Techtree Contest #9 - Biome

[Pharaoh_]

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Contestants are to create a full-size Faction of their choosing that would (reasonably) be found in the chosen Biome. This race must fit aesthetically, stylistically & thematically with the other 4 Factions of Warcraft 3. You will need to consider how that Faction balances with the other Factions and how it impacts the metagame of melee as a whole.

The Biome should be either Forest or Desert (you need to include this in your description, when posting the final submission).

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Theme	How well the various elements of the Faction (including aesthetics & design) fit together in a thematic manner such that they feel like they are representative of the given Faction, as well as that of the chosen Contest Theme. Well-fitting & polished aesthetics which complement a cohesive Theme will be graded well; poorly-considered or lacking Thematic elements will result in a poor score.	10
Gameplay	How well the various elements of the Faction work together to achieve the tactical synergy & gameplay style the Faction has, as well as how efficiently each element performs its particular function. Strategic systems that endow an identity to the Faction, comprehensive & well-though-out roles which complement a cohesive Faction will be graded well; ill-considered, insufficient or over-compensating roles will lose points.	20
Balance	Indicates how comparable the Faction is in terms of 'playability'; i.e. the ideal Faction should win/lose 50% of the time against others of it's class. Overpowered or Underpowered units/heroes/abilities/etc will result in a poor score; properly balanced elements will mean a good score.	10
Creativity	How original the design of the Faction is in terms of innovative ideas, clever implementations, or creative concepts. Innovation and creativity will be rewarded; re-use of existing elements & poor originality will result in a poor score.	10

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• Everybody is allowed and encouraged to enter, as long as they follow the Site and Map Submission rules.
• Only one entry per person is allowed.
• Any submission must be followed by a Work In Progress (WiP), before it is published and labelled as the final piece, so as to prove it's yours.
• No team entries.
• Imports are unlimited for this contest.
• Any library or system in the resource database at the time of contest creation may be used in the development of your race (this rule is also extended for the prototype Custom Race System (see: Helpful Links) in the current form submitted to the database.
• Your submission may not be started/made before the official launch of the contest.
• The features that may be edited are:
  • Gameplay constants
  • Game interface
  • Object editor
  • Trigger editor
  • Sound editor
• The map's terrain may not be edited.
• The current four melee races may not be edited; copy and paste the default units you are about to edit.
• Faction Requirements:
  • The Faction must have a distinct theme. This theme is an important part of Faction design, and the faction & aesthetics must fit into its Theme.
    The Faction must have a distinct gameplay. The gamplay is an important part of the Faction design, and the faction & gameplay style must fit into its Role.
  • There is no defined gameplay for Faction in this contest, but you must create your own, that would properly fit into the game.
  • The Faction should be balanced qualitatively and quantitatively as if it were a standard Faction in standard/ladder WC3 melee games.
• All submitted entries must use (4)TurtleRock.w3x (the attached one) as the test map.
• All submitted entries must have a filename in the format:
  THW.TC9.<MyUserName>.<MyFactionName>.w3x
• Submitted maps may not exceed the 8 MB limit.

Helpful Links: Custom Race System

• First Place: 50 reputation points and a special award icon
• Second Place: 35 reputation points
• Third Place: 20 reputation points
• Remaining entries: 5 reputation points for each submission (for users wth final entries who made it to the public poll)
• Judge(s): 10 reputation for each assigned judge.

• (Pharaoh_) [possibly]
• _
• _

The contest shall begin on 18th of September and conclude on 1st of December (extended).

Thanks to Kyrbi0 for his initiative to organize the contest.

 

[Kazeon]

I'm sorry, but, Biome? Srsly? It sounds like a terraining contest theme IMO xD

Anyway, I think I'm no good at this. So, leaving...

 

[Kingz]

It started <3

Thanks Pharaoh_

I am considering joining now that the rules are set in stone and are sensible.

 

[VeljkoM]

Wait so just Biome Theme? So does this means that race must be incarnation of chosen biome and not the previous definition of "race that lives on contest chosen biome". Just want to be sure.

 

[Bannar]

What "Biome" stands for here? The actual theme seems to not be chosen.

