PC Community Feedback: Petrol/Blood (and contests in general)
mod
Now that the submission deadline for Petrol/Blood has passed, we want to ask the community at large for feedback on the contest.
We're very curious to know your thoughts on a variety of subjects such as:
We're very curious to know your thoughts on a variety of subjects such as:
- If you entered but didn't finish, what was the primary reason?
- If you were interested but didn't enter, what was the reason?
- How did you feel about the deadline?
- How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
- How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
- Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
- Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Replies
Too big, too long. Required 3 skill sets or working in a team.
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
I like it as long as the software is made free, and the software is still relevant in the games industry. I'm really not interested in the Chivalry: Medieval Warfare because the target engine is UE3.
I wanted to enter but wasn't able to due to time restrains and the scope of creating both a vehicle/mount and character within the time frame. (Crunch at work!)
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
We're talking not only designing, modeling, texturing and fine tuning materials for two very high quality assets. But also rigging(Even a quick rig is time consuming for us guys who don't do it very often), posing, lighting and making a really bad ass presentation image that sets the mood. That's a lot to do! Even though the time-frame was reasonable the sheer scope of the project was intimidating for me anyway because I felt that any number of things could come up in life and cause me not to finish in time. By the looks of it a lot of people didn't finish in time either.
My biggest issue with the contest is this: With some exceptions... Teams of two had final entry images that were much more polished compared to the single man teams(some of which were scrambling just to finish from the comments posted).
Why is that a problem? It's like having a baton race where you pass the baton but then expecting the one man team to run the entire race and still be able to keep up with the team that has a fresh runner every so often. The sheer amount of work completed is absolutely amazing! Much of it looks great on it's own but the amount of time required to fine tune a final image is not to be underestimated. As someone who was thrown the task of creating marketing images from game assets I found that choosing a camera angle, setting up lighting and tuning materials to find a mood is something quite challenging and time consuming.
A lot of entries did a great job at this task, but I can't help but feel that this contest may have benefited from having a 2 man minimum team requirement to even the playing field.
If you were interested but didn't enter, what was the reason? / How did you feel about the deadline?
I was actually really interested in this contest. I would have loved to create a racer, and team up with a hard surface person. The problem, which is my usual problem, is that I had zero time. Contests lately seem to clash perfectly with work deadlines or other things going on that I can't avoid. In the past, I could juggle crunch and entering challenges but, with my new roles, my time gets weighed more heavily on "work."
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
Edit> Changing my answer here. I think the actual idea is fine, but, it seems hypocritical to say "Had not time, but the scope was great." The idea was epic, but I never could have finished
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
This seems like a bad idea to me. I think boundaries should be established (realtime assets, for example) but artists should be given freedom to do what they want. i'll almost always go Marmoset, but some people want UE3, some want Unity, etc.
I miss competing, man. Seriously. Some of my best work came out of challenges, and each one I feel like I levelled up. I really think that participating in a few challenges really beefed up my skills and helped me advance as far as my technical ability goes. I'll be honest, though, outside of me sucking at making time to do personal stuff lately, there's something about competing that doesn't grab me as much. Like, years back, I knew people would compete and it would be some sort of brotherhood. Me, Haz, Bobo, kite, etc. - it seems lame - but I just don't feel that anymore. My desire to make stuff, to "battle", and encourage people to do better than me / vice versa is still there, I just don't really feel motivated to take part. Again, this is mostly just knowing I don't have time, but a part of me feels like "things have changed" (aka "I'm getting old.") As if the bigger the community got, the less I wanted to take part - not in a "damn the man" way, but in a "I don't know people anymore" way. Really no way of fixing that, I think it's more that I need to really feel passionate about taking part and seeing it through.
As you know, before Fredgate, I loved Dominance War. I loved the idea of representing a faction and winning as a team through individual effort. If something like that happened, I'd definitely definitely be in. Maybe I'm motivated by bigger scale things? I dunno.
Technically, I think PC is and always has been, on point. We know what's up in the industry and what's a "normal" budget...or at least not far off from top shelf. So, not having a hard limit is good, and letting people work more "in context" is good..but at the same time, I feel like having limits give results a more "how the fuck did they do that??" aspect.
