Screenshot Contests

[Rifleman]

If these are to be raw and not edited screenshots, I already have mine prepared....shot it a while back and only need to dip into the archive to submit it.....BTW, its already been posted ..............

[Rifleman]

OK guys........and gals.........since we all have different systems and are not about to change them....we need to take out a variable on it....as was previously mentioned, this needs to be content over quality, but with this in mind, its seems only fair to me to have everyone on a level playing field and use only default scenery.......that way we don't allow someone with $ to have an edge just because he went and got payware add-ons to enhance his background ?......

............Any thoughts ?......Additions ?

[BE58D]

[quote]

I'm sincerely sorry about this B58. You have been one of many people who have offered to help out & been (accidentally) ignored. I certainly still have that review somewhere - probably with a few more.

It all boils down to me being regularly overwhelmed with stuff to do - this & real life stuff. Things get forgotted & missed. An old friend from years ago wrote to me a week ago & you know - I still haven't even written back to him. I keep remembering then it skips my mind when I'm at my PC......

I would dearly like a partner in all this .... maybe I should get my act together & try to find one....

Sorry for going off topic here but I hate letting people down.

As for the screenshots - I think we should do it. I think the above ideas are right on course & we should run it from the forums - not from the main site.
It is inevitable that those with good machines stand a definite advantage - but that's no reason not to accept that & see it as another form of entertainment for all of us.

So now: We need to finalise a method & get a few people involved in administering & find a way to judge.
The last one had 100's of participants & that was far too much. I think we need to draw the line at say - 50 - one shot each & any cheaters will be severely humiliated in public

[Smoke2much]

I think a screenshot contest would be a great idea.  My screen shots are never very good so I only ever post ones that I think are fun.  As it stands, to get the best quality the settings have to be on maximum and this kills the frame rate, however to take good shots I fly the sequence from inside the cockpit and then start instant replay and push the settings through the roof.  The replay comes out as a bit of a slide show but if you click the loop replay box you can get whatever shot you need.

Any competition would either have to allow editing or have seperate sections for edited and non edited screenies as the forum does now.  As to the judging, all of the relevant shots could be posted on the same thread and a members only poll with only one vote per person could be formed.  This could then be timed for 24 hours to allow members of all timezones to vote, at the end of this time the poll is closed and the winner is informed.  To prevent personality clashes and cliques forming I would reccomend that the shots are displayed for the vote without the name of the author, only when the vote has been completed should these details be revealed.  I would also reccomend that the posting of messages be disallowed on the thread whilst the vote is active.

As to prizes I personally agree with BE58D and Woodlouse, many people take screenshots purely for the kick of knowing that 100's of people will see them.  Winning the title would be a great addition, if you add a prize that has a cash value you could get serious problems with people claiming that the vote is rigged or that the judges have it in for them ad nauseam.

Will

[Oz]

A screenshot contest would be pretty cool, but dont you think it'd be too easy? Sure it would be fun and challenging i guess but it all comes down to whether ramsa helped you out and you graphics are the best. A bit unfair to others IMHO. Maybe doing a contest on addons, just like other sites. You make a list of some of the popular and most downloaded addons and people choose one and the designer gets a little 'award logo' and maybe a prize if possible. I think this would be a bit more reasonable.

If there is a screenshot contest, no prizes should be involved though. Like said previously, just the 'honor' of having your screenshot named the best is enough.

[Craig.]

why not have a way of putting the winning screen shot on the front page or something like that for a set amount of time, that way even more people get to see your work as such

[pete]

.. good idea about waiting 'till FS2004 is available ... (I now have the full gold (intended release) version so some new shots will be available when I get a few dedicated hours to load up the program/do some exploring/take some shots ...)

But I actually think we have to take 'quality' into consideration ... & yes  .. those with better rigs would stand an advantage (I only have 2 average systems & one old system myself... nothing over 2 gig..)
My thoughts.. (just MY thoughts - feel free to argue.. I respect positive debate & will bow to better reason..)

1. It gets too complicated if we start trying to take content over visuals... (though basically we seem to be talking jagged or non jagged ...)
2. Ramsa could be one of the judges & judgesd are not allowed to participate  ;D  ... ( .. though in reality Ramsa isn't the only one who has tweaked his system this way ... there are others who have done this independantly & though not as regular - they do comparible shots..)
3. Obviously - non edited
4. We need a panel of about 5 'judges'. Each needs to openly declare his ideas on what makes a great shot .. that alone will tell us a lot..
5. We need to decide a way to display the shots for users ... The whole point of the excercise.

One complete we can open it up to the site users to view..  

Other ideas & volunteers now required ..  8)

[Rifleman]

OK Pete.......here is the one thing that I feel is going to create an unfair advantage to those who have tweaked and high powered systems......if you go with quality of shots, then you will have many shots that are not felt to be competitive and subsequently won't be submitted....with that being the case, we are going to lower the number of entries and make this for the  "Elite" (read " Power System Owners ")....if this is to be for everyone, we need to encourage the lesser system owners somehow..........

[Craig.]

how about differant catagories for differant level computers, like one for high end computers, one for medium computers and one for lower end computers.

[BE58D]

I have already thought of that Pete, Ramsa being a judge and judges (or anyone directly involved with the site... like yourself and moderators) not being able to participate.

[Fly2e]

COOL,
Hey Pete, Here is an idea..

Is there a way to limit the # of entries?
Lets say 4 entries a month to each registered user at SimV and  2 entries per month per guest!
This would make people only post if they REALLY though the pic was worth a shot.

It would cut down on  sever use and people would be less hesitant to just keep uploading and entering.

Could it work,  this way we all would be on somewhat of a level playing field.......if that is what you want to call it  

A thought to consider.
Dave  

[BE58D]

Entries would have to be limited to one per user, and guests would not be able to compete/vote.

[Iroquois]

I think I may have some solutions to the system problem. Divide the applicants into system classes, kind of like boxing. That evens out the playing field. Don't make it complicated, just based on processor and video card. (Ie: 2gh+, High End Graphics Class, Less Than 1ghz, Mid Range Graphics Class, etc)  
Of course you'll need someone who can run the applications, just ask around.

Now once you have that set up, I would recomend creating a separate forum from other screenshots forum for easy viewing and entering. Winning pictures could be desplayed on a branch of the main SimV page to make it easier for people who are new to the site to view them.  

[BE58D]

Ok, this getting a bit complicated...

[Oz]

well the 'categories' idea just might work but i dont know...Theres been some people in these forums who dont exactly have the best computers available and with help from Ramsa or anyone else their pics look like works of art. I mean just looking at the tweaked skies and clouds is amazing. The judges in my opinion should be 'experts' in differentiating images and know what a tweaked image might look like from a non-tweaked one. I suggest the image editors on this site - Ramsa, Rifleman, etc.