Yea, I knew what he meant by "vs." it's just that he listed two different sets of "vs." themes. But now I realize he (like myself) intend to use one contrast theme (____ vs. ____)

I agree it should be limited to the Source Engine; and since it's not about the gameplay, nor the optimization then the visuals can come from any Source engine game. And I suppose We shouldn't rely on voters being able to download and play the maps, so I guess that means we'll have to go off the images? -That's getting a little too Interloper-ish for my tastes.

BUT If we allow it for any source game, there might be a lot of folks alienated from being able to play some of the entries come voting time, and thereby creating bias in the judgment calls. Therefore I propose a new hybrid judging system to compensate for that possible bias, whereby we can bring back the "judges' panel" and still have voting by members. The judges' panel would have a certain weight behind it in terms of points that can be earned for an entry and then the community votes could be tallied and added to it. But maybe that's getting too complicated; what do you guys think?

Yeah, ancient vs futuristic could work well. I already have an idea.

If anyone wants a good site to look for inspirational pictures; check out www.pbase.com

Here - I already searched for 'ruins' for you: http://search.pbase.com/search?q=ruins&b=Search+Photos&c=sp

Yay for Ancient vs Futuristic.

Ancient vs Futuristic <- I like that one a lot!

I think what Finger meant by "two themes" was "Make a scene that has a strong contrast between something ancient and something futuristic".

I would also settle for one engine, since it's a little strange to compare a Goldsource vista to a Source one. In other words, wouldn't it make sense to make it Source-only? Since there is no gameplay, though, I don't know whether it's necessary to limit it to a certain game...

Cool! -Great to be hearing from you guys! I too like that idea Finger presented about limiting or rather "focusing" themes. And with vistas, it will be more about looks rather than gameplay, so optimization would not be a focus, and neither would story.

To clarify though, we would only present one theme right? (I don't know how it might judge with two themes available for mappers to pull from, but I thought maybe this was what you were suggesting).

Example pictures will definitely be a plus. I can see it now: the spoiler tag used to present an entire gallery of example images to help give you inspiration.

Ideas for themes anyone? Ideally, we want themes that could possibly be supported by the preexisting texture and model pallet already provided in our game of choice (?) to map in.

I'll try and think up some interesting themes later.

BTW, if you guys have any other ideas for a competition instead of Vistas, feel free to post 'em!

I was camping up howe sound earlier this summer, was thinking ( under the influence ) that it would be neat to nail the vibe of the place in a map...so that's a vista I guess

Im pretty tight for time now that Ive picked up a cover band gig with a couple shows coming up but I might try this

I think it might be good to narrow it to one or two themes also, and I'm betting we could supply some reference images as a starting point for people (they wouldn't have to use them, and it's not about copying an image, but rather emulating a theme).

One thing that might be fun, is to pick one theme that combines two contrasting aspects.

For example, I think it would be cool to build a vista with the theme Industrial vs Natural. This lends itself to the halflife 'look', which is a good start for people and wouldn't require people to make alot of textures and models. Another example would be Ancient vs Futuristic. With these two, I can already picture a scene of ramshackled industrial huts, taken over by growth on a rocky cliff_side, over looking a river or a futuristing combine like structure built upon the fallen stone of old Mayan ruins.

Sounds cool to me

I think I'd prefer the vista challenge too.

And yeah, a few weeks (2-4 weeks) sounds good to me. If we where to go ahead with this idea, would we be allowed to use custom content?

"Finger" said:
Who knows, since we are actually offering some Booty, we may get more entries.

I hope so, the more participants the better!

I like the vista challenge, too, but would restrict it even more... to a special kind of vista (like the "swamp scene" TF2 competition advertised on the front page).

I can only speak for myself, but searching for a scenery often takes as much time as actually building it for me. Some "hook" would be nice. I think over at interlopers, they, for example, give out a small set of basic brushwork and you have to build a vista around it.