Awesome! Was going to make a 2v2/1v1 map next anyway so timing is perfect. Looking forward to entering my first ever Forge Hub competition!

is it ok to use say the skybox in overgrowth as a blank canvas? i would think it's fine as lone as you don't use any of the maps pre-built play space.

Yeah thats fine. We are seeing some creative ways to forge around dev maps, so its encouraged.

should clear that up in the OP, at the moment it specifies only the 4 main forge canvases.

Army brings up a valid point. Also, are we limited to the number of maps we can submit? And would submitting my vision of Imminent (Mobius was my prep build in H2A) result in docked points for creativity, since it's a successor to Pwnytar & Sic's map?

Personally, I don't think remakes or successors should be docked points on creativity, as a lot of creativity still can go into the map's aesthetics or object usage. Y'all should be clear about how creativity/originality will be graded, as that is probably the most bullshit grading criteria in existence. It's too easy to use it as a cop out excuse to grade good maps as poor, and mediocre maps as great.

I'm so excited! Hushed I want to see what you got!

No limit on the number of maps you can submit.

A reimagination is not the same thing as a direct remake. I agree there can be a lot of creativity involved in redesigning something to fit a new game. That creativity would not be disregarded.

It's perfectly okay to use any map in Halo 5 as your canvas. However, it must ONLY be used as a blank canvas. You CANNOT use existing portions of dev maps. I will update the OP to reflect this.

Regarding judging criteria, there's not a scientific formula we're going to be using. We're not going to be assigning points and weightings to each category. The criteria given is just meant to give entrants a basic idea of what will be taken into consideration.

As is always the case when judging contests, subjectivity is unavoidable. Our hope and intent is that we'll have a well rounded group of judges that can be reasonably objective. Ultimately, you can almost boil the criteria down to one thing - How enjoyable is the map after multiple tests? Anything beyond that would simply be a way for the judges to differentiate between maps that are relatively equal in gameplay enjoyment.

Will we docked points for bad naming conventions? With names like Hot Trash and Dumpster ****?

What are the settings for the upcoming doubles tournament? And should maps be designed specifically with those settings in mind in order to score well?

Design around default settings. If we do a double tourney I imagine it will be default minus radar.

I admire your concerns, but aesthetics are part of the judging process. In halo 5 there is no reason for your map to lack beauty. At all. It helps your map stand out from the rest, be memorable, and more enjoyable. I think it has been about 8 years since anybody even considered the idea that aesthetics were valued over gameplay around here. Idk where you're getting that idea anyway. Hardly anyone over the last few games have considered aesthetics important in forging.. At last, beauty is finally important. >

Is there any literature on Halo 2v2 design standards? If not it might be nice for someone to do that.

Just a quick question, but are entries that were made before this contest was announced okay to be submitted?

Let me guess, you started a 2v2 map when forge released...yep thats fine.

Will the selective lighting bug (when objects appear entirely dark for no reason) affect our performance score?

Nothing official or anything. As somebody who believes that Halo 2 v 2 functions better than 4 v 4, ive always preferred vertical heavy asym maps.

This is gonna be a great contest! What setting should we be testing with? AR starts? BR Starts? Radar? No Radar?

Default settings

You can fix that by switching the Light Bake setting for that object.

Wow, i almost forged only 2v2 maps in Halo 5 so far, so this contest is really interesting.