Posts by KungFuSquirrel

Quote from Campaignjunkie

How do you judge a singleplayer vs. a multiplayer level though, exactly? Apples and oranges... APPLES AND ORANNNGES

The judging isn't the single player vs. the multi-player, or the HL2 vs. UDK, but the creative use of the space to create a good level But, we can revisit this if people really want to limit it to MP-only. Regarding Aalexanderrr's question below, I would consider L4D survival or other similar co-op modes to still qualify as a MP level.

Quote from Froyok

I think for the UDK we need to do this :1024 inch (source engine) = 1024/0.75 = 1365 UU

(UU = Unreal Unit)

If we keep the default player size of the UDK...

That's UT3 scale as well, right? Roughly 96-ish units? Maybe we round to 1344 to keep things on a nice 64 grid? I'm assuming most of our entries will be Source-based, but I'd like to keep things proportional across the other engines. Alternatively, we could lock it to 1024 across the board and that's just one of the limitations you have to work with.

Quote from Froyok

So, we can make hole in the wall with more details behind ?It's just the playable part which are limited to the 1024 cube ?

Yep! As long as the player doesn't cross the base 1024 cube, you can border the level however you want (but you'll be judged on how you use the space inside, not outside

Quote from Aalexanderrr

Are L4D2 survival levels allowed? Survival is not exactly SP but it could be quite fun putting map like that together.As for non accessible area, does area where commons spawn but players cannot access count as one?

I'd say go for it. If you can set up a good survival arena in that space, more power to you. I would say any and all AI spawns in single player should be contained inside the 1024 bounds, however.

Quote from Vilham

can a boundary also be like nothingness, ie if you jump you fall and die? Ie the top of a sky scraper?

On X/Y, I'd say no - the ledge would have to exist inside the 1024 space, likely with the skybox forming the 1024 boundary. On the z-axis, I'd say it's fine as long as the kill trigger rests at or above the bottom of your 1024 cube. Sound fair?

These are all open to interpretation, too - if anything here seems unfair, we can address it before things start up.

How does the timeframe sound to everyone? Is 4 weeks ok, or do we want to go 5? Or even 6 since this is technically a "real" level inside a small space?

The poll results are in - and a sequel to our 1024^3 challenge from a few years back is the winner!

This challenge is simple: Build an entire level contained within a 1024x1024x1024* cube. You may use as much or as little of the space as you need, but no more. We had killer turnout in our last one, with ReNo's level "Weaver" bringing home the top prize:

* Dependent on engine player scale; 1024 is based on id/Valve player scales.

[Blocked Image: http://www.reno-vation.net/content/Weaver5.jpg]

Our rules are simple:

Quote

Build an entire level contained within a 1024x1024x1024 cube.

***This is based on approximately Source/id tech player scale (64-72 units) and will vary as follows for other engines/editors***

Quake */Doom 3: 1024x1024x1024

Half-Life/Source: 1024x1024x1024

Call of Duty: 1024x1024x1024

UT3/UDK: 1344x1344x1344

Gears of War: 2048x2048x2048

Unity: 32x32x32 (based on player height of 2 units)

The challenge will begin Friday, February 18th, and end Sunday, March 20th at 11:59PM US CENTRAL time (GMT -6)

A submission thread will be opened in the final week of the challenge. Post a download link to your level along with up to 3 screenshots of your work.

You will have roughly one week to review all entries before voting begins. A single vote will be held for the overall winner. Voters will be allowed to vote for their top 3 entries, and the level that receives the most votes will be declared our winner.

You may:

- Use any engine/editor/game/mod of your choosing. If it is not already listed above, you must verify the scale of your engine before the start of the challenge

- Create a single OR multi player level

- Use unlimited brushes, meshes, effects, etc.

- Include non-accessible background detail that extends beyond the playable space

You MAY NOT:

- Allow any living player to move beyond 1024 units in playable/accessible space on any axis. The 1024 bounds MUST be defined by walls, sky, collision, or a kill volume.

