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 Jessica    |
In the interest of moving forward with planning this year's CCSF, it looks like I'll be this year's coordinator! I appreciate everyone who took the time to vote, and I'm very flattered to have been chosen. Ghosthande, Laura, and Liam are wonderful members of the community, and I'm sure that they'll be very much involved with the CCSF 2012. I just get the fun job of putting things together! It comes with a lot of responsibility, yet I'm glad to put in more time. This is a wonderful community, and it's not just Creatures that makes it that way: It's the people. Just for reference, the results of the coordinator poll can be found here. We're already well into August, and many details of this year's CCSF still need to be worked out. Ylukyun held a survey earlier this year, and the results can be viewed here. There were a lot of great ideas posted! However, I think it's wise to start nailing down some of the important details. Perhaps another survey is worthwhile, although I'm also happy to open up a discussion here! Not everyone's wants will be able to be met, although I want to try to incorporate as many ideas as possible. I believe the three main aspects to figure out within the next week are the following: - When will the CCSF 2012 take place? - What will be the theme of this year's CCSF? (Do we need a theme?) - Where will the CCSF be hosted? Regarding the last comment, it looks like a standard web site is the most preferred method. I'm also OK with having the CCSF slightly decentralized, with members able to release things on their own. However, I think it's important to have the vast majority of releases coordinated in one location: We don't want to have a few days with very little to enjoy, while other days have a bit too much to offer! So feel free to post away: I'll post a survey if it seems like we need one. However, time is of the essence! Our normal November time period is coming up quickly, and the last thing I want to see is a CCSF that suffers from being put together at the last minute. Maybe I worry too much, but everyone deserves an amazing annual event: Let's make sure the CCSF 2012 is one we all will enjoy and be proud of! |
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 Liam |
1 and 3, to me, seem fairly obvious; November 1-14 (as in previous years and decided by previous poll), and Don already has a fantastic backend for the website, so...  As for a theme, I don't really think we need one, personally. A theme is really kind of difficult to follow for most people. - Liam / K'aeloree Spellhold Studios, a Baldur's Gate II, Neverwinter Nights and Oblivion Modding Community |
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 Prodigal Sock Ghosthande |
So why not provide a "no theme" option, for folks who don't want one? ![[nblank]](/images/smilies/emot_blank.gif "[nblank]") Given how many people offered ideas for themes in the last survey, it didn't really seem like much of a concern.Besides, it's never been an obligation that people make their contributions suit a given theme... as has been pointed out consistently each year. If someone doesn't know what to do with it they're free to ignore it completely in favor of the spirit of the CCSF in general.  |
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Jessica |
November 1st-14th is what I imagined, Liam: Just wanted to make sure that's still feasible for anyone developing! I'm willing to push it out a week or two, if it seems like we need to. Otherwise, that's what I'm generally aiming for! I suppose the web site portion is more for me: I'll have to get together with Don to figure out how it works! I'm up for other ideas, although I'm pretty positive this is the method that will be used. I'm kind of leaning towards the no theme option, too: There are a lot of ideas and talented developers, and I wouldn't want to limit submissions because we had a theme that didn't line up with certain agents, breeds, etc. If a theme does turn up, I might just incorporate it into the CCSF 2012 site design, rather than basing releases on it. Themes almost seem more like ideas for releases to me: Not that we need a theme each day or anything, but they might give people ideas for something to develop. I think I'll put together a quick list from the survey: Submissions can be based on anything, though! I just figure these themes might offer a little inspiration, if it's needed. |
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 Tea Queen Laura Administrator |