 

[Vinz]

probably naturistic race?

 

[Footman16]

Yeah, please define biome/chosen biome. What theme must the race fit into?

 

[Kyrbi0]

It's a shame there is so much confusion in this matter. Would that this could be avoided.

 

[rulerofiron99]

Ok so what is the chosen biome?

EDIT: Do we each choose our own biome?

 

[Bannar]

Seems like this is becoming "suggestion" thread.

 

[Kingz]

Seeing as no particular Biome is defined by the contest it is safe to say all Biomes are allowed.

You are free to wait for Pharaoh_ response tho

 

[Footman16]

It's a shame there is so much confusion in this matter. Would that this could be avoided.

This arises from the fact that Pharoah_ has not mentioned how much of the things you outlined before apply or don't apply or whether they are or are not taking your method in which one biome was picked for everyone to make a race around etc.

 

[VeljkoM]

It would have been better if some of the text described the actual theme. Most of the description is speaking about how our race should fit the theme and role and be balanced by wc3 standards (I do find some of the requirements strange like we can make our own gameplay but we must balance to be qualitatively and quantitatively appropriate for wc3 melee?).

Think problem is the text is based of Kyrib0s idea but in that case only one biome was supposed to be chosen and then we apply "Contestants are to create a full-size Faction of their choosing that would (reasonably) be found in the chosen Biome
". In the second poll thread the biomes that won were Forest and Desert. The most reasonable conclusion I guess is that we can chose any biome and make race based of it instead of making race that lives on contest chosen biome.

 

[Footman16]

I don't even know anymore, I don't think I'll be joining this contest.

 

[LordDz]

I'm in, gonna post something soon.

 

[Chen]

I'm in, but I'm choosing what project to drop. Maybe the Hero contest.

 

[GywGod133]

Can you tell me what Tech-tree Contest? -.-

 

[Pharaoh_]

Sorry for the confusion guys, theme has been updated; you have to restrict your Biome to either Forest or Desert.

Good luck!

 

[Chen]

Can you tell me what Tech-tree Contest? -.-

What do you mean? A contest like this one is about making a whole new playable race that fits the theme, in this case, Biome, and you should create a full race that lives in the chosen biome. Well, tell us what you mean in what you said so we can answer you correctly.

Anyways, my entry will be a bunch of gnolls, murlocs, kobolds and troggs.

 

[Vinz]

I'm in, but I'm choosing what project to drop. Maybe the Hero contest.

No. Nooooo

OT: I don't think I'll be joining, I've lost interest in techtrees long ago when I learned how to use triggers. xD

 

[GywGod133]

@Chen
Oh Custom Race thanks.

 

[Ragnoras]

Can we still join? i fel likejoining

 

[Pharaoh_]

Everyone can join, read the contest's rules, people! ;o

 

[Ragnoras]

Ok! i'min, and the biome is forest so.............

 

[Direfury]

This looked interesting, so I took a look. I have a few questions.

One, do imports have to be approved, public resources?
Two, how can you change the UI for your race, without changing the UI for another faction?
Three, how would you go about selecting our faction? Are you just creating one for the sake of creating one? A custom race and nothing more?

 

[Ragnoras]

does goblin fit as a race in forest biome?

 

[Direfury]

If they're village goblins, of course. Tech Goblins would be less fitting. Speaking of themes, though, would a 'Military Campaign' style faction fit? I mean like a group of Orcish raiders setting up a staging camp in a forest/snowy mountain/desert, with the appropriate gear for their environment, rather than the default Orcs that build full settlements.

 

[Astaroth Zion]

Side= Forest

I will join with Iron Forest Ancients. Now, time to plan what will be unique about this faction.

Idea screenshot

 

[MogulKahn]

I will join with Iron Forest Ancients. Now, time to plan what will be unique about this faction.

Idea screenshot

Wow, that is ugly...

 

[Ragnoras]

gog the iron acients are just ... weird

 

[MasterTrainer]

What is a metagame?

 

[rulerofiron99]

What is a metagame?

Metagame is "the game outside of the game".

For example, if you are known to spam archers every game, your opponent might spam footmen to counter you, but without necessarily having scouted your base to see what you're building.

