Official judging thread for the PSP-Hacks Homebrew Competition 2007

[PSdonkey]

This is the official PSP-Hacks Homebrew Competition judging thread.

I want to personally thank on behalf of all the PSP-Hacks.com staff all the members here who entered our competition and created some great homebrew for us and everyone to enjoy. We have a total of 15 entries into our competition and every single one was fun to play and use and watch grow throughout the competition. The judging for the competition begins today May 15, and ends at the end of next Tuesday May 22. The final scores and results will be tallied up by hibbyware and myself sometime on Wednesday May23.

As mentioned earlier, everyone will be able to be part of the judging process. There will be 2 ways to judge the entries in the competition. You can either judge and score all the entries in the competition or you can make a simple quick poll vote on which entry was your favorite. Judging all the entries and posting your scores for the entries will however carry much more weight in the final decision then the quick poll votes will.

Here is how the judging will work. For those who want to judge all the entries in our competition, you must download and try out all the entires before giving out your scores. hibbyware was kind enough to bundle all the entries together in one download link for everyone to have easy access to all of our entries. Here is the link that Hibbyware provided to us all:

Download link 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?fjnyzydmt3m

Download link 2: http://www.sendspace.com/file/7n6drt


Scoring for the entries will be based on 5 categories per entry. Each category is worth up to 10 points each for a total of 50 points per entry max that each entry can obtain. The 5 categories are:

GAME:
1) Completeness of game.
2) Originality.
3) Fun factor.
4) Gameplay
5) Graphics and music/effects quality.

APPLICATION:
1) Completeness of application.
2) Originality.
3) Usefulness.
4) Ease of use
5) Overall quality of the application.

Most of the entries will fall under the game category even though they might not seem like an actually game. Only 4 out of the 15 entries will be placed in the Application category.

Mod judges and Special judges that were named in the first post of the Homebrew Competition thread will post scores that will be weighted twice as much as regular members scores. There are only a handful of these types of judges and a ton of regular members so your guys's score will have the most impact on who wins the competition.

Those who entered the competition may also be a part of the judging process. You may judge all the entries with your own scores EXCEPT your own program. So you will be judging 14 out of the 15 entries, all of the entries except your own.

About the poll votes. This was created for those who do not have the time to give out scores for each entry and jsut wanted to post which entry was their favorite. The poll votes won't count as much as the scoring for each entry votes but they will count toward the final score for each entry. For those using the poll votes, make a poll vote and then make a post on why you thought the entry you choose was your favorite. Everyone here may do both the poll vote and the scoring of each entry or just one or the other.

Since there are 15 entries, The poll voting will work like this: First place in the poll will recieve an extra 150 points toward the final total score before dividing for each person who voting. For example, if 50 people did the scoring part of the judging then each entry would have somewhere around 2000-2500 points so far. First place in the polls will get an extra 150 points toward that score. Second place will get an extra 140 points, thrid place will get an extra 130 points etc. and last place will receive an exta 10 points toward that score. Only one poll vote per person is allowed. If I find any kind of cheating such as creating new accounts to make multiple poll votes, then that entry will be disqualified. Let's be fair and keep it clean :)

New Poll Voting Rule

From now on if you make a quick poll vote then you must make a post in this thread on which entry you voted for and why. Otherwise your poll vote will not count.

I am seeing numerous poll votes but not a single post on who made those poll votes.

If I suspect any kind of cheating, I will cancel the poll voting all together and only count the scores that are given out in this thread.

Please lets keep this contest fair for everyone.


Ok, now it is time for the judging. Here are my official scores and the format that will be used for everyone in the score judging. Remember, these are just my personal opinions and scores and do not reflect the opinions of everyone. Everyone has there own opinions on each of the entries and all the people who vote will have different opinions and different scores. Please respect the scores of everyone and try to understand that not everyone is going to think alike on all of the entries. I do not want any flaming going on in this thread because someone gave out a different score then what you or someone else thought that entry deserved. That is why this is a public vote so that everyone has a say on which entry is their favorite and which entry was their least favorite. So please respect everyone who post scores.


NIGathan's Npaint 2.0

1) Completeness of game - 8.5
2) Originality - 8
3) Fun factor - 8
4) Gameplay - 7.5
5) Graphics and music/effects quality - 8.5

Total Score = 40.5

Even though this is a paint application, I consider it more of a game then an application for the PSP. I love the extra details that NIGathan added in his paint program like the sound in the xmb menu and the sound effect when loading both the homebrew competition splash screen and his own personal NPaint screen. I also liked how he reduced the loading times from the original version he first created. Once inside NPaint, I like how he added the background music and scrolling bars to a add effect to the menu system. The menu system is also very advance and I like how the credits roll and how he incorporated sounds when going through each menu option. You can also do various important things in the options menu like change volume and CPU speed which is a great additive to his program. I can tell he put a lot of work into his program.

