Competition 16 Created 18 years ago2005-07-05 02:28:08 UTC by Trapt

I don't think people would have an issue with this, to be perfectly honest. Does it really matter?

I doubt it, seeing as it has been going on for two months or however the hell long it's been. Still, we'll see. It should be okay.

I forgot to mention that this competition is now closed. It closed a couple days ago, actually.

5 entries recieved. Thanks to those who entered (doodle, RabidMonkey, Cpl.1nsane, Kasperg and stealth monkey), much appreciated.

That's one more entry than what I got for compo 14. It seems this is low season for mapping.
A question for the moderators: What compo had the most entries of all?

http://twhl.co.za/mapvault_map.php?id=3423
http://images.rabid-monkey.com/dm_slums

Screenshots and map if anyone was interested.

Entry counts, for Kasperg:

Competition 7: 26
Competition 8: 12
Competition 9: 5
Competition 10: 17
Competition 11: 25
Competition 12: 7
Competition 13: 23
Competition 14: 4

Varies a lot, as you can see.

Well, now that the compo has ended, Cpl.1nsane's entry remains a total mystery for me, as I've played or seen screenies from the rest.
It's a pity that Blackravent, Pepper, Ant etc. dropped.
The dm_anttemple screenshots looked promising

So, Trappy, you want me to help adjudicate?

I just cant work with the hl2 textures, it just doesnt match for me, and im not going to paint new ones, dont have time for that.

I just cant work with the hl2 textures, it just doesnt match for me

Same here. I do have (or make) some time for creating new ones though. Map creating costs more time now but since I use a more structured approach these days, I waste less time detailing area's that finally don't fit in, so that balances things a bit. Modelling for HL2 is also easy if you're used to do it for HL so although it takes some time to adjust your workflow, it's possible and now that I've done it, it's not so bad.

So, Trappy, you want me to help adjudicate?

yes plz, thx. ;o

I'll have to get a server set up with someone over the next week sometime. I'll chuck the IP and password up in this thread and people can join at will, I guess. :>

Ohez, I'll be throwing my Example map on there too, cos it's fun. ^_^

Hm, I'm not sure that I'll be able to judge at any consistent times or periods. Surely there's no desperate requirement to multiplayer playtest it ? seeing as all the layouts are the same?

Hm, I'm not sure that I'll be able to judge at any consistent times or periods. Surely there's no desperate requirement to multiplayer playtest it ? seeing as all the layouts are the same?

Layouts are the same.... yes. But multiplayer testing would mean we could see how well the Z axis was used, how well the RPG trap works, etc. You don't have to play in the multiplayer testing, but we're gonna do it anyway.

Of course, I'm just warning that I may well not be able to participate. Pretty busy :).

lol i was like yey a source comp, but seeing what i made / am making out of that floorplan, mebby next compo haha

Need a hand judging ?

Need a hand judging ?

Not from you, no.

Results.

Congratulations.

(the site might be a bit buggered up in Opera, mainly since I suck at making web pages. )

Have you placed links to the maps? I want to download Combination and take a look

Done. ;>

You might need to refresh.

Congratulations everyone! I must say, the idea for this competition was rather good, even if though one of the rules was rather ill-suited towards the layout (the RPG just doesn't work in small areas).

Congratulations!

I quickly ran through the entries today. I liked Kaspergs and Rabideh's the most because they felt larger and not so cramped. Good job for such a small and cramped layout!

Kaspergs RPG trap was pretty hard to do, it's good if you want to discourage the use of the RPG. I liked the feeling to this map, it felt detailed and had a strong sense of place.

Rabideh had a lot of custom content but I probably unpacked it wrong because I saw a lot of checkerboard textures. Next time, please, include it in the map itself or use easy folders like materials/mapname(/subfolders) and such. Makes my folders less cluttered...
The RPG trap was much easier here, it's as simple as blasting the barrels and the RPG might even fall down. Still a good idea but with the current moveability of items, less trickier to get.
Besides that, a good looking map.