 

[Eagle XI]

Any submission must be followed by a Work In Progress (WiP), before it is published and labelled as the final piece, so as to prove it's yours.

I didnt get this one, need a clarification.
What exactly i am supposed to keep around ? Random ss during work ?, random previous version to be sent along the final one ?

Submitted maps may not exceed the 8 MB limit.

Most certainly does this mean we cant use local files method either. (?)

 

[VeljkoM]

Just post a picture of your race before the final submission. Anything to prove that you are working right now.

And really 8mb is more then enough for one race. Heck should be enough for several.

 

[Eagle XI]

Custom buildings tend to bloat it up real fast, dependant on how old the set is(and thus how poorly optimized theyve been). However yeah should suffice for one race, ill see what can be done.

 

[Chen]

Okay then. I decided my race will be Mongrel Alliance(based from Mongrel Horde). As I said, they're bunch of creeps.

 

[Kyrbi0]

I might actually join this... Not only so you guys don't think I'll be a poor sport about having my Contest idea ripped out from under me, but because I genuinely like these. : )

However, time will be the big factor here, and running the Hero Contest is already keeping me busy enough... We'll see.

If I do, I've been favoring a "Chem-based Goblin" race for a while, and setting them in a Forest (abundance of natural ingredients, hidden forest glades for kooky experiments, tons of animal test subjects, etc) seems like the perfect plan. Also maybe Pandaren or something.

...

