Quote: "I died on level 5, what about you guys?"
Finished the game on Normal.
Level 8 is the last level and I'm glad it is because I was thinking to myself, "this is getting a tad boring, I'm going to quit when I finish this level" and fortunately I see "The End" anyway lol. Also got the highest score: 2822606
Quote: "@Exeat: your are right - but how effective is it to see the aliens back? - e.g. playing the other entrys you see the aliens back all the time... you see my alien only on levelchange and death-anims.. but hey - the whole game takes place around the alienware pc.. best way to promote..."
I'm not sure how much the actual 'Alienware' logo accounts for and if it will be sufficient to replace the low amount of time the alien is on-screen but I believe you would need to show him more. The rules explicitly stated:
Quote: "To clarify, by "use of the Alien character" we mean that the Alien should play a vital role in your game. He cannot just "appear" at the start never to be seen again. The Alien should be the central character / adversary in one way or another. We will be looking for constructive use of the Alien. For example just having him watch the pieces fall in a Tetris game would not be considered as innovative as having him racing a UFO around a landscape. Be imaginative. "
In particular the second sentance: "He cannot just "appear" at the start never to be seen again" gave me the impression that the alien model had to make an appearance quite often and personally I don't think your game does that. Something as simple as putting him translucent on the GUI (with a yellow texture to make it fit, even) would've sufficed. You could have even used it instead of the 2D alien heads. Again, I can't speak for Rich but sadly I don't think it's used enough.
Don't worry, I'm not trying to do any harm to your chance of winning, I didn't even enter myself so I don't really have much to gain. I'm just trying to point out that you should probably pay a closer attention to the rules in the future.
Finally, I hope I am wrong because you have a truley stunning entry that deserves to win at least something.
"Computers are useless they can only give you answers."