Cpl.1nsane made the best looking and feeling map but indeed, it played horrible. A real shame because the look is promising. The RPG trap was nicely thought out I think, though perhaps a bit too time-consuming to get to. Well, there could be placed SLAMS in the vents...

I didn't like stealth monkey's map. It felt so cramped that I quickly noclipped out of it to see the layout. Well, that's the layout but also the feeling of the map. It had some characteristic area's but other than that, a too generic theme and feeling. Good luck next time.

doodle's map was the most original. I liked the theme and the look of it. It felt small (it was, but ok), the 3D skybox could've been used better to add some buildings and mountains and all to make it feel like it's a part of a bigger place. The RPG trap was nicely thought of though easy to avoid, and basically it locked up some paths in the map which is a bad idea I think, because there weren't a lot of paths in the layout already.

All in all, some nice maps and none of them was really bad overall. Congratulations again.

I've got some remarks concerning the rules though: it was a really small layout to work with, I think this really limited the playability of the maps even though some mappers made the maps feel more free. The RPG trap was a nice touch though, I had rather seen it with a larger layout than without the RPG trap.

w00t! Nice stuff, fellas.

Congrats, Johnathan, especially ;).

I liked the idea of Doodle's map, very nice custom materials etc, but the scaling was strange. Some taller buildings would've helped.
Combination had very nice detail, but it suffered from being a room-to-room map, having always a minimum line of sight
I already commented on the other maps.
Were the 8-ballesque physboxes really that bad ? Well, I had to add some sort of personal touch to the map...

Heh, no, I liked those balls, though I found them really strange in your map, but it's funny.

Rabideh had a lot of custom content but I probably unpacked it wrong because I saw a lot of checkerboard textures. Next time, please, include it in the map itself or use easy folders like materials/mapname(/subfolders) and such.

Yah, I have a build somewhere with all the required materials, but it clocks in around ~40mb :[ - The way the Source materials system works too, I have to leave the materials/models in their proper directory structure (ie cs_assault, de_train) for them to work, as opposed to dm_slums :[

I liked the 8-balls myself. At first I was like "wtf what are these doing here!" but they were really great fun in gameplay - Me and Section_Ei8ht from the BMS team kept chasing each other around the map with them for a while. That map was a load of fun for physitems battles - Much more enjoyable than the ones the VALVe maps offer methinks.

Well done, everyone!

Indeed, well done to everyone.

Mine could've turned out better I suppose... I was actually a bit rushed at the end due to other priorities....so yeh at least you can fit in the doorways :p.
Considering I spent half my time going through hl2 props and THEN dled some more for mine I felt a bit cheated by kasperg's 8ball, that rabidmonkey kept flattening me with. I think all around the outdoor areas worked better for this layout...due to its already cramped spaces...I admit my indoor area turned out pretty cramped :<.
I seem to be the only one who actually liked cpl's doors. I think although they blocked the flow they created a sense of suspense...it was like being in a horror movie...with screeching doors, I never knew which direction anyone was coming from :p.
I agree with ant about the rpg rule. Anyway...a good compo with well deserved places :). Looking forward to the next source compo, I have to say that I had a heap of fun with this one, some of you might even remember a few gmod pics :).
So yeh...read the top line again.

Yeah, when's the next compo going to be? Kasperg decides on the theme, I assume?

Shall we get into the alternating routine? Have the Source one at the end of The Test Chamber?

Dunno about the alternating. Perhaps we need a poll or something?

About the smallness of the layout: Well, it was small. Probably too small. However, considering that I had to add 2 weeks onto an already 2 month long competition means that a layout any bigger would've taken much longer.

And yes, Kasperg decides the next theme.

I was thinking of making the next one singleplayer. Easier to judge and would require using other gameplay elements like NPCs, etc.
I don't really know if it's a good idea since not many people have really gotten into singleplayer hl2 mapping. Maybe this compo could be a good time to start... ?

