Connect 5 Contest/it

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Connect5Logo.png

Do you love juvenile board games? Do you also love making custom levels for a game older than my mental age? Then our new Original* Copyrighted** Mapping Game*** is for you! Simply choose a line of five squares from our grid of lovely map features, put them all into your map and you have an entry to our fantastical, whimsical contest!

(*not original) (**not copyrighted)

(***entirely subjective)
— TF2Maps.net contest announcement.

The Connect Five Contest, also known as "Connect Five: The Original TF2Maps.net Boardgame", was a mapping contest run by TF2Maps that used a 6-by-6 square game board. Mappers had to make a map based on a 5-square column, row, or diagonal of their choice.

It resulted in 25 entries, 10 of which were finalists, and a combination of judge and public voting determined the winners.

Mapping Grid

Connect5Board.png

For a map to qualify as a valid entry into the competition, it had to be based on 5 squares from the 6-by-6 game board, either in a column, row, or a diagonal.

Rules

The contest used the following rules:

  • Your map must include all features in a single row, column or diagonal line made up of 5 squares of your choice from the Mapping Grid provided, and when you submit to the Upload Thread you must provide us with the line you have used. All maps that do not abide by this when submitted will be disqualified at the deadline.
  • Your map must have been started after the date of this post.
  • Mann vs Machine maps are not allowed.
  • Custom content is allowed as long as it fits one of the following criteria: It is made entirely by yourselves, or available for public download prior to our custom content deadline (2nd January 11:59 PM GMT+1).
  • Collaborations are allowed as long as your team (including yourself) does not exceed 4 people (only one of you can receive a game from the Prize Pool but all involved would receive a Map Maker's Medallion).
    • You're restricted to being credited for 2 submissions for work in Hammer. This means you can make assets for more than 2 entries.
  • Maximum of two entries per person.
  • Your map must be able to accommodate for a standard amount of players. This means a minimum of 16 spawn points per team for standard maps.
  • Your map must be TF2 styled. (No other valve games/other games)
  • Everything must be finished and submitted in the upload thread before the deadline! Upload thread will be up a week prior to the deadline and you are allowed to submit any time within that week, and update your entry as many times as necessary before the deadline.
  • Your map must be fully functional; meaning it includes objectives, spawn points, is fully lit and both teams can reasonably win.
  • Everyone can enter (other than those banned from entering contests), though judges and those involved directly in judging cannot win any prizes or place in the top 3.

Entries

The following maps were entered into the contest:

  • Alpine Depo
  • Backwash
  • Boreal Village
  • Chounai
  • Farmfall
  • Flurry
  • Guava Gulf
  • Hazyfort
  • Ice Tower
  • Log Place
  • Medina
  • Neighbor
  • Oasis
  • Roadblock
  • Snowcastle
  • Snowtrain
  • Spout
  • Stormguard
  • Timbrr
  • Tug o' War
  • Voltage
  • Wastetreatment
  • Woodhill
  • Yanqing
  • Zhuanguo

Voting

Due to 25 entries, which was more than initially expected, the voting was divided into two stages:

Preliminary Voting

Each forum member could vote yes or no on a map, these votes decided which maps made it to the finalist voting stage.

The 10 finalist maps were:

  • Backwash
  • Chounai
  • Guava Gulf
  • Hazyfort
  • Ice Tower
  • Log Place
  • Oasis
  • Snowcastle
  • Voltage
  • Yanqing

Finalist Voting

The finalist voting stage consisted of public votes and official contest judges' opinions, each accounting for 50% of the total score. The maps were rated in the following categories:

  • Gameplay (Suggested 40% of overall score):
    • How fun is the map to play? Is this a map you want to come back to and play again? Does this map provide a unique kind of gameplay, or does it parrot existing maps? Is there any recognizable layout theory behind the map that you find impressive? Does the layout do anything particularly ambitious or risky? Does the map’s logic ever break?
  • Aesthetics (Suggested 30%):
    • How good does the map look? Does it feel like a place? Is it recognizable, or does it feel like just another TF2 map? Are there any graphical hitches?
  • Theme (Suggested 30%):
    • How well does the map adhere to the given Connect 5 Board line? How difficult is that line to execute on? Does it do something ambitious with the chosen line, or does it play it by the book?
  • Overall (Actually 100% of overall score):
    • How good is the map in comparison to the others in the contest?

Winners

1st: Hazyfort, by Asd417

  • 7.062 overall score

2nd: Yanqing, by Saph and Diva Dan

  • 6.938 overall score

3rd: Guava Gulf, by 14bit

  • 6.883 overall​ score