I'm rambling now, but I'm sure you get it (EQ, Adam) considering we came up around the same time. I want to compete again, I just need time and to be grabbed by something.
It's a pretty steep challenge to create a fully polished vehicle and a fully polished character. Not to mention the stand as well.
It is obvious to see that most people preferred to focus on polishing the vehicle first, and the characters took a huge hit in quality.
Creating fully rendered, AAA assets typically calls for specialized people. It is a very weird combo to ask for someone to be good at both characters and hard surface.
This would have been much less of an issue if the contest was full of teams... but for some reason most people flew solo for this contest (don't know why). It seems like it was full of hard surface artists primarily that attempted to create a character by themselves after their vehicle was done.
If you were interested but didn't enter, what was the reason?
The contest was so in-depth and had so many requirements I would never have even attempted to do it by myself. In a way, the rewards for a contest need to justify the difficulty or expected team size.
I feel official contests need to have substantial enough rewards to matter, otherwise they may as well just be another "Challenge" thread in the 3D forums.
Too many projects I need to finish to get my portfolio online. Starting a new one would not be sensible. If a contest happens when I don't have anything to work on, I'd enter.
- Too little time for me to finish at the quality I would want to. Not interested in compromising on quality and personal targets to push something out in time, and no time to do a "crunch" for the finish either.
How did you feel about the deadline?
- Tight but not entirely unfair.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
- Very large scope, considerning it didnt really have any limits. A vehicle OR character would have been a more feasible scope, or both but with a bit tighter budget/constraints. Nextgen(currentgen) being even more timeconsuming in terms of hero-pieces does not help either
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
-Fine as long as its not bad software! (Pls no Bryce3D competitions!)
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Not restrictive enough, I like a challenge. I'd love to have some more crazy restrictions-challenges. Like.. make three vehicles out of one tiling 256-texture or something like that :-)
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
-Theme was perfect imho. Enough for a common theme across entries, but still allowing alot of variety and styles.
I think this was a great challenge. Could have used a bit longer deadline or better defined specs, and it would have been golden, imho.
I actually were also pretty interested in this but since I'm merely a hard surface/environment guy and can't make characters the fact that a character was needed kept me away from entering. I maybe could've teamed up with a character artist but sadly finding other artists to team up with is not that easy if you're not at a very, very high level of skill so this was not really an option for me.
I simply didn't have time for it, too much IRL stuff.
How did you feel about the deadline?
It seemed fair and appropriate, not rushed but not drawn out given the scope.
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
This seemed like a great way to push Quixel suite and Toolbag 2 and get artists up and going with PBR.
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I think this ties in with scope. Two hero assets on top of shiny new software and techniques is quite a bit of work.
I wanted to enter but didn't because the contest required both a character and a vehicle. Not only that, but a lot of emphasis seemed to be placed on the character. If it was just a vehicle contest or even if the character was optional I would have probably entered. I'm just not a character artist.
I was not really aiming to finish, because it's summer time :P
As for the softwares restrictions, I like the idea of presenting final assets into the same engine for everyone but I think the content should be created the way you want.
Also,
I wish there was a BRAWL 2!! :poly142:
I'm more environment focused and while I might have tried my hand at a vehicle the character requirement threw me off.
Also the aspect of people teaming up is great to try alleviate scope of the task, but the task should be something reasonable enough that one person can finish at a decent quality level.
I'm hoping the next contest has an environment component. I'm sitting out the Arms & Armor contest because the theme isn't very flexible and seems like the most "Spec Work"ish contest so far (Not that people don't say that for almost every contest).
Prizes are not worth it for me. Required someone else to make a character wouldn't have the time to do both.
It seems like they are always these fucking huge projects with (besides bragging rights if you win) not worth the effort.
With that said I want to do the Arms and Armor Challenge because it has potential money involved via royalties (it would be nice if you got more than the regular amount sorta like the dota challenge) and is a project I could do over a few days. I barley have time for anything personal and this is something I could make time for.
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
Sounds fine to me.
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
No opinion
I simply wasn't good enough to finish on time but I learned a lot of new things which is great.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
I was expecting a huge contest like last year's Escape and it could be better if this contest had more of an environment aspect. Maybe even animation as mentioned above...
