The Official Community Cartographers Forge Contest Q&A Thread
Welcome Forgers! As you have likely already noticed, the Community Cartographers have just announced their official Forge Contest for the Halo Waypoint Community. We are very excited to finally get this contest kicked off, and we hope you’ll bring out the best Team Objective map variants you have to offer to compete for a wonderful selection of prizes, a chance at having your map featured in Halo: Reach’s Matchmaking, and of course, eternal fame and glory!
This thread will serve as the official Q&A for contestants who may still have a few lingering questions after reviewing our guidelines and rules listed in the official announcement.
For more information, please review the Forge Contest announcement.
Community Cartographers and a few select members of the 343i team will be visiting this thread from time to time to help answer your questions as they relate to the contest. We cannot guarantee that every question will be answered, but we will do our best! For a full listing of who makes up the Community Cartographers group, please refer to this list (Search Members -> Role -> Community Cartographers). Official answers and responses will only come from these members and 343i employees.
Without further ado, let’s get this thing started!
[Note: This thread is not for map submissions, map promotion, or map advertisement. Please review the official announcement for procedures on how to enter your map into the contest. The 343i web team and Waypoint moderators will be monitoring this thread to ensure it is reserved only for Q&A discussion as it relates to the contest.]
P.S. For you ladies and gentlemen that are looking for a little help on how to build the best possible map for Matchmaking consideration in terms of what Cartographers look for, I would recommend checking out the Mindful Cartography series created by GodlyPerfection, a fellow Community Cartographer.
How is remake defined in the contest? Something that has more or less exact same geometry as an another map in any game?
I assume loaning features from other maps is fine? IE having a (very/identical) similar area as, say, the Sniper balcony on Ivory Tower/Reflection is okay as long the rest of the map is original?
> How is remake defined in the contest? Something that has more or less exact same geometry as an another map in any game?
> I assume loaning features from other maps is fine? IE having a (very/identical) similar area as, say, the Sniper balcony on Ivory Tower/Reflection is okay as long the rest of the map is original?
It just depends on how similar, if one was to hop on to said map and say oh this is Ivory Tower than no, it would not be eligible. However if one idea was taken from Ivory Tower but an original map was built around that piece than it is still eligible. It’s kinda like using the same forge piece in two maps. But if it is more like Ivory Tower than it is original than no, it does not qualify.
Tomorrow I am posting the first of my new video series that will help people forge maps to fulfill criteria for getting their map into matchmaking (through my own opinions and how I look at maps). The series will cover general level design concepts that will also apply to forging maps for Halo 4 or making maps for any game. It is similar to the Forge Lessons, but less structured, more personal, and a lot easier to understand with visual examples and what not in the videos.
a 5v5 map that’s 4 player split-screen compatible?
A map based heavily upon natural geometry is a must for this on eh…
No wonder the top prize gets so much, good luck with this one community forgers!
> a 5v5 map that’s 4 player split-screen compatible?
> A map based heavily upon natural geometry is a must for this on eh…
>
> No wonder the top prize gets so much, good luck with this one community forgers!
This looks familiar.
As with the invasion (and other recent updates), there are options to consider reducing to 2 local players if entries and other conditions warrant such a change. It is not in our control however, so do the best you can with these limitations and if it is reduced to 2 local players, your map will be that much better off.
You guys are gonna get me back into forging, lol.
> You guys are gonna get me back into forging, lol.
I imagined you’d just throw Habeas Corpus at us again. I can see that playing well with 5v5.
> Homeboyd I am almost 100% sure that regular members cannot see the search for community cartographers. I believe that search criteria was removed so we didn’t get harassed. You should add the list of CCs to the OP bro.
yes we can, or i’m not a regular member, how ever i do have a screenshot of the cartographer list that i took for a discussion inside blueprint, i’m sure homebyd remembers it, here it is, not sure its usefull though considering most of those CCs aren’t active …
> yes we can, or i’m not a regular member, how ever i do have a screenshot of the cartographer list that i took for a discussion inside blueprint, i’m sure homebyd remembers it, here it is, not sure its usefull though considering most of those CCs aren’t active …
Perfect. Thanks!
I might dust off the old Moniter for this. See you guys on Blueprint.
Uh-oh.
Haven’t done this in a while…
boots up Forge
> > You guys are gonna get me back into forging, lol.
>
> I imagined you’d just throw Habeas Corpus at us again. I can see that playing well with 5v5.
