The Hammer Cup 2017 – Challenge 5 – FusionVille

8th November 2017

We’re here at last: the final challenge in The Hammer Cup 2017. We tried to make it a special challenge, and you get an extra two weeks to build and polish this map – 33 days, with 5 full weekends.

Theme Details

For this challenge we want you to pick 3 themes from the 2016 and 2017 Hammer Cup challenges, and creatively combine those themes into your perfect fusion map.

So for FusionVille, we want to you pick 3 of the following 8 themes (we’re not including AnyVilleVille in this) from all the Hammer Cup challenges and mash them together in your map:

  • Chasm
  • Liberation
  • Backtrack
  • Trap
  • Defend
  • Toxic
  • Bridge
  • Teleport
The Themes in FusionVille

Below are details for each theme and summaries of how the themes apply to FusionVille:

Chasm: a chasm (a.k.a. canyon, gorge, abyss, rift) must feature in the map

Liberation: the player must liberate something (person or people, item, whatever you can think of)

Backtrack: the player must play through an area, then later retrace their steps through that same area, but the area must have changed somehow (an invasion, explosion, earthquake, time travel, etc.)

Trap: the map must contain at least one trap that the player sets, has to avoid, or of course gets caught in. This can be a simple ambush but we’d love to see more creative and elaborate traps too.

Defend: the map must have a major defense sequence where the player has to defend a location from attack. This should not be the only event or sequence in the map, as there will be two other themes to feature. DefendVilleTwo’s 5- minute preparation time and manual start option are NOT required in this challenge; but the defense sequence must be a key part of the map.

Toxic: the classic HL2 yellow/green toxic sludge must play a critical part in the map

Bridge: the map must feature a bridge of some type, and the player must cross the bridge at some point

Teleport: teleportation (of the player, NPCs, or physics objects) must play a major role in the gameplay of the map

Deadline

The deadline for submitting maps is:

Monday 11th December 2017 at 23:59 CET

CET is Central European Time. Phillip’s Time.
Make sure you check your local time conversion.
IF YOUR ENTRY IS LATE IT WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE MOD BUT WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY POINTS.
That’s 33 days, with 5 full weekends.

The Hammer Cup 2017

The Hammer Cup 2017 consists of five mapping challenges, each with a different theme.

Entrants will receive points for each challenge they enter.

At the end of the event, the best 3 points totals from the challenges they entered will be added together for each entrant.

These totals will decide who wins the Grand Prizes.

This means that entrants do NOT have to enter each and every contest to win the grand prize but they will need to have entered at least 3 challenges to have a chance of winning the grand prizes.

Full details can currently be found here: The Hammer Cup Overview.

General Advice

DO NOT GET OVERLY AMBITIOUS. If you can’t build it in about 3 weekends then think smaller.

Something is bound to delay your progress. Leave time for testing, bug fixing and polishing!

Testing

We highly recommend getting your map beta tested by somebody you trust.

Do this early in its development if you can.

Judging Criteria

Each entry will be judged on Design, Sound, Visuals and Gameplay. The judges also collectively rank the top 3 maps. A Community Vote will be held that rewards points equal to the judges’ ranking points for the top 3 voted maps.

The judges are looking for interesting, unique, cool, and fun mixtures of the past Hammer Cup challenge themes.

General Rules
  • Please end your map with a point_clientcommand firing this exact command: disconnect; startupmenu
  • Maximum two maps 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-THC2017-C5-FusionVille 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.
  • All files submitted MUST be in lowercase and any custom assets must have unique names, both folder AND files.
  • 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_thc17_c5.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: THC2017-c5-MAPNAME (Not filename)
BODY:
1. THC2017-c5-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.

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

With this challenge, we intended to give mappers some more freedom while still focusing the main concepts for the maps. Perhaps past entrants had an idea they didn’t fully explore during the original challenges? Now’s the time to flesh it out!

We hope mappers find interesting ways to combine the given themes and as always we look forward to playing the results!

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.

27 Comments

  1. Don created a fantastic header for this challenge, don’t you think?

    1. It looks great! The idea for the challenge is also really cool. Hopefully we can see people coming up with some really original stuff.

      Although I need to point out that, uh, all the links to the individual themes are broken.

      1. Unq

        Whoops, a gremlin stole my forward slashes. Fixed, thanks.

  2. Unq

    Having trouble deciding on the 3 themes? Click here!

    1. blackdog

      Awesome tool! Never seen it before

  3. This is gonna be awesome!

  4. Awesome, can’t wait to see and play the entries!

  5. interesting idea, ill see if i can get something, actually good, finished this time!

  6. blackdog

    Oh this is gonna be hardcore, sets the stage for quite big projects!

  7. Heinz

    Hey, this is no offense or else, just my opinion.

    I think this Ville will be boring, because we already had this Villes this year.
    So why not start an Xmas Ville Contest, where the resistance has to safe Santa Clause or Xmas itself, before the combine destroys ’em complete?
    I think about learning hammer, but I do not really have the time for it…my kids are more important to me…we will see in future…

    But I also say, have fun with mapping and creating some deep atmosphere for this Ville.
    Maybe it will not as boring as I think…I hope so…

    1. The same concept was made last year too with AnyVilleVille and that one turned out pretty good.

      1. AnyVilleVille was different, you could only use one theme that came before, but that actually makes your argument even stronger, because here we must have three themes that we have to mix.

        1. Some of these synergize very easily. To what extent can you have a Bridge without a Chasm? That’s two down. Now, just pick a third. Backtracking on the bridge? Defending the bridge? It’s pretty straightforward.

  8. Anon_1567499

    when will the fusionville

  9. Hello, I’m new here !
    Klems talked to me and made me playtest his maps through the whole year, I finally decided to give it a try myself. I know i’m late to the party and my entry won’t make sense for the 2017 cup, but i would love to create a singleplayer experience.
    I already started few days ago, I hope i can do what i intend to do, and I can’t wait to see the other maps as well !!

    1. Welcome to the site. Good luck with your entry, let me know if you have any questions. With regards to your entry not making sense, don’t feel that your needed to have entered the previous challenges. Each challenge is a standalone concept and each mod and/or map can be played with no reference to any other.

      If you get a moment and feel we are a community you would want to visit and participate in, please visit the Introduce Yourself post so we can get to know you.

    2. wow… Klems MADE you test his maps!!!

  10. “the classic HL2 yellow/green toxic sludge must play a critical part in the map”
    Is is okay if i have 2 maps, with one that doesn’t have toxic sludge and one that does?

  11. Looking forward to see some good maps, lots of combinations are possible. Hopefully I’ll have some time to join in next year.

  12. BOI
    This looks great.

    Too bad I have to catchup on the all the other Villes (still doing ChasmVille, then ElevatorVille)

  13. Anon_1584494

    when released the fusionville

    1. As soon as possible but probably the middle of next week. It takes time to create the mod and make sure every map is working correctly.

  14. Anon_1585288

    When exactly released the fusionville

  15. Anon_1589816

    today will be released the fusionville

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