Dream Contest Guide
by Emerald Flame
This guide is intended for anyone with questions about entering their dream into any of Furcadia's official dream contests. Whether this will be your first time entering, or your 100th, please read the rules and tips carefully.
Use the links below to easily navigate this page:
How to Make Dreams and Influence People!
So you want to enter a Furcadia Dream Contest? ( top )
This can be a fun and interesting way for you and your friends to
contribute to the Furcadia community, learn a little along the way and
maybe even win some prizes! Just participating can be a rewarding
experience, but I thought you might like a few tips to help you have a
better entry and have more of a chance to win those Digo items.
Why do we have dream contests? ( top )
The main reason we have dream contests is because Furcadia is all about
player-created content. That means that Furcadians make the cool stuff for
everyone else to do. We hold the contests during festivals to provide more
things to do, and because it's a good time to catch a lot of furres to see
your wonderful creations. Sometimes we also have other contests for
writing, art, e-cards, etc, but dream contests are our main focus, since a
really good dream submission will encompass most things Furcadians do:
Dreamweaving (design), DragonSpeak (scripting), Patching (art) of all kinds,
Webpages, writing (roleplay), Community (running events and handling a lot
of furres) and bug checking. Contests are a good way to give our players a
chance to earn Digo items as well!
 |
Deathdog's Summer 2005 dream "Season's Edge Castle". Deathdog always has
imaginative and original entries! |
Should anyone help you with the dream? ( top )
Even if you have the ability to do DragonSpeak, dreamweaving, patching,
webpages, storyline, sounds, activities, design and bug checking (i.e.
Superfurre) I still recommend you have at least one other furre helping
you make the dream entry. It's very hard to judge one's own work and to
see where you might need improvements. Getting help to critique the dream,
check for bugs, test DS and edit text can mean the difference between a
first and second place. Winning entries generally have plenty of prizes to
pass around and the help will really come in handy. If you aren't a
superfurre (like most of us), getting a team together to do what you can't
can mean the difference between winning any prize or not. I don't
recommend having too many helping out though as it can make things more
confusing and the prizes not stretch as far.
Do you have to have a Team Leader? ( top )
Yes, we (Dragon's Eye Productions) only deal with one person and one email
address for each entry when we communicate with contestants. While talking
to DEP, the Team Leader (Project Leader) will be the one to ask any
questions, send in the dream and receive any prizes for distribution. For
the actual building of the dream entry, a Team Leader can be invaluable.
Team Leaders are the ones who have the "vision" for the dream and make all
final decisions about how it will be. They choose who will be on the team
and will make sure everything is taken care of for the Group. They also
decide who gets which prizes. Often Team Leaders are the main dreamweaver
and they will find someone to help with DS, special patch pieces,
interface design, etc. However, anyone in the group can be designated as
the Team Leader. I suggest you choose the one who is most trusted, has
good vision, has plenty of free time and has the best social skills.
Tips on being part of a team? ( top )
I know it's cliche, but remember to treat your other team members the way
you'd want to be treated in the same situation. Team Leaders should
remember they are part of the team as well and work extra hard to treat
others with respect and consideration. Team members should be careful not
to promise to do something they aren't sure they can finish well and
on time. The others are depending on everyfurre doing their part and as
soon as you know you cannot, let your Team Leader know so they can find
someone else to do your tasks. Turn in work as you go along so that
someone else has copies if something goes wrong and so everyone can see
where you are going with your work. How the team is run is totally up to
the furres involved though and those running the contest cannot help with
in-group troubles.
What kind of dream should you make? ( top )
Each dream contest has some kind of theme and often some special rules,
however there are some basics that we always want to see in a dream. The
main thing is that the dream should be fun and interesting to a wide
variety of Furcadians. Try to think of something original that's never
been done before or at least a new twist on something old. We usually
don't take guild dreams or home dreams. The dreams need to be made with
the thought of entertaining a group of furres that you do not know. The
dream shouldn't have personal areas meant only for your friends or DS that
only works the first time through the map. I often think of fun things we
do in real life and adapt them to Furcadia, but also remember that you can
do magical things that could never be done irl. Be creative, original and
let that imagination soar! ;)
How do we judge? ( top )
Most dream contests are judged by "This Cat You Know" (Game owner, Creative Director,
Inventor of DragonSpeak, Lead Designer, etc) and myself, "Some Kitterwing"
(DEP Producer, Festival Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator, Main map
building coordinator, etc). Sometimes other Creators and Associates will
help judge as well, especially when we focus on special areas like
storyline, artwork, etc. We vary our list of what we look for a bit for
different contests but it stays mostly the same. Usually we give each
category a 1-5 score and add them up at the end with the highest scores
winning. Posted below are some of the areas we look for and a bit about
what kinds of things we look for in them.
