Second Life Game Developer's Competition

Linden Labs, the makers of the virtual world Second Life, is sponsoring a new 2L Game Developer's Competition. The contest invites users to create quests, races, brain teasers, combat games, or anything designed to get Second Life citizens together. First prize is $500 per team member, a year's subscription to 2L, and 8 acres of Second Life land to do with as you please. From the contest page: "Linden Lab will select up to eight teams of 2 to 4 members each to participate in the competition. Each selected team will receive, for a period of up to three months, free temporary accounts for team members, free use of the Second Life development tools, and free use of approximately 3 acres of land in Second Life for the purpose of creating its proposed game and offering it for play by Second Life residents."

Comments

Ownership? Copyright?

[roseblood]

3. Ownership and Copyright - Ownership and copyrights of submitted works remain with the author/creator in accordance with Linden Lab's standard policies. As a condition of entry, each entrant must give Linden Lab permission to use his or her team's game within Second Life and for all promotional purposes for as long as it wishes and to use his or her name and likeness in connection with any such activities.

So, make a game, you get the copyright and ownership but 2ndL gets the financial benefients (save for the prize money you get.)

Oh yeah, and they get to use your name and likeness (photo of your ugly self) as long as they wish... [I bet some pissed off employee will enjoy your face decorating their dartboard when you win with an idea they should have implemeted themselves]

Re:Ownership? Copyright?

[dr.badass]

I think you've misunderstood what Second Life is.

So, make a game, you get the copyright and ownership but 2ndL gets the financial benefients

What financial benefits? People create games in Second Life all the time, without prizes. The only difference here is that you are giving up some of your rights over you creation (right which, in any other game, you wouldn't have had to begin with). If you don't like the terms of the contest, don't enter.

(save for the prize money you get.)

The prizes also include a total of 16 acres of land in SL, which is not without value. In fact, enterprising users will probably see this as the greater prize.

There's also this part:

Each selected team will receive, for a period of up to three months, free temporary accounts for team members, free use of the Second Life development tools, and free use of approximately 3 acres of land in Second Life for the purpose of creating its proposed game and offering it for play by Second Life residents.

They are basically ensuring that it doesn't cost you anything to create your entry.

[I bet some pissed off employee will enjoy your face decorating their dartboard when you win with an idea they should have implemeted themselves]

This is doubtful.
One of the "features" of SecondLife is that the overwhelming majority of the content is user-created. The developers are more interested in creating an environment for them to do so. This contest is an example -- they would rather have the users create the content.

Re:Ownership? Copyright?

[QuantumG]

Some people who have spent a long time in Second Life should really offer a tour guide service. I'm sure there's heaps to see, but the majority of "trial" users just wonder around, see rundown shops with no attendants and leave despondant over the whole experiment.

Re:Ownership? Copyright?

[DaveKap]

Not quite. The makers of 2nd Life, Linden Lab, would pretty much use the game and avatar (probably not your real life mug) in fliers or advertisements, that's about it. You can call that a financial benefit but I'd call that some cool publicity for the guy who made the game. Besides, you should check out this little story: http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/03/ 1853234&tid=209&tid=193 This dude made a game and got it sold to a real life company. Now he gets royalties for it. Allowing Linden Lab to use my avatar and game for promotions is something I'd actually want.

And no one is interested because:

[Umbral Blot]

Doesn't seem like many slashdot users are intersted in 2nd life, i bet because reading slashdot and EQ/WOW take up all their free time. Plus as a subscription service 2nd life doesn't seem to offer much in the way of "fun" (in my opinion). Anyways it seems hard to get people interested in developing for something they probably won't be able to enjoy, as only the winning team gets a free subsrciption. It seems more likely that any developers who could be doing this would find it much more rewarding to do Open Source work, after all they would get to use it after they were done.

Re:And no one is interested because:

[dr.badass]

Doesn't seem like many slashdot users are intersted in 2nd life, i bet because reading slashdot and EQ/WOW take up all their free time.

Actually, I suspect it's because very few people on Slashdot understand what Second Life is.

Plus as a subscription service 2nd life doesn't seem to offer much in the way of "fun" (in my opinion).