TROLLS YOU SAY? WHAT ARE THOSE?

~~~

Response to Pharaoh from Previous Thread

These are to be removed. Designing of the race also incorporates models, sounds, textures, (potentially UI,) and icons. There is a reason why we have a database of submitted art, thus, we have to take advantage of it.
I find it interestingly contradicting how unlimited imports are allowed with a constraint on the overall size of the imported content.

Designing a race is merely a matter of thought (planning, theorycraft, idea-gathering, etc) and execution (object & trigger editor work). If the Contest's particular constraints call for Unlimited Imports, then sure, enjoy the bounties of the database... But consider that there is plenty of merit to a Contest which limits (either partially or fully) the usage of custom resources (like this one); it tests our ability to be resourceful & use what we're given.

Finally, the maps' size for Battle.net is 8MB.

Good point. That was an oversight; should simply be fixed.

You cannot force someone to write a detailed analysis on their vote. They are not offered anything for their vote, so it's not like a reciprocal act to care as much as we want them to.

I understand if you haven't been involved in a lot of the discussion we've had over the entirety of the thread, and over the last several months, even years (although you say you 'got a headache reading all the massive posts'; how far did you get?)?

That being said, have you noticed a problem with Polls in recent past? Because we have. Do you believe it?

(the rest of my response can't really make sense without this^ foundation put down).

This is the default number, but it should not be a rule. Contestants are free to create as many of those as they want; they are the ones to hold the sole responsibility for their race to be balanced. If the design of their race is (by their own reasoning) balanced, then it will be judged this way (but won't make it unqualified). We are not here to impose opinions.

Again, I agree... For a Contest whose nature is not defined by this very issue. If it's just a generic "make a race" Contest, then no problem. However, I was suggesting a particular kind of Contest; a Contest whose entire point was to have contestants create a Faction "qualitatively and quantitatively balanced" to the existing 4 Wc3 Factions. "Quantitatively" is related to "Quantities" which refers to the "numbers of things"... And in my analysis & experience, there are certain 'quantities' that are of paramount importance for such a specific Contest (as my submission was).

For example: can a user create a race with 1 Hero? Or 8? It seems pretty clear that "4" is the 'right' amount, the proper amount... And I agree. I think, though, this is because it's "how Blizzard did it". 4 Heroes, 12 Units, 10-11 buildings... etc.

Again, for a "generic" Contest, no big deal. But I was suggesting a particular kind of Contest where we would indeed dictate the "quantity" of the race. The issue of "balancing" is still left up to the contestant, within those parameters.

...and Map Rules (Race-building Contests are subject to those).

Ah yes, I forgot that. Thanks.

Basically renamed Role into Gameplay, raised points to 20 and added systems in the mix (how else would you be able to fashion an intricate gameplay? - rhetorical question). I will quote Wrathling's here (regarding the points), because he sums up my opinion pretty well:

One, I'm personally not too fond of the same amount of points allocated for each section. If I am allowed the wanton freedom to award points, I'd allocate up to 25 pts for Gameplay, while the remaining sections are each allocated between 5 to 10 pts. That is because in my opinion, Gameplay is the main essence of every race, more so when the theme of the day is 'Innovation'. With a distinctive Gameplay, your race could provide an exceptional playing experience. Without Gameplay, the race would just be a smattering of model swapping and some simple edits of unit stats & abilities.

Well, "Gameplay" was one of the terms I used in a generally-synonymous way to "Role", so I guess that's OK.

I also agree with Wraithling, to an extent... As discussed in the middle of my Megapost, I think "Role" (gameplay, etc) and "Theme" (aesthetics, presentation, style, etc) are of equal importance... Or at least, nearly so. "A smattering of model swapping & simple [ability edits]" (Good "Theme"?) definitely suffers from lack of a good "Role"... Yet "Distinctive Gameplay" (Good "Role"), without proper attention to "Theme", is also lack-luster; imagine a really creative, fun & playable race, but entirely in another language, or with tooltips bouncing all over the place, or random half-made models & icons & such. Good, "distinctive gameplay" could not & should not be the only concern (or the heaviest of them all).

That is why I put equal emphasis to "Role"/"Gameplay" and "Theme". If, however, we wanted to emphasize their dual-importance by lowering the other Criteria's stats & raising theirs (say, 20-20-5-5 or something), that would make a lot of sense, too.

This will be removed. What you have described there as "Awesomeness" is already part of what Theme, Gameplay and Creativity stand for.

Meh. Do what you want, but I disagree. While all the Criteria are ultimately 'subjective', "Theme", "Role" and "Balance" are as 'objective' as they can be, where "Awesomeness" allows for a bit of 'subjective' 'elbow room'. "Creativity" is the only thing that comes close, but I can still see how they could/should be separated.

Finally, is this paired? Why is it that you've been overusing the word "teams"?

I'm not sure where... Oh, you're probably confusing the two separate "Contest submissions"; one is a Paired contest, the other is Solo.

Well wait, that's in the Hero Contest submission thread (lol, I'm really mixing those up)... I probably just copy/pasted something wrong here or there. Don't worry, this was always a Solo contest (at least, for now ...).

I'm in, but I'm choosing what project to drop. Maybe the Hero contest.

Noooooooooo

OT: I don't think I'll be joining, I've lost interest in techtrees long ago when I learned how to use triggers. xD

