Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ncrlnk!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!hplabs!well!ewhac
From: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: BADGE contest suggestions
Message-ID: <7659@well.UUCP>
Date: 15 Nov 88 10:46:01 GMT
References: <5299@louie.udel.EDU> <8653@gryphon.COM>
Reply-To: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab)
Organization: The CIA:  International Meddling at Bargain Rates.
Lines: 91
Quote: "When I die, I want to leave my body to science fiction."  -- S. Wright

In article <8653@gryphon.COM> keithd@gryphon.COM (Keith Doyle) writes:
>After reading the rules as posted to usenet, my first impression is that
>they were much too picky about issues that have very little to do with
>the aesthetic impact of the demo.
>
	Asthetic impact can be achieved along with complying with basic
Amiga programming guidelines.

>According to the BADGE official rules, it is clear that only the purest
>of hackers is qualified to produce a killer demo entry that adheres to
>all of the rules.  Issues like cleaning up the use of all resources,
>returning of all memory, making a demo "draggable to any drawer on a
>hard disk" etc, are issues which are superfluous and unknown
>to any non-hacker artists who desired to enter the contest with
>works perhaps based on their artistic skill instead of programming prowess.

	Are you saying that The Director breaks some rules?	:-)

	Artists who aren't interested in writing a C program don't have to.
They can use VideoScape, Sculpt, The Director, Sonix, whathaveyou to create
and play their demo.

	Besides, this year's winner was, as last year, a Director script, so
I don't see what *you're* complaining about :-) :-).

>I had an occasion to talk to a few 
>non-hacker artists who ended up spending more time on trying to figure out 
>what the rules meant and how to comply with them than they did actually 
>producing the "glitz" for their demo.  
>
	We tried to codify all those things that we found Good and Correct
about Amiga programming.  Basically the rules are:  Don't Guru, free up all
your resources, and leave the machine in a useable state.

	The other issues (must fit on one disk, drawer-draggable, etc.) were
largely issues of convenience to us and to dealers who would have to be
dealing with these programs.

>If there's
>a potential killer demo out there that takes over the system, requires
>4 disks, and leaves with the workbench in a mess when it's done, I'd 
>like to see it, I'll bet its a doozy.
>
	Sorry, but I wouldn't.  Last year, the F-18 demo violated a bunch of
rules: it took over the machine, required a re-boot to exit, and wrote to
the disk.  We also found out later that it had a death clock in it.  As a
result, it was downgraded heavily for violating basic common-sense technical
standards.  Needless to say, we were very surprised when EA complained very
loudly about it.

>Perhaps including a still-art category is a good idea as well.  
>
	I don't think so, for the same reason I was voted down when I
suggested a videotape category as well.  Other organizations hold art and
video contests (like SIGGRAPH).  Our interest was to entice people to create
programs to show off the Amiga.

>You really don't have to be a *developer* to create a
>killer demo.
>
	That's correct.  A great many non-developers entered this year.

	It's not like one person sat down in a vacuum and said, "These are
the rules."  A number of us got together on several occasions to discuss
what the rules should be.  We felt that the rules for this year were an
improvement over last year's.  We even toyed with the idea of providing
skelatal code to allow entrants to comply with some of the more esoteric
rules (like WorkBench ToolTypes and stack size verification).

	We thought hard about who wanted to enter, and where these demos
would ultimately end up.  These demos are, hopefully, going to be used to
show off machines.  Therefore, they should portray the machine in its best
light.  That means that they don't Guru, don't take over the machine, free
up all their resources, and have a reasonably easy means of exiting.
Remember that J. Random User is watching you, and will not be at all
impressed if you have to type control-shift-alt-hyper-super-meta-cokebottle
to exit the program, and it Gurus if you type it wrong.

	Natually, we can't be responsible for tool-based demos whose tools
on which they're based screw up.  The Sculpt 'movie' demos from last year
were unfortunate.

	We're perfectly willing and happy to listen to suggestions.  We
*plan* (ha!) to get an early start for the next contest.  Let us know your
opinions.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape	INET: well!ewhac@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU
 \_ -_		Recumbent Bikes:	UUCP: pacbell > !{well,unicom}!ewhac
O----^o	      The Only Way To Fly.	      hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack")
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