We're going to get a competition going, and you guys are going to vote on what you guys want. Here's how this is going to work:

-You guys will put up ideas in this thread, while I will keep this first post as updated as I can.

-The ideas that I discourage will have italicized comments next to them, usually for requiring too much custom content. (That kind of thing is entry prohibitive)

-This competition will be goldsource + source, so dont put in an idea that can be accomplished in one but not the other. (IE: no Xen landscapes or physics bonanzas)

-After a week or so of taking ideas, you will all vote on that I've locked in. (I don't want to change votes back/forth as new ideas come in)

-Once we vote, I expect the votes to be pretty divided. Ill take the three ideas with the most votes and we'll do a re-vote on those.

If a tie-breaker should happen, we might have to re-vote again. -_

-After we decide on a theme we'll get a competition page up.

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EDIT:

Since this thread is basically dead, we shall begin voting!

Our goal here is to carve down the ideas that we're interested in to make a final vote afterwards.

When you say your vote, please include the number. Once your vote has been counted, I will make it purple so I don't get confused.

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Ideas so far:

1) Map an adventure. -- A little generic -- Votes: 0

2) Map hell. -- Votes: 0

3) Map heaven. -- I think both engines would have a hard time filling the clean and flowery niche -- Votes: 0

4) Map a haunted house. -- Custom content prohibitive -- Votes: 0

6) Remake Black mesa's lab/ intro area to hl1. -- Votes: 0

7) Remake any part from half life one, but better of course! -- We've sort-of done this, but if you guys want it again I wont judge. -- Votes: 0

8) Psycadelic adventure. Hallucinations and a "magical" adventure. -- Custom content might be an issue, and it would be harder to pull off in source -- Votes: 0

9) Make a map that has different music for each area influencing each. -- Votes: 0

10) Design a cliff side home. -- A well rounded cliff-scape could be difficult in goldsource -- Votes: 1

11) Make an abstract map/place. -- Votes: 0

12) Map a secret/ secret place. -- Votes: 4

14) Map a dance club. -- A little cheesy methinks -- Votes: 0

15) Map a trap. -- Votes: 0

16) Map a Dynamic Environment -- Interesting, but could be a bit source/goldsource segregated. -- Votes: 1

17) Map an old, decayed environment. -- Votes: 0

18) Map a nightmare. -- Its quite possible every map could use the same set of textures. Depends on your definition of nightmare. -- Votes: 0

19) Map SCIENCE! -- Votes: 3

20) Map an alien abduction -- Votes: 0

21) Map a cartoon. -- Might be difficult depending on how photo-realistic the cartoon is/custom content prohibitive -- Votes: 0

22) Map a TV show. -- Votes: 0

23) Map something "watery". -- Votes: 1

24) Map a wasteland. -- Votes: 0

25) Map a Temple. -- Votes: 1

26) Map a Dream. -- Votes: 8

Hah, I was just about to throw a poll up, but we'll use this instead. If we get it down to 5-6 preferred ideas, the poll option is always there.

I like the abstract and secret place ideas the most.

Cool, if I come up with any other ideas i'll mention them.

I like map an adventure.
It's vague like some of the older competitions.

Most of the others are too specific. With a theme specified by the competition, a lot of creativity is lost.

Map a trap.

I've had an idea for a while but was unsure of whether to suggest it as a mini competition or community competition or if I should just implement the idea in a map. This pretty much gives me the motivation and the opportunity to propose it so here it is (luckily I had most of it written down):

Map a Dynamic Environment

The theme of the map should fit into the dynamic environment category. Things moving, things able to be moved, things that move when something is triggered, things that move when something is shot, things that move in a unique way. This may seem a bit broad, but that is the point.

Quasi-static elements that have the ability to change either through a pre-set script, or ones that change at the player's whim, eg: shootable objects that attain visible damage/explode, or areas that become disabled/enabled due to damage to the environment.

Using the proper blend of different ways of changing an environment should prove to stretch all the muscles in your mapping body, with quite a bit of strain on the old noggin. Complex entity work combined with appropriate detail and environment mapping is a must, however a clever entity setup may be able to mask mapping weaknesses and visa versa. The key word in that sentence is "may."

The level of difficulty of this type of competition is somewhat high with respect to a coherent finished product, but it should provide an adequate amount of artistic freedom given to offset this. Proper planning and even better execution would benefit participants greatly.

Some things to keep in mind for the entrants: Things that are breakable should look like they can/should be broken, and with the proper force necessary, eg: a thick brick wall shouldn't explode due to a single stray bullet. Also, if an area that is sealed off in multiplayer should have the ability to be unsealed if there is only one way in/out.

