Make Black Mesa Come Alive!

For this challenge, we're asking you to create a dynamic Half-Life map. Half-Life was at its best when the world was interactive. Characters responded to you; the world reacted to your actions. You could break stuff, move stuff, change things.

So, create a map or series of maps that are dynamic, interactive, responsive, atmospheric, and so forth. Draw us into the world. It's called Make Black Mesa Come Alive - but it doesn't have to be set in Black Mesa as long as it still 'feels' like Half-Life. So, we're looking for vanilla-ish maps.

Pre-disaster? Sure!
Post-disaster? You bet!
During disaster? Maybe the best of both worlds!

Single player will likely work best for this compo, but multiplayer maps are also allowed.

Custom content such as textures, models, sounds, and sprites is allowed - but not custom code (dlls). The submitted map must run on an unmodified copy of Steam Half-Life. You can submit in minimod format if you like (folder). Remember, vanilla-ish is the goal here so keep custom content in the Half-Life theme.

Think ahead and get your map playtested - early and often! Hit up the TWHL Discord server and you'll find folks willing to help and try out your map (#competition-lobby and #work-in-progress channels are the ones to visit).

Submissions

Entries close October 22nd, 2024 November 7th, 2024.

Note: to submit an entry, make sure you're logged in to TWHL and the submission form will be visible below.

Post any questions, comments, or in-progress screenshots to the official forum thread, or hit the Discord!

Prizes

• First Prize: The one, the only Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar book from 2004 and now out of print (excellent condition).
• Second Prize: Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories book (excellent condition).
• Third Prize: $25 USD Steam Gift Card.

Credit

Special thanks to Hezus for the theme suggestion and donating Raising the Bar from his prize for the last TWHL Compo!

Header image from Half-Life: Echoes by MrGnang.

Most of us just expected Half-Life's recent 25th Anniversary to pass by just like all the other anniversaries: the community cheers/grumbles a bit but Valve is absent and silent. But not this time!

Out of nowhere, Valve dropped a major update for Half-Life - including 4 all-new deathmatch maps from Valve level designers! Check them out if you haven't - there are usually hundreds of servers online these days!

So we're celebrating the updates and the renewed love for HLDM with a competition! Make an all-new Half-Life deathmatch map, staying as "vanilla" as possible. That is, stay in the Half-Life theme for the map (standard textures, locations, ambience, etc.). But also don't be afraid to push the engine beyond the 1998 limits. Poke around the new HLDM maps for an example of modern maps that are still in the vanilla theme - contamination, disposal, pool_party, and rocket_frenzy.

For this competition your entry must consist of the BSP file only. That means custom textures (wadincluded) are allowed, but you can't use any other custom content. The goal is to make something as "vanilla" as possible, so if you do use or make custom textures, they should fit in with the other standard Half-Life textures.

Need playtesters? (Highly recommended, by the way!) Hit up the TWHL Discord server and you'll probably find people willing to jump in and try out your map!

Entries close January 17th, 2024.
Note: to submit an entry, make sure you're logged in to TWHL and the submission form will be visible after the prizes below.

Post any questions, comments, or in-progress screenshots to the official forum thread.

Update: Yes, func_vehicle is allowed - but not encouraged given its jankiness. Not adding func_vehicles won't adversely affect judging of the map, particularly because this is a "vanilla" theme.

Prizes

• First Prize: The one, the only Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar book from 2004 and now out of print (excellent condition).
• Second Prize: Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories book (excellent condition).
• Third Prize: $25 USD Steam Gift Card.

The Whole Goop Life

TWHL Competition 20th Anniversary Extravaganza

That’s right! Today, December 10th, 2022 marks the 20th anniversary of TWHL’s first ever mapping competition! (You’re excited, I can tell)

Now, the 20th wedding anniversary is referred to as the Emerald Anniversary, the precious green gemstone symbolising the occasion and often the traditional gift. Well, the Valve titles aren’t exactly riddled with precious gemstones, but there is one thing they do have. Radioactive toxic waste. Not exactly the ideal gift for your beloved, but the thick, green goop can mix up both gameplay and aesthetics if applied to a map in just the right way.

