Design a Boss: Lupus | Feedback and Suggestions

Est. 2004
The First and Original Legend of Zelda Boss Concept and Contest Thread


design a boss

So, right now is a time when I'm feeling generous and wish to organize another event for the Zelda section. For those of you not familiar with Design a Boss, it is an event that began at the Nintendo Nsider forums (the official NOA forums) and held a series of contests that involved concepts of Legend of Zelda bosses. The most recent one, NSii Debut, had an extension with ZU and combined entries with the Nsider2 forums. To learn more, here's the archive.

Before I go further, I want to first mention that the latest Design a Boss contest did not run perfectly. While the number of participants was overwhelming and the level of enthusiasm was really great, the conclusion was not entirely organized. For the most part, the priorities of the conclusion such as judging and prize giveaways were pretty successful, but some of the things that were promised to take place did not or have not happened. For one, the winners were never mentioned in the main ZU page, the depiction of the leading concept has not been completed, and other issues are still pending. Before considering some of the feedback for the next contest, I will make an attempt to resolve some of these pending issues, but I can't guarantee anything .


lupus

Anyway, on to the main point of this thread. Design a Boss: Lupus (title subject to change) is my idea of this year's next boss design contest. Due to the ZU's positive response of the latest contest, it would be hard to ignore a chance to offer you all a new opportunity to participate and show off your ideas. What I want to do first is take advantage of this thread in the Community Section to receive feedback and suggestions from all of you and so that, hopefully, this next Design a Boss may be better organized. I'm going to propose a few things over time and reply to some of the suggestions posted here.



What I have in mind:

The last contest was different since it was the first time that it merged two different LoZ communities for participation. I really liked how this turned out, and I've considered looking at other communities such as Zelda Dungeon to see if they'd like to take part of this. When I thought about this, I also thought about a possible way to make this a team activity, but this may override more exclusive prizes.
As far as prizes go, I'm thinking about offering the same prizes as before, but the possibility of me offering something better for the first place is great. There is no guarantee, however. Also, to ensure that all of the prizes are given out, I've decided to recruit artist(s) of the community who would be nice enough to take part of this upcoming contest and accept the duty of making a depiction of the leading concept. And, speaking of recruiting, I've been thinking of gathering a few judges for a more diverse opinion. Actually, it's worth mentioning that Rockerfox of Nsider is a friend who has been helping out with the contest since it began, and I've yet to notify him about this possible next contest. He may want to participate this time, and this will definitely require someone to take his place as a judge for this contest.

Ok, other than the above, I have not much in mind just yet. I'd like everyone to visit this thread and be aware that I'd like to offer another Design a Boss contest to ZU. I'd like to see some of the things you all have in mind or may have problems with. I'd like this particular contest to be different from the others, so feel free to suggest things that would make it differ from the NSii Debut.

What's with the naked girl and the generic symbols? And what exactly does Lupus mean?

Originally Posted by Valhelm

What's with the naked girl and the generic symbols? And what exactly does Lupus mean?

Finally, a response (not one I was looking forward to, but...). Anyway, to answer your question:

The depiction of the naked woman happens to be Princess Zelda. "Lupus" is Latin for wolf. I guess I've jumped to this invisible wolf bandwagon (there's so many things involving wolves at the moment, it seems). The title "Lupus" is not really the theme of this planned Design a Boss contest, it's more of a title, and I may end up changing it to something else. As for the "generic symbols," I don't know what you mean by that.

Ok, people, I need real feedback. In a moment, I will propose this planned contest at Nsider2 to see what they'd like to see for a next Design a Boss. But what do you guys think? What prizes would you look forward to? If you participated in the nsii debut, what didn't you like about it or would have liked about it?
At the moment, I'm also considering several people for judging and art.

My only problem with the previous contest was the lack of preparedness for so many entries, really. The free stuff offered last time was plenty of incentive and, for me, still is.

