70 réponses à ce sujet

[Arrtis]

Post here Ideas for the contest.


Taken from CID-78:


Well who ever that wants to hold the torch. I think for one thing that
the contest goal should also be to benefit the community over all.



for example contest could look something like this:



Community Contest #1

Level Contest #1



I
hereby announce the first community contest in a row which goal is to
enrich and reward the community spirit. Each contest will be a minor
task regarding DA modding and all contribution to the contest will be
available and free for use by anyone in the community. The first
contest involves something almost all modules require a decent town.



Design a prospering town.



Requirements:

 The Town shall have at least a dozen or so buildings


The Town shall have a noticeable visible function, ie fishing town,
mining town, farm town and be design around that feature. If you go for
farm town you should include features like miller, grocery market and
bakery

 The town shall have at least one main road going
through the town. Ie “two exits” and have at least one extra street or
alley spawning from it within the town, that has a function; so a space
between two houses doesn’t count.

 The town shall have at least one working transition into an interior area, unused doors shall remain static.


The interior shall match exterior but can differ in scale. Ie it can be
bigger inside but if you go into a square house you should find a
square interior.

 The town doesn’t need to be populated in this
contest. But it shall contain doors and other placeables required for
the atmosphere of the setting.

 The town shall look like
someone can live there; you can pick to design around another race then
human but it shouldn’t be “hostiles” so no zombie towns this time
around, leave that for a Dungeon design contest.

 The town must
be complete and not only a section of a bigger one. You can however
choose to divide it into several areas as long as all areas enter the
contest. If you divide it make sure you have working area transitions.

 And don’t forget the sky.

First Price

15 hours of Scripting Tutoring or work by CID-78

Second Price

10 hours of Scripting Tutoring or work by CID-78

Third Price

5 hours of Scripting Tutoring or work by CID-78



Prices
could be spiced by other community members but the idea is to sponcer
area's where the author might be lacking ie if it's a level contest the
prices should be in other fields then level design so the author can
gain either knowledge or work in fields he/she doesn't already master.
ie if you win a level design it should mean that you already are good
enough in that field.
//////////////////

Anyone else have any Ideas?
I would say for the contest to span a month or two long.

Modifié par Arrtis, 20 juillet 2010 - 12:53 .

[DarthParametric]

You might want to scale back your entry requirements to something realistic.

[Arrtis]

Well Its up for discussion so....What kind of requirements would you choose?

[Arrtis]

Bump spammer has invaded...saving thread.

[mikemike37]

I agree that as "requirements" the above seem a little strict... but call them "guidelines" and you're onto something

might i suggest for something like this a requirement might be that all entries must be freely shared? In the case of these levels, not only the exported layout but also the .lvl file too? just a suggestion, i know not everyone will like that, but figure id throw it in the mix for general consideration. It would be a way of generating positive contributions from all entries, and over time a neat little catalogue of stuff.

Another thing to throw in the mix - the 1st place winner could take some responsibility for helping organise the following event. In this example, the level creation winner could provide the next prize as "will make a bespoke level for the next winner".

EDIT: oh and i would be more than happy to announce these contests and/or the winners in the dragon age podcast.

Modifié par mikemike37, 20 juillet 2010 - 02:11 .

[CID-78]

what unrealistic with the entry requirements? dropping down multiple houses along a road. isn't hard. to full fill all the criterias in the requirement you simply need to get the primary grasp of the leveleditor and areaeditor. beyond that it also require that you "think" ie what a good level designer does. Ie the level should make sense from a RPG perspective. they are not hard requirement but it's what make your contribution a winner.



and the last is so that the contributer is limiting his/her own goal and don't overdo the size of the town and tries to go as big as denerim.



A experienced toolset user can accompish a rough version that meet the requirements within a few hours and the contestants will have weeks.



It's ONE exterior and ONE interior; not all of the houses after all, so i think the requirement are quite nice and isn't that restrictive on your imagination. what requiremnt is worrying you? the whole "town" thing?

[Arrtis]

I would say maybe taking out a noticeable visible function and your good.

How would a mining town look?

Me I am not sure.