So that’s your goal. Create a map or a series of maps in which the luminescent sludge plays a prominent role. An obstacle to be overcome or a deadly environmental weapon to be used? Singleplayer, multiplayer, no players...? OK, scratch that last one. The point is, make whatever you like. So long as it can be run in an unmodified copy of any Valve title (Black Mesa also allowed) on Steam or can be launched via Steam if you opt for a minimod format. (No code changes please)

Create a map from the above template!

Happy 2022!
The goal is to create the coolest bridge to allow players to traverse the gap across the canyon.
Any goldsource game is permittable, and any HLDM entries will be added to the HLDM server.

There are no limitations on setting, style or design - be as farfetched and creative as you want, or perhaps you'd rather make something based more in reality. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

The Buddy System is a procedure in which two individuals, the "buddies", operate together as a single unit so that they are able to monitor and help each other.

The Buddy System

The theme for this competition coordination with an NPC or some other entity to progress through a map or series of maps. As such, the focus is singleplayer this time around. Don't assume that means you need include puzzles, combat or a combination of the two. All your map really needs in order to contend is an obstacle or series of obstacles that can be overcome with some form of assistance. If you want to get really ambitious, why not have it so that YOU occasionally have to help out your buddy instead. Maybe your buddy isn't a buddy at all, but an NPC you need to trick into helping you. Maybe your "buddy" is just a nice, hefty crate? The possibilities are numerous.

Rules

• Your entry must run without fail
• Custom assets may be included, but must not overwrite vanilla content. Use a mini-mod format if it helps.
• Custom content not created yourself must be properly credited in a readme.txt file

Tips

• Plan accordingly. You have eight weeks for this competition, which is not a lot of time. Consider the time you will need for fleshing out, detailing and of course testing
• Singleplayer only this time please. I am aware that the theme would work well with Sven Coop, but the goal is to utilise an NPC or some other element to help the player and vice versa.
• Entries will be judged based on their consistency with the theme. Don't spend weeks obsessing over custom assets and fine details as they will have no bearing on the result.

Entries close on June 1st and the entries will be judged by the community for one week! Good luck!
(This could be extended depending on how badly people need it and how quickly we can put the planet back together...)
Post any questions, comments, or screen shots to the official forum thread.

Summer is upon us and the heat is rising (for the normals who live in the northern hemisphere at least…). What better time to dive into the pool? Or maybe a lake or river? How about a sewer? ...Maybe... Water. The theme I'm getting at here is water.

The Whole Splash Life

The theme of this mini competition is water. Crystal clear, life giving water. Or maybe murky, poopy water of doom. If it's wet, it works. You must make a map where water plays a significant part. Perhaps you drop the player into a partially flooded facility? Maybe they need to fill an area with water themselves in order to solve a puzzle? Maybe they need to drain a toxic swamp in order to reach their goal? It's up to you.

Rules

• Your entry must run without fail
• Custom assets may be included, but must not overwrite vanilla content. Use a mini-mod format if it helps.
• Custom content not created yourself must be properly credited in a readme.txt file

Tips

• Plan accordingly. You have six weeks for this competition, which is not a lot of time. Consider fleshing out, detailing and of course testing
• Multiplayer entries are permitted, but singleplayer maps are significantly easier to judge when playing, and will therefore have the edge
• Entries will be judged based on their consistency with the theme. Don't spend weeks obsessing over custom assets as they will have no bearing on the result.

Entries close on August 12th. Good luck!
Post any questions, comments, or screen shots to the official forum thread.

Brief

You must make a map with the primary focus on teleportation and you can go with any game mode for any official Valve game on Steam. Will you create a singleplayer adventure that sends the Gordon Freeman to some outlandish realm beyond Xen and back again? Perhaps a deathmatch map riddled with slipgates that shoot players across the world. Maybe you have a collection of unfinished maps and simply want to fire an unsuspecting player between them in some totally abstract fight to the death. Whatever you like! So long as something ends up where it wasn’t before, preferably more than once, it will likely qualify.

