Ryzom Summer Code Contest FAQ¶

• Ryzom Summer Code Contest FAQ
  • Contest Project Questions
    • Where Should I Submit My Project
    • When Should I Submit My Project
    • When Should I Release My Project
    • What Are Acceptable Project Licenses
    • Can I Use Code Under Another License
    • Where Should I Host My Project
    • Do I Have To Have My Code Published Upon Submission
  • Project Ideas Questions
    • I Want To Participate But Have No Ideas
    • Is My Idea A Good One
    • Can I Use Any Language
  • Contest Participants Questions
    • Where can I promote my project?
    • What Skills Are Required To Participate
    • Who Can Participate?
    • Can A Team Participate?
    • Do I Need A Ryzom Subscription To Participate
  • Prize Questions
    • What Are The Prizes
    • How Are Teams Awarded
  • Ryzom API Questions
    • Where Can I Download It
    • What Language Is It Written In
    • Why Is It Written In PHP
    • Are There Any Examples

Contest Project Questions¶

Where Should I Submit My Project¶

You have to post your submission in the dedicated forum. It's very important to follow the instruction.

When Should I Submit My Project¶

As soon as possible. You can submit the project the first day you work on it. The sooner the project is there, the sooner you'll have people/players to give you some hints, what they like in your idea...

Don't wait your Project is ready to submit it.

When Should I Release My Project¶

As soon as possible too. You can release the project the first day you work on it. The sooner the project is available, the sooner you'll have people that try your project, report you bugs and tell you what it's good/bad.

Release soon, Commit often!

Don't forget that Judges will take into account the popularity of the Project so early release means more people on your Project.

What Are Acceptable Project Licenses¶

All projects must be released under AGPLv3

Can I Use Code Under Another License¶

There's a long answer and a short answer: yes, but the license must be compatible such that your project is still released as AGPLv3. For example, due to the contest requirement to publish under AGPLv3 you may not use GPLv2 code but you may use GPLv3 since AGPLv3 is more restrictive than GPLv2 and therefore incompatible. Wikipedia has a decent section on the GPL compatibility.

Where Should I Host My Project¶

All source code will be hosted in GitHub. The PHP Ryzom API is already on github. So you can start by forking the project, clone it, start modifying the example_profile.php and you have your project already hosted an working.

If your project is a web application we do not have an opinion on where its web host is.

Do I Have To Have My Code Published Upon Submission¶

No, you do not. You need only have your code publicly released on GitHub by the end of the contest submission period of September 30th, 2009. Some projects may want to keep their code privately held until the release it to prevent other contest members from using their work while others may need a publicly hosted resource for team collaboration or for mobility. It is up to the preference of the project.

Project Ideas Questions¶

I Want To Participate But Have No Ideas¶

You can check the contest ideas forum and see if any of them interest you. Projects may target a specific idea, a whole group of ideas or even go in a its own radical direction.

Is My Idea A Good One¶

One thing you can check is to see if your idea shows up on the contest ideas forum - if it does chances are it was posted by a player or group of players seeking something they really want. You could also post your idea on this forum and see how people respond to it. But most importantly if it isn't something you'll enjoy working on then the final product will not be as good.

Can I Use Any Language¶

The reference API for accessing the Ryzom API web service is written in PHP. The contest rules specifically point out that you may write any type of application in any language you like but that it is preferred that it is written in PHP using the PHP API.

Contest Participants Questions¶

Where can I promote my project?¶

• You can use the thread you use to submit your project to post update, screenshot, discuss with your user...
• If you want more, you can use the GitHub that provide a wiki and issue tracker...
• If you want even more, if you ask it in the forum, we can create a dedicated project on this redmine that will have news, wiki, forum and more...

What Skills Are Required To Participate¶

The projects will require a varying degree of programming ability, depending on the complexity of the goal you want to accomplish. The skills required increase as the goal of your project grows in complexity. Some projects will require artists for creating friendly looking websites or tools and others will want to go through the effort of getting people to translate it to various languages.

Who Can Participate?¶

Anyone can participate, including teams of people. See the contest rules for specific information.

Can A Team Participate?¶

Absolutely. Teams are limited to three (3) members.

Do I Need A Ryzom Subscription To Participate¶

Absolutely not. You do not need a Ryzom subscription to participate and develop code. To interact with some player character or guild information you will need to have the API key of this character or guild that is only available through your profile page. In a running application this will be the user of your applications key and not one specific to your application. You will find it helpful in testing and troubleshooting to be able to use your own profile. If you need a Ryzom account for testing we encourage you to try Ryzom free for 21 days !

Prize Questions¶

What Are The Prizes¶

All prizes will be in EUR, the USD is only for indication.

First prize: EUR 3 000 (USD 4 200)
Second prize: EUR 1 000 (USD 1 400)
Third prize: EUR 500 (USD 700)

How Are Teams Awarded¶

The leader of the team will be awarded the prize and tasked with dividing it with the rest of their team. It's recommended that participates working with teams have a conversation up front about how you will equitably divide the prize.

Ryzom API Questions¶

Where Can I Download It¶

You can download the PHP interface reading this page.

What Language Is It Written In¶

The reference SDK is written in PHP and the actual web service is written using PHP. If you really hate PHP, our second preference is Ruby on Rails. :)

Why Is It Written In PHP¶

PHP is a simple, powerful and popular web programming language that is widely used and widely available.

Are There Any Examples¶

You can find a few examples in the source code, two examples are the profile example and the web banner example. Unfortunately the banner example source code is not available publicly but is a good idea for the contest!