Now everyone's making this crazy ass shit. And yea, it's pretty, but it's also damn time consuming. You're asking people to put a shitload of hours into a project that they didn't even come up with originally. It's too much commitment!
Did you participate in the VGREMIX?
The scope was too large, if it were just a vehicle I probably would have taken part. Then again, my work schedule takes priority and I hardly have time to work on my own things anymore.
How did you feel about the deadline?
Tight, especially for someone who didn't team up.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
Again, I would have liked to take part, and might have if we could have chosen to just do a character, or vehicle. I don't really have an interest in teaming up, mostly because I wouldn't want to let anyone down if my paying work got in the way and I had to quit.
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
Fine, as long as the software is free or is made available as a trial during the comp.
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Sometimes I think they aren't restrictive enough. It'd be interesting to force some creative problem solutions.
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I like more focused themes myself. I'm probably going to tackle the Arms and Armor comp, since it's smaller and more focused.
I agree with ZacD (and a few others now that I'm reading through this thread).
I think a solo-only contest would be more appealing for newbies such as myself who don't really know many people on Polycount.
No, I haven't really participated in anything in quite a while. I have my own projects I'm slowly trudging away on.
But I don't think people want old school comps either. That's not what I was getting at. I just think they should be achievable by a single person in a smaller timeframe. Something like sculpts only. Or just a bust.
Yes of course, feel free.
Have to say the deadline was pretty rough, for the scope of the contest it was a tad short IMO.
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
It's not restrictive enough, would be cool if there was a poly limit. Unlimited polys feels like people can just bypass the lo-poly stage, which to me feels like its not a game art challenge at all.
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
This is okay to me. If they are contributing to the prize pool in some way to promote their product then I don't see why not.
Also, would be cool if there is some sort of announcement in the polycount forums when voting is up, I just happened to check Polycount facebook to find that its up. I dont have facebook lol.
I apologize if there is actually a link here in the forums without going through facebook.
- If you were interested but didn't enter, what was the reason?
My first thought was Final Fantasy Shiva, 2 chicks blending to make a motorcycle or mount and then a rider on top. Then I looked at my Freelance Schedule and was like. Nope. So time.- How did you feel about the deadline?
I think it was pretty tight for the work required, especially for < 8 hours a day workers like myself.- How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
Probably the biggest scope contest PC has ever done to date in terms of what was required to finish and technical constraints. I think that in and of itself scared most old timers away.- How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
I think software used should be unrestricted, after all we are still celebrating uniqueness and diversity in art aren't we - so the focus I think should be on the results as art pieces instead of what person x could do with tool y.- Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Mind blowing. Not because I'm not used to it, freelance has taken care of that! Just that I think the growth or transition period from lower more restrictive budgets to almost open budgets happened so quickly it removes (for me at least) that wow factor of looking at something like Vadim's valkyrie and being like what the fuck!? He did THAT with how many poly's ? And only this much texture space ?! How in the shit?!?! What wizardry is this!?- Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I wasnt that excited about the theme, I like more open ended character contests personally. Brawl was awesome - simple straight to the point, take an existing character, redesign it keeping iconic features. Done.I'm not sure how everyone feels, but, a personal turn off for me is the association with companies / developers. Beyond just this competition, but as a general thing for comps. I know it's great for exposure, and is a nice way to get artists attention (and even money), but, I think there are some downsides.
I feel like linking it with a company's technology limits the results of the artist. Sometimes alienating them from not learning something, and not wanting to participate because it's "one more thing" they need to deal with.
Linking with companies you develop for (like the Dota stuff, or chivalry stuff) I like you limit what people can do creatively by needing to stick within a certain style. Yes, it's a cool challenge to see if you can make art that fits in their game...but it sort of lacks the personal touch. Plus, to me, it adds pressure that you never had before in competitions. Like, rather than encouraging learning, and a community that pushes each other to get better, you're now competing to make money from your assets in a game. It changes things.
Basically, I used to compete to grow and develop my own personal style. As soon as you limit what tool I can use, or have me making assets for another company (I'm full time employed and freelance.) I shut off. I just have no desire to "need" Quixel (its an example, not calling them out) and couldn't care less about DOTA or Chivalry. If it were the exact same competitions, and i had the time, I'd be way more interested (like, make a fighter and a mount for this loose fictional world...)
