firstly, if i'm using UDK, can i (try) to use DX11 features, like hardware tesselation for my final render on a character? it's still a realtime render after all, and would be a good excuse to figure out how to fit it into my production pipeline.
secondly, my character is Link. he is almost permanently followed around by a little fairie called Navi. since i'm recreating Link within the grid, could i reprisent Navi as a "bit" in the final render?
ANSWER: Pulling from previously answered question related to DX11 Tessellation: Regarding DX-11 features, they were more aimed at the new UDK rendering features, such as DoF, lighting, reflections, etc. Not so much the tessellation side. Your final submissions in it's entirety must still adhere to the designated poly budget for your FIGHTER/STAGE.
I have looked at a few Link gameplay vids from Smash Bros, and cannot find an instance where the Navi is persistently onscreen with Link. While it would probably not be a big deal, having said previously that summons are not allowed, this rule must apply to this idea as well. If you can provide evidence of a Smash Bros title where Link is persistently accompanied by Navi, this will be allowed. As of now, it is not.
STAGE Questions: 1 Are we allowed to mix a totally different art style that is inspired of another franchise and is not a fighting game? Lets say Tron for instance?
2 Or do we have to stick with the stage and if we do want to change in styles it had to be done before in an existing fighting game?
I hope i worded that right
ANSWER: This is fine. You are encouraged to re-imagine a fighter/stage in any way you see fit. It would be in your best interest to make your final product easily recognizable as your source material... just with your own spin on it.
Hi! My username caused some unnecessary confusion as it is similar to that of another member. Will I get into any trouble for registering a new user and re-posting my entry under that name?
ANSWER: No, you won't get into trouble as people will see you are a different Bobo upon entering your thread.
the rules state that the characters "must have its origins from an existing 2D or 3D fighting game". So by origins, does that mean that you can't have characters like Mario or Captain America because they weren't "originally" created for a fighter? Or is it that ANY character used in ANY fighting game is cleared?
ANSWER: If the fighter appeared in a market released fighter title as a playable character, then this character is acceptable. To use both your examples, both Mario and Captain America are fine as Mario appeared in Super Smash Bros. and Captain America appeared in Marvel vs. Capcom.
For stages, whatever would be considered the "fighting area", are we restricted to keeping this flat? I guess I'm trying to ask if we're allowed to tilt, crack, or vary elevation in our fighting surface.
And I'm also wondering about the presentation of our stages. It seems like the two beauty shots will be very similar to each other. I can see there needing to be a mandate for the straight on shot of the stage for our primary image. But for a secondary image, wouldn't it be cool if we could show the stage at a different angle?
This is more of a suggestion really, but it would be cool if we could submit a full panoramic shot of our environment. Perhaps something optional... Apologies if this doesn't really belong in this thread.
ANSWER: Combining posts:
You are welcome to render anything from the above and post them in your thread. However, the submission requirements will stay the same.
can there be a Latest update topic where people can link to their topics and post their latest update in a single post and adjust that with each update they make?
Do we have to work our borders and cropping into the required resolutions?
e.g: If I were to render out at 1280x720 then increase the height to 820 (1280x820) for 100px borders would that be disallowed?
Similar question, are we allowed to add 100px borders to 1600*900px images, to change the aspect ratio of what is presented?
The stage itself, in that scenario would only be shown on a part of 1600*700px..
ANSWER: All submitted shots will need to fit into the given aspect ratios; including borders.
Hi i am new to the site(just joined a few mins ago) and I want to try my hand at this contest. i just have one quick question about the details. I have read all the other Q&As and you said that anything in MUGEN can not be used in this contest. But does that also include Doujin games as well? Because the FIGHTER I want to do is from the freeware PC Doujin Fighter called "Vanguard Princess" (made, apparently, by a former Capcom employee)
Also since I am a fresh member, will I will not be able to start a thread (not sure, I just seen other comments on this Q&A stating they couldnt start a thread, figured I would ask). Does that mean I cant enter the contest because I am new? Figured I would ask if my entry would be acceptable or if I am eligible to compete at all before I even start any concepting or modeling)
ANSWER: After looking into Vanguard Princess, fighters/stages will not be approved for use in the BRAWL Tournament.
