Amatuer Map Making Competition?

The thought just struck me...
How cool would it be to have an amatuer map making comp?

The entrants have a month to register once the word is out that theres a comp...
Then they are given some loose paramaters to work with. EG: first map must only have one level, fit in this size area, blah blah blah...
They have 2-3 weeks to finish the map.
The maps are loaded onto the server for voting.
They stay on there for a week to see which one floats and which one stinks...

People vote on the forums which one they liked best.

Winner gets bragging rights for a month till the next comp where the paramaters are tightened a bit more and the map making gets more complex

Just a thought...

awesome idea, not that i make maps. I reckon there could be some real gold maps made with a little healthy competition.

agree with it to, would be cool to get some good maps out of it.

So long as the voting could only be done after the week was up that it was on the server. Otherwise some of the votes would just be on first impression and not necessarly how the map plays out.

Could possibly have voting in different sub-classes... Eg: layout, playability (i love making new words), first impression, overall, etc.

That way the map with the overall average score wins... If you take my meaning...

Yeah noice would be an awesome idea!

Not a bad idea, would be interesting to have voting open as soon as the maps are on then voting again a week later.

It being "Amatuer" mean I can't enter?

I likes the sounds of this idea.

Mutant..... You should be head judge. You would just rape us otherwise. <3

Mutant Enemy wrote:

It being "Amatuer" mean I can't enter?

No Mutant. You can't enter Kake into the comp

The7thLegion wrote:

Mutant..... You should be head judge.

Pretty much what 7th said is what I had in mind.

I was thinking that perhaps we could get some experienced GG players who would be willing to form a Judging Panel. These people would need to know what a good GG map is. What the server requirements are as far as camping spots and things like that.
Then when voting comes around, this judging panel votes, but also includes what the community and other players have voted (60/40) weighting (if this doesn't make sense to anyone i'll try and explain further).

Well I dont think anyone here does map making for a living...well aside from snow
So everyone could enter?
Although it would be a pretty good idea, I tihnk the subs with an average should be better.

Smurf wrote:

Well I dont think anyone here does map making for a living...well aside from snow

hence why i cant enter

would be alright, but i sorta almost feels that we are trying to get too many ideas flowing atm.

dont get me wrong, this is a madd idea and would work pretty well with having heaps of new maps made by the community, however i think we need to get a few things nailed down first and im sure that fodder, geoff and mutant cannot spend all day everyday working on this server stuff.

Tha Snowmann wrote:

would be alright, but i sorta almost feels that we are trying to get too many ideas flowing atm.

dont get me wrong, this is a madd idea and would work pretty well with having heaps of new maps made by the community, however i think we need to get a few things nailed down first and im sure that fodder, geoff and mutant cannot spend all day everyday working on this server stuff.

That's cool

When everything settles down we can think this over a little more

I'm just finding mapping hardcore and want someone to test my maps against to get feedback on whats good or not

What better way than a little healthy competition?

Electron wrote:

The thought just struck me...
How cool would it be to have an amatuer map making comp?

The entrants have a month to register once the word is out that theres a comp...
Then they are given some loose paramaters to work with. EG: first map must only have one level, fit in this size area, blah blah blah...
They have 2-3 weeks to finish the map.
The maps are loaded onto the server for voting.
They stay on there for a week to see which one floats and which one stinks...

People vote on the forums which one they liked best.

Winner gets bragging rights for a month till the next comp where the paramaters are tightened a bit more and the map making gets more complex

Just a thought...

Dude I can whip up a map in 2 days, 2 weeks and I could have at least 4 maps to run with if I get the time,lol

That's you mystic lol...
Not everyone has oodles of time on thier hands lol
If you whip up 3-4 maps then great. Pick the one you like the most and enter it...

***mystic*** wrote:

Dude I can whip up a map in 2 days, 2 weeks and I could have at least 4 maps to run with if I get the time,lol

Took me 2 days to do KaKe, 3 hours for Izan...

l2 map faster mystic.

Tha Snowmann wrote:

im sure that fodder, geoff and mutant cannot spend all day everyday working on this server stuff.

Maybe they should harden up then . Jokes.

Aside from that yeah You can normally finish a map in a day or two only putting in an hour or two a day for GG. The mapping is generally fairly simple.

The mapping comp sounds like a cool idea Electron. Once a month might be too often tho, cos new maps would need time to be accepted. Heaps of maps start out with ppl going, like, whats this crap (cos its new) then get to know the map, and then like it eh. Also ppl can play on and off for a month and saw a map only once. A quarterly comp might be good.

If they pass the criteria and are on the server, we get good feedback on the popularity of the maps eh. If its based on the DOA server criteria then it's pretty clear what's required. Maps that are rtv'd are taken off and the ones left are in the final? Having them score points on playability, etc is a good idea.