I’m a bit concerned over the prospect of not having a theme this year, and I’ll explain why. It could be just my thinking, and maybe I’m alone in this, but I really think a theme adds a much needed structure, providing an idea for people to work towards, as well as an added something - a spark - to a CCSF. Putting the submissions aside (which of course are a vital aspect, but I’d also argue that they aren’t everything a CCSF is made up of) and I think we could end up with a festival that’s a bit (sorry, sorry, sorry!) samey, in my eyes. ![[ngrimace]](/images/smilies/emot_grimace.gif "[ngrimace]") I think we need that sprinkling of pizazz; that defining element which tells each CCSF apart!i.e. I can't help but think that last year’s "New faces: New users, creators starting small and perhaps a new game to boot" theme played a part in CCSF 2011’s success and the record amount of releases we saw. It encouraged people. It meant that we saw submissions from people who hadn’t contributed to a CCSF before, from members both new and old. In this sense, having a theme works brilliantly. Heck, it even inspired me to develop for the first time and release my humble, unashamedly basic agents into the community; something I NEVER thought I’d do. And I know it was the same for others too. ![[nsmile]](/images/smilies/emot_smile.gif "[nsmile]") In short: Like Ghosthande said, please add a "No theme" option to the survey and see what happens first, because I feel certain there is no real reason to discount a theme completely... Perhaps it just comes down to choosing the right theme? Other than that, I wish you all the very best of luck and the successful running of the CCSF 2012, Jessica! I'll get off my soapbox now. ![[nwink]](/images/smilies/emot_wink.gif "[nwink]") I'll be here, and I'm sure the other old hands will be too, should you need anything at all! |
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Liam |
But I'm not sure having a theme has actually added much to the CCSFs at all. Our CCSFs have differed more due to branding and what the developers have made that year: those are the two most important things. The best CCSFs have been the ones with lots of releases, primarily orchestrated by coordinators like Laura who were very active in making sure there were releases to be made I suspect the themes haven't played a big role because they haven't actually been very concrete. Pirates, spaceships, the arctic. That's easy to work with. Having themes like "friendship" or "community", while obviously integral parts of the actual community, are kind of difficult for developers to follow. If I had a theme of, say, Norns on Mars, well... that's a concrete theme I can work with from a development perspective. Much easier than something like "community." And hey, I pushed for vague themes in the first place during the early CCSFs, so I definitely share the 'blame' for it being like it is. But I do think having a distinct, concrete theme with unique branding would make for a brilliant CCSF. - Liam / K'aeloree Spellhold Studios, a Baldur's Gate II, Neverwinter Nights and Oblivion Modding Community |
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Jessica |
I can certainly see both sides of the argument for and against CCSF themes. A theme kind of pulls everything together and makes it seem like everything is part of something, rather than a bunch of random Creatures-related content. Like Liam said, if we end up with a theme, I think it will be important to have it more specific than broad. And if we pick something that works across the board for a lot of developers, all the better! From the first survey, here are the suggestions for the theme. It's a long list, but I wanted to put these out there as an easy way to see them all! Very few have been combined, even if they were similar, and only a couple were excluded, such as Christmas in July (since we're already in August). I'll put together a survey within the next day: Just wanted to see if there was a discussion first before creating a survey. Many of these will be combined so it's not so daunting to choose from! New Life/Change Aquatic An End The Future Wolfing Run Ready Botanical Traveling Creatures Writing Breeding Projects Autumn Creatures 4 Mythology Nurturing Fan Fictions My World, My Creatures and I Happy Holidays Funtastic Halloween Steampunk More Ecology Pushing CAOS to Its Limit Back to Nature Art Deco Freeform Minecraft The Wolfing Games Retro Creatures Creatures: It Goes On The Restart of a Virtual Life Game: Creatures 4 and Grandroids Past, Present, and Future Time Traveling Nature and Technology Imagination Innovation Computers/The Internet Eggs Pillows Retro, Old Albia Genetics New Worlds Apocalypse Creatures 4: A New Beginning Creatures 4: A New Generation Colonization Stability Nature Who Needs Creatures 4? The Community Shines Wild West Freezing Antarctic Forests Foxes |
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 Sanely Insane RisenAngel Manager |
Out of that list, I like "Wolfling Run Ready," "Apocalypse," and "Who Needs Creatures 4?" the most. Personally though, I'm rather neutral to the theme situation - I can work just fine with or without one. Risen Angel's Creatures Blog |
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 Amaikokonut |
