Congratulations to all of the entrants for the 2007 CCN Speedgame competition! Two weeks is not a long time to make a game, and I'm really pleased with everyone who participated (even if you didn't submit a game, but tried).

Here are the download links for the games in the contest:
Main Contest Directory

Listed in order of entrant's name, assigned a letter for ease of judging reference (skipping I and O for readability):

A: Sower by ArchAngel. Think "Sim Farm" meets "Miles Bournes" -- a fun farm management game with depth, strategy, and a bit of the luck-of-the-draw (literally).

B: Casey has a directory, but no entry just yet. Can we hope to see a late submission?

C: Light of God by team Double Destruction (Kevin, Justin and Kwentin). LoG is a 3D arcade/puzzle game where people keep stepping away from the light of God, and you have to turn them back towards the light. As you play it gets harder and harder.

D: Super Sower by Ereon. A basic platformer where the player gathers seeds and fights against the weeds that plague the lands around your farm.

E: Mustard Seed by Evdude. A widget-sized simple (yet fun) tree-growing clickfest race-against-the-clock! A 30 second break to add a smile to your day.

F: Finding Keepers (Mac) by HanClinto and Charlie Mauck. A simple match-3 puzzle game to sort clean and unclean fish from a dragnet on the shore of Galilee.

G: Trees of Doom by Jestermax. In this exploration/fighting game, you'll clear the unfruitful trees from the garden with turn-based combat. Watch out though -- most of the trees don't want to be cleared.

H: Mastallama sadly lost his game in a source code disaster.

J: Lost Lamb by Jon (ArchAngel's little-brother / protege). An action-based adventure side-scroller where you plan an adventurous shepherd who sets out to find his lost sheep. Watch out! You'll have to acquire a sword and fight groups of enemies along the way!

K: Luke's Garden by CPUFreak91. A casually-paced garden management/economy game, interspersed with brief periods of frantic watering and bug-blasting! Use all of the tools at your command to keep your garden thriving through periods of rain and drought in order to yield a fruitful harvest at the end of the year.

L: Lazarus/Konishu sadly had to drop out due to real-life circumstances. We still like you though, and look forward to possible participation in future years!

M: Para-bells by Mene-Mene. Manage the estate of the master while he is gone in this exploration/magagement game. Be vigilant, as you don't know when he will return!

N: The Adventures of Emma & Molly by SSquared. A puzzle/exploration game targeted primarily at children, but it has enjoyable and challenging fun for all ages. Help the two girls find their missing sheep stuffed animal, and explore a number of parables along the way!

P: Finding Adina by Sam Washburn. A retro story-driven platformer where the shepherd Ronan must search for his favorite lost sheep, Adina. Along the way the player will uncover an epic tale about devotion, bravery, self sacrifice, and love.

Q: Thirddaysaved has a directory, but no entry. Another one that I'm hoping to see a late submittal.

R: XianLee also has a directory, but it sounds like he won't be getting anything in this time. Best wishes for next time though!

S: Sustaining Light by HeardTheWord. A platformer based on the Parable of the 10 Virgins. Collect coins and keep your lamp's light shining until the groom arrives!

T: Sow the Word by Kenman. Based on the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, this strategy/puzzle game uses a goal oriented teaching model to teach biblical lessons. Manage fields, gain wisdom, and uncover special helps along the way!

U: The Lost Sheep by Leo. A simple (yet deep) puzzle game where you try to guide your sheep to green pastures. Excercise your brain as you try to solve all 25 puzzles, and try to beat your best times!

V: Falling Sheep! by Renegader BJ. Your sheep are falling from the sky -- guide them into the safety of the pens to keep them safe in this fast-paced action arcade game!

I'll finish typing more of this up with edits as I get the short game summaries, but I just wanted to get a thread started that easily consolidated the games and their descriptions. If you have a short description for your game that you'd like me to put in the summary list, feel free to send me a PM and I'll get it put in.

Congrats to all of the participants, and a huge thanks to our contest organizers and sponsors!
Christian Games! Now! The BEST Place for Christian Games!
The ACE Portal: Where developers gather!
The Game Creators: Creators of multiple game development tools!
3d Game Studio: Creators of the powerful and popular game engine!
GarageGames: Developers of the popular Torque Game Engine, available on PC/Mac/XBox/Wii!
chUmbaLum sOft: Creators of ever-popular MilkShape3d!

[This message has been edited by HanClinto (edited August 22, 2007).]

Here is my entry

http://www.gameace.org/~CCNcontest07/kenmanKen_Wagman/
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Howdy all! Check out http://art.twobrotherssoftware.com/shs.html, my latest CD.

If you ain't in the forums, you in the againstums

[This message has been edited by kenman (edited August 19, 2007).]

"An addictive fast action arcade style puzzle game based on the Parable of the Lost Sheep".

Thanks Han!

so let's see. Summary for my game:

Grow plants in a card game based on the Parable of the Sower, with a twist of the Parable of the Talents, and something to do with a flying saucer.

and yeah, Jon's my little brother. I'm encouraging to make games instead of just playing them. Not much patience (his was a one-day job), but he's on his way. Best start them young, you know.
his description:

side scrolling game where you find your lost sheep and fight lions and stuff.

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

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All Your Base Are Belong To Us!!! chown -r us ./base
"After three days without programming, life becomes meaningless.'' -- Tao of Programming Book 2

"Oh, bother," said the Borg. "We've assimilated Pooh."

"Socialism works great... if there are no people involved." -- Pastor David Ginter, Union Church of Guatemala.

