Games4Girls Details

• Deadlines and Dates
• Development Platform
• Forming a Group
• Registration Form Submission
• Game Submission
• Optional Video Submission
• Requirements and Crediting Internet Sources
• Judging
• Vendor Information Form - Important!!!
• Prizes

Deadlines and Dates

• Registration Deadline for Competition - 12/18/2009
• Game Submission including evaluations and instructions - 4/5/2010 at midnight in your timezone.
• Optional Video Submission - 4/12/2010
• Winners Announced and ChicTech Retreat - 4/25/2010
• Vendor Information Form - Only winning teams have to complete this form - Separate instructions will be sent to them.

This year, we are limiting the number of registered teams to 30, so be sure to register early.

Development Platform

We require the use of the Game Maker game-development platform. Game Maker is a popular platform for this purpose, with a large community, lots of online documentation, tutorials, etc. It is also relatively easy for a newcomer to get started with. (Last year, we allowed the use of other platforms, but GameMaker was the only one with which we had no technical problems, so to be sure all submitted games will run, we are mandating the use of GM.)

GameMaker is distributed by YoYoGames ; click the "Make" tab.

We will also require that the binary not take extremely long to load or use an extremely large amount of disk space, which has been a problem with some submitted games. Specifically, no game should take more than 30 seconds to load (on a 2+ GH machine), or take up more than 50 MB on disk.

Forming a Group

Each group can have anywhere from one to five undergraduate women on a team. Each group also needs a faculty advisor to supervise them. (We will consider exceptions to these rules, such as including high school or post-graduate students, depending upon their background. We will not allow teams to exceed the maximum of five members.)

Faculty Advisor Responsibilities
Group Contact Member Responsibilities
Requirements for Exceptions

Registration Form Submission

Now that you have decided to participate in G4G, formed your group, dreamed up a game, and downloaded Game Maker, it is time to register for the competition. Register by December 18, 2009. Please make a copy of your registration form before submitting it. Your group contact member and advisor will receive a registration confirmation email within one week of submitting the registration form.

Game Submission

Game Loading Time Limit: 30 seconds or less!!! (Our computers are 2+ GHz Windows/XP machines.)

File size limit: 50 MB

Game Submission deadline is April 5, 2010 at midnight in your timezone. A form will be linked here shortly for you to submit your game, game instructions credits page, proof page(s) and rationale in a single .zip archive file.

• The game should be in the form of an executable (.exe) file created by Game Maker.
• The game instructions should be a .txt, .doc or .pdf file.
• The credits page should list all the websites of the images/sounds/other media that the team used in their game. It should be a .doc or .pdf file. See Requirements and Crediting Internet Sources section for more details.
• The proof page(s) should show evidence that the materials used were not copyrighted and be a .doc or .pdf file. See Requirements and Crediting Internet Sources section for more details.
• The rationale should explain why you think your game will appeal to younger girls and will be available to the high school girls who will judge your game. It can be a .txt, .doc or .pdf file type.

All documents, and any text in the game, must be in English. ALL of the team's members FULL NAMES must be at the top of each of these documents. When submitting your .zip file, use the group contact's last name.

All submitted games will be posted on our website after the competition, and may also be posted on the YoYoGames website. Your participation in this competition indicates your willingness to have your game and all supporting documents posted on these websites.

Video Submission

In lieu of having the G4G teams present their games in person, we invite each to submit a video introducing themselves and explaining their game. This is OPTIONAL, but past teams have found that the video presentations were well received and helped the judges understand their games better.

Time limit of video: 3 minutes

Your video presentations can have anything you want in them, like information about your team and how to play your game. Your video presentation also does not have to be an actual video. It can consist of other forms of media such as audio, animated PowerPoint, or Flash presentation.

Requirements and Crediting Internet Sources

Requirements for Using Image/Music/Other Media from Internet Sources

1. The website is free (does not require money to become a member or to access materials).
2. If the website requires registration, it must be open to everyone.
3. Special connections are not required to gain access to the materials (i.e., knowing the administrator of the site to get access).
4. The materials on the website are free. They are not copyrighted meaning the website explicitly states that the materials are public domain, creative commons law, copyleft or you have explicit permission from the owner of the website.

