Image thanks to Exactol, Void, and Not Your Sagittarius
Another jam is over! This time we didn't set fire to any of the servers, lose any data, or, say, create a ten-year hitbox bug: it was almost relaxing! What we did do was make a staggering amount of stuff for Team Fortress 2. The final count of entries was 686, with nearly as many people taking part! That includes 230 SFM creations, 196 artworks, 146 maps, 34 models, 14 videos, twelve fanfictions, two games, two plushes, and a poem.
Remember right back at the start when I said that last time i was secretly expecting less entries than before? Yeah, I was doing that again, and once again you guys proved me stunningly wrong. You're making me look like an idiot, and it's awesome.
Remember right back at the start when I said that last time i was secretly expecting less entries than before? Yeah, I was doing that again, and once again you guys proved me stunningly wrong. You're making me look like an idiot, and it's awesome.
Acknowledgements
Before I get into the showcase proper, I want to thank everyone who's helped out throughout the jam. Firstly @killohurtz, my assistant, was completely invaluable, doing at least as much work as me for far less credit. Secondly I want to thank @iiboharz and @fuzzymellow for creating that awesome banner image we used in the thread, and @Crash and @Fr0Z3nR for creating the jam concept in the first place. Next up is @phi @Egan @Berry @Muddy @hutty @zahndah and @TyeZenneth for helping me sort through all the entries and pick out the showcase ones, and of course @Geit who not only kept everything running, but also developed a nifty system for sending out the medals. (If you haven't got yours though, you should still blame me.) And last of all, you guys! I've said this before but these events are absolutely a pleasure to run, and that's because everyone is always so enthusiastic to take part.
The Main Event
The other big theme was, less appropriately, the jungle. With Valve putting out feelers (see what i did there) for Jungle content, there's been a surge in both jungle maps (pictured: Exactol's Detail Entry, but also check out Discover, by Midlou) and custom content suitable for a trek through the amazon: Fuzzy has furnished us with some fantastic Jungle Map Textures, Exactol's Butterfly particle effects can be seen in the image and Vipes has made a Jungle skin for the minigun.
There's always some impressive music, too, and this year was no exception. Our favourites were Strobo Sandvich, The March Of The Mercenaries, and "Please Give Us Our UGC Medals", which sounds to me like what Ed Sheeran would have sung if he'd got 8th place in Iron a few seasons ago.
Finally, some maps. iiboharz has been experimenting enough to show off the Watch_Dogs inspired Datacore Subtheme, and ibex has really put the clipping tool through it's paces in the creation of koth_lovely. Necro wowed us on the staff with cp_freeflow, and Frosty Scales has produced the gloriously cyberpunk BWCell.
What's Next? And Medals
Whew, all done. Even if you weren't included, you should still feel proud - for one thing, the shortlist for the showcase included nearly a third of the entries, suggesting that there was generally a great level of quality. Our twitter account will be posting highlights for a little while - follow us there for more!
Medals have now gone out: you should find them in your steam inventory. If you think you're owed a medal and you haven't received one, PM me by the 25th February with a link to whatever you made. (The 25th is a hard deadline: if you haven't got to me by then, it's too late.)
So what's next? Well, firstly, i'd like as many as possible of you to fill in This Survey please: so we know what you enjoyed about the event and what you didn't. After that, stick around. We'll be having our regular April Fools gamedays in six weeks, which is always a treat - both for mappers, who get to really test the limits of what Hammer can do, and for players, who get to be hurled against those limits in the form of screaming, rabbit-sized ragdolls. (In particular, stick around if you're a mapper - check the link in my signature for information on how to get your map tested.)
After that we'll have another one of our major mapping contests, and of course in summer we'll be doing all of this again. Tell your friends how much fun you had this time, because I have a challenge for all of you: I want to see one thousand entries to the summer jam. That's a lot - would be a bigger increase than this time - but i'm sure we can rise to the challenge.
I always like to finish off with one of my favourite images. This time, and last but very much not least, it's The Team Photo, a high-school themed SFM by Czarpos.
Isn't that great?
Medals have now gone out: you should find them in your steam inventory. If you think you're owed a medal and you haven't received one, PM me by the 25th February with a link to whatever you made. (The 25th is a hard deadline: if you haven't got to me by then, it's too late.)
So what's next? Well, firstly, i'd like as many as possible of you to fill in This Survey please: so we know what you enjoyed about the event and what you didn't. After that, stick around. We'll be having our regular April Fools gamedays in six weeks, which is always a treat - both for mappers, who get to really test the limits of what Hammer can do, and for players, who get to be hurled against those limits in the form of screaming, rabbit-sized ragdolls. (In particular, stick around if you're a mapper - check the link in my signature for information on how to get your map tested.)
After that we'll have another one of our major mapping contests, and of course in summer we'll be doing all of this again. Tell your friends how much fun you had this time, because I have a challenge for all of you: I want to see one thousand entries to the summer jam. That's a lot - would be a bigger increase than this time - but i'm sure we can rise to the challenge.
I always like to finish off with one of my favourite images. This time, and last but very much not least, it's The Team Photo, a high-school themed SFM by Czarpos.
Isn't that great?
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