November Contest Ideas

msleeper · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 2:45 pm Post subject: November Contest Ideas

Well it looks like espen jumped the gun on me. Wink

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.

Player1 · Test Supervisor Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 144

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!

espen180 · Loves Cake Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Posts: 370

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

msleeper · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 3:05 pm Post subject:

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.

espen180 · Loves Cake Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Posts: 370

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.

Hober · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 3:22 pm Post subject:

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.

roger federer · Superior Participant Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Posts: 82

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.

msleeper · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2007 5:18 pm Post subject:

n3cr0 · New Employee Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 7

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.

segfaultii · New Employee Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 15

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.

Artesia · Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 12:27 am Post subject:

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

Shmitz · The cake is a hat. Joined: 18 Oct 2007 Posts: 173

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.

roger federer · Superior Participant Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Posts: 82

Rivid31 · Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 1:42 am Post subject:

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?

Artesia · Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 2:39 am Post subject:

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.