If we set up a clear criteria, then you lose points for negative aspects? like, poor lighting, doorways too small causing blockage, spawn shooting spawn, imbalamced map, texture colours making it hard to see dudes, etc etc.

Dunno, just thoughts. Like the concept tho Electron, sounds cool as.

Quarterly sounds good, we have enuff tryin to organise champs atm lol. Wer'e always like, "fk, is it champs time already?"

Spose I should enter that old 1st map I made, that old gg_aim_shotty

fodder wrote:

Maps that are rtv'd are taken off and the ones left are in the final?

I like this idea, get a bunch of new maps, play em, those not rtvd constantly are entered as 'finals' and left on the server. Then the voting comes into place?

fodder wrote:

If we set up a clear criteria, then you lose points for negative aspects? like, poor lighting, doorways too small causing blockage, spawn shooting spawn, imbalamced map, texture colours making it hard to see dudes, etc etc.

I figured just sub ratings, lighting and texture as one, gameplay as another, balance, bugs, overall? Maybe thats enough, people just give a score out of 10, and can leave comments for improvements, what they thought was wrong etc?

fodder wrote:

Spose I should enter that old 1st map I made, that old gg_aim_shptty

Never heard of that one...remake of shotty?

well the server does have enough remakes of shotty, AND THEY'RE ALL AWESOME

i agree with smurf though, the maps that get to the finals should have to pass the hardest test of all, the rtv test.

Mutant Enemy wrote:

l2 map faster mystic.

We're not all master mappers like yaself mutant,I agree with you though,you should not be able to enter,cos you just NASTY!,lmao

really cool idea electron ........ so many diff ways u could run with it , and winings could come in the form of sumthin other than monetary prizes mabey map stays on rotation for a length of time ... luv the idea

What would the prize be?
Do we get extra points if we intwine eventscripts into it for effects?

I like the idea about the map making competition, I think the voting process could be better though.

Maybe we do it like this:

Get the mappers to abide by specific guide lines: has to be easy to navagate, simple, good looking, fun, playable etc (you can word it better than i can).
Then you organize a time/day where you get a server full of people (doa/regs) and you go through the maps, until either someone wins, or every1 rtv's. Then have a vote at the end, asking people to rate the map out of 10, taking into account how fun it is, how good it looks, if its practical etc etc.
Someone takes down the score, then moves onto the next map etc, until all have been played. Then they tally up votes and winner gets the prize.
Could take longer than a night to play them all, depending how many maps there are, and how big they are.

Only thing about that new guy is that it relies on people blocking out alot of time to go through at once or a couple of occasions to go through them.

Alot of the people that will make the decision have alot of work already with the running of the clan and could be very hard to organise it. Yet alone trying to get a good base feeling from the majority of the members/community

The way of doing it over a couple of weeks and getting votes over time ensures that everyone has their say in their own time and helps make sure that the majority is included in the decision making.

And yes im sure if the map had special features through event scripts it would be looked on favourably if it helps gameplay or the flow of the map etc etc

im the new guy wrote:

What would the prize be?

What? So having your map stay on the server isn't good enough for you?

im the new guy wrote:

Do we get extra points if we intwine eventscripts into it for effects?

Well... If you know how to do that then I wouldn't really call you an amatuer map maker... Just my opinion though...

im the new guy wrote:

Do we get extra points if we intwine eventscripts into it for effects?

Well... If you know how to do that then I wouldn't really call you an amatuer map maker... Just my opinion though...[/quote]

Possibly we will need two categories dont want to exclude the pro's to get a chance to have their map on our server Any contribution is cool in my books, but yes it wouldnt be fair pitting amatures against pro's

The maps would need to pass the basic DOA criterior to get on the server anyway, so things like, brightness, textures, playability etc, are already basically seen to. Rtving and feedback would eject some more maps, same as usual, then we would be left with just a few of the new maps, which then becomes like "the finals".

Only then would you need to pass the final vote, and have all the criterior taken into account and scored accordingly. The server itself will take care of the leadup to the finals eh.

Trying to get ppl to all be present at one time to play is always really difficult, even the champs never have all the guys who will "definately" be there lol. Sht happens

Having an extened time for the new map on the server gives it time to prove it's own popularity, and is the best test.

I think a small group should be the deciding body, for the final votes.

I always notice that an amazingly small group vote on topics out of all the possible voters that we have. The sample really is always so small that it never seems like a valid representation. Scientifically it would not be "a representative sample", and therefore not really fair.

I look at maps with a very cold eye. They either fit our criterior or they dont lol. Then you put it on, and it's possible that it does'nt play like you thought it would. Also if it is voted on as simply criterior, then that is the fairest way too, to keep out personal preference.

The server and its feedback will sway the popularity vote in the end.

Tis my thoughts anyhoot