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Mini-Competitions.
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 Re: Mini-Competitions.
Posted by Orpheus on Mon Jan 15th at 1:30am 2007

This is jumping the gun a bit, but not much. Snarkpit is going to begin a series of mini events. The exact particulars will be posted once those that be, decide them. However, this event will proceed, it should be enticing enough for just about everyone.

I was asked, or more exactly I asked to post this poll to see how it will be received.

As I said, the exact particulars will be posted soon. This is just to get a feel for the idea. This poll will be for your benefit to see what you would like, or not like to see occur. Any and all advice will be seriously considered. Remember though that the word "Mini" will play a key roll in the success of your desire to see your request granted.

I can say this much. The success of each event will dictate the likelihood of the competitions continuing. Also, it is being discussed that the winner of each competition, will be in a strong position of seeing the next event chosen. So, if you have an idea and want it to become an event, enter and win.

It must also be understood that this series of events is in no way tied into Master Dark Trees competition. His is another event entirely and this is in no way meant to steal his glory. I sent him a PM 7 days ago, and he hasn't logged in in 12. I am afraid that he will be away longer than a competition requires to succeed. However, his event is still on the agenda as far as I know so keep it in mind.

Remember, this poll is to get the general feel for the idea. Post anything you wish, as long as it pertains to competitions.

Get posting!!!





The best things in life, aren't things.



Quote
 Re: Mini-Competitions.
Posted by Stadric on Mon Jan 15th at 2:45am 2007

Yes, and I have a few ideas that keep popping in and out of my head, at the moment, they aren't in.

...There they are...
A rats style appliance. I think that would be very funny.
Do you like how I used 'mini' there? :P

You have to stall the drop of a barrel (or other physics prop) by a certain amount of seconds in the most creative way possible.
This one would breed some seriously odd contraptions.


Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying



Quote
 Re: Mini-Competitions.
Posted by Naklajat on Mon Jan 15th at 3:59am 2007

Yes- I would like to see some mini-comps and here are my ideas...

  • It's nothing original, but still a damn good exercise, "texture and light this room" Maybe limit the number of lights and/or textures used. Skillful use of textures, lighting and cubemaps can mean the difference between a good map and a great one.

  • Also not original, also a good mapping exercise, "build an area from reference" or "build an area using this photo as the theme" I've seen some great photos of interesting spaces in the Art section of this very site, begging to be comp'd over.

  • Ever hear the adage 'there are no new ideas'? "Expand on this map" have one of the great mappers who frequent this site create the beginning of a map, and distribute the source VMF. It should be clear whether contestants should build a working map layout, or just a graphical showcase. If enough people enter, and there's enough interest in both a working map and a showcase, have a judging for both.

  • Accomplish X objective using physics and the I/O system, probably with limits on the number of brushes and of specific entities (ie of the trigger_ and logic_ variety). I'd like to see what creative stuff people come up with.

    That's all I've got for now.


    • =o



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     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by fishy on Mon Jan 15th at 5:08am 2007

    screenshot of the month (areas made, not server shots of someone doing something silly)

    [filesize limitations may apply]




    i eat paint



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     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by Pvt.Scythe on Mon Jan 15th at 10:46am 2007

    Yes and here are some ideas:

    • Texturing competition: Everyone creates a texture set in some predetermined theme and provides a .png of it for DL(.png because it's lossless, yet compressed format). Also providing just a picture and not only a compiled texture will allow other than HL2 or HL people to use the texture in their mod projects.
    • Quick and Dirty modeling competition: Revival of the idea AtM made rolling in the past. Only this time it would be a competition instead of a challenge.



    ''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
    Dystopia - Empires



    Quote
     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by Gwil on Mon Jan 15th at 3:35pm 2007

    I'd like to throw my weight behind a few of these ideas -

    ? quote:
    Also not original, also a good mapping exercise, "build an area from reference" or "build an area using this photo as the theme" I've seen some great photos of interesting spaces in the Art section of this very site, begging to be comp'd over.


