ForumsGamesCTC2PP: Custom Castle Contest

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Ernie15
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Ernie15
13,351 posts
Bard

This is the official Crush the Castle 2 Players Pack contest. You've come to the right place.

You're probably wondering how this contest works. Basically, we (the three judges) give you a theme at the beginning of each round, and you, the contestant, build a castle that follows the theme in some way. Then, so we can count your castle as an entry, take the link to that castle and post it in this thread. If it isn't posted in this thread by the deadline (and the deadline will always be a specific date and time), we will not be able to count it as an entry for that round.

If you've never built a castle before, or you want to brush up on your building skills, check out this guide made by @Arm_Candy.

This is a weekly contest, so each round will last 5 days, with 2 days being designated for judging. Every week, the theme will change and a new round will begin. Pretty easy to grasp.

Oh, and the winner of each round receives a merit, a spot in the CTC2PP Hall of Fame, and a rare quest that can only be earned through winning (or judging) a level building contest:

http://quests.armorgames.com/website/5/media/icon/d06fa73d7b7eaa626941288fc59ce86a.png?v=1398292205
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RULES
Yes, there are rules. What did you expect?

Basic rules for this contest, written originally by @PrivatePapi for his old CTC contest:
1. Do not spam under any circumstance.
2. Only enter 1 castle for each category.
3. Do not ask either of us which category will be next.
4. Do not copy somebody else's castle if you do not have permission from him/her.
5. When entering for the contest, always submit your castle according to the current category.
6. Have fun!

And this section, written by @FishPreferred:
a) All entries must be playable and have at least 1 person in them. It seems obvious, but who knows?
b) Entries that are so overladen with stuff that they cause considerable lag will not be eligible. Considerable lag is herein defined as "a big freakin' pile of lag that renders an entry virtually unplayable without severely overheating my 3 year old computer".
c) Entries should be stable enough to last a full minute without collapsing, and should require at least one shot in order to be won. This applies to every part of the contest that doesn't explicitly state otherwise in its instructions.
d) Any entry which the judges deem to be inappropriate (in a lewd, indecent, or libellious sense) will be disqualified, and most likely deleted by the admin.

And lastly, a few additional notes added by yours truly:
- The only castles you are allowed to post in this thread are contest entries. If you link to more than one castle, only the most recent one will be treated as an official entry, unless otherwise specified.
- All entries must be built specifically for the contest and for the current theme. You can't submit castles that you entered in previous rounds, or anything that was built before the beginning of the current round.

Looks like a lot of rules, but it's all intuitive. You'll have no trouble following these guidelines.
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Optional: CODE
Some architects like to take things a step further and modify castle codes to do things that otherwise wouldn't be possible in the regular editor mode. This method will not give you a significant advantage over other contestants, but it may be of interest if you want to play around with the editor a bit. Code modification is not a requirement for this competition.

How to modify castle codes by @SSTG.

If you don't modify castle codes or have any plans to in the future, you can skip over this next part.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR CODERS: If you decide to use code-modified elements in an entry, take caution, for, although code-editing can be useful for certain details, excessive use of code-modified elements in an entry could lead to a deduction of points from the entry.
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That's the contest in a nutshell. Just remember to check back every week for the results of each round, as well as the theme for the next round. I will post the theme for the first round after this post ends, so as not to confuse first-time submitters in the future.

And if you have any ideas for future themes, contact @CourtJester or myself or post your theme idea in the thread.

That certainly was a lot of words. Over 700 of them. It may seem like a lot to take in, but this contest is all about having fun, despite all these large blocks of text.

So get hyped, get building, and have fun with it!

Did I mention there's a merit prize to the winner of each round?

  • 1,474 Replies
BigJoeTheMighty
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BigJoeTheMighty
40 posts
Jester

I am not even going to debate this with you because it would be pointless and a waste of my time.

ObieOdie
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ObieOdie
134 posts
Nomad
DrElmer
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DrElmer
552 posts
Shepherd

Fireworks Tower
For best results, throw it as far as you can so it hits the part connected to the "chimney" down the middle. You want both "fireworks" to launch and go off at the same time.

Arm_Candy
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Arm_Candy
716 posts
Bard

This week has been so busy, the only time I have found to build one castle is the middle of the night. One night's sleep is worth entering this round, though, even if all I could build on such little sleep was this piece of junk.

Pyrotechnic Temple

Originally I was going to have the fireworks launch into the air, but the castle had other plans, so I anchored them to the roof and let them activate from there.

BigJoeTheMighty
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BigJoeTheMighty
40 posts
Jester

I'm not even going to complain about the fact I don't like it when you cancel your castle...I do want to say that I actually liked your first Castle better than this one.

Ernie15
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Ernie15
13,351 posts
Bard

http://vwordpress.stmarys-ca.edu/leannnak/files/2014/04/f4237216e5df4ef9994ce3c7866fcb69-1ikqff9.jpg

5th place goes to MURICA! submitted by @BigJoeTheMighty.
4th place goes to Desert Storm TNT Rally, submitted by @ObieOdie.

3rd place, with an average rating of 6.53, goes to Fireworks Tower, submitted by @DrElmer.

2nd place, with an average rating of 6.55, goes to Pyrotechnic Temple, submitted by @Arm_Candy.