I feel like that's something that has changed since I last "wanted" to compete. I think Brawl might have been the last one I wanted to be a part of. I know I'm a hypocrite, because I've competed in developer sponsored challenges, but it was more open ended (i.e. the ZBC Bioware challenge that opened it up to Mass Effect and DA...basically, sci-fi or fantasy...) Not sure how to put it exactly, and the counter is obviously that I'm getting older and the user base has changed, but things seem different. It seems to go from a retro / low end challenge, to a high end sponsored challenge that makes money. I just wish there was a "moderate" level one that engaged me technically but didn't require a blood debt to Gaben
In that case, I'll answer some of the basic questions and then just write some thoughts and feedback I have related to the UTMC.
If you entered but didn't finish, what was the primary reason?
I entered and finished, so:
If you participated in the contest, what was the primary reason?
It was polycount's first 2D contest, so I wanted to be a part of it. It also seemed like a good way to challenge myself and maybe acquire some new skills.
How did you feel about the deadline?
I thought the given deadline was fine, had no issues with it.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
Overall scope of what needed done to qualify for entry seemed fine.
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I guess it's time to deviate from the answering-questions motif and share a bit more openly. I suppose the topic of theme sort of ties into scope, as the scope of the contest was basically "show us a theme in 1-3 pictures". I think this was a fine idea at its core, but it's also incredibly open-ended and does not give anyone much information related to viability. It may be this was intentional, done with a sort of "let's just see what crazy stuff people come up," mentality, but it was mildly frustrating at first. Are vehicles going to drive around the maps? Environmental hazards much of a thing? What colors are the characters going to be? Information such as the answers to those questions would have helped give direction, and possibly increased the amount of usable ideas being generated. It is possible that an abundance of information related to the game is not available because it doesn't exist yet - being developed alongside the community and all, and that I can understand to a degree. I tried to do my own research as best as I was able. I think Gav's post above related to being tied to companies is related to this, though with UTMC it was restrictions you knew were there (due to it being for an actual, playable existing franchise), but weren't even clear on.
As an additional complication of the "theme" being the ultimate scope of our submissions, with layout/scale/etc potentially being ignored or modified for the sake of gameplay, I'm still uncertain of how exactly entries for the contest will be judged. Could I have drawn my concept on a napkin, had it portray largely the same theme, and saved myself some time? Could someone else have entered with a largely similar theme, and if so - what aspects of the submissions would be judged then?
I realize I could have asked these questions in the contest's Q&A thread, but I noticed that questions stopped being addressed around roughly the 20th of July, with this post being the last to receive an answer (though there were still two weeks left before the deadline). A question somewhat related to my own curiosities was asked on the 22nd. I'm sure I could have bumped the thread with a more significant post a few times, used the "report post" function to draw attention to it, or PMed someone and gotten an answer - but at that point I figured I might as well just work on my entry and make the most of it. I didn't want to draw attention, I just wanted to paint a picture.
Trying to wrap this up, I'll say that I did feel an overarching vibe that the UTMC wasn't really on polycount's radar. The nature of how submissions were being judged wasn't very well defined, the Q&A thread dropped off the map just over halfway through, 99% of the forum's population seemed almost entirely uninterested in the entire contest's forum section, some of the entries seemed to be 90% 3D (with a couple I think even being entirely 3D with a filter thrown over them) though it was intended to be the first 2D contest, and something that didn't really bother me personally (as I knew it was just a derp, and would be rectified) but I guess sort of adds on to the pile, the submissions thread was initially closed with disregard to the stated deadline (though that was rectified). It seemed so disconnected from the rest of the community that in the future, I may consider just trying to buddy up with someone on the 3D side of things and do a concept for a 3D contest.
If it sounds like I didn't enjoy myself participating in the contest, I did. And I know that some of the things I've mentioned above did not happen as a direct result of polycount's staff, rather they were either just weird things that happened or happened because the nature of polycount is that it's still pretty much a 3D forum. I did actually wind up being really happy with the things I learned and where I managed to go from beginning to end, I just didn't really feel like I was participating in a polycount contest, just felt like I was doing what I always do (chugging away at a painting, thinking it might wind up in my portfolio if I can pull it off).