New members can start new threads/post, but will need approval before they (or anyone else) can view their posts. In times where there are, literally, hundreds of new members joining, the approval process can take up to a day.
I just wanna say thanks for clearing up a few questions I had. I wanted to do a character from one of the Def Jam games, but after reading a bit, I guess that's not allowed.
ANSWER: You're welcome. Thanks for reading through the Q&A before posting a Q!
I'm trying to post but i keep getting permission errors i have already activated my account what else do i need to do?
ANSWER: First posts/threads must be approved by moderators. During high traffic new user times, like this, approval can sometimes take a little bit. That being said, I've found no threads started by this user name.
I know there is probably back up, but just so I can get an idea because I updated and said I needed approval again... How many times do I end up needing to post before I do not need approval anymore and it shows up regularly like others...
ANSWER: Once you have been approved, you should be able to post freely.
What is the procedure for changing ideas? I've noticed a few people have just edited their posts and asked for an admin to change their title. Is this the preferred method? Or would it be better if I just made a new thread and let the old one die?
ANSWER: Feel free to send a message to me, Geezus, with a request to edit your thread title with the new title in your message body.
Big question....
If a character uses an item that looks like a character
can we have said item incorporated with the character?
for example dedede throws little waddle dees and dos, but they are
treated as items and are not full figure characters....
Would having such things be permitted? Idk, robot lower bodies are permitted too?
Or let's say if I was going to make
minish cap link, would the cap count as a character?
ANSWER: If you feel that the items the character uses is a selling point of that fighter, then feel free to incorporate them into your redesign. However, summoned/secondary characters are not permitted to be stand alone fighters along side your main fighter.
Your "robot lower body" question is fine.
I'm not sure what you mean by asking if a hat could be a character. If you're asking if simply changing the hat a fighter wears would be a strong enough of a design change to meet the brief, then the answer would be no.
hi this may be a silly question but I have notice people on there threads put at the end im putting "this up just to save my place" so this leads me to believe that there are only so many spots for putting up threads. Also my threads name is not showing up in green, like the others is there something i did wrong or is every thing alright heres the thread im talking about http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82509
am i still eligible for the contest ?
ANSWER: People are simply saving their spot for their own sanity, possibly to motivate themselves to work on their entry, or to inform others of their idea. There are no limits on the number of entries allowed.
Your thread is not showing up in green text because nobody has posted in it since the last time you viewed it. This is a forum setting, and only you are viewing it like this.
I'm still waiting for my post to get approved, it's taking so long
ANSWER: One of your multiple threads have been approved. Duplicates deleted. Feel free to lay out more details and reference shots in your original post.
I started working on zan from streets of rage 3, I thought this character wouldbe eligible as sor 3 has a versus mode in the same vein as traditional fighting games. Can I please get confirmation on whether this is allowed or not.
ANSWER: Having not played SoR3, I have attempted to research information on this versus mode, to no avail. SoR3 is listed as a standard Beat 'Em Up. As such, fighters from this would not be permitted. If you can provide information on this versus mode and message me with it, this decision will be revisited. The versus mode should be more than Player vs AI/Boss.
EDIT: Based on recent information, this game does have a Battle Mode that allows 2 player traditional fighting. Approved.
Does anyone know if there is any wiggle room with the 16:9 aspect ratio? It makes sense that it is what the TV/Monitor will show during the game but I would really like to get a more panoramic beauty shot too to show the extent of the stage on both ends. In a lot of fighters the camera follows the action left and right on the stage and its hard to show that content with this ratio. Maybe we could do one 16:9 and one longer one?
I guess this was already answered. I'll probably just add a border to the bottom so that I can render a longer image and keep the correct aspect ratio. Thanks.
