We've given up! Please just make a fun map. We don't care what it looks like or what mode it is or how many times you can make the payload go in a circle, just please make us anything that plays well. We're going Back To Basics: No arbitrary restrictions, no detailing, just gameplay.
Rules
- You must make a 'standard' map. Any gamemode is fine so long as it can be easily categorized as symmetrical/asymmetrical and runs on a standard server with no modifications. This excludes MvM or any gamemode that requires a plugin to run.
- Maps may be no older than four days before the date and time of this post.
- We didn't do a very good job of announcing the contest in advance, so we've added a bit of leniency.
- Your map must be able to accommodate for a standard amount of players. This means a minimum of 16 spawn points per team for standard maps.
- Maps must be uploaded to the submission thread before the soft deadline. The submission thread will open a week before the soft deadline and will close at the hard deadline. More details on deadlines below.
- Your map must be fully functional; meaning it includes objectives, spawn points, is fully lit and both teams can reasonably win.
- Everyone can enter (other than those banned from entering contests), though judges, contest organizers, and those otherwise involved directly in judging cannot win any prizes or place in the top 3.
- Limit two entries per person.
- This is for contributing to a map through Hammer. You may contribute to more than two maps with regards to custom content.
- In the event that a lot of people enter two maps and we get a large volume of entries, we may require all multi-entrants to withdraw one of their entries.
We do not expect these rules to come into play due to the nature of this contest. However, here they are just in case:
- Each map can have a team of four collaborators. A collaborator is someone who has contributed to the map either via work in Hammer, or through the contribution of custom assets.
- Only two members of a team are allowed to work on the map in Hammer. All other collaborators must be asset contributors.
- People are only considered asset contributors if their custom content has not been released to the public prior to the start of the contest.
- The contest begins as of this post.
- The contest ends October 14th, 2019, 11:59 PM (23:59) GMT.
- That's about two and a half months from now.
- The deadline used to be September 30th, but there has been a two week extension.
- An upload thread will be created about a week before the deadline. You must post your map in this thread to submit your map.
- You may do whatever you want with your map before then. It is highly encouraged to upload your map and have players test it before the deadline so you can get feedback and improve your map.
- You will be given 48 hours after the deadline to fix any bugs that crop up. After that, no more updates.
- If you discover a bug with your final submitted version, you have the option of reverting to an older version of the map, provided that it is already uploaded to TF2Maps.net and/or our game servers.
Maps will be judged only on the basis of how much fun they are to play. Detailing is not a required component of this contest. However, aesthetics still do play a role in how well a map plays. Lighting cues can tell players what routes they should use, and a cleaner or more professional looking alpha will always feel better to play than a sloppily constructed one. Keep these things in mind when designing your maps!
We anticipate getting a lot of entries for this contest, so we plan on doing some aggressive weeding of maps to ensure we can deliver results without keeping maps frozen in development for multiple months.
In addition, since this contest is so open ended, we will be dividing the map pool into Symmetrical and Asymmetrical categories to be judged separately.
Here is the system we will be using:
- In the initial round, official judges will have two weeks to reduce the map pool to 10 Symmetrical maps and 10 Asymmetrical maps. This will be done through a yes/no/neutral vote. This may end early if most/all judges get their scores in early.
- In the second round, the public will have two weeks to reduce the map pool to 5 Symmetrical maps and 5 Asymmetrical maps. This will be done through a yes/no/neutral vote.
- In the final round, the public and official judges will have three weeks to score the remaining maps on a 0-10 scale to decide winners in each category. The public/judge vote will be weighted 40/60 respectively.
Judging will include:
- Giving a yes/neutral/no vote on all submissions in the first round of judging
- Providing a single gameplay score and written feedback (as brief or extensive as you like) on all 10 finalists
- That's it!
If you are interested in judging, send me a PM. Being a judge will disqualify any of your maps from winning prizes or being "officially" placed, but they will still be scored and ranked. If you work on a team, your teammates may deny your ability to judge if they would still like to have a chance at winning prizes/placement. You will not be able to score your own map.
Prizes
There will be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in both categories, meaning six winners overall. All winners will get Mapper's Medallions and picks from our pool of game keys.
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