Infection Insanity | FORGERA Map Contest

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Originally published at: Infection Insanity | FORGERA Map Contest - XboxEra

The infection has spread! Submit your map for us to conduct appropriate infection prevention measures!

That’s right folks, the team here at FORGERA are pleased to announce our first (of hopefully many!) Halo Infinite Forge Map Contests! So without further ado, let’s get into the details, shall we?

Infection Insanity

An infection map contest with two main categories, Linear and Non-Linear, as to highlight the two popular Infection formats. This contest will be heavily focused on aesthetics, balance, and functionality. There will be a winner for each category and one runner up for each. We will also have some honorary mentions.

  • Non-Linear: The more classic format played on arena style maps. Think of infection on core maps.
  • Linear: The newer take on Infection maps where the players make their way along a set path trying to survive as more areas open. Think of games like Left 4 Dead as your best example of style here.

Both are unique and provide different types of gameplay with their own charm. Regardless of the obvious gameplay and design differences, they will still be judged in a similar matter, more on that below.

Containment Protocols Initiated

Competition Start: June 20th, 2023.

There is a one week grace period before the start of the contest, which was the release of season 4, to allow for those that may of started an infection map in anticipation of Infection releasing. Maps should not have a creation date prior to June 13th, 2023.

Final Submission Date: September 20th, 2023 at 11:59 PM EST.

The submission form will close and no other maps will be allowed to enter the contest past this time.

The Rules:

These are the basic rules, they won’t encompass everything so if you have any questions on specifics then please reach out here, on our discord, or on twitter. Keep an eye out for any changes, we will make announcements if any of the rules are adjusted or added.

  1. Use the Default 343 Industries Infection gamemode, this is what we will be using to test the maps.
  2. Set up your map with basic MM standards, this includes proper containment such as hard barriers or kill volumes. Also include intro animations and make sure no one spawns outside your map.
  3. Make sure your map is set up for bots – don’t skip out on generating that navmesh!
  4. Avoid unbalanced gameplay; we are looking for maps that are fun for both the infected and survivors. The more balanced the better.
  5. Two entries per person. You can enter both into the same category or one into each.
  6. You can be a co-forger on any number of maps, you can still only enter up to two where you are the main author.
  7. The main author is the one who will receive the prizing.
  8. No plagiarism or stealing of others content
  9. Be mindful of other IPs, while we want to see original content if you create something from another IP just be mindful of any legal restrictions.
  10. No inappropriate content. If your map breaks any of Halos UGC rules in this matter, then your map will be ineligible to win and be disqualified.
  11. Don’t be banned from the community. If you are banned form the FORGERA/XboxEra community or Halo/Xbox, you will be ineligible to win, and your map will be disqualified.

Judging

You might be asking who will be judging your awesome creations, well that will be the esteemed ForgEra staff; SIR IRON WOLF, SoulBlazerz, Sir Biggymac, and Sikamikanico.

The maps will go through multiple rounds and because of time restraints and fairness we will be using Bots to test the functionality of the maps. In later rounds we will attempt to get lobbies together with the XboxEra staff to simulate actual matches more accurately, they will be in separate voice lobbies to avoid outside influence of opinions.

We will have a large focus on aesthetics, but the map also needs to play well and be fun. You might have the most beautiful map, and that will give you some extra points, but if it plays poorly or isn’t fun then you will have a harder time winning. We also encourage you to have fun with the map, if you have a gimmick in mind, then feel free to add it in. Just remember to keep balance and fun in mind.

We will have different rounds of judging, progressively eliminating rounds until we have our winners.

Phase 1: Basic rules of the contest and preliminary functionality elimination round. We will go through each of the maps to make sure they followed the rules and if there are any obvious gameplay issues, such as the map wont load, spawning is messed up, ect.

Phase 2: Functionality and aesthetic pass. This is where we will begin playing the maps to look for any game breaking issues. Can we easily leave the map boundaries, do the aesthetics interfere with gameplay, are the humans/infected too powerful, ect. This is also where we will take note of any gimmicks or interesting features of the map. Eliminate some maps and move on.

Phase 3: More gameplay testing and aesthetic deep dive. We will run the maps through more gameplay to continue to test for balance and functionality. Even though we have been looking at aesthetics up to this point we will now begin to take a closer look. Eliminate some maps and move on.

Phase 4: Final Pass. In this phase we will begin to home in on the final maps, we will look over notes from the previous phases and play some more matches. This is where aesthetics will begin to play a larger part as we take note of not just the map itself but the environment you created. How well does the map transport us to a new world or space and how well was it crafted together? We will then decide on the winners.

Prizing

XboxEra, and by extension, FORGERA is an entirely community funded endeavour, despite our bad-ass, professional exterior. Regardless, we want to provide tangible genuine rewards for our winners. As the contest continues, we may increase the prizing dependent on other external factors. We are open to partnering with 343 Industries on additional rewards and if you are a company, community, or content creator that would like to add to the prize pool then feel free to reach out to one of the ForgEra staff.

These prizes are the same for each category:

1st Place

  • A guest appearance on our “You Had Me At Halo” Podcast where we will interview you and your process for the map (If you’d rather not appear on the podcast, it is not required).
  • A long form featured video of your map.
  • A FORGERA T-shirt
  • Halo coins (larger amount than 2nd place)

2nd Place

  • Mention on the YHMAH Podcast
    Long form Video feature of your map
  • A FORGERA T-shirt
  • Halo coins 

Honorary mentions:
Shorter video featuring all the honorary mentions.

Additional Details:

We will be providing lobbies to help make your maps the best they can be. We will also be hosting lobbies after the contest where you can receive additional feedback on your maps from the judges notes and only if you ask and are present for them.

Be sure to join our Discord to ask questions and get in on the lobbies!

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