TICKING TIME BOMB
credit to papasbuddy, author of turnabout godot for screenshot
credit to papasbuddy, author of turnabout godot for screenshot
Task:
There's no time to explain! Listen very carefully. Make a case that can be completed in 30 minutes or less, or everyone explodes. Okay, technically everyone reads at different speeds so 30 minutes isn't an exact requirement, but the point is, the case should be short. But not TOO short! It should still feel complete. But there should be a sense of urgency about it. If you want an example, your case should be about as long as or shorter than Ace Attorney 1-1.
If your case does take longer than 30 minutes to beat, you won't be disqualified or anything. But Theme relevance will be judged by how effectively you make use of a limited time frame to tell your story. Everything should have a purpose. Brevity is the soul of wit. You have a fair bit of time to make your case, so you can either spend that time polishing it, or densely packing it with as much content as you can. Up to you. But it should be a case that feels short, but is still compelling. This is the kind of theme where you might want to look over your work and repeatedly trim the fat so that only the best and most relevant content remains. Really try to isolate the core message you're trying to get across, and then pack it tightly into a tiny 30 minute box.
Judging:
You will be judged on the following criteria:
Story: Just because your story is short, doesn't mean you should skimp on telling it. Your case should keep the player interested and shouldn't be hard to follow. Make use of your time effectively. Think of it as if you have 30 minutes to tell the best possible story you can. If your case has characters, you'll also be judged on how well you were able to characterize them within the time alloted.
Presentation: How nice the case looks, sounds, and feels. It may be completable in 30 minutes, but it shouldn't look like it was made in 30 minutes. You've got 2 months. Use them. I feel like I should pre-empt this as well: Making your case automatically scroll its text really fast so that you can't even read it is not a very good form of presentation. I don't recommend that.
Gameplay: How fun the case is to play. Self-explanatory. It's up to you whether you want to go the traditional Ace Attorney route, or something less gameplay-oriented, or something new. If your case doesn't have any gameplay, then having a mystery or some intrigue is one way of still having some engagement and thought from the player even without interactivity.
Theme Relevance: Aside from the case being short, you'll also be judged on how well you manage to instill a sense of urgency. The theme is "Ticking Time Bomb". Whether you want to take that literally and have a literal time limit before something bad happens, or you want to go more subtle with it and just have an overall sense of panic or urgency is entirely up to you. But if you don't hurry, we're all gonna die!
Conditions:
- Entries must have been created between October 17th, 2022 and December 18th 2022.
- Entry and walkthrough (if applicable) must be submitted to TimeAxis and GuardianDreamer by the deadline.
- Entry must not be showcased until it has been judged.
- Entry must not be edited after submission until the competition is over.
- Entry may contain spoilers from the main Ace Attorney series, Prof Layton vs Ace Attorney, and Ace Attorney Investigations 1 and 2. If your case spoils anything else, please give a warning when submitting. Also, I still haven't gotten around to finishing The Great Ace Attorney games, so please avoid spoilers for those ones. You can use general characters and stuff from it if you want, just no actual spoilers.
- Entry may be an Investigation, Trial, Comedy, or Miscellaneous so long as it follows the comp rules. (I will warn you if you make a comedy that I am a notoriously humorless judge, so it'll be an uphill battle. Don't let that discourage you from working on what you want though.)
- Entry may be incomplete, but come on. You've really got no excuse this time. But I won't judge too harshly as long as what is there is good.
- Entry may be a collaboration between as many people as you want, but all collaborators must make it known that they are collaborating and entering together.
- Entries must not take more than 3 hours to complete. I'm giving a lot of leeway here, since it's supposed to be 30 minutes, but basically, if it gets the point where I've been playing for hours and my back hurts and my eyes are tired, then I'm just going to stop playing and judge what you did up to that point, and you probably won't score very well theme-wise.
Deadline:
Your entry and a full walkthrough (if applicable) must be sent to TimeAxis and GuardianDreamer by December 18th 2022 at 11:59 PM UTC-12. A 24-hour grace period will be given in case of internet failure or other unforeseen complications. Your time limit is 1 month shorter than the usual 3 months, but I think that's fair given the scope of your case should be smaller than that of a typical comp, plus the comps have been pushed a bit behind schedule too (partially my fault), so this should even it out a bit.
