UC 2009 - Rules & Questions - NEW DEADLINE
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A series that began in 2008, the saga continues with Unearthly Challenge'09 - an annual epic event between four colossal forums - GameArtisans.org, Polycount.com, leewiArt.com and CGTalk.ru! In Unearthly Challenge 2009, your mission is to portray End Game as a game level, game scene or event that suggests the essence of the two words - End Game. It can be a final powerful looking boss level, the aftermath of a legendary battle scene, an epic occurrence that suggests an end is coming, a stairway to an intimidating portal, a road that ends in a pit of fire, or more.
How you portray End Game and how you depict an atmosphere that entices viewers to want to know more, we leave it all up to you. Remember, your final work must be clear, with no explanations required, how the scene depicts the essence of - End Game.
As before, Unearthly Challenge has great new features that have never been done in an online competition. Concept artists – get ready to rumble! Once again, you can submit up to THREE final personal entries and this year, you can join as many 3d teams as you wish! YES, you can WIN multiple prizes, but you will need to be quick in order to dominate the charts! 3D Artists, once again, you may enter as a 3-person team, however, in Unearthly Challenge 2009, there are absolutely no team-member restrictions. Join multiple teams, join a single team, or join alone, all 3 options are fine. We pass the gift of choice to you. You decide what you create, who you create it with, and how you will succeed at creating it.
For the next 7 weeks, you have the chance to showcase your thoughts, styles, techniques and working ethics, and come finals, we look forward to seeing some amazing environments in our second chapter of the series – Unearthly Challenge 2009.
Good luck to all those who enter!
Recommended Strategy:
It is recommended that participants focus their scenes. Creating a mood through use of lighting and/or effects helps ensure your message is delivered. Furthermore, ask yourself, What is your idea for an end? How can it be portrayed so that everyone easily understands it? Can key items be placed in the scene to help (a godly throne, a pit with 1000 spikes and a welcome rug at the bottom, a bomb with 01 seconds left before a conclusive end)? Focus your idea and make it clear.
To create your your thread use this format.
UC 2009 'END GAME' | <TEAM NAME> | 3D / 2D
Specifics:
- Your 3d depiction should contain a center of interest. Center of interest can be a building, object, or special event (magical light, a small whirlwind, a cracking egg, etc)
- Vehicles (not robots or mechanical character-based forms) may be included in your scene.
- No Characters, animals, aliens, or robots, can be shown in your scene. No monsters, no elves, no robots, no smurfs, etc. Statues: Statues made of stone and metal are allowed, but they must possess extremely minimal details.
- Teams are allowed. Up to 3 people maximum.
- Joining multiple teams is fine, however, all entries must be completely different. Example, if you create a water bucket in your 2d entry, you better not have a similar bucket design in any of your other 3d or 2d entries..
- All artwork must be created exclusively for this competition. No previously made Base meshes!! If you use a base mesh and get caught, we are not responsible for executions and/or offensive language delivered by the public (not us). Nobody likes cheaters. We are not responsible for helping artists clean things up.
- Even if you are alone, creating a team name is mandatory.
- Please create only one thread per team.
- Showing your work-in-progress is mandatory! If artists do not show their progress, or wait until the last day/week to show their work, they will not be judged... period.
- Choose either gameartisans.org, polycount.com, leewiart.com, or cgtalk.ru to post your work-in-progress images and comments.
- For instructions how to join, please visit - [URL="http:///"]JOIN INSTRUCTIONS[/URL]
IMPORTANT:
- You must include your team's colors AND/OR team logo in your entry. To find colors and logos, go here: Colors and Logos
Additional Notes...
- Don't submit a single prop or group of props as the final piece to be judged. This contest is about creating a dynamic layout that "suggests" or "is" a full environment. To accomplish this, you must create a unified setting that holds its objects, lighting, textures etc.
- Polycount: 250 000 triangles
IMPORTANT: You have UP to 250k triangles, this doesn't mean you have to use them all. A well Optimized scene always earns respect! - Texture Sheets: 4096x4096 total of texture space for each material pass.
- example: 4096x4096 total for diffuse, 4096x4096 total for normal maps, 4096x4096 total for specular, etc. etc. Breaking texture sheets into smaller sheets is fine.
