There are going to be some fundamental changes coming to MotM. In the past, the success of MotM has often depended on things out of our control. And unfortunately, sometimes that did not work out too well. For more than a year MotM has been the source of motivation and inspiration for many mapmakers, both newcomers and veterans. It has been a great opportunity for mapmakers to get some attention. Without MotM, the mapmaking community wouldn't be where it is today. It is our highest priority to make sure a Map of the Month competition is taking place every month once again.
To achieve this MotM will be focusing on its core elements again: rating the submissions and picking a winning map every month! As usual, there is a high profile lineup of judges. Also, the judging process itself is being further optimized and you are finally going to see scores again (at least for the top maps).
What does this all mean?
This means that MotM from now on is going to be a mapmaking competition only and no longer acompanied by a monthly tournament. However, we may still do tournaments, showmatches, replay casts and other events in the future, but those will happen independently. We already have a few ideas for those, which will be revealed at a later time. In addition to that, we will continue promoting MotM maps to other organizations.
Judging has always been very time consuming. It required alot of patience from both the judges and the participants. Needless to say, it is in everyones interest to speed things a little. Over the course of time, our judging process has undergone several changes. To provide some transparency what is going on behind the scenes, here is a little explanation of our new juding process.
New judging process explained: First round: Each judge looks through the list of submissions and picks their 10 favorite maps based on the overview, data, and map file. Every judge then ranks his 10 picks by appointing 10 points to his favorite map, 9 points to his second favorite, etc. After summing up the points from all judges, the 5 maps with the highest scores enter the second round of judging.
Second round: The judges are then able to playtest each map and discuss them in depth until the end of the month. Eventually, in the final vote each judge rates individual maps from 1 to 10 - the map with the highest average score will be entitled map of the month.
Judge lineup for April: Barrin - Author of ‘Breadth of Gameplay in SC2’ Superouman - ESV Mapmaker, creator of Cloud kingdom and Sanshorn Mist lefix - Founder of The Planetary Workshop, creator of Odyssey Nightmarjoo - TLMC Judge, Starcraft BW/SC2 mapmaking scene veteran Ragoo - TPW Mapmaker, creator of Twilight Peaks and Loki II
The judges are encouraged give some feedback on the maps after they are done judging. But please keep in mind that this is very time consuming, and judges are usually not able to respond to every participant.
Please send your map files to submit.motm[at]gmail.com (include map name in subject) and post your overviews with any additional information in this thread. Follow this format while posting in this thread to ensure your entry is accepted:
Map Name Map Author Map Overview Playable Map Bounds
The closing time for submissions will be April, 20th.
I would love to see some sort of theme for future MotM's, be it a type of symmetry, a certain type of aesthetic, or certain style of layout, or whatever. Constraints can really focus a person's creative energy, heightening the level of intrinsic awesomeness apparent in the entries.
On April 08 2012 12:51 DoDonPachi wrote: Does FRB maps are allowed in this map competition ?
i wouldnt think so. 8m2g gameplay is different than 6m1hyg gameplay. Maps would be judged way differently, and because FRB has only been around for about a month there's no way to really know what makes a balanced FRB map apart from a standard 8m2g map. So no, i do not think FRB is included.
On April 08 2012 12:51 DoDonPachi wrote: Does FRB maps are allowed in this map competition ?
No. It's for standard maps; 8m2g is the only competitive map right now. Until 6m can become standard or is just as "figured out" as 8m2, there won't be any normal MotM competitions for it (there may be some specific 6m-only competition in the future, idk).
On April 08 2012 13:14 fenX wrote: Can we submit a map we already submitted in a previous MotM ?
Yes. [edit] But it is discouraged because obviously if it didn't win then, it isn't that likely that it will win this time.
On April 08 2012 11:11 NewSunshine wrote: I would love to see some sort of theme for future MotM's, be it a type of symmetry, a certain type of aesthetic, or certain style of layout, or whatever. Constraints can really focus a person's creative energy, heightening the level of intrinsic awesomeness apparent in the entries.
I think that's a bad idea. If you want these to focus your creativity, apply them to yourself ; but the contest should be about picking the best map, not the best "X element" map.
Unsure I'll be able to pump out something new this month. Haven't touched map making for awhile now haha. Maybe I'll just fix one of my older maps and submit it for fun. :D
On April 08 2012 18:43 ArcticRaven wrote: I think that's a bad idea. If you want these to focus your creativity, apply them to yourself ; but the contest should be about picking the best map, not the best "X element" map.
I already do, it's how I get half my aesthetics, among other things. The thing is, I would love to see the various ways in which the whole community tackles a specific challenge - doing so by oneself isn't as much fun. And as Barrin points out, I don't mean I want it to affect the judging - I just want it to affect what we see ourselves coming up with. Think of it like Day[9]'s Funday Monday - it's still on the ladder, so a loss is a loss, but it's almost always more fun trying to constrain yourself - and sometimes you learn something.
On April 09 2012 20:43 MorroW wrote: i have submitted my map to the mail adress
That's not enough. The OP says you must also post overview information about your map in this thread (and that information must follow the format given in the opening post).
I will submit something next weekend, probably (with 99% certainty) it will be a further polished version of Emerald Steel.
Wonderful, I've been waiting for the latest incarnation of the MoTM competition - I plan on submitting Ilio Volta to see how it stacks up against the best out there, if at all. Hopefully I'll be able to glean some tips for my next map, which will blow Ilio Volta out of the water.
On April 09 2012 20:43 MorroW wrote: i have submitted my map to the mail adress
That's not enough. The OP says you must also post overview information about your map in this thread (and that information must follow the format given in the opening post).
I will submit something next weekend, probably (with 99% certainty) it will be a further polished version of Emerald Steel.
On April 09 2012 20:43 MorroW wrote: i have submitted my map to the mail adress
That's not enough. The OP says you must also post overview information about your map in this thread (and that information must follow the format given in the opening post).
I will submit something next weekend, probably (with 99% certainty) it will be a further polished version of Emerald Steel.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/TJtLt.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/fiIbY.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/CdMbo.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/aCqmc.jpg)
