Randdalf
aa
- Feb 14, 2008
- 1,051
- 932
Yes but that's a matter of trust.
Contest idea thread!
- Thread starter FaTony
- Start date
Yes but that's a matter of trust.
A map in this case probably wont have been play tested and as a result play horribly and not be enjoyed by players and not fair well in the voting process.
HeaH
L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
- Oct 2, 2008
- 553
- 102
So, I have an idea... Or two...
Have a content where you have to make something for the alpine setting. A texture, a model, a prefab, anything. The entries should be judged on useability, originality, theme-fitting and look.
Another thing I would like to suggest is a detail a building contest. Inspired by the "detail a building in MangyCarfaces map mini-contest"
Have a content where you have to make something for the alpine setting. A texture, a model, a prefab, anything. The entries should be judged on useability, originality, theme-fitting and look.
Another thing I would like to suggest is a detail a building contest. Inspired by the "detail a building in MangyCarfaces map mini-contest"
I mentioned this in Steamchat about a fortnight ago and i believe Youme has it written down on his list, but i thought i'd throw it up here anyway, now that i've seen this thread has popped up again.
A flag room.
The flag room is often something as overlooked as the spawn room. This'll give people the oppotunity to create a prop room (/number of) as well. As the prop rooms beside the flagroom in 2fort are usually rather generic and samey. 2fort's flag room prop rooms are probably the most significant of all prop rooms.
A flag room.
The flag room is often something as overlooked as the spawn room. This'll give people the oppotunity to create a prop room (/number of) as well. As the prop rooms beside the flagroom in 2fort are usually rather generic and samey. 2fort's flag room prop rooms are probably the most significant of all prop rooms.
Dox
L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
- Oct 26, 2007
- 588
- 62
I am willing to offer a decent reward for a contest, but I would like to first set some guidelines for a contest for which I would offer it...
1. A contest that is heavily creative
2. Within the set standards that our community seems to have adapted I.E. large majority around here hate gimmicks
3. Preferably with a major focus on entities, because so far our contests seem to avoid entities like the plague, when they are such an integral part of Hammer.
Ideas?
1. A contest that is heavily creative
2. Within the set standards that our community seems to have adapted I.E. large majority around here hate gimmicks
3. Preferably with a major focus on entities, because so far our contests seem to avoid entities like the plague, when they are such an integral part of Hammer.
Ideas?
MrAlBobo
L13: Stunning Member
- Feb 20, 2008
- 1,059
- 219
See I think you're a bit wrong there dox, entities (whilst they are an integral part of hammer) don't really come into their own in TF2, L4D and their fancy cutsceene type things yes but not TF2. I can see we'd be able to do something but the only thing I can see anything entity related is new gametypes and well you already know my stance on those.
How about an "alpha" contest? You're limited to development textures and simple geometric shapes; the goal is to create a map that is fun to play despite a complete lack of visual detail. We could announce it alongside a regular mapping contest and let people submit detailed versions of their alphas.
Ezekel
L11: Posh Member
- Dec 16, 2008
- 818
- 246
i'd lean away from that. i mean do we really want to encourage more 'orange' maps?
edit:
what about a "final cp" contest - build a cp area for the final point on a dustbowl-style map (i.e. final of a multistage assault cp map)
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- Sep 12, 2008
- 1,272
- 1,142
I don't really know if this is a 'contest' idea, but I was thinking of a Map of the Year/Month/Week/.. So one map that gets a special place at the homepage for a Year/Month/.. and is placed in the spotlight somehow.
And anything more different from cp_steel is fundamentally broken. Or if the gameplay somehow works with a miss match I/O setup, the HUD would never display what you desire.
I wouldn't mind being able to create the 4 capture the flag map from TFC, that i forget the name of now..
Acegikmo
aa
- Jan 31, 2008
- 555
- 1,482
Anything but no more pl please
Would be a bit too much for just a contest.
It takes alot of time to make a tc or multistage cp/pl map.
Would be better to stick to a bit smaller maps like Arena or ctf.
multi-stage maps are a lot easier to play test and develop.. from experience a multi-stage cp map was a lot easier than a 1stage payload. But then, i just had trouble with the payload in general i guess.
There's a lot less you have to consider in layout for multi-stage maps. There's a fairly strict regime to follow that generally involves one choke point and perhaps 3 different sentry locations. 1stage payload requires a lot of anticipation of gameplay, more ambigious choke points and eraticly spaced cp's. Optimisation also becomes more complicated/difficult.
TC isn't all that difficult either. The stages are generally random. It's just a case of enabling and disabling temporary walls on round win/lose and make sure dynamic signs have the right skin.
There's a lot less you have to consider in layout for multi-stage maps. There's a fairly strict regime to follow that generally involves one choke point and perhaps 3 different sentry locations. 1stage payload requires a lot of anticipation of gameplay, more ambigious choke points and eraticly spaced cp's. Optimisation also becomes more complicated/difficult.
