Next Contest 2015?

[Idolon]

I really like the idea of the awards-show-style format, since it allows several maps to be recognized for what they did. It's still probably worth keeping in the 1st/2nd/3rd overall prizes, but I like the category idea (as well as the deadline idea - contest starts in January, ends in December). The only worry I have is that we'd end up with a truckload of entries, and the judging period would end up being multiple months.

 

[BigBros]

To fix that, maybe you could say max 1 entry per person, and then the top 20 or so maps are chosen through the continued feedback from the community through game days and impromptus, making an official judging easier.

 

[BigBros]

You could always have a 'made by me' contest. In this, everything that you use in the map - textures, models, etc. All have to be made by you. Even the gamemode. This gives a whole new level of innovation, with map makers making some amazing unique maps and some people possibly learning a thing or two about another similar field.

 

[Zed]

You could always have a 'made by me' contest. In this, everything that you use in the map - textures, models, etc. All have to be made by you. Even the gamemode. This gives a whole new level of innovation, with map makers making some amazing unique maps and some people possibly learning a thing or two about another similar field.

Oh boy, will we have to make our own editor, too?

 

[Prestige]

secret
santa
72hr
!!

 

[Pocket]

Oh boy, will we have to make our own editor, too?

Well, then Herbius has it in the bag. About three years from now.

 

[HQDefault]

secret
santa
72hr
!!

This gives me an idea: An adoptive mapping competition!

For a good 2 weeks one person creates the best map they can.

Then when that 2 weeks is over, anyone who entered the contest is randomly assigned a different map that someone else made, and then they improve upon what they have for the next 2 weeks.

Also there would be 2 winners per entry. The original entry, and the adopter.

While this could be luck of the draw, as you could receive a map from a first-time mapper, and your map could also be handed over to a first-time mapper. But this contest would sort of be more for fun than anything. It's like TF2maps randomizer!

 

[Freyja]

This gives me an idea: An adoptive mapping competition!

For a good 2 weeks one person creates the best map they can.

Then when that 2 weeks is over, anyone who entered the contest is randomly assigned a different map that someone else made, and then they improve upon what they have for the next 2 weeks.

Also there would be 2 winners per entry. The original entry, and the adopter.

While this could be luck of the draw, as you could receive a map from a first-time mapper, and your map could also be handed over to a first-time mapper. But this contest would sort of be more for fun than anything. It's like TF2maps randomizer!

You basically just described the abysmal failure that was the 2 skillsets contest.

 

[HQDefault]

You basically just described the abysmal failure that was the 2 skillsets contest.

I thought that contest was you detail one of your own maps.

And this one has nothing to do with detailing. You can submit a total dev-texture map if you feel like it.

Also, that was a failure? I wasn't here at the time, so I wouldn't know, but from what I could see, it looked like everything turned out OK.

 

[Freyja]

I thought that contest was you detail one of your own maps.

And this one has nothing to do with detailing. You can submit a total dev-texture map if you feel like it.

Also, that was a failure? I wasn't here at the time, so I wouldn't know, but from what I could see, it looked like everything turned out OK.

No, it was a contest where people made dev-textured maps in the first part, then in the second part you could pick any of those maps you wanted to detail. It was a failure because the community doesn't like to detail, but more particuarly they don't like working on other people's maps at all.

 

[Fruity Snacks]

2SS wasn't horrible. It definitely needed work though.

 

[YM]

Let's be fair, if I'd have entered either stage it'd have been boss

seriously though:
I don't care what we do for contests, but I'd like to see stuff timetabled months in advance. Like the next 12 months worth of stuff (or absense of stuff) planned out and pulicised so that people know what they should be working around if they want to enter contests and stuff.

 

[Kube]

Let's be fair, if I'd have entered either stage it'd have been boss

seriously though:
I don't care what we do for contests, but I'd like to see stuff timetabled months in advance. Like the next 12 months worth of stuff (or absense of stuff) planned out and pulicised so that people know what they should be working around if they want to enter contests and stuff.

I second that! I would also like to see the most recent thread(s) related to the contest temporarily stickied in certain places across the site, such as in the Featured News forum, or the top of the general Forums page.

 

[Grizzly Berry]

Let's be fair, if I'd have entered either stage it'd have been boss

seriously though:
I don't care what we do for contests, but I'd like to see stuff timetabled months in advance. Like the next 12 months worth of stuff (or absense of stuff) planned out and pulicised so that people know what they should be working around if they want to enter contests and stuff.

Yeah, sometimes I don't want to start a new map because I think "Well what if I could use this for the next contest instead?"

 

[Pocket]

Which is exactly why I think a year-round soft competition could work better. Contest winning maps tend to win contests because they happened to be what the mapper came up with at that particular time. That would still be the case with year-round competition (and a major reason I actually kind of hate the idea of annual entertainment-industry awards), but it's still a step up from the same thing but limited to a three-month development window. Imagine if the Oscars literally only paid attention to movies released during what we call awards season. No, worse, movies released on a single weekend. And they're disqualified if filming had started more than maybe six months before that. And most people ignore that and continue making good movies year round anyway, which don't qualify to win anything. That's where we are right now.

 

[Kube]

Which is exactly why I think a year-round soft competition could work better. Contest winning maps tend to win contests because they happened to be what the mapper came up with at that particular time. That would still be the case with year-round competition (and a major reason I actually kind of hate the idea of annual entertainment-industry awards), but it's still a step up from the same thing but limited to a three-month development window. Imagine if the Oscars literally only paid attention to movies released during what we call awards season. No, worse, movies released on a single weekend. And they're disqualified if filming had started more than maybe six months before that. And most people ignore that and continue making good movies year round anyway, which don't qualify to win anything. That's where we are right now.

That's certainly an interesting thought. How about if general mapping themes (such as innovation, gamemode, etc.) were plotted out a year in advance, and people could map to those concepts until more specific guidelines came out?

 

[MegapiemanPHD]

No, it was a contest where people made dev-textured maps in the first part, then in the second part you could pick any of those maps you wanted to detail. It was a failure because the community doesn't like to detail, but more particuarly they don't like working on other people's maps at all.

I think the problem with that contest was that instead of being assigned a map, you could pick which map you wanted to detail. People picked their own map since they already had ideas for it.

 

[Freyja]

I think the problem with that contest was that instead of being assigned a map, you could pick which map you wanted to detail. People picked their own map since they already had ideas for it.

Technically only half the entries were of the authors own map. But this was just one of the many problems with the whole idea. No one wants to detail someone else' map.

 

[BigBros]

Technically only half the entries were of the authors own map. But this was just one of the many problems with the whole idea. No one wants to detail someone else' map.

I would D:

 

[Kube]

This is certainly a horrible idea for a wide variety of reasons, but I thought I would post it anyway, for the sake of conversation.

How about mappers who choose to participate in the contest are assigned three locations from this list or one like it, and they are allowed to choose one to map around? I often find that some of the best inspiration comes with challenges I am forced to deal with.