Fun!: This is probably the aspect that "This Cat You Know" looks for the most. Did he
enjoy touring the dream and trying out all the things to do there? Was it
interesting and designed with other's enjoyment in mind. Fun also includes
whether the activities in the dream were too difficult to accomplish for
most people and if they were too hard to find. You don't want to frustrate
those there to have fun.
Stuff to do: This sounds a lot like the fun category but it's different in
that we look specifically for plenty of things to occupy other players who
visit. If the dream is just a chat area or only has one game to play, it
probably won't get high marks in this area. There needs to be enough to do
to occupy a bunch of furres for quite sometime. Remember you are going up
against furres who make really awesome dreams that are whole carnivals and
quests and the like. You need some major content in the dream!
Originality: Making something original in your dream will take you a long
way towards winning. This might mean making a kind of dream no one has
seen before or it might be doing an original twist on an old theme. The
originality can be in the art that you use or maybe the music or sounds.
You can create a new type of game or some other new DS that no one has
tried before. Maybe you've written up a new story or continuity that's all
yours. Finding at least something original to add to your dream can really
help your points. Don't forget to note in your write up about your dream
what those original pieces are though, so judges and dream visitors can
see.
Dreamweaving: This is the area that I judge the most strongly! I'm very
picky about contest viable dream design and details. It's very important
that you put a good deal of time and attention into the layout of your
dream. Make sure it flows well for the large number of furres coming
through. It needs to look good and like everything goes together. A top
winner's dream will even look like furres have been inhabiting it for a
while, not sterile and unwelcoming. Paths should be edged and shorelines,
wooded areas and grassy areas should look natural. Colors and designs
inside should go together. There shouldn't be repeats of the same items or
floors on the same screen without variances or designed patterns. Make it
look lifelike. Also, make sure furres can't see areas they shouldn't in
the dream such as the upstairs off in the black. This attention to detail
can be time consuming but can really set your dream apart and help make it
a winner.
DragonSpeak: "This Cat You Know" likes to tell others that thirteen year old girls can
script with DS and make something interesting. This is true and we don't
require really complicated DS in winning dreams. However, you can make
some really cool stuff using DragonSpeak. The DS needs to do what it's
meant to do though, so don't get more complicated than you or someone in
your group can handle. DragonSpeak can make things animate, put text on
the screen, move furres around and add a lot more interest and life to to
your dream. If combined with custom patching, you can make about anything
you can think up. We highly recommend that you annotate all your DS and
test it very thoroughly, including under stress of multiple furres in the
dream. As someone who's worked on a lot of festival dreams and main maps,
I can say, if something is going to go wrong it will most likely be with
DS. If you are one of those furres who can do really amazing things with
DS play this up a lot to get those high scores.
 |
This Spring 2005 entry by Graphite and
GraceKitten had an excellent inventory system made from DragonSpeak. |
Art Patches: Using patches in dreams is not required in most dream contests; even using original patchwork is not required. However, your chances of winning do get higher with new, original artwork in the dream. Patching can mean avatars, portraits, objects, floors, walls, and interface. There needs to be a balanced reached of patch size and download time, though. Remember many still use modems and a huge patch will mean fewer can enjoy your dream. Use the patchwork you add to the best advantage and use default art when it works. The quality of the art is also important. Make sure it looks like it matches the other art in the dream. It should have proper perspective, outlines, shadows and scale and should fit well in the Furcadia palette. You won't get as high of patch score with badly made art, so this is a good place to get help if you aren't used to patching. It is okay to use the art from the patch archive or from someone else if express permission is given. You *MUST* give credit to the artists either in a readme attached to the dream entry or in the text of the dream or webpage.
 |
Indigo Nightfall entered "Snow Globe" in
the Winter 2004 contest. Almost everything in the dream is beautiful,
original patchwork. |
Sound and music: It's easy to forget about sounds and music when you are
creating a dream. However, they can really enhance the mood and
playability of the dream. Scary theme music can give an audio cue to what
the player should be feeling. Ambient sounds can also set mood. These are
a set of sounds that you DragonSpeak to go off randomly in your dream,
such as bird calls for meadows or frogs for swamps. Using sounds to show
that someone is on the right track on a quest or that they successfully
completed some task gives another dimension to game play. A few hints,
don't repeat the same song or noise over and over as it will just annoy
players and judges. Don't give everything sounds, choose carefully to
maximize the player's experience. Don't patch in too many large sound or
music files that will cause the download to over-inflate. Lastly, some
furres don't have their sounds and music on, so if you use them in your
dream, make sure there's a visual reminder to turn them on!
