack submitted.

Tails Trophy
Most improved hack from last year's contest.

Froggy Trophy
If someone can actually implement a fully playable Big the Cat in a Sonic game, they will get this. If there are more than one entry, the best implementation wins. Hint: Fishing.
 
Now we move on to the Community Trophies!! =) These trophies are trophies that are awarded by those following the contest.

Hidden Palace Community Trophy
Best hack submitted overall.

Big Community Trophy
Worst hack submitted overall.

Windy Valley Community Trophy
Best art hack submitted.

D.A. Garden Community Trophy
Best music hack submitted.

Lava Reef Community Trophy
Best level layout hack submitted.

11000101 Community Trophy
Best technical hack submitted.
 
Polygon Jim Community Trophy
Most unique hack submitted.
 
...And there you have it!! The only other incredibly important thing to mention at this point in time would be the rules of this hacking contest. These are generally the same as last year's with a few changes:

RULES
1. Your entry must be based on an existing Sonic the Hedgehog ROM or game. No homebrew submissions will be accepted.
2. No palette hacks - we have moved on from these sorts of hacks and can do far better than that nowadays, plus there is no trophy for palette hacks.
3. Unlike last year, level layout only hacks can be submitted - if you can't do much with your hack and think it can't be submitted, think again. Ask a judge if you're unsure though.
4. Joke hacks along the lines of Sonic 1337 will not be accepted. Feel free to make something humourous though!
5. No Private Hacks. Entries are either Public (Hack can be downloaded) or Partial (media such as screenshots, videos and music only available to the public).
6. You must include media such as screenshots (absolutely mandatory, must include a title screen image), videos (YouTube links are fine) and music (MP3 and VGM preferred). The judges will no longer waste time making screenshots for you.
7. E-mailed submissions will not be accepted. All submissions must be through the online script.
8. All submissions MUST BE PLAYABLE and can not prevent judges from playing the game. Judges have the right to look at your incomplete work if you submit it, and judges do not allocate trophies based on your incomplete builds, only the last build submitted.
9. These rules can change at any time. Check back often (or at least before you submit something) to make sure they haven't.

DEADLINE
The submissions deadline for entries will be Thursday 31st July 2014 where you must submit a playable build by then to the contest site in order for it to be entered.

You then have a week to refine your entry, fix any issues found and improve your hack which will be Thursday 7th August 2014.

Any questions can be asked in this thread where-in a judge will be able to provide some sort of answer. We do not need any other judges at this time.

CONTEST WEEK - Monday 18th August to Sunday 24th August
Like the last few years, the public will have a chance to view this year's entries, download the public hacks and vote for Community Trophies.

We hope to have live streams, mini contests, radio streams and much more similar to the 2013 Contest - these will be announced during the Contest when they have been finalised.

We'll let you know when the website is updated for the 2014 Contest so you can start submitting. Once again, in order to submit you'll need a Sonic Retro or SSRG full member account although exceptions may be given by contacting a judge.

So with that, I'll leave you to your hacking.

Ready, Set, Procrastinate!!

This post has been edited by Spanner: 07 August 2014 - 01:52 PM

[Spanner]

Please note the addition of a new trophy which you should be able to figure out which one. This time you have the entire contest to work on it.

[Krigo]

I'm going to submit a hack this year.

It's scary, I know.

This post has been edited by Krigo: 14 December 2013 - 06:50 AM

[HCKTROX]

I have a pretty simple question: Are Trial Members allowed to submit their hacks? Past year, as far as I know, it wasn't, but I hope that behavior changes.

[Spanner]

HCKTROX, on 20 December 2013 - 07:30 PM, said:

I have a pretty simple question: Are Trial Members allowed to submit their hacks? Past year, as far as I know, it wasn't, but I hope that behavior changes.

Only if they ask a judge for permission to do so, which is generally granted. The same system applied last year as well.

This post has been edited by Spanner: 20 December 2013 - 08:52 PM

[Cinossu]

It's taken its time, due to a number of reasons ranging from work overload to me actually being on holiday in another country right now, but the Sonic Hacking Contest 2014 site is now open and ready for entries.


http://shc.hapisan.com

Like last year, everything is handled on-site and you can log in with your Sonic Retro forum account to get started. More information is on the site itself, including instructions on what to do, how to do it, etc.

The biggest addition this year is Teams, which can be set up from the new "Teams" section. They can be a mix of both Retro and SSRG members, and allow credit to be on all members of the team as well as allow any member to modify and set up entries for the whole team.

As always, enjoy. If any issues, bugs, etc. are found, just let us know either in here, the SSRG thread equivalent, or in the comments of the news post on the site itself.

[Ell678]

Spanner, on 30 November 2013 - 02:43 PM, said:

RULES
3. Unlike last year, level layout only hacks can be submitted - if you can't do much with your hack and think it can't be submitted, think again. Ask a judge if you're unsure though.

I think this is a fantastic idea. I did contemplate making Sonic 1 Alt 2 for a hacking contest until I saw last year I wouldn't even be able to submit it. I'm glad it's changed - it means those who have an interest in level design but no art skill or ASM knowledge can show something off.

[JojHeywood]

Spoiler

If all teams have members like this one this year's entries are gonna be rad.

[Cinossu]

JojHeywood, on 03 July 2014 - 06:22 PM, said:

Spoiler

If all teams have members like this one this year's entries are gonna be rad.

it's more to show off the whole Teams thing than anything else.

[MainMemory]

I cannot seem to locate the "Add New Team" option.

[Cinossu]

MainMemory, on 04 July 2014 - 12:31 AM, said:

I cannot seem to locate the "Add New Team" option.

Whoops, my bad; forgot to re-enable it from testing. Should be there now.

[Overlord]

JojHeywood, on 03 July 2014 - 06:22 PM, said:

Spoiler

If all teams have members like this one this year's entries are gonna be rad.

"In order to perfect it, I needed the help of somebody as smart as I am. The only person that smart... is me!"

[Super Egg]

The joke here is that even with two Cinossus, Sonic 1 Extended Edition still won't be done for this contest, or for the next 20 hacking contests. />

*Shot*

This post has been edited by Super Egg: 04 July 2014 - 12:56 PM

[MainMemory]

Cinossu, on 04 July 2014 - 10:39 AM, said:

MainMemory, on 04 July 2014 - 12:31 AM, said:

I cannot seem to locate the "Add New Team" option.

Whoops, my bad; forgot to re-enable it from testing. Should be there now.

Thanks, but now trying to view the entry authored by the team I created just sends me back to the main entry list...
Also it said there was an error when I changed it, but it seems to have gone through anyway.

This post has been edited by MainMemory: 04 July 2014 - 02:48 PM

[Cinossu]

MainMemory, on 04 July 2014 - 02:48 PM, said:

Thanks, but now trying to view the entry authored by the team I created just sends me back to the main entry list...
Also it said there was an error when I changed it, but it seems to have gone through anyway.

Again, whoops; I'd uploaded an older version of a file by accident! Fixed now. Again. Ugh.