Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can my friend who lives in the same place as me join my team?

Of course, as long as you have two other people from different countries in your team. The rules say that you have to have at least three people from three different countries in your team, but if you have four people in your team, two of them may come from the same country.

2. Can't I write a single line of code before the competition starts?

No, not a single line of code, so all teams will have exactly the same amount of time available. one weekend is a very short timespan and an extra day of coding will give you a great advantage. I'm going to make an exception for header files. Because there is a lot of planning on beforehand involved, people must be able to make agreements on the function prototypes and class definitions. So header files are allowed, as long as these contain no actual code, just definitions and prototypes.

3. I want to participate but I can't find a team

Send me an e-mail. There are a lot of other people who are also looking for a team, and I can bring you in contact with them.

4. I can't make it on the date you mention, will there be another team compo later?

That depends on the success of this compo. This is the first Allegro Team Compo ever and I have no idea how it will go. Ask me again later.

5. It is almost impossible to work with several people on the same project at the same time.

I will not say it is easy but it is not impossible. For example, take a look at the speedhack 2001 entry "monkeyhack". This was made by a team of two people. As you see you can split the game into several parts, and let each team member code a different part. You could also split the game up into a "game logic" part and a "graphics" part. If you can work together well and plan ahead, it should be very well possible. Be creative! It is all part of the contest.

6. One weekend is way too short!

Not true. Take a look at the speedhack entries and you will see that a lot of them are really complete games which are fun to play. With more people working on it together you can make even larger games. Of course you will have to limit your goals a bit because there is no way you will be able to write a Final Fantasy-like RPG in just a weekend. On the other hand, most people are not able to write such a game anyway.

7. Do you have any tips for this compo?

Here is what I can think of:

• Plan ahead. Make sure that you have a very exact definition of what the game will look like.
• Keep it simple. Make sure that every team member is able to do his part. Some team members might be less experienced programmers, so make sure they don't get a task they are not able to do. It would be a shame if every team member completes his part except for one, and because of that the game can't be finished.
• Make use of your own specialities. Some people are better at designing graphics, others are better at writing complicated code.
• Distribute the tasks. Split the project up in a couple of very clearly defined part. Make sure that it is possible to work on one part while the other part is not ready yet. Every team member must know which parts he has to cod / design, and when they should be ready.
• Make use of time zones. People from teams live in different time zones. This can be a menace, because it is almost impossible to get together and chat, because nobody is awake at the same time. But you can also use it to your advantage. Two people can actually work on the same part together. When one is sleeping, the other can code and vice versa.

8. Can I design graphics or sound on beforehand?

No, unless you design them on paper only, because then I consider it planning (: One exception: you can already start designing a logo for your team