TOPIC: Next Great GenCon Event Contest

I was just reading about a new contest GenCon was hosting. The contest submission ended yesterday (doh!). They were looking for new event ideas. Sounds like the winner will be announced on April 4th. The events were supposed to be "player immersion" like True Dungeon or Gamers Olympics. Just thought I would mention something new might be there this year.<br />David

I can't remember where I saw that for the first time...but I thought "what a cool contest."  For someone much more creative than I it is a great opportunity to get into bed with GenCon whom I'm guessing is a great partner to bring something to market.<br /><br />Of course I would suggest a certain level of self-protection...simple copy rights and even just a certified letter to yourself with your ideas sealed within can be very helpful in a legal dispute...as you never know when the next TD will be born.

Jeff had even offered the winner a golden ticket.

<br />Jeff had even offered the winner a golden ticket. <br />

<br /><br />A golden ticket!! Gah! I should have tried to thunk up somthin'. Maybe next year.

Hey! I just read on the GenCon forum that this contest deadline has been extended to this Friday (March 17th) at 5PM PST. Currently there are over 50 entries. I was glad to hear this because I had thought up (what I think is) a pretty good idea for an event. The contest details are here: www.gencon.com/displayindy.aspx?file=indy06/2006-indy-gm-NewEvent <br /><br />David (S.)

I want to see an event where contestants hunt LARPers like something out of The Most Dangerous Game.

They are choosing the top 3 events for this contest today. I'm not sure if it will be announced on the GenCon website or just the winners will be notified but this is just round 1. The round 2 winner will be announced April 10th.<br />I thought I would comment on what responses I have heard from people who submitted ideas. They usually compared their event to True Dungeon. It seems like True Dungeon is now a standard for events to be measured against.<br />David (S.)

I expected that!!!  =D

<br />They are choosing the top 3 events for this contest today. I'm not sure if it will be announced on the GenCon website or just the winners will be notified but this is just round 1. The round 2 winner will be announced April 10th.<br />I thought I would comment on what responses I have heard from people who submitted ideas. They usually compared their event to True Dungeon. It seems like True Dungeon is now a standard for events to be measured against.<br />David (S.)<br />

<br /><br /><br />Now that has to be very exciting and gratifying for Jeff and the crew.

The 1st round winners of the contest were posted yesterday and, alas, my event was not among them. The winning event titles are "A Murder most 'Fowl'er", "Lock and Load Sniper Arena", and "Gen Con Mini 400". I thought I would share my event idea if for nothing else as a means of closure.<br />It was a space adventure game where the players would fly a ship on a mission. There would be four video screens (one on each wall), a captain’s chair, and two gun turrets to each screen. The captain would fly the ship, the gunners would fend off enemy fighters, and an engineer would run around repairing the gunners’ shields. If the shields of a gunner’s station failed, they were out of the game (though they would get a little pin of a red shirt. Do you know why? =D). The room would be filled with music timed to the action on the screens and sound effects. The computer programming of the virtual environment was the hang-up for me. I have enough computer programming skills to see how it would be laid out roughly and what information would be needed but not how to carry it through. I had even gotten to the point of laying out the 25 minute adventure and calling the ship Draco. That way I could call the missions “Quest of the Dragon”, “Hatching of the Dragon”, “Hunt of the Dragon”, etc. I was hoping it would give the experience of being in the fast-action part of a space adventure movie. I also thought it fit the bill of placing players in an immersive environment per the goal of the contest. Seemed like it would have been a unique experience and something I would have liked to have played.<br />David (S.)

<br />The 1st round winners of the contest were posted yesterday and, alas, my event was not among them. The winning event titles are "A Murder most 'Fowl'er", "Lock and Load Sniper Arena", and "Gen Con Mini 400". I thought I would share my event idea if for nothing else as a means of closure.<br />It was a space adventure game where the players would fly a ship on a mission. There would be four video screens (one on each wall), a captain’s chair, and two gun turrets to each screen. The captain would fly the ship, the gunners would fend off enemy fighters, and an engineer would run around repairing the gunners’ shields. If the shields of a gunner’s station failed, they were out of the game (though they would get a little pin of a red shirt. Do you know why? =D). The room would be filled with music timed to the action on the screens and sound effects. The computer programming of the virtual environment was the hang-up for me. I have enough computer programming skills to see how it would be laid out roughly and what information would be needed but not how to carry it through. I had even gotten to the point of laying out the 25 minute adventure and calling the ship Draco. That way I could call the missions “Quest of the Dragon”, “Hatching of the Dragon”, “Hunt of the Dragon”, etc. I was hoping it would give the experience of being in the fast-action part of a space adventure movie. I also thought it fit the bill of placing players in an immersive environment per the goal of the contest. Seemed like it would have been a unique experience and something I would have liked to have played.<br />David (S.)<br />

<br /><br />Hey David.  Cool idea.  I haven't read the rules for the Contest but was the idea to design a game that was cool AND economically feasible?  If so, I think what might have been the largest obstacle for you is the throughput.  Four people every 25 minutes might have made it cost prohibitive.<br /><br />Ok, I'm off to the GenCon site now to read about the nominees.

Hmmm, lLock and load. Maybe someone followed through on my idea of larper hunting.