If you have ideas for the contest theme for March, post it here. Keep it broad, the more open-ended the better.

Note. This is not a suggestion for rules changes. For the last time, I don't care if you don't like the fact that you can't upload a WIP version and/or change your map once you have submitted it because that is not going to change.

How about a un-Portal environment, for example outdoors, or somewhere in nature rather than the manmade surroundings of Portal. Would be interesting to see people incorporate Portal style puzzles into this environment.

'Most original gameplay element' (like new types of fizzlers, turrets....)

'Grandest escape and/or final boss scene'

'Closest to original style'

'Least cliqué'

'Makes you love the WCC most'

'Makes you hate the WCC most'

'Most dangerous' (not the same as most difficult)

'Grandest design' (looks nicest)

'Best new maneuver'

'Best at teaching a technique'

'Best new signage'

'Most impressive looking map'

'Best BTS experience'

And any of youme's suggestions...

'Best new design concept'

Quoted for approveal

On that topic:

'Best story telling'

'Most mind meltingly puzzling' (like rubik's cube puzzling - Ok for me, I can do the cube )

I've heard this idea before and haven't said anything yet, but I have a problem with it. Lets say there are two maps that are teaching two very different techniques. I think it would be too easy for someone to vote for the funner technique and not necessarily the best teaching. Or if someone is already familiar with one technique and not the other it may be tempting to vote for the technique that was not previously known because they feel like they actually learned something new.

You could say that everyone has to teach the same technique, but that would likely get boring for the judges.

The idea I like best is that the technique has to be a completely new one that does not exist in any Release/WIP map, but it might be difficult for everyone who wants to enter the contest to come up with something completely new.

As much as I really like this, it doesn't exactly have anything to do with mapping per-se. However I think it might be a cool idea for a side-contest for any of our Photoshop experts.





We just had that contest.



And we had that one a few months ago







I like all of these.

'Rebirth of a common technique'

'Most original chamber design/concept'

wohoo! cake, that definatly would not feature in the most non cliqué map.

'Most interesting new location'

'Best intro and starting chambers'

'Map that best pleases Msleeper'

We have a winrar.

Best Piston use

Best use of Texture X

Most frequent use of "vo/aperture_ai/07_part2_success-1.wav"

"Most Open-Ended Map"

Yeah basically almost every portal map in existence is a linear affair, you know, a sequence of puzzles with some backtracking here and there, where you hardly have any choice on the path you wanna follow...
So, why don't you try to make a map where you don't really have to follow a specific order to get through it, but you can find lots of different paths, some less obvious than others, that could lead to shortcuts, hidden stuff, or even better, different endings?
Or maybe you could do it the Metroid way: you unlock some new parts of the level by using gear you found in a previous part; the stuff you find in this new part is used to unlock ANOTHER new part of the level, and so on, and so on.
I never saw a Portal open ended level. There's one that attempted doing it and it's AWESOME imho, even if it's still in alpha stage.
Check it out: http://www.fpsbanana.com/maps/40710
If done right I think this could be the future of portal maps.
So why dont you have a contest about this?

Hes on to a winner remeber that thread a week or so ago where we all basically said multiple paths rock our..... well, they just rock.

Oh... didnt notice that thread, but I agree with everything: multiple paths rock