I'm in the "why bother with a theme" camp, but out of that list, I have to admit "Who Needs Creatures 4?" made me giggle, even though I'll admit it's probably contradictory to the purpose of CCSF considering it's probably pretty controversial. Also "Foxes" because it's just so completely random. And "Pillows". Super-specific themes are awesome, and IMO, way more inspiring than really general themes. But this just gave me the strangest idea for an event-- not necessarily a CCSF theme, but a "contribution challenge" in which creators/developers of all kinds agree to create something (be it an agent, breed, story, artwork, etc) to a mystery theme, and when the theme is unveiled, they have to make the best of it. Could be amusing?  [Naturing :: Nurturing] |
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 bjw |
The options about C4 got me to thinking... While I myself am not a developer (though I did dabble in it to try to do some things in C3 a few times) I would like to see this CCSF beat all the others. Why? Because what has me concerned the most about C4 is that the series is going to take an entirely new direction. C4 seems to be more along the lines of Creatures Adventures where it is geared to the younger set with less possibilities of fans developing agents, metarooms, breeds, etc. for the game. If we can take a spectacular CCSF and show it to Gameware, Fishing Cactus, and everyone else involved and they see that there is a demand for this type of thing, then it might do something to get all the new people that are just introduced to Creatures via C4 interested in development. The last thing we want is for the Creatures Labs and Creatures Development Network websites to go away forever. I think a spectacular CCSF right before the C4 release would have the possibility of making a major impact, if anything it could be considered a "one last hurrah" for C3 before things switch to C4. If something could be said about it on an official C4 blog or something that may be even better. |
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 mip |
Amaikokonut wrote: I really like this idea! I'm not so keen on having a theme for CCSF as a whole because it might discourage people who are working on projects which don't fit the chosen theme but a themed contest or challenge sounds fun. If I had to pick one of the themes from above, it would be "Past, Present and Future". It's broad enough that a lot of the other themes (such as "Retro", "Steampunk", "Apocalypse", "Colonization", "The Internet and Technology" etc) fit neatly into it. I also think it's a nice theme to celebrate the past Creatures games, the present community which keeps these games fresh and new, and the fast-approaching future in C4 and Grandroids.  Exploring the Ark A journal for C3/DS - updated last: 5 May 2013 |
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ArchDragon |
I kind of agree a theme isn't necessary to a successful CCSF, but I have to say I think it adds something. Even if people don't follow it to the letter it helps foster some inspiration and gives an overarching feel to the whole event. Perhaps a more important point, I think it's likely to make new developers try and come up with ideas. Many long time developers will already have projects they're working on and will continue to work on, but often times coming up with an idea can be the hardest part. Having a theme is likely to get creative juices flowing where they may not have been flowing before. I hate to throw new ideas into the mix when we already have such a long list, but I'd opt for something like "Welcome". With a bit of luck C4 will be released at a similar time to this years CCSF. Perhaps we could have a celebration to welcome all the new players who will soon join us? But that theme could be fairly well encompassed by Past, Present, and Future, so mabye it's not necessary. |
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Jessica |
Amaikokonut: I really like the idea of a contribution challenge! To put a spin on it for the CCSF, perhaps there could be an overarching theme, but specific themes could be used for two contribution challenges. This would give everyone the freedom to develop anything, but those developers who wanted to take on a specific challenge would have something very specific to work towards. Thanks for the idea! BJW: Very good point! Although I'm still hopeful that Creatures 4 will be a fun game worthy of continuing on the series, I'm not expecting it to be. Having a CCSF that really shows the community's love and support of third-party development for the older games should make a lasting impact. I think it will be good to incorporate C4 somehow, but the focus will still clearly be on C1, C2, and C3! Rest assured I'll be bugging those at Fishing Cactus about the CCSF, once we have some details figured out! A survey might not be completely necessary at this point, since many