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Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
Question: vote for which 'box level' you think best represents or symbolizes its own 'theme': (poll ended on Mon Sep 22nd 2008 at 10:57pm)
aaron_da_killa - \'Industrial Mess\' (no votes)
0%

hlife_hotdog - \'Valve Production Studios\' (3 votes)
37.5%

natus - \'Cool Effect\' (1 vote)
12.5%

riven - \'Machinery\' (4 votes)
50%

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Quote
 Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
Posted by Riven on Wed Sep 10th at 6:20am 2008


Banner courtesy of Muhnay

Entry Downloads

We had a wonderful turnout of four entries for this competition (A record high since three years ago). Each entry is totally different from the other, and each brings something interesting to the table.

Here are the entries for separate download (zipped):
  1. aaron_da_killa's - 'Industrial Mess' - [FOR: HL2 DM (option 1)]
  2. hlife_hotdog's - 'Valve Production Studio' - [FOR: HL2 DM (option 1)]
  3. Natus' - 'Cool Effect' - [FOR: HL2 DM (option 1)]
  4. Riven's - 'Machinery' - [FOR: HL2 EP2 (option 2)]

[NOTE]: Instructions for installing each map are included in the readmes of each entry's download.
[NOTE2]:riven's map: 'Machinery' MUST be installed into the HL2 EP2 'maps' directory folder AND run in the HL2 EP2 game too. Further details and instructions can be found in the 'spmc2_riven' zip file (riven's download link) within the 'spmc2_readme.txt' file. -Sorry for any misconceptions.

Voting Guidelines

Remember the original guidelines for this competition:
Quoting Voting Guidelines
"Voting should be based on how well the maps symbolize their themes. Both options 1 and 2 will be stacked together under the same voting rules. Also keep in mind, how well crafted the maps look and if they used the Valve content creatively."


And the Goals for each option:
Quoting Goals
"
  1. Option 1: You may build a Half-Life 2 Deathmatch level based on a theme and within the restrictions.

    -OR-

  2. Option 2: You may build a 'scenic only' level where there is only a 'walkway' or 'hallway' for the player to progress through from start to end based on a theme and within the restrictions.
"


For the complete rule set and guidelines, please visit the original rules thread to read about the specifications for the guidelines.

  • So, in Summary, Please vote for which 'box level' you think best represents or symbolizes its own 'theme'.

  • Voting lasts for ten (10) days. Good Luck!

    What's Next?
    [QUESTION]: After voting is through, what does the winner get?

    [ANSWER]: After voting is over, work will begin on the 'composition map.'
    The composition map will include all four entries listed above. Each will be meticulously merged with the others in order to form a seamless HL2 DM level. Each map's author will be recognized with a custom plaque model placed in their map's section. The winner will receive a trophy model and plaque model recognizing them as the winner. After the composition map has been finalized by the community, there will be a month long (or longer hopefully) server hosting the map to play on.

    -Don't worry, there will be a map thread started after the voting to critique the composition map's progress. Anyone during that time may offer their own 'box level' to be included in the composition map. (We can make it VERY large if possible). These four entries will become the starting place for the composition map to grow with the community's involvement. So don't throw away your unfinished entry just yet, there is still more to come!

    Thank You!
    Id like to give a big 'Thank You' to everyone that participated and helped make this competition successful!

      -Gwil
      -Muhnay
      -larchy
      -aaron_da_killa
      -RedWood
      -Natus
      -hlife_hotdog
      -anyone who showed interest or had a question too!


    Thank you all so much for the feedback and help; it's much appreciated!

    -If you have any questions about the guidelines or the voting in general, feel free to post them in this thread!

    -Good luck to everyone, and may the best theme representation win! smiley

    [ Edited by riven on Thu Sep 11th 2008 at 4:57pm - total edits: 1]




    • Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by Le Chief on Wed Sep 10th at 8:09am 2008

    Before I start, I would just like to congratulate the folks who entered the competition, you guys made some excellent stuff, seriously, I'm not just being kind or whatever.

