Spring Map Design Contest

before season 3 or 4 of RAGL?

Organizing tournaments and collaborate on future tournament formats.
noobmapmaker
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Spring Map Design Contest

Post by noobmapmaker »

Well its getting time for a new Map Design Contest!

What shall we do differently this time? I recall good feedback on the voting system (public voting, multiple points to be assigned to maps) and also I recall good feedback on the catgeory system.

Will we do judges again? With the same scoresheet or a different way of scoring? Or will we only do the popular vote?

From the Archive:

The opening post of the contest
The entries
The popular vote
A scoresheet the judges used
The results from the contest


Im not sure I will be judging, also may not be able to allocate alot of time in some months. I will be on vacation in April for 2,5 weeks and in March Ill be running a marathon in barcelona. In preparation for that I will do alot of running and spend time there.

So if we can do it either before March or after April then I can spend more time on it - if that is needed.
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Murto the Ray
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Post by Murto the Ray »

noobmapmaker wrote: Well its getting time for a new Map Design Contest!
Woohoo! :D
noobmapmaker wrote: What shall we do differently this time? I recall good feedback on the voting system (public voting, multiple points to be assigned to maps) and also I recall good feedback on the catgeory system.
I think the category system was great. It meant that maps weren't ignored just because people wanted a competitive 2v2 map or a cool single player mission.

The public voting was questionable IMO as maps that entered early were tested more on streams etc and got a bigger public vote as a result. It may be better to postpone the public vote until right at the end (unless that's what you did before).
noobmapmaker wrote: Will we do judges again? With the same scoresheet or a different way of scoring? Or will we only do the popular vote?
Judges were great, I'd like to see that again. I've already talked about public vote. Maybe someone who isnt a judge should handle the maps. I'd be up for that if i get to still enter my own.
noobmapmaker wrote: Im not sure I will be judging, also may not be able to allocate alot of time in some months. I will be on vacation in April for 2,5 weeks and in March Ill be running a marathon in barcelona. In preparation for that I will do alot of running and spend time there.
If no one else wants to organise it i don't see any reason why we cant wait.
noobmapmaker wrote: So if we can do it either before March or after April then I can spend more time on it - if that is needed.
Oh man, i want it to happen now :(
noobmapmaker
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Post by noobmapmaker »

Ok, I did some reading in the old topics and some thinking/planning.

Actually: I think it would be nice to start the contest at the start of January - lets say 1st of January. People will get ~2 full months to make their maps and we finish @28th of February 23:59 UTC. Then 1 week of Popular vote + Jury vote and we get the final result @8th of March 2017Does anyone disagree? Does this interfere with other people's plans? RAGL?

On voting: last time the vote openened after all maps had been entered and the competition closed, so there was no early advantage for early entries. I think I do like to keep the popular vote because it draws attention/community engagement AND it's the people that end up playing the maps so its good to give them a say.

Another good suggestion - imo - is doing the popular vote publicly. This could be: any account that has been created on Sleipnirstuff before 31 dec 2016 23:59 UTC is allowed to post in the popular vote topic and assign a point to 3 maps of their choice (but not their own map).
Difference: people may choose 3 maps, instead of 1. And make the popular vote public.

Keeping the 3 judges sound good. Ive made a choice: I dont want to be a judge. I'll ask for judges here first, then publicly. Everyone can sign up, but Ill be the one who picks them. Will pick people that I trust for good judgement and because they're known as people with a good eye for mapmaking.
Im OK with uploading the maps, updating the entry topic, etc. Oh... and max 1 revision per map. Tough luck if one spoils that revision oppurtunity.

Categorysystem: yes, lets keep the system. It indeed made sure any map still had a chance to win something. A slight change: the mapmaker may assign his/her map to 1 category and it is auto-assigned to the category of the mod (RA, TD, D2K) Shall we add TS as a mod as well to encourage mapmaking for TS too?

Also slightly important: The Prizes I will add $20. Last year SoScared added $50 but he allready does alot and donates alot. Is anyone else available to fill up that gap? I will also ask this on the publicforum, but if you want to step in allready... you're welcome!
- a non monetairy prize that people will love to win is to have their map added to the official map pool. Would that be possible? Perhaps with some conditions set up by the devs?
My suggestion for prizes: 45% for the nr 1 + 30% for nr2 + 25% for the categorywinner.