- Skybox: Skybox can use its own 2048.2048 sheet(s)
- Lightmaps: Lightmaps may be used, but they are optional.
- For all images, Post-processing is allowed, but limited to:
- hue/saturation adjustment
- brightness/contrast or Levels adjustment
- depth of field
- bloom/hdr adjustment
- motion blur
- Sharpness filter
- Photoshop: The following additional Photoshop touchups are fine: adding text, adding a logo and adding an image border. No background manipulation, painting touchups or strange filters or anything else.
- Shaders: If it can be done in todays game, then it can be done in Unearthly Challenge.
- Lighting and rendering: Your environment MUST either be shown within a video game engine, or as a screen grab from a 3D creation applicaiton (Max, Maya, etc). NO RENDERS. This is a contest about real-time video game environments, which your beauty shots must show caseThe following trial versions of Game Engines can be used to help create your UC Entry:
- Urban Pad
- Torque - Coming Soon
To complete your entry, you must hand in the following 6 images:
Final Thumbnail 128x128 Final thumbnail. Must be exactly 128x128 pixels.
Beauty Shot #1 Beauty Shot #1: Your best angle of your environment. (no Photoshop touchups! See rule specifics above)
- Up to 1100 x 1100 pixels and 350k file size.
Beauty Shot #2 Beauty Shot #2: A second beauty shot of your environment but from a different angle. (no photoshop touchups! See rule specifics above)
- Up to 1100 x 1100 pixels and 350k file size.
Construction sheet A wireframe shot and text describing which team member did what in your entry (Important).
- Up to 1100 x 1100 pixels and 350k file size.
Texture Sheet showing your diffuse/color map for everything in your environment is mandatory. Squeezing other map types onto this single sheet is optional.
- Up to 1100 x 1100 pixels and 350k file size.
Concept Sheet Includes your chosen concept + any additional concepts you created during the challenge.
- Up to 1100 x 1100 pixels and 350k file size.
Concept artists, you have the artistic freedom to create up to 3 original entries for this challenge. Each must be made with the following guidelines in mind:
- Each entry must look different from one another and must be made entirely from scratch. Don't create the same area and show it from different angles for 3 entries. Explore completely different areas, worlds, building and/or rooms.
- Feel free to use any 3d package of your choice to help create your final illustration. Only base models and lighting are allowed. Applying textures to your models is prohibited. This is a painting challenge after all.
- Your final outdoor scene or interior room should look playable in some fashion. There should be doors in the correct sizes, maybe some stairs, and/or other interesting areas etc. Don’t just make a pretty picture; make it look fun to play in!
- Your ideas must contain a center of interest. Center of interest can be a building, object, or special event (magical light, a small whirlwind, a cracking egg, etc)
- No Characters, animals, aliens, or robots, can be shown in your scene. No monsters, no elves, no robots, no smurfs, etc. Statues: Statues made of stone and metal are allowed, but they must possess extremely minimal details.
- All artwork must be created exclusively for this competition. No previously made sketches or ideas. Example, don't copy a previous barrel design you created 10 years ago. Your new barrel can look a little similar, but it should not be exactly the same.
- Joint entries for the concept art category are prohibited. Everything must be done by a single artist.
- Please create only one thread and show 1 or all 3 of your work in progress entries within this single thread.
- Showing your work-in-progress is mandatory! If you do not show your progress, or wait until the last day/week to show your work, your work will not be judged... period.
- Choose either gameartisans.org or polycount.com to post your work-in-progress images and comments.
- For instructions how to join, please visit - [URL="http:///"]JOIN PAGE[/URL]
- You must include your team's colors AND/OR team logo in your entry. To find colors and logos, go here: Colors and Logos
To complete up to 3 entries, you must hand in the following 4 images for each set:
Final Concept A full colored concept of a great looking angle of your environment.
- Up to 1100 x 1100 pixels and 350k file size.
Modeling Sheet This sheet should explain the various items that make up your final fully colored concept sheet.. If you created a building as your center of focus, then this sheet should show additional close up details of the doors, the entrances, and other well seen or used areas. Only a single shade of color, from dark to light, can be used for this image. A Black and white image is fine too. NO multiple colors!