    Natus: Cool stuff man, that ball, I've never seen anything like it, very innovative, I have no idea how you made it. If that ball is thrown at somebody, is that an instant kill? Anyway, its a very nice idea. I was a bit disappointed that there was no real ambient sound in the map and it seemed a bit empty, but that's totally fine, the focus was on that ball. Also, you made good use of the space, for some reason, it felt like you had more space than I did. Great work!

    hlife_hotdog: I lol'd at your idea. I thought it was very clever. I loved the way you used the valve content and your idea was very strong. If people took the voting guidelines 100% literal, I feel that could be alot of votes there, because you used the valve content very creatively and your map had a very strong idea presented well. Your ambient sound was a bit off, you had loud rain/water sounds for very faint drops of water and a weird sort of pulsing sound. What was with the rain anyway, was there a leak in then roof? Anyway, I loved your entry mate, great idea!

    Riven: Your entry, the entity setup is crazy. There where a few bugs in the I noticed quite quickly, but your like, totally excused, the complexity of this map is insane. The ambient sound went nicely with the map, and all of those windows with moving parts I would consider vistas, this map in a tiny box had vistas! Great Idea mate, nice use of valves content.

    Well, it was quite hard for me to choose a winner, such lovely entries. However, I feel that Riven's and hlife_hotdog's where pretty damn close and Natus, your entry was closely following. My vote goes to Riven, congratz mate smiley. Also congratz to the other guys, your entries where great! Give yourselves a pat on the back.


    Aaron's Stuff



    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by ReNo on Wed Sep 10th at 2:11pm 2008

    Well done lads, will take a look at these this evening and share my thoughts smiley



    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by G4MER on Wed Sep 10th at 6:37pm 2008

    OK, lets get started..

    Hotdog.

    Awesome theme, I was blown away by it. The green screen at first I thought was a missing texture, then it all came together for me. The only problem was the open portals that should of been closed off by a door, or a wall with a texture that gave a clue it was to be a link to another area. It felt very small, smaller than the others. But it was a very clever use of of the aloted space.

    Aaron.

    Great use of space, it felt the biggest to me of all the entries. I love the off area bits.. the blood drag in the street with the many zombie bodies.. Oh and your 3DSkyBox was superb! I only wish the glass in the roof would break so I could get a better look. Your theme was well done, the hose or electric line under the cart that shocked me in the water is neat. I also like the fact I could duck under water,but you too had a few problems.. the Player start is missing the grate texture on top.. I think you did this so the player got a feeling of floating or dropping into the level.. but it does not feel right in all the other greatness around it. Also some things just felt like they were placed there to take up space, and did not feel to have any purpouse other than that. Sometimes a blank wall just make sense. The ladder to door thing also was a bit small to me at first, but I got the hang of it and cant fault you on that, it works right. =) Great Job man.. I am impressed, I demand a tut on how to do the door lock jiggle thing with the model handel!

    Natus

    OH MY God. You must do a tut on that ball.. I was affraid to get near it at first. And I was right for thinking so.. The fact you can grab it and then toss it about and it does that ZIZZT thing is just so damn cool! You have great particle FX, thats why I was a bit let down bu the light effects. The area you run around in is rather empty, but that works in your area.. I dont think you have to clutter something up just to make it feel right. And as was said in the other commit, it was all about that Ball.. Please I beg you to do a tut on that! Oh I also love the door falling off the hinges and being like teleported.. that is what made me a bit affraid of the ball in the first place. Great Job!

    Riven

    Your map just crashed my game over and over, even after a reboot... I got the following error pictured below...



    I am holding off voting until I have seen each map though.. But I have a hard choice ahead of me, so far they were all awesome! I know that my entry would of failed big time compared to your greatness!