My Programming and Hacker/Geek related Blog

I wonder where Mack is. Hope he's OK. (While I was writing this post, he appeared and closed the thread.) Glad to see you're back Mack.

I'd like to start a post-mortem thread, but I'd rather wait until after the judging. I do have plans to continue working on the game. My wife asked me this morning, "So, you're done with that game, right?" And my reply was, "Hoooooboy! My time working on the game is JUST beginning. Now the real push begins." In all seriousness, I do have plans for the future. I think it will be great to see these games continue on their way. Anyone else planning to work on their game?

> so this game was a pretty heavy experimentation on our parts

Funny how a two week contest can do that. I had all sorts of learning plans after last year's contest. I failed to do most of them. I wish my knowledge prior to the contest was where I was AFTER the contest. I now feel so much more comfortable with stuff it has really opened up more ideas, possibilities and confidence.

@Clint and Charlie.. Finding Keepers is both beautiful and addicting! I've really been enjoying it. The cut scenes really are a nice touch. The 3x3 boards are tough! Nice job on the parallaxing on the opening screen. Such a simple effect can add so much depth.

@S^2.. Both me and my wife have enjoyed yours. LOVE the sound effects. Well though out game play too.

@Leo.. I liked the variety of game play in yours.

@Arch and @CPU - I like the thought you both put into game play and the variety of tactics.

All the others who used DirectX 9.. sorry.. my home computer is also my work computer (i.e. I code from home) Dx9 take up too many resources for me to install here.

Wow! Hasn't it been a blast?! I hope people who play our games will see how great God is.

God Bless!

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Sam Washburn

Check out my CCN SpeedGame 2 Blog

quote:

---

Originally posted by samw3:
@Leo.. I liked the variety of game play in yours.

---

Thank you! I planned more NPCs with different behaviors, but I ran out of time. My first idea, an RTS based on "The Sower", was too ambitious, so I had to recycle the work on the carrier character and wheat fields in a simpler game. That's why my poor sheeps eat cut wheat

I had no time to try the other entries yet. I have a slow internet connection now, so I'll try first the two "Finding..." (yours and Clint's one), that seem two of the most appreciated games until now.
I already know from the comments that after playing them, I'll lose interest in any future improvements on my entry

God bless!

------------------
Ciao, leo
APOCALYX 3D Engine
http://apocalyx.sourceforge.net

Summary:
Your master is away, and you have to manage is flocks, as time goes buy, or you take a visit to the vineyards, the wine will increase. Make sure its at optimum while fending off enemies(Cut). As you fight enemies your skills will increase, but so will theirs(cut). Additionally, watch for the master that he may not come while you are away from the road.

I have HUDs, new art, new road stuff, and a whole lot better art, a help screen, but for some reason BM failed me.... If I can make a report, I might make a bug report. not many lines of code, and during the weeks I didn't do much due to school, but I tried. The idea was pretty good I though, I just never got to see it through. I don't think I'll continue working on the game, likely I'll work on something 3d now.

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto
I reserve the full right to change my views/theories at any time.

Description:
Odd sort of "game" where you wander around killing trees, turn-based style.

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Visit my portfolio (and check out my projects):
www.JestermaxStudios.com

This is based on the parable of the sower. This a timed strategy game where you are the sower and you are planting your seeds in the field. During the day when the sun comes out, you get to plant as long as you have enough strength to plant your seed. Tired, make sure you rest at night! During the darkness, the enemy comes to plant tares (weeds) into your field. Don't fret though, you can gain wisdom (through knowledge of the Word of God) to not only defeat the enemy but remove the tares from your field. When you have planted your harvest quota, ask for assistance from the Angel of God to harvest your crop. The Angel of God will also BURN AWAY all of the tares in preperation for returning the soil to good soil! The game questions are fun and provocative and mostly taken from the Word of God (except the questions what does CCN stand for). There are special helps along the way if you can find them, and some good music.

Coded in VB .Net 2005, encompassing well over 10,000 lines of Code, The Sower Sows the Word was written from scratch using NO code that was pre written or any pre written sub routines. All Music and Art were created for the game (I have well over 1GB of resources in raw format in my hard drive with music and art). No game engine was used either.

My goal in creating this game was to create a fun, easy to play game that used a goal oriented teaching model to teach biblical lessons. This game is well suited for Sunday School classrooms where individual students can take time playing a quick game during free time, when a game to teach the basis of the Word of God is wanted.

Thanks for playing The Sower Sows the Word.

Kenman out!

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Howdy all! Check out http://art.twobrotherssoftware.com/shs.html, my latest CD.

If you ain't in the forums, you in the againstums :)

quote:

---

Originally posted by HanClinto:

Lazarus... Can we expect a late entry?

---

Sorry Clint. I had entered but midway through programming the intro screen Dad yanked me from my chair and delivered an ultimatum.
Well actually, it was more like a jail sentence, but I had to drop out due to being unable to use my computer(at all).

Tis a shame.

Arch: I agree -- get 'em while they're young.

Samw3: Thanks for the kind words. "Such a simple effect can add so much depth" -- hehe. I like the possible double-usage of "depth".

Mene^2: If you're looking to make a report for school, one you might want to consider writing is what's called a "Post Mortem". It's a popular thing to do after getting done with a game project, and you basically answer 3 questions.
1) What were you hoping to do with the project?
2) What went wrong?
3) What went right?
They're incredibly fun reports for other game developers to read, and there is a lot of valuable knowledge and experience that can be communicated to others through them, so that they can follow you in the things you did right, and learn from your mistakes in the things that went wrong. At some point, I really think we should start a post-mortem thread (as SSquared suggested). So much of what I love about the speedgame competitions is that it's such a great short-term venue to learn from good game development experience across an entire project cycle -- I think to capitalize on that, we would do well to write and read post-mortems about the projects.

