Its a straight forward question.

Snarkpit is going to host a real competition soon. All we would like is a general consensus.

The idea will have 2 categories.

"Novice" and "Everyone else." My hopes are for the novice to not back out before its ending. NO ONE THAT ISN'T A NOVICE WILL BE PERMITTED TO ENTER AS ONE!!!

There will be some sort of prizes for both categories and a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for each. The prizes are as yet undecided. The admin are now discussing them. This competition will again be open to all editing sites for contestants. :smile:

Post your ideas over the next week or so.Ideas should include "Theme", "Deadline" and "Content". This thread will be monitored by the admin, as my schedule is about to peak for my summer rush on deliveries. I doubt I will be around much over the next 2-3 weeks.

My hopes are for someone to take up this gauntlet in my absence. If no admin has time enough, please consider the alternatives I have suggested.

Thanks,
Orpheus

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The best things in life, aren't things.

a mapping competition?

do you really think there is much motivation left? i hope so but i doubt it

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These words are my diaries screaming out loud

BlisTer said:
a mapping competition?

do you really think there is much motivation left? i hope so but i doubt it

Actually, yes. The missing motivation last time, will be addressed this time. Besides, If I keep my nose out of it, its got to be better than last time. :rolleyes:
But yes, I still think there is enough incentive left, even if its only prizes...

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The best things in life, aren't things.

I actually was thinking of starting another map soon. Several projects
of mine are finishing up and I would have some time for this (provided
the theme isnt too abstract). Few things id like to see discussed:

-Gameplay (do we want 10vs10 death match - or 1vs1 areana deathmatch?).
Or even invent our own "game" using the source engine (aka: balls in
hoops to make for a basketball type game)

-Which game (DoD maps are VERY fun to make).

-Do we want absolute abstract theme? Or a HL universe theme.

Edit:

Forgot to put my opinion in here:

Persoanlly Id like to do a 1vs1 style map, this way we can set an early
deadline and the mappers don't need to strain themselves over too much
and actually have a good turn out of maps in the competition.

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Posting And You

BlisTer said:
a mapping competition?

do you really think there is much motivation left? i hope so but i doubt it

Yes, there is. If I have to, I will reinstall Worldcraft just to see this one fly.

YES!!!, Thats the spirit Cass. :smile:

There seems to be a bit of confusion at the other sites I have posted at. This thread is basically for acquiring feedback about what YOU WANT to see for the next competition. Post your thoughts. Any and all will be considered.

Another thing, I need links to more sites. All I have is Mapcore and TWHL.

Post links please.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

www.interlopers.net has a lot of active mappers.

I'm off to bed. I have an 1800 mile journey to begin in the morning.

Post a link to this thread if you can to interlopers please.

nite-nite gentlemen... ahem and ladies.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Here's an idea: have the competition while people have time off ... not right before ... not right after ... but DURING the prolonged period of free time.

I would generally suggest two competitions a year (or so) one during each hemisphere's summer. Since, most people here do attend school, not having the competitions during these times makes it very difficult to compete. At least, from a student's point of view.

As for the people who have full time jobs who have no time off ... there should be an extended competition, of sorts. Maybe like, at the end of the year type of deal (you have a year to work on a map, in other words).

But, seriously, the timing on all these competitions is very inconvenient to say the least. I would love to enter one, but I never can because of this.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

are you talking about HLDM or like i.e. CS:S
I dont really have the motivation left for making a HLDM map,
because seriously no-one plays new maps anymore.
but there are always people looking for lets say CS:Source maps.
Or we could do a Svencoop map together thats an idea.
(if you want to use the old engine)

There is no mythical "Perfect time frame" Master Crono. Sadly, as much as I'd like to believe there was one, alas there just isn't.

For instance, my busiest time of year is the summer. I am sure that many of the working members here have similar instances that clash with the "off time" of the school attending members. The continent doesn't matter really in these times either because we have no certain members who show up only in their off time. If school is interfering with a competition it is by no means any more important than that of working members, so how can one pick?

To compromise, all we can hope for is to have a time frame for a competition that over laps the majority of the members who can join. Competitions will always benefit some, and bar others. The deciding factor is really only one of personal interest.