    [ Edited by Muhnay on Wed Sep 10th 2008 at 1:14pm - total edits: 2]




    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by [KKG] Jim on Wed Sep 10th at 7:34pm 2008

    Quoting Riven

    Banner courtesy of Muhnay

    Entry Downloads

    We had a wonderful turnout of four entries for this competition (A record high since three years ago). Each entry is totally different from the other, and each brings something interesting to the table.


    There were only 4 entries! Which was a record high! I was under the impression this was a popular website. I would have entered but 1, I suck at mapping still although your uts help a lot, and 2, I don't have HL2.



    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by Gwil on Wed Sep 10th at 9:51pm 2008

    We used to be a metropolis of activity on the mapping scene, the peak of course was with HLDM. Ever since Source, and other games - and of course reality, a lot of our major members have moved on or retired from mapping. Of course, we are picking up lately with new additions such as your good self smiley





    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by Natus on Wed Sep 10th at 10:00pm 2008

    Alright, had a look at your maps, I must say I'm impressed, all of you did a great job with this.

    Aaron: Blimey, I honestly had no idea you could create this kind of stuff, I really loved the feel of the map, even if it's small you managed to cram a great deal of amtosphere in there, the lighting, sounds, that goddamn zombie in the water, all really great stuff, one thing that annoyed me a tad bit was that the hallway and the rooms seemed a bit too small and claustrophobic, but considering the space you were given to make the map, it's still really great.

    Hotdog: Like Muhnay, I thought "oh lord he didn't even finish texturing it", and I looked around a bit and honestly thought it wasn't a very great map, that was until I realized what the theme was, then I immediately changed my opinion. It's an awesome idea really, albeit a bit bland, I was still impressed by the map.

    Riven: At first I didn't really know what to think, didn't look too great, then I walked around a bit, looked at the mechanics, and thought "jesus fucking christ" honestly, how'd you make those pistons, they're great!(so is all the other stuff).
    It's hard to fathom the actual size of the map, you really made it look and feel a lot bigger than it really is, and that's a huge accomplishment. I loved it, even if it's just a short sightseeing.

    I decided to vote for Riven as well, from the whole "representing the theme" point of view this map takes the cake, although Hotdog is a close second with the studio-set theme. I couldn't really get hold of the theme of your map, Aaron, however, if this was a "judge by looks only" competition, yours would surely have gotten my vote.

    Oh and thanks for the comments, I'll see if I can make a tutorial for that ball, I've got some other fancy effects stored away that I could dig up and make tuts for as well.

    [ Edited by natus on Wed Sep 10th 2008 at 10:01pm - total edits: 1]




    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by Riven on Thu Sep 11th at 12:27am 2008

    Quoting Muhnay


    Riven

    Your map just crashed my game over and over, even after a reboot... I got the following error pictured below...



    I am holding off voting until I have seen each map though.. But I have a hard choice ahead of me, so far they were all awesome! I know that my entry would of failed big time compared to your greatness!


    Someone didn't read... smiley The problem is that you're trying to load my map up in HL2 DM, It's an EP2 level. You have to have a copy of Half-Life 2: Episode 2 in order to run it.

    Quoting Download Entries
    "Riven's - 'Machinery' - [FOR: HL2 EP2 (option 2)]"



    Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
    LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
    Twitter:@Riven202



    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by RedWood on Thu Sep 11th at 3:18am 2008

    Ya, i had a entry.
    I moved. Iv been away from my computer and any internet for the last week. I guess its to late to post my entry...
    Only a few more hours and i would have felt confident on turning it in.
    Ill turn in within the next few day anyways. I did the work i might as well post it.


    Reality has become a commodity.



    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by haymaker on Thu Sep 11th at 4:05am 2008

    well now I feel stupid for never owning ep2.. ( I "borrowed" someones account to play it SHHHHH ) But I'll figure something out.

