And so it begins…

Welcome to the very first mapping challenge as part of The Hammer cup 2016.

The main element of the map must be a chasm. Canyon, gorge, abyss, rift – whatever you want to call it, but it must be the key feature of the map.

This chasm can be inside or outside. Think the perilous pits in Black Mesa, the insane heights inside the Citadel, and the dark antlion caverns.

These are just Half-Life examples to get your brain started! Put a new spin on one of these, or come up with your own thrilling chasm!

The player is not required to cross it but it must form the main gameplay element of the map.

Bridges CAN be used but are NOT compulsory and they can be anything from huge solid metal bridges to loose, wonky wooden ones.

There CAN be puzzle elements involved in crossing the chasm or just combat.

The player could work their way to the bottom and up the other side or fly across!

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I am incredibly excited to announce a new initiative from RTSL called “The Hammer Cup”.

I hope this will be an annual event, but let’s see what happens with the first year!

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Hi Everybody.

This weekend, Darren will probably be streaming Chaseville on Saturday at 1pm GMT.

Phillip will be starting his Strider Mountain adventure. He will be streaming on Saturday Morning, Sunday morning and maybe in the afternoons too. You will need to check the RTSL Twitter feed for announcements.

On both streams we will be giving away a few copies of Decent: Underground as well as at least one copy of Circuits, all courtesy of SteamContests.com AKA Aaron’s Giveaways, so a HUGE thanks to Aaron.

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So, I have been thinking about the next mapping challenge and one thing that I need to decide on is the date and deadline.

I know people get busy around Christmas time, but I also know that many people have free time.

I would like to know what sort of schedule potential entrants would be interested in.

Please tell me your preferred dates and I will take into account all the responses.

I haven’t decided on a theme yet, so let me have your ideas on that also. I have one idea but I am not convinced it’s right.

Also, this time the prize won’t be games, at least not the first prize, but a set of three HL/Portal inspired prints. The winner will have to buy the frames, but I think it’s a better prize than just a game.

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We have at least two livestreams scheduled for this weekend and hope many of you can watch and join in the chat.

Phillip will also be finishing Coastline to Atmosphere at some point during the weekend. Check the RTSL Twitter feed for the latest details.

In addition to the streams, we are starting what we hope will be a new regular feature: A live game giveaway.

So, check out the details below and we hope to see you online with us.

All the streams are on the RTSL Twitch Channel with chat enabled.

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With blood rushing through your veins and your skin crawling, you crouch in a corner with the thought that if you make yourself small and still enough, it may overlook you.

This is petrifying fear, where movement is the last option, because movement draws attention to yourself.

Is it possible to escape from this alive? Only time will tell.

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We have become very accustomed to playing maps and mods on one level.

That’s not to say that some maps don’t include more Z-axis gameplay, but in general it’s something that could be used to more and better effect.

This mapping challenge is all about (the bass – no, sorry) having the player move up and down in a realistic way.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they can ONLY move up and down, but the idea of vertical gameplay or movement should be the central theme of each entry.

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A few weeks ago, Don AKA Unq, tried to stream Hour Glass for his Classic of the Month event but the stream was intermittent and Don had to stop.

Well after getting the Web monkeys hard at work he is going to try again.

The stream will start at 9am Eastern, 1pm GMT on Sunday.

Hope you can find the time to watch his fun and informative streams.

Tune into the RTSL TWitch Channle or watch directly on the Classic of the Month page.

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I recently published a post looking for Feedback on the Future of Mapping Challenges and ihonnyboy suggest having a tutorial directly linked to the theme.

It crossed my mind to run a “TutorialVille Challenge” but I didn’t want it to be competitive, although if enough people want it I could easily change it into a challenge.

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