2 important rules for the Polycount Pack TF2 Contest, please read

adam

Hello everyone

I wanted to quickly bring attention to 2 elements of the rules for this contest that may easily be overlooked.

1. Your items theme must fit within the TF2 universe.
2. Your "minimum 3 items", per 1 class, must all be within the same theme you choose.

About #1: Art style is not the same thing as 'fitting within the TF2 universe'. As an example, creating something like the Pyro's brainslug wouldn't be a good choice for this contest. Yes, it fits the TF2 art style and humour, but - judging on the bio of the Pyro - it's out of character for both the class AND the universe.

Now then, that said - and this is where it gets fun - If you were to include a backstory for your items, with the notes of your submission, as to what it was with this classes history that makes these groups of items plausible, then we can totally see Valve wanting it for the Polycount Pack.

So while this rule might sound very specific, if you're creative enough (and you should be, its Polycount!) the rule can be very loose.

#2 is pretty straight forward, but I wanted to bring it up in case you have 3 awesome ideas that aren't cohesive when next to each-other.

mrscott

Can submissions be started before the contest was announced? I read somewhere that that isn't normally allowed, but I have an item that is 90% finished that I would like to be part of my pack.

adam

That'd be considered cheating, if it were ever known to begin with.

mrscott

Huh. Might need to go with a different idea then. Thanks though, you probably saved me a lot of trouble.

mgdenton

One question: I understood the rules of this to mean that we were simply creating new skins for the existing weapons, not actually creating new weapons with new abilities. But it appears that most of the submissions I've seen so far are entirely new weapons, not re-skins. Can I get some clarification on that point?

adam

You're tasked with changing the artwork for the existing models. (So you're creating both 3D and 2D art).

Additionally, please read this thread.

abrefax

You're tasked with changing the artwork for the existing models. (So you're creating both 3D and 2D art).

Additionally, please read this thread.

i have 404 error when i try this link

Ikimono

How come my thread will not appear in the forum list or in my Posts log...?

AwwwYea

adam wrote: »

must all be within the same theme you choose.

would this mean my thoughts for a [western primary], [dual secondaries], and a [euro- melee] wouldn't really make the cut?

adam

I think by quoting me you've answer your own question, AwwwYea. :P

Simski

I reviewed the rules and picked out some of the main things people tend to miss and I have tried to explain them from what I could interpret. (I can snip this post if the moderators or admin thinks my interpretation is in the wrong)

Yer' Brief wrote:

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.

Meet the Rules wrote:

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!)

How to make em' wrote:

Making sure that your items are within theme of TF2 and your class is very important for this contest! So, check out the bios of the Team Fortress 2 classes – straight from Valve – to better theme your items.

Some people don't notice that the items have to have a cohesive theme.

Some people forget to check if they're items fit into the Time period.
The latest mentioned year date in TF2 is 1968, I would personally recommend that your items stay between late 1950 and early 1970.

Lastly, some of the themes people come up with are really random and/or far-fetched. Too much of it is based on fan interpretations or relying on "the rule of cool" rather than character backgrounds and personalities.

Yer' Brief wrote:

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.

Meet the Rules wrote:

This is a visual change to the TF2 weapons only. Designing new gameplay & mechanics for your weapons is unnecessary.

The rules does not state that adding a functionality to your weapons means automatic disqualification, however it highly hints that doing so will lessen your chances of being picked.

I would personally recommend that if you do decide you REALLY want to make an item with a new mechanic, you should have a backup item for it that doesn't have a unique mechanic.
This takes more effort than just doing one weapon... however it ensures that you can both present your weapon with a unique mechanic to Valve, and have a backup item to prevent disqualification if Valve did not like the functionality of your weapon.

Jeremy Lindstrom

Someone should make the scout have a slapchop of some kind. as a melee weapon.

Killerdog

Personally i'd like to see a teleporter with 2 or more pads on it , depending on level, so that your team isnt fighting over who gets to use it, leaving the rest to wait on a recharge. Unfortunatly i dont have the skill, or time to learn the skill, required to make such a thing. Would be cool to see somebody use this idea however, havent seen any new teleporters entered yet.

1Fort 2Fort

To late to make anythigng unless you live offa coffe and not peeing.