Well its obvious some people here would like to see the mapping community grow. Geologist and Demonic have been trying to run a contest which has had minimal success unfortunately. The maps that do get rated, what promises the raters not to have bias towards their favorite mappers or those that they participated in. Do we know if people are judging just from the map, or from the overview itself. There has been a low amount of input from the people of the forum for whatever reason. These problems listed can and will arise no matter what happens. Its been suggested before to have some type of map review system where a group of trusted mappers rate maps.

My idea is to have a nice submission of maps like in the mapping contest. There will be a few mappers voted by the community who will give a full review of the map, perhaps with each judge taking his/her own section such as shading/gameplay/overall looks/waypoints, etc etc. Each map will get its own report such as on IGN Game reviews...and a rating by each official judge from 1.0-10.0. Then each official judges rating will be compiled and averaged. The final output will be the official rating of the map.

But for these map contests we also want people's opinions as well right? Each community member who chooses to vote will give a certain rating for each of the follow categories:
Looks
Gameplay
Waypoints
Fun Factor

Each will be voted from 1-5 (5 being the highest).

The two scores (official and community) will be averaged and the score will be computed.

Example:

ctf_hoogie

Official Judge #1: 8.1
Official Judge #2: 9.3
Official Judge #3: 9.0
Official Judge #4: 6.7
Official Judge #5: 8.5

Official score: 8.3

Community Member #1: 3
Community Member #2: 4
Community Member #3: 2

Community Score: 3

Total Score Computation:
(community score/ total possible) * 2.5 = N
(Official Score + community Score)/2= Average of two scores
Average of two scores + N = Total Score

3 / 5 * 2.5 =1.5
8.3 + 3 / 2 = 5.65
5.65 + 1.5 = 7.15


Total Score: 7.15

All the computation would be done either by a script or manually by whoever volunteers to run this. Modificiations can be made of course.

Let's do it. The contest needs a new voting system, and it would be much appreciated and much simpler to let the computer do everything. Gets my vote.

I agree with this, but only if I am a judge :x

what about judges participating on the contest?
SS, i like your enthusiasm (typo? ah well...) and i also like the idea.

I can try to make a simple script a little later.

Also papasurf you understand being a judge will be a little extra work on your part. Your going to have to write reviews for each submission. Not too in depth and perhaps not on every aspect but at least a few areas of which you are specialized in.

Possible Judges as my votes:

Boxo
Geologist
Papasurf
Demonic
Grand Diablo
Rambo 6

Maybes:

Anna
Sgt Beaver


I'm saying we should have a max of 5 judges since we need some people to be part of the community vote.

Neat idea, I'm all for it. But we're going to need a script for this, any volunteers for that? ;)

Looks more organized,
it's just crazy enough to work :P

Haha, it's good to see you guys struggling to keep the mapping contest legacy alive. Sadly, none of its iterations has even gotten past the second round...Soulsnipa's ideas on voting seem to be the best so far -- a good balance between a dedicated group of judges to keep the contest going and community interaction.

I wish you the best of luck at getting this to finally become fully functional.

Edit: Although, I don't exactly understand why the total score is tallied the way it is. Would you mind explaining it in more detail?

If only Soap was here to judge D:

http://sml.u13.net/?p=contest

I'm slowly putting this together. Sorry if it seems like im promoting sml, its just that its a mapmaker and im only able to run scripts through my site and all that. I probably couldnt code something totally new. Ehh nevermind dont mind that whole comment.

Anyway, I need some nominations for judges. Once I get a nice list of names Ill make a poll and the top 5 will become judges. The 6th person will be alternate for whenever somone becomes inactive.

I understand the reviewing obligation. In fact, I look forward to it. Writing reviews on things I like/dislike is something I find quite enjoyable.

Here's my list:
Avarax
Geologist
Moi
Demonics
Grand Diablo
Anna

Questionables (people who might also want to participate in the contest):
Boxo
SoulSnipa
Rambo_6

I think judges should be able to submit maps, but can't write reviews for their own.

Oh, And I might do a few maps but I certainly dont want to be a permanent judge. Cant really commit myself to anything really.

Progress on page is as follows.

Added Rank for judges on sml page.
Started working on ratings: http://sml.u13.net/p=conrate
Started an admin interface for judges: http://sml.u13.net/p=conadmin
Started on main page: http://sml.u13.net?p=contest

Basically how it will work:

Upload your map at sml during a time of a contest and there will be a special ticker allowing you to submit your map for the contest. Not only will the map upload as usual but it will display on the contest page. People will easily access this page and vote. The community votes on Gameplay and Looks from 0-5. Anyone who submits a waypointed map will recieve some + to their score (undetermined). There will be a total of 6 judges. 3 have to be mappers while the other 3 can be anyone willing to test the maps for how they would play in clan wars and search for bugs. For the optic judges as we will call them...they judge on polygons (shading, shape, smooth, etc) , scenery (placement, transparency, 3d effect, etc.) and texturing (stretching, multitexture, actual texture file appearance, etc.).

For those testing the gameplay of the map the two categories are layout (easy movement, balanced, etc.) and fun factor (not repetitive, little-no polybugs, overall fun experience, etc.)

These scores will then all be compiled and maps will be ranked accordingly.

The winner of the contest will have a one or a few of the following hopefully as options.

1) Spotlight on SML Homepage
2) Addition to SML Hall of Fame Maps
3) Added to a dedicated server (Flies? U13? ;))
4) Perhaps a list of 3 theme choices for which an admin can choose to base their next contest on.

A bit odd only mapmakers make it into the jury ( there goes the chance on a new wave)( soldatplayers supposed to be myopic anyway, i guess ), but good idea in general.

quote:Originally posted by PulpA bit odd only mapmakers make it into the jury ( there goes the chance on a new wave)( soldatplayers supposed to be myopic anyway, i guess ), but good idea in general.


No read my second post...3 players and 3 mapmakers

I guess you omitted my question because judges aren't supposed to participate in the contests.
I suggest you do the judging method as flexible as possible, including substitutions for possible judge retirements (since people tend to leave the game sooner or later).

quote:Originally posted by OutofOrderI guess you omitted my question because judges aren't supposed to participate in the contests.
I suggest you do the judging method as flexible as possible, including substitutions for possible judge retirements (since people tend to leave the game sooner or later).


Yea I need help creating this system. Got any suggestions?

Im all for it, nice idea. I hope it can be realized like that.

quote:Originally posted by Sgt. BeaverLooks more organized,
it's just crazy enough to work :P

Hah! Same. And SoulSnipa: you left ou the "Fun Factor" category on your SML contest page.

Well its almost functionable....Actually we just need our judges. I will make a new topic now for judges which will run until next week, since I should be able to finish the contest page within the week.

The contest page has been updated. I added all the ratings.

What is left:
Make it so Judges cant rate their own maps


Well everything is just about wrapped up. It should be done by tommorow :). Let the games begin.

I'll be an optics judge if you'll have me.

Are there any problems? If not I will shoot off the first gun and let the contests begin! Then from there on its all in your guys's hands.