Care should be taken into not overdoing things and interfering with the "realism" aspect. Realism is in reference to shooting or touching something and having it instantly break, aka highly improbable events regarding physics. Things that happen due to player interaction should make sense, however if you can pull something off that doesn't quite make sense but looks good, go for it.

In summation, the map you are to create should be chosen with a theme that accompanies lots of stuff that moves/has the potential to change in appearance and/or shape. An environment that can be shaped by the player in some way or a map that changes by itself. The map can be a sequence of events, a seemingly static environment, or a fully dynamic environment that constantly changes. The ideal entry will have a proper combination of the three. Gameplay would also be welcome if pulled off properly.

Further (albeit weak) examples:

Single player: Half-Life 1: Residue Processing - Lots of conveyors, func_rotatings.

Multiplayer: HLDM: Undertow - Lots of flowing water, drowning room, things that move/cause movement in general.

Source games should be quite obvious as to the routes that can be taken in terms of player interaction, but should require just as much thought and execution as the Goldsource games. I have an example for Source but I can't remember where I saw it so it only exists in my mind.

Goldsource entries should probably be judged separately from Source/OB entries. The way in which environments are made interactable in Source differ from that of Goldsource which I feel warrants the separation of the two. This of course is dependent on the amount of entries and ultimately the judge's decision. Also, if this is chosen I wouldn't mind either aiding the judges in what to look for or judging in general.

Hopefully that wasn't confusing to anyone and if you think it needs further clarification I'll try to explain it.

Yeah Strider, the poll thing sounds pretty good when we wittle the ideas down a little.

I would like something like this:

Map an old, decayed envorinment (lab/house/ etc.)
or
Map a nightmare

Now that I think about it the nightmare would be awesome. Not only it will allow you to make spooky environments, but there is almost no limit to what you can create, anything random will do; its a nightmare, you don't know what can happen, so I kinda would love that theme.

I like the nightmare idea.

Yeah, you could create all sorts of cool stuff with it, not just a blank ordinary level.

Strider: that is the perfect avatar for you zomg...

P

So we can't map heaven but we can map hell huh?
This is discrimination

Map a science themed map. This could be anything that relates to science really(even SCI-FI, but I discourage this, make it real ). For example... map a science experiment, map a scientific area etc...
There are plenty of ideas that you can get from channels like National Geographic, Discovery or science magazines, even Wikipedia if you know what to search for.

Wow. You really love science don't you.

Map an old, decayed envorinment (lab/house/ etc.)

Oh, this this. I would love to see this theme in the competition.

I like the idea of a normal-ish looking enviroment, but full of secrets.

Map an old, decayed envorinment (lab/house/ etc.)

Yes please.

Map a Trap would bring me out of hiding =)

I believe Grim said this is not the vote thread. Besides,

Map an old, decayed envorinment (lab/house/ etc.)

is kinda like the "destruction" compo....

Do all people like that much to destroy ? :(.

a decayed environment is nothing like the destruction compo. Theres a big difference between a level with shiny new stuff being blown up and an old creepy decayed rusty place thats already had its fair share of blowing up.

I like the alien abduction one.

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May I suggest: Map your name's Theme.

I.E. My name is Tetsu0, and for anyone who doesn't know, that's drawn from AKIRA [The movie].
Or you can make any map that relates to your name / how you chose your name / the influence behind it.

I like the cliffside home idea, and also rermake an area from HL. And I feel I must point out that Tetsu0's idea wouldn't work, as not everyone has a theme to their name. For example, my name is taken from my initials. I don't see how that would be mapped.

How do map JeffMOD?

Personally, I like the secret place and cliffside home ideas, and the alien abduction one has potential as well.

Yea alien abduction was my favorite suggestion. It would be awesome!

And as for map a nightmare I had suggested map a dreamin a pm which would be a little more broad and could be both a night mare and a good dream.

map a secret would be awesome because secrets are really fun to explore and find. I like ones that are in a normal plain looking map that you wouldn't expect to find a secret.

make an abstract map/place would be very interesting to do in the way that abstract art is well "really abstract and strange".

I'm afraid there are becoming so many ideas that the voting process might not work very good. But I guess we will see. I had submitted many ideas but I sent my favorite five to strider so maybe you could just use those five as my ideas.

These ideas may not be as broad as "water" but I don't feel they are constricting. They are just ideas/themes which is a must in a competition.

As for make a trap, that has been done before in a competition but I think it would have a better outcome if it was done again.

Making a decayed map is cool but could be implimented into other maps/ compo entrys. Imagine what you could map with the abducted theme. The ship, the place of abduction, how it happens, aliens/monsters/ whatever is doing it and why. What happens to you/ what do they do to you. It would be really creepy and a cool experience.'