Thats it for now... let me know what you guys think on the stuff I worte above, nothing is set in stone.

Summarized:
- Start: 1 Jan 2017 - End: 28 Feb 2017 - Public vote + Jury Vote: 1 Mar 2017 - 7 Mar 2017 - Result: 8 Mar 2017
- Let's keep the popular vote
- Let's do the popular vote publicly (people post 3 names of their favourite maps in topic)
- Let's keep 3 judges. I wont be one, but I will pick them from those who sign up to be a judge.
- I will upload maps, update topics, etc but: max 1 revision
- People may assign 1 category to their map themselves, the mod is auto-assigned
- Add Tiberian Sun as an allowed mod?
- Who wants to donate $$ ? And could the winner be part of the official release?
- Prizemoney suggestion: 45% for the nr 1 + 30% for nr2 + 25% for the categorywinner.
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noobmapmaker
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Post by noobmapmaker »

Categories:

Mapmakers may pick one (relevant!) category:
- 1v1
- 2v2
- Big maps (3v3 and bigger)
- Single player (mission)
- Modded Multiplayer map
- FFA map
- Jury pick by deliberation: The most beautifull map

Auto-assigned to one of the mods:
- Dune2000
- CnC
- Red Alert (RA)
- Tiberian Sun
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SoScared
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Post by SoScared »

Yes!!!

The success of the previous map contest is almost unmeasurable. 7 new maps from the competition in the official map pool in the latest release, plus innumerous great matches.

I'll get more closely involved shortly after the christmas holidays (I'm home Dec. 30th).
noobmapmaker
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Post by noobmapmaker »

Great!

Kyrylo wants to be judge, he is for sure a judge given his real map talk video's and expert play.
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Murto the Ray
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Post by Murto the Ray »

Im not 100% sure about the 1 revision rule. I can see it being practical for normal maps but modded maps/scripted maps may end up having bugs that cant be found until they have been tested properly and maps cant be tested properly since they have to be submitted anonymously.
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Smitty
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Post by Smitty »

I don't know if the contest would be the right place for it, but I would like to see a big push to improve some of the official maps out there for more fluid play. Kyrylo did a great job improving Behind the Veil, and there are several maps out there that could use that kind of edit.

I'm talking maps like Desert Rats, Dual Cold Front and Winter Storm, which are all conceptually sound but could have a lot less artillery duels with a little tweaking.
noobmapmaker
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Post by noobmapmaker »

Hey Smitty,

I'm afraid that will not be part of this contest. SoScared has done good work before on existing maps and posted the amendments on Github as proposals to replace the originals in the official release. If Im correct most if not all changes have been adapted. In other words: make the adjustments, post them on github, create a topic about in on the main forum and they possible will get replaced in the next release!

@Murto: I will allow more than 1 revision on (heavily) modded maps. That seems fair.
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noobmapmaker
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Post by noobmapmaker »

*snip*
Last edited by noobmapmaker on Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:37 am, edited 9 times in total.
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noobmapmaker
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Post by noobmapmaker »

Hey people see my write up above ^

Please comment if you see typo's, unclear rules, bad rules or whatever thought you have... anything goes!

As for the Red text:
- Im still looking for judges. I have contacted people by PM that I know are expert mapjudges and if they say yes, then they'll be a judge. But feel free to sign up for those spots in case they don't want to be a judge.

- Moneys!... I will add $20 to the prizepool. Unfortunatly I dont make tons of money so Im still looking for those extra $50 to get to the same prizepool as last year. If you donate those $50 then your name will be attached to the competition!
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Murto the Ray
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Post by Murto the Ray »

Perhaps cover what happens if a map author reveals that a map is theirs.
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Sleipnir
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Post by Sleipnir »

Please use the proper OpenRA mod logos, not the original game versions.
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SoScared
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Post by SoScared »

I'll fix up the banner tonight. Leaving soon and will be back dec 30th.
noobmapmaker
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Post by noobmapmaker »

Murto the Ray wrote: Perhaps cover what happens if a map author reveals that a map is theirs.
Quote one. To be honest I wouldnt know what to do. On the other hand it's not a huge disaster either. Unwanted but last contest people where able to deduct from the mapstyle a bunch of the maps as well.
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