ANSWER: Adding a border would be your best bet. However, you can always put additional shots in your thread, that would not be considered during judging.
While I wait for approval, I've been messing around with skin shaders. Are we allowed to write our own complex shaders for our character models, as long as they remain realtime (and in the game engine, not the modelling app)? Or is this really just for modelling skill?
ANSWER: This is absolutely allowed. Thread approved, btw.
Can anybody tell me why can't I upload any images to my thread?? Everytime I do so, a message with "Upload of file failed" just pops up. I have worked on my concepts but I can't upload them. Any Help PLEASE!!!!
ANSWER: I'll look into why you can't upload files to your thread. Meanwhile, feel free to use an image hosting site, such as http://www.imageshack.us and use the [ img][ /img] tag.
Hello.
I'd like to enter the contest with a character from Dissidia, Final Fantasy's crossover fighting game.
Nobody seems to have chosen chars from this game although there's Dissidia's artworks on the (small) baneer of The Brawl, visible in the "Brief and Specs" topic (Zidane and Squall)
So are Dissidia's characters authorized? If not why?
Thanks.
ANSWER: There was a Dissidia question that was answered a few pages back. Initially, this game was not approved. However, after further investigation, and given that other (less traditional) fighting games have been approved for use, Dissidia characters are now allowed.
This competition is huge. Is there a way we could get thumbnails for entires? Like pages of thumbnails with peoples character pics, then below that the name of the char and their name. Then you can click on the image to go to the link.
Just curious. I don't know how hard it is to do that stuff. Right now i'm digging through a sea of entries trying to subscribe to the ones I want to follow. It would be awesome to somehow have things be mroe manageable. where you can see thumbnails (i'm very visual, as i imagine most of us are, hehe). and then may be flag some and have a page with the thumbnails on them in a "favorites" group. Filtering, basically.
thanks
ANSWER: There are currently no plans to do this, while the challenge is going on. Once the deadline hits, and people submit their entries, there will be a thread with a similar layout as to what you described.
Hello first timer here. Heard about the contest and got intrigued. I just got one quick question regarding this "All artwork must be original and made specifically for this contest. No artwork previous created before this contest will be considered for final voting & judging." Do this mean we gotta create 100% new textures from scratch or can we use/modify old ones or even create ones from pictures?
ANSWER: All assets are required to be made original for the BRAWL Tournament. Photo-sourcing is fine, if that is what you are getting at with this question.
As with past contests, choosing the same subject matter (fighter or stage) is fine. Typically, this promotes additional friendly competition between those artists. However, choosing the same subject matter and re-interpretation would be frowned upon.
Hey Geezus, one question in regards to stages. It was mentioned earlier in the thread that matte paintings weren't factored in to texture/poly budgets, but how far can we go with them? It seems to me that, since the nature of the contest is that the environment will be viewed from only one angle, you could just take a screencap of something you've modeled and stick it in the background, paint over it, call it a matte painting and not have to include it in your budgets. I'm assuming that's a no-no?
ANSWER: Tricky question. This would boil down to using your best judgment. There is no set distance or guideline as to where your matte painting can start. Obviously, we would want you to build the bulk of your stage in 3D, but if you feel that you could win with this sort of trickery, then by all means, go for it. I would say that it would benefit you to keep your matte painting for distant eye candy; not so much in your foreground or middleground.
I will have a big planet in my background which I'd like to sculpt to get the most of it, can I consider its textures to be skydome usage?
ANSWER: The planet would be considered an asset for your environment, not part of a matte painting. So, negatory on that one. Alternatively, if you wanted to bake the planet into your matte painting, you could.
