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Hey folks, you heard it right - we've got the winners of our first official mapping contest! It's been a great couple of months, and we got a better-than-expected turnout! Now, you're probably all anxiously awaiting to see if you won, so here we go:

First place: Imperator by Coppermantis!
Second place: Conspiracy by Idolon!

For the rest of the results, and specific numbers/judge feedback, just take a look at the results page here.

Just to remind you, the first place winner will receive the Cake Poster, a $30 value item or game on steam, first Community Spotlight, and an mAI seal of approval, as well as recognition on their forum profile. The second place winner will receive a $15 value item or game on steam, an mAI seal of approval, and recognition on their forum profile. Everyone who submitted a map will get a badge on their forum profile. Expect to see the site-based ones visible on the site within the next week or so, and as for the rest, just contact me (p0rtalplayer).

Excellent work to everyone who participated, we got some great maps submitted to the contest that were truly enjoyable to play. Keep up the great work, and happy mapping!

Find it ironic that the only Portal 1 map won. This should tell us something...

Yeah congrats Coppermantis and Idolon! Also a big thanks to everyone who have entered.

Just thought I'd contribute some personal thoughts, didn't want to put these in the blog post as it would be out of place:

Imperator: Puzzle was excellent, made me feel like it was 2009 again, as reep said. The content wasn't perfect (a little hard to tell what was/wasn't portalable) but did compliment the overall design rather nicely and didn't take away from the puzzle)
Conspiracy: I like what was tried here, with the whole outdoor thing, though the second part felt a little rushed and out of place. The puzzles weren't bad, though I misunderstood what the big thing with the box signage did and thought I had to get the cube up there...before realizing that the door was already open.
Shadows of Time: Oh man. This map. The mechanic was quite amazing, really, if a little clunky at times. Mapping was pretty sloppy, though, and I feel like so much more could be done with this mechanic.
RatmannReturns: Just...what? Excellent visuals but...that's not a test chamber. It's a cutscene.
Heuristical: Props to you for using the overlays, but I don't have a sixense so I couldn't play it.
Alternative #1: I kind of get the feeling either a) the guy didn't read the rules or b) it was an accidental submission. No custom content and the guy has never posted here before. Dunno.

Anyway, nice job again everyone Hope to see more great maps in the future.

Yay.

Congrats to Idolon and I must say the other maps that I've played so far were great. I was very suprised that I made it.

Also, haha at Van's reason for editing Reep's post.

To be honest I'm surprised Conspiracy won. There were a lot of things wrong with it in my opinion. There wasn't any music, soundscapes, or anything of the sort. The elevators were a bit weirdly done. The map didn't have an ending, for me at least. The 2nd part, where you navigate through the broken area, definitely seemed too set-up. Puzzles were pretty good though. I mean, it's not a terrible map, and I congratulate it for winning, but I didn't think it would win to be honest. But hey, congratulations Idolon.

Maybe I'll have better luck next time. Thanks for holding the competition!

Congratulations Coppermantis!
You might get more plays on your map if you converted it to Portal 2 (with the workshop and everything)

-- "RatmannReturns: Just�what? Excellent visuals but�that�s not a test chamber. It�s a cutscene." --

I thought the whole point in the competition was to make as much custom content as possible. I think I matched the mark except for the whole:
-- "Overall Map Quality: the map should be fun to play for players at the intended skill level and represent a short to medium map size (about the length of Chambers 16-19 in Portal); it should not use engine or portal glitches." --

I wonder if anyone got the joke...?

I'm actually surprised that Idolon came second seeing as he has been working on that map(s) for over 5 months. Although the rules didn't state you could enter a map you had been previously working on or not.
Then again it didn't state that I could have posted a map I previously made or had even been released. - I would have continued working on and entered tc_vitrified in that case - or perhaps the unreleased mod I helped worked on for 12 months which was smothered in custom content. You know...

first of all congratz to the winners!

i am confused, did any map get disqualified actually? because i really aimed for that badge

and Chicken, your map shouldn't get bashed for not being a "playable" one. i really love when ppl experiment not just with puzzle techniques, but with the Portal game and story telling as a whole.
and your idea was the most unique imo!

Edit: Collossal in particular seems to think that "no custom content = disqualified", when the rules clearly state that having no custom content just lowers the score dramatically

Well it said that it should be fun for the intended skill level and mine was 'Other'. It was fun for being an 'other' right?
I'm just teasing guys.

But seriously, you should have been completely in-depth as possible with your rules.

Aw, I didn't place. I didn't really expect to, though, it's the second test I ever made.

Congratulations, Coppermantis! I haven't played your map yet, but I'm sure it will be excellent. I'm surprised more people didn't map for Portal 1, actually. I would have if it had VScripting.

ChickenMobile wrote:
Well it said that it should be fun for the intended skill level and mine was 'Other'. It was fun for being an 'other' right?
I'm just teasing guys.

But seriously, you should have been completely in-depth as possible with your rules.

Yeah, the rules weren't exactly perfect, but hey, it's a learning experience.

