Topic: The PS4 Screenshot of the Year Competition (2020)

@Shigurui I picked the shot as it was in my category. I haven't played GoT so that's my bad.

As we say for most polls we need to run on trust and in my opinion if it's in a grey area it shouldn't be included. Sorry for the issue and I agree.

The big issue now (and this happened last year) is we have already started polling. Last year we just asked anyone voting to avoid giving points to that picture.

Maybe next year we can have a few auditors like yourself who can check all the screen grabs for validity.

@Shigurui Not at all. I'm suggesting that the line has to be drawn somewhere, and opening up a debate about what constitutes a good screenshot.

Your issue with the shot seems to be that the character and its horse have been placed in a particular pose by the developers. I'm countering your point by suggesting that such an approach would also disqualify Shot 4, Shot 7 and Shot 11 because, as far as I can tell, they're just well-framed examples of static in-game objects... exactly the same as Shot 8.

Given that many Photo Modes include pre-set character pose toggles nowadays, switching out the moment you paused with a selection of dev-crafted freezeframes, I think frowning upon such shots would be a mistake, and would overlook many gamers who have an eye for a good angle.

Pausing a cutscene and making it black and white is lazy. Pausing a cutscene, moving the camera around and finding a dynamic new perspective to look at an object is... well, it's effort.

We're all just amateurs trying to have fun here, and we're learning as we make all this up.

@RogerRoger - Well how about drawing the line under that picture is impossible to take in gameplay. Isn't that the point of the whole thing, organic shots?

Sigh, already breaking my promise but it seems to me "in game" should be the point. I have a whole plethora of MK11 and TLOU2 shots that were taken in what's basically the character model section of each game. I see no reason why these should count despite the fact that I can frame and manipulate them however I want. I also thought the point was organic shots.

Also i thought 11 was just a heavily filtered picture of Joel during a playable sequence in the game. That seems different, and in line with the spirit of the competition.

Cracking pics.

1 - Sunset - This shot reminds me so much of Another World. (1 point)

10 - Heart Of Darkness - Such an ominous photo. (3 points)

11 - Joel - Love this one, the lighting is amazing. (5 points)

@Shigurui But what constitutes gameplay nowadays? If a mostly-static, cinematic and tightly-controlled walking simulator like Life is Strange had a Photo Mode, would you accept screenshots taken with it? Because yes, Ghost of Tsushima has very dynamic, fast-paced gameplay which is difficult to capture, but it also has superb scenery, almost all of which is static. Didn't stop our Landscape category from being filled with it. I'm struggling to see the difference.

All games are just pre-constructed environments filled with pre-placed objects. I would argue that good screenshots actively start with the player moving the camera themselves, in order to frame what they wanna capture. That's the "point of conception" (for want of a better analogy).

I'm real sorry if I'm coming across as aggressive here; I just wanna get this right, and am crushed that some folks feel like we've robbed another shot of a place in the final.

Thanks to @themcnoisy for his reply up there, as well. We can't play everything. I think he's right, voting is underway now, and there's a lot of information that any new voters will likely see; I'd encourage them to make up their own minds. Next year we will definitely implement the grace period Foxy suggested earlier, to ensure that any issues can be resolved before voting starts.

9) "Glorious End" from Ghost of Tsushima - 5 points

11) "Joel" from The Last of Us, Part II - 3 points

4) "Life and Death" from The Last of Us, Part II - 1 point

@zupertramp No worries, I value your input. Seems like this is an issue which can generate a handful of different opinions, so we'll work on it for next year. Level playing field and all that.

We have certainly raised an interesting debate about what counts as a valid player 'created' photo. I whole-heartedly agree it seems unfair if someone has a shot that is something all players see and is merely paused at precise moment. But what level of control is needed to constitute a personally made shot.
I have these 2 pictures which are the same scenario as 'picture 8'


The game reloaded after a mission with Jin sitting like that. I would argue I have enough control over the scene to create very different pictures but at the same time I cannot 'in-game' make him sit and hold a drink. If the fact I didn't put him there or pose him like that would disqualify such pictures it's then surely the same argument could be made for 'picture 4'.

