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Welcome hub to the contest that you have been wanting from the start but was always just out of reach, the Halo 5 4v4 Forge Contest. Better late than never, right? We here at Forgehub are ready to see what 4v4 creations you have put together and see who comes out on top! I’m not like the flowery writers that give you the “regular” updates so we are going to drop right into it down below.

SUBMISSION THREAD: To the submission thread.

You probably were going to ask so I answered.​

Q. I made a great 4v4 map long ago but I'm worried I can’t submit it?
A. Don’t be. Any and all 4v4 maps created and submitted before the deadline will be accepted. I would caution you though that older maps will not reflect all of the changes to the meta and updates to forge that came after your map was made. That said, if you are submitting an old map make sure it still works and looks great, or you might not be doing yourself a favor. To also help our sanity we are going to limit each person to 3 maps each. Also if your map has been in matchmaking, that map cannot be submitted.

Q. Who is the corrupt staff that will be judging us?
A. These are the unfortunate souls left after the snap to judge:

• Foge
• Ascend Hyperion
• Sethiroth
• Max Extra

Q. What games types are you using?
A. This contest will be focusing on team slayer as it is the most basic and fundamental game type that all other game types are built on. In the future 4v4 objective contests will cover the other game types. The official game type we will be using will be Team Arena from 343i. I would highly recommend that your map be capable of playing 2 of the 3 core game types, including slayer.

Q. What is my deadline for maps submitted?
A. 11:59 P.M. EST Sunday September 30th 2018 is when we will be closing the submission thread on Forgehub. You will have until we close the submission thread to submit. Don’t play games here and wait till the last minute or hope we close it late. Get your map submitted on time.

Q. Can I alter my map past the submission date?
A. No, no, what, no. We are going to try to help you help yourself by saving your maps after everything is submitted to our files so that it is as you submitted it. If we see a map altered after the deadline then it will be dropped from the contest.

Q. Is there a grace period?
A. Incase you didn't sniff it out, no, there is no grace period. There is a deadline. You meet the deadline.

Q. When will we have the results?
A. So I can’t tell you the future, but it will be after all the maps have been reviewed and judged. I will provide the schedule and break down of the judging when we have all of the submitted maps. With 4v4 being one of the core things people build for we are not sure how many maps to expect and guessing now would not be in anyone’s best interest.

Q. What are my prizes, why should I participate?
A. Prizes? Good question.

You should participate to show off your stuff. I would expect this to be a larger contest with a lot of competition so bragging rights are in there somewhere, but I know everyone here is fairly humble and definitely would not brag or shove it in anyone's face if they won. Additionally more than just the staff sees these maps.

When you submit a map anyone can see it, and if it were to win of course other people might take notice. So, this could be a decent way for you unrecognized forgers to get your name out there, or you all that feel like your well known but never truly appreciated for the master that you are.

Additionally there are some monitary prizes if that interests you. Educate yourself below:

1st place: 500 USD, Forgehub t-shirt
2nd place: 300 USD, Forgehub t-shirt
3rd place: 200 USD, Forgehub t-shirt

Honarable mentions 1 and 2 also get a Forgehub t-shirt
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Q. Who can participate?
A. You will be up against anyone and everyone except for the judges. Judges can not submit maps. That would be a tad corrupt judging our own and we don’t do that here do we?

Q. How will my map be judged?
A. Well I’ll tell you.

Map judging will be done in waves. Each wave of judging will be focused on different aspects of the grading criteria. Each wave builds upon the next and is arranged from most important to least in terms of gameplay.

Those dropped each round will be given a reason and a score for up to the point they were dropped. The feedback provided should contain the reason you were dropped and ways to help improve your forge and level design game as the judges see it. Judges will be more than willing to talk about why your map was dropped should you need more explanation, but please remember if your map is dropped, its out. You can not argue it back in.

It should also be noted that maps will be judged as they are submitted not based on their potential. If we judged each map based on its potential we would be here forever. This means that judges will not push maps forward if they had had some minor tweaks. This also means that judges will not make any tweaks to your maps. If you accidently left a kill barrier on the map that kills everyone, its out. If you accidently left the boundaries on your name volumes on or your kill boundary volumes, it will be taken into account and not ignored. What I am saying is please review your maps before submitting them.

JUDGING ROUNDS:
Wave 1 Gameplay and Balance (50) - Top 40: Minimum score 35
Wave 2 Readability (20) - Top 30
Wave 3 Interactions (15) - Top 20
Wave 4 Aesthetics (10) - Top 15
Wave 5 QA (5) - Top 5​

Gameplay (25)

• Spawning (spawn exploitation and overly-repeated spawns)
• Performance Drops not intrusive or noticable
• Map is appropriately sized
• Weapon selection works well with the map, ammo count on weapons are not over/underpowered, weapons are placed well throughout the map
• Proper micro-positioning (fluid movement in areas meaning no bumps, weird edges stopping spartan from moving smoothly)

Balance (25)

• Map layout does not give one team an advantage over the other
• Power positions have drawbacks/counters
• Lines of sight- Are sightlines well balanced and promote movement?
• Exploiting map flaws
• Players are not consistently being cross-mapped, or shot from locations that they cannot see/fight back from
• Movement throughout map is consistent
• Macro/Micro Pathing- is player movement predictable and punishable

Readability (20)

• You are able differentiate different areas of the map
• Players are not lost after spawning
• Map is not too dark/light/blinding/unclear
• Players are not accidentally committing suicide at a high rate
• Effects (weather, fog, fx) are not detrimental to gameplay

Interactions (15)

• Map offers a fair amount of long-range and cqc gameplay
• Map offers different height variations that allow engagements between levels
• Map offers the players quality pathing options every few seconds
• Players are not getting caught up on map’s geometry/art
• Players are not “fighting the map”

Aesthetics (10)

• Map is pleasing to look at.
• Map uses smart piece usage
• Map is immersive and holds a consistent theme throughout.
• Aesthetics add to gameplay and do not detract from it.
• Map has an Aesthetic

QA (5)

• Final check on performance. Aka drops or dips in frame rate.
• Z fighting is not prevalent
• Name volumes
• Intro/Exit/Static Cameras

Q. Can I get my map looked at ahead of time?
A. YES, a thousand times, yes. Please get with judges and testing lobbies ahead of time to discuss thing to make sure it’s looking good. Please note, that the judges and lobbies are to help get the rough edges off and to get all of the basics down, not to guarantee you a win. I want it to be known that these tools are available to everyone and no one should complain that they were not given a chance to access such tools to help you get the basics out of the way for the contest.

Q. How many maps can I submit?
A. Incase I wasn’t clear earlier, 3 maps per person. And if your map is in matchmaking or was in matchmaking at some point, its not allowed to be submitted.

Q. I have more questions…
A. If you have more questions please ask them below and tag the judges so that we can answer it. Questions answered down below will be added to the OP so that you all can reference it later a bit easier.

Q. Are remakes or re-imaginings of older halo dev maps permitted? -Arpod
A. This is to ensure that we are as clear as can be for the question. We wish to encourage originality and new content with this contest. We will NOT allow remakes for this contest. Reimaginings seem to toe the line, and, while are permitted, we highly recommend you put your own spin and style to the map and in the end make it a unique map on its own.


Link to the Trello board for the contest can be found By clicking here