    ? quote:
    You have to stall the drop of a barrel (or other physics prop) by a certain amount of seconds in the most creative way possible.
    This one would breed some seriously odd contraptions.


    Perhaps we could work on this idea and turn it into say a Rube Goldberg style competition. I'm sure many of us have seen the domino effect on YouTube which results in the crushing of Breen (or gman, i forget which).

    Rats - reverse it, make us ultra large people - see the maps Leperous made sometime ago for HL1.#

    Perhaps it is best if we adopt a "light and texture" kinda competition for the first one, minimal effort will guarantee a good stock of entries, i'd hope. I'm a little concerned by the limited scope of the HL2 texture set. There was a nice competition at TWHL where a HL1 scene was converted to HL2 with room for movement on what the layout actually turned out to be.




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     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by reaper47 on Mon Jan 15th at 3:49pm 2007

    Oh, I like this a lot. My idea would be a continuation of the CCC. Learning from the last one we could turn this into a quicker and more organized event.

    image image image


    Why snark works.



    Quote
     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by Gwil on Mon Jan 15th at 5:01pm 2007

    I have a proposal - see what you think:

    Tex One For The Team

    Competition discipline:     Texturing

    Brief:

    Create 8 textures, 2 per team. The textures will be

    1) A Team logo, for use as base identification and be contained in (dimensions) square.

    2) A concrete wall with stripe/pattern to fit the relevant teams theme and colours.

    All entries must be submited in the style of "Myth and Legend" - for example your four teams could be Undead, Elves, Dragons and Wizards. Or perhaps you'd prefer classical myth - Roman or Greek Gods perhaps? Each entry must adhere to the colour palette - Green Team, Red Team, Blue Team and Yellow Team.

    The winner will be decided by a community vote/judging panel (up to you guys) and judged on the skill in texture creation and creativity in deciding your team themes.

    Timespan: 2 Weeks (?) - your call again guys.

    Feel free to make comments/improvements/suggestions, or table your own brief. This idea seems popular and easy from the minds i've tapped so far, and will encourage people to pick up Photoshop and have a go.




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     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by ding on Mon Jan 15th at 5:55pm 2007

    Good idea Gwil.

    I don't think we had this team-battle thing yet. Plus I welcome the idea of not putting it into the City 17-world.

    Here are my few cents:



    ? quote:
    Each entry must adhere to the colour palette - Green Team, Red Team, Blue Team and Yellow Team.


    Does this mean every part of the map has to be in the specific team colors or is it possible to have kind of a "neutral zone".
    Maybe - yes maybe - we can do something like hmm "King of the Neutral Zone". There would be a goody in the Neutral Zone every team wants to get/hold/control...



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     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by DocRock on Mon Jan 15th at 8:07pm 2007

    This is already being done at TWHL


    Condemnation without Investigation is the Highest Form of Ignorance!



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     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by reaper47 on Mon Jan 15th at 8:33pm 2007

    Almost everything's already been done in one form or another by the TWHL, they have a million mini-competitions arleady...

    I'm starting to think we shouldn't bother that much. After all "make a dm-map" competitions have been done often enough also. The outcome will be completely different, anyways.


    Why snark works.



    Quote
     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by Orpheus on Mon Jan 15th at 9:51pm 2007

    Almost everything has been done, EVERYWHERE. TWHL or Snarkpit for that matter are hardly unique.

    On a serious note: Just to not do something because it has been done before would surely be defeatist. For my part, and I am sure with some others, even if we had the same competition every time, someone new, or something new would come out of it.

    Such is the defining moments for level editing. Look at Mister Rock. His maps got progressively more excessive with regards to ignoring the fundamentals of the HL1 engine, but did he quit? Not on your ass. Being done before didn't stem his tide of releases.

    Anyway, we can push this through. And we have the support to do it.





    The best things in life, aren't things.



    Quote
     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by Naklajat on Tue Jan 16th at 7:55am 2007

    ? quoting me
    Ever hear the adage 'there are no new ideas'?

