7DRL Challenge: How finished is finshed?

[magellan]

Things are going suprisingly well with "Generic Fantasy Thingy"!

But with halftime almost past, I start to think that I might not be able to put in everything I wanted to. So I ask myself: Are there any clear cut rules what constitutes a success?
Bugfree is propably impossible if you don't limit yourself very, very much (and/or use a lot of libraries)
Winnable? Propably should be there
Is dieable enough?
Any pointers on where I am supposed to post on saturday?

[george]

You post to RGRD, and RGR-announce if you win. I think with over 70 entries what is a 'win' will be an open question .

[magellan]

Yes, got that part.
rgrd if I fail, rgra if I succeed. (poor rgra mod...)
Just wondering if there are any rules of thumb for the borderline "I got 1 monster, and had to cut the magic system from my game about wizards" cases.

[george]

Probably the best rule of thumb is to quickly browse some of the 2009 entries (find them on Roguebasin). You'll see a wide range, but most are a game with a start/middle/end.

[purestrain]

i haven't started yet but i guess i will have a moving bitmap, some monsters and a goal (kill all monsters) - finish. 

[Slash]

Completeness is the criteria, but it's up to the developer to decide if his game is or not complete.

[Darren Grey]

I think ultimately it should be both winnable and losable and entertaining in some way.  As a roguelike it should be more losable than winnable, which also helps boost the third criteria 

I remember when first developing Gruesome I went from having a simple character exploring random caves, to a character exploring random caves and avoiding spinning lighthouses.  This small change made a big difference - it was suddenly fun to play and very challenging, and had both win and lose conditions.  It was all I needed to justify releasing it, and in spite of its simplicity no one has ever questioned its status as a game.

Ultimately of course it comes down to the developer what he classes as complete.  Out of the 25 "successes" last year I remember 2 in particular that didn't really qualify as proper completions, and the developers themselves admitted so after I reviewed them.