More time?

Thursday, March 11, 2004 by Frogboy | Discussion: GUI Championships News

Last time around, the GUI Olympics only included WindowBlinds visual styles. This time, there's Winamp and Icon packages (and an icon package can contain hundreds of icons). We're getting a considerable number of request from skin authors (particularly winamp and icon packager authors) asking for more time. What's your view? How much time should we add (if any) before starting the judging portion?
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RA5C
Reply #1 Thursday, March 11, 2004 4:22 AM
I'm not sure when judging is scheduled to begin, but it seems like there needs to be more than one or 2 entries to even hold a competition.

Sunshine Elements
Reply #2 Thursday, March 11, 2004 5:40 AM
I think that more entries will come as the month goes on but I know that ill only b able to make one more skin to enter again.

NightTrainthedark
Reply #3 Thursday, March 11, 2004 6:30 AM
Changing the rules after the game has started isn't very fair to the people who showed up on time. Isnt a deadline part of life?

Dutch Gecko
Reply #4 Thursday, March 11, 2004 6:46 AM
There do need to be more entries. No doubt some of the competitors want to enter more than one entry, but if they don't have the time this competition is going to lose interest.

Keila
Reply #5 Thursday, March 11, 2004 8:43 AM
I will only be able to get 1 WB finished before the deadline but that is only because my time to work on it is limited. I knew this coming into the competition and joining a team. Looking over things today I see that there are many new teams forming and most of them have 2 or more members. I feel in the end that there will be plenty of skins for each category. I am assuming that each skinner is concentrating on what they skin best. I will add that I have never attempted to make a Icon set or a Winamp. I have no idea how much longer it would take to make these that it does a WB.

QuadHeliX
Reply #6 Thursday, March 11, 2004 11:09 AM
You will see by the end of the month you will have 20 or so entrys i know alot of people that are making them. They will use the whole month and they will be here rain or shine.

a-t-o-m-i-c
Reply #7 Thursday, March 11, 2004 11:12 AM
it depends what you're aiming for. I know I'm probably only going to enter one skin, but it wouldn't be much different if I had another month... I think the deadline is fine as it is, I'm predicting most skins will turn up within a week of judging.

Essencay
Reply #8 Thursday, March 11, 2004 11:13 AM
On February 11th....the GUI Olympics "Concept" was posted as a news item on WinCustomize, that's only 30 days ago and at that time what the skinnable MP3 player was to be wasn't known yet. If this was a "known" bi-annual event, I would say definitely the deadlines stay in place. Since it isn't then I would be open to extending the deadlines, but still prefer that they stay in place. I am guessing, but I believe that most artists are going to be under great pressure to get more than one or two entries in on time, unless they already had projects in the works before the contest was officially announced and they will or have already just shifted them to this contest.

HG_Eliminator
Reply #9 Thursday, March 11, 2004 12:03 PM
IMO i would extend the deadline by 1 month. i as of last week have seen a few teams develop and they dont have much time left to actually make a skin. i would sugest tho that in the future to Advertise the GUI-O a bit earlier in the year.(and a little bit more agressively) lets say 2 months before it begins. this will give appropriate time for skinners to form a team, make skins and get them tested before releasing them..that and it will give the judges more skins to vote on...

StillWater Skins
Reply #10 Thursday, March 11, 2004 12:40 PM
I have got up to 4 skins that I want to submit. Realistically, I'll have done well if I get two done on time. If I have time, I'll work on the other 2. Judging by previous comments, this is a common thing: many skinners will have time to finish 1 or 2 skins, but many might have ones that they won't have time to finish (eg. more challenging ones that will take more time to make, or more wacky or leftfield ones that would be fun to enter but wouldn't be 'safe bets' for winning) And it seems a good idea to extend it for the sake of icons alone: if you extend the deadline, icon skinners will be able to extend the amount of icons they make - that's got to be a good thing

Frogboy
Reply #11 Thursday, March 11, 2004 1:21 PM
Ultimately, we'll do what we feel is right for the contest. The judging isn't scheduled to begin presently until April 5 which is about 3 weeks away. But when we came up with those deadlines, they were based on our knowledge of how long it took to get WindowBlinds skins completed in 2002. But in 2004, making good WindowBlinds skins as well as non-classic Winamp skins and Icon Packages we're coming the conclusion based on the masses of emails we're getting that realisticaly 8 weeks are needed. I am confident that if we stick to the existing deadling that we'll have plenty of WindowBlinds skins. But we won't go forward with Winamp and IconPackager judging if there's only a handful of submissions there. Given the popularity of Winamp and IconPackager the only reason not to have enough submissions there relative to WindowBlinds is time.

