CE Game Awards

Will be launched if no set backs end of January.

Before you start to apply for CEG-Awards, it's a good idea to make sure your game is ready for the test.

The following guidelines were made to help you prepare your game. Follow these minimum guidelines, and it will be a winner!

Purpose

You must have a clear theme for your game, and every element in your game must contribute to that purpose.

Content

* The content should be original, concise, accurate, well written, and up-to-date
* If you're not using original content, give credit to the original author
* All content must be meaningful to and useful for the intended audience
* All content should be organized into logical groups
* Games with sexual, racial, sexist, or abusive content will not be considered
* Games that present a new idea or concept and sites that offer a unique or useful service have the best chance of winning awards. Try to be original, or creative. Some of the best ideas are simply a new twist on an old idea.

Graphics

Graphics are used to improve the presentation of your game. Properly used, graphics can greatly enhance a game and its content.

The following suggestions will help you meet the criteria we use for judging the graphics at your game:

* Keep the use of "clip art" to an absolute minimum, use original graphics
* All graphics should be clear and sharp, without any "jaggies"
* All graphics should be relevant to the content of the game
* All graphics should be "gif" or "jpg", for most browsers will only display these formats
* Try to avoid excessive use of bevels and drop shadows
* Use the "height" and "width" attributes in your <img> tags to reduce the loading time
* Use the "alt" attribute in your <img> tags for some browsers do not support graphics
* Use animated graphics sparingly, and only if they are relevant to the content of the page
* Don't steal bandwidth. All the graphics in your game should be stored on your own server. Linking to graphics in other games/sites is not acceptable. It's a great way to ensure that you don't win awards!

Optimize graphics to reduce their loading time. The file size of most graphics can be reduced by 30% to 50% or more by using optimization tools that are readily available on the Web.

Design

The design of your game, how you combine the content and graphics, can transform good content into a great game. A great game will have a layout that is pleasing to the eye, and all the pages will have a consistent look and feel. It will be well organized, logical, and easy to navigate.

Establish a colour scheme for your game and keep the number of colours to a minimum. Select colours that compliment the purpose of your game. The colour scheme will help to create a consistent look and feel, and the pages will flow smoothly from one to another.

The following suggestions will help you meet the criteria we use for judging the design of your website:

* Don't try to cram your entire game into the first page, keep it short
* Your pages should look clean and crisp, not crowded and cluttered
* Break large areas of text into smaller paragraphs with subheadings, it's easier to read
* Don't use backgrounds that make it difficult to read the text
* If possible, use the same background throughout your entire website
* Keep advertising banners to an absolute minimum
* Don't use blinking text, it's very distracting
* If you use music anywhere in your game, there should be a way to turn it off
* Your HTML code should be clean and accurate, based on W3C Recommendations
* If you use frames, make sure that you use the <noframes> tag as well
* Your pages should display properly in all the major browsers
* Don't use "Under Construction" signs, good games are always under construction
* Java Applets, like every other element in your game, should be carefully chosen. Try to avoid the use of pop-up windows for JavaScript warnings.

Navigation

A game should be easy to navigate, and members should know where they are in the site at all times. If you use an image map, or a menu consisting of graphical links, you should have a text version as well.

The following suggestions will help you meet the criteria that most Award Sites use for judging the navigation of your website:

* Navigation should be intuitive and user friendly
* Provide more than one menu on longer pages, unless you're using frames
* Provide a "Back to Top" link at the bottom of longer pages
* Players should not have to use the "Back" button on their browsers to navigate
* Missing graphics and broken links, especially internal links, are another great way to ensure that you don't win awards! Make sure they work properly. If your site has a large number of links, however, a few broken external links will be forgiven by most reviewers.

Checking & Testing

Proofread all your work, then proofread it again. Check for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. If possible, get a friend or relative to proofread it as well. It's very easy to miss errors and mistakes while checking your own work.

How it works ?

* Based on the above criteria points will be given by our judges.
   1-15   1 star game
   16-30 2 star game
   31-50 3 star game
   51-70 4 star game
   71-80 5 star game

* Our judges are annonymous and not everyone is a member of the CE forums.

Almost every game will get an award ranging from 1 to 5 stars with a exclusive page for their game at ceg-awards.

A unique award logo will be available to display at your game.

Resubmitting your game will be possible after 30 days.

Yearly Top 3 awards will be given to the Best 4 Games during one year, Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze Award.