Lazarus: Oh right -- sorry for forgetting about that -- I do remember you telling us about it now. I'm glad you still can come around here to post with us from time to time -- we enjoy having you here in so far as you are able.

I've started writing up some reviews of the games for feedback (only played 3 of the games so far) -- I'll probably post those first few feedback reviews here later on this afternoon.

Cheers!

In Christ,
clint

[This message has been edited by HanClinto (edited August 20, 2007).]

quote:

---

I wonder where Mack is. Hope he's OK. (While I was writing this post, he appeared and closed the thread.) Glad to see you're back Mack.

---

Yesterday was my birthday so I was out most of the day. I'm downloading entries today and will be contacting the judges and sponsors later on today.

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Thanks for the comments Sam. I've been a musician for what...30 years or so and have always had dreams to do one of those dedication songs to my wife or kids. But I rarely write songs with lyrics and nothing really came to me. I really feel this game turned into that dedication to my kids.

The bar was DEFINITELY raised this year. Really terrific games. Kind of scary since that just means a tougher competition next year.

> I'll lose interest in any future improvements on my entry

Leo, noooooo! You have a really great game. I'm really looking forward to finishing all of the levels and was hoping you would continue working on it. Your entry clearly showed you are familiar with game design/creation.

It was good to see some new faces too. Like Leo, for instance. Kudos to Mack for spreading the word to other sites.

The Parable Game did not run well, there's something wrong with the graphics so that screen is mostly black and you cant see to do anything except start the game. It must be a widescreen issue?

Sustaining Light doesnt run, but it gives this error dialog box: Error message. Sorry, is there something I should have installed first, for the torque game builder?

LOG Lagged too much... sorry, I have GF5200mx.

I'll test more later.

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Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

[VoHW] (Help needed) [Blog] (Contact) - Truedisciple (mp3)

...so when is it coming out for the GameBoy?

quote:

---

Originally posted by jari:
Sustaining Light doesnt run, but it gives this error dialog box: Error message. Sorry, is there something I should have installed first, for the torque game builder?

---

Thanks for letting me know this didn't work. Occasionally this error popped up when deploying the game. Does everyone have this problem or is it isolated to jari's computer? Also, I've noticed that some computers don't like the multiple layers that TGB displays. Clint's and my game both played very odd at my parent's house...

You probably can fix this by copying the common folder from any TGB game since it is all stock Torque resources. Definitely odd that it didn't get exported when deploying.

Anyways, I played several games yesterday and enjoyed all of them. Luke's Garden reminded me a bit of the Tamagotchi craze that went on several years ago. The falling sheep game was difficult to get a handle on but it was fun dragging sheep to the different colored fences.

BTW, I think I was linking to the wrong file for Kenman's game (was accidentally linked to the source) -- sorry Kenman! So whoever downloaded it, if you don't feel like recompiling, you might want to check out the updated link.

I've typed up reviews for 4 of the games, but I'm going to hold off posting them until judging is complete. So far though, I am very impressed with everything I've seen so far and I look forward to playing through the rest of the games!

In Christ,
clint

quote:

---

Originally posted by jari:
Here's some quick feedback on some things that didnt work (I can try to help and fix the problems/test)

---

Thanks for the offer jari! Could you do me a favor and check and see if mine works? I've been whining about that for a while now, just out of nervous curiosity. No need to leave feedback, just let me know if its functional. Thnks.

S2, liked your game alot. love the variety of types of game and the movement is pretty smooth. well put together.

Han and Charlie, well, I've already sung the praises of your game. great puzzle game. I come across puzzle games for sale that won't match up to it. you guys pwned.

Mene, unfortunately, your game would freeze on my before I can really get into the game. You seemed to have a pretty good concept, too.
Renegade, got a Direct3D error.

and hope you had a good b-day, Mack! 25, eh?

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

FALLING SHEEP! RUNS IN FULLSCREEN MODE ONLY WITH A RESOLUTION SETTING OF 1280x720! I WILL FIX THIS LATER, UNTIL THEN IT CAN BE PLAYED BY RUNNING IN THAT RESOLUTION.

It should work now guys,if you set your res. sorry.

P.S. Han, if it isn't too late, can you change the link to my game to the fixed folder? thanks.

Edit by HanClinto: Sure thing.

[This message has been edited by renegader_bj (edited August 20, 2007).]

[This message has been edited by HanClinto (edited August 20, 2007).]

quote:

---

Btw, what do the judges do if some of the entries don't work the first time? do we get to fix them?

---

These are the show stoppers I've encountered so far:

Ereon: I get a 'Runtime Error 3502 - Could not load music at line 151'. Won't even launch the game.

KenMan: I go to launch the game and it crashes. I have the latest .NET and I tried the DirectX fix as well.

------------------
Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

quote:

---

Originally posted by klumsy:
can somebody make a downlaod link in the main entry to prerequisites that might be needed (and a note).. I.e i downloaded sower. and it won't run.. the readme says it needs the SDL.net runtime.. no time to look for it though at the mo.

---

In the mean time, I was able to get Sower to run by copying all of the .dll's from SSquared's entry (EntryEXE), which included SDL.Net runtume libs.

Arch, you may want to make an updated zip with the needed dll's if you don't want to lose many more points for "build".

