Contest idea thread!

Smileytopin

L1: Registered
Nov 25, 2013
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Yeah, if you got a mappers medalion for actually winning in a contest, or for making a prop pack or something then you would not be considered a novice, if not then I think you could still be considered a novice. I am aware that people have gotten mappers medallions for different reasons.
 

YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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Or instead of drawing the line arbitrarily, you could say to people "you can enter only one" and let them choose. In that way you just need two concurrent contests that have clearly different skill levels involved.

However, this idea really sucks because why would you want to divide an already small pool of entrants?? We need to keep the contests as acessable as possible otherwise we'll have very few people actually enter.
 

UKCS-Alias

Mann vs Machine... or... Mapper vs Meta?
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Sep 8, 2008
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Or instead of drawing the line arbitrarily, you could say to people "you can enter only one" and let them choose. In that way you just need two concurrent contests that have clearly different skill levels involved.
2skillsets is a good start.

1 mapper makes a layout, and when he does that he will be excluded for phase 2 (other than fixing entity work in case it broke). The same for the detailer. Although he can detail his own map, it cannot take part into the contest.

You could even make an exception for that so you must detail the map of someone else. Then you actualy test 2 skills:
Creating a design someone else can continue on
Detailing a design someone else created and had barely any influence on (only from hinting for design changes)
However, this idea really sucks because why would you want to divide an already small pool of entrants?? We need to keep the contests as acessable as possible otherwise we'll have very few people actually enter.
Phase 1 had much more maps than phase 2. And as i mentioned earlier, people are less likely to detail a map they dont know its going to work. And i think this mainly decided the phase 2 contenters.

For the next 2skillsets the contest itself should be spreaded over a longer period so there is a decent voting period and the results are known before phase 2 starts.
People can still detail a map earlier if they think its good. But again, its a skill that you also should have. That risk should be rewarded.
Contest to make the best Medieval MvM map.
mvm_example can be a good contender for its shape and simplicity. Which would make the contest unfair because you cant just remake that map.
 

UKCS-Alias

Mann vs Machine... or... Mapper vs Meta?
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Sep 8, 2008
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New idea: Extreme map makeover!

1 or multiple mappers (multiple maps means that the edits will spread out) will put up a map they made for the contest. The requirement that they are excelent in gameplay to begin with, people have to be sure that they are editing a map with good gameplay. And if the map already looks good than thats an upside aswel as it will make the chalenge potentialy harder but also allows the map to remain some sort of style that would be similar to the other one. For example a wooden structure in alpine can work just aswel as desert. It in that case only would require a new texture.
They will have to provide the original bsp for the contest and will have to accept that there is the chance that someone is going to make a poor version of it. And there is still a chance on collisions in style.

Using that bsp they will change the visual style of the map. They could make it alpine, they could make it medieval looks, industrial, halloween or whatever as long as the theme has changed in such way that the map doesnt look too similar to the original.

Any of the authors of the map that was sent in however cannot detail their own map again, but they can edit someone elses map.

Even if there is no score boost involved i would still recommend letting the original creator(s) give their favorite edit. It could be good for tiebreakers and can give a nice funfact.
 

SSX

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Feb 2, 2014
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Maybe an Orphaned map revival contest?

There's plenty of maps that have been orphaned in that forum section, maybe we could have a contest to revive and recreate some of those maps.
 

TyeZenneth

L6: Sharp Member
May 31, 2014
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Maybe an Orphaned map revival contest?

There's plenty of maps that have been orphaned in that forum section, maybe we could have a contest to revive and recreate some of those maps.

That'd be cool, but I could see map quality being a problem unless we're all given the same orphaned map to work on or the judging is mainly about how you improved upon the map as opposed to just how the map is.
 

UKCS-Alias

Mann vs Machine... or... Mapper vs Meta?
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Sep 8, 2008
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There's plenty of maps that have been orphaned in that forum section
Most of them are orphaned because they didnt seem interesting enough and to me that could potentialy influence the result alot. Would you continue on a map that was stopped thanks to those issues? We need to pick the best out of them to even let that contest have a chance.

Thats why i came with the idea to do just a restyle using maps that have proven to work. It would only require map authors willing to let their map suffer the edits :p

And maybe with that even allow gamemode changes so for example a map can go from A/D payload to CP based MvM (while in that case the map doesnt require a layout change usualy - or minor ones for balance).
 

UKCS-Alias

Mann vs Machine... or... Mapper vs Meta?
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Sep 8, 2008
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2fort extreme makeover?
I would rather see maps that arent in the game yet.

Simply because that map might have excelent gameplay but lack some eyecandy. With this contest they then can get improved to get excelent details.
It also can be usefull to convert some maps to a moonbase look. Which then would have some more maps to begin with making the valve map not look that lonely.
And ofcourse, event maps! You could make a snowy version of a map or a halloween one. On certain servers its welcome to have some more of those maps.

This contest was partialy inspired by the artpass and 2skillset contest. Both had a solid map people could use and they didnt have to bother about balance. This allows people with good detailing skills to not be turned down by the gameplay part.

And thats why i also came with the idea of a gameplay makeover, so those who are good at gameplay features rather than detailing can make a new mode inside of an existing map. This would cover the other part of the 2 skillsets.

Best of all: they can both happen on the same map!

also... what theharribokid said
 

fauks

L2: Junior Member
Jul 7, 2013
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What about something like: Fix an official map? The goal would be something like Barnblitz or Viaduct pro.
 

UKCS-Alias

Mann vs Machine... or... Mapper vs Meta?
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Sep 8, 2008
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The problem with fixing such maps is that you get alot of versions called _pro, or _x123 or whatever people want as tag. And what im afraid of is that its going to be hard to find the good versions. Especialy since its a contest thing then. People could just put in 2fort and only add 1 door for example. And that door might be placed bad yet the map in the end could still be called ctf_2fort_pro. A contest would promote that behaviour which i think is bad.

Outside of a contest people would only try to edit it when they know what they want to fix which increases the chance of good versions. Still, those who were able to make a map play alot better (for comp for example) still deserve a medal (to me) for their good work. But that doesnt need a contest.

Especialy since you say fix which can mean nearly everything.

I rather would see that replaced by making people change the gamemode which also is going to take more effort and can still provide the fix part (since the new gamemode can make areas easier or harder).
 

Turbo Lover

Fight me under Glasgow Central Station
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Feb 15, 2011
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Robot Destruction Contest. Just throwing that out there for future use, when the gamemode is a stable feature of the game.

An RD contest should also allow for some creativity with the gamemode, the entities for RD are pretty flexible, there's lots of room to innovate with them. Maybe as a rule, as long as your map has some aspect - like the robot-killing or the core-stealing - from the basic RD gamemode, it's allowed?
 

YM

LVL100 YM
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Dec 5, 2007
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Yeah the RD entities allow for a LOT of creativity. It'd be really interesting to see what people could do with it.
 

EArkham

Necromancer
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Aug 14, 2009
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If YOU need a break, by all means take one.

If any of us need a break, we just won't enter.