I really wanted to put a lot of time into my boss entry, and I misjudged the closing date, so I was more then a bit annoyed when I realized I had got it wrong. Oh well!!

I have spent a lot of time on my boss, and am going to make some sketches of her, so next year I'm going to be really happy to finally get to unveil her

As for prizes, I neve rreally thought about it! Getting a game would be nice, or having ideas shown to industry professionals would be really good too. Either way I'm happy with anything.

Originally Posted by Feline Witch

I really wanted to put a lot of time into my boss entry, and I misjudged the closing date, so I was more then a bit annoyed when I realized I had got it wrong. Oh well!!

I have spent a lot of time on my boss, and am going to make some sketches of her, so next year I'm going to be really happy to finally get to unveil her

As for prizes, I neve rreally thought about it! Getting a game would be nice, or having ideas shown to industry professionals would be really good too. Either way I'm happy with anything.

Yeah, if you can manage to pull a stunt like that for the winner it would be fantastic.

Originally Posted by Mandrag

My only problem with the previous contest was the lack of preparedness for so many entries, really. The free stuff offered last time was plenty of incentive and, for me, still is.

(yay! Feedback)

You mean there was insufficient time to submit entries? What would you suggest for a solution?

Originally Posted by Feline Witch

I really wanted to put a lot of time into my boss entry, and I misjudged the closing date, so I was more then a bit annoyed when I realized I had got it wrong. Oh well!!

I have spent a lot of time on my boss, and am going to make some sketches of her, so next year I'm going to be really happy to finally get to unveil her

As for prizes, I neve rreally thought about it! Getting a game would be nice...

Ok, I see you suffered from the short deadline. This proposed Design a Boss contest is likely to run this year, BTW. As for the prizes, I'll go as far as confirming that if this contest runs, I will offer the same prizes as before, but I will consider something better.

having ideas shown to industry professionals would be really good too. Either way I'm happy with anything.

This would require a little effort. What I could see happening is getting the attention of a magazine such as Nintendo Power. I or Zelda Universe could propose a small segment about this event and the winner. I'd love to see that.

Ok, another thing I want to bring up is:

Other forums. Last contest, it was the first time that two forums merged for participation. What did you guys think of that? Nsider2 wasn't as enthused as ZU, but I could never leave out those guys because that's where the contest originated. I personally liked how the merging turned out, and I'm considering inviting other LoZ communities. What are you all's take on this?

Personally the attention of a magazine is a wonderful prize as far as I am concerned. It gets you exposure as a creator/artist, and it looks wonderful in your CV/Portfolio. I would actually be incredibly excited about the prospect of that!

How long was the deadline? I am a bit of a procrastinator and I just wanted to set away a day to come up with the idea and draw it. I really like to take my time about this sort of thing, so it might have not been that short, it may have just me being... me.

Well, I found that judging took a very long time. It said it would take a week, it took almost 3-4. Other than that, I didn't really have a problem with it. Although, banners for the top 10 or so would be awesome.

Are the top 3-5 forbidden to participate? I remember someone saying something like that. Maybe they could work as judges.

Originally Posted by Feline Witch

How long was the deadline?

The previous contest was open for entries for at least a month, I believe. It would be ideal to have it open for more than that.

Originally Posted by Palmer

Well, I found that judging took a very long time. It said it would take a week, it took almost 3-4. Other than that, I didn't really have a problem with it. Although, banners for the top 10 or so would be awesome.

Are the top 3-5 forbidden to participate? I remember someone saying something like that. Maybe they could work as judges.

Judging really did take a lot, which is why I'm considering recruiting judges who are committed to go through a fast judging process. While this does not mean faster judging (if one or two judges take their time, we'd be waiting on them), it does mean a more diverse opinion. I also want to recruit artist(s) to work with one of the more important prizes, the boss depiction. man_with_thoo's concept has yet to be depicted, and it was my responsibility to show a detailed depiction. I really want to get it done soon, but I'd like to gather artists who would do a better job at this and having a depiction ready by the time the contest concludes.

