1 hour rule

So I had a game idea that I was going to start the contest with initially, but it would've taken longer than 1 hour, so I tried to come up with a dumbed down version of my game that feels complete with about an 1 hour of gameplay. Anyone else feeling like this 1 hour rule killing their idea, cause i am having trouble figuring this out.

Well if you make it REALLYt the judges might play longer then an hour. On my project the story runs up to 56 minutes, But I added side content that will double that.

I guess your right I think my problem is I saw some of these different types of games which all these cool twists on the website and I felt like I had to compete 

with them rather than take my simple rpg and make sure that it is polished enough to compete with them.

I have a horrible tendancy to go above any and all limits on time. lol.

My own game is looking to be too long. I'm trying to come up with a way to shorten it, but still let it make sense. Though I do intend to continue on after the month is over and add more to it. I'm also considering having my tutorial part of the game (which is about 20-25 miniutes so far, be the whole competetion game, because it ends quite nicely there.

but I'll have to see how it goes. lol.

Good luck however you do it.

If I remember the rules correctly, they never said the game couldn't be longer than 1 hour, only that for purposes of the contest they would only play the first hour of it. There was nothing(that I remember anyway) that said you couldn't go past that and just hope they like it enough to continue playing after judging was complete.

Just make sure to polish that first hour until it shines like the sun!(and the rest too of course! :p )

*EDIT
I just reread the rules.

They did RECOMMEND keeping it under an hour, but didn't make it an actual rule.

@Cadh  Oooh that is true. Well looks like it is back to my drawing board problem is trying to not create a weak story line for 1 hour ause  the game after the contest when i can expand it will be better.

Ya know, it's highly possible to make good games that last under an hour. Focus on making a good final product, and cut out all the amenities when you need to get it finished.

Also, the 1 hour rule mainly applies to the maximum amount of time the judges will be playing your game, which is why the 1-hour thing is recommended. So, you should probably give the judges a good impression within that hour.

Another thing, the time it takes to complete a game has way more factors than just the length of a story. How long it takes to complete a puzzle, or progress to a new area, and even things like your walk and text speed all affect the length of your game.

That's hearty praise, so thank you.

I'm sure your own game will be awesome when it's done. I'm not looking at the game posts on this thread for the next few days because they all look so good they make me nervous as well. I can only hope mine looks and plays as well. lol.

Good luck and have fun guys!

I'm not even going to try entering. I have one I'm working on but it is way to much to complete within the time limit with my current skills. 4 "chapters" and chapter 1 alone will have a minimum of 45 minutes playtime to it, chapter 2 would be probably about 15, but the bulk of the game comes after that during the last 2 chapters.

Same my real game after this contest will probablly be something like 5+ hours cause I want to have a good portfolio project for my college game design major.

Also want to do all my own characters and monster art, but currently am doing it slowly.

Well i think this thread has served its purpose so i am going to ask it to be closed.