VGM Bootcamp!

10 Rounds, 10 Challenges... complete them all for a chance to win over $1,500 in rewards...
... a VGM commission, a VGM composing course,
awesome Libraries for your DAW, feedback from pro composers, real world project opportunities and more!

Did that get your attention? :-) Yes, this season we are offering the following rewards for participating, but you will have to work for it! You will have to be active in the VGML server and participate in every challenge in Season 8 to be in the running!

Why bootcamp? Music making is as much about discipline as creativity, and our challenges are designed to encourage you to make a piece of music every two weeks. Its a great exercise to build your skills, share your work and get supportive feedback.

Remember VGML Challenges are about participation and having fun learning new skills, it is not a competition, and its open for everyone to join. You don't have to create a masterpiece, just put some thought into the challenge topic, experiment a little and have fun!!

How do you participate to Win Rewards?

There are a few conditions that you need to meet to be in the running. Bootcamp is primarily for original compositions so please check the details below.

Bootcamp Rewards: 

Rewarded at the end of the season to members who complete the Bootcamp, selected in a random draw. Completing Bootcamp involves the following:

• You must submit one original entry for every round of Season 8 challenges - that is 10 rounds in total. It doesn't have to be the most popular track, you just need to submit a track of a minimum length of 1 minute that meets the criteria for that challenge.

• Leave Pass - we realise that sometimes life gets in the way and its just not possible to do what you want to do... so every participant will get one (1) leave pass to cover one challenge in the season that they cannot complete for whatever reason. So nine submissions plus a leave pass will also get you into the draw. You need to advise us when you wish to use the leave pass.

• You must submit at least five (5) original tracks to VGML Albums over the course of Season 8.

• You must vote for at least one track in each and every challenge in Season 8 and leave a min. 50 word feedback comment.

All those that meet the above criteria will go into a live draw at the end of round 10 to determine who will receive the rewards.

Outstanding Track Reward: 

The top three Bootcamp entries over the entire season, as voted by our community*, will go to a panel of professional VGM composers who will select the track they feel is the most outstanding and suitable track from a video game perspective. The judges will also provide some valuable feedback to their selected track's composer. The judges for this reward will be:

• A representative from Orchestra Tools (tba)

• Matt Kenyon from Composer Code

• Jonathan Howe from Tumult Kollektiv (Hundred Days, Horizon Forbidden West, Destruction Allstars, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Pine)
  
  

Members Choice Reward: 

You must participate in all 10 rounds of the season and receive the highest number of member voted hearts for the season in total. Hearts can be earned for original tracks and covers, but only one or the other for each round. If you do both, the highest count will go towards your season total.

Supporters Reward: 

To include our non-participating members in the Bootcamp challenge, this is for the person that accumulates the most voter hearts for the season. Voter hearts are earned by leaving feedback (min. 50 words) on entries in the challenge. You don't have to vote in every round, but it would be advisable if you want to top the rankings. :-) When you leave your feedback it must start with a ping to the person you are leaving the feedback for, as in the example below, otherwise it won't get counted. Thanks.

Late-starters Rewards: 

You must join Bootcamp before the end of round 5 (i.e. you must submit a challenge track for rounds 5 to 10 inclusive). This reward is for original track submissions only. At least 10 games will be given away to our late starters to say thanks for joining us!

Note, everyone is welcome to join the challenges at any time, and do as many or as few as you like, but only our active members will be in the running for the rewards. Consistency is the key. Our staff (admins and mods) will be excluded from the rewards, but will participate in the challenges.

• Voting formula: Votes for each round are weighted based on the total number of people who voted for #challenge-submissions tracks on the voting day for the challenge, which is the day after the round submissions close. So if someone is voted 10 hearts and there are 50 voters in total on voting day, the result will be 10/50 = 0.2 weighted score. If the next week someone is voted 10 hearts but there are 100 voters then the weighted result is 10/100 = 0.1 weighted score. At the end of 10 rounds the three tracks with the highest weighted score are the top three contenders.
  
  

What does the Challenge Season look like?

The challenge season runs for 10 rounds, and each round is usually two weeks long. The challenges are designed to force you to stretch your composing skills, creating work that may be outside your usual style or something you may not have done before. Its a friendly challenge, so this is not about being the best, this is about developing your skills, consistency, collaboration and having a fun time along the way. You can look back at our previous challenges to get an idea of what to expect, though this time we will have 10 unique challenges that will push you a little harder than before. Each challenge will have a theme and an expected outcome. In some challenges you might work with other creatives, in other challenges it might be an exercise that mimics a real world project, and in others you will be working independently to deliver to a brief. It will be varied in style, but always with Video Games in mind.

There will always be two challenge categories. One will be an original composition challenge, the other a cover/remix challenge. You can do one or both, but it is the original challenge that counts towards the main VGM Bootcamp rewards.

Each round we will update the list below with the themes and details, plus during the season we will run some Bootcamp workshops to help you take your work to a wider audience.

“The difference between plagiarism and writing a good piece of music is that instead of stealing from one song, you’re stealing from six.” – 8-bit Music Theory 

Harmony and melody are two sides of the same coin. They inform, enhance, and build upon one another to create the timeless tunes we know and love. Most VGM tunes are held together by a memorable melody and a harmony that supports it.

Love, fight, scheme, and claim greatness. Determine your noble house’s legacy in the sprawling grand strategy of Crusader Kings III. Death is only the beginning as you guide your dynasty’s bloodline in the rich and larger-than-life simulation of the Middle Ages.

Video game trailers are the best way to get the message about your new game out into the world, so creating a killer score for a trailer is critically important. This music music grab the attention of the viewer and hold them to the end!

One of the biggest differentiators of successful composers is that they make creativity a habit. You must find time to compose every day.

Deadline to submitting tracks for the Albums: 5th March