When I was mapping full time, I didn't happen to be unemployed or on some extended hiatus from work. I mapped anyway. I chose to. If you, or someone else cannot work up the appropriate motivation, thats a personal choice and not one that the majority is going to get overly worked up about.

Personally, I think an editing site should have as many competitions per year that they can possibly squeeze in. In this way, one of them is bound to coincide with the off time of everyones schedule.

If this one is inconvenient, you chose the next one. Surely you have had time off between the last event and this one for which you could have stepped up to the plate and held a competition of your own liking.

Be that as it may, this event will proceed, with or without you and I attending. Support it, or ignore it but don't rain on it.

/2 cents

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Don't twist my comments. At no point did I say "stop, don't continue based on my personal schedule. All praise me" or whatever else you seem to hear whenever I say anything.

I was just pointing out that every competition that has gone on here since I joined has been at a very inconvenient time. It isn't a matter of a "put your mind to it" or "if you really want to, you will" sort of thing.

If you didn't notice, I actually suggested about three competitions a year.

It was all in a suggestive light to allow the maximum number of people to complete when you have one of these things.

As for the "theme" it'd be nice to have maps that have a strict sense of atmosphere. The mapper would submit, when they submit the map, a small section in the readme document that would explain their theme of atmosphere, what they did to try to achieve that, so on and so forth. The maps would be judged on the usual criteria, along with the competence of the execution of the laid out goal and how effective the final product is.
By focusing on something rather abstract it allows for a wider amount of creativity for the competitors as well as the target players who would play the maps. It makes more sense to limit people by an aesthetic guideline than a game-play guideline, since it is not limited to game-type.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Crono said:
Don't twist my comments. At no point did I say "stop, don't continue based on my personal schedule. All praise me" or whatever else you seem to hear whenever I say anything.

.

My, but he doth protest to much.

If you failed to notice, the competitions do not coincide overmuch with my schedule either. You are preaching to the choir old man. :wink:

Again allow me to reiterate. If you have a notion of a better time frame, by all means chose one in your favor next.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

This is great. But what will it's time period be? 1,2 or even 3 months?
Whats the theme? I'll definetly be entering this one as a Novice.. yep, great stuff.

but ya, instead of having the compo another time, why don't we run this compo for a couple months instead of just 1. So maybe have it go for 3-4months before closing.

also, post this at http://hl-improvement.com/forums

I looked over the two sites posted thus far. They are way to chaotic for my taste. That said, theres no other reason why they cannot know about our competition.
If anyone is already a member there, please post a thread and link it here. Post the return link so we can follow its progress.
Thanx

MapCore link

TWHL link

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The best things in life, aren't things.

ok here:

<table style="font-size: 8pt;" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="1" width="100%"><tr><td align="center">H.I.T Link</td><td>
</td></tr></table>

Yes, a small singleplayer map with two month timeline with a chance to
choose between HL1 and HL2. I'll read what you wrote before me later on
and edit this post accordingly, but that's my general thought at this
moment.

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

OK, this was my idea, which BTW was more/less voted down BUT, some variation could be used to success.

My idea was to have 2 maps. One made for HL1, and the other the same map ported to HL2 showing the combine influence over the world.

A before and after situation, to illustrate HL from 1998-2006.

I understood the reason for its veto, but I still think that something along these lines could be good.

Anyway, thats my idea.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Thats a great idea.. but, I don't map for HL2, only HL1. So it would stop me from being able to enter.. and if it turns out that you don't need a HL2 version, well then my chances of winning has been dramatically downsized against the people who would include a HL2 version.

That was the reason for the negative vote... Only in reverse. Many have HL2, but no longer HL1 or.. Have no interest in learning to map for HL1 because the first version they bought/saw/played was HL2 and going backward isn't an option.

Thus, my idea failed.

Sadly, when I conceived of the notion, it never occurred to me that someone didn't have HL1.

shrugs

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Theoretically, you can make a
"HL1" map for HL2 by restricting yourself to using low-quality
textures (perhaps even converted HL1 textures), forgetting the concept
of "props" and avoiding complex architecture, as you would have done if
you were actually mapping for the old HL engine. Basically something that looks like it came from HL1S.

but theres also everything like HL2 dust,
and fog effects and models.. etc. Can't we come up with an idea
whereas HL2 and HL1 engines can be submitted and judged like the '06
Mapping Compo.