are sharing their opinions here. I'm also anxious to get these details figured out quickly: Last year, we had the theme and dates determined in mid-July. I think this just helps the community plan ahead and have a deadline in mind. What about the following? Dates: November 1st-14th Hosting: Don (Same as other CCSFs) Theme: Past, Present, and Future (Because this encompasses many of the ideas, and also has a place for many ideas. Retro and futuristic creations would both fit in, and this also applies to the community at large.) Contribution Challenges: Ecology/Nature and My World The first contribution challenge is pretty self-explanatory: Developers would be encouraged to submit something related to ecology/nature for any of the Creatures games. I imagine this would most likely take place through agents/COBs, which is where the second contribution challenge comes in. My World would challenge members to share how they play the game: It could be in the form of writing, fan fiction, wolfing run results, breeding projects, or even new agents/breeds/COBs that represent a specific playing style. Any thoughts on this? I believe the theme and contribution challenges kind of touch upon a lot of the concerns. The other avenue is to have no theme, yet the Past, Present, and Future idea seems to strike a fair medium. Submissions could also be categorized by past/present/future, so that some days could focus on one period, while others could have a mix. And then, of course, other days could just be a bit more random! |
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Prodigal Sock Ghosthande |
We've already had time themes in 2009 and 2010. Can we try for something a little different? Whether folks agree that it's necessary to have a theme or not, rehashing the same concept seems like it defeats the purpose of having one. And we have a lot of good ideas to choose from.If it has to be time related, why not make it something specific, like Time Traveling or Retro Creatures (as in, Creatures with a 70's theme). I still believe that specific themes would be best, and it would keep this one from getting completely stale. In general, my favorite themes are Funtastic/Carnival/Funfair/etc. and New Worlds/Colonization/Wild West. |
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Jessica |
That's true, Ghosthande. I thought I had read the themes for 2009 and 2010 differently, but time has been a pretty popular theme. I'm definitely up for something a little more unique and different! I rather like the idea of New Worlds: Many releases seem to necessitate new worlds to be created, and we could easily find certain themes to tie together. For example, releases could be centered around a new world theme: Several nature-related submissions could be released together, giving the impression of a vibrant and untouched new world. Other releases that seemed more industrial/urban/metallic could represent another world that's already been colonized. Hopefully that makes some sense! I should note that I'll be out of town for a couple of days starting tomorrow, returning either late Sunday or early Monday. So if it seems like I'm not responding, it's just because I don't have access to a computer. Great discussion so far! |
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 Devil COBbler GirlySatan |
I am super late to the party, but I wanted to say that a theme should definitely be a part of CCFS! I probably wont follow the theme at all because I have been working on a C1 world FOREVER, but I can probably add something in it to follow the theme. I don't see why people don't want a theme, when you don't have to follow the theme necessarily! and that gives lots of room for people who need a theme to spark ideas, and also allows people who have planned before there was even a theme to work some minor details in that follow the theme (or blow it off because they were working on it for months and just want it done  )Although, my C1 world will fit in well with the contribution challenge theme! I like the halloween and steampunk since it will just be after halloween and Dia De Los Muertos which are my favorite holidays. I am not sure about the time theme because its getting close to themes that previously happened as Ghosthande says. Holiday themes might be good because it allows people to try what they want for different holidays (and maybe they will use holidays that arent very well known or are culturally important for them). Also themes have helped contribute for all the past years, so it seems silly to mess with a good thing! Devilishly Yours, GirlySatan ![[devil]](/images/smilies/devil.gif "[devil]") |
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Amaikokonut |