As for disqualifications, heuristical was pretty much disqualified because of sixense, and alternative #1 had zero custom content.

that means i won't get the badge?

LambdaCore 21 wrote:
that means i won't get the badge?

I think you should, since you did put the effort into making the map and entering.

ChickenMobile wrote:
Congratulations Coppermantis!
You might get more plays on your map if you converted it to Portal 2 (with the workshop and everything)

I believe you can upload P1 maps to the workshop. I'll also put it on TWP as well at some point.

Oh no wait, you can't. Shoot.

Converting it to P2 would be...interesting. I would have to alter the puzzles significantly since the Rocket Catcher and Energy pellet don't exist in P2.

Coppermantis wrote:

I believe you can upload P1 maps to the workshop. I'll also put it on TWP as well at some point.

Oh no wait, you can't. Shoot.

Converting it to P2 would be...interesting. I would have to alter the puzzles significantly since the Rocket Catcher and Energy pellet don't exist in P2.

I think lasers could work in both situations. For the rocket turret, I have a script that omni made for AAK that emulates rocket turret behavior, could be useful.

I can easily emulate the Energy Ball Puzzle with lasers and cubes...The Rocket turret would be hard to do without scripts. I could do the same puzzles with balls and funnels easily enough I suppose.

Also, when are the badges going to show up? Not to be impatient, just wondering.

Skotty has a fix for the rocket turret over at TwP, that might work for you.

He also has a resource pack for the energy balls, if you want to keep those the same.

Congrats Copper! I'm happy that the portal map won! (wish I could have posted mine)

I played usCobra and Felix's map on Camera's laptop and the mechanic was amazing, reminded me of braid. Couldn't paly the other portal 2 maps though, I'm sure they're good tho.

ChickenMobile wrote:
I'm actually surprised that Idolon came second seeing as he has been working on that map(s) for over 5 months. Although the rules didn't state you could enter a map you had been previously working on or not.
Then again it didn't state that I could have posted a map I previously made or had even been released. - I would have continued working on and entered tc_vitrified in that case - or perhaps the unreleased mod I helped worked on for 12 months which was smothered in custom content. You know...

It just could not have been released before the contest started. You know, we have been talking about a contest ever since the site started and not everyone has time to make one awesome and decent size map. If he had a full 5 months to do it, why was half the map not detailed? It won 2nd because it was fun, it made us think. Most puzzles now you solve ether mindlessly or you just see no solution. Both winners had us (at least me) stumped at first but had that "ah-ha" moment. I also love the end chamber in Idolon's map.

LambdaCore 21 wrote:
first of all congratz to the winners!

i am confused, did any map get disqualified actually? because i really aimed for that badge

and Chicken, your map shouldn't get bashed for not being a "playable" one. i really love when ppl experiment not just with puzzle techniques, but with the Portal game and story telling as a whole.
and your idea was the most unique imo!

Edit: Collossal in particular seems to think that "no custom content = disqualified", when the rules clearly state that having no custom content just lowers the score dramatically

Chicken's visual maps were awesome. Best visuals, best effects, but it just was not playable. Just my 2 cents, if you had the player explore a bit before the end, it would have made the map a lot better. In the end, I just felt kind of cheated, no offence. We just felt that a fully done map like the 2 winners were more rewarding to play, although the visuals can't compare.

LambaCore, don't worry, You and the others will get a badge, but the winners will get a different kind of badge, and the judges will be getting one too. Also, I'm sure you could have placed 2nd if Kek could have played it. Missing one reviewer did not help your map's average. Again I would not say you were "disqualified", but you just had a weaker shot at winning. However, Colossal and I both enjoyed playing your map.

Coppermantis wrote:

ChickenMobile wrote:
Congratulations Coppermantis!
You might get more plays on your map if you converted it to Portal 2 (with the workshop and everything)

I believe you can upload P1 maps to the workshop. I'll also put it on TWP as well at some point.

Oh no wait, you can't. Shoot.

Converting it to P2 would be...interesting. I would have to alter the puzzles significantly since the Rocket Catcher and Energy pellet don't exist in P2.

I heard the rocket turret's don't 100% work with Skotty's instance. Would like to see a Portal 2 version although your map was like a blast from the past for us.

Again, I want to thank everyone. They are all worthwhile to have on our database one way or another.

The reason it was worked on for "5 months" was because I shelved the project to go map for TF2 for a while. When the contest sprang back up, I worked on it again. Consequently, I worked on the map for ~4-5 weeks total; about the span of the contest.

Not at all a good excuse as to why the detailing wasn't really there, but I figured it was worth sharing. I'll probably release a newer version with proper detailing when I get the chance, but don't keep your fingers crossed.

I was making a Portal 1 map, but I had no enough time to finish it until the end of the contest

HugoBDesigner wrote:
I was making a Portal 1 map, but I had no enough time to finish it until the end of the contest

I was working on a Portal 1 map too;

Most people already heard my whinning, but for my case, my computer decided tocrash and stop to boot windows before my last compile. Let's say that I'm looking forward another contest soon (2-3 months?) so I can get my revenge.