Can scope changes be part of a redesign? I'm looking at potentially reimagining a couple Dead or Alive stages, and those are huge to allow players to knock each other off of a billion different ledges every round. Would cutting out some of those extra levels that you never see until getting thrown down there be acceptable? I'm not hopeful about getting a giant level like that taken care of in the time left in the contest.
ive noticed some people are actually doing a pokemon trainer..if thats allowed then is doing anyone of those creatures be allowed as well? I have a very hilarious imagining idea but need to get approval of this first=)
ANSWER: If either the trainer or the Pokemon have been featured in a fighting game, then it is allowed. At this point, if people are working on entries that do not follow the guidelines, they will be met with much disappointment come submission.
I have a question. Can the contest be extended till may 10? I'm worried I might not make it on time otherwise, although I'm doing my best to finish my character by may 6.
It's difficult to combine a full time job and the contest. Makes you you have work at night and on weekends.
Is there anybody else who might not make it on time???
Hi i wanna do the character Dhalsim from street fighter. But the twist will but instead of being a male he'll be a female, and she won't be human. Would this be ok?
Another question... for those of us who don't finish by the deadline, are we allowed to continue updating our WIP threads after May 6?
ANSWER: Generally, those that don't make the deadline, but continue to work on their challenge, tend to create a new thread in P&P. This would continue to get eyes on your work, since most people will stop checking the challenge forum after the challenge has completed.
I've been wondering... does commercially-sanctioned/commissioned flash fighting games count? (i.e. Bible Fighter, Spongebob Reef Rumble)
ANSWER: While these games barely fit into the "traditional fighting game" requirements... Commissioned fighting games, such as those, would be accepted.
Replies
ANSWER: Pedestals are fine, and not factored into your budget. Be sure to omit the pedestal for the side on posed shot, however.
firstly, if i'm using UDK, can i (try) to use DX11 features, like hardware tesselation for my final render on a character? it's still a realtime render after all, and would be a good excuse to figure out how to fit it into my production pipeline.
secondly, my character is Link. he is almost permanently followed around by a little fairie called Navi. since i'm recreating Link within the grid, could i reprisent Navi as a "bit" in the final render?
ANSWER: Pulling from previously answered question related to DX11 Tessellation: Regarding DX-11 features, they were more aimed at the new UDK rendering features, such as DoF, lighting, reflections, etc. Not so much the tessellation side. Your final submissions in it's entirety must still adhere to the designated poly budget for your FIGHTER/STAGE.
I have looked at a few Link gameplay vids from Smash Bros, and cannot find an instance where the Navi is persistently onscreen with Link. While it would probably not be a big deal, having said previously that summons are not allowed, this rule must apply to this idea as well. If you can provide evidence of a Smash Bros title where Link is persistently accompanied by Navi, this will be allowed. As of now, it is not.
1 Are we allowed to mix a totally different art style that is inspired of another franchise and is not a fighting game? Lets say Tron for instance?
2 Or do we have to stick with the stage and if we do want to change in styles it had to be done before in an existing fighting game?
I hope i worded that right
ANSWER: This is fine. You are encouraged to re-imagine a fighter/stage in any way you see fit. It would be in your best interest to make your final product easily recognizable as your source material... just with your own spin on it.
I would REALLY like to make a mod of Bain from Batman, here is a link to the mungen title.
other than that he also appeares in a few other games but im pretty sure he is only a mod?...
ANSWER: Removing YouTube vids for thread sanity. Mugen titles are not valid titles to pull fighters/stages from.
ANSWER: We are going to have to go with no on this. All artwork created for this contest has to be created manually.
ANSWER: Thread has been approved.
ANSWER: No, you won't get into trouble as people will see you are a different Bobo upon entering your thread.
ANSWER: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3572065/BRAWL-logo.zip
ANSWER: If the fighter appeared in a market released fighter title as a playable character, then this character is acceptable. To use both your examples, both Mario and Captain America are fine as Mario appeared in Super Smash Bros. and Captain America appeared in Marvel vs. Capcom.
And I'm also wondering about the presentation of our stages. It seems like the two beauty shots will be very similar to each other. I can see there needing to be a mandate for the straight on shot of the stage for our primary image. But for a secondary image, wouldn't it be cool if we could show the stage at a different angle?