- Up to 1100 x 1100 pixels and 350k file size.
Sketches Sheet This image can contain sketches and/or progression steps for your final illustration. Sketches can show how you came up with your idea(s) and the progression steps can show key mark points in your final illustration's development process.
- Up to 1100 x 1100 pixels and 350k file size.
Unearthly Challenge'09 has been Extend by 7 Days. New Deadline:
November 23rd, 2009, 11:59pm Eastern Time
November 23rd, 2009, 11:59pm Eastern Time
This discussion has been closed.
Replies
A: You have to create it yourselves. That would make you guys a team of 4.
I will also respond to your question by editing your post so that you do not have to hunt for answers.
A. Unearthly was purposely left out this year. You're tasked with creating an environment portraying what 'End Game' means to you or your team.
With that in mind, this is a videogame art contest. So if you want to get 'unearthly', by all means, do so.
unearthly is a just a name for this series of contests. End Game is the theme.
Is the plastic horses in these acceptable for the challenge?
Q. Yes those are fine.
How will you portray 'End Game' with a carnival theme?
I am thinking a very run-down carnival. The end game feeling will come from Hot Air Balloons floating off, One last
Balloon on the ground and a few in the sky as if they used them to escape.
In left 4 dead Finale's there is like a boat or a helicopter, so i was kind of thinking as if this was the end of the journey and they are escaping on the Hot Air Balloons.
Does that make sense / work?
Not a final idea, but something I am considering to do.
A. Brushes are bsp creations that most engines support. Not recommended as the control over them isn't the greatest. You must be able to show the triangle count your brush work is contributing to the scene.
A. Yes
A. Lightmaps do not use the 4096x4096 limitation.
also: what about rats/birds etc?
Q. So you mean just use the 2048x2048 and tile it on each plane? Yeah thats ok. The image can't be larger then 2048x2048. You can tile things but nothing larger.
A. It can be whatever you make of it.
A. Adam here - I'll have to double check with Fred but, while I believe this is OK. I would suggest taking any existing water shader and making changes to it to make it your own rather than straight-up using their shader.
A. That should be fine. So long as they aren't the focus of your scene.
any prize?
how is it judged?
A. The prizes page was up. He started the contest with known issues, broken links. The judging is based on the best videogame environment depicting the essence of 'End Game'. Design, execution, efficiency and impact are all key factors in making a winning piece.
A. Vehicles are allowed.
A. Yes of course.
A. That one is entirely up to you. However, this is a contest on your ability to create an ENVIRONMENT, and if your focus is at all on a character, I would think you have failed the challenge of the contest. If you're telling the story of a human, that's not really a story of an environment.
A. Yes. You're welcome to enter your concept to the 2D contest. Just keep in mind most of those entries will be full all illustrations. It's suggested that you submit more than a simple environment contest. Check out last years winners for examples.
A. Your concept is for your use in creating your scene. How original it is is entirely up to you. Whatever it takes to concept out your 3D environment. However, submitting your own original art work to the 2D contest, if you so desire, would be wise.
A: Yes this should be fine, as the tree isn't a character as such, but it is a decorated environment piece/prop. The rules do say with things like statues, not to go too detailed, so I suppose if it's a rough carving of a face, you'll be pretty safe.
However it does say this
Concept Sheet : Includes your chosen concept + any additional concepts you created during the challenge.
So im confused where is the link to all the concept art?
A: That might be some legacy text from last years contest, I'll verify this with Fred.
For the contest this year, all concepts have to be created by yourself or a team mate and have to be created from scratch during the course of the contest. Concept created prior to the contest are NOT allowed.
A. Your beauties should not exceed 1100 resolution horizontally or vertically. This doesn't mean you cannot SHOW pictures at higher resolution, but whatever you submit to the contest should be within those limits.
*edit:
may no be a big deal, but the site doesn't seem to have any favicon. Unless there's just development going on.
