RIOT GAMES ART CONTEST 2014
- Contest starts October 12th, 2014 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time (PT)
- The deadline for entries is December 19th, 2014 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time (PT)
- Winners will be announced and posted on Polycount on January 30th, 2015 at 12:01 AM Pacific Time (PT)
- Artists participating in this contest must be a member of the Polycount Community. Registration is free by clicking here
- One person per entry; no team entries
- A WIP (work-in-progress) thread must be made and maintained in the contest sub-forum for your discipline found here
- A forum thread to ask questions regarding the contest – overview, rules, judging, and prizes – has been made specifically for this contest. Please ask your questions here, in the Riot Contest 2014 Q&A thread
- The art work submitted to this contest must be originally made for this contest. No existing art work will be accepted
- Riot Games is the sole judge of the contest and the judgment will be final
- When you’re ready to submit your masterpiece, head over here
- For the official contest rules, click here
- Please note: Current partners, contractors, and employees of Riot Games are not eligible for participation in this contest
The rules and deliverables for each discipline are a little different, so make sure you check the specifics for the category you’re entering.
CHARACTER ART
Mission: Create a fully-textured character model of your favorite League of Legends champion/skin
- Take any champion in LoL and create a high-poly sculpt (optional) and low-poly fully textured model
Things to keep in mind
- There are no hard limits on polycounts but efficiency is appreciated: use your best judgment and make every polygon count
- Bake the Ambient Occlusion (AO) map and use this as the start of your Diffuse Map
- Try to keep the texture on its own single 2048 diffuse sheet
- You can recreate the base champion, an existing skin or create your own design.
What to deliver
- Beauty shot of the high poly sculpt (high resolution) at angles that will best show the quality of your asset (Optional if you created a high poly sculpt)
- Beauty shot of the low poly model (high resolution) at angles that will best show the quality of your asset
- Texture with flat lighting on, as found in League of Legends (LoL)
- Composite shot of your character over the updated Summoner’s Rift map (3/4 view)
- The goal is to see your character in context to the environments found in LoL while being mindful of the design requirements of the MOBA genre
- A construction shot (high resolution) which should include the following:
- Wireframe of the low poly model w/ polycounts
- Texture Sheet showing a good demonstration of economical UV space
- Any reference and/or sketches that illustrate your thought process
Summoner's Rift Reference Images
How Riot will judge
- The team at Riot is looking for top-tier high and low poly character models. What does top-tier mean? We’re glad you asked: Riot wants to see good topology, UVs used with maximum efficiency and stunning hand-painted textures.
ENVIRONMENT ART
Mission: Create two (2) different fully textured environment assets
- Create a ow-poly fully textured model of a unique Turret or Inhibitor and a Creep Den
- The Turret or the Inhibitor should show your ability to create hard surface models and textures
- The Creep Den should be a small area that you would find some of the creeps on the map living
- This should include a rock and a bush or tree (nothing else is required)
Things to keep in mind
- There are no hard limits on polycounts but efficiency is appreciated: use your best judgment and make every polygon count
- Try to keep the texture for each item on its own single 2048 diffuse sheet
- You can recreate a Turret or Inhibitor already in the game or create your own design.
What to deliver
- Beauty shots of the high poly models (high resolution) at angles that will best show the quality of your assets (Optional if you created a high poly model)
- Beauty shots of the low poly models (high resolution) at angles that will best show the quality of your assets
- Texture with flat lighting on, as found in League of Legends (LoL)
- Composite shots of your assets over the updated Summoner’s Rift map (3/4 view)
- The goal is to see your art in context to the rest of the environments found in LoL while being mindful of the design requirements of the MOBA genre
- A construction shots (high resolution) which should include the following:
- Wireframes of the low poly models w/ polycounts
- Texture Sheets showing a good demonstration of economical UV space
- Any reference and/or sketches that illustrate your thought process
Summoner's Rift Reference Images
How Riot will judge
- The team at Riot is looking for top-tier low poly hard surface/organic models created with good topology, UVs used with maximum efficiency and stunning hand-painted textures.
ILLUSTRATION
Mission: Reimagine a splash/illustration of your favorite champion/skin
- Create a high resolution character illustration of any champion or set of champions from the League of Legends world
Things to keep in mind
- The champion(s) should be the main focus of the illustration
- Action and Static poses are both welcome, but characters should feel dynamic either way
- This image should tell a story about something unique or powerful about the champion(s)
- You can recreate the base champion, an existing skin or create your own design.
- Focus on the fantasy of the champion(s).
