Contest idea thread!

[Truckojr]

What if there was this artpass contest, where people would 1st: submit a map they've published here to a thread but haven't worked on for awhile/ have abandoned it, and then 2nd, once those maps that people have submitted have been collected, you're given one to detail (and just detail, not change the gameplay that much)

 

[SnickerPuffs]

What if there was this artpass contest, where people would 1st: submit a map they've published here to a thread but haven't worked on for awhile/ have abandoned it, and then 2nd, once those maps that people have submitted have been collected, you're given one to detail (and just detail, not change the gameplay that much)

I like the concept, but detail-oriented contests aren't too popular afaik. Plus, if someone submits a woefully underdeveloped map, no amount of artpassing will make the map good.

 

[MegapiemanPHD]

The problem with a contest like this is the same problem that happened with the mountainlab contest. You get a bunch of versions of the same map to test and none of them address any problems the map may have.

 

[C. LAMITI]

so instead of just an artpass contest, what about a multi-phased telephone-ish contest where everyone makes a base layout, then passes it on to the next mapper, who can detail AND make layout changes (within reason), and then keep it moving for an arbitrary number of rounds?

i feel like you'd get some interesting design out of that, or comedy at least

 

[Prestige]

Secret Santa contest where you make some gameplay space of a certain size and you swap and someone else has to finish it. Not too serious and you could pick your partner cause who cares who wins rly tho

OK basically the same as the idea above which I also support!

https://tf2maps.net/threads/exquisite-corpse.34025/ I guess this happened and it was good, and also a microcontest happened

 

[Tiftid]

I don't like the idea of a telephone contest, because, suppose there are two mappers of equal skill - one gets an unworkable layout and one gets an amazing layout, meaning that one has to do much more work than the other to create a good map. To balance that you could create a system where the altered maps are judged based on the quality of what's added on, but working on a terrible layout wouldn't feel fun, especially if you wanted to make changes and your playtests all get the feedback "this isn't fun", and implementing a cohesive theme is a lot harder when the geometry doesn't add to it, meaning that even if altered maps are judged based on the addons, the overall feeling players have about the map becomes negative through no fault of the mapper's own. You could also get the inverse, where a mapper gets a layout way outside of their skill level and feels bad about any layout changes they might want to make or ideas they might want to introduce, and ends up getting rated poorly because they feel outclassed by the map they've received to work on.
It also totally removes the part of mapping which is coming up with cool ideas and iterating on them with theme to create something really cohesive and special, instead forcing layout creators to entrust their map to someone who, no matter how many detail hints the original mapper produced, might want to do a different theme. There would also be little you could do to stop instances where a mapper just rejects all unique ideas the original map had and introduces their own ideas, "ruining" the layout in the original creator's eyes and going against the spirit of the contest.

 

[Tiftid]

I thought that I shouldn't just beat down other people's ideas without contributing my own, more stupid ideas, so here's:

The 512 grid size contest.

Rules:
-You must create, resize, cut and vertex edit all brushes using a grid size of 512.
-You may place and move point entities using any grid size.
-You must make your map for a gamemode which isn't MvM and doesn't require any server modifications or plugins to be run.
-You may not use the Transform window (Ctrl+M in default Hammer).
-You may not copy anything from any vmf other than the contest vmf, which must be empty prior to the contest starting.
-Concerning displacements, your paintbrushes (when painting geometry) must have a Distance which is a multiple of 256 (e.g 512, 256, 0, -256, -512) and a Radius of 1.
-You may not use props which are obvious conversions of brushwork made using a lower grid size than 512.
-In terms of surface area, brushwork should dominate your gameplay space. This is impossible to accurately measure and comes down to the judgement of the contest judges.
-For the sake of your sanity, you're allowed to use ABS prefabs, but not any other prefabs.
-Detailing using props is a waste of time since your map will not be directly judged based on its theme or the quality of its detailing, but rudimentary brushwork detailing can be useful if you feel that it helps to communicate your creativity and/or proficiency.

Inspired by someone saying "512 grid gang" in Discord a while ago. Maybe that someone was me, I don't know.

The contest would be a layout-only contest.

The contest should be judged based on the creativity and proficiency of mappers - trying to get around the contest's limitations by excessively using props would be something that would reduce your final score, for instance, as it's an uncreative way to approach the contest. Creating angled geometry would (probably) be something that would increase your final score, because it can be, if used well, an excellent demonstration of creativity and proficiency which jumps out at the contest judges and playtesters.

The contest should have a relatively short time frame, maybe 5 weeks, so that mappers are encouraged to work quickly and smartly with their restriction and creatively use all of their mapping skills to salvage TF2 gameplay out of their map, as opposed to giving in and making an overscaled mess. In order to not force contestants to realise this by themselves, the contest should provide information on basic techniques such as "You can use the clipping tool to create faces that are shorter than 512 units long and you can use vertex edit to easily edit brushes cut in this way", ideally in the form of a video tutorial.

