Interest in a Zelda Video Competition...*

[Ventus]

*I asked around and I got the greenlight from Locke to make this thread; I know well that it could serve as a blog but the aim is to get publicity. I do not know where to put it, so general discussion it is until a mod decides otherwise.
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As you may or may not know, I had been pushing for a new Competition to come in - the type where you would record a clip or a couple of segments of gameplay, render them together using whatever programs you have, and upload them to YouTube to pit them against other players' clips within specified parameters.

A couple of posts I've made in the past have said effectively what these two posts - by Krazy4Krash and myself - say:
http://zeldadungeon.net/forum/f115/official-suggestions-thread-10047-24.html#post688778
http://zeldadungeon.net/forum/f115/official-suggestions-thread-10047-24.html#post688890

Being an impatient person, I've also volunteered to have "challenges" for my Zelda Game of the Month Group, as you can see here:
(April's challenge was a long one consisting of several dungeons in Ocarina of Time with the three heart challenge) April *Challenge* - Ocarina of Time 3HC Deku Tree through Jabu Jabu

(May's challenge - the latest one - consists merely of 100% completing Woodfall Temple in Majora's Mask) May *Challenge* - Woodfall Temple + All Fifteen Stray Fairies

(Krazy won April's challenge) Congratulations to Krazy4Krash! - Blogs - Dungeon Gaming Network

Here are a couple of videos showcasing segments of April's challenge:
[ZD Video Competition] - Zelda OoT Submission Example *Emulator* - YouTube
[ZD Video Competition] - Ocarina of Time [2/3] - YouTube
Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly - YouTube
Dodongo's Cavern - YouTube

So as you can see, there is some support - I think the problem is that we have not been vocal enough about it.

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What worries me, though, is this message from Djinn:

The competitions are somewhat slowing down and I think a video competition might have the smallest amount of interest overall. There have been a few suggestions for them in the past, it is just that not many have gotten on board for it so far.

There's a lot of truth to that. It's Springtime so people are likely getting done with school and thus won't have much time to participate. However, Summertime is just around the corner and thus people will have more time to participate then. What I'm wondering is, is there anyone at the very least INTERESTED in these competition?

 

[Fraxinus]

That depends... can we make GMVs? And do said clips have to be recorded by ourselves for such? Of course, with the conditions of my beloved Huey, I have to pace my work so I don't know how close to meeting a deadline I would be... Um, takes me about 1-2 hours to get 30 seconds worth of GMV... so... yeah.

I'd be interested, but I only will take part if Huey is feeling up to it. I won't force him to run MovieMaker (because I' too cheap for anything else and I make things in it look professional) if he doesn't get along.

Of course, that's if GMVs are included in this community contest's mix.

 

[Justac00lguy]

I feel that this competition has real potential, I mean where on a gaming site/forum so why not have a competition dedicated to it? I feel if it gains momentum it could really kick off, I'll try my best to get some equipment and whatnot to take part as I am genuinely interested in this competition, I think it's a great idea. :yes:

 

[Ventus]

Of course, that's if GMVs are included in this community contest's mix.

I did not consider GMVs in the mix because there are so few Zelda titles with cinematic cutscenes. To be honest, I don't know the extent of GMVs and what they concern; can you use raw gameplay or does it actually have to be a game cutscene spliced with music (and perhaps alterations to the flim itself like gradients and greenscreening etc)?

 

[Vanessa28]

I stickied this topic because I feel it deserves a chance. Especially now some other competitions are "dead". So if people are willing to participate we can make this a returning event. I don't know if you hand out gold for the winner but the winner will also receive an award

 

[Ventus]

I stickied this topic because I feel it deserves a chance. Especially now some other competitions are "dead". So if people are willing to participate we can make this a returning event. I don't know if you hand out gold for the winner but the winner will also receive an award

Thanks Vee <3

I do hand out gold; the amount I usually determine beforehand but I'm waiting to see a plausible amount as I have to watch my wallet before I go broke

EDIT: To attract as many competitors as possible, for the GAMEPLAY competitions I do accept any kind of format - camera (as long as it is VISIBLE and we can tell what is going on); capture card no matter the kind just can't skip frames; emulator because of its ease of access.

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With that all said and done, I now welcome the "first" Zelda Video Competition! To keep it in the same vein as my contest I'm running back at home-base, I will merge this month's "challenge" for the contest!

