TF2: Polycount Pack, Week 1 check-in
This contest is an interesting one, isn't it? Those entering must challenge themselves in a number of interesting ways: You have a game with an extremely established art style, an art style wrapped around a time & place, and are limited in what you can (or cannot) create for this contest. The latter part of my last sentence being one I'd like to put emphasis on: Understanding the rules of the contest.
There are a ton of entries brewing up, and only a part of those entries are seemingly following the rules:
- 1 class per entry
- 1 theme per class
- all items are within the same theme you choose
- all items must replace existing items in terms of how they function to the best of your creative ability
The results are an outstanding show of creativity and thought process. The kicker is you're not redesigning any of the weapons functionality. So things like whether it does critical damage, slows a player, has a fast reload time, etc. are 100% unnecessary for this specific contest and the results of this are some great item packs I'm seeing popping up.
Turn the page for a look at a few entries-in-progress you should check out if you haven't already.
Zipfinator's Mann Co's Standard Issue Mechanics Kit. Sweet! A standard mechanic's kit for the Engineer sounds like a great start to some alternatives.
Thomas Truong and his 'Medic's Second Opinion'.
DanielAwesomo's 'Scout replacements'. If he sticks to his guns he could come out a winner. I wonder, though, what the theme is specifically.
Zwebbie takes us back to the Atomic Age in his update to the Soldier. I love that of the 2 items Zwebbie has started on both have obvious influences from his Atomic age theme. Keep going!
And lastly, we'll have a look at re.wind's Viking kit for the Soldier as it's a bit of a double edged sword: Fantastic execution so far on the Viking theme but its unfortunate he put so much effort in to the gameplay design of the weapons when - as it states in the rules - this is an aesthetic contest, not a gameplay one. His updates have had an awesome snowball effect in terms of nailing the theme so hopefully he's more focused on that now and now the implications they'll have on the game itself.
And lastly, a friendly reminder for those entering or are thinking of entering the contest, on the next page.
Reminders
Here's a reminder on the Brief and Rules of the contest for those who've entered or are thinking about entering. Your deadline is still 4 weeks away, plenty of time to knock out 3 items!
Pick a single Team Fortress 2 class and create a minimum of three custom items for them. These items can be made up of any combination of weapons (melee, primary, secondary), Engineer buildings and/or hats. These items must be cohesively themed and fit within the Team Fortress 2 universe and time period. Make sure your replacement item set maintains the existing functionality of the original items they’re replacing, specifically any Primary, Secondary or Melee weapons you replace in your set. Valve will be selecting the top entries to make it into the Team Fortress 2 Polycount Pack and the winners will be announced 2 weeks after the contest end date, on July 12th, 2010.
But wait… There’s more!
Runners up will get the chance to have their custom content appear in a future community content pack to be released some time down the track.
- You must be a member of Polycount – Register Here
- You must create a Work In Progress thread in the Contests and Challenges Forum for your entry and must show your progress from start to finish
- This is a visual change to the TF2 weapons only. Designing new gameplay & mechanics for your weapons is unnecessary.
- Ideally, you will enter this contest alone. No group submissions. That said, if someone helped you on something specific (e.g.: Hair shader) then credit them in your notes and Valve will take it from there.
- If a friend wants to do custom animations for your submissions, have them submit it through the TF2 Contribute! page and note that it is for your Polycount Pack entry.
- All work created MUST be your own
- You must be able to supply all source files of the finished products
- You must create a minimum of three unique items for only one particular class (e.g. 1 x primary weapon, 1 x secondary weapon, 1 x hat – you cannot do 2 or more of the same item)
- Items must be themed to Team Fortress 2 and should fit in the Team Fortress 2 universe and time period (e.g. No clown suits for the Heavy Weapons Guy!)
- Contest deadline: 00:01 PST, June 28th, 2010 (5 weeks after the start date!)
So there you have it! A Monday morning mini-update to the Team Fortress 2: Polycount Pack contest! There's a TON of awesome entries out there so if you haven't popped over to the Contest & Challenges Forum yet then you probably should!
Oh, and for those wondering! The Spy playing cards came from the mind of Ritz! Check out his contest thread for more goodies of inspiration.
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