Sorry for the lengthy post, I was curious if there'd be an opportunity to share these thoughts for awhile and then this thread popped up.
How did you feel about the deadline?
I felt the deadline was good for creating a couple decent renders
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
Scope was great. Sometimes 3D contests can have a huge scope requiring a lot of different kinds of work, all of which take vastly more time than 2D work.
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I believe it was a tad too open-ended for my tastes... but that's partly due to unclear judging criteria. The contest page even says "we'll pick our favorite." What defines it to be the favorite? There were not clear judging criteria for Epic's part either, which added an extra level of uncertainty regarding restrictions.
Other thoughts
I was unsure if I should focus more on gameplay elements, far shots, mid shots, show pick-ups like level design? Typically concept art does not cover level or game design elements and is usually used solely to spark visual interest... but I saw a lot of people showing off gameplay design in their piece, which I felt was unnecessary for a concept artist.
It would also be nice to be aware of when the judges will announce the winners. Next week already marks an entire month since the end of the contest.
I felt the prizes for this contest were great. Get credit in the game, potential to be used as an actual level. That's pretty cool!
Overall I was really happy that Epic & PC did this. PC is a game art forum and concept art is a part of game art.
- If you entered but didn't finish, what was the primary reason?
I encountered a bunch of technical issues mostly unrelated to the contest's required software, but the requirement to use Quixel suite screwed me over last minute, and I wasn't able to work around.The deadline for me felt like it could have been longer, but that's because I lost about 3 weeks working time while my home computer was out of the picture. Looking at it as if that wasn't the case, it seems like a good length for the task.
- How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
Perhaps a bit much. Good for teams, but a bit harsh for anyone who couldn't find a working partner.- How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
I personally don't mind at all, but it does mess some people up (eg if their home computer is a mac, or they encounter software-specific bugs)- Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Possibly not restrictive enough. I enjoy a lot of the puzzle solving that comes with 3D artistry, and this felt kinda lax. That's okay, but sometimes I found myself in limbo a little unsure what direction to go in because I had the opportunity to just kinda do whatever.- Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Thought it was pretty good! Gave a lot of leeway for people who aren't good with either vehicles or characters to bend the contest into something they could accomplish.All in all, I was pretty happy with it, but this was also the first comp I managed to participate in at all, so I don't have any perspective relating to how other or previous contests have been run.
I was waiting for this contest since the idea was thrown out several years ago. I know exactly what I was waiting to make. Unfortunately it came during my move to Brazil or I would have entered.
I would have had my employees enter too but it came at a bad time during the end of production.
How did you feel about the deadline?
For my personal artstyle it would have been enough to make 2 or 3 entries. Fuck all this high poly noise.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
A bit ambitious for those choosing a more complex artstyle.
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
I generally don't like it, but I understand the purpose of it's role in this contest.
I prefer to be able to use any tools we want and render out of any real-time engine we want.
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I will always side with specs being not restrictive enough. Too much room to play in can actually be quite boring. I prefer a challenge and tight restrictions to puzzle solve.
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Theme was awesome. A rider and their mount. Perfect!
If you were interested but didn't enter, what was the reason?
-I wanted to, but I had enough work going on that finding the time to do any contest would not have worked.
How did you feel about the deadline?
-Didn't enter, but it seemed fair. Extending the deadline was a great call.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
-It may have been a bit large, but it also encouraged working in teams. There's nothing wrong with that either, working in teams is great practice!
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
-If I had a great workflow with Substance and was forced to use DDO, I'd have issues working at a good pace to finish the contest. HOWEVER, they sponsored the contest and it's their right to restrict texturing software. So, as it is, I'm totally OK with it.
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
-I'm pretty sure the tech restrictions were almost 0. As for the theme, I think it was fairly open ended.
I think the contests in general have grown considerably here in the past few years. There are various other contests that can be done to judge different skills too...Polycount can have good contests with good-great prizes for years to come.
The deadline was alright for me, I ended up starting a new job tho so it made it tighter for me than it should, had it not been for the extension I would not have finished.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
I do feel the scope combined with the deadline may have scared people off. After going through it there probably should have been categories and If you wanted you could team up and do both a rider and vehicle. Having all contestants do both might have scared people off who dont feel strong in one aspect or do not know the community well enough yet to group up with someone they dont know.