The actual paint program is really good but can use a bit more features such as being able to move the brush anywhere on the screen without having to draw the brush on the screen at the same time so I can draw 2 different images at 2 different areas on the screen. I do like however all the tons of features he has in his program like being able to save your drawings and being able to load different templates and be able to erase part of your drawing. I also liked how there is a written instruction's page built inside the program. Overall, its's a really great program.



foebea's RosettaShard 8.5

1) Completeness of game - 8.5
2) Originality - 9.5
3) Fun factor - 8.5
4) Gameplay - 8.5
5) Graphics and music/effects quality - 8.5

Total Score = 43.5

All I can say is WOW on this one. This entry is actually my favorite. This entry emulates the RosettaShard's learning language program almost exactly as the original expensive PC program itself. I was fortunate to have obtain one of the language packs available to place inside this program in the PSP to understand the full potential this program has. In order to get a real feel and understanding of how great this program is, you really need to install one of tee language packs in his program on your PSP to see just how much work and effort foebea has put into programming this program for us. With the language pack installed, there are still a couple of bugs in the program like broken sounds and words that run off the screen but overall a really great emulator of the
RosettaShard's learning language for the PC. What amazes me even more is that even without installing a language pack, foebea has created his own built in language learning tutorials that everyone can use to learn a language. It only has a few lessons in it now but I hope foebea continues to create more language tutorials in the future.


MK2k's Sleep'n'Wake PSP 1.2

1) Completeness of application - 9
2) Originality - 8.5
3) Usefulness - 7
4) Ease of use - 8.5
5) Overall quality of the application - 8

Total Score = 41.0

I think this is a really great program. I know most people already have their own alarm clock that they use in their room already but this still is a neat application for the PSP. I like the splash screen startup and the faded splash screen as the background for the application. The thing I like the most about this application is that it does much more then just wake you up at a specific time with a mo3. It has USB mode, a nice menu system and you can also write yourself a message that can be played back to you at a specific time that you want. It also has a snooze function just like a real alarm clock and displays both the current time and alarm time that is set on the screen. I also like how the CPU can be set to use a lower frequency so that the power is not used much on your PSP while you are sleeping. It has a ton of features and it emulates a real digital alarm clock perfectly.



J@ricanese's Simon Remix 0.7

1) Completeness of game - 7
2) Originality - 7
3) Fun factor - 8
4) Gameplay - 7.5
5) Graphics and music/effects quality - 7.5

Total Score = 37.0

This is actually called Simon Remix since someone had already created a Simon type game previously. J@ricanese does a good job though of making this game better and adding his own touches to the game. I like how there is background music while playing the game but I really wish that there was sound while pushing the colored buttons on Simon. The menu system looks great but the options, extras and credits buttons don't work yet. I do like the style of the game and the resume function works great. Great work so far and I hope he continues to work on this game.



Silverfox's LeeSP 2.2

1) Completeness of game - 8
2) Originality - 9
3) Fun factor - 7.5
4) Gameplay - 7
5) Graphics and music/effects quality - 8

Total Score = 39.5

The first thing I noticed about this game is it's amazing splash screen animation. it looks almost like Rock Lee himself is kicking the splash screen in all directions getting you pump up to play this game. I also like the Rock Lee loading screen before the game starts. The menu system is nice and it also has a information screen on how to use the game. I also like the fact that you can either have single or multiplayer modes. I like how you are able to choose between several of the Naruto characters to use in this game. Mutilplayer mode is great if you have 2 people to control the PSP. Single player mode is pretty good except that I can never win since the AI CPU always kills me fast within a couple of seconds before I can do much damage to the other player. I also would like to see new types of attacks or weapons in the game. Hopefully silverfox can work on that in the future. Great game whether you are a Naruto fan or not.



jay543_uk's Automotive conversions

1) Completeness of application - 8
2) Originality - 9
3) Usefulness - 4
4) Ease of use - 7
5) Overall quality of the application - 6

Total Score = 34

This is definitely an original type of homebrew. It is a pretty solid application that deals with automotive conversions but kind of lacks any kind of fun or spice in the program. The program gets straight to the point but I don't think most people will actually use it as most people don't really want to convert oil consumption ratios and torque conversions. I applaud jay543_uk efforts into creating this application for all of us and I hope he continues to work on it maybe adding new and more fun features for more people to want to download and use this.