One point to note, if you opt to use Portal or Portal 2 for your entries, the portal gun does not count. You’re going to need to think of some other unique way to transport the the player in addition to the standard mechanics!

Rules

So long as your entry works with any Goldsource or Source game on Steam and does not overwrite any existing files, you can include any custom content you desire, with the exception of custom code. However, the entries will be reviewed purely on the map and its relevance to the theme. Custom models and flashy new effects might look great, but don't waste too much of what little time you have on them.

Note: Any custom content included that you have not created yourself should be properly credited in your readme.txt file.

Entries close on April 22nd. Good luck!
Post any questions, comments, or screen shots to the official forum thread.

(Screenshots taken from the recently released Half-Life mod, Anti-Climax. Check it out!)

Note: The competition deadline has been pushed back by a couple of days in light of technical issues people have encountered when attempting to submit their entries.At the start of 2019, Phillip Marlowe of the Half-Life site Run Think Shoot Live announced that he would be stepping away from the site and gaming in general. While the site is by no means dead, one thing that will become far less frequent are the Ville challanges. Themed challenges in which mappers would have to create a singleplayer map within a matter of weeks.

In the first of what may become many mini-competitions here on TWHL, I intend to pick up the torch. Not only will this benefit people looking to stretch their mapping muscles, it will also provide a (hopefully) wide new range of singleplayer content for Valve's games for the community to enjoy.

This is very much an experiment. It may have issues, it might need certain aspects to be ironed out in future competitions, it might even fail completely.

Brief

Your goal is to make a singleplayer map in any of the official Valve games that focuses on "ascending." This word can be interpreted in many different ways and that is absolutely fine. So long as your map is based around the idea of ascension. Maybe you will challenge the player with a difficult climb. Perhaps they must navigate a flooded labyrinth in order to reach the open air. Maybe you have greater plans for the player want to send them skyward... or beyond? Or perhaps your map will be much more of the spiritual persuasion.

So long as your entry works with any Goldsource or Source game on Steam and does not overwrite any existing files, you can include any custom content you desire, with the exception of custom code. However, the entries will be reviewed purely on the map and its relevance to the theme. Custom models and flashy new effects might look great, but don't waste too much of what little time you have on them. Note: Naturally, any custom content included that you have not created yourself should be properly credited in your readme.txt file.

Think of it this way: You'd be better off making map set in Black Mesa, filled with standard Half-Life assets that sees the player shoot from a subterranean tunnel to the stratosphere. This would be received much better than a map in a completely new world of your own imagining where the player climbs a single flight of stairs.

Entries close on March 3rd. Good luck!
Post any questions, comments, or screenshots to the official forum thread.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Half-Life, this competition has a single, simple goal: Make a map set within Black Mesa, using only standard assets. The map should look like it belongs in the Black Mesa complex and could fit into the Half-Life campaign without looking out of place. Xen is allowed too, if you're that way inclined.

Your level can contain gameplay, but doesn't have to. Judging will be based on how well your design matches the original game in addition to the standard measures such as lighting, architecture, ambience and texturing. Size isn't too important, but just making a single small room is probably not going to score too well.

For this competition your entry must consist of BSP files only. That means custom textures (wadincluded) are allowed, but you can't use any other custom content. Remember that the goal is to make something as "vanilla" as possible, so if you do make custom textures, they should fit in with the other textures of the main campaign.

Entries close on the day of the 20th anniversary, November 19th. Good luck!
Post any questions, comments, or screenshots to the official forum thread.

Prizes

Because TWHL doesn't run ads or ask for donations, our prizes are somewhat modest as they come from our own pockets. I have a rather large list of unredeemed Steam keys that will be used as prizes for this competition.

• First prize: US$25 Steam gift card, or equal value on an alternative store (must be purchasable from Australia) + choose 2 games from the list
• Second prize: US$10 Steam gift card (or alternative store) + choose 2 games from the list
• Third prize: Choose 2 games from the list

Choose a map from Half-Life 1 (or Opposing Force/Blue Shift) and remix it in an interesting way. Your entry must resemble the original map in an obvious way - whether it be in aesthetics, gameplay or design.