[mikemike37]

i mean its all just personal opinion and a lot of this is wordplay, but rather than "the entry must have:", perhaps just wording it as "strong entries will include:"



on the whole though, i think the points stated are good guidance to get some nice stuff going



If you'd like it announced in the dragon age podcast, I'll need to know by wednesday for this fridays podcast (aired 23-July), else i can mention it in the following episode (aired 6-Aug).



by the way, im really in favour of this and it looks like a lot of thought has already gone into it! nice stuff!

[CID-78]

mikemike37 wrote...

I agree that as "requirements" the above seem a little strict... but call them "guidelines" and you're onto something

might i suggest for something like this a requirement might be that all entries must be freely shared? In the case of these levels, not only the exported layout but also the .lvl file too? just a suggestion, i know not everyone will like that, but figure id throw it in the mix for general consideration. It would be a way of generating positive contributions from all entries, and over time a neat little catalogue of stuff.

Another thing to throw in the mix - the 1st place winner could take some responsibility for helping organise the following event. In this example, the level creation winner could provide the next prize as "will make a bespoke level for the next winner".

EDIT: oh and i would be more than happy to announce these contents and/or the winners in the dragon age podcast.

Yes the level files should be included in the contest and freely shared. either to be altered or as learning files for newbiees. (available after the contest is done)

and i was considering making the line of contest part of the winners contribution. ie when we have a price winner town we can put a contest in adding something to it. further level design can go for more interiors.

we can have writter contest for making up NPC population. basically adding the pieces together and in the end have a sandbox module.

well the the guidelines aren't that strict if you think about it. if the town as only one road, it's not really a town is it? it's a hamlet or village. the reason I pick this size is so it's big enough to handle every basic need of a adventurer. and not only be the classic RPG village where every house is there to serve the adventurer. there must be regular houses aswell.

i could dump the interior and limit to one single area however. if you think it's to much to get both right now. i just thought that sqeezing in a basic element would make them a good beginner modules.

[Arrtis]

I would like to make a town the size of the krocari wilds....Except I may not get my hands on the toolset for a week or two and may need a week or two learning to use it...
SO to my point.I would like the Deadline to be at the end of august.

Modifié par Arrtis, 20 juillet 2010 - 02:03 .

[mikemike37]

well so long as making two levels isnt a "requirement", then those who feel their outdoor level is lacking can augment with one or more interior levels, and those who have built a much more elaborate outdoor level needn't feel they also then have to make an interior level too. I think we can afford that degree of flexibility among entries?

deadline date - end of august. sounds fair. Are these contests to be every two months? i think rotations every 6 weeks to 2 months sounds reasonable. that gives a couple of weeks to arrange and announce the contest, then a few weeks to enter it.

Am i right in thinking the prize-giver in each case chooses the winner? or is there some other system you had in mind?

Modifié par mikemike37, 20 juillet 2010 - 02:08 .

[Arrtis]

Sounds fair.The prize giver probably should be choosing the winner as they freely put up a prize.
We should get more to discuss before making any final decisions.

Modifié par Arrtis, 20 juillet 2010 - 02:31 .

[CID-78]

New take on the contest:



Community Contest #1

Level Contest #1



I hereby announce the first community contest in a row which goal is to enrich and reward the community spirit. Each contest will be a minor task regarding DA modding and all contribution and source files to the contest will be available and free for use by anyone in the community. The first contest involves something almost all modules require a decent town.



Design a prospering town\\village\\hamlet



Guide lines:



 The Town should have around a dozen or so buildings and outhouses

 The Town benefits from having a noticeable visible function(s), ie fishing town, mining town, farm town and be design around that feature. If you go for farm town you could include features like miller, grocery market and bakery, if it’s a defensive outpost you might consider putting a wall around it. Basically make sense of it.

 The town should have a main road leading into it and possibly out on the other end. You may replace the road with a harbor if you put it on a island.

 The town doesn’t need to be populated in this contest. But it shall contain doors and other placeables required for the atmosphere of the setting.

 The town shall look like someone can live there; you can pick to design around another race then human but it shouldn’t be “hostiles” so no zombie towns this time around, leave that for a Dungeon design contest.

 The town must be complete; it shouldn’t be a section of a larger entity. So don’t overdo your entry keep it small enough for you to complete it in time. Quality usually wins over quantity

 And don’t forget the sky.