Story: Dreams need to tell some kind of story to add interest and depth to
them. This can be shown a lot with the graphics and layout of the dream.
However, many dreams have an actual storyline that goes with them. These
can be a backstory on a webpage, or entry text to help the player "get
into" the dream, or a quest story that develops as the dream is
experienced. Keeping a story light and humorous will appeal to a wider
audience than an overly involved storyline. This might be a good area to
get some extra help in from someone you know is a good writer. Roleplayers
often excel in this area and it's a good way for them to contribute to a
dream project. Story also includes any signs or text messages in the
dream. Make sure you have someone spell and grammar check all of these as
well.
Community Friendly: Community friendly is a bit of a catch-all category
for us. One part is whether you have made your dream friendly for others.
For example, do you have an area or DS in the dream that is obviously only
for you and your friends? That would count you off for community because
you are not being inclusive. Also, how well does your dream work for
crowds and multiple furres going through? Are pathways wide enough, doors
and rides designed for large numbers of players and does the dream flow
well? Do you have enough signs and text to let furres know what they need
to to play in your dream? Do quests and games handle multiple furres using
them and reset well? You get plus scores in this category if quests and
games require cooperation to work well too. The other thing you can do to
make plus scores in this category is hold events in your dream during the
festivals that go with the dream contests. Especially if you also make the
sure the event is announced on the news channel[link].
Teamwork: We like to encourage players to work together to come up with
even better dreams than they might on their own. With that in mind we give
some extra points if you show that you worked as a team on the project. We
don't dock any points though if you did it all yourself, but as mentioned
above, even having someone to look over your dream and critique it can
really help you out. What we'd really like to see is top artists, writers,
weavers, scriptors and community people forming teams that go on to make
other great things like guild dreams and their own festivals.
Bug checked: Quality assurance is something you can never do enough of
with a contest dream. Test everything and test it again and when you are
done add a bunch of players and test it again. It can be really hard to do
this because often you've barely given yourself enough time to finish the
dream and testing can be time consuming. You really can't test a dream by
yourself. You need someone else with an outside view to look for typos,
broken DS, weaving mistakes and the like. Preferably you get a bunch of
friends to pore over the dream trying to break things. In public maps,
players will break and test everything they can, so keep that in mind when
building too. In most festival maps over half of the DS is what Gar and I
refer to as "twink proofing" DS. It's also important to make sure puzzles
or quest stages either reset when a furre is done, or don't need to. Also
they should be able to handle more than one person working on the same
challenge at the same time, or else seal off areas so that only one furre
can play at a time. In sealed areas especially, you should make sure
nothing will be broken if a furre unexpectedly leaves or loses connection.
Putting time limits on some dream elements can be a good way to make sure
they'll get reset whether a player finishes or not. We will often count
off for really sloppy mistakes but we do give a bit of leeway here since
we know how hard it is to get everything working right.
Extra credit Webpage: Since we do not provide webspace, we never require a
webpage with contest dreams. However, we give extra points for those who
use the web to improve their entry. Often entrants will use the webpage to
give hints and clues about the game play in the dream or tell what the
backstory is. They include maps of the dream to help furres find their way
around. This can be really helpful for judges who might have 40 dreams to
judge and it saves them a good deal of time. Our dream editor has a
feature that lets you save a map of your whole dream automatically as a
BMP file. Sometimes furres get very creative, using the web for some or
other parts that build right into the dream. Be clever and creative with
this and you will find it makes for a better dream.
 |
Stevie (fire elf) is known for his
wonderful quests and RPG dream entries. This is part of a webpage made for "Damon's Infection" in the 2004 Wolf Howl. |
Regular, Master or Exhibit entries? ( top )
There's three ways you can enter the
dream contest. If you've never entered before, or you aren't sure, you are
most likely entering in the regular category. This category is for
everyone except a few who meet specific qualifications. Master Category is
for those who have won first or grand prize in a previous official Furcadia
contest and for those who are Master Masons or Mason Heads or Pixel Heads.
Regular Masons and Pixels enter the regular contest unless they've won in
the past. If any major contributor on our team meets these qualifications
your team can and must enter in the Master Category. These categories were
made to give less experienced dreamweavers a better chance at winning.
