MapCore Challenge Discussion

[KungFuSquirrel]

WELL SO MUCH FOR THAT IDEA (damn you valve)

[KungFuSquirrel]

And the Door Challenge is in the books! Results are posted here: viewtopic.php?f=57&t=16260

As always, if you have any feedback on this Challenge, speak up! Was the wider voting window better for everyone this round? Does everyone still like the "vote for your top 3" ballot?

[Mazy]

Seriously amazing work from everyone, good job gang~~

[Puddy]

And the Door Challenge is in the books! Results are posted here: viewtopic.php?f=57&t=16260

As always, if you have any feedback on this Challenge, speak up! Was the wider voting window better for everyone this round? Does everyone still like the "vote for your top 3" ballot?

I think it's good that you can vote for your top three, so you can reward more then one person's hard work (i.e. so Soleval doesn't steal all the votes ).

One idea I was considering is that, you actually write the entries you want to vote for in a post along with a brief summary on why you voted for the entries in question.

We're a pretty small community and I think this kind of voting would work, as opposed to more massing voting on ModDB or similar. It would be a good form of feedback, not only to the person people are voting for, but to other creators to see what players were looking for in a puzzle/"whatever the challenge is"-map. We're all designers here, not pure players, so it feels fitting.

It's just an idea though.

[KungFuSquirrel]

One idea I was considering is that, you actually write the entries you want to vote for in a post along with a brief summary on why you voted for the entries in question.

We're a pretty small community and I think this kind of voting would work, as opposed to more massing voting on ModDB or similar. It would be a good form of feedback, not only to the person people are voting for, but to other creators to see what players were looking for in a puzzle/"whatever the challenge is"-map. We're all designers here, not pure players, so it feels fitting.

This is a good idea, and makes my life easier in some ways. We have been getting some good vote turnout with the 3-vote poll method, though, and the one negative I could see is possibly losing some votes. But, I'll keep that in mind, and I'm curious what the rest of you think.

I know the Summer Mapping Initiative just wrapped up and we saw some entries there, but do people still want to rock some Portal 2 for the next challenge? I still love the idea of the MapCore pack, but we'll need some discussion time to sort out how to go from a collection of random entries to an actual cohesive pack. I think this could be a really great one with the game so fresh in people's minds and the fun options it opens for level design, but if everyone's Portaled themselves out already we can roll something else (in which case I'd consider this a good time to suggest something )

[Campaignjunkie]

I agree on postponing a Portal 2 thing. Let's wait. In the meantime, here are some ideas ---

Workshop constraint: you must start a "process" thread and document the different drafts of your level, at least 1 week before the end of the challenge.

Texture constraint: use only the pre-approved MapCore textures for your map

Poetry challenge: use at least one line from a poem / or song lyric... as inspiration for a small map. Read (or sing) the poem or lyric aloud, record it, and use the file somewhere or somehow in your map.

Remix challenge: take any two previous entries from any previous challenge that *weren't in the top 3* and mash them together / add new stuff to them / change the gameplay / whatever.

Sound challenge: given a base map, add ambient sounds to it. Use Audacity and stuff from freesound.org for example, and learn how to make soundscapes and add new soundscripts in Source (or the equivalent for UDK)... you can do anything except add new level geometry or re-texture it.

Rom-com challenge: link to a YouTube clip of a romantic comedy and make a map based on that clip (action movies = boring)

Particle system challenge: given a base map, make custom particle systems and populate the map with it. Don't add any architecture or re-texture it.

Lighting challenge: given a base map, re-light the thing. Don't add any architecture or re-texture it, except if it's to do lightmap uvs or something. Bonus for creative colors / compositions. Engines with radiosity (Source, UDK) are recommended.

[insta]

Workshop constraint: you must start a "process" thread and document the different drafts of your level, at least 1 week before the end of the challenge.

Rom-com challenge: link to a YouTube clip of a romantic comedy and make a map based on that clip (action movies = boring)

I like those two, especially the rom-com one!

[JamesKing3d]

Sound challenge: given a base map, add ambient sounds to it. Use Audacity and stuff from freesound.org for example, and learn how to make soundscapes and add new soundscripts in Source (or the equivalent for UDK)... you can do anything except add new level geometry or re-texture it.

Particle system challenge: given a base map, make custom particle systems and populate the map with it. Don't add any architecture or re-texture it.

Lighting challenge: given a base map, re-light the thing. Don't add any architecture or re-texture it, except if it's to do lightmap uvs or something. Bonus for creative colors / compositions. Engines with radiosity (Source, UDK) are recommended.

I love these three. I'm up for any extra challenges added to a map challenge, but would love to work with ambient sound and/or lighting or particles.. that would be fantastic. (especially since I know next to nothing about particles and sound in UDK.)

[KungFuSquirrel]

Some excellent ideas there that could only come from you

I do think the more mass-market ideas are best suited for strong participation, though (I'm such a sell-out). I'd be interested in the texture constraint or re-lighting ideas. Both are good proving grounds for a specific kind of skillset, but I do wonder if we might want to consider settling on a pre-decided engine (presumably Source) for both of them, particularly the re-lighting challenge to help keep a consistent starting point.

Thoughts? Other votes?

[Serenius]

My preference are contests that are more design than art-oriented, but I'm probably in the minority here.

[KungFuSquirrel]

My preference are contests that are more design than art-oriented, but I'm probably in the minority here.

I'm inclined to agree, but the three we've run so far have been two with fairly strict design constraints and one entirely design challenge. Texture constraint entries would still have an impact on layout and gameplay, but in general I don't think it'd hurt to toss in a more artistic one here or there

[Puddy]

After playing Metro 2033 I would really enjoy having a go at a "Most Atmospheric Map"-challenge that's all about getting that right tone, vibe and feel.

It's kind of a combination of some of the suggestions Campaignjunkie has, I guess.

[SamCom]

The old-school weekend challenge sounds interesting, is that still a possibility?

Besides that, the build a level with one texture set sounds alright, although I'd prefer something more design oriented as opposed to art as well.

[Erratic]

How bout reinvisioning a scene from a recent game on an older engine? Make a scene from Killzone 3 in HL1 or Q2 or something. Simple, one screenshot, replicated in an old engine, reuse content or make new.

[SamCom]

Erratic, that makes me think of the Bioshock Arcadia demake, which is awesome: http://vectorpoem.com/arcadia/

Maybe a fully playable remake of all/part of a level from a more recent game? Screenshots are cool, but I'd rather end up with something playable.