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The time for speaking comes rarely, the time for being never departs.
George Macdonald

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ereon:
Mack: Check the folder for a musicloop.mp3 file. It should have unzipped into it. If it's not there try redownloading, and if it's still not there hit me up and I'll send you the .mp3 manually. It should be there though.

---

Musicloop1.mp3 is in the main directory so I tried making a copy of that and renaming it to musicloop.mp3 and it still didn't launch. No musicloop.mp3 was included in the zip (I just redownloaded it as well).

This is our first game and it took 3 college artist to make and one learned to program as he went. Im very proud of my team and we hope to make many more great games. Even tho this game wasn't my full vision i think we did pretty good. Hope you guys like it

(I thought I made a note of it in the readme, up top)
I'll work on the updated zip, tho.

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

this file doesn't need the SDL runtime. sorry about that mix up.
all it needs, I believe, is the .NET framework, which most have... I think.

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

If you are getting a missind DLL error then it is a .net issue. If it just crashes than it is a directX issue.

I tried this on a clean install of xp just installing those 2 things, so if it doesn't work, it is a cross compatibility issue with something on your machine.

quote:

---

If we can't launch the game due to a bug then you can submit a fix to have it fixed. You'll automatically loose Stability points if this happens. Get it fixed ASAP or you'll be disqualified.

---

No one should loose points due to an incompatability issue with a judges machine, unless you were to post what each judges machines were running. My game works fine with stock install of XP SP2 - with the 2 requirements listed in the readme file. As developers I think we are all known for putting a large amount of gook on our systems, that's why I started testing things on a stock install with nothing else installed. I reinstall XP before testing each release I make. Then I know whether it is a cross compatability issue or an actual software issue.
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Howdy all! Check out http://art.twobrotherssoftware.com/shs.html, my latest CD.

If you ain't in the forums, you in the againstums

[This message has been edited by kenman (edited August 21, 2007).]

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The time for speaking comes rarely, the time for being never departs.
George Macdonald

Thank you for the encouragement! The final result is not as good as
I planned at the beginning, but probably I'll try to improve it, if
I'll find the time... at least to rewrite a little the unreadable sources.

ssquared wrote:
>
> I'm really looking forward to finishing all of the levels...

If you'll succeed, send your best times to me by email. I'm
curious to compare them with mine. For example, in the level
"A missing piece II" I tried to design a not so simple level
and now I relize it has an immediate solution, but during
the tests I've always followed the wrong way, of course

ssquared wrote:
>
> Your entry clearly showed you are familiar with
> game design/creation.

Believe it or not, this is the first almost-real game that
I ever wrote, in fact until now I've only programmed demos
for my 3D engine, but never a playable game with a goal.
I absolutely must thank for this contest: it has given the
opportunity to finalize some efforts inspired by
an interesting subject.

------------------
Ciao, leo
APOCALYX 3D Engine
http://apocalyx.sourceforge.net

quote:

---

You have to have .net 2.0 installed, it wont work with 1.0 or 3.0.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mack:
"You have to have .net 2.0 installed, it wont work with 1.0 or 3.0."
Ah, that would be the problem. I have .NET 3.0 installed.

---

--clint

EDIT: At Clint's and SSquared's requests below, the previous post here was removed. Its theory supporting Christian Games over Clean Games has been replaced by actual experience described at the above link.

[This message has been edited by Kirk (edited August 23, 2007).]

Wow! I thought for sure you had probably done something before.

> I absolutely must thank for this contest

Yes! These contests tend to bring out new skillsets and expand our knowledge in unexpected ways. I find myself asking, "why do I wait for a contest to learn this stuff?" After last year's contest, I had some goals I wanted to acheive. Please note, I am not at ALL a goal-oriented person, so making goals is a HUGE accomplishment for me. I completed some of the goals, but not all. This year, I'm starting to come up with a new list of items to learn.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kirk:
Ok, I played several levels of a SpeedGame entry and now I can ask myself, "Did I learn anything of Christianity by playing that game?"

---

You're bringing up the issue of the purpose of Christian games. This is a fine discussion to have (indeed, it's one that we've had many times before -- links 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) -- if you'd like to discuss this perennial topic, then please start a new thread, as this thread is to specifically talk about the contest, not the purpose of games in general.

Thankyou for your help in keeping posts organized and on-topic.

--clint

[This message has been edited by HanClinto (edited August 21, 2007).]

quote:

---

Originally posted by HanClinto:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Mack:
[b] "You have to have .net 2.0 installed, it wont work with 1.0 or 3.0."
Ah, that would be the problem. I have .NET 3.0 installed.

---

--clint[/B][/QUOTE]
You should be able to have a version of 1.0 2.0 and 3.0 installed, although I have never had 3.0 and 1.1 installed at the same time so I cannot be certain of any issues with that.

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Howdy all! Check out http://art.twobrotherssoftware.com/shs.html, my latest CD.

If you ain't in the forums, you in the againstums :)

Ereon I'll try relaunching it a couple of times when I get home as well.

quote:

---

Originally posted by renegader_bj:
Thanks for the offer jari! Could you do me a favor and check and see if mine works? I've been whining about that for a while now, just out of nervous curiosity. No need to leave feedback, just let me know if its functional. Thnks.

---

Ok I just downloaded it and it works. My The some of the screen wasnt visible because I have the menu bar docked on right side of the screen.
Very good still! It seems like a difficult game. Also the score font was tiny and the main menu scripture went over from the right (maybe it doesn't have the whole verse?).

I hope that feedback helps a little.