As with the previous challenge, there will be no prize other than the pride of knowing people thought you were awesome

Display More

Much like the last thread, feel free to also use this as a WIP thread during the challenge.

Edit 02/17/11: updated with final(?) rules

haha, what a comeback! 1024 is the winner, followed by the Doorway Challenge in second and the 512 texture challenge in third.

I still think there's enough support to line these up in sequence, so once the new 1024 has ended we can roll straight into the doorway challenge, etc. (after an appropriate couple-week breather, of course). Sound good?

I'll get a 1024^3 rules/discussion thread up shortly, though I think this is going to be a super easy to agree on.

Terrible.

Quote from Vilham

Also can I please reiterate to keep the challenges well spaced apart (with adequate warning) and with 3-4 week timescales. I really want to participate but life is very busy right now, im sure it is for others too.

Absolutely. I could see possibly running another 3 week challenge on the door, but I'd support 4 for the 512 texture and 1024^3 challenges. I'd say the absolute minimum between smaller challenges would be 2 weeks, but a 3-4 week break is probably still the safest.

If the vote is close enough, we might as well just line up all three in succession over the next few months

Quote from Jetsetlemming

the 1024 box feels like it's been done before.

It has; we ran it here in 07. Numerous other sites have done it too. But, it's a classic!

Let's vote! I grabbed the top 3 challenge suggestions from the discussion thread, as I imagine they'll still have the most support.

I'll let this poll run through the weekend, then we can sort out start times/rules/etc. Let's try to keep things a little simpler this time, eh?

I think the earliest we'd start anything would be Feb. 19th - that gives us almost a month since we wrapped the 20 Brush Challenge, and hopefully will be enough buffer time for everyone.

Discuss!

Edit: I suppose I should describe the three a bit better...

1024^3:

- Build an entire level contained within a 1024x1024x1024 cube

3 512x512 textures:

- Build a level using a maximum of 3 512x512 textures

Doorway gameplay:

- Using a pre-built door frame, come up with and script a clever way to get through a locked door.

You know what, a 10th-anniversary re-make with updated visuals and modern XBL support? I'm totally fine with that.

Post it in finished work!

Thanks to everyone who participated and voted in MapCore's 20 Brush Challenge! We also of course owe thanks to the awesome dudes at leveldesign.nl for inspiring us with their own recent 20 brush competition and some really great levels made by their members.

The votes are in and we have our winners! There's quite a few ties, so a number of our entries have found themselves in the Top 3 in each category... Now, here are your results, as voted by the MapCore community!

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BRUSHWORK (Poll)

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Thanks again to all who entered and voted, and just a reminder that we are discussing ideas for what the next MapCore Challenge might be! Look for something to start up in 3-4 weeks.

Here's a brutal one for you - Triathlon. First week, Source/HL map. Second week, Quake map. Third week, Unreal map.

Speedmap stuff would be great to try again, but it's hard to sustain things like that. I wonder if we might have better participation/results by mixing those sessions in between larger challenges?

I may get accused of nepotism, but I went with Lunaran on this one in addition to my vote for layout/gameplay. The brushwork is excellent to begin with (and the dodecahedron adds a certain degree of difficulty, perhaps the double lutz of brushwork) but I think what really sold this for me was the technical aspect of using clamped textures for the jump pads and teleporters to get away without having to split brushes to hide the tiling. Similarly, the unique texturing approach to Leon_Kilean's level deserves credit along similar lines. That, to me, is the kind of thinking that makes contests like these great, and gets my vote in this category.

Oh, I also give mad props to Term!nator525 for making the airship level. I love that this level exists

I went with CJ on this one, too. There's a lot of great visuals in these submissions, but I liked that this was a re-creation of real architecture and had such vibrant color. I have all the images saved to my desktop in preparation for the results thread, and that thumbnail pops more than any other up there, with the exception of callguinness' level (to which I also gave heavy consideration for this category).

You gotta give a nod to Lunaran and the paper look (seriously, play the level and look at those pencil-drawn animated textures. Amazing). Also, I really liked the skybox update that killertomato rolled in just before the deadline, which I think made all the difference in the look of his level.