    It's true, so rather than trying to come up with a new idea, one should focus on coming up with a good one. Having mini-competitions here is a good idea IMHO.


    =o



    Quote
     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by Gwil on Tue Jan 16th at 11:25am 2007

    ? quote:
    Almost everything's already been done in one form or another by the TWHL, they have a million mini-competitions arleady...

    I'm starting to think we shouldn't bother that much. After all "make a dm-map" competitions have been done often enough also. The outcome will be completely different, anyways.


    Are you in favour of not proceeding with the competitions altogether, reaper? Or am I misunderstanding?

    As an aside, another idea that was supported (by Myrk) was a repeat of the "Contrasting" themes we had a while ago. That produced some splendid maps and seemed fairly popular and accessible.

    I for one, and I know Orpheus too wants to see something succeed and happen - the power lies with me and ReNo to get this started, but I don't want to steam roller in without the support of the community. With Lep away so much and ReNo busy with work, the impetus of the site lies with me - I know I strike people as a lazy bugger (very perceptive :P) but I want to work for the bettering of the site. If it comes to it, we could even revert back to the "Trap Map" competition that Dark Tree was pushing.

    Talk to me people!




    Quote
     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by Orpheus on Tue Jan 16th at 11:38am 2007

    We have 20 "Yes" and zero "No' thus far.
    It seems fairly obvious that the majority (the 9) would settle for anything, as long as its a competition.

    I say, push it through Gwil. If you have a favorite idea, use it to get it rolling then let the winner help you decide the next event.

    Someone needs to take the first step and it looks like its gonna be you. About time really, as I don't recall you hosting a competition before. image

    Seriously though, 20 yes's actually says something.

    [EDIT] For the record, I am unsure if textures would be the best first choice. Its a good choice though.

    Snarkpits texture forum died remember. Or... was there a forum dedicated to textures? I cannot remember. Damn me and my faulty recall. smiley



    The best things in life, aren't things.



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     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by Gwil on Tue Jan 16th at 11:40am 2007

    I concur.

    Watch this space, folks!




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     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by Orpheus on Tue Jan 16th at 11:44am 2007

    I edited my last post. read that before you cuss me out. <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif">



    The best things in life, aren't things.



    Quote
     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by reaper47 on Tue Jan 16th at 12:01pm 2007

    ? quote:
    Are you in favour of not proceeding with the competitions altogether, reaper? Or am I misunderstanding?


    :o No way, you're misunderstanding. What I meant was that we could do something that's probably been done by TWHL already in one form or another. We shouldn't bother trying to be uber-original and dismiss ideas because they're similar to what's been done already. If it's been done, worked and was fun why not do it again!

    I'd love to see any kind of competition to return to the SP.

    And I probably change my vote to "Yes- /nuff said..." <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">


    Why snark works.



    Quote
     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by Agent Smith on Tue Jan 16th at 11:21pm 2007

    It was mentioned earlier, but a themed map of some sort would go down well. The last great comp we had was pretty much create a themed map of some sort, no specific theme, just had to be themed. Or creating a map based on a photo or concept drawing. That one also worked.

    That said I probably won't be able to participate between real-life work and mod responsibilities, but I might be persuaded <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">.


    Ham and Jam Contributor
    http://www.hamandjam.org

    'Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!'



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     Re: Mini-Competitions.
    Posted by DocRock on Wed Jan 17th at 7:32pm 2007

    I would like to see some mini-comps. Couple suggestions I can think of:

    1. A door. The most complex door you can build. Could be a 3-in-1 door (one goes up, one goes down, one goes sideways) kinda like the doors in the beginning of "Get Smart" TV show...if anyone remembers that.

    2. A lift. Complex, items on it, see-through, goes from Point A to Point B. Could even have several sections, but all are connected and lift at same speed between points.

    3. A train. Same idea as the Lift. Only need to go from Point A to Point B..so doesnt need to be a huge map... perhaps just to see it move a small amount, but all together as one.




    Condemnation without Investigation is the Highest Form of Ignorance!




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