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Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

[VoHW] (Help needed) [Blog] (Contact) - Truedisciple (mp3)

I thought for a minute 10,000+ lines of code and I won't even get to be judged
I can breathe again. . .

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Howdy all! Check out http://art.twobrotherssoftware.com/shs.html, my latest CD.

If you ain't in the forums, you in the againstums :)

I tried to run HanClinto's game FindingKeepers but that crashed without leaving a useful error message. It's probably same problem that is with HeardTheWord's game Sustaining Light. Does the TGB require some .net stuff?

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Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

[VoHW] (Help needed) [Blog] (Contact) - Truedisciple (mp3)

quote:

---

Originally posted by jari:
I tried to run HanClinto's game FindingKeepers but that crashed without leaving a useful error message. It's probably same problem that is with HeardTheWord's game Sustaining Light. Does the TGB require some .net stuff?

---

--clint

Just my 0.02 - I might need change

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Howdy all! Check out http://art.twobrotherssoftware.com/shs.html, my latest CD.

If you ain't in the forums, you in the againstums :)

quote:

---

Originally posted by kenman:
Just a note to the admins regarding the downloads. I have had problems both yesterday and today getting corrupted downloads from the 07game directories. It was almost humourous, I could refresh the page and the file sizes would change! The judges might want to consider this if there is a concern about installers not working (I know I had that issue)

---

--clint

quote:

---

Originally posted by KevinofDD:
The light of God is a puzzle game where people keep steeping away from the light if God and you have to keep puting them back in the light. As you play it gets harder and harder.

This is our first game and it took 3 college artist to make and one learned to program as he went. Im very proud of my team and we hope to make many more great games. Even tho this game wasn't my full vision i think we did pretty good. Hope you guys like it

---

One thing that might be helpful is if you made a smaller zip file that was just the bare minimum required to play the game. You did this with everything in the Light of God directory, but it would be easier if that directory were packaged up into a single 30 meg-ish zip file. If you upload a new file like that, I'll update my link in the top post to save everybody some bandwidth. Good job on your first entry BTW -- getting to the point of having a playable game in just 2 weeks is no easy task, and I think all of the participants deserve a pat on the back for that. I look forward to giving you (and everyone else) more detailed compliments/criticism at the end of the week when I finish up my reviews for everybody's games. I think everyone did well, and it's been a blast to play through everyone's games.

Cheers!

In Christ,
clint

[This message has been edited by HanClinto (edited August 21, 2007).]

quote:

---

Originally posted by HanClinto:
No, it shouldn't. There should be a console.log in the main .exe directory -- perhaps you could e-mail it to me? hanclinto (at) gmail _dot_ com.
Depending on when you downloaded it, you *might* have gotten a bad copy -- the latest one up there should be stable.

--clint

---

This may sound like a stupid question but do you happen to have permisions set on the folder you are trying to run it from? It sounds like TGB is having problems getting to the files. If you happen to get a console.log file I would be interested in reviewing it, send to heardtheword (at) gmail.

Thanks for keeping us up to date!

------------------
"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

quote:

---

Originally posted by HanClinto:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by jari:
[b]I tried to run HanClinto's game FindingKeepers but that crashed without leaving a useful error message. It's probably same problem that is with HeardTheWord's game Sustaining Light. Does the TGB require some .net stuff?

---

--clint[/B][/QUOTE]

Ok, I tested if it creates the log but no it crashes right at the beginning
I'll try the newer release.

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Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

[VoHW] (Help needed) [Blog] (Contact) - Truedisciple (mp3)

Anyway, please let us know how the updated one works out for you. Thanks!

[This message has been edited by charlie (edited August 22, 2007).]

Also I had older release of FindingKeepers that didnt give an error message. Nice game btw!
HeardTheWord's game was also cool! But it didnt have exit button in the main menu

God bless.

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Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

[VoHW] (Help needed) [Blog] (Contact) - Truedisciple (mp3)

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

quote:

---

Originally posted by ArchAngel:
so, Mack, did you have problems running Sower with the .NET 3.0?

---

I was able to run your game with no problems.

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The time for speaking comes rarely, the time for being never departs.
George Macdonald

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ereon:
So was there anyone else who's had a hard time getting my game to run yet?

---

--clint

Edit: Yup. I was able to update DirectX to 9.0c and the game ran great! I'll give more feedback later.

[This message has been edited by HanClinto (edited August 22, 2007).]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ArchAngel:
so, finally buckled down and got python an pygame to play CPU's game and it was worth it.

---

quote:

---

took me a little bit of time to get it (which is good. means strategy is needed) but after I got my rhythm, just money in the bank.

---

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All Your Base Are Belong To Us!!! chown -r us ./base
"After three days without programming, life becomes meaningless.'' -- Tao of Programming Book 2

"Oh, bother," said the Borg. "We've assimilated Pooh."

"Socialism works great... if there are no people involved." -- Pastor David Ginter, Union Church of Guatemala.

My Programming and Hacker/Geek related Blog

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

From what I see, the categorization would allow us to lump all the entries under an appropriate title (CCNContest06, etc.) and all the information we've listed here could be included there, plus other niceties, like screen shots and the like. It'd also be a nice way to keep up on the status of ongoing projects (like 'Finding Adina') without having to dig back to this page.

So, am I missing a reason why these are not over there? Do we just need someone to go through and set up the items?

It was a decent amount of work for me to cobble together the first post in this thread, much less create and maintain 15 entries in the showcase section.

Still, what you are suggesting is a really good idea, and I think it should be done.

I suppose the best way to handle that is if the individual authors uploaded their games to the showcase area so that they could manage them themselves, and provide updates if new versions progress.

