GUI Champs 2006 - Some Details

from Stardock Forums

Welcome to the GUI Championships 2006!  I'm Mike and I'll be your contest director (meaning I'm the one you get to yell at).  The site is live, and starting next Tuesday, we'll begin accepting skinner submissions.  Between now and then, we are aiming to get you the prize list for the competition, announce our panel of judges, and give everyone a very clear outline of how this years' competition is going to be handled.

You've already seen the welcome message from Brad, and now I'm here to fill in some of the gaps and begin to let you know what's going on for this years' competition.

This year, the competition has been scaled back a little.  Instead of two dozen various events, we have cut away a lot of the "fat" so to speak and refocused the competition on primary UI elements.  Skinners will be competing in three overall categories; Wallpapers, Icon Packages and WindowBlinds.  The events in these categories are: Most Usable, Most Original and Best Overall.

We've worked up a schedule that should give everyone plenty of time to put together their submissions and send them in.  There's no limit to the number of items you can enter into the competition, so get those graphics tools churning!  Submissions begin Tuesday, September 12th, and will be accepted up to Thursday, November 2nd when final voting begins.  Each event has an eligibility date, which is when voting begins for that event.  So, if you miss the deadlines for Most Usable and Most Original WindowBlind, you can still be considered for "Best Overall" in the category if you submit prior to November 2nd.

Every event, every medal all rolls up to the final event, the overall winner of the 2006 GUI Championships.  Each medal received has a point value, and whoever has the most points at the end of the competition, is crowned the Top Skinner of the competition and walks away with our grand prize, which we will be announcing very soon.  And let me tell you, boy is it a doozy!

We're allowing teams of skinners to compete again this year.  All medals won by team members will be tallied up to determine the top teams in each category and then overall in the competition.  Top teams get a few extra prizes to divide up among themselves.

Here are the medal point break-downs:

  • Gold = 5 Points
  • Silver = 3 Points
  • Bronze = 2 Points
  • Honorable Mention = 1 Point

As events take place and winners are announced, you'll see the medal tally to the right updated with totals.  In the event of a tie, the panel of judges will cast votes to decide the winner.

It's going to be an exciting and busy two months!  Starting in early October, we will have something new for you to do or check out several times a week; voting on submissions, announcing the winners, and there's always going to be new content from contest entrants to check out!  Be sure to check back often, and to get your fix between polls and announcements, be sure to stop by our contest forums.

Good luck to all of our entrants!  I'm looking forward to seeing the great stuff everyone submits.

-Mike (Zoomba)
GUI Championships 2006 Official Whipping Boy

990 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Zoomba, I got a question... it says voting will start on Oct. 2nd (for 'Most Usable Wallpaper', Oct. 9th for 'Most Usable Icon Package' and so on) does that mean voting will start before the final submission date (Nov. 2nd)? What happens if someone votes then sees something after that original vote which they would rather vote for... will they be able to change thier vote? If not it seems there is a 'penalty' for later submissions.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
SK - that's the risk people take by entering late.
The Political Machine 2024
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

You will be voting in events.  For example, on Oct 2nd a list will be put up for Most Usable Wallpaper.  Voting takes place over several days.  You can submit a wallpaper and have it technically be elligible for that event until the day the Judges vote on the event.  However, your chances of getting enough votes in that particular event are much lower if you submit after October 2nd.

For the Overall Best WB/IP/Wall Events.  On November 2nd, a list for each category for is generated, with the list being made up of all submissions to that category in total.  There is again several days to vote before the event is closed for final judging so items can be added to those lists, but your chances drop if you're not in on the first day of voting.  So items that were too late for any of the previous events still have a shot at best overall.

Hope that clears things up.

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
Just wanted to find out something. As any of you who know me know I like to make Vista skins (windowblinds) of course. I was just wondering if that was acceptable here in the competetion. Vista RC1 has been released to the public and therefore I believe that it is not infringing on anybody's copyright as it is public.SO I would appreciate if someone could reply to my question....thank you very much in advance... and good luck to all !
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
A Vista skin is not acceptable IMO, it does not show creativity, and you have to put very little effort into it.

Plus, if someone wanted Aero, they would just download and install Vista.

(Im tired of Aero Glass already)

Maybe you could try something new!
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
Hmmm...

*opens Fireworks*
Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top
LET THE GAME BEGINS

I've always anted to say this
Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top
woot!