{"author_name":"MrTwister","cat":"LD #30","comments":[{"author_name":"Donar","time":"August 29, 2014 5:34 pm","epoch":1409351640,"text":"If a game has no sound, does it matter if I give N\/A or 1 star? The “Overall” rating is not calculated by the other categories and the game won’t win in the audio category either way.","spam":"N"},{"author_name":"","time":"August 29, 2014 5:55 pm","epoch":1409352900,"text":"Glad to see someone chiming in!","spam":"N"}],"epoch":1409348820,"likes":13,"metadata":{"p_key":"26375","p_author":"MrTwister","p_authorkey":"0","p_urlkey":"61803","p_title":"Rating games: A Guide?","p_cat":"LD #30","p_event":"LD30","p_time":"1409348820","p_likes":"13","p_comments":"5","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":null,"us_name":null,"us_username":null,"event_start":"1408665600","event_key":"24","event_name":"LD30"},"text":"

It’s always pretty exciting to work on a game for \u00a0ludumdare. I’ve participated alone and in team\u00a0and it’s always such a great experience!<\/p>\n

I’ve seen a few discussions popping up here and there about\u00a0the judging\/review process. There are several instances where it’s not THAT easy\u00a0to know how to rate a game!<\/p>\n

While I’m not a veteran, during the time I’ve been here I’ve seen people agree\u00a0on “best practices” that I’ll try to outline below\u00a0or at least start a healthy open discussion about them!\u00a0(if I’m wrong in any of them please let me know!)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Take into account\u00a0 whether\u00a0the game was submitted to\u00a0the compo or the Jam!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This will let you rate the game better. I know bad graphics are bad graphics, but\u00a0compo games can’t be judged with the same “harshness” you would use for\u00a0Jam games because they were done in less time (48 hours instead of 72), by a single person\u00a0(not a team) and -in theory- during the competition! (which is not necessarily true for Jam games, where using pre-existent\u00a0assets is allowed). Same with music, or the level of polish.\u00a0In fact, every aspect should be judged taking into account whether is a jam or a compo game!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Make sure you read the description!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The “description” is the first and main\u00a0instance for\u00a0developers to\u00a0communicate with future players, so a lot of them will try to post\u00a0information here\u00a0that will help you play and rate their game.<\/p>\n

I know sometimes there’s nothing relevant in the description, but you’ll find that in quite a lot of games reading the description first will definitely make a difference! Perhaps the\u00a0developers\u00a0didn’t have time for a tutorial and you’ll find the instructions there.\u00a0Perhaps all the audio was taken from somewhere else and they are honest\u00a0about it in the description (more on this later), perhaps you need to install something before playing the game. \u00a0Perhaps the web version has annoying bugs and glitches the other versions don’t have. All of this is relevant and will probably help you judge\u00a0their game better!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The game doesn’t run? Don’t rate it!<\/h2>\n

If the game you are trying to play is not working for you, don’t\u00a0give\u00a0it a low score!. The most sensible thing to do is leave a comment saying that it didn’t run on your system. If you can provide relevant\u00a0information (Operating System, \u00a0Processor, graphics card, Browser, A message that popped up before crashing, etc) all the better!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remember that N\/A means Not Applicable!<\/h2>\n

If the game lacks audio, for instance, the best thing to do is to NOT\u00a0rate the game\u00a0in that category. \u00a0Same with humor, for instance. If it’s an emotional game about a serious\u00a0topic there’s no reason to give it a 1-star rating in humor when it’s not trying to be funny.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The audio or graphics are not their own? (Open to discussion)<\/h2>\n

For jam games where assets made before the competition or freely available on the internet can be used this is a really hard topic!. A lot of developers will tell you in the description if there’s something in their game they didn’t make themselves, while others simply won’t,\u00a0which makes this issue all the more complicatedl! Not really sure what the “recommended course of action” is, but when the audio for a game wasn’t made by the team\u00a0I usually don’t give the game a score\u00a0in that\u00a0category.<\/p>\n

If they used\u00a0a mix between things they made during the jam and things they borrowed from public sources then I try to “judge” the assets they did for the game and how they “blend” with everything else. \u00a0It’s a really complicated case (and\u00a0hopefully\u00a0uncommon) so I’d truly love \u00a0to know what other people do when this happens!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Leave a comment!<\/h2>\n

Leaving a comment after you’ve rated a game is not only a way to let the developer know you played their entry\u00a0but also a way of helping them improve their game! \u00a0Bug reports, suggestions and feedback in general (e.g: “Loved your game!”) are\u00a0always welcome by developers and will most likely help them continue working on\u00a0the game beyond\u00a0ludumdare. Plus, a lot of people (including myself)\u00a0will return you the favor!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I think that’s all the advice I can give for rating games.\u00a0If you know of\u00a0other “best practices” please let me know and I’ll add them here!
\n Having said that, go and rate some games!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n \n

Tags: advice<\/a>, judging<\/a>, Ludumdare<\/a><\/p>","time":"August 29th, 2014 4:47 pm","title":"Rating games: A Guide?"}