This site has decently buggy software, and so over time I've grown to sortof ignore the showcase and article areas, and focus on the forum system (which seems to be the most polished and easiest-to-use for a variety of purposes). I claim that as my primary excuse for not doing much with the showcase area.

--clint

[This message has been edited by HanClinto (edited August 24, 2007).]

Adiitionally, I was a little dissapointed that the system only allows for one download. I would have preffered at least three - one for each of the primary platforms. As it is, I suppose I'll need to make another entry for our MAC download.

Finally, their is no category yet for the CCN Contest. I just put it under puzzle, we may want to add a section for it at some point, but for now if everyone just mentions 'CCNContest07' in their description, you can search for them off the main page. In fact, we could probably add an 'Automated Search' for the contest entries.

Should we come up with a list of guidelines for posting them in the showcase section, and then send it out to everyone?

--clint

quote:

---

Originally posted by renegader_bj:
Hey, when are the results being posted?

---

Pretty quick here, I want to get all the sponsors in touch with the winners before I post anything.

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Howdy all! Check out http://art.twobrotherssoftware.com/shs.html, my latest CD.

If you ain't in the forums, you in the againstums :)

http://www.gameace.org/~ChristianCoders/

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!

ALL THE WINNERS HAVE BEEN CONTACTED VIA EMAIL WITH INFORMATION REGARDING THE PRIZES!

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Howdy all! Check out http://art.twobrotherssoftware.com/shs.html, my latest CD.

If you ain't in the forums, you in the againstums :)

While I was mowing the lawn (grumble, grumble) today I was pondering how amazing it was to see the quality of work in just two weeks (along with other thoughts about casual gaming, focus groups, what I plan to learn prior to next year's game, and more). I was thinking of making a CD to hand out to people at church. But I'd wait until participants feel their game is ready for something like that.

Thanks to the sponsors, judges, and, of course, Mack. Who has apparently changed his avatar.

I've been resting out this week, and then started working on some music this weekend. It's a nice change of pace.

I'm honored to come second to Clint, Charlie and S2.

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

It's so great to have the CCN community where we can enjoy our gifts and exercise them for God's glory! I had so much fun doing this!

God Bless!

Sam

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Sam Washburn

Check out my CCN SpeedGame 2 Blog

quote:

---

I'm honored to come second to Clint, Charlie and S2.

---

I'M honored to be on there at all!

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dudey calls...

"trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your way's, acknowledge him and he will direct your path" proverbs 3:5-6

It's incredible how many new things is possible to learn in only two weeks with a good objective... what about another one or two weeks contest (even without so many interesting prizes) during Christmas holydays?

Thank you all for this great contest!

God bless!

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Ciao, leo
APOCALYX 3D Engine
http://apocalyx.sourceforge.net

Anyways, I wrote some feedback for y'all early in the week, and I wanted to wait until after the judging to post it. I'm trying to post it here, but CCN keeps complaining -- I think it might think that it's too big.

Should I start a new thread for all of the game feedback, or should I create a new thread for each of the games to give feedback individually? (or should I just break it up into smaller posts and tack them all in here?)

--clint

[This message has been edited by HanClinto (edited August 27, 2007).]

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Sam Washburn

Check out my CCN SpeedGame 2 Blog

I'm not doing them in any particular order -- just the order in which I played the games and wrote the feedback down in my master feedback list.

I encourage you all to take advantage of this slow pace to take some time and write some feedback for each of the contestants -- they will appreciate it! In case anyone is wondering "how encouraging/critical should I be?" -- a suggested balance of complements/critique is at least one good point for every point of critique. I find that to be a helpful rule of thumb as I'm trying to write constructive criticism.

Enjoy!

--clint

------------------
All Your Base Are Belong To Us!!! chown -r us ./base
"After three days without programming, life becomes meaningless.'' -- Tao of Programming Book 2

"Oh, bother," said the Borg. "We've assimilated Pooh."

"Socialism works great... if there are no people involved." -- Pastor David Ginter, Union Church of Guatemala.

My Programming and Hacker/Geek related Blog

------------------
Matthew Langley
Lead Documentation Engineer
GarageGames

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dudey calls...

"trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your way's, acknowledge him and he will direct your path" proverbs 3:5-6

------------------
Howdy all! Check out http://art.twobrotherssoftware.com/shs.html, my latest CD.

If you ain't in the forums, you in the againstums :)

...or maybe it was an inspiration on the parables themselves to always be ready for Christ's return. In this case, you never know when the contest will start so we need to always be on our toes.

Plus, it was a nice way to ride out some of the adrenaline from the CGDC.

--clint

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

------------------
Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

[VoHW] (Help needed) [Blog] (Contact) - Truedisciple (mp3)

------------------
MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto
I reserve the full right to change my views/theories at any time.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mene-Mene:
Curious to see what Steveth will do with his prize as I think he already has TGE.

---

I am accepting Steveth's award on his behalf. Actually, Steveth did not enter this year. He's been hard at work on Godzilla: Unleashed as they are nearing release date.

I think it is me to whom you are referring. I did not have TGE. As to what I plan to do with it (not that you specifically asked it in regards to me ), my first plan is to buy a new computer. The only computer in our house which will run the Torque products is my wife's iMac.

I looked at that beautiful 20" screen last night and was like, "But it will look SO nice and be so easy to use with that screen." She didn't seem to care. Maybe I can convince her that her old PC is SO much easier to use than a Mac and the 15" screen is somehow displaying twice as much on screen as the 20" and that....ohhhh, who am I kidding. We both use our computers A LOT, plus we have two daughters who want to use them as well, so....our time on our computers is precious to us.