Category: Gameplay

Prompt: Complete the Woodfall Temple in Majora's Mask whilst obtaining all fifteen stray fairies in the process.

Rules
- No cheat codes of any kind.
- No glitches of any kind. This includes megahopping, ISG, et cetera.
- No fairies.

Deadline: May 31st, 2013 (all videos must be submitted by then)

Goal: Shortest time possible! This is based on time so it's going to be as objective as possible. I will allow a (time) x (1/60) boost for the people who play the game at 50Hz instead of 60Hz.

Prize: Award for first place; 100 gold to first place, 50 gold to second place, 25 gold to third, zip for all others.

 

[Dan]

Seriously think it would work better if competitions were also a bigger part of the site, not as many people really look into them at the bottom, maybe some notification about the shoutbox about it, also I think not only should you be rewarded with an award but with gold. Gold just seems to work better. I mean it shouldn't be Ventus having to give the gold, but generated gold to whoever wins. Same could help with any competition.
Van, have you made a user-friendly guide to recording using emulators or any other methods of recording gameplay, as not everyone is familiar with how to do so and it would be good if you could make a user-friendly guide for others for more participants, I think it's a great idea being a Zelda forum who doesn't want to show off and compete.

 

[Fraxinus]

I did not consider GMVs in the mix because there are so few Zelda titles with cinematic cutscenes. To be honest, I don't know the extent of GMVs and what they concern; can you use raw gameplay or does it actually have to be a game cutscene spliced with music (and perhaps alterations to the flim itself like gradients and greenscreening etc)?

I've used raw gameplay in my GMVs when I feel it is necessary, to add a little element of action than what solely cutscenes would yield. However, with myself being limited to MovieMaker, I don't alter the video too much in itself until afterwards. Though, yes that is an available attribute for GMVs to have. I have seen it done, though the gradient overlay video filters and greenscreening should not be done unless a person knows what he or she is doing or it will backfire and make it obnoxious and unappealing. In other words: a good video-editing software does not make a good video; a good video-editor makes a good video. I've seen really well-made things in MovieMaker and some really poorly-made things in Sony Vegas, so things can always go the other way around.

Gameplay, actually, might work marvelously--even from, like, the first game--that is, if the person making it knows how to think outside the box and whatnot. It'd take improvisations, sure, but I think it would have a nice touch to it. Uniform and stuff.

Uh, since video is already a rather vast medium, there should be different categories kind of like what I see with you doing in this post, but I'm not sure if you were actually clarifying the type of video by doing so or what. If we were to record footage of our games (not talking about GMVs anymore), would we get docked for poor video quality? I'm just asking because I know you're emulator-savvy, and not everyone who may be interested in a VCC will be.

 

[Ventus]

Seriously think it would work better if competitions were also a bigger part of the site, not as many people really look into them at the bottom, maybe some notification about the shoutbox about it, also I think not only should you be rewarded with an award but with gold. Gold just seems to work better. I mean it shouldn't be Ventus having to give the gold, but generated gold to whoever wins. Same could help with any competition.

That's a good idea to have, but I don't know anything about automations regarding the forum. If gold were to be generated, you'd have to talk to Kybyrian about that

I'm perfectly fine with giving out the gold, though. I do enough posting during the morning and evening to keep a steady bank anyway.

Van, have you made a user-friendly guide to recording using emulators or any other methods of recording gameplay, as not everyone is familiar with how to do so and it would be good if you could make a user-friendly guide for others for more participants, I think it's a great idea being a Zelda forum who doesn't want to show off and compete.

Thank you Dan! I did not even stop to think about that aspect :O I will make a guide as soon as possible. ^^

Uh, since video is already a rather vast medium, there should be different categories kind of like what I see with you doing in this post, but I'm not sure if you were actually clarifying the type of video by doing so or what. If we were to record footage of our games (not talking about GMVs anymore), would we get docked for poor video quality? I'm just asking because I know you're emulator-savvy, and not everyone who may be interested in a VCC will be.

If the footage of the game is for the gameplay type - you know, complete XXX temple in YYY time or whatever - then I don't care about the quality so long as it isn't skipping frames every two seconds or isn't otherwise choppy. I do have a couple videos of "bad quality" that I could upload but they're still viable for those kinds of runs. ^^

 

[Krazy4Krash]

Want to record gameplay? Take a gander at this in the meantime.