The key is to create a map that feels like the original version, without simply cloning it. We're looking for a new spin on the maps that we all know and love. The new map does not have to be for the same game or gameplay type as the one you choose to remake.

Examples:

• Choose a singleplayer chapter and make a new level for it with the same ambience and style
• Use the layout of a multiplayer map and texture it in a unique way
• Turn a singleplayer map into a multiplayer map, or vice-versa
• Take the major gameplay elements from a map and make a new map that uses those same elements
• Use your imagination! Surprise us!

Visit the official thread for any questions.

Your task is to create a map located on a floating chunk of land. You can make anything as long as the map is suspended in mid-air.

We will be looking for usage of vertical spaces and "over the edge" vistas to remind the player that they are not on the ground. Entries should make use of the floating motif; It shouldn't be a normal map that just happens to be in the sky.

Visit the official thread for any questions.

Good luck!

It's time to show CS some love! To celebrate the upcoming release of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the awesome folk at Valve have helped us arrange something rather special. In fact, they've promised to provide us with Global Offensive beta keys to give away in any way we like!

Naturally, this calls for a Counter-Strike mapping competition. The rules are as follows:

• Pick your favourite official CS map with a distinct visual theme/atmosphere that never worked too well gameplay-wise. Good examples would be chateau, havana, italy, 747, tundra, rotterdam, etc.

• Make a new and improved map that plays well, based on your chosen theme.

Submissions will be judged mainly on how well you have managed to re-create/build on the original theme & atmosphere, however improving the gameplay is also a huge plus.

Visit the official thread for any questions.

GL & HF!

Yes, it's time for the texture pack competition! The rules are simple: make a functional map using only the texture pack we've provided. It can be a singleplayer or multiplayer map, it simply must have gameplay of some kind. You have two months to use these textures as uniquely as you can! The theme for the textures is industrial, but don't feel like you must create a simple warehouse, as we want you to blow our feeble minds with your creativity!

The Goldsource textures are available here.
And the Source textures are here.

There is no limit to map size or complexity. You also don't have to use all the textures, but those who do find a use for them all might just impress the judges more. The textures are also larger than most of the engine standards, so they will need to be scaled down a bit further than usual. Don't worry though, our computers can handle it!

Good luck!

We're doing something a little different this time. There is no theme, and only one limit - the brush count. You have 30 brushes to make something beautiful, so make 'em count! There is no limit to how complex you make the brushes, so long as there is not more than 30 of them.

• Skybox brushes do not count towards the limit
• 3D skyboxes are allowed, but brushes inside them count
• No props, this is all about fancy brushwork
• Point entities like lights and cubemaps are unlimited, but...
• Do not bother with fancy entity setups - it's about the brushes!
• Custom textures are fine, no models obviously
• Displacements each count as a brush, use them wisely
• Brush entities count towards the limit, but there shouldn't be much use for them anyway, we're voting on screenshots, not playable maps.

All entries must be submitted in the official thread, not uploaded to the competition system. We don't have a suitable system in place just yet, so ignore the submit entry option, and any of our regular rules relating to submitting entries.

Submit your entry by uploading a couple of screenshots, 3 maximum, and posting them in the thread with the words "Final". You are free to post 'work in progress' shots in the thread, just make sure you tell us that's what they are. Along with your final image, post a screen of your Map Information panel (Map > Show Information), so we can see how many brushes you're using. You will have to let us know how many of them are skybox and entity brushes, and we'll take your word on that, so don't abuse our trust!

At the end of the competition, you guys will be voting for the winner, so even if you don't enter, you'll still have the chance to be involved in the end.

Your goal for this competition is to map something historical. Now, 'historical' is a pretty broad term so we'll limit it to stuff before 1990: most of you probably weren't alive before then, and if you were, well...go take your pills, grandpa.

Aside from that restriction, we're leaving it fairly open: it could be historical in a video game context, a world event context or heck, even an alternate history (provided you actually have a fantastic backstory: don't take this as an excuse to flimsily work in a map you've already done). We're definitely looking for creativity and originality here, so crack open those history books and get mapping!

