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The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 8:25 pm
by Blackened
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Welcome to the Dark Tournament Recursion!

In this tournament twelve strong players will be pushed to their limits and we will determine for once and for all(again) who can adapt best to uncertain circumstances. In a Round Robin format the players will all play each other in a best of three on maps they know nothing about. Scouting and acting upon new information will be essential to win.


About the maps


In the past months a dig site discovered something, something dark. Eighteen more dark maps. None of these maps have been uploaded to the resource center or have been exposed to any other player – The research team themselves have seen and tested the maps. The minimaps have been replaced with a black preview and shroud and fog of war are turned on for all maps. Players will not have any information about the layout of the map, symmetry/asymmetry, high/low eco, presence of water, presence of oil or the presence of hostile/neutral/friendly actors. Players will have to discover for themselves. Also with the help of Abcdefg30 the spawns are removed from the minimap so players will have no idea where they start.

What I can tell about the maps:
1) In every map the players have more or less equal chances (as much as possible).
2) If a map is modded, players will be informed about all modifications before the game starts.
3) Tiebreakers/third games will be mini game based. Don't worry. The mini games are still balanced.

Tournament information

Twelve players will be split up in two divisions of six players. These six players will play all their opponents once in a best of three(=Round Robin format). We will select a random DARK-map from the regular map pool with a RNG (Random Number Generator). Tiebreakers/third matches will be selected through RNG from the Minigame map pool. When the map is played it is removed from the map pool, so no map is played twice. (with the exception of minigames should the need arise.)

There will be two divisions: Division A and Division B with equally strong players (see Registration and Seeding). Both divisions will play parallel games: start at the same time on the same map. Winning 2-0 will grant 3 points. Forcing a third game will result in the winner getting 2 points and the loser getting 1. After the games are played the division winners will determine who is the true Lord of Darkness and the runner up will determine who is nr. 3. How this is determined I will not tell, but if you read the rulebook carefully then you might find a clue here and there. (Or you could just read what is written above again. Probably slowly this time. :P)

Prizepool
Nr. 1, aka the Lord of Darkness: $70
Nr. 2: $40 (the Duke of Shade)
Nr. 3: $30 (mr. Cloudy)
In each division A & B the player with the highest upset will receive $10.
The full prizemoney is brought to you by Blackened (however much is needed) and anyone else who wants to donate.
NoobMapMaker has pledged 30$!
SoScared has pledged 50$!
Wippie has pledged 30$!

Upset
When all the games are played we will see who had the best win against a higher ranked player. The upset score is calculated as follows: (rank# of the low ranked winner) & (rank# of the high ranked loser) = upset score.

Spectators & casting
No other spectators are allowed except tournament officials. Also we will watch the game with shroud on for the first couple of minutes of the game to experience the map from the players perspective.

For each division we will have a stream that casts the games!
Division A: cast will be hosted by 70% probability it will be netnazgul
Division B: cast will be hosted by Someone else!

We will have commenters joining the casts (Probably. At least Blackened): Jazz is a person who exists with a very particular set of skills. Skills he's acquired through a very long and eventful career of debugging ORA servers.

Dates
Registration: 1st August
Confirm registration: 23rd August
Announcement of Participants: 24th August
Tournament Date: 31st August @ 5pm UTC


Lobby settings

Mod: : Red Alert (1v1)
Spawn : Random
Faction : Players may choose their faction, unless the faction is forced.
Explored Map : Off
Short Game : On (unless a minigame requires off)
Fog of War : On
Crates : Off
Debug Menu : Off
Starting Cash : $5000
Tech Level : Unrestricted
Starting Units : MCV Only
Game Speed : Normal
Bounties: Players choice
Reusable engineers: Players choice

Registration and seeding

The players will be sorted by the Harry Potter Sorting Hat. This won't help for their seeding. But it's very important we know who is Slytherin and who is Gryffindor. Seeding will be done by established ranks from RAGL or other tournaments and officials determination for anyone who falls outside that bracket.