I really need to get a new computer. I have no option for photo editing at the moment. I have Adobe Lightroom and nothing to run it on.

Wait...I'm getting way off topic. I did look over the first TGE Tutorial and was like, "Wow!" You can create beautiful terrain in no time. I started thinking of like a bumper boat game where you squirt and bump other players. No real goal, just to have fun since our family likes them and to learn about physics and fiddle with network play. And all the bumper boats will actually have the same squirting ability, unlike the bumper boats in real life.

------------------
Howdy all! Check out http://art.twobrotherssoftware.com/shs.html, my latest CD.

If you ain't in the forums, you in the againstums :)

------------------
CCN's Resident Idea Man!

quote:

---

Originally posted by super angel steve:
Not Too bad of a Selection,there...Could be better though.

---

Now that you know of the contest, I look forward to your entry next year.

[This message has been edited by Mack (edited August 29, 2007).]

great reviews, Han, and each one's a pleasure to read.

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

And many thanks (again) to Mack for putting this together, getting the word out to other sites, and finding the wonderful sponsors. And anyone else who worked behind the scenes. Thanks for all the hard work.

------------------
Howdy all! Check out http://art.twobrotherssoftware.com/shs.html, my latest CD.

If you ain't in the forums, you in the againstums :)

quote:

---

Originally posted by ssquared:
And many thanks (again) to Mack for putting this together, getting the word out to other sites, and finding the wonderful sponsors. And anyone else who worked behind the scenes. Thanks for all the hard work.

---

seriously. this was a great competition. Double kudos for Mack.

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"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

If anyone is interested in the original writeup I made during the judging week, you can find it here.

I'm really glad you guys have enjoyed the reviews and feedback for the games! Thanks for encouraging me in that regard. I really believe that thinking and learning about the game dev process afterwards is one of the most important parts of growing from this contest, and I really appreciate everyone else who has given feedback as well. It's very valued to the participants, and I hope to see more community encouragement and feedback in the future -- it can really make a difference to someone (especially as a newcomer to programming and first showcasing one's work).

I've also enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts about their experiences writing the games -- those post-mortems have been fantastic. I don't know if any more will get posted in the feedback threads, but I certainly would love to read them if anyone was interested in writing more about their games.

There isn't yet a feedback thread for Finding Keepers, but I don't want to start one if there isn't much to say in it. I might create a thread for it and write up a post-mortem in there, just so I don't feel too silly about creating a thread for my own game.

In addition to feedback and post-mortems about the individual games, I would be interested in getting feedback about the contest. What were your guys' favorite aspects? What went right? What went wrong? One of the biggest complaints from last year was the way in which prizes were handled, and so Mack worked pretty hard to consciously improve in that area. Was it better? It seems everyone is pretty interested in having these contests continue -- is there anything you would like to see different for future years? One thing that we're pretty sure needs revamping is the whole way that judging is done. Do you like having a panel of judges? Would you prefer to have peer-judging? Peer judging sounds nice, but as I can tell you from Pyweek experience, it can be a ton of work to play through and try to impartially review all of the games. What were your favorite things about this contest? Least favorite?

I second what everyone else has said -- huge kudos to Mack and Tim and everyone else who worked on the contest -- it was a huge blessing to me. Thanks again to the sponsors -- I'm very thankful of their support.

Cheers!

In Christ,
clint

quote:

---

What were your guys' favorite aspects?

---

quote:

---

What went right? What went wrong?

---

quote:

---

One of the biggest complaints from last year was the way in which prizes were handled, and so Mack worked pretty hard to consciously improve in that area. Was it better? It seems everyone is pretty interested in having these contests continue -- is there anything you would like to see different for future years?

---

[quote]
One thing that we're pretty sure needs revamping is the whole way that judging is done. Do you like having a panel of judges? Would you prefer to have peer-judging?
[quote]
I like having a panel of judges, I just wish it was clearer who was a judge.

------------------
MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto
I reserve the full right to change my views/theories at any time.

quote:

---

Originally posted by HanClinto:
There isn't yet a feedback thread for Finding Keepers, but I don't want to start one if there isn't much to say in it. I might create a thread for it and write up a post-mortem in there, just so I don't feel too silly about creating a thread for my own game.

---

quote:

---

In addition to feedback and post-mortems about the individual games, I would be interested in getting feedback about the contest. What were your guys' favorite aspects?

---

quote:

---

What went right?

---

quote:

---

What went wrong?

---

Something that would be nice also is to see the judges point scores for each game. I really liked the HanClinto scoring system as a way of seeing my weak areas as well as strengths. This could help us evaluate ourselves better without all the judges having to give a detailed evaluation. (although I thoroughly respect the time poured into your evaluations, clint)

------------------
Sam Washburn

Check out my CCN SpeedGame 2 Blog

What's interesting is how often someone may say, "such and such would have been neat in the game" and the author/creator replies with "I thought of that but due to time..."

> What were your guys' favorite aspects?

Having new people to the site. The prizes. The topic was defined (parables), and yet allowed for so many choices. In other words, it wasn't so specific that you had minimal leeway in what you could do.

Two weeks is a good amount of time. I really enjoy the two weeks timeframe.

As surprised as I may have been, I liked how the contest was just sprung upon us. It was like, "Cool! This really IS happening again."

I always enjoy the camradarie. I like how we help one another. Sam gave input on FamiTracker. Others gave out ideas for sprite tools, tilesets, etc. I gave a suggestion to Arch to use SDL.NET for audio (which he ended up using). Even though we are competing, we are still working together in helping one another.

