BitBuilt's 2020 Summer Building Competition

[Noah]

In 2016, we held the very first Summer Building Competition! Since then, the contest has become a large part of the forums each year. While we didn't have too many people finish last year, with everything that's going on in the world this year I'm hopeful that everyone will be staying inside and working on cool projects to enter! This year marks the 5th time we're holding the competition! It's quite hard to believe, especially since that means that next year we'll be celebrating 5 years of BitBuilt!

Information

The 2020 Summer Building Competition will begin in April and conclude in August. Once the community gets a chance to vote for the winners of the contest, voting will come to a close and the results will be revealed to all. A more detailed timeline of the entire contest can be found below.

There will be three categories that each user will vote for. Each category counts as one vote, meaning if someone voted for the same entry in all three categories, that entry would gain 3 votes overall. This is done to prevent the contest ending in a tie like we saw in the 2016 contest.

Case Design/Aesthetic - You will be able to vote on which entry is the most aesthetically pleasing to you. Whether it's the frankencasing job they did or the hours and hours they poured into designing their 3D printed case, only one entry can secure your vote so make sure it's whichever you think is best!

Internals - Someone once said "beauty is on the inside" and in this community over the years we have seen mods where that is absolutely the truth. If the inside of your mod is a hot-glued mess that looks like it's straight from DJMills himself, well, let's just say you probably won't be getting any votes in this category.

Features and Functionality - Some console mods retain full functionality while some sacrifice aspects of the original hardware in order to trim down the final size. In this category, entries will be judged on what kind of neat features are included or which ones are taken away. For example, if you make a Wii portable with video out over USB-C, you're more likely to win a vote than if your contest entry shorts out when plugging in headphones.

Rules

Our goal each year is to make the contest as fair as possible for everyone participating and we hope that these rules will help us achieve that goal. By reading through the list of contest rules found below, you’re helping to ensure that the contest will be a wonderful experience for everyone involved.

1. All work must be done by you and only you. Commissions involving your contest project are not allowed at any point throughout the duration of the contest while you remain a participant. This includes board trimming, PCB design, case design, wiring of any kind, etc.

2. A worklog with pictures must be made on the forums. A piece of paper or index card must also be visible in photographs with “BitBuilt 2020 Summer Building Competition” (or contest) and your username written or typed out on it.

3. At the end of the contest, a video of your project is required and must be submitted along with your final contest submission. This video must include a demo of the features listed in your submission as to prove their functionality. Any project found lacking video proof of any features will not have those features listed alongside their project during voting in order to keep things fair.

4. Your entry must not be an entry from previous years completed or otherwise.

By registering for the contest, you’re letting us know that you agree to the rules stated above. Anyone found breaking the rules (really only the first one) will be at risk for being disqualified from the contest and banned from any future BitBuilt events or services such as the Discord, PortablizeMii and the store. If you are unsure about something contest related, you can send a PM to a staff member on the forums or on Discord and they’ll clarify what the policy is for your specific question.

Registration

In order to register, you must first log in, then go to your account dropdown menu, and click “Account Upgrades”.

NOTE: If you've purchased something from the store within the last month or plan to purchase parts for the contest, this fee will be waved! Please PM @Noah with your order number in order to receive the banner and entry!

After that, you can click “Purchase” under the Available Upgrades section and pay the $2 entry fee. Once you have paid the fee, you will automatically be given a banner to denote that you are a contestant in the 2020 Summer Building Competition!

Once you are ready, you can make your worklog under the 2019 Summer Building Contest subforum.

Make sure to pay attention to the stickies here on the forums as well as the 2020 contest channel on the Discord. Any and all new information, such as the prizes, will be announced in those places respectively.

Good luck to all contestants!
Most importantly, have fun and stay safe! It's a big year!

 

[Aaron Miller]

All work must be done by you and only you. Commissions involving your contest project are not allowed at any point throughout the duration of the contest while you remain a participant. This includes board trimming, PCB design, case design, wiring of any kind, etc.

Due to self-quarantine, I don’t have any way of 3D printing my case. Am I able to commission somebody else to print it if I design it myself?

 

[Gman]

Due to self-quarantine, I don’t have any way of 3D printing my case. Am I able to commission somebody else to print it if I design it myself?

Yeah that's fine as long as they arent painting it or anything like that.

 

[Diminuendo]

I understand that we are supposed to do all work ourselves - does this extend to appropriating someone else's open source work to make something unique from the work appropriated?

 

[Stitches]

I understand that we are supposed to do all work ourselves - does this extend to appropriating someone else's open source work to make something unique from the work appropriated?