Admittedly, I don't like how the average contest idea removes options from mappers, and this doesn't get around that, since it removes your basic ability to make geometry, which, though it requires thinking to get around, is a tad annoying at the end of the day. Other issues include - how do you stop mappers from accidentally reducing the grid size and working on a reduced grid size out of muscle memory? Even if they realise afterwards, stop themselves and delete the brush they made, it's still annoying to have to go through that process often.

Of course, if you think of any loopholes or basic problems that I didn't consider, be sure to leave a reply.

 

[C. LAMITI]

i mean, ideally a telephone contest wouldn't be super serious, or really all that focused on the end product or making an overall super-balanced map, just sort of a fun event where you don't know what you're gonna get - and if someone gets really attached to facets of a map, they can just take those bits and build a proper, focused map around them. all of the friction you described, and the creative decisions they'll force people to make, is the interesting part imo. (not rly much of a contest in the "meaningful winners and losers" sense, but that just means it's less stressful)

 

[SnickerPuffs]

"The Mapdela Effect" Detailing Contest

Participants have to recreate an in-game map, either Valve-offical or community-made. The only stipulation is that they must do it entirely from memory, and cannot look at any reference material directly involving the map (i.e. screenshots, videos, actually playing the map).

The judging will be based on Aesthetics, Faithfulness, and what place you think that submission should win (out of X submissions, from 1st to Xth). Due to the nature of the prompt, playability is not necessary to make a complete submission, and will not be directly judged. It will, however, be used as a tiebreaker should multiple maps in the top 3 have the same score.

 

[Izotope]

"The Mapdela Effect" Detailing Contest

Participants have to recreate an in-game map, either Valve-offical or community-made. The only stipulation is that they must do it entirely from memory, and cannot look at any reference material directly involving the map (i.e. screenshots, videos, actually playing the map).

The judging will be based on Aesthetics, Faithfulness, and what place you think that submission should win (out of X submissions, from 1st to Xth). Due to the nature of the prompt, playability is not necessary to make a complete submission, and will not be directly judged. It will, however, be used as a tiebreaker should multiple maps in the top 3 have the same score.

Sounds fun at first, but I can totally see people not sticking to the rules and "peek" at the source.
And there's no way of knowing who peeked and to what degree.

 

[SnickerPuffs]

Alternate Reality Arena

This contest is themed after parallel universes and alternate realities. This is because the contest *itself* is in a state of flux between two different realities. Participants must choose which 'universe' to align themselves with, as the contest's objective changes depending on which 'universe' a participant is aligned with.

UNIVERSE A ~ Redesign/re-create an Arena map, as if it was designed for a gamemode other than Arena.

UNIVERSE B ~ Redesign/re-create a non-Arena map, as if it was exclusively designed for Arena.​

Restrictions

• Due to the gamemodes being too similar, the KOTH gamemode will not be allowed for Universe A participants, and KOTH maps will not be allowed for Universe B participants.
• Maps that have already have an official KOTH and/or Arena mode variant (Nucleus, Well, Granary, Sawmill, and Badlands) will not be allowed for any participants of either universe.
• Mann vs. Machine maps are... not restricted for either universe. Go hog wild, guys :]

Notes for the contest runner(s)

• The thread for the contest should open one week before the contest begins, so participants can choose which 'universe' and objective they wish to follow, and which map they wish to convert.
  
• The contest runner(s) should keep a public list of the participants, and what universe/map-gamemode combination each one has chosen, so copy-maps are kept to a minimum.
• Once the contest begins, if a participant wishes to switch between 'universes' and start from scratch, they'll be able to do so only once, with permission from the contest runner(s).

 

[Uncuepa]

I'm sure its been suggested before but... King of the Flag

A combination of 14bit style CTF and KotH, where in capturing the point on the map weakens the enemies defences allowing for easier attack. It should make the central deathmatch of CTF matter in some way and mean once the point IS capped, turtling players are significantly weakened, disincentivizing camping the intel only.

For this gamemode type I also suggest making the intel cap seperate from the intel pick up spot, possibly even requiring you to take it to the KotH cap zone and control it to cap. I think the benefit of that gamemode vs say, attack CTF where a neutral flag spawns and both teams carry it INTO the enemy base is in that gamemode, an engi in the cap room is just as important as normal CTF.

Could be an interesting micro contest!

 

[The Asylum]

One idea I've had for a long time is a control point scramble

Imagine if you will: 8 control points, arranged around the outer areas of the map, encircling an area where the teams spawn in the middle (seperately of course). The points all have short cap times (think 2nd-last point of Granary short), and there's a 10 minute time limit. Whichever team has the most points claimed at the end (or if one team caps all 8) wins the match.