 Reusability is a factor in this contest; so don’t go too overboard with weird additions such as crashed alien ships or other features that would make it specific to a module.

 Custom Content is allowed, note however that such contribution will be share the same way as all contributions. We will however only look on the overall level design rather than which models you use.

 You are allowed to add more than one contribution but you may only win one prize. So no single person can take home all three prizes



First Price

15 hours of Scripting Tutoring or work by CID-78



Second Price

10 hours of Scripting Tutoring or work by CID-78



Third Price

5 hours of Scripting Tutoring or work by CID-78



* The Community Member(s) that contribute the prices will be the final Judges of who will get the prices, if it’s unclear who made the best contribution. If there is too few contestants to fill all prize slots the top prizes will go lost, so encourage people to enter the contest.



I also would like someone else to ship in with prizes. I am not a level designer but it could be fun to take on this and future challanges.

[CID-78]

deadline monday the 30 august morning 07:00 GMT and then have the goal end a contest after the last weekend each month. (winner reveiled within a week) and announcing them one or two monthes ahead dependning on the scope of the contest. so we can have multiple contest at the same time but within diffrent fields, but still give a jack of all trades a month for each contest.



prize givers has the benefit of setting up contests and their guidelines



we also need a way of distribute the files so either we have a Project for each contest or contest subgroup. and perhaps also a group? I haven't spent much though on the logistics.

[Arrtis]

Sounds very nice.

I imagine a project at first and if it is popular make it a group.

[JasonNH]

First of all, I want to commend those involved for the interest and initiative of getting something together like this. I'd like to see the modding community get some new life since it seems we're pretty much on our own for animating it. Of course, with an opening like this you know what's coming, right?

What exactly is the goal of this contest? Is it geared more towards helping and inspiring modders or getting some attention and encouragement from potential DA players? If it is for modders, I'm not sure this is the best use of our time. I can only speak for myself that to release a prefab town of which I could be proud of, probably starts with a minimum of 60-80 hours of work. Since the goal appears to be getting more mods out there, my time would be much better spent completing the level editing assignments in my current project. I suspect my team agrees with that anyway. If there are other talented level artists out there, I would love to see them join existing projects (ours particularly!) , rather than invest a month or more of their time making a prefab that will be of questionable use to existing projects.

Perhaps a different direction could be to have a tutorial or "tricks and tips" contest, where a level artist shows some ways in which interesting terrain can be done?

If the goal is to get the attention of potential players, then it should be a mod contest IMHO.

My $02.

Modifié par JasonNH, 20 juillet 2010 - 03:40 .

[JasonNH]

One other thought. If the contest produces a town that multiple projects intend to use, then the custom level really loses its intrinsic value of uniqueness. That being the case, why not use an existing level from the single player campaign?

[mikemike37]

my interpretation of the goals here...

1. to produce small-scale (5-10 hour) contributions which can be shared as useful mod resources which can slot into a variety of mods. The outcome of this particular contest will create a small catalogue of a few barebones towns which other modders can say: "hey, i like that town... i could use that in my module!"... and adapt it as they see fit.

2. to enhance the better works over a series of competitions... as suggested, a subsequent contest could be: populate one of the levels in the first competitions with NPCs. The level does not have to be your own. In this way, the catalogues quality as well as breadth will be improved.

3. because its fun and a good way of improving community cohesion and co-operation.

Immediately I know you'll jump at it not taking 5-10 hours to complete a level. I know this too, but I think the emphasis here would be on improving small contributions over time, rather than plunging in with a weighty 60-hour masterpiece. Further, I think a level would be an example of one of the more time-consuming contests. Others would be much shorter to do. I do agree that if the only way to hope to win a contest is to invest much more than 15 hours, the barrier to entry would be too high for most folks.

As for hosting/distribution concerns... I believe the Open House group would be very interested in this contest. They were investigating methods of sharing resources.
http://social.bioware.com/group/2113/

if theyre not going to be unique, why not use the dragon age layouts? valid point... consider this more as extending those layouts rather than replacing them.

Modifié par mikemike37, 20 juillet 2010 - 03:52 .