TC isn't all that difficult either. The stages are generally random. It's just a case of enabling and disabling temporary walls on round win/lose and make sure dynamic signs have the right skin.
I had an idea a while back for a mapping contest. It goes like this:
Pick a room, small space in your home or where you work (or anywhere) and take pictures of as much as of it as you can, then build an arena map that fits into the TF2 theme, using textures ONLY from that room or space, and is inspired by the layout or specific architecture.
You can either photograph or scan, the textures you make can be altered in photoshop or your choice of image editing software to make them more appropriate or suitable for use in TF2 (You'll also have to submit your chosen room's images with the map submission).
The arena map you make has to be standard Valve conventions: No respawn, with one control point that you can capture to win that is unlocked after a set amount of time.
Things you CAN'T do:
*Make a 'rats' map, or any map that gives the illusion that the players different in normal scale to the environment they are in.
*Duplicate the room's layout. Instead you must be inspired by layout's appearance and use it to build your map (for example if your space is an elevator, you'd have lots of metal walls, carpeting or tile, plenty of buttons or electronic panels and lighting to match your space's appearance, you just wouldn't be allowed to duplicate the elevator's layout, which is pretty simple--one room!).
*Use stock textures (in the exception that they are decals, signs, or anything vital to the game's mechanics, for example the hud icons or a func_respawnroomvisualizer, and you also may use the stock props in your map, like the control point prop, spawn gates, lamps etc. Building/using custom props are encouraged).
Specific Guidelines:
*Must spawn 32 players
*Must be a standard arena map (Valve conventions), 1 control point
*Must consist strictly of custom texturing (with the exception to deals as mentioned above)
*Must include the TF2maps.net decals in them
*Submit your chosen space photographs with the final .bsp (or in another thread or the mapper's WIP thread) so that the relation can be clearly seen between your map and your inspiration.
And that's it. So really, the chosen space for the contest is VITAL. The challenge lies in using the textures and layout to make the map feel like a real TF2 map, but completely inspired by the space chosen. I think it would be really cool to see what kind of new environments people can create using set criteria. And arena maps are technically the easiest to make in my opinion--even though the sdk comes with cp_game_entities already, but from the standpoint of having already made an arena map, it's the easiest. Plus it's smaller, and won't take as much time to create as the last contest did.
So that's my input for a contest idea--I like things that are different, well made--but it would be a cool contest! Or maybe use the idea for it in a similar way? I know we're not even finished with the last contest, but I'm already thinking about what could be next.
Pick a room, small space in your home or where you work (or anywhere) and take pictures of as much as of it as you can, then build an arena map that fits into the TF2 theme, using textures ONLY from that room or space, and is inspired by the layout or specific architecture.
You can either photograph or scan, the textures you make can be altered in photoshop or your choice of image editing software to make them more appropriate or suitable for use in TF2 (You'll also have to submit your chosen room's images with the map submission).
The arena map you make has to be standard Valve conventions: No respawn, with one control point that you can capture to win that is unlocked after a set amount of time.
Things you CAN'T do:
*Make a 'rats' map, or any map that gives the illusion that the players different in normal scale to the environment they are in.
*Duplicate the room's layout. Instead you must be inspired by layout's appearance and use it to build your map (for example if your space is an elevator, you'd have lots of metal walls, carpeting or tile, plenty of buttons or electronic panels and lighting to match your space's appearance, you just wouldn't be allowed to duplicate the elevator's layout, which is pretty simple--one room!).
*Use stock textures (in the exception that they are decals, signs, or anything vital to the game's mechanics, for example the hud icons or a func_respawnroomvisualizer, and you also may use the stock props in your map, like the control point prop, spawn gates, lamps etc. Building/using custom props are encouraged).
Specific Guidelines:
*Must spawn 32 players
*Must be a standard arena map (Valve conventions), 1 control point
*Must consist strictly of custom texturing (with the exception to deals as mentioned above)
*Must include the TF2maps.net decals in them
*Submit your chosen space photographs with the final .bsp (or in another thread or the mapper's WIP thread) so that the relation can be clearly seen between your map and your inspiration.
And that's it. So really, the chosen space for the contest is VITAL. The challenge lies in using the textures and layout to make the map feel like a real TF2 map, but completely inspired by the space chosen. I think it would be really cool to see what kind of new environments people can create using set criteria. And arena maps are technically the easiest to make in my opinion--even though the sdk comes with cp_game_entities already, but from the standpoint of having already made an arena map, it's the easiest. Plus it's smaller, and won't take as much time to create as the last contest did.
So that's my input for a contest idea--I like things that are different, well made--but it would be a cool contest! Or maybe use the idea for it in a similar way? I know we're not even finished with the last contest, but I'm already thinking about what could be next.
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