Submitting a Game

If you have a game idea that you want to see added to the site then you can create it yourself!

Tip

Take advantage of loading up existing games in the editor and see how they’re done, what categories and limits they have, and how the goals are laid out etc

Process

1. Initial Objectives

First create a list of all the initial objectives using the website editor. Aim to create at least 100 objectives. You may need to create more but this is a good starting point.

2. Categories & Limits

Next, now that we have an idea of the objectives, we can create categories and limits for them. These help balance the board - see Board Generation for more information.

Create the categories in the Manage Categories & Limits dialog and then apply them appropriately to the objectives.

3. Icons

Every goal needs its own icon image, made by you and either fair use or copyright free. Create each one, then set it on the correct goal in the game data.

Tip

See Making Icons for the full guide, including spacing, resizing, resampling and upscaling.

4. Playtest

At this point, you should and can playtest the game. Get a feel for it and adjust the goals, categories and limits as needed! Or add new objectives if you think of any. Get feedback from others too.

Note

Make use of the editor’s validator to ensure there are no warnings or errors with your game!

5. Review & Submit

Before submitting, make sure that:

1. The goal set validates in the editor in Strict schema mode with no warnings or errors

2. You’ve created board and line categories and assigned them appropriately to the relevant goals

3. The set makes proper use of Lockout’s features (see Goal Set Standards)

4. You’ve created fair use / copyright free icons for every goal, and set the correct icon on each one

5. You’ve run the Generation Analyser to check goal balance, and the Image Validator to confirm your icons match the goal set

6. You’ve playtested the game and got feedback from others

Then head to the Discord and run the /submit-game command in the post you created in the suggest-new-game channel to complete the final checklist.

Not every request will be guaranteed to be added to the site.

Goal Set Standards

Goal sets added to the site should be built with Lockout’s features, making the most of them rather than working around them.

Approved goal sets are kept working as the site, generation, and the schema evolve because they are built in this way. Sets that do non-standard things may not work as expected in the future (and so would not be approved for permanent publication).

If you’re bringing a set over from another bingo site, try to rework it to use Lockout’s features properly. If you need help or you find something isn’t possible, ask in the Discord.

Lockout’s generation will fundamentally differ from other sites, and that’s expected. It is better to embrace the differences and make a native Lockout goal set than to try force it into a non-standard format.

After Submitting

Submitting doesn’t mean the game goes up straight away. Approving and adding a goal set can take a while, and how long depends on things like:

• Whether a reviewer is available
• Whether changes are needed to the goals, categories or icons
• Whether other work or goal sets are taking priority

Please be patient

There’s no set turnaround, and a submission can sit for a while before anyone gets to it. Chasing it won’t speed it up.