Maybe we need to specify going forward that if a character is in the picture they need to be posed by user input or in a default or photo-mode pose.

Your right it is up for debate and will probably be looked at for next year. After voting is over I'll go over my reasons for picking my top 4 cos I would like the people behind to know why I think there so good, but I don't want to influence the voting.

@Quintumply Worth a shoutout on the front page again now the vote's open?

@BearsEatBeets I took a load of those shots too (and like the one that is being questioned), but did not enter them due to not being in control of Jin to get him into that pose.

Spot on with what needs to be clarified going forward.

@RogerRoger good to hear. I just didn't want to detract too much from what's basically intended to be a good natured, friendly contest.

@BearsEatBeets i guess I'm not understanding what's happening in picture 4 because I was under the impression this is a scene captured while in game, using the surroundings that exist while playing.

Also the GoT pics do seem more of a grey area now than I have a better understanding of what's going on. But I'd still argue it's less user generated and thus, unsuitable for submission. There's something similar in the last of us remastered where you lean against a ledge to look at some animals with another character, and although you can manipulate this in photo mode, it's still decidedly a shot made possible by the devs.

But yeah, it does get to the point where after a while we're just splitting hairs.

@RogerRoger - I get your point about pre constructed environments, that's exactly what games are but the dynamics within them aren't entirely so, yes they exist within that written world but so does actual randomness and putting a pre constructed image/pose into this competition, regardless of camera/lighting manipulation is straight up wrong.

My vote goes to-

Sunset - 5 points
Heart of Darkside - 3 points
Night Raid - 1 point

@Shigurui hey Shig just want to say your pic Make my day was awesome. I will be honest and picking a top 4 was really tough. It took me writing them down and revisiting them again and again. Pics which didn't make the cut which I absolutely loved are; Fuel, The Wandering Samurai, Make my day and Red Dawn - literally any of them could have been in 3rd or 4th spot.. I had some left field choices like Return to Obra Din and Darkest Dungeon - the takes on them, while not the most striking screen grabs had an artistic quality to them which it was difficult to look away from. And then one I kept coming back to is the internet loves cats. So clear and fun. So it was really difficult.

One of the things which is so hard about this is telling members of the community that their pics haven't made the list, when in reality I love them all. Once again we will learn and move on, such as having 3 categories this time.

Thank you so much for the feedback though and taking part.

Screenshots from last year's contest were better than this years...

@GhostofJettatura Agreed 😉

Silhouette - 5 points
Night Raid - 3
Joel - 1

Just wanted to say that the shots submitted are quite outstanding. I think the judges @RogerRoger @AdamNovice @themcnoisy have done an outstanding job. When I looked over the community shots there was just so many really solid entries. The final 12 is a great swathe of gaming and each one tells a story on its own.

I know there has been some discussion of what qualifies as an acceptable screenshot and having run one of these Megapolls before I know from experience that you can’t please everyone. I completely support Rog in how he has set up the contest; for me, I’m just going to vote based on what I see and like from the finalists, each shot on its own merit. Any adjustments can be done by the powers that be and I’m perfectly fine with that.

The important thing is to remember this is all in good fun and it gives us an opportunity to appreciate stunning graphical art and enjoy seeing different game moments through someone else’s eyes.

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“Glorious End” — 5 pts - great title and wonderfully captured moment with the splay of blood and great use of color

“Heart of Darkside” — 3 pts - love the symmetry of this one, and the contrasting color with the feeling of spaciousness and foreboding solitude

“Aim for the Mouth!” — 1 pt - great timing with the lighting and the visible fangs

————

I really like all 12 finalist actually, each for different reasons. I’d probably put “Silhouette” as my runner up. It’s beautiful. And I do love that “Return to Sender” shot! 😄