A dynamic map is a good idea but maybe a little too broad. Good job explaining what you mean though. A factory or something would work for it.

Whoah zeeba-G; it's a competition of a map, not a mod!

19) Map SCIENCE!

Oh sweet Jesus, yes.

2) Map hell.

3) Map heaven. -- I think both engines would have a hard time filling the clean and flowery niche

This could be a good one, and the greened-out objection isn't necessarily so: no one knows how heaven looks, no? Each person's personal interpretation of heaven or hell could provide interesting results... I'm thinking a lot of gamer-related heavens where everyone wears Freeman glasses and crowbars are on the house.

It's would be difficult to map my names theme. Place or bomb...

17 or 18 or the decayed environment one.

I've got some creepy textures loaded in the editor anyways

Ooh, I've got an idea! Map somewhere from a movie

chea i like that i also like map a nightmare very much..

Ooh, I've got an idea! Map somewhere from a movie

There's already been one. It had such an awesome turnout though

I strongly disagree with map a nightmare or anything of the like.

Edit: The theme is far too restricting, but also broad in all the wrong areas. Unless the goal of the competition is to see how users tackle a specific environment, "Map horror" or "Map something scary" would be more appropriate.

If this turns into a "map a specific environment" competition, I still feel that a nightmare/dream is a poor environment choice. EG: Something like "map an island" would be more appropriate. Those that wanted to map a nightmare can still make their island a nightmare, in such a case, but those that aren't the best surreal thinkers are still given a fair chance.

If this turns into a "map a nightmare" competition, you can still make your nightmare an island. I don't think it's restricting at all.

I feel it doesn't cater properly to all users.
Map an island was a bad example.

Also: A nightmare that takes place on an island might not be viewed the same as an island with a nightmare theme. The latter would be seen as more unique than the former with regards to their respective tasks.

A playable nightmare would be pretty difficult, considering you can't really control your movements when you're dreaming.

Also:

A well rounded cliff-scape could be difficult in goldsource

BS. Unless you don't know how to properly use vertex manipulation.

I c what u did thar tj.

instead of map a movie, how about map a cartoon? or a place from a TV show?
Dibs on Destiny from SGU

Wow, I love the science theme!

I was going to suggest water theme or "Wasteland" theme but meh. Science beats that!

I see what I did thar also.

I saw it too!

Whatever the theme is, I'm sure it'll be good and I plan to compete.

Can't we just skip the whole week part and vote tomorrow?

I think its plenty of ideas, but I still want to wait a week.

Not everyone comes in every day so I think we should give those people at least another day or two to put in their ideas.

Map-a-trap could be good.

I also like the idea of the watery map.

strongly disagree with map a nightmare or anything of the like.

Edit: The theme is far too restricting, but also broad in all the wrong areas. Unless the goal of the competition is to see how users tackle a specific environment, "Map horror" or "Map something scary" would be more appropriate.

No it's not. A Nightmare can contain absolutely anything. Everyones opinion of a nightmare is different. A Nightmare doesnt even have to be scary.

A Nightmare doesnt even have to be scary.

Yes it does, that's half of what defines a nightmare.

And a nightmare competition will be expected to be highly surreal/dreamlike. Even if surreality isn't really what the judges are looking for, the idea of a map being representative of a nightmare might influence the results subconsciously.

Anything that isn't surreal might then be subject to poor reviews, regardless of how scary or well-constructed it is.

"Map a nightmare" is essentially "map a scary, surreal map", and that's limiting because it forces 2 themes upon the mapper.

Soup i don't understand your opposition to a nightmare theme because it's "limiting".. the whole idea behind a theme is that it limits or defines what is appropriate to one specific idea.

again,i don't really see the problem, but honestly, i don't really care what is chosen for the new compo as long as we get a new one soon!

)

Nightmare
?noun
1.
a terrifying dream in which the dreamer experiences feelings of helplessness, extreme anxiety, sorrow, etc.
2.
a condition, thought, or experience suggestive of a nightmare: the nightmare of his years in prison.

(Taken from dictionary.com)

As I said, A nightmare doesn't have to be scary like a horror movie.
Soup Miner, Your post is invalid.

His post isn't invalid. His opinion is that it is too limiting. I think so as well and don't like the idea.

I kind of agree with Soup. It'd just be easier to go for a more general 'dream theme', so it can be good/bad/pink-and-fluffy or whatever.

But let your votes do the talking. We'll tally them up in a week or so and start a poll for the top 6 themes, I think.

Map a dream.

Great idea

Ok, I'll probably vote for "map a dream", since it'll still allow us to map nightmares, and it would be stupid to have some members vote for "map a nightmare" and some for "map a dream", it would probably lead to both ideas losing.