This is more of a suggestion really, but it would be cool if we could submit a full panoramic shot of our environment. Perhaps something optional... Apologies if this doesn't really belong in this thread.
ANSWER: Combining posts:
You are welcome to render anything from the above and post them in your thread. However, the submission requirements will stay the same.
ANSWER: Your thread has been approved.
Do we have to work our borders and cropping into the required resolutions?
e.g: If I were to render out at 1280x720 then increase the height to 820 (1280x820) for 100px borders would that be disallowed?
ANSWER: Yes, you are required to fit your borders into the given resolutions.
ANSWER: It's fine, as long as it's used strictly as reference material. You can in no way use their work in your own final model.
Just to make sure : is that fine to do a heavy post process pass (as cartoon shader for example) as far as is it done in the engine (UDK)?
ANSWER: Absolutely.
Similar question, are we allowed to add 100px borders to 1600*900px images, to change the aspect ratio of what is presented?
The stage itself, in that scenario would only be shown on a part of 1600*700px..
ANSWER: All submitted shots will need to fit into the given aspect ratios; including borders.
Information on the game can be found here http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2009/07/freeware_game_pick_vanguard_pr.html
Also since I am a fresh member, will I will not be able to start a thread (not sure, I just seen other comments on this Q&A stating they couldnt start a thread, figured I would ask). Does that mean I cant enter the contest because I am new? Figured I would ask if my entry would be acceptable or if I am eligible to compete at all before I even start any concepting or modeling)
ANSWER: After looking into Vanguard Princess, fighters/stages will not be approved for use in the BRAWL Tournament.
New members can start new threads/post, but will need approval before they (or anyone else) can view their posts. In times where there are, literally, hundreds of new members joining, the approval process can take up to a day.
ANSWER: You're welcome. Thanks for reading through the Q&A before posting a Q!
ANSWER: Thread has been approved.
ANSWER: First posts/threads must be approved by moderators. During high traffic new user times, like this, approval can sometimes take a little bit. That being said, I've found no threads started by this user name.
ANSWER: Once you have been approved, you should be able to post freely.
ANSWER: Feel free to send a message to me, Geezus, with a request to edit your thread title with the new title in your message body.
If a character uses an item that looks like a character
can we have said item incorporated with the character?
for example dedede throws little waddle dees and dos, but they are
treated as items and are not full figure characters....
Would having such things be permitted? Idk, robot lower bodies are permitted too?
Or let's say if I was going to make
minish cap link, would the cap count as a character?
ANSWER: If you feel that the items the character uses is a selling point of that fighter, then feel free to incorporate them into your redesign. However, summoned/secondary characters are not permitted to be stand alone fighters along side your main fighter.
Your "robot lower body" question is fine.
I'm not sure what you mean by asking if a hat could be a character. If you're asking if simply changing the hat a fighter wears would be a strong enough of a design change to meet the brief, then the answer would be no.
thanks
ANSWER: Not a problem. Send Geezus a message with a link to your thread, and what you want the title to be changed to.
am i still eligible for the contest ?
ANSWER: People are simply saving their spot for their own sanity, possibly to motivate themselves to work on their entry, or to inform others of their idea. There are no limits on the number of entries allowed.
Your thread is not showing up in green text because nobody has posted in it since the last time you viewed it. This is a forum setting, and only you are viewing it like this.
ANSWER: One of your multiple threads have been approved. Duplicates deleted. Feel free to lay out more details and reference shots in your original post.
ANSWER: Having not played SoR3, I have attempted to research information on this versus mode, to no avail. SoR3 is listed as a standard Beat 'Em Up. As such, fighters from this would not be permitted. If you can provide information on this versus mode and message me with it, this decision will be revisited. The versus mode should be more than Player vs AI/Boss.
EDIT: Based on recent information, this game does have a Battle Mode that allows 2 player traditional fighting. Approved.