As for the next contest, it's open to everybody. Nobody's forbidden to enter.

Originally Posted by IGNIS

You mean there was insufficient time to submit entries? What would you suggest for a solution?

No, there was plenty of time for that. I meant how the judging lasted way past the deadline.

Originally Posted by Mandrag

No, there was plenty of time for that. I meant how the judging lasted way past the deadline.

Yeah, I still want to apologize for that. I really want to avoid this next time.

Ok, so I want to bring up LoZ communities. I'm thinking of inviting Zelda Dungeon, which seems to be a fairly active forum. They seem to be pretty dedicated to the series. If the competition gets really tight, I'd definitely upgrade the first place prize.

How can the first place prize really be upgraded? Will it be two or three console games?

Originally Posted by Palmer

How can the first place prize really be upgraded? Will it be two or three console games?

Well, the PS3 is now $300 USD, the Wii's getting a pricecut, and the Elite is also $100 USD cheaper.

Originally Posted by IGNIS

Well, the PS3 is now $300 USD, the Wii's getting a pricecut, and the Elite is also $100 USD cheaper.

Are you seriously implying that the winner could get a new console?

I'd be happy with a game . It would also be nice if DS and PSP games were offered too . Of course, I don't have a DS, and I don't use my PSP a lot, but this is just me being considerate.

For future reference, to make my boss entry "cleaner", how do you centre your paragraphs?

Hrm.... If I was to win the contest, and thus be awarded an XBox 360, maybe my mom would let me buy one... I guess I'll enter.

Same.... I'd certainly love one. But just out of curiosity, if you live in a different country, does that mean you don't get a prize? I mean I live in the UK, so winning an American game or games console is going to just end up waisting everybody's money... I was just wondering if overseas winners would have to have something else.

Originally Posted by Double A

Are you seriously implying that the winner could get a new console?

I'd be happy with a game . It would also be nice if DS and PSP games were offered too . Of course, I don't have a DS, and I don't use my PSP a lot, but this is just me being considerate.

For future reference, to make my boss entry "cleaner", how do you centre your paragraphs?

I'd actually have no problem giving out a console, but there's no guarantee it'll be the prize. I would absolutely open up the prize for a DS or PSP game, though (along with the other home console games).

As far as entries and their format, I'm going to try coming up with my own concept and showcase it as an example. I doubt it'll be perfect, but I'll do my best to show something clean and elaborate for the example.

Originally Posted by Feline Witch

Same.... I'd certainly love one. But just out of curiosity, if you live in a different country, does that mean you don't get a prize? I mean I live in the UK, so winning an American game or games console is going to just end up waisting everybody's money... I was just wondering if overseas winners would have to have something else.

Since the last contest, I knew there would be issues with region locks and such, but this mostly applied to the Wii. The last winner, man_with_thooo is actually from the Philippines, but the Wii console runs NTSC (American). I can get any problem resolved if the winner is from overseas.

Speaking of man_with_thooo, I just found out that, apparently, he's truly ZU's current Boss Designer :

http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/showgroups.php

How come he still hasn't received his banner yet? This is just a suggestion, but could the top 5-10 or so get banners too this time? I for some reason, really want one of those banners. I was slightly disappointed that all I got was a "pat on the back" when I got 8th.

At least you weren't this close *holds first finger and thumb millimetres away from each other* to winning an actual prize (I came fourth).



And IGNIS, it might be a good idea if, instead of giving out game consoles as prizes, you gave out more prizes (maybe this time, 1-5, or even 1-10 ). Think about it, if you're gonna ask yet another forum to join, there'll be a lot of entries. And giving people a higher chance to win prizes gives people more incentive to join.

EDIT: If you must offer consoles, make handhelds an option as well. I'd chose a DSi.