1st place, and the grand merit prize winner of Round 12, with an average rating of 6.62, goes to Pyrotech Blows Keep To Heck, submitted by @DeathstormKnight. Congratulations!

ROUND 13
Theme: Elemental Health
Deadline: Wednesday, July 15, 11:59 PM AG time.
Description: Your castle must include wood, stone, iron, ice, and TNT. All props are allowed.

Ernie15
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Ernie15
13,351 posts
Bard

It varies depending on the judge and the theme. Some rounds are weighted more heavily on architecture and appearance, whereas others focus more on the destruction of the castle. The latter was more common last year when projectile-based rounds happened often, which they will again.

Things I look for in an entry every round:
- Stable craftsmanship
- Attractive architecture
- At least half as fun to crush as it is to look at. With projectile rounds, appearance is often less important than destruction.

Things I will take points off for:
- Minimalist architecture*
- Premature deaths
- Anything that moves or falls over by itself
- Invisible items, unless they do not get in the way of the destruction of the castle at all. If they're used to keep a castle upright, that counts as obstructing destruction. The same can go for foundation blocks if they become obstructive.

*There is a difference between intentional abstract minimalism and "I built this in 15 minutes" minimalism.

DrElmer
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DrElmer
552 posts
Shepherd

Joker's Palace
All elements in place. Lucky marksman gets it in 1.

GeoffreyXIV
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GeoffreyXIV
42 posts
Nomad

My castle is not going to be finished in time for the deadline. I've been working on it for what I would estimate to be eight total hours, and the more I add to it, the worse it looks, so I'm going to stop now before it becomes an absolute disaster. There will be no entry from me this round, even though I did start building one, it would take more hours to complete than there are before the deadline, and that would not even include work, sleep, or life. It is still saved and I will continue to work on it sporadically.

BigJoeTheMighty
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BigJoeTheMighty
40 posts
Jester
Arm_Candy
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Arm_Candy
716 posts
Bard
ObieOdie
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ObieOdie
134 posts
Nomad
Ernie15
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Ernie15
13,351 posts
Bard

i think the judges should focus on everything and not some just on architecture and the others on destruction because that screws everything up

Both architecture and destruction are looked for in every round, but it's on a scale depending on what the theme is. Most rounds it's somewhere in the middle, but some rounds will have a theme that focuses more on one or the other, so the way I judge the entries follows suit. Last year's rounds 6, 9, 17, 21, and 24 had themes that were based predominantly on what the castle looked like, so the winning castles from those rounds were ultimately what were determined to be the best looking. Destruction was looked upon, as you can see from the runners up from each of those rounds, but it was not a deciding factor. If it had been, different castles would have won each of those rounds.

The rounds that focus more on destruction are the ones that revolve around certain projectiles, such as rounds 5, 8, and 13 from last year, and rounds 2 and 8 from this year, which I did not actually judge, but the principles remain the same. Architecture was still important those rounds, as all but the last one had a reasonably attractive castle come away with the win, but the focus of all of those castles is the incorporation of projectiles into their destruction.

Most rounds, such as the ones with more vague directions like this one, are somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. The rounds are set up this way purposely so that both visual-based castles and destruction-based castles can win some rounds, while most rounds can be won with a combination of the two.

what do u mean by "intentional abstract minimalism" ?

If the castle's minimalist structure is intentional and doesn't look like a few pieces were just thrown together, points will not necessarily be removed.

Abstract Minimalism
15-minute Minimalism

i think another thing should be taken into judging an entry, and that is 'complexity' - not just design & appearance, etc., but how complex its built for the end result, know what i mean?

That too is always a factor, which usually falls under the destruction category. "Air Strike" from Round 13 is one of the best examples. It's built so that the destruction caused by the first shot does not affect the second shot in any way even though both shots use bombs and TNT. The explosion causes the towers to collapse inward instead of outward, which keeps the stone remnants out of the path of the second bomb. The far right tower is built so that it collapses when hit with the metal box every time, but only if the middle towers are knocked over. Definitely a highlight entry from last year.

Ernie15
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Ernie15
13,351 posts
Bard

Two close rounds in a row. The last two entries were within 0.13 of each other, and the top two were within 0.07 of each other.

5th place goes to Flaw in the design, submitted by @BigJoeTheMighty.
4th place goes to HANGAR 13, submitted by @DeathstormKnight.

3rd place, with an average rating of 6.87, goes to La Casa De Delgado, submitted by @ObieOdie.

2nd place, with an average rating of 7.53, goes to Hearthstone Hills, submitted by @Arm_Candy.

1st place, and the grand merit prize winner of Round 13, with an average rating of 7.6, goes to Joker's Palace, submitted by @DrElmer. Congratulations!

ROUND 14
Theme: Frozen Chicken
Deadline: Wednesday, July 22, 11:59 PM AG time.
Description: Your castle must be made of ice, and at least one shot must be with a chicken (all other projectiles are allowed). No wood, stone, iron, TNT, or any other props allowed. Foundation blocks are always allowed in their standard non-movable form unless otherwise specified, but this round they are not to be used as movable building blocks.

Arm_Candy
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Arm_Candy
716 posts
Bard

Two rounds in a row I miss first place by 0.07 points. This round I will have to build something 0.08 better than I have consistently been entering.

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