Mapping Contest - Please Please Please?
4DChessGenius
Posts: 2,121Player
So I'd really love a mapping contest (I've been asking for this for months!), so here's my thought. If the Dev team doesn't want to run it, how about I run it as long as I get the assurance from the Dev team that they'll include the winning maps in the game? You can tell me what the max amount of winners you're willing to accept. I will even try to find 3-5 community judges who will be unable to participate in the contest (meaning I cannot be a judge, for example) and cannot have any clan affiliation with any of the participants. They will then pass on who they choose to be the winners to the devs and then if the dev team is in agreement they can be included in the game. How does that sound?
You joined the world's greatest army to become a graphic artist? Outstanding!
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They offered it to you already.
Also, if this is never going to happen, can you just shut me down? I'd rather that than silence.
It's much better than waiting around for months (going on 5 now since this https://forum.americasarmy.com/discussion/7711/new-mapping-contest/p2) for the Devs to do the work for you.
The problem is that with no assurance that the maps will be made official then it's pointless. We have tons of maps out there today already.
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That's also due to the way the game sets up UMMs. Instead of allowing players to just download maps as they're played, we're forced to download every map on the server. So a UMM server can regularly play 15 UMMs, but keep 50 on their server in case people want to play them, but people have to download all 50 in order to join. That's a nightmare. I think my UMM folder is something like 9GBs. Add in that you can't preload shader cache before opening the game and the fact that updates to UMMs cause a head ache for server operators. This all results in UMMs becoming a niche thing. Instead we have a game where Inner Hospital is played 75% of the time on non-UMM servers.
I can see from my own experience how much of a nightmare UMM updates are. UMM creator updates map... if they publish the server doesn't automatically update so if the server played the map before restarting everyone gets kicked for a mismatch. Add in the fact that sometimes when you restart, the server still doesn't push the correct version of the map and you still get mismatches even when everything is done properly. Sometimes a server owner has to go into the file manager and manually upload the map to make it work. I could imagine if there were tons of UMM servers where a UMM creator would never know when they could update their map because it would crash everyone. A complete mess. It's hard enough with one sever doing it.
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Unfortunately, many other games do it better. I'm not sure if it's an Unreal Engine thing or the game itself.
Also, it's too bad people don't realize just how unlikely it is that AAPG exists AT ALL! I mean.....a government-funded video game???
There's LOTS the Studio 'could' do with AAPG if given the backing they need. Remember, AAPG is what happens when a five year old goes into a candy store, holds his fist out with a few dimes and a penny and says, "What can I get with this many?" That just ain't the Studio's fault. I'm quite confident there's some talent under that roof.
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Unfortunately, none of us know how much funding this game receives or how it compares to what they were getting for the original AA. From what I gather from Hollywood's posts they're getting an influx of funding under the current administration. It would seem that Republican administrations are better for our good ol'America's Army. The idea was novel at the time and let's be honest, the only reason why there was an AA3, AAPG, or soon to be AAV is because of the success of the original.
I haven't messed around with UE4, however, I'm sure if the developers invested some time into creating a map editor like in AAPG that people could figure it out. We're not asking for full blown modding tools. In any case, I don't expect a map editor to be available when AAV is released. That's unrealistic for any of us to expect. Something like that is a year 2+ type of addition. Don't forget that we didn't get it in AAPG right away either.
However, my main desire for a mapping contest is to showcase the maps that the community has made, see if people like them, and maybe, just maybe if there are some maps that really catch on with the community, get them included in the next game. Certainly a far fetched dream to say the least. Anyway, at the very least it would be nice to see some Devs stop by and play in the 101st server from time to time and see the hard work that the community has put into these maps.
There's more space for digital skills in the MOS matrix than ever before.
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IDK, I think Hollywood even made a post that the current administration is providing more funding. I'd have to dig it up, but I'm quite certain he's said so.
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Yes, but when the military gets extra funding (which this admin has done) it means more money to put into marketing efforts such as AGS. There's a reason why in the other thread Hollywood mentions the need to get the game done within two years due to a potential changing political climate (i.e., the 2020 election).
It's not really a funding problem, at least not the map stuff. I mean it is because we don't have enough artists to go around to all the different projects we have going on and hiring more would help a lot. BUT the problem for maps is nobody will free up an artist to work on maps. Artists are booked solid for like forever, such that even Reaction may never get finished the way we want it. I just really can't promise you any community map, or even any Studio map, may ever get added at this point. I have pushed and pushed but we can't get any art support.
I think we went off on a tangent and were discussing funding for the game in general and how the increased military spending in the current administration has helped AA5 get more funding that would have otherwise not existed.
On a side note, you guys need more artsy fartsy guys pronto!
I heard someone say yesterday we have 20 open job reqs right now
Where's this guy? I heard he's training to become a graphic artist.
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