I guess this was already answered. I'll probably just add a border to the bottom so that I can render a longer image and keep the correct aspect ratio. Thanks.
ANSWER: Adding a border would be your best bet. However, you can always put additional shots in your thread, that would not be considered during judging.
ANSWER: This is absolutely allowed. Thread approved, btw.
Where Can I get the BRAWL logo
ANSWER: Welcome to the contest. This question was answered on page 3:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3572065/BRAWL-logo.zip
ANSWER: There should be no issues with this.
I am assuming cannibalising or reusing existing base-meshes is a big no no?
Also, what's the stance on using photo reference from sites such as 3DSK?
ANSWER: Cannibalism can lead to Kuru Disease. All assets are required to be original to the BRAWL Tournament.
Photo reference is perfectly fine.
ANSWER: I'll look into why you can't upload files to your thread. Meanwhile, feel free to use an image hosting site, such as http://www.imageshack.us and use the [ img][ /img] tag.
I'd like to enter the contest with a character from Dissidia, Final Fantasy's crossover fighting game.
Nobody seems to have chosen chars from this game although there's Dissidia's artworks on the (small) baneer of The Brawl, visible in the "Brief and Specs" topic (Zidane and Squall)
So are Dissidia's characters authorized? If not why?
Thanks.
ANSWER: There was a Dissidia question that was answered a few pages back. Initially, this game was not approved. However, after further investigation, and given that other (less traditional) fighting games have been approved for use, Dissidia characters are now allowed.
Just curious. I don't know how hard it is to do that stuff. Right now i'm digging through a sea of entries trying to subscribe to the ones I want to follow. It would be awesome to somehow have things be mroe manageable. where you can see thumbnails (i'm very visual, as i imagine most of us are, hehe). and then may be flag some and have a page with the thumbnails on them in a "favorites" group. Filtering, basically.
thanks
ANSWER: There are currently no plans to do this, while the challenge is going on. Once the deadline hits, and people submit their entries, there will be a thread with a similar layout as to what you described.
ANSWER: All assets are required to be made original for the BRAWL Tournament. Photo-sourcing is fine, if that is what you are getting at with this question.
ANSWER: First page, Sixth post:
ANSWER: Tricky question. This would boil down to using your best judgment. There is no set distance or guideline as to where your matte painting can start. Obviously, we would want you to build the bulk of your stage in 3D, but if you feel that you could win with this sort of trickery, then by all means, go for it. I would say that it would benefit you to keep your matte painting for distant eye candy; not so much in your foreground or middleground.
Beauty Shots = 1680
ANSWER: Your thread just needed to be approved. I approved one of the threads. Let's get some more info on your fighter and chosen redesign!
http://kotaku.com/#!5788525/street-f...over/gallery/1
Polycount BRAWL competition getting some love from Kotaku!
ANSWER: The planet would be considered an asset for your environment, not part of a matte painting. So, negatory on that one. Alternatively, if you wanted to bake the planet into your matte painting, you could.
ANSWER: There wouldn't be any problems with this.
ANSWER: Considering these would get their own unique space, like any texture pass, it would not be an issue.
ANSWER: If either the trainer or the Pokemon have been featured in a fighting game, then it is allowed. At this point, if people are working on entries that do not follow the guidelines, they will be met with much disappointment come submission.
It's difficult to combine a full time job and the contest. Makes you you have work at night and on weekends.
Is there anybody else who might not make it on time???
MY KABAL
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82875&page=3
ANSWER: No extensions are currently planned.
ANSWER: Sounds perfectly fine. Best get crackin'!
ANSWER: That's how we do, boo-boo... that's how we do.
ANSWER: Generally, those that don't make the deadline, but continue to work on their challenge, tend to create a new thread in P&P. This would continue to get eyes on your work, since most people will stop checking the challenge forum after the challenge has completed.
ANSWER: While these games barely fit into the "traditional fighting game" requirements... Commissioned fighting games, such as those, would be accepted.