Q. There are still hiccups with the site. Be patient and just try again.
A. Yes, they contribute to your final texture resolution and triangle count limitation.
The 3D guidelines/rules have been updated to now read:
- Lighting and rendering: Your environment MUST either be shown within a video game engine, or as a screen grab from a 3D creation applicaiton (Max, Maya, etc). NO RENDERS. This is a contest about real-time video game environments, which your beauty shots must show case.
What's different? You cannot render your scene from your 3D application. Either use a DX viewport shader or get it in a videogame engine.so this marmoset thing. I've only seen people put characters in it. How is it for environments? Good lighting setup? Shadows, etc?
A. There are a handful of game engines available to be used. UE3 is not the only one available. You can use max but it is not rendered stuff. It has to be prerendered with screen grabs.
My advice. Pick up UT3. It's dirt cheap.
A. It's 4096x4096 as a total. So in theory...
4x 2048x2048 or
16x 1024x1024 or
64x 512x512 or
256x 256x256
Good to use a combination of all of those.
EDIT: My Maths sucks!
http://www.lumonix.net/shaderfx.html
could use that inside max.
It says it's not allowed in any way but I really disagree with it
A. This has already been answered. Look for the question about human silhouettes.
[ame]
where the boss is a really large part of the environment.
Is showing it in the concept allowed? Concept, not renders, not wireframes or textures.
A. If you have a character in your scene, no matter how ornate, then your entry will not be considered.
The guys at 8ML are working on releasing the level editor. However this is pretty basic as far as features go, the dynamic lighting is pretty poor(pointlights with no shadows) and there isnt much of a baked lighting system. So while it may be available i wouldn't count on it for this sort of "showcase" type scene.
A. Yes
A. You have to enter your entry through the website, separately.
Also, what about using water from sandbox? If you create your own shaders and are not using the stuff shipped with sandbox can you still use the water features? (Again, i dont know if they are poly based and contribute to polycount?)
so many questions, sorry!
is these characters? or just pieces of equipment?
http://www.gameartisans.org/contests/events/uploaded_images/40-game-3d-art-12393-1226246996-image.jpg
http://coldheat.de/archiv/bilder/portal-boss.jpg
i'm probably gonna stay as far away from shady grey area's i'm just curious...
Both terrain and water has a polycount in sandbox 2. And quite large polycounts aswell. I dont think it will be possible to use the ocean that comes with the editor because it will eat up your entire budget.
Edit: i take that back, quite possible to use the default water. It sits at ~50k tris in my editor. The terrain is a bigger problem, its way to heavy.
A. This is already addressed in the rules, have you read them thoroughly? That said, this looks like a mech to me and I believe those are ok by the rules. Just make sure it looks like it's got a cock pit.
Like what if I started zbrushing some stuff? It would be used as a guide, but I may want to use an overlay of the detailed model later on in the painting; is this part of the guidelines?
i can model and texture but id like some inspiring awsome lit 2d concept by someone else to work of from
www.warby.de check my shit and pm if you want to collaborate !
A. THIS OF COURSE IS OK AND ENCOURAGED
1.Ut3 unrealed has a fog function (a view distance as well as a floor/misty fog such as peris's work) using the unbuilt tools, (just using a build brush, and designating a volume to be filled with fog) can we use this?
A. Yes Fog can be used and Fog should be counted as part of the post process as it can't be counted in tris. FX. ex. Smoke, Fire, Splashes, Sparks, Beams, Lasers, Etc will use cards and are counted in the texture and polycount.
2.Regarding god rays - something like marmoset would do them natively - but to simulate the effects we would have to use volume lighting w/alpha planes - does these alpha planes contribute to the tri limit?
A. These will be counted as part of the textures and tri limit.
3.Ut3 unrealed again - if using a inbuilt 'skydome/skybox', does this hemisphere contribute to the tri limit as well as the panorama texture contributing to the texture limits?
A. I don't think the skybox dome will count in polys. You have up to another 2048x2048 for the sky box.
If so is there anyway to lower the water quality/triangles?
A. This question has been answered above. The Skydomes are allowed an extra 2048x2048.
The water and it's polygon count does count towards the final scene. Just like terrain would.
A. Yeah why wouldn't you be able to do that?
> Because most of the last year entries that used UT3 had aliased beauty shot, even wallpapers. Nevermind