    The DM maps are great, after running through them they kind of connect in a grimy-urban way. I didn't spend more than 10 min in each one cause I had to run, but here's my humble take:

    Industrial Mess, I concur with Natus' comments, you nailed the atmosphere of that little dump nicely. Sounds great too. I was a little perplexed at your choice of prop behaviour, but as it's mainly show, doesn't matter. Is that suicide by the gate supposed to be there? I couldn't get it to repeat, maybe it's a fire-once trigger_hurt? The feeling of claustrophobia is the strong point here I think, as a theme it's there. Nice job on the outside area; is one of the rules that a non-play are can extend past box limits?

    Valve Production Studio, I cottoned on right away what you were doing, great job on the minimalist lighting. The buildings look suitably facade and camera-ready. I agree that the sound could be more appropriate, but the water works fine for me. I didn't get the nodraw doors ( future exits? ) and the reverse spawnpoint, but the whole idea is very original and nicely executed!

    Cool Effect indeed, you've proportioned your ingredients perfectly here. This one has the most gameplay potential by dint of having a unique and dynamic power-base, a well as non-interfering geometry. Well done! The door seemed to function oddly the few times I tried it, but it kinda fits the alt-reality theme too. I didn't get what the story was really but it was much fun hurting myself with the puffball. The only thing glaringly missing is a low audio ambience. Perhaps Riven will allow you to try something there smiley

    Great jobs guys. I will get around to ep2 engines this weekend hopefully ( I can't see the Machinery tonight sadly )



    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by Le Chief on Thu Sep 11th at 7:37am 2008

    Thanks for the comments on my entry guys smiley.

    Quoting heymaker
    Is that suicide by the gate supposed to be there? I couldn't get it to repeat, maybe it's a fire-once trigger_hurt?


    Suicide? What suicide, there are no trigger hurt entities in the map.

    Quoting heymaker
    I was a little perplexed at your choice of prop behavior


    Well I didn't change much of the prop behaviors. Some objects that are normally physics objects where made static, particularly in that hallway/rooms bit with the lockers and the couch. That was done to prevent them from blocking the pathway.

    Quoting Muhnay
    I demand a tut on how to do the door lock jiggle thing with the model handel!


    The door is simply a prop_door_rotating with the start locked flag enabled smiley.

    Quoting Muhnay
    Oh and your 3DSkyBox was superb!


    It wasn't a 3D Skybox as we weren't allowed to have these in the comp, but thanks smiley.

    Quoting Muhnay
    the Player start is missing the grate texture on top


    That's because this map is supposed to be played in team deathmatch mode, the entity you spawned from is an info_player_start and I placed it in an awkward position on purpose :P.

    Quoting Natus
    one thing that annoyed me a tad bit was that the hallway and the rooms seemed a bit too small and claustrophobic


    I 100% agree with you!, I was really unhappy with those spaces, there wasn't enough space and the walls where too chunky.


    Aaron's Stuff



    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by G4MER on Thu Sep 11th at 10:04pm 2008

    Quoting Riven
    Quoting Muhnay


    Riven

    Your map just crashed my game over and over, even after a reboot... I got the following error pictured below...



    I am holding off voting until I have seen each map though.. But I have a hard choice ahead of me, so far they were all awesome! I know that my entry would of failed big time compared to your greatness!


    Someone didn't read... smiley The problem is that you're trying to load my map up in HL2 DM, It's an EP2 level. You have to have a copy of Half-Life 2: Episode 2 in order to run it.

    Quoting Download Entries
    "Riven's - 'Machinery' - [FOR: HL2 EP2 (option 2)]"


    I have HL2 EP2, For you're rude behaivor I should just tell you where to stick it. Maybe you should of labeled your entry to tell us that is what it was for. So Smarty Pants what do we load your map up in?

    [ Edited by Muhnay on Thu Sep 11th 2008 at 3:34pm - total edits: 1]




    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by Riven on Thu Sep 11th at 10:39pm 2008

    Quoting Muhnay
    "I have HL2 EP2, For you're rude behaivor I should just tell you where to stick it. Maybe you should of labeled your entry to tell us that is what it was for."


