[M:977802]
Post by Qwerty on Jan 31, 2012 3:45:47 GMT
Antigone Investments Minecraft-earning Contest of Amazingness!*
*This title a placeholder for an image.
Prizes:
- 1st: Minecraft gift code + AI membership.
- 2nd: Portal 1 + AI membership.
- Others: A warm, fuzzy feeling inside and a picture of a cookie.
Heyo! As you've probably gathered from my signature (if you're from the MCF) or from looking at this board (if you're from the DBF), I'm holding a Minecraft contest. This is not a contest in Minecraft, but a contest for Minecraft. The runnerup gets Portal if he/she wants it.
The contest is simple. It takes place in three tiers, each demonstrating a different aspect of Minecraft. I'll explain each of the tiers in detail below. Individual scores from each tier are calculated and adjusted to be weighted equal to each other, so each one is worth 1/3 of your overall score. They are then added, and the one with the highest score wins! I will also attempt to arrange filming for each event (save Phase 1) in order to create a keepsake for all contestants.
During gameplay, all competitors should chat here for name verification and anti-impersonation reasons, as well as organization. As events can be played solo, they will not necessarily occur at the same time.
The winner of the contest will receive a Minecraft gift code, theirs to do with as they please (keep it, give it away, make another contest, I don't care), and admission to Antigone Investments (long story). First runner-up gets Portal (the first one) gifted to themselves or a friend via Steam and another AI membership. If he/she already has Portal or otherwise does not want it, the second runner-up gets the opportunity to receive it, and so on and so forth.
Phase 1: Dwarf Fortress*
Dwarf Fortress is one of the inspirations of Minecraft. It is an incredibly complex game, so before this event starts I suggest a lot of reading up on the wiki. Some of it is luck-based, so I'm making three stages to even it out some. This event is meant to symbolize the "Mine" aspect of Minecraft. It symbolizes the complexity and the survival aspect of the game. Unless dfterm is updated, version 31.25 will be used (DF2010).
*Note that you do not need Dwarf Fortress to participate in this stage. All you need is basic knowledge of Telnet, which I can provide, and PuTTY. You will be connecting to a copy of Dwarf Fortress running on my computer via telnet.
Stages:
- First three years
- First six years
- First nine years
First three years:
You connect to my game via telnet. One world has already been pre-generated, and has been copied (one for each person attempting the run). One person plays their world for three in-game years, after which they stop and their total fortress value is taken and recorded. The same is repeated for all members, giving a first stage score. Observing the gameplay of others is optional, but possible.
First six years:
The same is repeated. However, instead of starting anew on a world, you simple resume your old world. When six years is over, total value is taken again and recorded. This is a separate score, calculated separately from the three-year mark.
First nine years:
Same as six years. After this, the DF branch is over and if you so choose I will send your world to you for singleplayer continuation.
Scoring:
Each score will be set to a normalized curve, and the Z-score will be your total score for each stage. The three scores are added together after the third stage for your final score. Long story short: Don't worry if you do badly so long as everyone else also does badly. It all works out in the end.
Phase 2: Minecraft Creative Building.
This phase is meant to signify the "Craft" aspect of Minecraft. It's a three-stage building contest meant to test your ability in architecture. The construction must also consider utility, especially in the third stage. A beautiful but useless creation isn't much good.
Stages:
- Spleef Stadium
- Underground Base
- Freebuild
Spleef Stadium:
You get a 100x100 plot (you don't need to take up all of it) and 24 hours (don't need to work for all of it) to design a Spleef Arena building. Must have observation access (so others can watch) and three types of spleef, described under Phase 3. Arenas must be relatively large (room for all contestants, at least). You will be scored on looks, functionality, material attainability (no houses made of diamond blocks, but you'll get 100 if you stay realistic), and creativity.
Underground Base:
Same rules and scoring as stage 1, but this time it's an underground base. As a base, consider security, methods of entry, and defense. It should have the rooms a good base needs (food, sleeping quarters, storage, control, etc), which will be taken into account in your functionality score. Style is good, but this is mostly a functionality and defense build. Pretend it's for SMP.
Freebuild:
Same rules/scoring, but this time do whatever you want. Show us what you can do. After this stage we will release the map to you, where you can download it if you choose to do so. This is all style, style, style.
Scoring:
Same normalization method as phase 1. Z-scores added together to get your score for this phase.
Phase 3: Spleef.
An old classic in Minecraft, spleefing is the "sport" of removing blocks underneath your opponents in an attempt to cause them to fall into a pit. There are many variations of spleef. If all competitors cannot be online at the same time, they will be divided randomly into blocks. If this is so, scoring will only be done within the block and the top scorers of each block will compete in the finals and receive bonus points.
Stages:
- Two-layered roofed spleef
- One-layered reverse spleef
- One-layered spleef
Two-layered roofed spleef:
The players start with a two-high area to work with, over which is a glass roof. Underneath them there are two layers to spleef through. Jumping is not possible on the top layer, but is on the bottom layer, so this method requires an amount of strategy. Normal spleef rules apply (no replacing blocks, no breaking blocks once you have fallen, no exiting the arena). Five points will go to first place, three to second, two to third, and one to fourth. There will be three rounds of this, after which the scores will be added together and normalized.
One-layered reverse spleef:
There is no roof and there is only one layer of glass below the players. However, in this twist, the pit is only three deep. One non-player (likely a judge or an observer) will begin underneath the arena. Only people below the arena may break arena blocks, with those on top of it only able to run around (and not place blocks or exit the arena). When the first person falls below the glass, the judge/observer/nonplayer will exit. The players below the glass attempt to drop the players above the glass. Scoring is the same as the previous stage. There will be three rounds.
One-layered spleef:
As a finale to the competition, here is the oldest game in Minecraft. Players above break blocks to dump other players into a deep pit below. Players below may not do anything but observe, and players above may not place blocks or exit the arena. Three rounds, and scoring is as before.
Scoring:
The Z scores of each round are added.
Final Phase: Scoring
At this point, we have (for each contestant) one normalized score for each stage of gameplay, added into a semi-normalized score for each phase. These scores are added, and from those numbers we can obtain the winners. Even those that do not win have hopefully, by this point, had a fun experience and met a variety of interesting people. Those that do win reap the prizes.
Please post here and PM me your email if interested in participation. The contest will begin when I deem I have enough members to make it worthwhile.
INCOMPLETE, IGNORE THIS FOR NOW
