FTW map competition stuff

[bludshot]

I am now in charge of the FTW mapping competition because x8 got busy with school or something

First I want to apologize for the somewhat lackluster way the contest has been going (from FTW's end in terms of better support for beta testing etc - although it's not my fault...) I agree with the frustrations Delerium has expressed (a minute ago in a post on FTW forum) about the lack of testing support from the FTW players.

Unfortunately it's the off-season so a lot of clans and players aren't very active, plus to make matters worse the FTW site is in the middle of being worked on... ie: its busted and lame right now.

However, now that I am in charge of the contest, I'm doing my best to wrap it up on a positive note!

Personally, I think the schedule of having the final betas due on the 11th and then the final maps due the 24th is insane. So we're supposed to do extensive player testing after the 11th (reasonably speaking something like that takes at least 2 weeks), then you guys get the results of all the testing and have like what, minus 2 days to fix up your maps?

First I need to see who is actually going to finish this contest. I know Delerium and Majki are definitely in. But I'm wondering about Flajeen, Vendetta, and HappyDay? Flajeen seems to still be around but says he doesn't think he could get his map done by November 11. Vendetta and HappyDay seem to have dropped out, (at least, they didn't post them on the forums, I am asking X8 to confirm that they also did not privately email them but I'm pretty sure they didn't)

[theRipper]

jesus thats still going?

[bludshot]

HAHA yes. For some reason it's a super long contest.

UPDATE: I am going to be running a short tournament at FTW called The Beta Cup. Week one and two of the tourney will use the November 11 version of the contest maps. During this time, I am hoping the players will give you tons of feedback, which you can use to make any final tweaks to your maps for the final version deadline.

Then, week 3 of the tourney will be using the final version of your maps. Afterwards, the map competition public voting polls will be opened, so that players can vote only after they actually know what the maps play like.

This little tournament is rather last minute, because I wasn't even involved in the FTW map contest until yesterday.

[v3nd3tta]

well I am also busy with RL... GF, School, Job... all that sort of Things.
I got my Gameplay Layout finished, but I do not have worked on any sort of visuals yet now.
I think I will just release my un-textured Map for the beta stage and then look what I can do with textures and stuff.

// sorry that I have not been anyhow active. There was no time for me to do anything.
I thank you for "taking it over" - cuz I needed a Poke of that... somehow.

[johnnyenglish]

Thanks bludshot for stepping in here and trying to get some sort of serious testing organised. I've watched these guys sweat over the last few months and from my point of view the organisation has been a bit poor, promotion a bit shoddy and regular FTWGL updates on urt.info totally absent.

Being unable to organise a piss-up in a brewery isn't a term I use very often but in this case...

For our part I've set up the CMM server so it is running only poland and oaks (I'll add flajeen and v3nd3ttas maps asap) and I urge CMM members to go play - Majki and Del need good quality feedback.

CMM SERVER : dougal.proweb.net:27960

[Delirium]

Thanks so much Blud.

Not really sure about Happy, he's kinda disappeared which is a shame. Flajeen doesn't seem to have enough time to map.

I appreciate the cup even though its a bit late on in the Comp, I will show my interest and join with a team.
Though I think the competition went well, I wasn't expecting this many people to finish but I also wasn't expecting this many to drop out.
Mapping competitions don't seem to hold out too well when they're hosted by someone people don't know and especially when they're not a mapper. My competitions/challenges only really kick off because I guess everyone knows me and respects me, also my comps/challenges have a structure. For this series of challenges I'm actually going to link them all up which will be really interesting.

Either way this experience will not halter my entry in a further competition held by FTW or any mapper for that matter, I think its important the mapping community works as a collective group rather than as competition.


Cheers once again Bludshot

[flajeen]

I was really picky about this map and now I didn't have the time to end it. Will probably make it from scratch, using 3dsmax and make it an urthd map.

[bludshot]

Aw that's too bad. So only 2 mappers will complete the competition then. It's not terribly surprising, imo the contest goals are very ambitious (a completed competition worthy map! no small feat). Like Del says, I still think that overall its a good thing because even with unfinished maps at least it gives some activity to the mapping community.

As far as this little "Beta Cup" competition I'm attempting to run, it really remains to be seen how that goes. Teams might not sign up because it's so last minute. But if I can get even 4 teams to sign up, it will serve my purpose which is to get real testing on these maps.

[v3nd3tta]

let me correct you, 3 mappers. (only if you want to count my map in - currently workin on it)

[bludshot]

As I mentioned in my PM on FTW forums (which you probably didn't see yet), unfortunately your map is disqualified for not meeting previous deadlines. TBH I would have liked to make an exception, but my hands are tied by the strictness of the contest rules which dictate your map is disqualified.

But I hope this doesn't discourage you from continuing your map. Assuming the Beta Cup doesn't completely flop, I am probably going to use your map for some of the matches so you can get feedback too. Filth will get at least an honorable mention at the close of the contest. So you'll get some feedback, some publicity, etc.