Stronghold Next Competition! - Ended

[Mathew Steel 151]

ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED

Thank you to all of those who entered in our competition. I am looking forward to seeing all the maps and getting to test some new missions before anyone else. The winner will be revealed sometime towards the end of January, 2019. As for the promised reward of a copy of Stronghold Next upon its release, well of course that can only be sent upon its release. I will have more information on how the reward will be sent once the winner is revealed. The winner will first be notified via email, and then will be announced here at StrongholdNation. I thank you all once more. Merry Christmas!

 

 

Hear ye! Hear ye! The town crier has news for thee!

 

For those of you that have been following the riddles and little hints I've been leaving around the site, you may be very aware that I've been planning a new competition for some time now! In celebration of the next entry in the Stronghold franchise, we are giving away a copy of Stronghold Next to the deserved winner of our new map making competition. Keep reading for details!

 

 

Competition Instructions:

You must create a map in any?Stronghold entry. The map must be and contain:

- War Scenario

- At least 1 chapter

- Accompanied by a good story?or plot

- Original

 

ONE MAP PER USER.

 

 

Competition Entry:

You must?be a member of StrongholdNation to participate in this competition for verification purposes.

 

You have until the 1st of December, 2018?to send your maps to me via email. You can submit the map to my email at - mathewsteel [at] strongholdnation [dot] co [dot] uk.

 

When sending your map via email, set the "Subject" field to "SHN Competition Entry - [sHN Username]". In the text field, please state your map name, and remember to add the map as a .zip or .rar attachment.

 

Maps must be uploaded in a .zip or .rar format. Do not?upload your map to the site before the competition entry date has passed, or it will not be considered eligible as an original work. Once the competition has closed, you may freely upload your maps to the site under any name you wish.

 

The .zip or .rar should contain the following:

- Your Stronghold map

- A minimap screenshot in (optional)

- A text file that includes the story or plot of the map itself

 

 

Choosing the Winner

Map design and overall quality is often subjective, however, there is objectivity involved too. Despite this, maps will be marked by both myself and @Lord_Chris. Your map will be scored out of 10 for each of the following expectations:

 

 

- Appearance - Is the map pretty? Maps that are symmetric with plain grass textures will not be rewarded highly, if at all. Make your maps as nice on the eyes as possible. However, this does not mean maps must be realistic.

 

 

- Quality of play - Does the map play as intended? Are there any creator errors that could have been avoided? We want to be able to play the map smoothly. Invasions should be timed as intended, and maps should be tested before uploading your entry.

 

 

- Storyline - You may create a fantasy or realistic story or plot to accompany your map. Remember, as your teachers always said, quality not quantity. We want to be drawn in. We want to feel like our actions in-game will truly be affecting some world you created.

 

 

- Interest - Chapters should contain fun missions. Whilst this is a war scenario, you are not limited to only war gameplay. Resource management is often a large part of Stronghold, and maps that can show the best of both sides of the franchise are likely to earn more points.

 

 

 

Entry Closing:

I'll say once more - your maps must be submitted to me via the email link before the 1st of December, 2018.?I can be lenient for entries submitted on that date. If you've any questions, post a reply, and I will add a Q&A section into the original post, or simply update certain aspects of the post.

 

Good luck to you all! May the best designer win! :D

Edited December 13, 2018 by Mathew Steel

[odisseus 10]

What do you mean by "three chapters"? Do I have to submit three maps?

[Mathew Steel 151]

@odisseus good spot! That's a mistake on my behalf. It has been corrected to "At least 1 chapter", meaning for certain games, such as Stronghold 2, you may make your mission more than 1 chapter. However, adding more chapters doesn't mean you will score higher. It's very easy to lose consistency in a plot line through multiple chapters.

[odisseus 10]

Well, I have created a couple of maps for Stronghold 1 last week and still haven't shared them anywhere. I might also come up with a story to link them together, but these would still be separate maps, and nothing would prevent the user from playing them out of order.

 

By the way, I have tried to upload a map a few days ago, and I don't see it in the downloads section. Has it been rejected or didn't it upload in the first place?

Edited September 28, 2018 by odisseus

[Crusader1307 298]

Hi odisseus,

 

Sorry for any delay. Only specific Site Administrators can upload User Maps. They must be checked - which as you know requires time. With our ''Real Life'' schedules, this sometimes can seem like we're ''ignoring'' you (which we are not).

 

However, when I checked our Download Submissions, I could not find yours! Whereas it is a SH2 Format, could you re-submit please? I will run through it and if there are no outward issues - I will Post it to The Download Sections immediately.

 

Thanks for your understanding!??? :)

[Mathew Steel 151]

  Quote

Well, I have created a couple of maps for Stronghold 1 last week and still haven't shared them anywhere. I might also come up with a story to link them together, but these would still be separate maps, and nothing would prevent the user from playing them out of order.

Read more  

 

 

You may only submit one map for this competition. If you have already created a map, and you're happy to use it, and it has not been uploaded elsewhere, then you may submit it.

 

Hopefully this clears it up :)

 

 

As for your uploads to the site, Crusader covered all of it in all honestly. We manually approve files after testing them. This involves ensuring the files are safe, the map actually plays, and the map isn't just a blank canvas with nothing on it. If your map passes these tests, it will be approved and immediately appear in the downloads section.

[Lord_Chris 251]

Hi @odisseus,

 

As already brilliantly explained by and [user]Mathew steel], we have strict rules on approving files to crack down on any abuse. You may want to take a look at this pinned thread in Site Questions/Support, which explains some of the requirements for uploading a map. I also perhaps think we should update the official guidelines when attempting to submit your map to include some of that information collated in one place, so I will try to do that this weekend at some point.

 

Other than this, welcome to the site, and thanks for getting involved! :)

[odisseus 10]

Uploaded another map. The submission number is #581. If you find anything wrong with it, I would appreciate the feedback.

[Crusader1307 298]

Done...and thanks for re-submitting!

[odisseus 10]

May I inquire how many entries to the competition were submitted in total?

[Mathew Steel 151]

Hello,?@odisseus!

 

My apologies for the delayed response. With Christmas coming soon, I've been very busy finishing university work and with family. Unfortunately I cannot reveal the total number of entries for the competition. However, I can inform you that I did receive your entry without any issues. I can't give an exact date on when the winner will be revealed, but I imagine it will be the end of January at the latest.

 

Best regards,

Tom.