GirlySatan wrote: Totally agree with this, but I'll add that if we're going to have another incredibly generic, all-encompassing theme, we may as well not have one at all. I think the more specific the theme, the more inspiring and memorable it is. No one is obligated to follow or adhere to the theme, so none of this, "well I was GOING to release my flipping circus monkeys, but the theme was CUMULONIMBUS CLOUDS so I couldn't." I feel like if we're going to have a theme, it needs to serve its purpose to inspire us, spark intrigue, maybe try something new, rather than 'try to cover all the bases so no one feels left out'. Creativity is one of those interesting things that can actually blossom better when more constraints are put on it. I mean, consider the themes "plants" vs "fruit" vs "bananas". Which is more likely to spark truly interesting and unique contributions? Which is more likely to make you think in a different direction than you might normally think? The point of a theme, IMHO, is to spark new ideas, rather than try to fit everyone's already-existing ideas into the theme. This notion of "fitting a bunch of themes into one" is well-intentioned, but in practice I think it tends to result in a less potent and honestly uninspiring theme. But, that's just my personal take on it. I realize everyone sees the theme as holding a different role/purpose in the CCSF. At this point I don't really care either way if there's a theme or not, but there's always a chance that if something truly unique is chosen, I'll find myself personally inspired to contribute more. [Naturing :: Nurturing] |
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Liam |
Personally, I love the one of the ideas suggested above -- botanical :-) - Liam / K'aeloree Spellhold Studios, a Baldur's Gate II, Neverwinter Nights and Oblivion Modding Community |
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mip |
I don't think I suggested a theme in the original poll (I was too new to know what was going on!) so I don't know if I'm allowed to suggest one now, but how about "orange" or "red"? I like the idea of a colour theme. If not, my preference would be Steampunk/Nature and Technology/Computers and The Internet - a technology-based theme. Really, a lot of the themes suggested can be grouped together into the following: - Botanical/plant focus - Breeding/wolf running - Nature/ecology/fauna - Weather/seasons - Writing - Time/periods of history/apocalyptic future - Technology - Holidays - Fashions - Creatures 4 - Civilization Exploring the Ark A journal for C3/DS - updated last: 5 May 2013 |
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 Wiimeiser |
-Civilization Would be a perfect time to see how we could get that village metaroom set up then. Hashikin ko Tyni Kong Taria Haju'Rumia'an Klodz'Proddi. Terdish oxen saur yessi atai Kongo Dolpik! |
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Jessica |
Just popping in quickly before I head off on vacation! I'm thinking of using the New Worlds theme (perhaps renaming it at some point) in a way that would cover a lot of other themes. If it seems feasible, I'd like to write up descriptions of about ten different worlds that Norns, Ettins, Grendels, and even the Shee might inhabit. The idea would be to spark some inspiration, and gather submissions specifically geared towards those planet descriptions. But I'm not expecting submissions for every one: Other days would be dedicated to uncharted worlds, old Albia, or anything else. In the worst case, the CCSF would have to be extended a few days... Not exactly a bad thing! I believe this touches on a lot of the points that were raised about needing a theme that would inspire and motivate developers. What are everyone's thoughts on this idea? I could have the descriptions written by the middle of next week, which should hopefully start things moving! I'm really trying to incorporate everyone's thoughts, but it's impossible to please each and every member! I'm just hoping that this theme/idea sounds unique and will please many. The world descriptions will be vastly different, but I'll be sure to touch upon most of the other themes that were suggested! Have a great weekend! Please feel free to continue discussing this in depth: I'll be checking in as soon as I get back, and I'm hoping that the New Worlds theme will be received well by then. Thanks! |
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Prodigal Sock Ghosthande |
Having multiple themes might do a lot to help alleviate the whole "I don't have any ideas for X theme" mentality some have expressed in the past. But we might still want to stick to a conservative number, maybe five(?) or so. I believe we got about 40 releases last year? Even if this year is equally spectacular as 2011 was, 10 themes seems like it would be spreading things a bit thin. I'd be interested in seeing other peoples' opinions on this concept, though. I already know what I'm going to be working on, but most of the themes mentioned since my last post would suit at least one of them. Wild West, Time Travel, periods of history, ecology, seasons, civilization... I think whatever is decided on, I'll probably be good to go.  |