Rules for Crediting Internet Sources Used in Your Game

1. If you use images/sounds/other media without crediting and proving that your team has permission to use it, we can DISQUALIFY your game.
2. The credits page should be in alphabetical order and titled "Credits."
3. The credits page must be in this format:
   
   Crediting for images
   Name of Creator. Title of the image. "Website Name" Website where the image can be found. (Please put a thumbnail of the image next to this citation)
   
   Crediting for music/sounds
   Name of Performer. Title of the music. "Website Name" Website where the music was taken from.
4. If your team has not used any internet sources, under the credits page have this one sentence "Our team did not use any images/sounds/other media obtained from the internet in our game."

Rules for Showing Proof that the Materials Are Free

1. We are assuming that anything posted on the internet is copyrighted unless the website explicitly states otherwise. Your team needs to provide us a copy of where the website states that the materials are public domain, creative commons law or copyleft.
2. If your team used materials from a personal website, your team must provide us a copy of the email(s) where the web page owner gave your team explicit permission to use the materials in your game.

Judging

Judging will be conducted by the high school girls during the ChicTech Retreat weekend.

Vendor Information Form

This form will ONLY be completed by ALL team members that have placed (1st-3rd) in the competition. We will send the winners more information about how to complete and submit the Vendor Information Form after the ChicTech Retreat when judging has been completed.

Prizes

The winning team will be awarded $2000 and $500 will be donated to the winning team's Department. The second place team will be awarded $1500 and third place team will receive $1000. Each winning team will receive an acrylic plaque. Everyone entered in the competition will receive an Award Certificate.

FAQ

Forming Your Group/Registration Questions

• What is the role or the responsibilities of the advisor?
• What is the role or the responsibilities of the group contact team member?
• What are the rules or requirements for adding either a high school or graduate woman to our team?
• Are there any restrictions on the majors of the team members?
• Are more than one team allowed from the same college/university?
• Can we have team members from different colleges/univesities?
• If we need to make changes to our registration, should we submit a new form?
• Can boys participate in G4G?
• Why is Games 4 Girls (G4G) for girls only?

Post Registration General Questions

• Will we be receiving any communication between the registration and game submission deadline?
• Can we drop a member from our team?
• Can we add a member to our team?

Game Creation Questions

• Is there some place our team can go to for game ideas?
• Can our game be based on famous movie, cartoon or anime?
• Can we use sprites and images from existing games?
• Can we import non-commercial materials (with permission from the authors) into our game?
• Can someone who is not a part of our team compose/create music or images for our game?
• Can the team ask people outside the team for feedback on their game as they progress through its development?
• Do the teams need GameMaker Pro to create their game or are they expected to use the free version of GameMaker?
• When can I get the code/registration key for GameMaker Pro?
   

Forming Your Group/Registration Questions
What is the role or the responsibilities of the advisor?
Faculty advisors do not have any specific responsibilities. There is no requirement that they be directly involved with the software development effort. We also do not expect them to know GameMaker, but it may helpful if the team has specific questions about GameMaker's features or functions.

What is the role or the responsibilities of the group contact team member?
1. After registration, any new information or updates on G4G will only be sent to the group contact member of each team. This means that the rest of the team will not get any emails, so it is the group contact member's responsibility to inform and/or send the email to the rest of the team. We do this to ensure that we can communicate with each team efficiently and effectively and to allow for open lines of communication between team members.

2. If the team is having problems or has questions, please email us only through the group contact member.

What are the rules or requirements for adding either a high school or graduate woman to our team?
1. We will allow only 1 exception for each team; a team can have 1 high school girl OR 1 graduate woman but not both in a group.

2. Since this competition is mainly for undergraduate students, each team must have a majority of undergraduate team members. For example, a team can consist of 2, 3, or 4 undergraduates and 1 high school/graduate student. A team cannot consist of 1 undergraduate and 1 high school/graduate student.

