Bungie Reach Forgetacular Contest

[Arteen]

Link (http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=Forgetacular)

Bungie is holding a contest for Forge maps. Key information quoted:



Bungie's Forgetacular contest is now officially underway! Put your skills to the test, utilizing the Forge -- Halo: Reach's powerful, in-game map editor -- to earn a rightful place among the greatest Community Cartographers of all time and win one of seven Limited Edition Halo: Reach Xbox 360 consoles. Further, any and all awesome maps that meet the Bungie quality bar will be slated for integration into Xbox LIVE Matchmaking for millions of players to enjoy.
Starting at 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time (PT), October 14, 2010, and continuing through 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time (PT), November 28, 2010 (the “Promotion Period”), create a custom Halo: Reach Forge World map for one of the seven categories and save all films, screenshots and digital files to your Bungie.net file share. All files should be grouped into a corresponding “Set” on Bungie.net, and the map and files should be tagged “CONTEST-XXX” where “XXX” is the game-type it was designed for. For example, “CONTEST-INV” or “CONTEST-CTF” or “CONTEST-TS.”

Entrants must also send an email to contest@bungie.com that includes: your real name (i) your gamer-tag; (ii) your Bungie.net profile name; (iii) a valid contact email address for you; and (iv) a link to your files on Bungie.net. The subject of the email should be "Forgetacular-XXX" where "XXX" represents the category the entrants map is being submitted for and matches the file share set name/tag. (i.e. "CTF", "SYMM", etc..) No entries will be accepted after the end of the Promotion Period.
Each category represents a specific game-type and has specified requirements to be eligible:

INVASION (“INV” )– A custom map that is built specifically for the Spartan vs. Elite “Invasion” game-types. The map must be optimized for 12 players (6 vs. 6) and support both “Invasion Slayer” and a 3-tiered “Invasion (Objective)” variants.
RACE (“RACE”) – A map that is designed to support Race and/or Rocket Race game-types. The map must be designed to work with 8 to 12 total players.
INFECTION (“INFECT”) – Map specially designed to support Infection and Safe Havens game-types for 8 to 16 players.
BIG TEAM BATTLE (“BTB”) – A larger map designed to support 16 players. Must support Slayer/Team Slayer at a minimum.
TEAM SLAYER (“TS”) - A map that’s expertly designed for 4 vs. 4 Team Slayer competitive play.
SYMMETRICAL ARENA (“SYMM”) – A symmetrical arena designed primarily for Slayer and Team Slayer for up to 8 players (4 vs. 4 / 8-player FFA).
CAPTURE THE FLAG (“CTF”) – Designed to support 1-Flag or 2-Flag games, symmetrical or a-symmetrical layout. 4 vs. 4.


Entries must specify for which one of the seven distinct categories it was submitted. Entries may not be submitted for more than one category, although Sponsor reserves the right to judge entry in a category other than the one specified by Entrant.
Entrants may submit more than one map entry (including to multiple categories) but each Entrant may win no more than one prize.

Maybe this will get people here a bit more motivated!

[sevlag]

im entering storm front once i get the inv slayer working on it

[Hotrod]

I have a map that I'm working on that I may just enter for Team Slayer. I'm not sure how good my map making skills are. I suggest we have a game night to test out maps designed for this contest :)

[ejburke]

I'd like a gamenight to help determine which category to submit. Chorizo is clearly BTB, but Kielbasa is harder to peg.

[DarkHalo003]

I'll enter this one Invasion map I've been working on (sigh, not Babel or Confliction). It involves a lot of interior fighting as foot soldiers, but the final lance involves going to a completely different region (still pondering exactly where though, Coliseum can get difficult without enough Falcons and teleporters would make the trip pointless to have with falcons. Massive Warthog bridge maybe? :P)

[ejburke]

If I were making an invasion map, it would be a single area. Transitioning between locations is awkward. The players who have died have the advantage of being able to jump instantly to the new objective and the players who stayed alive are stuck trying to hoof it.

[DarkHalo003]

If I were making an invasion map, it would be a single area. Transitioning between locations is awkward. The players who have died have the advantage of being able to jump instantly to the new objective and the players who stayed alive are stuck trying to hoof it.
Well that's why the Final Phase is a little antsy. If things go well budget-wise and material-wise, the final phase might just end up being an introduction to a scenic area behind the main structure. Here's how the phases will work (hopefully):

1st Phase (basic): Territories at the front "gate".
2nd Phase: Core Capture to the human base to decode the doors/location of the next area.
3rd Phase (typical of me): Assault to destroy the Forerunner command center the Covenant are extracting resources from. Or something like that. The only thing I can think of is blowing shit up.

[NotZac]

I'm definitely entering a map I've been slaving over recently for TS. Coronet should be sexy when completed. I'd like to take part in a gamenight to test the community's maps.

[Necr0matic]

I'd like a gamenight to help determine which category to submit. Chorizo is clearly BTB, but Kielbasa is harder to peg.

I'll help if you would like, I'm available for the most part. xD

[L0d3x]

So I heard only US citizens are allowed to enter...
Not only are they severely limiting the amount of quality content they could have received, but it's also just unfair.
The most ridiculous part about it is that all they have to look at is a small file that you can easily put on your fileshare...I don't even care about the crappy prize.

Once again we get neglected by Bungie, bastards.

[Arteen]

I know it sucks, L0dex, but I think it's unfair to call them bastards for it. They're an internationally-relevant US-based country, holding a US-only contest, which is a perfectly normal thing to do. I'm sure the dealing with all of the legal issues and even the sheer volume of submissions from an international contest would be just too much work for Bungie.

Even if you don't have a shot at the prizes (not that I care about them either), you should still try submitting and hope that they evaluate the map for matchmaking before they check if the sender is from the US.

EDIT:

Brian wanted me to clarify that we’d love to let International competitors try their hand at submitting something great, but our Legal Eagles tell us we simply can’t allow it. Boo-urns! But even though you can’t partake in this particular contest, we still urge you to build some great maps. This contest isn’t the only way we’ll be incorporating user generated content into Halo: Reach - as you may have noted from our playlist update above, we’re not opposed to finding stuff on our accord and fast tracking it into matchmaking. (As long as it's totally awesome and you don't spam the crap out of our PM or email inboxes.)

[L0d3x]

The amount of content they'll be receiving will already be overwhelming, and tbh I'm sure alot of it will be crap. I feel sorry for those who have to test this stuff...
Okay they're not "bastards", but they never do anything worthwhile for non-US citizens.

[Llama Juice]

Hrm... maybe Bungie will have some job openings to test the new junk....

[ejburke]

Finally "shipped" my maps. Remember that the deadline is 11:59 PM PST on 11-28-10. That's Sunday night, folks.

Remember that you need THREE screenshots and ONE saved film that demonstrates the category. If you are entering in the CTF category, you need a CTF run where you are capping flags. Invasion maps need to show all three phases, etc. Refer to the contest page for other details. Those were the ones that seemed easy to miss.

[Hotrod]

I thought they said that November 30th was the last day to enter your maps?

[Arteen]

Official announcement says the 28th, but the latest update said the 30th. I didn't end up submitting anything, because by the time Modacity actually got some customs going for this (i.e. two days ago), I just didn't care anymore.

[ejburke]

If the 30th is indeed correct, then you have until 11:59PM PST to get your submissions in. It's not too late. Unless it is.