Edit:
Sorry I read your post wrong. :/

I think that my suggestion would suit both camps(HL1 and HL2). :smile: We
could have separate categories again. I think it worked out quite well,
although the number of people attending was a bit low, but I'm fairly
certain that this one will have more participants. A small singleplayer
map or a set of maps, timeline could be from two to four months. Does
anyone else find this suggestion useful?

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

Ah huh.. if the compo happened like the last one, that would be 2 categories for 2 engines thus 12 places of winners. (novice and others)

Do you have any idea how expensive that could get? I mean, even if we had minimal prizes, that could run into the hundreds.

No one here is going to cough up that much cash.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

<span style="color: white;">I like that idea. I was supposed to enter my robot map in the last compo, but my internet gave my problems at deadline times, and I missed out. This compo however I won't.</span>

Well my original idea had only one category for each engine... It seems
that I missed something with that 'Novice'-thing. :smile: Oh well, I'm
sleepy as hell atm.

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

ah I see.. forgt about the Novice thing as well. :/

Whatever the decision, I think its paramount that we include a Novice category.

Since the inception of Snarkpit, all our comps have had few see the finish line. Mainly because of the skill level devision. I wouldn't be afraid to go up against people like ReNo or KFS or even Keved, but most would.

This kind of eventuality is prevalent among all competitions I have seen. The skill level devision causes most newbies to drop out at the end.

I feel that its inclusion is the most important and that we should set a standard for doing such for the new folks.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

How will the prizes suffice?

If there is a novice category, I raise my hand in participation.

Orph said:
I wouldn't be afraid to go up against people like ReNo or KFS or even Keved, but most would.

I would. Not afraid, exactly, but I would not stress too much about trying to win against mappers of that caliber. I probably don't fit the novice criteria though, so I'd just try to have fun in the regular competition. Either that, or offer my service as an impartial judge.

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o

Baron von Snickers said:
I would. Not afraid, exactly, but I would not stress too much about trying to win against mappers of that caliber.

It goes without saying that I'm not in their class now, but I knew them all before they were in a class above me. I was unable to improve past a certain point where they continued.

Point is, no one begins at their level. No one should be intimidated. However, most still are. The statistics prove that much.

New mappers rarely finish a competition. I'd like to change that. If nothing else, at least that.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Orpheus said:
I wouldn't be afraid to go up against people like ReNo or KFS or even Keved, but most would.

can we have a quick hands up from the gurus that are thinking of entering ?

my point is, they didnt enter in the last 2 compo's, i think chances are fairly small they'll enter this one. if this gets pushed through, chances are we'll end up with a 'big' novice section and only 2 entries in the advanced class.

imo fracturing, leaving 2 contestants in certain divisions, isn't good.

But maybe now i'm thinking too negative. maybe we should have a general poll about how many ppl think about entering in which division. say half of them end up actually entering, that leaves us a better idea about how to handle this.

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These words are my diaries screaming out loud

Every single time I come up with an idea, I am positive that I have covered all the angles. It figures that you kids would create new parameters and a whole new set of problems arise.

Why do you want to over complicate a simple competition?

Truth be told, this one will prolly not attract the elite. Most important however is, not everyone will be a novice either. There will be "Others" I assure you, if only a few people enter, theres bound to be some others.

About the only problem I cannot resolve is deciding who is a novice. We are bound to get some members who will be offended being regarded as novice. We are just a liable to get members who want to enter as a novice, just to win... Assuming they have skills exceeding novice.

Right now, lets stop harping on the categories and concentrate on the idea of a contest.

What will this one portend?

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The best things in life, aren't things.

What about a limit on various things?

• world brushes [1000]
  </LI>
• displacements [10]
  </LI>
• props [40]
  </LI>
• textures [10]
  </LI>
• non-essential entities [?]
  </LI>

etc, like everyone is building from a similar set of lego. It would keep the maps small and easy to judge, as well as force some creativity on the mappers part. It also stops larger, currently works in progress, from bullying their way in.