    EEK! -Sorry, I didn't intend to be rude whatsoever. I apologize for the misconception and only meant to help. Did it work for you after all though?

    -Thanks for your patience.

    [EDIT]: It needs to be placed in the 'maps' folder under the EP2 game directory, and it needs to be loaded up in EP2 as well. It's strictly an EP2 level, and probably won't work in any other version of Source until I recompile it for DM after the voting.

    [EDIT2]: I've added an update note in purple under the 'Download Entries' section at the top. I hope that clears a few things up for anyone else having trouble. smiley

    -Thanks again for your patience!

    [ Edited by riven on Thu Sep 11th 2008 at 5:00pm - total edits: 2]



    Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
    LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
    Twitter:@Riven202



    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by hlife_hotdog on Fri Sep 12th at 1:30am 2008

    I'm glad everyone liked my entry, thanks for all the feedback.

    Quote
    The only problem was the open portals that should of been closed off by a door, or a wall with a texture that gave a clue it was to be a link to another area


    As for that, I thought I was following the rules cause it said:

    Quote
    Your entrances and exits could be a door, or a whole wall, but they need to be indicated by placing a single 'skybox' or 'nodraw' texture within a 'frame' of some sort to make it apparent there is a door there that leads nowhere


    I must have taken it a bit too literally. smiley


    Quote
    Your ambient sound was a bit off, you had loud rain/water sounds for very faint drops of water and a weird sort of pulsing sound. What was with the rain anyway, was there a leak in then roof?


    My apparent lack of knowledge with the source engine caused the bad sound effects, i wanted to fix them but didn't have the time before the deadline, i didn't know about the comp until half-way through!! The water is just rain, coming from the pipes perched on the ceiling. I also wanted to make the catwalk an active part of the map but i had no luck getting the ladder to look right so I left it as it was as static architecture.

    Anyway, thanks for all the feedback and i'd best start looking at my competition!!! smiley



    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by Le Chief on Fri Sep 12th at 7:00am 2008

    *Ahem*

    Quoting ReNo
    Well done lads, will take a look at these this evening and share my thoughts smiley






    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by ReNo on Fri Sep 12th at 3:05pm 2008

    Sorry guys! Will get around to soon as I can, ended up doing a silly shift at work and so didn't get the chance, and then last night I had other plans. Today, however, I'm off work and being lazy. So once I've gotten a few odds and ends out the way I'll try and take a look smiley



    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by Riven on Sat Sep 13th at 12:03am 2008

    Quoting hlife_hotdog
    "I thought I was following the rules"

    Quote
    Your entrances and exits could be a door, or a whole wall, but they need to be indicated by placing a single 'skybox' or 'nodraw' texture within a 'frame' of some sort to make it apparent there is a door there that leads nowhere


    I must have taken it a bit too literally. smiley"


    -No, You did it right. That's what I had in mind when I typed that up. I suppose it does make it look weird though, but I did that so when time came to assemble the maps together, we'd know for sure which entrances and exits to use because they would be clearly marked. The maps that actually built a door with a door texture are easy enough to decipher, but you can never be sure what might be there for detail only.


    Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
    LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
    Twitter:@Riven202



    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by hlife_hotdog on Mon Sep 15th at 1:09am 2008

    Come on people!!! At this rate we'll have more entries than votes!!!

    Anyway, after checking out the other entries I had these few comments.

    aaron_da_killa's - 'Industrial Mess'
    This was a really great map. A fantastic use of props but not placed as to hinder player movement, I take this as a very important thing to remember. I agree that the see-through top part of the grate is a bit out of place but otherwise a top map!

    Natus' - 'Cool Effect'
    That was a really 'Cool Effect' lol. Still, the map itself was rather bland and lacking in feeling. It's is simple and utilises the space very well. Top job!