The judging happened in a good amount of time.

> What went wrong?

Both years the start/end times have been confusing. A definitive time with a time zone will be helpful. And maybe not make it midnight. That seems to be confusing people. Is midnight the beginning of the day or the end of the day?

People seemed to be updating their games after the contest. I think making a separate directory/EXE with an 'Updated' on it is fine, though, and explain what is contained in the update. Then, the judges can decide which one to play and any points they may need to dock. But I think resubmitting under the same EXE should not be allowed.

> complaints from last year was the way in which prizes were handled, and
> so Mack worked pretty hard to consciously improve in that area. Was it
> better?

I don't recall what happened last year, but I thought it was terrific to have 1st, 2nd, 3rd place winners. It just made me really excited to see the prizes going to so many people. Really makes the contest that much more fun and uplifting. Although I'm not quite sure how this will work for teams, unless every member receives the product.

> is there anything you would like to see different for future years?

Nothing ever crossed my mind during the contest, so, for me, I must have felt good about the current system.

> needs revamping is the whole way that judging is done.

Really?

> Do you like having a panel of judges? Would you prefer to have peer-judging?

Yes. No. Although I like the idea of peer-judging, it won't work unless EVERYONE who decides to participate in the voting plays every game. That's why I like the panel idea. I trust the panel to install and play every game. A smaller group is also able to discuss things and come to conclusions about certain aspects of a game.

the only *slight* complaint about the prize was that I never got connected by a CGNow representative concerning my brother's prize.
but, what's most important, is that I got my vouchers for the 3D GameStudio.

------------------
"The generation of random numbers is too important to leave to chance."
Soterion Studios

First, the contest was just better all around. The prizes. The results. The off-site advertising. It grew this year and that is a positive sign.

Second, the caliber of games was much better. Higher quality and more complete. One of my favorite parts of the contest was seeing each person's improvement over their last year's game.

quote:

---

Originally posted by ArchAngel:
the only *slight* complaint about the prize was that I never got connected by a CGNow representative concerning my brother's prize.

---

Me to, only its less slight since it is my prise!

------------------
dudey calls...

"trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your way's, acknowledge him and he will direct your path" proverbs 3:5-6

I don't have the list handy - if you won, Email me at Tim AT GraceWorksInteractive DOT com . I'll send you the list to choose from. I also need your address.

Also, all entrants can have Interactive Parables (I can make a download version available or snail mail one) or Walls of Jericho (if they already have iParables). Email me your name/address.

I appreciate your patience in getting these out to you.

Congrats to everyone's hard work!

God bless,
Tim

------------------
Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.
Participate in the Parables, The Interactive Parables

GWI 1up | GWI MySpace

For clarification, this is for the 3 CGNow prizes to EVDude, Arch's younger bro, and Mene-Mene.

--clint

But a reminder - if you submitted a game EVEN IF YOU DIDN'T WIN, Christian Games NOW/GraceWorks Interactive wants to reward you for your efforts. Obviously, Interactive Parables is the perfert reward for this contest based on Parables! I realize that some of you already have it, so I'll give you Walls (warning it is addictive). If you already have both, let me know and we'll work something out.

Tim AT GraceWorksInteractive DOT com
If I do not reply within two days, call me (541) 223-1367.

God bless you.
Tim

------------------
Called by God. The passioned plea of a father. The journey awaits at Jarod's Journey.
Participate in the Parables, The Interactive Parables

GWI 1up | GWI MySpace

Thanks, Tim, for giving the update!

quote:

---

I also need your address.

---

Email or Street adress?

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dudey calls...

"trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your way's, acknowledge him and he will direct your path" proverbs 3:5-6

I also really enjoyed the theme, and I liked how so many people came up with so many different ideas of ways to make games out of the content. No two were alike, and even those with similar parables turned into very different games.

My suggestions:
As has been said before - a better management of the time frame. I would personally suggest using the International date line, and running from the start of the first Friday until the end of the last Saturday. For EST that would be 7:00 AM Friday to 7:00 AM Sunday.

I’d also suggest rethinking and better defining the categories. Someone mentioned that it would be nice to have a list of the metrics that each category was rated on. I think that would be really good for both the judges to be able to understand what to look for, and for us contestants to know what to strive for.

A new category for audio (sound / music) really seems appropriate. I also would suggest a “Best of Show” or “Overall” category. With independent categories like we have now, the best system of winning seems to be in only doing really well in one area. Having an over-all category I think would help encourage people to try to do their best in all areas.

I’m not quite sure what the metrics on are the “Best Build” category are, so I have a hard time figuring out exactly what that category means. Maybe in the past when a lot of games were failing, that was more of an issue - but when you have a dozen games that all load and run, how do you rate them in that category? Maybe it’s time to let that category go – or replace it with something more measurable. I’m also not sure how gameplay and design differ specifically. On the other hand, I’m a big fan of having plenty of categories – I just think some work into defining them better would be nice. Best documentation, best interface, most replayability?

A final thought would be to use the showcase as a tool to manage and track progress n entries. Clint’s summation thread at the end was great, but having that sooner, and having a way to comment on the different entries separately, as well as a place for contestants to post screenshots and progress reports seems invaluable. I keep hearing rumors that the showcase system is buggy, but if we could get whatever those bugs are worked out – it seems like it would be a more natural place to manage and track individual entries from.

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CCN's Resident Color Commentator!

Unless now is a busy, stressful time in your life then maybe a little later is better...

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Q.E.D.