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PlanetPhillip’s 6×10 Source Level Design Competition

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Level design is, undoubtedly, a noble art. Sun Tzu might not have written a book about it, but he was probably afraid that David Sawyer (arguably the greatest level designer to ever set foot on this Earth, and supposedly, also plays a mean Sniper in TFC) would have written it better than him. But Sun Tzu got lucky, as David Sawyer, along with the rest of Valve, were too busy making cool games, to even consider kicking Sun Tzu’s ass back into the… well, whatever age he was born in.

And that brings us back to our main point – Source level design. It’s been a while since there was a nice little level design competition to test our skills in the mapping arena. But we need wait no longer, as PlanetPhillip has revealed one of the most intriguing and original mapping contests in a very long time!

PlanetPhillip’s 6×10 Source Level Design Competition

Ladies and gentlemen (as well as the gender-less aliens who will be studying these long-lost satellite transmissions in the far future), I give you PlanetPhillip’s 6×10 Mapping Competition event, due to start this summer and end later this fall. Let’s take a look at some of the details:

  • The event will consist of 6 competitions.
  • Each competition will start on the first Friday of each month.
  • Each competition lasts 10 days.
  • The dates are below, meaning you can plan your competition mapping schedule around your long-term projects.
  • The theme for each competition will be posted at 6:00pm on the day the competition starts.
  • Each theme will have as much detail as possible, along with exactly how it will be judged.
  • Entrants are limited to one map per competition.
  • Maps must run under Half-Life 2: Episode Two.
  • There will be one prize for each competition.
  • The event will use a points system.
  • There will be a overall prize at the end of the 6 competitions, based on the points system.

Here is the competition event’s time table:

All times are GMT – check your timezone to ensure you don’t submit late!

  Start Date: 6:00pm End Date: 12:00pm
Competition 1: 4th May 13th May
Competition 2: 1st June 10th June
Competition 3: 6th July 15th July
Competition 4: 3rd August 12th August
Competition 5: 7th September 16th September
Competition 6: 5th October 14th October

If you’ve got any tips or suggestinos, there is still time to submit your feedback to Phillip, and you can do so by commenting on the competition’s main post. Details on the prizes and the rules can be found at the main 6×10 webpage. This sounds like a terrific competition, and I’m really hoping Phillip gets loads of entries. Don’t let me down folks – I want to see you guys taking the whole thing by storm and winning everything!

And in other PlanetPhillip news, Phillip has released version two of his handy MapTap tool, used for easily and quickly installing maps for the entire Half-Life and Portal series. For more information on that, check out the official MapTap webpage. In addition, he’s also released NewBlackMesaVille, the small mappack that resulted from the eponymous mapping competition. Only one entry, sadly, but judging by the screenshots, it’s a good one, with some excellent architecture and style. No combat, but some groovy atmosphere overall. Do check it out!

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