- Understanding the gameplay of a champ is great and using their in-game abilities as inspiration is totally fine, but think about the fantasy of what those abilities represent
What to deliver
- High resolution (min 3000px wide) Jpeg at full quality compression
- Any references or sketches that illustrate process
How Riot will judge
- The team at Riot is looking for strong composition and storytelling paired with stylized characters anatomy and proportions. Dynamic colored lightning composition is also key to the League of Legends illustration style.
ANIMATION
Mission: Create one cycle animation and one unique attack
- Create a uniquely creative run or walk cycle clearly showing the personality and emotion of your selected character. This can be any type of run or walk. It could be an aggressive, defensive, casual or sneaky run. The key here again is showing creativity.
- Create a unique animation imagining what the character’s ultimate ability or unique move would look like. The character may or may not jump in the air; it can involve a weapon or combo leg move, etc. It is really up to you but please remember: creativity is key.
- You can use any rig that you are comfortable with.
Things to keep in mind
- Consider League of Legends' game view for your animation
- Do not have any post effects or camera shakes to the piece
- Animations should be running at 30 Frames per second
- The animations should be in 3d and not 2d.
What to deliver
- Submit a playblast in Quicktime H264 format from the front, side and ¾ views
- High resolution image(s) from a frame of your animation capturing a strong dynamic pose
How Riot will judge
- The team at Riot wants to see fluid animations that express exaggerated timing, a good sense of action, and dynamic poses.
VFX
Mission: Create two (2) spheres casting two (2) unique spell attacks at each other
- The spheres should remain un-textured and should not move
- The effects should do all the acting in this piece
- Leave four (4) seconds between the two (2) different spell attacks
Things to keep in mind
- There are three (3) components to this effect:
- Build Up
- Release
- Impact
- Spheres and the background should remain un-textured
- They want your effects to be the highlight of this piece
- Do not have any camera shakes
What to deliver
- Submit a render in Quicktime H264 format from the front, side and ¾ views
- High resolution image(s) from a frame of your effect capturing a moment in time with the best shape language
How Riot will judge
- The team at Riot wants to see precision timing and intense impact alongside solid shape language fundamentals. Dynamic use of color is also a must.
Whew. That’s a lot of rules, but following ‘em gives you a shot at these prizes:
All categories of this competition will have 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. Below is the breakdown of the prizes:
1st Place
- Choice of a Wacom® Cintiq® Companion 512 GB model or Wacom® Cintiq® 24 HD Touch
- 70k Riot Points (RP)
- Work highlighted on Riot Games and League of Legends social media
- Polycount Greentooth Trophy
- Signed Riot Games Art Contest Poster by the discipline team of your entry
2nd Place
- nVidia® GTX™ TITAN® Black 6GB Graphics Card
- 60k Riot Points (RP)
- Work highlighted on Riot Games and League of Legends social media
- Signed Riot Games Art Contest Poster by the discipline team of your entry
3rd Place
- Wacom® Intuos® Creative Stylus 2
- 50k Riot Points (RP)
- Work highlighted on Riot Games and League of Legends social media
- Signed Riot Games Art Contest Poster by the discipline team of your entry
GLHF!
Now that the rules and the prizes are out of the way, it’s time to start making some awesome art. Don’t forget that the deadline for submissions is December 19th, 2014 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time (PT). We can’t wait to see what you come up with!
You can ask questions regarding the contest here. But just in case, here are some questions we've anticipated you may have:
I am interested in multiple categories, is it possible to submit art to multiple categories?
Yeap! You can enter as many categories as you want.
Do I have use any specific software or middleware engine solutions?
Nope. Feel free to use whatever software and middleware you’re comfortable with.
I don't know much about League of Legends but want to enter. Where could I go to learn about the game and its story?
You can find information about League of Legends by clicking here. You can also read about the recent evolution of League of Legends lore on the dev blog “Exploring Runeterra” by clicking here.
I am interested in in creating multiple entries for the same category. Is that acceptable?
Yes. These will be seen as separate entries in the contest.
I have an idea for a new champion. Can I use this for this competition?
No. This is a fan art competition. You can either recreate a champion/skin with your own take on it or create your own original skin for one of our established champions. We are not judging your idea but the final execution. Be sure that if you are designing your own skin that we can still tell who the champion is.
What angle and FOV should I use for my assets?
The angle to use is around 55 degrees with the FOV being 40.
Can I use other maps other than Diffuse?
Yes. You can use Alpha maps.
Can I use a concept art from a friend or that I found online?
No. You can only use your own concept or any concept from Riot. Please do not use other people's concepts that you did not create or own even if they gave you permission. That would constitute teamwork which is against the rules as stated.
For animations, can I use a character model that I ripped from another game?
No. Do not use any copyrighted materials especially where they were acquired illegally. You can use any rig (even something very primitive) for this contest. We are judging the animations and not the model/rig you use.