This is the official Ragefest IV announcement thread. Let’s get straight to the deets, shall we?
What is Ragefest?
It is a Fire Emblem chapter design contest. The goal is to make a chapter in one of the Fire Emblem games (Or FE game-making engines) that is rage inducingly hard, and gut bustingly funny.
How is the winner decided?
I will record a playthrough of each Ragefest submission with live commentary. The submission creator may decide how I should record it:
- Solo live commentary (default)
- Co-commentary with creator
- Co-commentary with whomever I choose
- Live stream with chat interaction (Chat will be visible)
After each recording is posted up on youtube, I will post a final video asking for votes. The votes submitted in the comments determine the winner. The following are the awards each voter can decide on. All of which are optional.
Jester Award: Funniest submission
Sadist Award: Most agonizing submission
Strategist Award: Most challenging submission (As in, difficult but fair, and creative.)
Artist Award: Submission with the best aesthetics
Ragefest Award: Best overall submission. This decides the winner.
What are the rules?
- Must be a ROM hack of a pre-existing Fire Emblem game, or be made in
FEXP or FEXNA. - Must have a custom map and custom events.
- One chapter only. Chaining multiple maps together is allowed however.
- Maps and chapters intended for or are in use by other hacks or other related creations should not be used as submissions. (Thanks for the tip, Leafeon!)
- No Arenas.
- No Fog of War vision below 3 spaces. If it’s Thracia fog, vision must be at least 5 spaces.
- A torch or thief must be provided/accessible before or within the
first three turns of Fog of War. - Excessive luck is prohibited.
- Excessive crypticness is prohibited.
- Must be beatable with 3 save states maximum.
Any advice?
- Make your trolling swift and merciless.
- Analyze the player’s expected path. Place enemies and time events based on the expected route and pace.
- Make your own jokes. References are fine, but they won’t beat the original joke. Unless of course you put a hilarious new spin on it.
- Your top priority should be the design and writing. Pretty graphics and maps mean little in the grand scheme of things. Just look at who won Ragefest 3.
- Take that as inspiration. Don’t be afraid if you are new to FE
hacking. Your wit and sadism matter more than your technical or
artistic skill. - Get feedback and playtesters. I have a sub-forum dedicated to this purpose.
What’s the deadline?
The deadline for all Ragefest submissions is July 20th. You may ask for a week-long extension, but only if you started work on your submission after this announcement.
I don’t know how to make a chapter in Fire Emblem!
Don’t worry. There are plenty of people who are willing to help you out. Just ask in the thread. People will link you to tools and tutorials, or you can go on my website to find most of the essentials. If you’re having trouble finding help, I’ll help you personally if you sign up on my forums and post a thread in “Hacking assistance”. If you don’t get a reply from me after about a day, e-mail me at markyjoe1990@gmail.com.
Are you gonna be a jerk like your were in Ragefest 3?
I look back at Ragefest 3 with much regret. On average, it had the best submissions, but my videos were poorly edited, and I showed very little enthusiasm over a series that has more or less been my biggest viewership triumph. I promise you, things will be different this time.
PS: I want to apologize to Klokinator especially. I forgot to update my version of his submission, so I ended up recording the wrong version and misrepresenting it as a result. This won’t happen again.
I have suggestions/questions!
Great! Post it in the thread and let me know what you’ve got to say. I want this Ragefest to be the best, so any feedback I get is precious.