Gameplay on that map was just too cyclic. Although it was by design, it felt a bit repetitive, and gameplay tended to be dry. Which is why I stopped working on it ages ago.
Hopefully I can get back into forge. If this isn’t good enough of an incentive, I don’t know what is!
> Uh-oh.
>
> Haven’t done this in a while…
>
> boots up Forge
>
>
Scratch that, no chance!
The article on the homepage says the following: “Entrant is a registered member of Waypoint and account is in good standing.”
Does this mean if you are heaving on a permanent ban, you can not submit a map for this competition?
Or like it says previously in the article and you can’t submit one if your a permanently banned from the forums already and/or using an ALT account?
> The article on the homepage says the following: “Entrant is a registered member of Waypoint and account is in good standing.”
>
> Does this mean if you are heaving on a permanent ban, you can not submit a map for this competition?
>
> Or like it says previously in the article and you can’t submit one if your a permanently banned from the forums already and/or using an ALT account?
It means if you have a reputation for being a jerk then your content is not eligible, I can’t use any examples, but generally members who bash others content, knowitalls, if your in bad standing and have generated a reputation for yourself then it’s highly likely your content will be dismissed.
> > The article on the homepage says the following: “Entrant is a registered member of Waypoint and account is in good standing.”
> >
> > Does this mean if you are heaving on a permanent ban, you can not submit a map for this competition?
> >
> > Or like it says previously in the article and you can’t submit one if your a permanently banned from the forums already and/or using an ALT account?
>
> It means if you have a reputation for being a jerk then your content is not eligible, I can’t use any examples, but generally members who bash others content, knowitalls, if your in bad standing and have generated a reputation for yourself then it’s highly likely your content will be dismissed.
Ahhh okay.
Not exactly a question here but more of a request.
Please be extremely careful with what maps you guys pick, I’ve just had a look at some of the maps and they are plain horrible, I know it is early days but I’d avoid the Objective playlist completely if they were added in.
> Ahhh okay.
>
> Not exactly a question here but more of a request.
>
> Please be extremely careful with what maps you guys pick, I’ve just had a look at some of the maps and they are plain horrible, I know it is early days but I’d avoid the Objective playlist completely if they were added in.
Play nice.
The CCs are more than competent enough to sort treasure from trash, and I’m sure they’ll do the same this time around. I haven’t seen any of the maps that have been submitted already, but there is still plenty of time for decent maps to prop up.
> > The article on the homepage says the following: “Entrant is a registered member of Waypoint and account is in good standing.”
> >
> > Does this mean if you are heaving on a permanent ban, you can not submit a map for this competition?
> >
> > Or like it says previously in the article and you can’t submit one if your a permanently banned from the forums already and/or using an ALT account?
>
> It means if you have a reputation for being a jerk then your content is not eligible, I can’t use any examples, but generally members who bash others content, knowitalls, if your in bad standing and have generated a reputation for yourself then it’s highly likely your content will be dismissed.
what about me? 
Don’t worry Haunted… I’m sure people who are -Yoinks!- in game don’t have any evidence laying around on the internet. So we are in the clear. 
lol… but seriously, as long as you aren’t a repeat offender on the forums (attacking members, posting leaked content, or anything that causes you to receive infractions or have your post modded) then you are in the clear. When we say good standing, we mean those people who are actively trying to hurt the community.
Side note… off to record the intro video for my new video series. The first vid won’t be very informative, except for a very valuable resource link for designers.
> Don’t worry Haunted… I’m sure people who are -Yoinks!- in game don’t have any evidence laying around on the internet. So we are in the clear. lol… but seriously, as long as you aren’t a repeat offender on the forums (attacking members, posting leaked content, or anything that causes you to receive infractions or have your post modded) then you are in the clear. When we say good standing, we mean those people who are actively trying to hurt the community.
>
> Side note… off to record the intro video for my new video series. The first vid won’t be very informative, except for a very valuable resource link for designers.
ok, though i have been banned on here a few times those bans are few and fare between, i try restrain myself from attacking but sometimes i slip or a joke goes missunderstood … 
it is easier for me to restrain myself on forums, before i click submit i have time to think on what i’m actually saying and can edit it to be more polite, touch typing makes it easier because i can read it and think on it while i’m typing, though in game i never get that chance, it comes to mind and i say it.
edit:
this post should be stickied.