We've opened this competition to both engines. The entries will be judged separately. Please read the restrictions below carefully.

You have a month to complete this competition, which will not, in any circumstances, be extended.

All of us at some point in our lives have had a dream. Some are awesome while others are scary. Some are lucid, while others are wet even more awesome!

Your task is to map a dream sequence, which is loosely defined as far as maps are concerned.

Dreams include, but are not limited to:
Surreal environments
Completely random environments that make no sense
Nightmares (which are dreams, yes)
Even entirely sane environments (although discouraged)

You will be judged on how creative your map is, but also how it conveys a 'dream-like' state of mind. As dreams vary from person to person, the definition of a dream is very much up to interpretation. So long as you can justify your map as being a dream we don't care.

Entries will be judged by TheGrimReafer and probably another moderator (who has yet to be decided).

It is competition season again, and due to popular demand we're bringing back another layout compo!

Your goal is to create a singleplayer or multiplayer map based on the layout at the top of the page. This competition will be based almost exclusively on looks and creativity with the layout.

It will be judged in an extremely liberal manner.

This layout is meant to represent the walkable portion of the map only. Extra stuff can be added for cosmetic purposes as long as the player cant walk on it. The map can take place indoors, outdoors, underground, or anywhere.

You may blow proportions out of scale compared to the picture if you want, but the general floor plan has to be there.

The walkable floor space of the map has to follow the layout, but not necessarily how that is accomplished. The curved section doesn't have to be a pure curve for instance, but rather an open space with obsticals that make the player take a generally curved path. On topic with the curve, diagonal hallways dont have to follow their perfect 45 degree angles if it contributes to the map in a beneficial way.

The map can look like anything, but the walk-able floor space must reflect the layout. The bumpy natural line at the top of the layout can be a beach-front into an expansive ocean, you'll just have to kill the player before he can get too far into the water and away from the layout.

The heights may also be interpreted in any way you see fit. The bridge with the two cut-out holes could be only a step up from the floor around it, or a straight hallway could be a ramp.

Gameplay is welcomed, but optional.

Just follow the general room plan, make sure the room connections line up, and you'll be fine; We're not layout nazis afterall. An amazing looking map wont get disqualified because the curvy bit wasn't a perfect curve.

The entries will be judged by Penguinboy and TheGrimReafer.

You've got a little over a month to get an entry together. Go!

For years we've known the puzzle element as the quiet, shy, and intelligent son of the FPS family. Sadly he is often overpowered by gore and lead, his older, brutish, and more marketable brothers. We're here to give him a break. It's time for a competition made just for him :>

Your goal is to put together a unique and fun puzzle for us to navigate through. We're expecting you to take influences from Zelda, Myst, and other classic puzzle games to create everything from upside down rooms, to logic puzzles, to swinging death logs in order to smash our votes into submission. Our definition of "Puzzle" also extends to traps, just dont make them completely mindless.

You may create and use textures and sounds relevant to your puzzle. Absolutely no coding though.

Dont go overboard with them though. We want this competition to end on time. Also note that custom content wont win the competition for you. We're looking at the puzzle more than the custom content here. Unique and nice brushwork is a definite plus though.

Make sure your map works in: Half-Life 1, Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Half-Life 2: episode 2, or Portal. Include a readme with your entry to specify which game it's using.

Your entry must NOT be in mod format. If you have custom content, the content should be zipped in the appropriate folder structure.

Your entry must not contain any "multiplayer" content with need of two or more players. The judges live on opposite sides of the world, therefore that wouldn't work.

Entries will be judged by TheGrimReafer and Daubster. After this competition, we will be returning to the old system in which the winner picks the next competition.

We here at TWHL are sick of seeing the same old maps. Instead, we want to see maps from other games! Your task is to recreate a level from any game for Half-Life 1 or Half-Life 2. You can choose any game you want, but you MUST provide at least two screenshots of the game you're recreating, as well as the game's details.

