Valve DM Map Contest

I'd say your most definately right there Orph.

Since HL2 has been rated at R 18+ they cannot legally allow gamers
under 18 to participate in an official contest, as the contestants
would need to have HL2, therefore a breach of the rating system because
Valve would be "encouraging" younger players to buy the game. It would
open a whole can of legal worms for Valve, and after the distribution
licensing issue with Vivendi thats the last thing Valve would want to
do.

/glances at UK retail packaging

Mine says 15+ as a rating, although I suspect it varies between
countries. I won't be entering due to age, UK, poor mapping ability,
and a 56k pay-as-you-go modem (which means I can't download the SDK).

Got in touch with Autolycus from Valve and he said whether you bought
over Steam or retail makes no difference - both are fine to enter. He
also said people can have multiple entries, so people could join
together and make a team entry and still enter their own level.

So far as I understand it, ratings aren't law, they're suggestions. Game shops follow these suggestions to dictate a company policy on selling the games. If they were law, I think you'd hear at least something about games appealing for lower ratings. Furthermore, you'll notice arcade machines use a more descriptive and less constricting arrangement for labeling the level of maturity required to play the game.

The ratings system is voluntary by the industry and willingly enforced by retail outlets. It's that voluntary status that for the most part has kept government meddling out of the industry, though then you have folks like Orrin Hatch and Joe Lieberman (and Jack Thompson, though he's not active in politics, thankfully) who would, if they had their way, turn the game industry into the next Salem witch hunt. Being turned away from the store counter because you're not 17 sucks (yeah, it happened to me once, way back when, heh), but it's a lot nicer than having government regulations and bans. :smile:

Nice one on asking auto, Reno, I was going to bug him about that myself last night but ended up being too busy.

ReNo said:
Got in touch with Autolycus from Valve and he said whether you bought
over Steam or retail makes no difference - both are fine to enter. He
also said people can have multiple entries, so people could join
together and make a team entry and still enter their own level.

awesome.

So, their rules are gibberish.

You're not really supposed to read the rules anyway, its all lawyer double-speak. Just give the rights to your map over to Valve and stop complaining you!!

If I can get a map and my overflowed course work done in time, I just might do that.

<label for="voted2">No, I won't

Im 17 you need to be 18 to join :/

</label>

Surely subscribing to steam is the whole, steam is invading your PC thing, otherwise, noone in the UK can enter! Unless they paid dollars and preloaded steam, but most people i konw didnt, including me.

Does this mean i cant enter (im not gonna do very well anyway, but hey, its a laff)

As for losing the rights to whatever you submit, valve can go, wel, i cant really say in a pulic forum. That just sucks.

Oh, ok. I didnt read the whole thread, my anger took me over.

Lol, i cant enter anyway, im 16 :sad:

As for losing the rights to whatever you submit, valve can go, wel, i cant really say in a pulic forum. That just sucks.

You can say 'valve can go f**k themselves'. It's quite an acceptable, if misinformed opinion.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Yak_Fighter</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>C'mon half-dude, why limit yourself? Join the bandwagon already! </DIV></DIV>

I just don't want to have to learn everything over again, I mean there are some simular things about the editer but I see that there are alot of differences from the old one. For instance I have no idea what prop physics are and it seems like everything is running on steam now and I still have no idea what that thing is all about. I tried to use steam to do muliplayer but I lost my code, so personally I hate steam! If you want to know something, I havent even played HL2 yet becouse my computer isnt upgraded yet I'll be able to play this friday actually Im so excited.
Plus, half life two has different enemys then HL1's so I cant even make my mod with HL2 bummer.

half-dude said:
? quoting Yak_Fighter
C'mon half-dude, why limit yourself? Join the bandwagon already!
I just don't want to have to learn everything over again, I mean there are some simular things about the editer but I see that there are alot of differences from the old one. For instance I have no idea what prop physics are and it seems like everything is running on steam now and I still have no idea what that thing is all about. I tried to use steam to do muliplayer but I lost my code, so personally I hate steam! If you want to know something, I havent even played HL2 yet becouse my computer isnt upgraded yet I'll be able to play this friday actually Im so excited.
Plus, half life two has different enemys then HL1's so I cant even make my mod with HL2 bummer.

Those are just entities though, the overall hammer interface and mapping technique is the same. It's no different then mapping for a new mod that supports something new.

Steam is pretty damn easy to configure for HL1 and even easier to configure for hl2. In fact it's pretty automatic through the SDK window.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Crono

Those are just entities though, the overall hammer interface and mapping technique is the same. It's no different then mapping for a new mod that supports something new.