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
I liked learning dDo and the new marmoset, however I do feel it is a bit silly to restrict people to it. With the amount of work needed for this contest it was almost stressful to wrap my head around learning a new program. (I even had some technical issues getting the quixel suite to run on my tower at home. I had to download the dDo beta version separately and use that.) I feel making something that looks kickass should be the point of the contests not how you got there. I understand this one was sponsored by the respective software companies so this isnt too big of a gripe concerning this contest. Their prizes their rules. It's more of just something to think of for future comps.
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I feel the virtually limitless specs might have caused the scope to grow even larger than intended for some. I personally like having tighter restrictions on texture size and tri limits just because I know what I can and cannot do with a budget and it keeps me from detailing areas that will never be seen. I nearly fell into a trap with my rider wanting to make the mechanics underneath.
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I think the theme limitation was perfect. It gave a clear goal but kept everything open enough for people to get creative.
I do have one more thing I would like to add to my feedback.
After everyone spending so much of their free time on these entries it would really be nice to have a news post stating that PETROL/BLOOD is over and voting is available. While i think having another contest in the barrel ready to go after one closes is awesome, Not announcing that the other one is over and final entries are ready to view almost diminishes the feeling of finishing. (I only knew the voting was ready because I follow the facebook page.)
Even with this feedback I gadda say the challenge was super fun and I hope you guys know your work setting it all up is much appreciated. Thanks so much guys
:thumbup:
I agree with pretty much everything you said Gav, and to add a personal thought...
When you spoke about a contest for a loose fictional world the first thing that popped into my head is how organically the theme of substrata developed into something that a wide variety of people contributed to and really made their own, while retaining the core feeling. I can't help but feel that a contest based around a loose world like that would be perfect.
I had no free time, but also when it comes to stuff like polycount competitions, inexperienced people or people who aren't pros like myself get scared off by how damn crazy good people are here. Maybe that's just my confidence issues but I won't enter until I feel worthy.
How did you feel about the deadline?
The deadline seemed ok if I had free time which I didn't but for having spare time on your hands it seemed reasonable.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
Pretty scary for someone like me. Working together with someone online for a competition would also get pretty haywire, not that I'm against co-operation, you could just rolling the dice on your entry however.
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
The problem I have with this is that Quixel Suite isn't good enough to allow uniqueness to textures. You can tell when someone has used it. So restricting people to something that hasn't even been fully fleshes out and is still in its infancy, and not even stable as of yet seems silly.
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Having none at all is fine, but having a tri limit or texture limit kinda makes people work with what they've got in the good kind of way and not in the software kind of way.
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
The theme was pretty cool.
i was interested at first when it was announced long long ago, but then it was delayed for so long after that and then it suddenly started giving too little time to schedule.
hard to participate in "surprise" contests...
The idea was appealing, but very big in scope. I'd love to see smaller scope projects in the future, that could even be held at the same time as larger contests as an alternative.
How did you feel about the deadline?
I thought it was an ample amount of time, which for something of that scope would be perfect.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
Just that it was out of my scope. If the contest was something I could work on fulltime, I think I could participate. But I'd really like something smaller in scope, at least as an alternative.
How did you feel about the deadline?
It was allright i guess. Probably would not have finished if work had been too demanding, but started on the contest a bit later anyway.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
The Scope was quite big for a single person, gave a bit of a restriction what could be done in order too finish (nothing too complicated). On the other hand it was nice too jump around between working on different assets, did not get bored.
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
As i never used quixel and marmoset before and wanted to try them out anyway, that was perfect in this case. As long as I'am not forced to use Milkshape or Microsoft Paint to get things done its cool.
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Would not mind too see a past gen contest in the future with a tighter poly/texture limit. Really enjoed the pre dominance war V for example. For this contest though it was ok to loosen those restrictions, as it freed some time up not to have to think about those limitations.
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough.
Great theme that left plenty of room for what could be done.
The subject matter was not one that interested me too much. This is not really a problem with the contest but with my personal likes and dislikes it should be noted.
How did you feel about the deadline?
It seemed to be tight lots of entries seemed to have been rushed through final stages to meet the deadline. Its seems most entries did not manage to finish in time.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
That was fine if more time was given.
