Addon DB Mapping Contest #1 Thread

To celebrate the launch of our brand spanking new Digital Store, we figured it was time to run a mapping contest and give away a couple of prizes! Read on for the details (oh and for the modelers / skinners, expect a contest next month).

Join In
Mapping competitions or "map battles" start with a theme - and this time around we've picked: "living on the edge". Now it is time for you mappers to join in and create an original map built around this theme. You have one month to make a working map, post screenshots and upload it to Addon DB. Once the deadline 6th March 2007 rolls around the competition will be closed and Addon DB staff will try out all of the maps. The TOP 3 MAPS as judged by the Addon DB staff will be picked, and the winners will be announced here and on ModDB.com. First place receives a game of their choice from our Digital Store. Second place receives a game to the value of $20.00 from our Digital Store. Third place gets their addon pinned as "editors choice" on Addon DB.

Your Task
As already stated, build a working "living on the edge" themed map for the UT2004 or HL2 engine. Once you have finished your map you need to submit it to Addon DB, complete with 4 screenshots that show off your amazing work. Make em good!

Tips

• Be open minded don't follow the crowd.
• Post WIP shots in the thread, get comments from others.
• We encourage the use of custom content , however 3rd party and mod content is not allowed.

Rules
These are based on the tried and tested interlopers map competition rules.

General Stuff:

• The map has to follow the theme given for each competition.
• The map must be made in any official game for the engine, this includes, official expansion packs.
  Official game meaning HL2 and packs and UT2K4 and patches.
  UT and HL2 powered games like dark messiah of might and magic or red orchestra are not classed as official packs and can not be submitted.
  Day of Defeat Source and Counter Strike Source Content may be used.
• You cannot re use old maps, we are looking for continued originality and diversity, its also cheating in some way.
• You can use custom content. When using custom content which you did not made, make sure you have permission to use it.
• Design & detail wins votes, not custom content.
• The maps need to be playable and multi player, not big and overwhelming, just playable & visually nice, performance is not something that is rated so go mad with the details!
• Keep in the spirit of things and show off your work in progress shots.

Posting Screenshots:

• Post your WIP screenshots in the active competition thread, don’t make threads for your work.
• Mappers can only post 4 final screenshots, and as many WIP screenshots as they want. When posting the final screenshots always provide a direct link to them instead of a thumbnail, or any other sort of link.
• When posting your screenshots always explain if they are final or WIP. If you don't label your screenshots as final, they won’t be accepted.
• The final screenshots are the ones that are voted on, they must be taken in game with proper lighting and textured. You can’t update a submitted final pic

Usage of extra software:

• Any use of mods are forbidden, you must use the official game.
• You can't use any kind of image/photo manipulation software to enhance your screenshots. You can however use them to crop/resize the images, add your name/e-mail/site/etc, add a frame/logo.
• Any type of 2d software is allowed to use in order to create custom content for the map.

Judges
The winners will be decided by the following staff INtense! & TKAzA. Our decision is final and will be based on the design and detail of the map created.

Prizes
The top 2 entries will each receive a game from our new online Games Store provided it ships to their region. The map that comes in 3rd gets editors choice (Bronze Nutta Award).

Good luck to all participants!

Edited by (in order): INtense!, INtense!, TKAzA, TKAzA, TKAzA, TKAzA, TKAzA

ohh a mapping comp how sexy " me loads up hammer "

I would appreciate it if you would define the "living on the edge" theme.

its a pretty open theme so you can be creative
you could interpret it literally or objectively

Head to this forum post here: Moddb.com

Where some ideas for "living on the edge" are discussed

Can we make WIP map threads for each map in the forums? To post concepts and early shots?

yeah of course, you can post your WIP shots in here if you want

I'm somewhat concerned by all of that talk of the map not having to be 'playable'. The main purpose of the competition is to get people uploading great content to addondb, so surely it should be content that other people will want to download and play, rather than just spooge over screenshots?

I'm also a little confused by this:

INtense! wrote: 3rd party and mod content is not allowed.

...

When using custom content which you did not made, make sure you have permission to use it.

Surely anything the mapper doesn't make is third party content?

Singleplayer or Multiplayer? Also, can I use content from Source games like CS:S?

@Salohcin
Multi Player is alot easier on the mapper and Single Player are hard to judge against Multi Player
The maps need to be made in any official game for the engine, this includes, official expansion packs, so yes to CS: Source DOD: Source content.

@ text fish
The maps do need to be playable.
[quote= the leader 0n3!]The maps need to be playable, not big and overwhelming, just playable & visually nice, performance is not something that is rated so go mad with the details![/quote]
[quote=Text_Fish on Tue 6th Feb, 2007 @ 6:22:36am]When using custom content which you did not made, make sure you have permission to use it.
Surely anything the mapper doesn't make is third party content?[/quote]
The idea of this is to stop people using their mods or other mods content in maps.
If you make some props or textures for the competition is fine to use them as you please.
The same applies with textures and props other people make and allow you to use, as long as there not for a mod.

Edited by (in order): TKAzA, TKAzA, TKAzA, TKAzA, TKAzA, TKAzA, TKAzA, TKAzA

What about custom map entities? This is where there's a somewhat large grey area between "custom props" and "mods"; for example, what if you wanted to include an entity with somewhat unusual behaviour. In HL2, this as far as I'm aware cannot be done without explicitely modding the game or without extensive and OTT map scripting, but in UT2004, it's perfectly normal for mappers to create system packages containing entities with slightly different behaviour to the UT2004 norm, and thus not requiring any actual 'mods' to run, or be a 'mod' itself per se.

Edit: Oh wait. Reading it through it does seem acceptable to do so, as it's map content for UT2004, not mod content for some mod.Now I'm following.

Edited by (in order): ambershee, ambershee, ambershee

Can these maps be team based affairs or at least pairs of people?

I've heard a description of a Quake II map called Fish in a Barrel that sounds like fun. Could I do a 'remake' based on a description?

Grobi wrote: Can these maps be team based affairs or at least pairs of people?

If you plan to make a team based map this is perfectly okay 

BYM wrote: I've heard a description of a Quake II map called Fish in a Barrel that sounds like fun. Could I do a 'remake' based on a description?

If you want to do a remake there’s nothing stopping you however, try to be original and unique in you maps and design.

Edited by (in order): TKAzA, TKAzA, TKAzA

cool stuff.

*hope's for a programming comp some day*

TKAzA wrote:

Grobi wrote: Can these maps be team based affairs or at least pairs of people?

If you plan to make a team based map this is perfectly okay ?

I think he means he wants to work on the map with somebody else, rather than actually making a map with team-based gameplay.

So for the judging will you play the map and look at the 4 screen shots or just look at the 4 screen shots, I couldn't tell from the OP.

Text_Fish wrote:

TKAzA wrote:

Grobi wrote: Can these maps be team based affairs or at least pairs of people?

If you plan to make a team based map this is perfectly okay ?

I think he means he wants to work on the map with somebody else, rather than actually making a map with team-based gameplay.

That is what I meant.

Sounds great

I might join if I get the time

dbecker wrote: So for the judging will you play the map and look at the 4 screen shots or just look at the 4 screen shots, I couldn't tell from the OP.

You are correct, the maps will be playtested.
They will be rated 1-10 on mapping, detail, use of textures, models and lighting.

Does the map need to be single player too??

It needs to be multi player, any form of MP is acceptable

Rather tempted to give this a go. ^_^

come on reeke you know you want to