Just to play costs $10, one-time. The monthly price is only if you want to own land, which you don't have to do. I think most people don't.

Also, I would argue that Second Life doesn't seem fun just glancing at the page because most of the "game" aspects are user-created and owned. SL is much more of an "environment" than a game itself.

Anyways it seems hard to get people interested in developing for something they probably won't be able to enjoy, as only the winning team gets a free subsrciption.

Actually, it's the top three, but more importantly is the amount of land involved. The top prize includes 8 acres, which ordinarily costs $125 a month. The second and third get 5 and 3 acres respectively, and all of the teams get free land during the development time.

Land is valuable in large part because it can be used to make money, both in-game and in reality. A smart developer would use that 8 acres to build another game and charge to play it.

It seems more likely that any developers who could be doing this would find it much more rewarding to do Open Source work, after all they would get to use it after they were done.

Most of the people entering the competion will be people already developing in Second Life (of which there are a great many). They're basically providing an incentive and an opportunity to create something big, and then rewarding the winners with the opportunity to create something even bigger.

Re:And no one is interested because:

[Anonymous Coward]

Land is valuable in large part because it can be used to make money, both in-game and in reality. A smart developer would use that 8 acres to build another game and charge to play it.

This is why slashdot doesn't use it. It isn't open or piratable.

Re:And no one is interested because:

[drinkypoo]

You should be able to get land that is not connected to commercial interest (you can't charge for it) for free. If you could, then I would play. That would give you a chance to prototype before buying in. I know that would get me to check it out. I'm certainly not interested in paying though.

Re:And no one is interested because:

[dr.badass]

You should be able to get land that is not connected to commercial interest (you can't charge for it) for free.

There are sandbox areas that you can build anything you want in, but that are erased daily. Additionally, anything you build you can carry off, so if you build a house or a gun or a spaceship in the sandbox, you can put it in your pocket and take it elsewhere.

There may be some limitations, but I've never run into them.

Linux?

[IntergalacticWalrus]

I know I'm asking this goddamn everytime I see a Second Life article on slashdot, but I'm asking again: does anybody know if there is there a Linux client in progress? When Second Life started, they said it would have Windows/OSX/Linux clients, but I've yet to see mention of Linux on their page yet. I'd be interested in trying this, but not enough to reboot to Windows (or run it through Wine).

Re:Linux?

[CatherineOmega]

Yes, the Linux client is expected to enter beta by the summer.

It's also fairly trivial to run SL under Wine, though I see that's not your thing.

Re:Linux?

[DaveKap]

Yes, there is a Linux client in progress. I've asked the developers and they have replied that they are working on it. However, the company is still small (I think... what do you consider big?) and it's cool enough that they're able to get PC and Mac working.

Doesn't seem worth it.

[MatthewNewberg]

If you really put effort into this it doesn't really seem worth it. Consider the time it takes for a few people to make models, textures, write code, play test,, $500 dollars is a drop in the bucket compared to how much there time is worth. They really need to raise the prize amount if they want to attract outside people.

This thing does sound really cool for people already into Second Life though.

Re:Doesn't seem worth it.

[dr.badass]

Consider the time it takes for a few people to make models, textures, write code, play test,, $500 dollars is a drop in the bucket compared to how much there time is worth.

The prize is $500 for each team member, but I think the more important thing is that people are already doing these things in SL for free, on their own time.

Also, the value of the land included in the prize is quite large to someone interested in developing in Second Life. 8 acres ordinarily goes for $125/mo. That's $1500 a year. (The second and third prizes get 5 and 3 acres, respectively.)

They really need to raise the prize amount if they want to attract outside people.
This thing does sound really cool for people already into Second Life though.

One of the interesting things about Second Life is that the game's desirability comes almost entirely from user-created content. The better that content is, the more attractive the game will be to outsiders, whether they intend to develop anything or not. Offering interesting content to everyone is a much more effective strategy than offering cash prizes to a few. I think what they're trying to do is to accomplish the former by doing the latter.

In other words, a competition like this is more the ends than the means of attracting outside people.

Re:Doesn't seem worth it.

