50-Hour Mapping Challenge – CromulentVille

7th July 2017

Hello and welcome to the second 50-Hour Mapping Challenge – CromulentVille.

Below are the details.

PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY.

As always, if you have any questions, you can either post a comment or if you require a private reply, send Phillip an email: [email protected]

Theme Details

Your task is to create a perfectly cromulent map.

Is your map silly? Absurd? Weird? Hilarious, crazy, or a complete joke? Great! These are all cromulent maps and they’re exactly what we’re looking for.

Use this opportunity to embiggen your creativity.

If your map leaves players saying, “WTF did I just play?” – perfect!

Make players laugh, make them cry – but make them FEEL something. You have 50 hours!

GOOD LUCK!

Deadline

The deadline for submitting maps is:

Sunday 9th July 2017 at 11:59pm Central European Summer Time

Check you timezone!

General Advice

DO NOT GET TOO AMBITIOUS. Something is bound to delay your progress. Leave time for testing, bug fixing and polishing!

Testing

50-hours doesn’t give you much time but it’s always good to test if you can, especially early in the dev phase.

Prizes

Wolfenstein The Old Blood will be given to the winner.

Judging Criteria

I am pleased to announce that for this challenge I will be joined by DolmotheDouglas for judging duties.

We will select the winner as the best map that uses the theme in a creative and fun to play way.

Chat about your idea and progress. The judges may visit but DO NOT use it as a way to ask questions about the theme – use this post or Phillip’s email: [email protected]

General Rules
  • Maximum one map per mapper per entry.
  • The map must be original and not have been released publicly before.
  • The map must run in system with only Ep2 installed
  • By entering the competition you grant PlanetPhillip.Com and RunThinkShootLive.Com the right to release the map as part of the RTSL-50-Hour MC: CromulentVille Mod.
  • Maps must not appear on ANY other website before the release and for one month after the release of the mod.
  • No assets from retail games other than HL2, HL2: Ep1 or HL2: Ep2 are allowed.
  • Other assets are allowed with written permission from their original authors, which MUST be included in the entry.
  • Phillip’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into about it.
  • The map MUST have a proper name.
  • The map MUST have a proper filename: MapName_50hmc-c2.bsp
  • All entries must be sent to: [email protected] no later than the deadline.
  • If you do not receive a confirmation email without 24 hours of sending an entry, contact Phillip IMMEDIATELY.
Submission Email Format.

SUBJECT: RTSL-50HMC-MAPNAME (Not filename)

BODY:
1. RTSL-50HMC-MAPNAME (Not filename)
2. The name you want used for credit. For example Phillip Marlowe AKA PlanetPhillip
3. Link to compressed file (or attach it to the email)
4. Notes you want included in the readme.txt

NOTE: I encourage all users to include a proper readme-mapname.txt file but it is not compulsory.

DO NOT CALL YOUR FILENAME CROMULENTVILLE.ZIP OR SIMILAR. USE YOUR ENTRY’S NAME!

Submitting a chapter image with your entry.

For this challenge, I will allow entrants to submit their own chapter image.
All I need is the image – you do not need to create the VTF, I will do that.
It’s not compulsory but it will be appreciated.
This can be done up to 3 days after the deadline.

RULES:
1. Image should be 16:9 ratio.
2. JPG or PNG is best.
3. Weapons and HUD MUST be removed.
4. Neither too bright nor too dark.
5. The FOV can be changed. I use between 75 and 90.
6. Visual effects can be added but be sensible.
7. No text must be added.

THINGS TO CONSIDER:
1. The chapter images are small. Some images look great full screen but look meh when small.
2. Don’t spoil the map for the player. I find something near the beginning is better, but not always.
3. Don’t spend hours trying to get it perfect. Often people use it for reference only.
4. But, if you can find the right angle and lighting, a good chapter image can get players excited. Do not neglect the promotion of your work.
4. Funky, weird or strange generally don’t work. Keep it simple.

Final Thoughts

If you have ANY questions, please don’t hesitate to ask, either here in the comments or by email if you prefer a private answer.

12 Comments

  1. Please, what does Cromulent mean? I can’t find a good definition online. Is it something like “Absurd”?

    1. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cromulent

      It’s a Simpsons joke, apparently, which explains the header image. It’s intended to be an obscure, abstract word, it’s probably a parody of those really complicated and specific literary/artistic terms.

    2. Cromulent is a word coined by the Simpsons in 1996. It is defined as something that seems legitimate or possibly acceptable, but is actually completely fake or false.

      By that definition the word itself is quite cromulent indeed.

      As is the word ’embiggen’ which I noticed in Phillip’s briefing and was coined in the same episode! Nice. 😛

      1. So, basically, make something very silly that hopefully makes players laugh/scared/cry?

        1. Something unexpectedly absurd. Profound.

      2. zoe

        Truthiness (I’m a Colbert Fan!)

  2. SillyVille, finally!

    P.S.: i liked that timer-thing you had, really simplifies tracking of deadline. Can we have one this time around?

    1. Agreed! The timer was awesome

      1. I’ve added it but I didn’t think it was needed for such a short event.

  3. I have added the email submission rules and a countdown timer.

  4. I’m really happy with my idea for CromulentVille, but I’m afraid since I didn’t take advantage of all fifty hours it ended up being a little bare bones. Hopefully it will be good for a laugh, which I think might be the point of this theme.

    I can’t wait to see what the other entries are like.

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