 

[Ventus]

Tutorial for Basic Recording N64 Games on PC

Tools required:
-Screencap software (FRAPS recommended; CamStudio or Hypercam are nice alternatives)
-N64 Emulator (Project 64 is pretty much the only one I care about)
-Game in question.
-At LEAST 2GB of Free Space
-Video editing software (Windows Movie Maker?) AND/OR Video Compressor (Handbrake?)

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Part One: Obtaining and Setting Up The N64 Emulator.
To start off, let us gather our emulator. The emulator I’ll be using for this tutorial is called Project 64. It’s very easy to obtain; just visit this link: Project64 Downloads - Project64 v1.6

Follow the extraction process and BAM, you have Project 64 1.6 NOTE: Do NOT install Delta or any of that other crap; you’re looking for the emulator only.

Once you procure the emulator, the very first thing you should do is go to the Options tab, then hit the Settings tab. From there, uncheck “Hide Advanced Settings”. After that, still on the Settings tab, go to “Plugins” and change your Input (controller) plugin to N-Rage’s Direct-Input 8 V2 1.80a which should be pre-installed. It’s vital to have that as it is the simplest and most efficient plugin at least to me. With that done, hit Apply then Ok.

With that done, hit the Options Tab then click “Configure Controller Plugin”. You’ll see a list of things with such names as Start, Digital Pad Up, C Buttons, Analog Stick, et cetera. Configure these to your liking; you will click one of the fields and apply—keybind, rather—the function to a key on your keyboard or maybe even a joystick if you happen to have one. Note:make sure to check the Plugged field at the top left; otherwise you will not be able to play whatever game in question! When all of that is done, click save! You’re done configuring Project 64!

Part Two: Getting the game in question.
This requires the obtaining of games. All I can say is to use Google, and to own the title in question.

Part Three: Screencap Software
This is a tricky bit. I don't have a preferred program except for FRAPS, but the thing is is that FRAPS is not free when you're doing things the legal way. So, I have to recommend you use Camstudio, Hypercam, or another free program (I do not use any of them).

Hypercam can be obtained: HyperCam
Camstudio: CamStudio - Free Screen Recording Software

Part Four: Video Editing Software and/or Compression Software
This is where it gets to be pretty fun. The objective here is to get software to edit your video files to cut out any unnecessary footage or make some edits. The common person will have Windows Movie Maker or Windows Live Movie Maker installed on their machine. If, by chance, you don't...here it is: Movie Maker - Microsoft Windows

Bam. Movie Maker all in your hands. It's pretty self explanatory, but if you still need help, revisit that site or google up some tutorials.

However, Movie Maker is not the best. What you want to do is (if possible), nab Sony Vegas. It requires a modernish machine so if you don't have a 2.4GHz processor, don't bother with Vegas and stick to Movie Maker.
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That's the video editing bit. Now for the compression. Here I will do one thing and one thing only: recommend with all my being the program Handbrake. It's a fantastic program that will send 2GB files down to 100MB or even less. Where do you obtain it? Bam: HandBrake

Part Five: Stringing it all together.

Step one: Open up your screen capturing software.
Step two: Open up PJ64
Step three: load your game
Step four: whenever you're ready, start recording
Step five: end recording when you're finished
Step six: send your file through editing/compression
Step seven: upload to YouTube or another video share site.

It tends to look a little something like this when you're done:
[video=youtube;KoJ2xJxdCGA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoJ2xJxdCGA&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

Do we have to sign up for this one, or can we just go ahead and record?

 

[Krazy4Krash]

Do we have to sign up for this one, or can we just go ahead and record?

From what I know, just go ahead and record. Upload the video and submit it to Ventus via private message. :yes:

 

[Ventus]

Do we have to sign up for this one, or can we just go ahead and record?

Just like Krazy4Krash mentioned, you just go ahead and record. PM your video(s) to me and I'll post them in a thread on May 31st. :yes:

 

[Ventus]

By the way, I highly recommend that you use YouTube for submission; it's fast and available to many people as far as I know. Remember that your submission can be in parts, or it can be one single video. :yes:

In a tip I got from TSter the Great, I failed to mention that the Great Fairy's Mask is absolutely banned in this competition, but the Bunny Hood is greenlit. Have at ye.