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i eat paint

Absolutely not. What fun is that!? I hate being limited, and I'm sure others would agree.

What about something that has to do with world domination or an uprising?

HL1 vs. HL2

Fight to the death!

Oh, oh! Best mix of classic and present styles.

I got a compo idea for you.

best unique extended gunfight

HL1 or HL2, due at the end of chrismas/newyears break to give people time.

pretty much the idea is to create a gunfight/anyfight that will last a good amount of time in a unique enviroment.

and you can take unique to mean anything you want, you can create a strange new world to destroy, or you can try to make black mesa feel new. the extended gunfight part is easier then it sounds as well. you can create a long battle horizontally, vertically, or stationary(lly), as long as any normal player would be able to extract a few very entertaining minutes out of his first play through.

eg, you can create a chase, where the player has to flee while being assalted from all sides, or a single room or complex, where your assalted by ruthless forces.

anybody have any ideas that would make that better?

I really like this idea: http://twhl.co.za/compoinfo.php?id=2
There's a base map that everyone uses. You can't change the brushwork or add any new brushwork: you just texture it and light it. The timeframe could be nice and short too, like two weeks or something.

... or, something relatively simple, like maybe "light this room."

Yeah, I remember looking through the competitions on TWHL and really liking that one too.

I think a lighting competition would be amazing actually.... I don't have the time or the means to join in (back at school now) but that lighting idea REALLY appeals to me.

looking back on that compo I agree with you.

its nice and quick too, no long time frames or commitments required.

although if SP has one, I would hope that you use a room slightly bigger and more complex then a pentagon with a platfrom and a ladder.

I never was to keen on limited maps either but would go with it if its the majority.

I am however slightly interested in this pre-existing map transformation idea. The only problem I can imagine is using a map so poorly made that I spent half my time fixing it prior to using it. I know that I am not alone when it comes to fixing others work.

However, having a base for everyone to use appeals to my sense of equality. If everyone started off with the same map, and all were given the same task to accomplish, then no one could cry foul.

So far, this peaks my interest most.

Either way, I'm off to Montana this mornin. Hold down the fort till my untimely return.

[EDIT] @Unbreakable... Your link is broken. Might wanna check into why.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

<span style="color: silver;">Single player source competition would be splendid.
</span>

Singleplayer Goldsource Compo would be splendid.

And I also really liked M_Gargly's idea as well of a gunfight, that would kick ass!

but a base compo, I like them and all, but it still has it's limits.

I'm liking these ideas...One thing that bugs me is custom content...I can make textures but models...nope...I think it might have an unfair advantage if people could add models...I'm fine with textures but then modellers would bitch.

To be honest I don't want a 'big' compo because I have life outside in the way...Something simple like texturing, adding detail and lighting it appeals to me as well...It would be open to new people and experts.

a lighting competition was already discussed here maybe a year ago and idd everyone thought it was a good idea. MisterBister was going to make the base map i think, but never actually came from it.

so that would be the only question now i think. who would want to make the base map / room and actually do it? :smile:

imo it should idd be more than lighting. everyone starts from a basic given design and can "dress it up", texture it, and light it.

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These words are my diaries screaming out loud

Why don't we just take dm_lockdown and modify that? Having a lockdown
with different lighting an perhaps even a different theme could prove
interesting.

Fisheh said:

• world brushes [1000]
• displacements [10]
• props [40]
• textures [10]
• non-essential entities [?]

I like this idea, quite a lot actually. I also like the lighting idea, but I think a brush-limited competition could produce some interesting results.

---

o

Andrei said:
Why don't we just take dm_lockdown and modify that? Having a lockdown with different lighting an perhaps even a different theme could prove interesting.

imo lockdown is too big & complex for ppl to finish something in a relatively short time. i was thinking more in the lines of 3 rooms, 3 hallways etc. isn't there a smaller standard map or a member map for which we get permission?

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These words are my diaries screaming out loud

argh, I'm not liking the look of how this is turning out.. but time will tell. DECIDE ALREADY! JEEZ! :biggrin: