***Mapping contest 05 - Payload map***

[YM]

Let me get this straight, you have a map suitable for entry but you dont want to because you're concerned about the lack of info on the judging method?

If you look back though this thread (and the very first post) there is an outline of the original method (with lots of emphasis on the fact mods can't win removing any temptation for us to bias it) and the new method was decided last night is quite similar to what we originally decided. It just hasn't been written up yet.

If I'm right in my first sentence would you reconsider if it was written up before the deadline? I'd hate to loose an entrant over something so small.

 

[MangyCarface]

Same... I meant to be persuasive and get you to enter and instead I came off rather mean... my apologies.

 

[Gadget]

I'm sorry but I guess I won't be able to finish my entry before the deadline. Still got tomorrow to complete the alpha version I'm working on right now but the list of things to do is just too long. I could submit an older alpha but I'm not really happy with that. So don't expect a submission from me because there's ony little chance I'll be done with a playable alpha by tomorrow.

Good luck to all the other entrants!

 

[YM]

The judging criteria for those interested - http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=4888

With the final 24 hours about to start I want to wish everyone entering good luck and that it has been a pleasure to see all the entries that I know about grow from nothing into some really quite spectacular maps!

:thumbup1:


(For anyone about to compile their entry - RE-READ THE RULES)

Rules:

• Map must be a single stage pl_ map (like pl_badwater) you may use any number of control points (1-4)
• The cart may be any sensible cart sized model, the official bomb, snipergen's dirty bomb, the mining cars, the little alpine train thing, etc.
• The map must follow standard payload conventions, no split routes or other gametype mixes.
• Must be able to spawn 32 players (16 per team spawnroom)
• Map must include these decals/overlays(or suitable others with "TF2maps.net" clearly on them) at least twice (1 blue, 1 red) in your map. They must also be easily visible.
• Map must follow conventions laid out by valve (blue attacking red, safe respawn rooms, no ladders or other gimmicks)
• Map must be finished and uploaded by January 15th 00:00 GMT (2009) and submitted to the upload thread - http://forums.tf2maps.net/showthread.php?t=4833.

 

[Cerious]

Youme, you mucked up the download link in the upload thread. It keeps saying that I don't have privileges to view the page.

 

[YM]

Youme, you mucked up the download link in the upload thread. It keeps saying that I don't have privileges to view the page.

Ah, I've fixed that - don't download them all individually yet I'll pack them all together into one download and I'll upload that for everyone, much easier I think you'll agree

 

[Rexy]

Second component- Judges' votes.

* There will be a panel of about 5 judges. They all have experience mapping and are long-standing members of the community. Some have followed the contest very closely and some have followed it loosely, so we'll have both new perspectives and overall perspectives.
* Judges' own entries will be disqualified for winning; they will receive marks but will not be eligible to place in the final rankings. Judges may review their own maps but their rating will not be calculated into the map's total score.
* Judges will playtest each map considerably on their own, via the tf2maps.net server or private servers.
* Judgment will take place in four categories, each worth 25% of the overall judging. (The questions posed by each category are merely starting points to get you thinking along the right lines)
1. Fun Factor: Does the map have replay value? Do you enjoy fighting in the various areas/environments? Is it easy to figure out where you're supposed to be going?
2. Aesthetics: Is the map intricate and beautiful? Is there a high level of polish to the map? Do the individual detailing choices make the map feel put together, or discordant? Does it fit well with the Team Fortress 2 art style(painterly feel)?
3. Balance: Are the respawn and travel times reasonable? How easy or difficult is it to attack and defend a given area? Is there a good distribution of health and ammo packs? Is there a fair contest for each control point?
4. Performance: Does the map noticeably lag anywhere? Are there any glitches or exploits? Is there any slowdown during major fights?
* Each judge will rank each category on a scale of 1-10 and include at least a brief write-up of their decision making process per map. The judges' ratings will be averaged for each map. Each step of this process will be publicized.
* The goal of the judges' vote is to get a professional look at each map, with a high degree of scrutiny that the mapmakers can use to improve their skills in the future. It prevents a tyranny of the majority, wherein people vote on maps in a popularity contest, thus making the rankings fairer.
* The judges' average ratings will be multiplied by a factor of .4, and the popular average ratings by a factor of .6. This means a 40%-60% split. They will be added together to achieve the maps' final ratings.
* The maps' ratings will be published, the ineligible maps (like the judges') removed, and then the final rankings posted. The final rankings will determine the winners.

PLEASE, please, please don't take this as a complaint, only a suggestion, because I realize the criteria for evaluation wasn't decided upon up until very recently, but these criteria really should have been posted along with the contest rules back when the contest was conceived. I'm sure there are a few people who are going to be penalized because of this unexpected criteria, I know personally because my map does NOT fit with the TF2 painterly art style, and I have done that on purpose.

Does it fit well with the Team Fortress 2 art style(painterly feel)?

I feel a little like maybe I've been ostracized because the contest rules never stated that the art style had to fit with Valve's conception of team fortress 2. Only now that the evaluation criteria is out, it's almost like a last minute rule that was added to disqualify my map and maybe some others with other voting criteria from the competition. I'm really hoping that's not the case. D:

Again, I'm just voicing my opinion, and I completely understand that the voting criteria hadn't been decided yet. I realize I'm a small fry here, so please don't jump on me and wail on me for it.