Its a very spur of the moment idea that I havent had much of any time to work on (two full time jobs will do that to ya) but in more capable hands it could be a fun time.

 

[SnickerPuffs]

One idea I've had for a long time is a control point scramble

Imagine if you will: 8 control points, arranged around the outer areas of the map, encircling an area where the teams spawn in the middle (seperately of course). The points all have short cap times (think 2nd-last point of Granary short), and there's a 10 minute time limit. Whichever team has the most points claimed at the end (or if one team caps all 8) wins the match.

Its a very spur of the moment idea that I havent had much of any time to work on (two full time jobs will do that to ya) but in more capable hands it could be a fun time.

I like this idea, but it should really be an odd number of points (5 or 7) so ties can't happen.

 

[SnickerPuffs]

Get to THE Point!

During the countless years you've spent on the battlefield, slaughtering innumerable foes, have you ever wondered WHY you're fighting? Not in a literal 'because-someone-hired-me' sense, and not in a psychological sense either. Historically, I mean. Ever since mankind has learned to think, we've had the concept of "I want that thing, and someone else has that thing". We're all envious, and it's in our DNA to get what we want, no matter the cost.

What isn't in our DNA, however, is money. This may come as a surprise to you, but war is expensive, and our funds are running dry. So, effective immediately, all battles will be fought over a singular control point. We *almost* have enough for one-per-team, so if you all stay on your best behavior, clip enough coupons, recycle enough aluminum cans, and sell all your less-than-vital internal organs, we can order another one.

RULES:
- Your submission must use a gamemode that uses 'points' (CP, PL, CTF, ect.), but must feature only ONE control point/capture zone, or one for each team.
---- Multi-stage maps can use one point for each round.
---- Note for PL/PLR maps: The end of track capture point counts as your single control point
---- Note for CP maps: Gamemodes are restricted to "Cloak-style" (Single neutral point, game ends on capture), Single-point A/D, or TC
---- KOTH and Arena maps are discouraged, since they already feature a single point, but they are not disallowed

 

[Yrr]

I'm gonna be real, there's a reason that KOTH and Arena are the only modes to just have one point

 

[Mattie]

"Beyond & Before"

Idea I've been ruminating on after finishing my In & Out entry. Basically a detailing contest where mappers have to make as good-looking a scene they can, with the stipulation that it does not take place in the general time period of TF2 (maybe defining that as between 1950-1975). Otherwise there are no limitations on theme or setting - prehistoric jungle, medieval town, gilded age factory? Far future dystopia, utopia, or crumbling ruins? Maybe a long-abandoned spy base, or one that's still operational with modern technology, or one that's been converted into a museum? Lots of potential to try out new styles, put twists on familiar TF2 aesthetics, and creatively utilise existing assets (or show off your skills in creating your own)

 

[SnickerPuffs]

Less of a 'contest idea' and more of an 'intersting design experiment', but I'll share this idea anyway.

Occasionally, a mapper will take an in-game map they find fault in, break it down to simple alpha-stage-style geometry, and rework/develop it from there. I've suggested a contest of a similar goal before, but this isn't quite as simple as that.

The base idea is the same, certainly, but instead of going straight into the rebuilding, first flip the map entirely upside down, and add the logic entities to enable grappling hooks. This simple change will, pardon the pun, put a while new perspective on the "reworking a stock map" game, and would make for a rather interesting experiment, if not full-on contest.

Many maps have sprawling outdoor sections, if not set entirely outdoors themselves, so there will still be plenty of chances for mapmakers to create entirely new geometry without needing to rework/replace too much pre-existing geometry. Although, having said that, it would be wise to punch several holes in the now-ceiling to allow sunlight to trickle through.

 

[Perihelion]

I had a microcontest idea that's a combination of build around the track and the multistage madness microcontest #2.

Mappers pair up and take a vmf that includes spawnrooms and a track for a single stage payload map. Then one mapper works on one half of the map (everything left of the payload track) while the other mapper works on the right side. The two mappers don't communicate with each other on what they're working on. The maps should have actual themes but don't need to be detailed, just not full of dev textures. Then the two halves of the map get joined together and played.

Also, if everyone works on the same starting vmf, there's no chance of someone getting screwed over because their partner didn't make a map.

 

[Kill_the_Bug]

I want an out of this world contest

1. Break all the rules of TF2
2. It can't be on planet earth
3. Payload or CP stlye (or a combined CP/Payload)
4. 72 Hours

Do all that weird and funky stuff you've always dreamed about doing - don't care if it's supposed to work - JUST DO IT!!!