MadPyro
Reply #12 Thursday, March 11, 2004 1:51 PM
i said it in the forum and i will say it here i personally would love more time, i, as i am sure many others, have finals week at college and that will take 80% of my time, the other 20% devoted to getting enough sleep. i would love a couple more weeks, it would help me at least feel like i can submit a non rushed work.

pukkaDancer
Reply #13 Thursday, March 11, 2004 4:16 PM
I am working on 2 skins, but i think at the current time limit only one will be done, and it won't be all that great. Aother month would be awesome from my point of view. but i've only know about this thing for 6 days and there are 14 left.

ozmars
Reply #14 Thursday, March 11, 2004 4:41 PM
I think extending the time limit would benefit everyone - I assume that those who have submitted entries already would also be given the opportunity to improve (if possible) and update. Having said that a month is a long time in IT.

Halluci
Reply #15 Thursday, March 11, 2004 4:43 PM
i am almost done with my 2 windowblinds skins, but i am still working on an iconpackager and a winamp... judging at the rate at which i am doing these icons, and the winamp, i believe that you should extend those deadlines by around 2 weeks so that most people will be able to complete their works in time. You should stick true to your windowblinds deadlines though, sincea month is more than adequate time to complete several windowblinds skins.

MadPyro
Reply #16 Thursday, March 11, 2004 5:00 PM
not for us with final exams week coming up...

Beesley
Reply #17 Thursday, March 11, 2004 6:36 PM
I'm following this competition as an observer. Whether or not the deadline is extended, IMO, should be based on a couple of factors. 1) If the deadline is causing a MAJOR portion of the competitors to be unable to submit their best effort, the deadline should be extended. Let's think about it: is the competition about judging the best efforts than an individual/s have to present or is it about trying to throw something together in a hurried attempt to enter the competition? That being said, I remember seeing announcements about this competition for awhile now so it's not like people are only being given 2 days to submit anything . . . but then again, as an observer, I don't really know how long it takes to create a great skin. I would say that this decision should be left in the hands of those who know what it takes for people to be able to create their best effort. That decision should stand. I just want to be able to see people get a chance to do their very best and all of us get to enjoy their talents!

Doreen
Reply #18 Thursday, March 11, 2004 8:46 PM
Two years ago these things were a tad easier to skin as time goes on more elements of programs are now skinnable that were not two years ago so taken that into consideration more time might be needed if like Beesley said "give ppl the chance and time to do their very best" (besides I hate deadlines) And even though me ain't in the competition my two cents is: What is the rush anyways?

lockey2k
Reply #19 Thursday, March 11, 2004 8:59 PM
To encourage competition, I think more time should be given. For ppl who have completed their initial entries, all the more power to them. You can use the additional time to tweak your work or start a new project. For people who need more time, all the more power to you to perfect your masterpieces. When people rush products out the door, often quality suffers and everyone loses. Patience, though burdensome, is often rewarded. *cough* Blizzard *cough* =p

pukkaDancer
Reply #20 Thursday, March 11, 2004 10:03 PM
On the subject of Winamp 5 skins: to make an original one from the ground up takes alot of hard work and coding. This wasn't always the case. winamp 2 skins were very straight forward. but now everything is so much more complicated it takes much longer to produce something of a high graphical quality, as well as something that functions well. I think this is the reason winamp skins have ped in aesthetic quality since the dawn of freeform WA. The only people who can make decent skins are programmers, and some artists can't be bothered with all that crap. i guess what i'm trying to say is that for us programmers to produce something that will look awesome, its going to take a while.

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