Oh, and don't forget to make us playtesters when you submit.
Entrants:
- Sonnie Celanna & DeathByAutoscroll Defused with 2d:12h:50m remaining.
- super legenda found alive among the wreckage
- CallMeBlue & MasqueradeDemure & applekitty Defused with 4m remaining.
- XavierWright Defused with 1d:13h:13m remaining.
- trialdude Detonated with 1w:1d:17h:16m remaining.
- SuperAj3 & DJJ680 Detonated with 4w:2d:12h:30m remaining.
- Awsome2464
- Trybien & Spongesonic & eerew Defused with 8h:14m remaining.
- AshuraMage Defused with 18h:16m remaining.
- CorruptedFlame Detonated with 3d:6h:35m remaining.
- enigma & DLA
- Jofe
- Dylan Dog & skyem Defused with 2h:15m remaining.
- Bannedfrom7 & Batman129 found alive among the wreckage
- Spoonmaster12 Defused with 4h:20m remaining.
Spoiler : Trucy's Magical Catastrophe by Sonnie Celanna & DeathByAutoscroll :
Understands Deadlines - For finishing your entry before it was TOO LATE.
Best Writing - For walking side by side with the man himself.
Boss Battle - For the case with the best final confrontation with its villain.
Brevity Award - For cases where an ending was reached within 30 minutes.
Best Canon Portrayal - For cases that excelled at making canon characters feel like their official counterparts.Spoiler : Superboss of the Turnabout by super legenda :
Great Potential - For unfinished cases with set-ups so interesting that they make us really want to see what happens.
Best Sound Design - For cases that make people's ears feel all tingly.
Gameplay n' Gimmicks - For going above and beyond standard Ace Attorney gameplay.
Spoiler : Athena Cykes: Ace Attorney - Wisdom at Law - DEMO by CallMeBlue & MasqueradeDemure & applekitty :
Powerfully Bad Production - When bad presentation somehow wraps around into being great.
Most Cliché Character - For creating the best and coolest character we all want to be like.
True Logic - Case logic that doesn't work in normal circumstances, but is nevertheless ingenious.
Spoiler : Turnabout Reformation by XavierWright :
Best Crossover - For definitely being a real crossover, really.
Golden Cactus - To be fair, you need to have a very high IQ to understand the Golden Cactus. The criteria is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of-
Hero Award - For having the best protagonist.
Butterfly Effect - For a case that diverges from canon in an interesting way.Spoiler : The Turnabout Zone by Trybien & Spongesonic & eerew :
Secret Passage Award - Getting a bit of deja vu here.
Golden Paintbrush - For cases with the prettiest custom assets.
The End is Never The End - I don't think there was a broom closet ending.
AAO Wizard - For pulling off amazing feats using the tools available.Spoiler : The Golden Turnabout by AshuraMage :
Best Pre-Existing Setting - For making great use of an already established setting.
New Blood Award - For the people without a case under their belt who just said "screw it, I'm going all in".
Best Crime Scene - For making an otherwise uncomfortable location relatively pleasant to be in.
Spoiler : Summation of a Turnabout by Dylan Dog & skyem :
Best Detective - For having the best crime-solver.
Watson Award - For the case with the best sidekick.Spoiler : An Explosive Turnabout by Bannedfrom7 & Batman129 :
A BOMB - For taking this competition theme very literally.
The Payneful Award - For including everyone's favorite rookie-crusher.
"No Pressure" Award - For a case with the highest stakes.Spoiler : Turnabout Allergies by Spoonmaster12 :
Funniest Case - On that day, our senses of humor grew three sizes.
Photo Finish - Started their entry at the last minute and still finished.
Best Prosecutor - For having, uh, the best prosecutor. Yes.Spoiler : Overall Rankings: :
Almost Actual Winner - "Athena Cykes: Ace Attorney - Wisdom at Law - DEMO" by CallMeBlue & MasqueradeDemure & applekitty
Actual Winner - "The Turnabout Zone" by Trybien & Spongesonic & eerew