Steam is pretty damn easy to configure for HL1 and even easier to configure for hl2. In fact it's pretty automatic through the SDK window. </DIV></DIV>

True, The different thing that one must remember is cubemaps. Otherwise you don't get the rich 3D-looking stuff like tha game has. Also, the new hammer has PROBLEMS!!!! Check this out. This is what has happened to me.

http://crapbucket.brad.com/hammerhog.jpg


previously steam was using close to 80 Megabytes of my RAM. WTF is up with these new valve things using all my s**t?>

It depends on what you are doing in hammer. For example, I managed to
get hammer's memory usage up to that level by opening the texture
browser and scrolling through - forcing it to load all the textures
into memory. Once I minimised hammer and brought it back up, it went
down to 8mb. I wouldn't say its use of memory is a problem - if you
want all those textures loaded in at once, you need to put them in
memory, its as simple as that really.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting ReNo</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>It depends on what you are doing in hammer. For example, I managed to get hammer's memory usage up to that level by opening the texture browser and scrolling through - forcing it to load all the textures into memory. Once I minimised hammer and brought it back up, it went down to 8mb. I wouldn't say its use of memory is a problem - if you want all those textures loaded in at once, you need to put them in memory, its as simple as that really.
</DIV></DIV>

true! And I WAS in the texture browser at the time of the lock-up. But it never let me minimise or anything. I just had to "end task"

It would be nice if the texture browser was designed so that you were viewing thumbnails rather than the full size images. That would help performance tremendously.

It'd be nice if the texture browser didn't steal focus from the rest of the program! Then my uber window layout would function! :biggrin: hehe

Hey at least the mousewheel now works for scrolling through the
textures rather than scrolling through your previously typed filters.
Thats one of hammer's nicest improvements if you ask me :smile:

Is anyone else finding the clip tool to be a bit inaccurate when selecting end points?

I am finding incredibly annoying Hammer's habit to not quite align/create solids to grid, they are sometimes out by a fraction of a unit and you get leaks all over the place :sad: And it STILL has that annoying selection problem, where when you have a solid selected and go to move it, it will move the "outline" but not the solid itself!

Yeah thats an annoying one. Not had the problem that is causing your
leaks, but then I pretty much only ever create a single brush per level
and clone it for the rest. The one that pisses me off the most is how
it forgets your texture settings after your "apply texture and
settings" once - it makes texturing a big pain on occasion :sad:

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting ReNo</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Hey at least the mousewheel now works for scrolling through the textures rather than scrolling through your previously typed filters. Thats one of hammer's nicest improvements if you ask me :smile:
</DIV></DIV>

Yes I know what you mean, that never ceased to annoy me.

? posted by Crono</TD>
<TR>
<TD bgColor=#151515>Is anyone else finding the clip tool to be a bit inaccurate when selecting end points?

I noticed that too, it seems sorta dodgy, whereas before it was smooth. Maybe we just need to get used to it yet.

Remember the horrors of using Hammer 2.1!

There was no such thing as Hammer 2.1. :razz: Worldcraft! 1.5 and especially 1.6 were far better than WC 2.x :smile: . I still can't believe they don't have wireframe grid views for models and that half the models have horridly placed origins and are at odd sizes (i.e. not on the grid), which makes them an incredible pain in the ass to use properly. I see now why that game took them 5 years. They had to align those models all this time! :biggrin:

Hey at least the mousewheel now works for scrolling through the textures rather than scrolling through your previously typed filters.

It still does that, and you could still scroll in 3.5 as well. Just have to select the textures. If you type in a filter and start scrolling, poof! :smile:

I am finding incredibly annoying Hammer's habit to not quite
align/create solids to grid, they are sometimes out by a fraction of a
unit and you get leaks all over the place :sad:
And it STILL has that annoying selection problem, where when you have a
solid selected and go to move it, it will move the "outline" but not
the solid itself!

Really annoying aye. The quickest workaround I found was to simply
click the solid in another view, do a transform then snap it back to
original size. Should be back to normal for translation/transform as
you originally intended then.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting ReNo</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Yeah thats an annoying one. Not had the problem that is causing your leaks, but then I pretty much only ever create a single brush per level and clone it for the rest. The one that pisses me off the most is how it forgets your texture settings after your "apply texture and settings" once - it makes texturing a big pain on occasion :sad:
</DIV></DIV>
Why did they change it so the texture applicator forgets the settings? It makes texturing large areas impossibly annoying, especially since I usually do all the texturing in big chunks after placing the brushes.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Spartan 34</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Remember the horrors of using Hammer 2.1! </DIV></DIV>

i had no horrors with 2.1, in fact it taught me some valuable lessons. i learned far more about mapping with it than i ever did with 3.x series.

in fact, if i had a suggestion to n00b mappers, it would be to start from 2.x and work up.
the only issue i remember anyone having was their own crappy video cards.. 2.x loved voodoo.