PIRATA NERVO's SETGOOL 3.0

1) Completeness of game - 7.5
2) Originality - 8.5
3) Fun factor - 7
4) Gameplay - 7
5) Graphics and music/effects quality - 7.5

Total Score = 37.5

First I would like to say that this game by Pirata Nervo and Npaint by NIGathan are probably the 2 most improved games throughout this competition. I remember when the first setgool was entered into the competition, it was more of a demo then an actual game but now it has grown and improved to a really nice and challenging game. I like the xmb icon pictures and music in the xmb menu. The loading screen is nice added feature for those waiting for the game to load up. The menu system is pretty good as well with a built in instructions guide and rolling credits. The only confusing thing for me is that it ask you to choose your power and gives you a choice of 4 colors to choose from but I tried all of the colors and they all have the same power (maybe he just meant choose your favorite color). There are a couple of bugs in the game, one I can see that the character animation is way to fast when he is moving and sometimes even though I get a life pack, I still get out with one touch of a monster. I like however how Pirata Nervo created extra objects in the game to avoid such as spikes and jumping up and around pot holes. This game has grown a lot and is much longer then the first version. Nice game and I hope Pirata continues to work on it.



Crystalized's PSPMusic(version 0.7)

1) Completeness of game - 6
2) Originality - 9
3) Fun factor - 6
4) Gameplay - 6
5) Graphics and music/effects quality - 6

Total Score = 33

I think Crystalized created this Music lesson as more of a demo for now. I like the splash screen animation and the background image when reading the lessons. For now, this is more of a quick reading lessons for people to understand music and it's different functions and explanations. I can completely see this program growing into something great for everyone to learn music if Crystalized continues to work on it. Good work for his first time coding something for the PSP.



teachme's Screen Defender V5

1) Completeness of game - 8.5
2) Originality - 8.5
3) Fun factor - 7.5
4) Gameplay - 7.5
5) Graphics and music/effects quality - 8

Total Score = 40.0

All I can say is that I am glad teachme updated his game to version 5 as the previous versions were kind of easy to beat. This new versions is much harder to pass with mission goals for each level. You must survive each level and pass the mission goals for each level before going on to the next level. I like the music in the game and the tons of enemies that come at your with improved AI movement. I also like how the whole game is like a story mode where you sort of interact with your boss in each level. I think there still is some kind of bug in the game that causes a random crash once in a great while though as I almost beat the final boss but it crashed right before beating him. Also, the long wait times for each loading level is kind of frustrating but well worth the wait as the levels are jam pack with excitement and adventure. You also get the choice of 2 different cool ships to pilot. This is a really great game and everyone should have it in their PSP.




Rocamatics's GuitarBox 1.52

1) Completeness of application - 8.5
2) Originality - 9.5
3) Usefulness - 6
4) Ease of use - 6
5) Overall quality of the application - 8

Total Score = 38.0

Unfortunately, i was unable to modify my PSP to completely try out this program. I have read everything about it and have look through the whole program though. I think it is a really great program with a lot of work put into it. I definitely think it is a one of a kind original idea for the PSP. The only thing critical I can say is that a lot of other people won't be able to modify their PSP to use this program either. Plus I don't really think the PSP's speakers are going to be anything really great to play your guitar on and a used small amp is not that expensive to connect your guitar to. I do however give mad props to Rocamatics for creating this program for us even though it's more of a novelty then anything else. Nice work.




Cy-4AH's Sloynik

1) Completeness of application - 8.5
2) Originality - 6
3) Usefulness - 8
4) Ease of use - 7
5) Overall quality of the application - 7

Total Score = 36.5

This program was original not going to be in the competition because it was previously released before on another site but we've decided to enter it because of the new features that were added to the program and the compilence of the 3 rules that I gave him to do before it would be entered and Cy-4AH completed all of the requirements. I did take out however a couple of points from the originality category because it was previously released in his Russian forums. This application is actually very nice and useful. It was originally just a Russian and English dictionary but Cy-4AH made this application into a universal translator dictionary just for our competition. He included an .EXE program to convert a language into his program's format. A lot of people might not use this program but it is something nice and portable to take with you if you are going to a foreign country and want to pick up a few words.




CBarox's roboflood V3

1) Completeness of game - 8.5
2) Originality - 8.5
3) Fun factor - 9
4) Gameplay - 8
5) Graphics and music/effects quality - 7.5

Total Score = 41.5

This really is a fun game to play. It is quite a simple game but fun non the less. I had a great time playing this game on all 3 levels and it is very hard and challenging. I hope to see more come from this game in teh future with more levels.




