Okay fine, but bare with me because it’s hard to explain, and I'm writing this on the tail end of an emotionally exhausting diary entry. Sarcasm, outrageous! The very idea! Keep in mind the idea wasn’t designed for Forgehub, but more for a group about the size of a Spartan Company. It’s called Sandbox Maps, it comes from the term “Sandbox Games” I think I first mentioned it in my WIP thread, and later I realised that even though I kinda knew what that meant, the idea wasn’t really clearly defined. So I came up with a set of rules, or maybe goals is the better word. I like to think of them as the “four corners” of a Sandbox Map. I’m still working on the guidelines for obvious reasons. A Sandbox Map is designed for a Minigame. A Sandbox Map fills the entire canvas. A Sandbox Map uses 100% of the weapons, vehicles, and power ups. A Sandbox Map can be reconstructed on any blank canvas using only Prefabs and coordinates. Don't think of it as rules for a new kind of map, think of it as a way to know if your Sandbox Map is done. More like a new way to forge whatever maps you want; kinda like Blockouts, but very different. The idea is more or less to beat 343i at their own game, while at the same time finding a way for potentially dozens of forgers to work on the same map. This is the part where I wish my map was done so I could show you how this is somehow an alternative to a Forge contest. But I think I can make my point using the Ghost in the Shell contest as an example. I don’t remember who won the contest so I’m sorry if I’m picking on you. Let's just say that instead of doing that contest, 343i decided to do a Community Commission for Ghost in the Shell Sandbox Maps. With the goal being just to complete a map and not try to make the best one. Everybody knows the results of the contest. A handful of maps that, to the untrained eye, all appear more or less the same. Not really all that much to work with. But just imagine the results of the Sandbox Map alternative. If nothing else, you have hundreds of 343i certified prefabs. And by certified, I just mean 343i says they work. That might not seem like a big deal to someone who already knows what they want to make, but for someone who doesn't that's huge. That makes it easier to get started on learning the basics of forging without getting all hung up on what to make.
Out of how many maps there are that do this, there's a slim to none chance that these pictures were taken with using the ui/model as part of the picture. They'll either be ignorant of taking good pictures (what even is machinima mode?) or too lazy to set up a good shot. I fall under a 3rd category: Knows how to go into machinima mode/take pictures theater, but refuses to research proper angles and ways to highlight design.
Forgers who explain their maps in the most pretentious way possible to make the map look better. It usually somewhat reads like "I spent days gandering with different color palletes and options only to dind the holy grail, something that matches he Forerunner design language to the perfect degree, this..............." Please uninstall
What about... People saving copies of other people's maps to make it look like they made them in a desperate attempt to get downloads. And they never even bother to add screenshots...
also, I think some "kids" don't understand you don't need to download a copy of a map in order to play it, and that in this "realm" a bookmark is a download.
funny thing is I hated seeing all of those poorly forged iterations of Castle Wars so much that I decided to create an entirely new version, reforged so that its pieces actually fit together and has decently balanced, competetive gameplay. If you want to see what I was able to come up with, please take a look at the map Castle Wars "Reforged". It has some unique scripting that has never been done before, like a Canon for each base and player count based releasing of vehicles so that it is more fair when played with smaller numbers. I promise you it's better than you expect
In regards to the arguable war that broke out about contests, they are actually amazing, as they can often force you out of your comfort zone and good contests still provide an interesting roadblock to overcome. The notion that contests breed friction is only true to an extent that is not very large. They can also give people ideas, not necessarily for the contest, but rather a thematic idea or a gameplay one. Contests breed truly great maps that are fun to play and handle certain aspects of game design in fascinating ways. But of course, all you see is the trash and salt. The contest maps that are limited are bad maps. All maps that are limited are bad maps. The challenge contests provide is to break out of or get around specific limits, and are a great tool for experienced, not inexperienced (because only a dumb@!% would enter a contest of anything without some level of mastery and expect to win) to really flex their muscles and learn specific issues about game design and how to overcome them. TL;DR: Contests breed innovation and that sandbox map idea is still a form of contest, not an alternative to one. Still pretty cool, though.
So funny thing is.. this just happened to me. I was on PC Forge of all places, and saw an un-thumbnailed, "Castle Wars Reforged 2.0" room. I joined, and it was a very recent copy of my map plus some random pieces configured into a ramp jump on the bridge, ALL weapons placed inside each castle, and a bunch of shield doors at the entrances. I joined. Said, "what have you done to my map?" What's worse? This copy somehow showed someone else's name as the original author - I thought you couldn't do that? I stated it was a "perversion" and asked people to follow me to a new lobby, which the other player did I don't know whether to feel flattered or pissed off. Or, a little of both...
First of all, when I said “bare with me” instead of “bear with me” that was a typo not a pun. My phone didn't catch it. I know nobody asked about that, I just had to get it off my chest because it’s been bugging me for months. Second of all that was no war. If it was I would've used trash talk. I also would have timed it better. At the time, I had completely forgotten that stupid Extermination contest was still going on. I really don't pay very much attention to such things. And it's easy for you to say that contests don't breed much friction. Friction means resistance. It's no wonder that your opinion doesn't get any friction. But just look what happened to me! When I share my opinion (which I have every right to do) people jumped all over me! Why? Nobody listened anything I said. All I did was suggest that I PERSONALLY DON'T APPRECIATE this ONE PARTICULAR KIND of contest. And people treated me as if I said the sky box is falling! People are so damn defensive that I can't say anything I want to without starting a riot. That is not my fault. The things people keep saying are their reasons for entering contests have nothing to do with the contest itself. You're confusing the word contest with the word activity. Making friends, trying new things, meeting new people, these things should happen naturally if the community were a healthy one. The reason you associated these things with a contest is because contests are the only activity this community supports. All this talk about leaving one's comfort zone really concerns me. Why are people uncomfortable with the idea of Forging? Where does that come from? Maybe you don't recognize it, but “get out of your comfort zone” is the exact same argument competitive gamers use to convert casuals. It works for them because in matchmaking every activity really is a contest. That’s how the game works. If you play the match to the end, you will either win, lose, or have a draw. That makes it a contest and there's nothing wrong with that. But just because that’s true for matchmaking, that does not mean it's true for Forge. Forge is not a contest, unless people make it a contest. That is why I said Forge contests are disgraceful. And I never said that limited maps are bad. I'm sorry to break your heart, but there are no bad maps. There are only bad strategies. When forgers don't understand the principles of warfare, the players become aware of overly contrived situations. When that happens, people say the map is bad. And for the record, 343i came up with the idea of a community commission. I came up with the idea for Sandbox Maps. Still, how is that a contest? You either make a Sandbox Map or you don't. The four rules are there as a way to define whether or not you have made one. But as far as having a “Sandbox Map contest”, I don't see how that's possible. Just look at the rules. You can't judge a Sandbox Map based on looks, performance, or gameplay. And if you look again at rule #4 you might notice that a Sandbox Map is partly defined by its coordinates. So even if you take all the prefabs from one Sandbox Map and rearrange them on another canvas, if the coordinates don't match the original, then you've technically just made a different Sandbox Map. But thanks for the feedback. No one else here even acknowledged the idea.