Quote from ReNo

I think everyone deserves some feedback for their effort so I'm gonna try and go through all of the levels and share my thoughts for each voting category. I think it'd be great to get more discussion going on about the entries, so share your thoughts people!Don't Mess With Hexas by KungFuSquirrel

Like most hex based maps I think this one looks to ask a lot of the jump key I do like the arrangement you've gone for though, and I think having the 3 distinct islands (well, kinda 4) is much more interesting than bunching them all into one. I wish I had Q3 installed to play it as it's tough to really get a feel for the scale and flow from the pics alone, and maybe there are more freeform routes around than I'm giving it credit for, but it looks like players are quite restricted to the jump pad paths you've set, and that in turn would lead to player movements being too predictable for interesting gameplay. Could be wrong though.

Nice writeup! Wanted to explain mine a bit more since you couldn't see it in-game. There is a bit of a restriction to the pad routes (I was going to do back-and-forth pads, but I didn't want to double up jump pads and item placement on a single hex), but the single floating hex provides a back-and-forth jump link from the main platform to the megahealth platform. The rail platform is deliberately a one-way jump pad, but you can also make a one-way jump from the health platform on top of that island to the rocket ammo platform on the main island. The 4 smaller platforms are func_bobbing lifts to cover the vertical gaps (each major line on the concrete texture is 128 units tall) and get people to some of the higher platforms.

BTW, I voted for "Ludonarrative Dissonance." It's a good non-20 brush layout with the ramps and jump pads and crossovers, and that it was done in 20 (with a superfluous dodecahedron, no less! ) is quite impressive.

Please, suggest away! Small and manageable is always good.

I think the 1024 was one of the best we had, and I also have an interest in not failing to complete something like I did for the last one That might be a good one to roll out as the next one, but I think we should let things settle for a couple/few weeks before we go after anything else.

Sentura brings up valid points on voting; and I think we should try to simplify voting in the future. I also feel like more of an "approval voting" style might be better for future challenges - if we allow people to vote for up to, say, 3 entries, and then tally based on those totals. Voting for one in each category was hard enough, and voting for just one in a single category might be torture

The line of thinking was that this was the primary voting category with the other categories there to reward specific excellence in invididual categories. But, in hindsight, I agree we probably split this up too much. We'll roll with this for now but I'd agree we should go with a more streamlined vote next time.

Hey guys, just a reminder to cast your vote for the 20 Brush Challenge if you haven't already. We got some great entries including some great work by some new faces. Submissions are here: viewtopic.php?f=57&t=15843 with links to the voting threads.

I also wanted to see how people thought about trying to run more of these again? I know it's something we've done in the past with mixed results, but I had a blast on this even if I did just build 20 floating hexagons, and I think there's some fun options to run new ones. Some thoughts I've had:

1024 Challenge - resurrecting an oldie but a goodie: build a level inside a 1024x1024x1024 cube

Geometry challenge - All geometry, flat texturing. Like the classic Q3 GeoComp

Old School challenge - HL1, Q1, Unreal, etc.

Art Pass - similar to what Valve ran for TF2

I think in the future it might be neat to have guest judging panels and the like (I'm sure we can all find plenty of people to help out), but I do like maintaining the "Challenge" part of the title vs. "Competition" - no prizes, just being creative and working within fun limitations.

Any other thoughts? Good idea/bad idea?

In this thread, please cast your vote for what you think is the BEST LEVEL submitted for this challenge. Please review all entries and for this vote consider all three of our other categories: Visuals, Gameplay, and Brushwork, as well as the level's overall quality compared to the others.

You may only cast one vote and you cannot change your vote so please, vote wisely. You may vote for the same level in as many categories as you choose, if you feel it deserves it. The poll will run for 48 hours before closing automatically, at which point the top three vote-getters will be selected as our winners.

Feel free to discuss the entries in this thread, but please try to limit your discussion to the voting category.

Thanks to all who entered, and to our newly registered users, we hope you'll stick around!