    Riven's - 'Machinery'
    This was one of the best entity-based maps since i played 'Orb'. It was really interesting and technical. I'm a bit worried though that you won't be able to use it in HLDM as it's an EP2 map??? Will it still be compatible cause i would like to see this map in the end collaboration map.

    Please note that, however, I am not casting a vote as my vote would be biased so I am just leaving nice helpful comments in an effort to get more people to vote!!!



    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by Riven on Mon Sep 15th at 2:38am 2008

    Well, I've finally found the right time to type up my analysis of the entries...

  • aaron_da_killa's 'Industrial Mess':
    This was an exceptionally detailed map. It definitely contains the most atmosphere and setting comparable to any of the other entries. The sounds are wonderfully chosen and executed at specific (almost random -if they are) intervals. This effect gives you an almost unnerving sensation as you progress through the small 'building.' The missing texture is a little weird. I understand you did it on purpose, but I would imagine, because it is such a small map, and you could easily get a chance to rise high enough via an explosion or jumping from a nearby ledge, you could spot the missing texture (especially if you landed on it). I don't think it will hurt to have that fixed eh? Besides that, the map was pretty well-outfitted with props, and the water was a nice touch.

    -Good job!

  • Natus' - 'Cool Effect'
    A map with a layout, none of the other maps had that. This map actually chopped up the space into closed-off rooms. -And I could tell he thought about gameplay because he had a suit recharger in the back of a dead-end room smiley. Enough props to throw around and enough space as well. Somehow, he made this map larger than it appeared. The 'cool effect' allows the 'user' to gravity-gun throw at people to cause them more harm than any simple prop by shocking them to death. -Very neat. The map did lack a little in the looks department. -Not a lot of brushes. But that did not detract away from the gameplay. I could see this room becoming a blood bath (especially down in that 'pit'). I can't wait to see this one combined with all the others!

  • hlife_hotdog's - 'Valve Production Studios'
    Winner of the most original idea. -And these days, originality without having to make flashy effects and gizmos takes the cake for me. Wonderfully executed and props on lighting the orange dev texture to make it look like a green screen -very ingenious! The theme is most apparent here. I wish I could push the camera back and forth along the rails -perhaps something we could implement in the compilation map. Lighting and atmosphere were nice, and the camera was a good effect to bring across the theme more clearly. I too, wish I could have climbed up to the catwalks. -This can be easily fixed. Very efficient and looks to add to the gameplay that much more! -Really awesome idea!

  • And finally, I'd like to respond to the comments about my map:

    Quoting hlife_hotdog
    "I'm a bit worried though that you won't be able to use it in HLDM as it's an EP2 map??? Will it still be compatible cause i would like to see this map in the end collaboration map."

    I plan to add it to the compilation regardless. I figured from the beginning there might be some problems with it, because there are so many named entities. Especially the Pistons and train wheels. Those are actually physically simulated via an entity called: phys_hinge. I tried to 'simulate' it with func_rotators but it did not work very well. Basically, I'm not sure if it will run smoothly in HL2DM. Because of the named entities alone, the map blew-up to over 8mgs! I suppose Source keeps the calculations pre-calculated within the .bsp file so that it cuts down on server stress. So I hope the entities don't cause any harm, but we'll just have to see!

    Other than that, thanks for all who were able to play my map, and double thanks for the nice comments guys. I'll work on the optimization for multiplayer after the voting.

    I'll see if I can make some bulletin posts on some other popular mapping sites to see if they'll take the time to come check out our maps. I have a feeling, that if they knew, they'd vote.


    • Blog: www.playingarchitecture.net
    LinkedIn: Eric Lancon
    Twitter:@Riven202



    Quote
     Re: Voting for 2008 Mini-Competition
    Posted by Gwil on Mon Sep 15th at 1:56pm 2008

    I'll get my voting done tonight. Between everything else and becoming readdicted to Civ 4 BTS (I guess it's pre-Colonisation release nostalgia) I haven't squeezed in a look at these entries yet!




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