We will be judging how well you establish the original level in the Goldsource or Source engine. We will also be judging how well you 'refresh' the content: think about the Black Mesa modification for Source for an idea of what we mean. The more creative you are, the better!

There are prizes on the line this time round as well. Check the thread for further details.

Create a singleplayer or multiplayer map from the following 2D layout. If singleplayer, the map must have a definite start and finish. Otherwise, the only rule is that it adhere to the layout as much as possible.

Allowed games are:

• Singleplayer:
  • Half-Life 1 (STEAM COMPATIBLE)
  • Half-Life 2 (Via Source SDK Base)
• Multiplayer:
  • Half-Life: Deathmatch
  • Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
  • Counter-Strike
  • Counter-Strike: Source

About the layout

• The layout is multi-levelled, with the blue level above the pink one. The white levels may be above or below their adjoining levels.
• The stairs are just a guide. These may be replaced by a ramp or some other means of traversing the height difference.
• The alcoves in green are optional additions, and are examples of where the layout can be varied slightly without breaking the rules.
• Note that this layout is for walkable area only, extra stuff can be added for cosmetic purposes, as long as it is not traversable. Also note that the layout has no scale, and is not limited to indoors. Elements such as stairs, rooms and hallways can be stretched to your liking, as long as it represents the basic structure of the layout.

DOWNLOAD THE LARGE LAYOUT HERE: compo_024_layout.png

This competition is for Half-Life 1 and Source, but they will be judged together, and there will be only 1 first place. Custom content is allowed.

Credit to Rimrook for the layout.

Create a map, where water plays the main role! Play with this fluid material, and make something outstanding, We'll be looking for well bulit maps, with an original idea - you may experiment with surreal themes too. So, let the mapping flow! Note the new rules. If we don't get much of a turnout, competitions will be suspended.

For this competition, make something funny. Judges will be looking for something funny, perhaps clever, and, of course, well-made. You have a bit over a month. This competition is open for separate HL and HL2 entries. There will be gold, silver and bronze places available for each engine, and judging will be entirely distinct.

See that picture there? You are to reconstruct it in the Source engine, in either a HL2 SP or CS:S map.

You will be judged on how well you not only establish the theme of the screenshot, but also how well you establish its own unique theme. Creativity and imagination will also be a deciding factor.

You are to create a post-disaster version of the provided base map (see attachment) by modifying brushwork, lighting, ambience etc.

This is a contest to produce good-quality multiplayer maps for MuzzleFlash's HLDM server. The winner, as well as receiving the customary trophy, will be considered for an administration position on the server.

Note carefully that this is a Source competition, and <span style="color: #ff0000">read the rules carefully!</span> Entries breaching the restrictions will be disqualified.

For this competition, you must create an area of interest for Combine transport. This could mean some sort of railroad station, a port, some sort of air/space port or a combination of some or all of these things. You are not required to build a working transport method to be used by the player. The main intention is to make a map that you can move around and look at, not drive through it (extra points if you can actually make moving Trains or Combine helicopters flying around, although the "building" or "buildings" are much more important).

You can of course use any of the Combine textures and props, but the map is not restricted to that theme. An old human railway station transformed by the Combine could also do the job. The Hub can be anywhere (city, coast, snowy mountains etc.)

In conclusion: as stated above, you have the choice to make it feel alive and have some sort of singleplayer story (with combine soldiers etc.) or go for an abandoned feel with more attention to eye candy.

For this competition, you must build a functioning and original test chamber, similar to the one in HL where everything goes wrong. There should be a specimen of some description being tested, and then everything should go horribly wrong (again). You can include other sections in the map if you wish, but you shouldn't let that detract you from making a detailed and original test chamber.

This From Base competition is simple. Get the base VMF, which contains the floor plan, and make a deathmatch map out of it. This means, that you add walls, props, anything, just as long as the layout remains practically unchanged. The judges are looking for the unique styles and theme implemented to the floor plan.

Create a transportation system for Xen! Build the transport and points for the player to travel between using 'it'. The entry can be any kind of transport: the more original the better. The transport itself doesn't necessarily have to be a native Xen thing, and it doesn't have to be in a floating part of Xen, either.

