We’re here at last: the final challenge in The Hammer Cup 2017. We tried to make it a special challenge, and you get an extra two weeks to build and polish this map – 33 days, with 5 full weekends.

Theme Details

For this challenge we want you to pick 3 themes from the 2016 and 2017 Hammer Cup challenges, and creatively combine those themes into your perfect fusion map.

So for FusionVille, we want to you pick 3 of the following 8 themes (we’re not including AnyVilleVille in this) from all the Hammer Cup challenges and mash them together in your map:

Chasm

Liberation

Backtrack

Trap

Defend

Toxic

Bridge

Teleport

The Themes in FusionVille

Below are details for each theme and summaries of how the themes apply to FusionVille:

Chasm: a chasm (a.k.a. canyon, gorge, abyss, rift) must feature in the map

Liberation: the player must liberate something (person or people, item, whatever you can think of)

Backtrack: the player must play through an area, then later retrace their steps through that same area, but the area must have changed somehow (an invasion, explosion, earthquake, time travel, etc.)

Trap: the map must contain at least one trap that the player sets, has to avoid, or of course gets caught in. This can be a simple ambush but we’d love to see more creative and elaborate traps too.

Defend: the map must have a major defense sequence where the player has to defend a location from attack. This should not be the only event or sequence in the map, as there will be two other themes to feature. DefendVilleTwo’s 5- minute preparation time and manual start option are NOT required in this challenge; but the defense sequence must be a key part of the map.

Toxic: the classic HL2 yellow/green toxic sludge must play a critical part in the map

Bridge: the map must feature a bridge of some type, and the player must cross the bridge at some point

Teleport: teleportation (of the player, NPCs, or physics objects) must play a major role in the gameplay of the map

Deadline

The deadline for submitting maps is:

Monday 11th December 2017 at 23:59 CET

CET is Central European Time. Phillip’s Time.

Make sure you check your local time conversion.

IF YOUR ENTRY IS LATE IT WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE MOD BUT WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY POINTS.

That’s 33 days, with 5 full weekends.

The Hammer Cup 2017

The Hammer Cup 2017 consists of five mapping challenges, each with a different theme.

Entrants will receive points for each challenge they enter.

At the end of the event, the best 3 points totals from the challenges they entered will be added together for each entrant.

These totals will decide who wins the Grand Prizes.

This means that entrants do NOT have to enter each and every contest to win the grand prize but they will need to have entered at least 3 challenges to have a chance of winning the grand prizes.

Full details can currently be found here: The Hammer Cup Overview.

General Advice

DO NOT GET OVERLY AMBITIOUS. If you can’t build it in about 3 weekends then think smaller.

Something is bound to delay your progress. Leave time for testing, bug fixing and polishing!

Testing

We highly recommend getting your map beta tested by somebody you trust.

Do this early in its development if you can.

Judging Criteria

Each entry will be judged on Design, Sound, Visuals and Gameplay. The judges also collectively rank the top 3 maps. A Community Vote will be held that rewards points equal to the judges’ ranking points for the top 3 voted maps.

The judges are looking for interesting, unique, cool, and fun mixtures of the past Hammer Cup challenge themes.

General Rules

Please end your map with a point_clientcommand firing this exact command: disconnect; startupmenu

Maximum two maps per mapper per entry.

The map must be original and not have been released publicly before.

The map must run in system with only Ep2 installed

By entering the competition you grant PlanetPhillip.Com and RunThinkShootLive.Com the right to release the map as part of the RTSL-THC2017-C5-FusionVille Mod.

Maps must not appear on ANY other website before the release and for one month after the release of the mod.

No assets from retail games other than HL2, HL2: Ep1 or HL2: Ep2 are allowed.

Other assets are allowed with written permission from their original authors, which MUST be included in the entry.

All files submitted MUST be in lowercase and any custom assets must have unique names, both folder AND files.

Phillip’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into about it.

The map MUST have a proper name.

The map MUST have a proper filename: mapname_thc17_c5.bsp

All entries must be sent to: runthinkshootlive@gmail.com no later than the deadline.

no later than the deadline. If you do not receive a confirmation email without 24 hours of sending an entry, contact Phillip IMMEDIATELY.

Submission Email Format

SUBJECT: THC2017-c5-MAPNAME (Not filename)

BODY:

1. THC2017-c5-Mapname (Not filename)

2. The name you want used for credit. For example Phillip Marlowe AKA PlanetPhillip

3. Link to compressed file (or attach it to the email)

4. Notes you want included in the readme.txt

NOTE: I encourage all users to include a proper readme-mapname.txt file but it is not compulsory.

Submitting a chapter image with your entry

For this challenge, I will allow entrants to submit their own chapter image.

All I need is the image – you do not need to create the VTF, I will do that.

It’s not compulsory but it will be appreciated.

This can be done up to 3 days after the deadline.

RULES:

1. Image should be 16:9 ratio.

2. JPG or PNG is best.

3. Weapons and HUD MUST be removed.

4. Neither too bright nor too dark.

5. The FOV can be changed. I use between 75 and 90.

6. Visual effects can be added but be sensible.

7. No text must be added.

THINGS TO CONSIDER:

1. The chapter images are small. Some images look great full screen but look meh when small.

2. Don’t spoil the map for the player. I find something near the beginning is better, but not always.

3. Don’t spend hours trying to get it perfect. Often people use it for reference only.

4. But, if you can find the right angle and lighting, a good chapter image can get players excited. Do not neglect the promotion of your work.

4. Funky, weird or strange generally don’t work. Keep it simple.

Final Thoughts

With this challenge, we intended to give mappers some more freedom while still focusing the main concepts for the maps. Perhaps past entrants had an idea they didn’t fully explore during the original challenges? Now’s the time to flesh it out!

We hope mappers find interesting ways to combine the given themes and as always we look forward to playing the results!

If you have ANY questions, please don’t hesitate to ask, either here in the comments or by email if you prefer a private answer.