 

[Acegikmo]

I feel a little like maybe I've been ostracized because the contest rules never stated that the art style had to fit with Valve's conception of team fortress 2. Only now that the evaluation criteria is out, it's almost like a last minute rule that was added to disqualify my map and some others from the competition. I'm really hoping that's not the case. D:

You won't be disqualified for that.
It's not a rule; it's an evaluation criteria

 

[What Is Schwa]

You missed the part that says "All maps with a Z in the name are disqualified"

I hate Z's!

 

[Armadillo of Doom]

PLEASE, please, please don't take this as a complaint, only a suggestion, because I realize the criteria for evaluation wasn't decided upon up until very recently, but these criteria really should have been posted along with the contest rules back when the contest was conceived. I'm sure there are a few people who are going to be penalized because of this unexpected criteria, I know personally because my map does NOT fit with the TF2 painterly art style, and I have done that on purpose.



I feel a little like maybe I've been ostracized because the contest rules never stated that the art style had to fit with Valve's conception of team fortress 2. Only now that the evaluation criteria is out, it's almost like a last minute rule that was added to disqualify my map and some others from the competition. I'm really hoping that's not the case. D:

Again, I'm just voicing my opinion, and I completely understand that the voting criteria hadn't been decided yet. I realize I'm a small fry here, so please don't jump on me and wail on me for it.

Remind me to tell Youme "I told you so"

 

[MrAlBobo]

I feel a little like maybe I've been ostracized because the contest rules never stated that the art style had to fit with Valve's conception of team fortress 2. Only now that the evaluation criteria is out, it's almost like a last minute rule that was added to disqualify my map and maybe some others with other voting criteria from the competition. I'm really hoping that's not the case. D:

Again, I'm just voicing my opinion, and I completely understand that the voting criteria hadn't been decided yet. I realize I'm a small fry here, so please don't jump on me and wail on me for it.

just pointing out...the judges make up 40% of the vote, aesthetics makes up 1 out of four of those decisions (10%), out of the aesthetics section of the rules there are 4 sections, of those one is regarding the tf2 style, so your left with that making up about 2.5% of your maps total...so...don't worry about it...

then of the user votes...well i dont think everyone is going to read those rules all too clearly, but im going to go out on a limb here and say that very few people care if the map is tf2 if it looks nice

 

[Ezekel]

I feel a little like maybe I've been ostracized because the contest rules never stated that the art style had to fit with Valve's conception of team fortress 2. Only now that the evaluation criteria is out, it's almost like a last minute rule that was added to disqualify my map and maybe some others with other voting criteria from the competition. I'm really hoping that's not the case. D:

when i started my map back in mid december, it did say in the rules we had to match the art style.
but be that as it may, pl_zig is just too cool in it's own right and oughta be allowed to slide on this.

 

[YM]

You're reading it wrong, "Art style" =/= "theme"

TF2's theme = desert industrial
TF2's art style = hand painted textures, simplified and cartoony models, muted colour pallette etc.

So something that is radically different to the standard dusty envrionment can still score very high on aesthetics as long as the style is kept consistent and it actually looks nice.
If for example you're map was made with the finest realistic textures and props you could find you'd only score mid-range on aesthetics even if it was utterly beautiful - because the art style isn't the same, but having a consistent theme within the map and good use of textures and props would give good marks due to it looking stunning.

Despite being the opposite personally to what mralbobo said (people don't mind if it isn't TF2's theme if it's pretty) I think he is sufficiently right that you wont lose out badly on aesthetics marks.

 

[Acegikmo]

Now that the entry thread is locked; I'd just like to say:

Good luck everyone!

Let it be a fair competition

 

[YM]

This is pathetic. not a single entrant managed to read and follow my instrcutions.

Your map must be submitted as a raw .bsp file inside a single .zip with any readme.txt you wish to accompany it. Please do not put anything else in the .zip either. (see the example I posted below)

The only one submitted that follows this simple format is halfacre. I set these requirements for a reason not just for kicks guys!

Not impressed.

 

[Rexy]

Wait, mine didn't have just the .bsp and readme.txt in the .zip file? I thought I did! What did I do wrong?

 

[YM]

It had an extra folder in it, admittedly yours was the closest to the specification to all of them.
It took far longer to extract all the maps into one place, the two .7z were the worst actually, they doubled the processing time. I set the requirements so I could extract them all quickly and easily but the process was far from quick and not terribly easy navigating through all the differing formats

But its done now, I just need to write up my own collective readme and upload it

 

[Nineaxis]

Well, sorry, I didn't want two different release packages floating around.

 

[eerieone]

This is pathetic. not a single entrant managed to read and follow my instrcutions.
The only one submitted that follows this simple format is halfacre. I set these requirements for a reason not just for kicks guys!

Not impressed.

The only thing that screwed this up was the implementation of the quicklist-thumbnail, and since there was no way it works inside the bsp i think it was legitimate to pack it in seperately.

 

[Armadillo of Doom]

I was under the impression that 7z counts as a zip file