However, the prizes are a bit heftier in the Master category so you must
earn your way into it. Associates, Creators or top dreamweavers who wish
to share their creations but aren't entering in the contest can also
submit an exhibit dream which is shown but not judged. We don't guarantee
that exhibit dreams will be displayed.
What are the technical requirements for dreams? ( top )
There is no size
requirement on contest dreams but I do suggest you keep them smallish.
This not only makes it so everything can be seen easily, but it helps
group furres together and makes them more excited about the dream. We also
do not restrict patch sizes or amount of DS in any way. This is left to
your judgement, though I would say again that too large a patch is not user
friendly. At this time we do not allow dreams in dreams for contests as we
have a limited number of dream servers and we put these dreams up as
semi-perm dreams. You are allowed to enter only one dream in each contest,
however, you may enter as many different contests a year as you like. If
you don't want others to have access to your dream or patch, be sure to
mark it as encrypted and put a note in that you want it kept encrypted. We
don't guarantee that others won't find a way around that and copy the
dream, but we protect as best we can.
What rights do you have and what rights do you give us (Dragon's Eye
Productions) by entering a contest? ( top )
By sending us a contest dream you
agree to all the same things as in the Furcadia Terms of Service.
The dream still belongs to you and we will not use it for profit without
your permission. You do give us the right to upload the dream to be viewed
by players at any time and for as long as we want. You agree to allow us
to use the dream or pictures of the dream for promotion and advertisement.
You agree that to the best of your knowledge that you created this dream
yourself and you have permission to use all material in the dream and
patch. You agree that all decisions by the judges are final and that you
are not guaranteed to win any prize. You agree that we will only give
prizes to and talk to the Team Leader for your entry and they are
responsible for distributing the prizes.
How do I send my dream in to be judged? ( top )
How do I send my dream in to be judged? ( top )
It's very important that you follow these guidelines carefully when
entering your dream as you might be disqualified if something is missing
and a good version isn't sent by the deadline. To enter, you will submit
your dream through a form set up specifically for the dream contest as a
.zip file, logging in to the character you are entering as. We won't
accept unzipped dreams unless there is a problem and we've requested you
e-mail us an unzipped dream. Make sure you fill out the form completely! Your .zip
file should include:
▪ Your dream file (Named: yourfurre-yourdream.map)
▪ Your dragonspeak file (Named: yourfurre-yourdream.ds)
▪ Your zip file can and should include any notes, credits, or readme files you require. (In .txt format. Note: This is NOT your credits file!)
▪ Make sure your dream is encrypted if you want it to be encrypted!
▪ All your patch files should be in a folder named yourfurre-yourdream-patch
▪ Include only files necessary for your patch!
▪ Make sure you include a credits.txt file to be uploaded with your dream
Please click here for an animated .gif that will show you, step by step, how to package your dream. (this will open in a new window)
On the application form make sure you've included:
▪ A properly packaged .zip file. (The most important part!)
▪ A screenshot of the most exciting part of your dream (Should be in .gif or .jpg format for the web)
▪ The encryption checkbox is checked or unchecked as appropriate for your dream
▪ A list of all group members who helped with the dream.
▪ A Brief description of what your dream is about, this description will be posted to the web.
▪ Any special instructions you want the judges to know, this will not be made public.
▪ Make sure a duplicate fo your credits file is listed as well.
What happens then? ( top )
It can take several days after the deadline for the dreams to be posted to
the server. The time varies due to numbers of entries and time for the
programmers to put them up. Also, the dreams take quite a bit of time to
judge. Imagine if we only spend an hour in each dream and there are 40 of
them. That alone would be a full week of work. When they are all judged we
usually hold an event at the Festival stage to announce them . "This Cat You Know"
makes special comments on what he liked about each dream that he
announces. The winners are also posted on the webpages and usually there
are labels in the festival map on each dream that won.
You did it!
Now you know the basics of how to put together and submit your entry
correctly, and also some tips about how to make a dream that's more likely
to score well. We hope this advice will help you do better in our dream
contests! "This Cat You Know" and I are constantly amazed and awed at the wonderful
dreams entered in these contests. The Furcadian players are truly some of
the most creative and talented people on the internet and we are very
happy to display and enjoy your creations. We thank you all for these
entries and wish you the best of luck in the contests. It's always a
really hard choice for us to decide who the winners are as we love all the
entries and know the work you put in to them. Happy Dreaming!