[CID-78]

mikemike37 is right it's a extension and Lothering, Redcliff, Haven and Denerim isn't such a big selection to pick from. the OC will not cover all you needs.



and imo levels is by the hardest thing you can do in the toolset, so it's the most likely thing people both need to learn and they need a larger quantity of free available stuff in, for those that simply can't master it.



besides when it comes to level design most contest will be quite free so you can probably pick one of the levels you already done or is planning on doing for your own or your team module and enter it into the contest and reap the prize with very little extra time.



I would also want to encourage freelancers and modders that don't want the full weight of a complete module on their shoulders.



It's never wrong to show of your work, you might be headhunted afterwards and have a better oppertunity to select a team that fit you best.





I would liked to give contributions to every contestant but it's a high risk that you would reward junk in the end.

[JasonNH]

Well, it seems to me that the stated goals are a bit in conflict then. In any event, I don't want to discourage anyone with my comments. My last word will be a suggestion that if you end up going this route, make the area something more generic and less plot driven, like a forest, mountain pass, a river bank, etc. where a side quest or brief encounter might take place. These types of areas seem more suitable for prefabs in my experience.



Best wishes and thanks again for the initiative.

[CID-78]

a village is a good source for a plot beginning or a complete quest but it's hardly plot driven on it's own. unless you build it that way, which is why I made the note of alien space ships. almost all pnp campaign starts in some backwater village of no real importance. but there is very little that differ those villages from each other.



really I don't think most small towns in ferelden look that diffrent from each other. aslong as you relink the doors to alternate interiors, put down some new signs and repopulate it. I don't think it will ruin the players experience that much. if you compare to how many extra hours of play time they get out of it.



there is plenty of encounter areas in the OC and you spend less time in them. so you won't get bored by seeing them over and over again as fast as visiting the same four town especially since they aren't very generic. but your right we will need more diversity in this area aswell.



in the end I choose this because that what i want to see more of, and since i am so far the only one willing to ship in for a prize, it's hardly to much to ask to get something I could use.

[mikemike37]

mm, on balance i think level is a good starting point for this contest.



and i forgot to say, id be happy to commit some of my time as a prize. preferably modelling as its an area im aiming to improve in... so perhaps: will produce props/other models for 5-10 hours as a prize? but really, if the winner(s) want me to do something else, thats fine too (though id prefer it to be something easily outsourced and standalone which doesnt require me to get my hands dirty in their module!). that can be given as a reward for this or a future competition.i'm flexible.



I'll aim to announce it in the 6 August podcast, which will give folks 4 weeks if thats the first they hear of it. If anyone here would like to come on and talk about it, we'd be very happy to have you on as a short interview or whatever? please let me know, or if not, ill PM-stalk you

[CID-78]

if it's modeling you hardly need to get dirty with their module and i think everyone can think of atleast something they could use as a resource. I personally could use more props and smaller trinkets. not sure how much you can get out of a 5-10 hours thought. i mean you should atleast get one finished product out of it.



I think it's better to be clear with the prices, then leave them open for discussion afterwards. we don't want people to fell like they been fooled.



so as i see it you offer one work day. that is one specific model or several if they are similar or extending a existing set such as any of the OC tilesets, if you include testing and texturing. and that is if they are quite simple in structure and not something dounting like a whole castle or a creature.



I can say that that would be a prize i could use. I allways endup missing a piece when building a level, I do however know how to model but i haven't gotten around to learn the quirks of DA modelling and issues with it. And i have never had any talent in making textures.



well if we go for the 6 of august we can push the deadline to the end of september instead. it's better to give more time for those who only got weekends to work with. we really need the first contest to go well. so rushing it is certainly a bad thing.So Monday 27 of September and the winner should be announce on the first of october. (that's friday the same week)

[CID-78]

dewkl wrote...

So this contest is mainly oriented around environmental art, considering there is no gameplay?

This is a great initiative. I hope it turns out well so this can become a monthly thing or something.

well the level must be playable, so walkmesh and lightmaps should work. so you should beable to take the 1HP default guy out for a walk in the village without issues.

So technically it's a tiny module with bare minimum of content ie a starting area.

but no other playable content beyond that.

it's a newbiee entry level contest, like it should be.