Current sign-ups

1. The Duke of Shade (AKA Happy)
2. Upps
3. Orb
4. Anjew
5. PieChild
6. Sigil
7. ZxGanon
8. GOAT
9. Kwendy
10. Moods
11. BigBadBain
12. Punsho
13. Mesang
14 FiveAces
15. HansNilhall
16. jur
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23
24.
(anything passed 12 falls into reserve/sub spots in case of no shows or players having to cancel OR if 24 can be reached, 2 entire new divisions will be opened)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Sir Blackened, 18 new maps that have never been played, they are probably bad, uninspired or unbalanced?
Okay listen here bud. 1 I didn't even maybe not make all the maps okay. And The ones I'm I did make I'm proud of okay so I could use a little less judgement here. I Don't see you making any dark maps huh?! That's what I thought.

Q: Playing with shroud on and not knowing anything about the map? That adds an element of luck.
True, it does add an element of luck. But dealing with the shroud and the unexpected is part of this tournament. Both players will start under more or less the same conditions so theoretically they have the same chance of being unlucky. Also the maps have been designed in such a way that if you scout properly, you will be able to get things going and reduce the chance of being unlucky. Additionally, sometimes luck is fun.

Q: Can you tell more about the maps?
No, I want to keep players literally in the dark(HEH) as much as possible. The 18 maps are very diverse in size, shape and theme, that's all I will say. If any modding (i.e. changes to stats in the .yaml-file of units, buildings or other actors) is done, then players will be informed before the game starts. But maybe none of the maps are modded. Or all... who knows? Be prepared for anything, expect the unexpected. I will tell you that the maps are all in the red alert mod. Sorry TD boys.

Q: If I know nothing about the map, then I will always choose [faction] because of [reasons].
For every map I've tried to keep in mind that people should be able to compete evenly with all factions. So I recommend playing with the faction you feel like playing with. And if the map is massively imbalanced to one faction it’s probably going to be faction locked anyways. Or err- look over there!

Q: Is Mark of Irish descent?
Obviously. Also who's Mark?

Q: What happened to nubmapmaker why isn't he doing this tournament?
Okay I'm pretty sure he's at least midmapmaker now. He's only been a noob for like 10 years or something. Secondly, you should probably ask him okay. Maybe he's here and this question is stupid. Maybe he ends up being the lord of darkness?!

Q: Will these maps be available after the tournament in case we really like one of them?
Only if you ask very nicely.

Q: Will this be played on playtest or release?
It all depends on when the next playtest comes out and how stable it is. Certainly the next version has a lot of new features and this tournament is on the lighter hearted side. So perhaps playing on playtest could add an additional level of unfamiliarity.

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 9:19 pm
by Clockwork
As current duke of shade, I wish to signup to take my rightful crown of lord of darkness.

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 12:00 am
by Upps
sign up

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 2:52 am
by Orb
I'm in

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 3:55 am
by anjew
It doesn’t say how to register
I’ll assume this post will suffice

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 6:21 pm
by PieChild
I too would like to sign up.

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 10:23 pm
by Sigil
I'll play, lets see what happens!

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2019 10:29 pm
by Blackened
If 24 people sign up the tournament can be expanded to accommodate that size. That does however mean the tournament will take longer.

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 8:50 am
by ZxGanon
Count me in.

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:02 am
by goat
I'd like to sign up

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 11:11 am
by Kwendy
I want to participate.

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 4:34 pm
by Antarctica
Very cool idea to have this type of fun again. Kudos and respect for the work that went into it. Sadly I'm not available at given time, but will enjoy watching it afterwards.

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 4:52 pm
by ROCKhardFISTnips
Im in so long as its weekends or after 6pm est
Moods

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2019 6:09 pm
by Blackened
The go to time right now is 5pm utc. which is like 1pm est. (on the weekend)

Re: The Dark Tournament Recursion

Posted: Sat Aug 03, 2019 9:29 am
by Punsho
I shall join as well