GCVideo, the PMS, and GC+ (to name a few) are all open source and we're allowed to build and use those. So as far as I understand the rules, as long as you build whatever this thing is yourself and don't pay someone else to do it, it should be fine.

 

[Noah]

So as far as I understand the rules, as long as you build whatever this thing is yourself and don't pay someone else to do it, it should be fine.

Yes, that is correct. The rules for “do it yourself” apply to things such as having others trim your board or create a PCB for you. If you can’t do it yourself and need outside help it’s most likely not going to fly. In specific cases though you can post here or PM me and I can tell you whether or not it’s breaking the rules.

 

[Fruity_Grebbles]

I've got a Wavebird case I was only slightly into modding for a previous project (not submitted for a build contest). Can I work from there and submit it this year?

 

[Noah]

I've got a Wavebird case I was only slightly into modding for a previous project (not submitted for a build contest). Can I work from there and submit it this year?

Sure! Can't wait to see what you make.

 

[Downing]

So in the case of a project I entered last year but didn't complete. Can that be re-entered? It hasn't been worked on pretty much since the compo ended last year, but it's essentially going to be redone completely anyway. If not, that's cool. I've got some new things in the works as well. Just wondering.

 

[Noah]

So in the case of a project I entered last year but didn't complete. Can that be re-entered? It hasn't been worked on pretty much since the compo ended last year, but it's essentially going to be redone completely anyway. If not, that's cool. I've got some new things in the works as well. Just wondering.

Yeah unfortunately not. Just trying to keep things fresh since we had so many entries that were never finished last year!

 

[Dmcke5]

So what are the rules in regards to what I can build? My apologies if I've missed this bit of information somewhere!
I'm working on something at the moment which I could enter but it's not a console mod. It is still a portable gaming system though if that's the only criteria?

 

[cheese]

Beyond some kind of mod, we've never specified what exactly you can submit. Any kind of portable would be acceptable

 

[Aaron Miller]

So what are the rules in regards to what I can build? My apologies if I've missed this bit of information somewhere!
I'm working on something at the moment which I could enter but it's not a console mod. It is still a portable gaming system though if that's the only criteria?

This year alone, aside from the usual portables, we’ve got @ttsgeb building an Xbox “laptop”, @Wesk building a mini N64 console, @Sk8rSeth working on a frankencase, and myself redesigning an already portable gaming device.

I don’t know what you’re making, but chances are, it’ll qualify for the contest. And as long as it’s not a piece of garbage, I doubt anyone’s going to call you out on whatever you build. The whole point of BitBuilt in general is for people to enjoy what they make and to allow others to enjoy it too. This contest is really just another part of that, but in a more competitive way. In any case, as long as you have fun building what you’re building, I’d say that’s what matters.

 

[Dmcke5]

This year alone, aside from the usual portables, we’ve got @ttsgeb building an Xbox “laptop”, @Wesk building a mini N64 console, @Sk8rSeth working on a frankencase, and myself redesigning an already portable gaming device.

I don’t know what you’re making, but chances are, it’ll qualify for the contest. And as long as it’s not a piece of garbage, I doubt anyone’s going to call you out on whatever you build. The whole point of BitBuilt in general is for people to enjoy what they make and to allow others to enjoy it too. This contest is really just another part of that, but in a more competitive way. In any case, as long as you have fun building what you’re building, I’d say that’s what matters.

Awesome, sounds like I've found a spot for my build log!

 

[Shank]

Just entered. Can't wait to not finish in time again this year!

 

[Downing]

Yeah unfortunately not. Just trying to keep things fresh since we had so many entries that were never finished last year!

Yeah, that makes sense and I understand. But, with that said, the commission and last year's entry still to finish plus the project I've been working on from scratch for several months now, don't think I'm gonna hit the window for an entry

 

[printsmith3d]

Question, if I started a build this year and have a worklog going but the project isn't completed, can I enter it into the building competition?

 

[Aurelio]

Question, if I started a build this year and have a worklog going but the project isn't completed, can I enter it into the building competition?

No. Only finished projects will be considered and you will also have to make a video of it showing all its features.

 

[printsmith3d]

No. Only finished projects will be considered and you will also have to make a video of it showing all its features.

I don't think you understood, basically what I meant is if I've already started on building my project and have a worklog, if I expect to be finished by the end of the competition can I enter it and start a new worklog on the competition forum?

 

[GingerOfOz]

Yes, as long as the project is still in its early stages and was recently started, it is eligible for entry.