So does anyone know exactly what they mean by "publish" in the rules? i.e. are they saying you can't remake a map and submit it, or are they saying you cannot announce that you are making it and show it off online?

I don't know, but I don't see how they could classify posting screen shots as "publishing". It seems to me that as long as you don't post a download, you ought to be OK but that is, of course, just speculation.

another hazarded guess, Publish=pre-released, or previously released.

it would make no sense to re-release a map for a valve sponsored contest. who would want to see a snarkpit, or frenzy remake?

/ 2 cents

I emailed Auto about a similar topic, due to the fact my map is a
remake of sorts. Unfortunately I haven't had a reply, so I can't really
clarify anything here. I assume it to mean you can't enter a previously
released map, and since elsewhere it says it needs to be your own work
I guess a remake of an older map that isn't yours would also be
breaching the rules.

See what you should say is that you're not doing a remake, you're making the sequel. That's what I'm doing...

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Yak_Fighter</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>See what you should say is that you're not doing a remake, you're making the sequel. That's what I'm doing... </DIV></DIV>

mental image
i can see it now, a big "TO BE CONTINUED" using a text entity on your first release, if you load it in say.. single player mode :biggrin:

What are you remak...I mean making a sequel to yak?

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting ReNo</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>What are you remak...I mean making a sequel to yak?
</DIV></DIV>
prolly his most successful failure. "Torque"

curse you orpheus!

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Yak_Fighter</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>curse you orpheus!

</DIV></DIV>
gazes longingly at depleting diaper stockpile

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Orpheus</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>
<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Spartan 34</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>Remember the horrors of using Hammer 2.1! </DIV></DIV>

i had no horrors with 2.1, in fact it taught me some valuable lessons. i learned far more about mapping with it than i ever did with 3.x series.

in fact, if i had a suggestion to n00b mappers, it would be to start from 2.x and work up.
the only issue i remember anyone having was their own crappy video cards.. 2.x loved voodoo.

</DIV></DIV>
Hmmm... I'd still be using 2.1 right now if it weren't for how it got sooooo out of date for my fgds :biggrin:

Two quick thoughts -

1. This thread looks worthy of a sticky to me

2. A few may have mentioned lack of themes available, and how this as a slight creative stumbling block. I'd like to recommend you use the HL2 themes; this contest is an obvious call to arms to pad the HL2DM map catalogue and it seems reasonable that maps within these themes will be rated higher, especially if you allow originality to shine beyond texture selection. Focus on gameplay issues here - the new engine isn't just an upgrade in prettiness, but an upgrade in feasable battlefields as well.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Orpheus</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>
<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Yak_Fighter</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>curse you orpheus!

</DIV></DIV>
gazes longingly at depleting diaper stockpile

</DIV></DIV>
Me wonders what this diaper stockpile is you speak of. Is it some kind of weapon or perhaps a birthday present for Lep. We may never know.

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Cash Car Star</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>A few may have mentioned lack of themes available, and how this as a slight creative stumbling block. I'd like to recommend you use the HL2 themes; this contest is an obvious call to arms to pad the HL2DM map catalogue and it seems reasonable that maps within these themes will be rated higher, especially if you allow originality to shine beyond texture selection. Focus on gameplay issues here - the new engine isn't just an upgrade in prettiness, but an upgrade in feasable battlefields as well.</DIV></DIV>
I agree wholeheartedly. If we think back to the last deathmatch map contest Valve had it was pretty obvious that they picked the winner (rapidcore) not because it was necessarily the best, but it was a good map that fit the HL theme. The runner-up, Gustavo's Scorched, was I'd say the better map and even looked better, but it's theme didn't jive with the other official maps. It was a flat outdoors map set in the desert that had more in common with Dust than Boot Camp, and I'd bet that's why it didn't win.

i was hoping scorched would win, as i had a small part in its creation :biggrin:

As did I, seeing as Gustavo used two of my prefabs :biggrin:

Scorched didn't win because it included a custom texture other than the planethalflife one, so it broke the comp rules.

hmm... that sounds much more plausable. Thanks for sinking my theory!