There is much ado in the Game Maker community these days, thanks in large part to the recently announced YoYo Games Winter Competition. For those of you who haven't yet heard it, YoYo Games is putting on a game creation contest which runs from now until December 23. The rules are pretty simple, and the game must follow a "winter" theme, in pretty much any way the developer can implement it. Not surprisingly, more than a few people have admitted to making a game centered around Christmas for the competition, and though I have to admit, it was tempting, I've already made a Christmas game, and frankly, I think there is a lot more to winter than the major holidays. We'll see what people can come up with though; I have high hopes that we'll see an explosion of creativity for this comp, from more than just the usual gang.

The title of this article is based on the typical reactions of some of the people who have heard about all this, especially the $1,000 grand prize. GMC, YYG, OMG, WTF indeed.

One thing I am really liking about the Winter Competition however, is that it's given me a little bit more motivation to set aside all the games I've been playing, and re-focus on actually making something. That's not to say that I will definitely be able to carve out my idea entirely by the contest deadline, but I am certainly going to try to - if the result is any good, it will be another fun game to add to the pile at Reflect Games, no matter how it does in the contest.

I don't want to say too much about what I am working on yet, but since I have dropped a few hints here and there to various people, I figured I would talk a little about it.

Basically, I'm using the competition as a springboard of sorts, to propel myself into a game genre that I am not usually very engrossed in. I've been studying a few games of the same genre, and I think that with a little luck, I can put something together that is both visually impressive, and a more old school brand of fun. It seems appropriate anyway, because as much as I love all the new games these days, my gaming roots (as a player, anyway) are in the classic realm of 8-bit and 16-bit gameage. So the game's going to be 2D, and isn't going to be something mind-bendingly complex... just a little more reliant on player skill.

I'm also going to be using the theme of "winter," in a unique back story for my game... again, not something that will be horribly deep, but which will hopefully go beyond just throwing a snowy texture onto the floors in HT3D and calling it a new game. Winter as a theme should go beyond winter as a setting anyway.

Anyway, I'll be working a lot on my game this weekend, and if I feel it's progressed enough, maybe I'll post some teaser screens here when the game's farther along. I might put up some concept artwork I've made too, but for now you'll just have to take all my vagueness and come to your own conclusions.

Thanks for reading - Marty out!