Crazy-talk. Techtrees need triggers, too. : )

This looked interesting, so I took a look. I have a few questions.

One, do imports have to be approved, public resources?
Two, how can you change the UI for your race, without changing the UI for another faction?
Three, how would you go about selecting our faction? Are you just creating one for the sake of creating one? A custom race and nothing more?

- That's not something we considered (basically, can modelers like you make your own resources. I'll have to put that on my next Poll...
- Changing UI might be out of the question, in that case.
- ? Not sure I understand the question. Yeah, it's a "custom race/techtree/faction" contest, so that's the means/end/point of the Contest... You "go about selecting" your race/techtree/faction by... picking which ever one you want to make (as long as it fits the Theme & criteria, i.e. "forest or desert")?

I didnt get this one, need a clarification.
What exactly i am supposed to keep around ? Random ss during work ?, random previous version to be sent along the final one ?

Most certainly does this mean we cant use local files method either. (?)

Yeah, just take a screenshot or whatever of your work, showing that its yours & you're working on it.

And no, probably not.

(I do find some of the requirements strange like we can make our own gameplay but we must balance to be qualitatively and quantitatively appropriate for wc3 melee?).

Oh c'mon, after all our discussion? : )

The choice of "what kind of gameplay" (or I'd say "Role") of your faction is up to you; mass-cheap-swarm like the Zerg, or heavy-expensive-powerhouse like the Protoss, or mobile-tactical-assault like the Terran? You choose. However, whatever you choose has to in harmony with the game as a whole ("qualitatively" as in it's 'qualities', "quantitatively" as in it's 'quantities').

 

[Direfury]

What I was asking was that, unoriginality aside, if you were making a 'Chaos Orc raid party' race, or a rogue Human faction, and portrayed them more realistically than the original races that build entire settlements around Gold Mines, would that be okay? Like having the Orcish Raiders build small encampments, and having them use gear fitting their current raid. If they're in a warm forest, they won't be wearing thick winter furs; if they're in a tundra, they won't be dressed in baggy, light desert clothing. They'll have weaponry and equipment, aswell as a distinct combat style perfect for the area they're in.

Like how a Bandit race would be perfect for either the Desert or the Forest, using small tents and being able to construct fires/wells.

 

[Argos]

Is it supposed to be melee map? Should we also look on the terrain? How exactly would you define "fit" into biome? Almost anything can fit into any biome in order to survive.

 

[Bannar]

@Argos - please read the main post. The map is provided in attachments. Implement your race, don't touch the map's environment.

 

[Ragnoras]

I thinkin of GOblins cause they mostly uses mercanaries like ogres and trolls... is it ok?

 

[VeljkoM]

Oh c'mon, after all our discussion? : )

The choice of "what kind of gameplay" (or I'd say "Role") of your faction is up to you; mass-cheap-swarm like the Zerg, or heavy-expensive-powerhouse like the Protoss, or mobile-tactical-assault like the Terran? You choose. However, whatever you choose has to in harmony with the game as a whole ("qualitatively" as in it's 'qualities', "quantitatively" as in it's 'quantities').

No no I understand that. But I find it strange they kept what you wrote when Pharaoh_ stated that contest won't force people to follow number limits for units/buildings.

@Direfury
What you are saying I believe should fit. Just decide will they be desert or forest raiders and that should be it.

@Argos

Oh and don't forget that chosen biomes are Forest and Desert. You should make something that can be realistically expected to be there.

 

[Apheraz Lucent]

I might actually join this, and since I tend to pick challenges, I'll go with Desert theme.

 

[Kyrbi0]

Ooh, Desert, eh? I'll admit, 'Forest' does seem like the more prolific option, so I'm interested to see what kind of sandy horrors await us from you. : )

Pharaoh, bit of an issue; I can't find anywhere on the main post where the Time of the Contest ending is stated. I believe I left room for that on my "submission post"... And it's kinda important (as well as the relevant time-zone) for people to know when to stop. Should we assume "midnight of the final day" (and would that be 12:00am "2014.11.01" (really more like the day before, then), or more like 11:59pm 2014.11.01?

 

[Pharaoh_]

Ooh, Desert, eh? I'll admit, 'Forest' does seem like the more prolific option, so I'm interested to see what kind of sandy horrors await us from you. : )

Pharaoh, bit of an issue; I can't find anywhere on the main post where the Time of the Contest ending is stated. I believe I left room for that on my "submission post"... And it's kinda important (as well as the relevant time-zone) for people to know when to stop. Should we assume "midnight of the final day" (and would that be 12:00am "2014.11.01" (really more like the day before, then), or more like 11:59pm 2014.11.01?

It's always midnight of that day, this is why I don't include it anymore. It stops on X day means that the whole X day is covered, GMT(+0).

 

[Boris_Spider]

I guess I'm in.

I'm with the Cluster Hive which claims the forest biome as it's domain (death to the elves!).

//\\^^//\\

 

[VeljkoM]

Excellent Boris, your bugs invade the forest and mine bugs will invade desert. The Hive will rule both biomes!

 

[Ragnoras]

bugs?oh boris are ya bug lover?

 

[Boris_Spider]

Excellent Boris, your bugs invade the forest and mine bugs will invade desert. The Hive will rule both biomes!

We shall rule the world. Once I drive the elves out of the forest, your forces can capture some tasty meals really easy.

bugs?oh boris are ya bug lover?

Well, they taste good...

//\\0o//\\

 

[Kingz]

I am joining the contest with a Zerg like idea.

Post more info when i get stuff done.