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
I think this is a positive thing because it makes people learn new software they may use after the contest. However this should always be in the time limits of a trail and should not discriminate on people who cannot afford the software. The petrol and blood challenge did this VERY WELL.
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
4k texture for character and vehicle (each) and 4k for the other things would have been nice
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Fairly free but it would be nice to have a little more freedom.
It is basically 3 Jobs. designing and modeling, posing texturing for a humanoid plus a hardsurface transport device. Add A programmer and we could make a indigame? Well without gamedesign, haha.
I could not finish that in time jet. But Did a August PC-Character CHangle and started Blizzard Fest but that is another Story.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
I dont like the possibility if I would join a Team, that my team could beaten by one artist. :poly121:
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
I would be fine with that if it free to use for 3 years private or freeware, or at least industry standard.
I heard about the softwares but I think its bad, to encourage people them people should show case they understand / master the basics.
Personally I would feel bad,I want really prove myself.
For Example Like I would like to to be allowed to build a table with a Saw and Nails, but here I would had to use a Nail Pistol and Flex-maschine. I Think my Table would not be better if I used a Flex,maybe faster.
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I think restricting should reasonably aimed the consoles like xbox one or ps4 for a main character + riding.
The Polycount should just reasonable since is a game challenge, if it would be an hollywood challenge well then it different. But don't make it like you can choose between mobile and in game cinematics models.
I picked up a pretty big freelance contract that prevented me from finishing.
How did you feel about the deadline?
I thought it was fine. I know how fast I work and I feel like I would've fairly easily been able to finish within the allotted amount of time if work hadn't picked up so much.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
I liked it, though I miss the days of single character contests like the first couple of DomWars. Taking it for what it was, though, I think it was a pretty good way to throw in a bit more variety and get close to actual production-type schedules.
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
I didn't mind because Quixel and Marmoset are both companies I like and support. If it had been restricted to specific modeling software or was limited in that you couldn't use standard tools like Photoshop, then I would've been pretty ticked off. I'd have a hard time supporting a contest that forced you to use Modo for modeling, even though it's my primary 3D software, because it would severely restrict the range of people willing or able to participate.
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
Absolutely not restrictive enough. Despite the fact that current-gen consoles are absurdly powerful, I doubt that most people in the industry will be working on a game in the next five years that really takes advantage of all that horsepower. You're always going to run into polygon and texture limitations in a production environment, and it's always awesome to see people working well within tight restrictions.
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I thought the theme was fine, but having more restrictive themes in the future would be cool.
EDIT:
Having gone back and re-read some of the other stuff people have posted, I thought I'd mention something regarding contests around here:
I don't feel like they happen often enough, and I don't feel like there are enough bragging rights prizes.
For all the fucked up stuff that's happened with GameArtisans, there are two things they've done very right in the past. They ran small contests constantly, and they gave winners flair on their posts and profiles. I think Polycount would benefit greatly from having small "official" contests that run once every two weeks or once a month that people can participate in for bragging rights and user flair of some sort.
I know I run the risk of making myself sound like a horse's ass by saying how easy something is, but... It wouldn't be hard to run small contests a couple of times a month -- especially if there are no prizes and you don't need to do anything aside from make a thread for submissions/WIPs and a poll to pick the winner.
Scope of the contest didn't seem feasible for me considering what I wanted to create and working full-time, family, etc. This was billed as a new-gen quality contest which excited me a lot, but also seemed really crazy when you consider how long that stuff takes in full-time production. Concepting a character, vehicle, and diorama would be at least a week in full-time production. The character sculpt/model/texture/rig, etc would be at least a month, the vehicle probably the same, plus a diorama another week or two.
How did you feel about the deadline?
Initial deadline was rough, and even with the extension it felt like I'd absolutely have to do 20 hrs/week on the project and team up with someone. After last year's escape challenge, I really didn't feel like abandoning my family for 10 weeks.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
Scope was totally cool if given more time. Obviously some people were able to get it done, so this is more about the scope not fitting me. I could have changed the scope just to finish, but I already do low-poly hand painted stuff every day at work, and would rather flex my art muscles in a different way at home.