MK2k's Tankw00rst PSP 0.1

1) Completeness of game - 8
2) Originality - 7.5
3) Fun factor - 8
4) Gameplay - 8
5) Graphics and music/effects quality - 7

Total Score = 38.5

I think this is a really cool game for 2 players. I just wish I could play it by myself with the CPU. I can tell a lot of hard work in coding went into this game as the tanks and landscape are all built inside the program. I like the options to use in the game such as power level and wind factor level and the splash screen is a very cool touch. I hope MK2k creates a one player version of this game as then it would rock even more. Great work.




Sousanator's Serve N Go v3

1) Completeness of game - 9
2) Originality - 4
3) Fun factor - 9
4) Gameplay - 8.5
5) Graphics and music/effects quality - 8.5

Total Score = 39.0

This would have been my favorite entry of them all except for one thing. This program was already created awhile back and posted on several forums and done already in LUA. It was rewritten in C but since it was already released awhile back and in LUA, I took off points in the originality category. Other then that, it is a really cool game that I had tons of fun playing. I love the themes that you can pick from and my favorite was the Mcdonald's theme. I like all the various modes to choose from like story, classic and speed modes. The drive through part of the game is cool when cars pull up through the drive through and it feels like you really are working at Mcdonalds! This game has so many features that you need to try them all out to get a real good appreciation of the game. Very nice work.


coldtoiletseat's PSP Organize!

1) Completeness of application - 7
2) Originality - 7
3) Usefulness - 7
4) Ease of use - 7
5) Overall quality of the application - 6.5

Total Score = 34.5

I'm glad that coldtoiletseat tried his best and entered into our competition with his first ever program for the PSP. It doesn't have much now but I can see this program grow a lot more with time and determination from coldtoiletseat. For now it does has a few good features such as: Calculator, timer, stopwatch, calender and light. The menu is easy to move around through and it provides 5 applications in 1. Nice work.





Remember, these are my personal scores and opinions. Everyone will have their own views on which entry was better then the other entries. Please respect everyone's votes and scores. I don't want to see any kind of flaming or disrespecting of other people's opinions in here. You may however give out constructive criticism in this thread for opinions or scores that you believe are not fair. Just remember that everyone has a right to their own opinion. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the entries I gave higher scores to were given lower scores by others and vice versa.


For those of you who do not have the time to create a large judging post, MK2k has created 2 different judging templates for everyone to use as a starting basis for posting their scores for each entry. Take a look at his 2 templates here and copy and paste the one you like in this thread for posting your scores.

http://www.psp-hacks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=89555

Congratulations once again to all the entries and let the judging begin.

[coldtoiletseat]

your link for the download package isnt working :\ it says the address is invalid. i like sendspace better hint hint :P

[PSdonkey]

If it is still broken by tomorrow, I will reupload the package to another site or maybe hibbyware will do it before me.

[pirata nervo]

Oh, sorry about the noob question but where do i vote, you talked about scores, but i dont see nothing to vote with scores, or we just click on the game that we prefer and SUBMIT?

OH AND psdonkey, my setgool has 4 powers to choose!!! id you try the the 3.0 version?


EDIT:
agggh,
or do i need to put this:

1) Completeness of game - 7(is the maximum 10?)
2) Originality - 9(is the maximum 10?)
3) Fun factor - 8(is the maximum 10?)
4) Gameplay - 8(is the maximum 10?)
5) Graphics and music/effects quality - 8(is the maximum 10?)

Total Score = 40(is the maximum 50?)

FINAL EDIT: and i need to this to all entries?

[thehman]

Originally Posted by PSdonkey

Scoring for the entries will be based on 5 categories per entry. Each category is worth up to 10 points each for a total of 50 points per entry max that each entry can obtain. The 5 categories are:

GAME:
1) Completeness of game.
2) Originality.
3) Fun factor.
4) Gameplay
5) Graphics and music/effects quality.

APPLICATION:
1) Completeness of application.
2) Originality.
3) Usefulness.
4) Ease of use
5) Overall quality of the application.

-Pirata nervo-

PSdonkey explained very well the format for the judging and yes it is a max score of 10 points per category with a total max score of 50,


-Also-

I'm currently uploading the competition download pack again as the link seems to be broken,

[pirata nervo]

Ok, thanks and do i need to score all entries?
And if i vote with scores, i cant vote in the quik poll right?

[thehman]

New download links should be working now

Download link 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?fjnyzydmt3m

Download link 2: http://www.sendspace.com/file/7n6drt


-Pirata-

If you read what PSdonkey said you can do both the poll and scores

[pirata nervo]

And about the scores we must score all entries?

[thehman]

If you are doing the scores then you must judge all entries apart from your own entry,
All this info is provided in the first post by PSdonkey,

[pirata nervo]

So i cant score mine right?(sorry but i'm protuguese and im not an expert in English)