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Devil COBbler GirlySatan |
I like the New Worlds theme idea. Devilishly Yours, GirlySatan |
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Ettina |
I think our theme should reflect something related to celebrating C4, since this is the CCSF for the year of C4's release. New Beginnings is a good one for that, though it does suffer the issue of being too broad. New Worlds could be another, but I'm not sure how I'd apply that to a genetic breed. Maybe make a breed adapted to an unusual environment? Oh, another idea: what if our theme is 'new frontiers'? For that, you'd encourage people to submit something that makes some aspect of the game more advanced or lifelike. For example, I was thinking of making norns that can freeze to death. Though maybe this one would discourage some of the less advanced developers, and we don't want that. By the way, I don't care if anyone steals my ideas for their own work, as long as you don't try to stop me from making my own stuff. Many ideas I mention are things I don't have the time or skill to actually do. |
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Liam |
But those themes are still very broad. I honestly think something specific (like a particular clime or place) would be much better than an extremely general theme such as "new worlds". It's a good general theme but defeats the point of having more specificity in the theme. Multiple very specific themes would be okay as well. - Liam / K'aeloree Spellhold Studios, a Baldur's Gate II, Neverwinter Nights and Oblivion Modding Community |
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Prodigal Sock Ghosthande |
That's what I was thinking/assuming. Sub-themes might be something like "Desert", "Ocean", "Technologal", "Spooky", "Botanical Bonanza"... et cetera. I'd better stop with the examples now before I get into too much alliteration. |
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 Don |
I've sent you the login to the ccsf@creaturescommunity.com email address Jessica, and will let you know when I'm back and have the website ready for you to log into it for a new year Don AmberCreatures  |
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Jessica |
Thanks, Don! New Worlds would encompass a few very specific sub-themes: My idea is to have developers focus in on creating specific things if they're looking for new ideas, while others might have agents/COBs/breeds/etc. already in mind. I'm planning on posting a sample description of one of these worlds within the next day: Hopefully that will give people an idea of where I'm going! I don't mind putting in this type of work... Just as long as we end up with a good number of submissions! I also think this could encompass Creatures 4 since, after all, it takes place on its own brand new world! I'll also be creatively interpreting "world" in a couple of the sub-themes. And if I haven't mentioned it before, I hope to write up a bunch of sub-themes, with the expectation that only a few will be fully utilized. Maybe we'll get a ton of releases again, although 2011 will be difficult to top! |
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Jessica |
Here are a couple of sample world descriptions that may or may not make it into the final list. I plan on making these a little more exciting, with a format more fitting for reconnaissance missions. If all sounds good, I'm going to finalize these details this week so we can start moving forward on other things needed for the CCSF 2012! World One An initial scan of the planet indicated a tropical paradise, yet further inspection has shown that the ground level of this hot world is highly inhospitable. Large trees have adapted to plant their roots deep beneath the toxic soil, while the rest of the plant life is designed to live off of these trees or other means. Animals and creatures live high in the tree canopies, with many adapted to fly or glide. Structures may be easily supported by these gigantic trees, which make the world look almost entirely green from a spaceship's point of view. Camouflage is necessary for many creatures to blend in and avoid tree-dwelling predators. World Two Radio frequencies were picked up long before a visual scan could be completed of this planet. The inhabitants are highly sophisticated and talented technicians, yet the world is anything but industrial. There are very few natural sources of food, so the creatures have developed vending machines and artificial methods to gain nutrition. Perhaps the most interesting element is the colorful and festive atmosphere: Every color of the rainbow can be found, while a sort of celebration occurs in large towns on a regular basis. Music and excitement are an almost necessary way of life for these creatures. |
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