Frequently asked questions
This article aims to cover some of the more frequently asked questions we've received via email, Twitter, or as part of the Bukkit forum thread.
Nope! While we'd love to see as many people streaming as possible, it's completely optional. If you're not going to stream, try to commit as often as possible so we have a better record of your code creation (not streaming makes verifying that you've written all the code more difficult).
The current prize total is available on our Points page. Prizes are in the form of CurseForge points which can be redeemed for Amazon gift cards and PayPal pay-outs. 1 CurseForge point equals $0.05. To be eligible for the prize, you need a BukkitDev/CurseForge account, and you should be enrolled in the rewards scheme.
Points are given out according to a 5:3:2 ratio. If a winner would receive a fractional number of points, we round down the amount they get and collect the surplus points together. These additional points will be allocated to first place.
Here's an example: let's assume the points total is 17,233 at the end of the contest.
- We divide the points total by 10 to get 1723.3. We'll refer to this as
x. - For first place, we compute
x*5to give us 8616 (rounded down). - For second place, we compute
x*3to give us 5169 (rounded down). - For third place, we compute
x*2to give us 3446 (rounded down). - 17233 - (8616 + 5169 + 3446) gives us an additional 2 points which are added to the total for first place.
The final split is:
| Position | Amount |
|---|---|
| 1st | 8618 ($430.90) |
| 2nd | 5169 ($258.45) |
| 3rd | 3446 ($172.30) |
| Total | 17233 ($861.65) |
As per the rules, we're not allowing teams for this contest. That said, we'd like to look into teams for a future event.
At the start of each time, two themes will be released. As a participant, you can choose one of the two themes to concentrate on. There are 30 points available for how well you conform to your chosen theme, so think a bit for a good idea before starting development. This year, themes will vary in difficulty to enable developers of varying skill to participate.
If you've forgotten which time you selected, you can visit this page and read the text informing you which time you have picked. For example:
You have already selected the following times:
- Time 2. Starts at Sat Jul 12 2014 10:00:00 GMT+0100 (GMT Standard Time) and ends at Sat Jul 12 2014 20:00:00 GMT+0100 (GMT Standard Time)
The site uses whichever timezone your computer is set to. After the date and time, the site will display the timezone (example: GMT+0100 (GMT Standard Time)). Please ensure this is correct. If not, you may wish to adjust your computer's time settings appropriately. If this is correct, you don't need to convert any times because they will be in your timezone.
To apply as a judge, visit this page and ensure you meet the requirements. If you think you do, fill out the fields and submit the form. We'll contact you via the GMail address you supplied concerning your application soon. If your application is denied, you can choose to register as a participant instead, if you wish.
You can't do this via the site, but an organizer will be able to do this for you if you email us. Use the mail link at the bottom of the site. To make verifying you easier, please contact us with an email attached to your GitHub account. If you opted-out of supplying us an email, send a private message via BukkitDev with the username you specified in the registration form.
Follow the procedure above for getting in contact with us, and we'll be able to change this for you.
We'd prefer it if you waited until after the contest due to the large amount of our tracking system that relies on your GitHub username, but if you must change your username before the contest please let us know via email as soon as possible.
If you change your GitHub username during the contest you will almost certainly cause issues that could lead to your entry not being judged. Please don't do this.
Certainly. Please contact an organizer, and we'll be able to remove your registration and repository for you. Use the mail link at the bottom of the site to contact us via email. To make verifying you easier, please contact us with an email attached to your GitHub account. If you opted-out of supplying us an email, send a private message via BukkitDev with the username you specified in the registration form.
We are unable to judge submissions which do not use Maven. We're supplying everyone with a ready-to-go template that will enable them to easily get started with Maven, but if you think that Maven is not a possibility for you, please email us, and we'll see if we can sort out alternative arrangements. We're also happy to help you get started with Maven. Ask us in our IRC channel if you need help or have questions.
If you don't contact us and submit a plugin that does not use Maven, your submission will unfortunately not be judged.
Yes, here are a few things to consider that could help with your final score:
- Ensure your code compiles and that you are using Maven correctly. Make use of our Jenkins server to ensure things are compiling properly.
- Try to think outside of the box and make something unique. You'll still gain points for being adventurous, even if the actual execution isn't as good. We want to see innovative ideas.
- Think about your idea before diving into writing code. You might want to spend a few minutes checking your build environment and ensuring you can compile, commit, etc. Use this time to think of an idea that fits in with the theme.
- Ensure you choose a theme appropriate for your level of skill and try to stick to it.
- Spend some time documenting all of your commands, permissions, plugin mechanics, code, etc. 20 points are available for documentation. The winning entry from last year was really well documented – aim for something like it or better.
- Try to think of alternative interaction mechanics. Commands are great, but there might well be better ways of communicating with the user. Maybe build an inventory GUI, use the new JSON-based chat linking, explore the conversations API, etc.
If you can't find your repository after searching the profile page, make sure you've actually selected a time. To verify this, go to the time selection page and look towards the bottom of the page. If you can see a form which looks like the screenshot below, you haven't yet selected a time and will need to do so before you will have a repository created.
If you've already selected a time and still can't find your repository, please email your GitHub username to [email protected] as soon as possible and we'll look into it for you.