I also thought of something when I had to propose the competition theme. We've had original maps, maps from base, real world maps... Maybe we could try to make a map based on a text description. I'm not talking about the typical compo breefing, but instead a more literary text (I would write it).
Something similar to:To the left I could hear the sound of some lurking headcrabs, invisible to me in the shadows of the rusted ventshaft...

Hmm, something like your interpretation of Shakespeare Book X act Y?

No, seriously, that could be fun. But maybe, I think it comes down to just having a map with certain elements in it then. Depends on what text you write. Maybe more something of a storyboard thing, the general layout has to be like this and these types of monsters should be encountered, that and that gun are revealed... kinda like a bleuprint or sketchbook for the level.

Or how about some physics puzzles and a little storyline or such? Like the RPG trap, I think those are really nice subjects for HL2 / HL2DM maps. Physics can be used really nice in maps for gimmicks or special events and all. How about that?

Yes, physics should play a big part in a source map.
What I meant by the text description, is that it would include more elements describing sound, lighting, fear... in a word, ambience. It could also lead room for personal interpretation of the text. This recent compo had an specific layout limit, and it has still spawned 6 totally different maps (counting Trapt's example map)

Would it be OK to use this thread for suggestions or should we open another one?

Hmm, that ambience idea is good. I like that.

This thread is OK for suggestions.

I want SP mappage compo ;o!!

Hmm I think if you make a set guide it could limit the amount of creativity...maybe it could be a more vague topic like a genre thing so you could be like, choose out of the following genre's - list here
And then we'd have to make something based around that genre...or maybe there could be more restrictions e.g. whatever you make, you must include the gman and at least four headcrabs...
The thing about trapt's compo is that we could decide what would be on the layout... whereas in this it could be restricted a bit too much if you go witha story...such as : The room was small,damp and three headcrabs lay scrambled in the right corner. -

Doesn't really add much to the thread, really

er, I believe this is a "wtf" moment :<

Doesn't really add much to the thread, really

(I was talking about Mercenary's now deleted post)

So it is decided that the competition will be a singleplayer one. I think we'll stick to the "map a certain theme" instead of a text, since the maps would be different but they would have the same elements.
HLsp has a lot of interesting moments, but It would be nice to make totally new ones. Since the compo wont start until "The Test Chamber" is over, there's still time to think about this.

If I'll ever start mapping for HL2, I'll enter the source compo..

I want SP mappage compo ;o!!

Why? So you can build a huge realistic damn and pwn us all?

I like the idea of using words to describe how a map is made...It could lead to many possibilities and each map would be different.

Next HL compo, I hope my little brother (10) is trained enough to join. He's mastering the clipping tool as we speak and snapping to grid whereever possible now.

Neat. You'll have a month beforehand to train him while we have our first properly-official Source competition :).

Ah that is good news Seventh, can you slip a little hint under the table? I want to be prepared this time...

Er, I haven't organised it yet.

Alex, could you code in the unofficial compo to make it official? The winners deserve their trophies, and recognition somewhere else other than this thread.

Yes, but I'm going to add the competition once the HL one has closed, to make sure all the numbers are in order an' all. Wouldn't want to break atom's code, and I'm pretty sure that adding a newer, closed, tutorial would result in the "enter The Test Chamber" becoming "check out the results for...".

Holy crap! It's Trapt!

anywho, I'm only here because of this competition. I plan to keep my role in this whether I have chosen to quit this noob-filled community or not.

Kasperg, email and/or PM me with details on any ideas you have for the upcoming compo.

Alex, you can add the Deathmatch from Floor Plan and make it official now, right?

Anyway, I'll be popping in every now and then to see how compos and stuff are going, but I won't be venturing into the random spam forums any time soon.

Yes, I am going to post it at some point. Maybe today, maybe not. Might have a Source competition now.