For this competition you must make a map of Dr. Breen's house in Black Mesa. Since this is a Half-Life 1 compo, there's no need to know the character or to have played HL2. We don't really know everything about this administrator, so you have a certain freedom regarding what you map.

We will be judging several aspects of the maps, from layout to originality, amount of detail, etc.

For this competition, you are to create something that is rarely seen in a Half-Life map. This leaves it open for you to come up with an original map.
This map could be a demonstration of a new (or rarely used) style of gameplay, or visuals. It could be an original intro map. The choice is yours.
The maps will be judged on how unique and original they are.

Create a reconstruction of your favourite "Real World" photo.

Find a photo of the place you want to recreate and build that. Your entry must include your reference photo.

Build an HL SP map that shows how creative you can be with glass.
Large or small; plain glass, breaking glass, windows or skylights play an important role in any map.
Make a glass feature in your map that will have the judges wanting to run it again. (This is not a mirrored floor compo).

The original Half-Life had some wonderful machines. Some small, some big. Generators, compactors, Gear driven giants. Squashers, crushers, furnaces, rotors and rollers. Not all these machines actually did anything, some were just their for ambience and feel.

Create a room with a machine and make the machine belong. It doesn't have to do be a "functional" part of the map, but it must look as though it is meant to be there. Enhance it with lasers, func_rotating, func_platforms, moving gears and lights and whatever else you can think of. Stuck for ideas? Have a look in the opening maps in HL... remember that welding robot? The small electricity generators in the corridor?
1st place goes to the most impressive machine that fits the surrounding map.

Produce a room with two scientists in it.
When the player enters the room, the scientists turn to each other and have a conversation. The type, length and wording of the conversation is your choice....

If you use your own sentence.txt and .wav files you must upload the files as a minimod (stand alone game).
This will make judging quicker

This contest was set and will be judged by Andy. Direct any questions you may have to him.

Make a map based on a movie, like a movie, inspired by a movie... movie, movie, movie.

It can be interactive or non-interactive, with scripting or without. Anything, really. Just give it some kind of connection with film or a film.

A simple contest: make an map that involves some kind of trap. There doesn't have to be a single, physical trap - you could put the player into a sticky situation, an ambush, or whatever. Or a combination of the above. Be inventive.

The map can be as simple or elaborate as you want. It can be one room, showing off a single, impressive 'thing', or it could be an entire mini-game.

Here's your chance to show off your scripting skills - design a map that involves at least one scripted_sequence. Take it as far as you want, but remember that you can make a winning map out of one room.

Here's an entity-specific contest that could prove quite exciting.
You're to design something, anything at all, that involves
lasers (using env_laser or env_beam entities). The machine you
encounter at the beginning of HL comes to mind. But don't
limit yourself to big spinning gadgets. It can be a gun, a security
system, a teleporter, some kind of power system. Anything. You
can 'script' it so it does a sequence of events when triggered.
You can use other entities to add sound, light, sprites, gibs, etc. Of course the more exciting and original your 'thing' is, the better your chance of winning.

Working from a similar base map to the last contest, you now have a stranger task: allowing the player to get up to the platform in some interesting way. Yes, there's an elevator, and yes, with a bit of tweaking you'll be able to get it to work properly, but if you're feeling creative, try something else!
).

Download the base map here.

Design a map featuring at least one monster_ospreyz and one monster_apache. Test your fine-tuning abilities with the Osprey's movement path, and your action-balancing skills with the Apache's gun and the Osprey's grunts. You will be judged primarily on these elements, although fancy extras and clever scenery will be to your benefit. Anything to enhance the excitement will improve your chances. Find tutorials on TWHL to help you along the way, and get mapping!

Here's a task that'll test your raw creative ability: you're provided with an excruciatingly sad-looking map and one light fixture. You need to bring this room to life by texturing it and carefully placing the lights. There's nothing more you need to do. Use your imagination. Create atmosphere! By the way, the winner's map may be used as the base for a future contest! (with consent, of course).

Download the base map here.