3. A team cannot consist of a single high school or graduate woman.

4. A team cannot consist entirely of high school or graduate women.

5. We also need to know what kind of background the high school/graduate student has in terms of their experiences with computer science. The graduate student should not have research or industrial experience that would give her an advantage. For example, we would not allow a graduate student in a team if they've specialized in graphics or other areas closely related to gaming, or have been previously employed doing game development.

6. Lastly, the team needs to let us know if they want a high school/graduate school member on their team. They need to email the background information of the member they want to add and the number of undergraduate team members to cjchan2@illinois.edu. We will then let the team know if they will be allowed the exception.

Are there any restrictions on the majors of the team members?
No restrictions

Are more than one team allowed from the same college/university?
Yes

Can we have team members from different colleges/universities?
No, team members should all be from the same college/university.

If we already submitted our registration form and we need to make changes, should we submit another form?
No, please send the changed information to cjchan2@illinois.edu in the following format:
Name of College/University
Team Member's Name
Email
Phone Number
Full Mailing Address
Major (what is your major subject curriculum?)
Minor (if you do not have a minor subject curriculum, put in N/A)

Can boys participate in G4G?
Although we are happy that boys want to participate, this is a competition for the promotion of girls in computer science, therefore we can only allow girls to participate.

Why is Games 4 Girls (G4G) for girls only?
Although it would be best to have men and women work together on programming projects, right now there is a shortage of women majoring in computer science causing this situation to be impossible to achieve. Through this competition, we hope to increase the number of women in computer science.

Post Registration General Questions
Will we be receiving any communications between the registration and game submission deadline?
Yes, emails will be sent to the group contact member if there is any new information or changes to the rules in regards to G4G. Reminders will also be sent for any upcoming deadlines around the end of March or early April.

Can we drop a member from our team?
Yes, just give us the College/University name and the name of the team member you're dropping.

Can we add a member to our team?
1. If your team wants to add another undergraduate team member, we will allow this as long as your team does not go over the 5 member limit. If your team consists of less than 5 members we will allow you to add 1 or more members until you reach 5 members. If your team has 5 members, you cannot add any more team members.

2. If your team wants to add either a high school student or a graduate student, please see the above requirements and then notify us about their background in computer science. We will then decide if they can be on your team or not.

3. For any team adding members, please send us the following information:
Name of College/University
New Team Member's Name
Email
Major (what is your major subject curriculum?)
Minor (if you do not have a minor subject curriculum, put in N/A).
Phone Number
Full Mailing Address

Game Creation Questions
Is there some place our team can go to for game ideas?
You can go here and download the game submissions from last year's competition.

Can our game be based on famous movie, cartoon or anime?
Your game can be based on a famous movie, cartoon or anime but you cannot take sprites or images directly from them as there are legal issues.

Can we use sprites and images from existing games?
Teams cannot use sprites or images from commercial games like Mario or Zelda, but they can use them from games that one of the team members previously took part in creating.

Can we import non-commercial materials (with permission from the authors) into our game?
We will allow teams to do this as long as all teams have equal access to the materials, the materials are legal, and the materials do not require special connections (i.e. membership or knowing certain people) and money to obtain. In particular, we will allow teams to use music and images from websites where people post their music and artwork free for others to use.

Can someone who is not a part of our team compose/create music or images for our game?
No, we consider music and images as a major contribution to your game since it was made specifically for your game. This is one of the sections that your game will be judged on, and if we allow this, your team will have an unfair advantage over the other teams. If you use this person's music or artwork, they have to be a part of your team.

Can the team ask people outside the team for feedback on their game as they progress through its development?
Yes they can as long as people outside of the team are not helping them create code, images, sprites or music for their game.

Do the teams need GameMaker Pro to create their game or are they expected to use the free version of GameMaker?
We expect the teams to start working on their games with the free version of Game Maker. Later on if the teams want to, they can use Game Maker Pro by contacting us for the codes. But the teams shouldn't delay working on their games, as the Pro version actually has few advantages over the free version.

When can I get the code/registration key for GameMaker Pro?
We receive the codes/registration keys from YoYoGames and generally get them in either February or March. The date for this is not set, so when we receive them, we'll let all the teams know, and they can then contact us for the codes.

Games4Girls Winners

The 2009 G4G winners were:

Other 2009 G4G Participants