[QuantumG]

I think Second Life is the biggest online shopping mall I've ever been to. That said, I think you could make some interesting games in Second Life if you could set more "laws" for the land that you own. Like forcing people to give up their magically SL abilities when they step onto your property. It's a bit hard to make, say, a race car track when anyone can just fly to the finish line or plop down their own car which has no speed limitations.

Re:Doesn't seem worth it.

[DaveKap]

But it's simple enough to force your game's car on a player and have the finish line only detect that type of car. I've made games in Second Life. It's easier than anything I've ever coded with before... next to Macromedia Director's "Lingo". But you can get really complex depending on your knowledge of the language, it's incredibly versatile.

Re:Doesn't seem worth it.

[Havenwar]

AFAIK you can set your land as a "no-fly zone". So make that step 1. Step 2, program your game so that only YOUR cars are tracked on the racetrack. Make it possible to rent out a "tracker" if residents wants to test their homebrews against each other. Make sure the tracker goes on a separate channel, and you can have homebuilt vehicles and your own on the track at the same time, without any mixups.

But... I guess you are too set on seeing the limitations instead of the possibilities. Which is quite opposite to Second Life...

Re:Doesn't seem worth it.

[QuantumG]

I agree that there's potential there, but it doesn't go far enough. I think what the system lacks is an ability to skin or "mod" the client. Imagine you had that, you could make a traditional RPG or FPS inside Second Life. I think that's kinda what games are all about. Accepting a set of rules and participating within those rules. The only rules that Second Life seems to present to players are economic ones.. and no-one seems to be offering any other rules.

I suppose someone in SL has actually made a pool table. Even assuming everyone agrees to only use the telekentic powers to manipulate the pool cues (and not the balls) is the interface sufficient to play a game? I'm guessing that it is not. Now, Virtual Pool (back in the day) had a very good interface for "stroking" the pool cue with your mouse. It was actually one of the first games to use the mouse for something other than pointing. Can you script the SL client to simulate that sort of interface? Probably not right? That's the kind of thing you need to make games. Interfaces for different situations and rules under which to participate.

Re:Doesn't seem worth it.

[QuantumG]

As I said in another post, people need to start offering guided tours in Second Life. That way newbies can see all the great things in the world without being exposed to the "giant shopping mall".

Re:Doesn't seem worth it.

[DaveKap]

Some of that you can already do easily, some of that you can't. Some of it is asking too much but absolutely none of it is impossible. Of course there has to be give and take in an environment as open as this one, that's a rule of the game right there. But there are always new developments with every point release and I'm pretty sure more game controls (the ones you want and more) are comming in time for the contest (or so I've heard).

Re:Doesn't seem worth it.

[Havenwar]

agreed, although it has little to do with this issue. Due to a faulty graphics board my view of second life has been limited to the character creation and customization parts, but as my replacement gets shipped, I'll be eager to take in the rest of it.

And you realize of course that guided tours is a business idea that people could charge a buck or two for. Of course, from what I've learned already, there is always people willing to guide and help, if you just ask.

Why should look into this...

[DaveKap]

Tringo You make a game, you get recognition from real life companies. You don't even have to win the contest for this; anybody participating will get seen by other game developers. This is something you can put on your resume and be proud of. I think that's enough of a reason for any prospective game developer to give this a try.

Talk about uninformed opinion

[Weeb]

The idea that a $500 prize "is not worth it" for the time and effort put into the creation of a game just made me cackle.

As a Second Life resident since August, I can easily say it's the most fun online experience I've ever had. But, I'm a creative guy. Only creative and imaginative people will really get the most from their Second Life -- others would prefer to let other people create their worlds for them.

The point of this developer competition is to take some of the already talented and creative folk in-game and give them an opportunity to make a career-changing contribution. Second Life is a hobby for folks who love to make their dreams a reality and those folks have gotten pretty darned good at it. It's not "work" it's play. Many people are creating games in SL for fun anyway. Linden Lab contributing a nice fat pot is just a bonus.

Also, some correction to other ill-informed remarks:

Second Life is not a subscription service. Using SL costs just a one time fee of ten bucks for life. If you'd like to own land in the game, you pay a maintenance fee monthly, but it isn't required for maximum enjoyment of the game and not everyone is a landholder.