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>>>>>>>>DOMINANCE WAR 4 - MEGA THREAD<<<<<<<<<

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Jesse Moody
polycounter lvl 18
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Jesse Moody polycounter lvl 18
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[img2=right]http://boards.polycount.net/images/features/dw4/image_02.jpg[/img2]

DOMINANCE WAR IV
“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, war is upon us. Our enemies are gathering in the shadows and it will not be long until we must once again pick up arms and defend our homelands. How will we measure up? In the past Polycount has been a dominating force in this ever growing battle of CG art forums. Let us not falter in this years Dominance War. Let us show them what we are made of. Let us make this the biggest turnout for Polycount ever. Each year, the artists from across the globe are depicted with truly imaginative art and starting this February 20th, 2009 an unprecedented 12 art forums and over 50 nationalities will take part in the largest war in the series - Dominance War IV.

DOMINANCE WAR IV - What’s Coming?
Dominance War IV will bring us many new things. We will see an original story line, and for the first time ever in Dominance War two warm up mini challenges, as well as additional sponsors, world renowned judges, more teams, more languages, an improved entry system, and a lot more. Each year, the support and suggestions from the community helps to make DW improve and improve for everyone so artists can always expect great things! Preparations are being made. We are looking into partnerships with schools and their 3d classrooms. We hope to offer students the exposure they need to get them the jobs they always longed for. Additionally, we are going to expand the Dominance War movement with a gallery showcase at GDC 2009 in San Francisco, Ca. We are extremely proud of all the accomplishments of our artists and our great supporting sponsors, so we always look for additional ways in which we can promote them. It is our hopes that through various galleries, viewers around the world, in various nationalities, will become more aware of how truly great it is to be a game artist.

Why enter Dominance War IV?
Aside from +10 000 USD in cash prizes? Another benefit of entering a competition of this caliber comes with the global recognition attained. Winners will be interviewed in magazines, featured in live galleries, receive great prizes, get fantastic resume highlights, and will be regarded as heroes by their chosen home forums for many years to come. However, let’s not discount what non-champions will get. Dominance War is about giving everyone a place to learn new and innovative methods, create a fantastic portfolio piece, make friendships, find motivation, and showcase talents to the world. Even if an entry is not the best, each and every artist will take home knowledge that helps future careers. In the end, all the time invested in Dominance War is invaluable time invested in oneself, one’s art and one’s talents. Win or lose, prizes or no prizes, there is a little something to be had for everyone.

How it works:
As Dominance War IV approaches, two types of events will unfold - Two fast paced DW Mini Challenges with the first starting February 20th 2009, and an Epic Main Challenge that begins March 12th 2009.

[img2=left]http://boards.polycount.net/images/features/dw4/image_03.jpg[/img2]

Mini Challenges:
Mini Challenges are small single thread based competitions with easy topics and small polygon budgets. They are very intense as they only last for 9 days. Examples of topics include: creating a cartoon character, a small object, a weapon etc.

To join, you must:
1 - Select and represent 1 of 12 forums engaged in Dominance War IV. Once a forum has been chosen, you cannot change forums until Dominance War V, 2010.
2 - After the rules have been revealed and read, post your "mandatory" work in progress (w.i.p) shots in a single 3d and 2d thread within your selected forum. All artists must post their w.i.p art in the same thread on the same forum.
3 - Before the challenge ends, submit your final entry into the DW entry system.
4 - When all entries are in a 4-day public voting process begins.
5 - When voting is over, the best 5 artists from each forum move into the final professional judging stage and both Epic Main and Mini Challenge World Champions are announced in June 2009.

Epic Main Challenge:
The main challenge is like previous Dominance Wars. It is a character-based competition with game-like polygon budgets, texture budgets and a storyline. When the rules are revealed on March 12th, if artists have not already chosen a forum to represent, they must do so now. Unlike mini challenges, artists must create their own personal 3d or 2d work-in-progress (w.i.p) threads on their selected forums. Everyone has 8 weeks to post mandatory w.i.p updates and everyone is encouraged to help others with friendly suggestions and critiques. Before the challenge ends, artists must submit their final entries into the DW system and when judging is complete and the war is over, this year’s World Champions and the winning forums they represent are revealed in June 2009.

Advice for people entering:
If this is your first time entering Dominance War, I would suggest that extra care be given to the rules and options of Dominance War IV. If we use last year’s rules as an example, if you choose to create a warlord character with a powerful fire element sword, don't make him blue, dressed in a robe, and casting spells. Try to make the best entry possible with the options you choose. Dominance War IV options can easily be incorporated into your entry and they are an absolute must-see during judging.

Although dominance war is a fairly open competition, an epic series with a 3-year history is always a little daunting to first time participants. Fortunately, there are plenty of moderators and artists who are always happy and willing to help fellow artists get started.

Here are some tips.
- Always look carefully at the rules and ask questions if you don’t understand something. Also read other peoples questions because they may have the same as you.

- Make sure you love and take pride in the concept/idea you create. The concept should be something that will captivate you throughout the comp. If you love your idea, regardless of what happens around you, this will pull you through all difficult times.

- It might be tempting to create an entry that pushes or bends the rules, but if you look at previous champions, they are all perfect examples of the topics they represent. In 2006, rawkstar’s entry, General Corum, was a perfect War General. In 2007, Team Bigun’s entry was a fantastic Shadow type character perfectly equipped for mass extermination. In 2008, parkparkin’s 3d final looked like a perfect War Lord with a highly magical weapon and JerryJ’s 2d queen-like creation, flying impervious to all attacks, was perfect for destroying all opposition.

- Pace yourself. Don’t leave everything to the last minute. If you can't keep a schedule then pace yourself according to another artist in the competition. If he/she finishes a head over the weekend, finish yours!

- Leave enough time at the end for a great presentation. A bad presentation can easily kill 2 months of hard work. Judges don’t see the hard work put into progress threads. They only see final images. If the presentation of the first image, winning pose, is bad, they will immediately skip to the next finalist.

- Don’t hide your character under too many effects. Each character should be able to stand proudly by itself. The winning pose is about showing your character in a simple natural setting. If your entry is hidden, it looks like your entry has something to hide and will in turn be skipped.

Final notes:
So, Polycounters, let us band together and show everyone what we are made of. Let the blood of our enemies and dirt of our world mix together under our boots as we continue our war march forward in our mission for world domination!

With that said, good luck to all and we will always be here to encourage and help artists in the coming months ahead. If you are an artist thinking about joining in on the fun, we look forward to seeing you in Dominance War IV. From the Polycount Dominance War team, we wish everyone good luck and we hope you enjoy this year’s epic event! See you on the forums! Go Polycount!!!

[img2=right]http://boards.polycount.net/images/features/dw4/image_05.jpg[/img2]
The first DW4 mini-challenge starts THIS FRIDAY, Feb. 20th.

Main challenge starts March 12, 2009.

For more information on Dominance War IV please visit.
I will continue to update this post with links when they become available.

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