Well it looks like espen jumped the gun on me. Maybe you should hop in IRC every now and then man!

Anyway, we were talking about some possible ideas for the next contest. Vote in the poll and/or post your idea. Also, I think we are going to hold off on the next contest until the SDK comes out because having to worked with hacked stuff put a lot of people off, I think.

To summarize what I put up in the locked thread where Espen gunned the jump on you here's what I think:

1) Do go for a theme! That's always fun.
2) Keep the minimum playtime bit to avoid maps that are too short to bother with.
3) Don't put in minimum number of chambers rule; this should follow automatically from the minimum playtime rule.
3) Don't put in content rules unless dictated by the theme.
4) Make proper BNS files mandatory!

I don't like theme contests. They constrain my creativity. I'd rather we had contests like the the preceding one.

There will be some common rules that are going to be in every contest, such as Bonus Map Scripts and minimum time/puzzles. The BMS wasn't a requirement for the last one since the script maker didn't get made until mid-way through, and I didn't want to tack that on last minute, but it will be required here on out.

I agree to a theme contest as long as it's restricted to "You map must include at least one Companion Cube challenge", but not if it's "Make a map entirely of CC challenges".

I think theme restriction will result in less entries, to be fair.

Also, since I suck at connecting with Irc, I'd appreciate a link directly to the chatroom, like most sites have.

Make sure to post a link to the script maker in line with the requirement, lest we scare people off with what is really a very simple (but complex sounding) item.

i like the idea of themed contests, this way, for future contests it's good to make sure the map is made specifically for the contest and didn't get any unfair advantage by being worked on a long time before. it also add coherency to contest maps if they were to be released in a pack of some sort.

also, noone has yet to release a true companion cube map. a lot of people put the companion cubes everywhere, but i feel like they loose meaning if there are too many or are meant to be left behind. companion cube maps should have puzzles using one and only one cube from beginning to end where every puzzle involves using the cube, or needing it in some way.

I agree 100%. The Companion Cube Challenge got my vote.

I don't know about minimum time requirements. Some people will just "get" it faster than others. A good example is level 19 in Portal. For some of us it took maybe 20 minutes to get through, whereas I'm sure some peopel did it much faster. I know I can run through it in less than 10 now since I can see where to go. I like the minimum number of puzzles, but I'm not sure how necessary they are. People will vote for which ones they like no matter the number of puzzles and/or length. If the length is good, it'll get more votes.

Back in the golden days of the UT mapping community, there was a challenge where you were only allowed to use 5 cubes for a deathmatch map.

A portal mapping challenge could be to use only 5 cube rooms, none larger then 192 units, because it's harder to make fun and challenging puzzles in small rooms. deepwithinaperture's first room and the map with the rotating room show great map design in small spaces. Flings are somewhat overused.

One thing to consider, is that putting limits on the theme of the contest, you are putting limits on the themes of maps that are available. Leaving enough leeway in the contest will keep the maps fresh.

On that note, I dont like the companion cube idea, because how many maps do I want to haul the heart cube around before I want to mess with some combine balls or fling around or w/e

I would suggest that for a companion-cube themed map, only the first and last puzzles should be required to use the cube for the solution. Just as an example, the whole goal of the second puzzle could be opening a way to go back and get the cube from the first puzzle so that you could use it to solve the third.

i'm sure people will find some creative companion cube puzzles where the cube is not a burden, because if it is, it's not a very good map.

it's true, flinging would be a challenge to do with the cube, but maybe that can be part of the puzzle, you can drop your cube through the fling, then jump in after it to make sure you both get through to the other side. ect...
noone has experimented with more then one portal set either, i think we could see some cool object flings from multiple open portal sets at the very least, though too many would probably lag your computer, i hear.

the contests should be challenges to mappers to get ideas going for specified themes, and i think challenging ya'll to make some cool companion cube puzzles is a good next move, since it is still new ground.

The companion cube idea, I think, is best out of the ones listed. I'm looking forward to it being the next challenge, and if it isn't I will probably make a companion cube map anyway.

I don't think having a theme necessarily constricts creativity, on the contrary, making unique/fun puzzles that follow a theme would take more creativity than saying do whatever you want, and people repeating puzzles we've already seen.

Not to mention, having a unified theme would make for a good map-pack at any rate. Also, who doesn't love the companion cube?

well I have designs drawn up already, and I don't want a contest to steer the way I make my levels. Or to wait for a level to fit a contest criteria... I think making good maps period is better than making good maps of a certain type.