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
I'd rather just see things restricted the way they were in the past. As long as it's game-art, rendered real-time, then use whatever you want.
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I was fine with the semi-open tech specs. Let's people flex their muscles a bit, though polygon limits can help guide people that might not know what a reasonable polycount is.
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I really dug the theme. It was a good way to breakup teams(char and vehicle peeps), and had just the right restrictiveness level.
I like Swizzle's ideas for smaller contests more often, along with bragging rights.
I'd like to see you guys post up feedback requests BEFORE the contest goes live next time. Don't give away the theme or specific details, but say "Hey, we're doing a contest and these are the specs and scope, is this reasonable?" Obviously you can't make everyone happy, but I know a lot of people didn't even touch this contest because of the scope and deadline.
How did you feel about the deadline?
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
Too much work in too short of a deadline for the work required. I felt the scope was too broad. The theme was okay, but having to do a Full Character and an entire vehicle in such a short span of time, in your free-time, was only possible with a team (and it seems not a lot of people like contests that are team-based)
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
I actually didn't mind that so much, but I know a lot of people who did not care for that. That was one of the biggest complaints I heard
Technical specs (textures, polys) too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I enjoy the freedom of not having very restrictive specs, however at work there was a lot of talk that because of the lack of restrictions, some Game Artists are being pushed out of the way in favor of Cinematic Artists. This not so much in Petrol/Blood, but in these contents in general it might be a good idea to have more strict limitations as to keep this grounded in game art.
Theme, too restrictive, not restrictive enough?
I loved the theme. I thought it was as broad as it needed to be but also pretty specific as well.
Addendum: As an environment artist I was pretty disappointed that there was no real environment focus. I understand that the other specialties need love too, but I would have rather it been inclusive to them instead of exclusionary towards Enviro guys. I'm sure there would have been a way to keep everything about this contest while still adding environment features. A contest for all of the specialties would have been really nice; even if they were judges in their own categories.
With that said, I really appreciate all of the hard work you guys put into these things and really shows. You all do a fantastic job of moderating, promoting, and sustaining these competitions and in the end I think we are all better artists because of them! Thank you!
I like contests a lot, even if I've yet to participate in one. I wanted to enter Brawl, but wasn't happy with my skills at the time, so I didn't. I'd like something that is either Environment or Characters; so people can do what they love, and it'll be a challenge for all of the right reasons. Like Brawl.
I did create this concept though. Maybe i will do something inspired later. I liked the idea. There didnt seem to be that many finished projects.
It wasn't a Dominance war thing, but certainly felt like the amount of work necessary to put together a great piece would have required the same commitment.
Thanks again!
i think the deadline was fine and i liked that you did the extension very early. i would be realy glad if a contest deadline were never to be moved again cause i feel this is unfair to everyone who cares for the contest and takes time off to finish in time.
also i am absolutely for making the smaller contests that are already happening official and giving people bragging rights as prizes.
the theme was pretty cool imo and i liked the loose restrictions, because with tight polybudgets you are often caught in between trying a more elaborate shape, but comprimising on the clean execution or choosing a simpler shape to ensure a perfect result.
also i like the way the voting works, because i observed that traditional fan favorites often get massive amounts of votes, regardless of the actual quality of their entry.
I entered but didn't finish. I didn't have anywhere near the free time to work on my entry (and I took some days off work specifically for the comp). I probably over reached in my design, but the amount I would have to cut in quality and scope just to finish is too much.
How did you feel about the deadline?
It would be reasonable if I worked in a team and if I worked 9-5. So practically, it was far too short.
How did you feel about the scope of the contest?
Huge. Absolutely need a 3 man team to comfortably complete in the time allotted.
Design a vehicle, character and environment. Model high poly vehicle. model high poly character. Model environment and create materials/sculpts/props Model low poly vehicle and bake, retopo character and bake. learn completely new texturing workflow and software texture vehicle, texture character. rig (optional), pose (Twice!) all the while developing the scene and fixing all the usual problems that arise.
Having to fit this around a job that already takes up most of my free time was impossible. But I wanted to enter anyway, because it was fun!
How did you feel about being restricted to specific software?
I didn't really get that far to be honest.
Technical specs perfect
Theme loved! Great for everyone, lots of freedom but rules where it mattered.