Jump Jam 2020+1 is here!
The plan is to, again, hold the jam from weekend to weekend, that being Friday to the following week's Sunday. Since many people are busy throughout the weekdays with school/work, we're giving lots of time to work on your project, including two full weekends.
The jam will be held on Friday January 22nd, and will end on Sunday January 31st.
For simplicity's sake, you can start at any time on Friday in your timezone, but must also submit on Sunday January 31st in your timezone.
What is this?The main idea behind this is to get people who either haven't mapped before, fail to finish maps due to motivation or otherwise love staring at grids, to sit down over several days and just make some form of a jump map. Maps are judged at the end, and constructive criticism is given to help mappers improve their work! This can be a good opportunity to get yourself making the levels you've always wanted, and get some playtesting along with it.
If you want to participate as a mapper:Join the discord group, where you can talk to other participants, ask questions about the event, or get assistance on your mapping projects!
https://discord.gg/AXZKhQKRules and guidelines- Must start a new/blank map (i.e. blank .vmf file). If you choose to work on partially done/abandoned projects, or are using another map as a large basis for your project (jump_beef_h for example), we will consider this map in the 'miscellaneous' category.
- Submitted map should be in .bsp format, i.e. properly compiled. If custom textures are used make sure it is packed. Also make sure it runs in-game and doesn't crash, for example "engine hunk overflow" errors, etc.
- The map should have working health and ammo regen (func_regenerate where applicable, and trigger_hurt/tick regen), working teleports and no significant errors like massive leaks.
- Must be playable in
TEAM FORTRESS 2, as not everyone will have access to Momentum Mod.
Submissions won't be rejected on these grounds but will probably be judged harshly.
ResourcesFor newcomers to mapping/hammer, here are a few things that may help:
Forum resources: pre-fabs, tutorials, misc links
http://jump.tf/forum/index.php/topic,956.0.htmlTutorials:
Tyjle's Jump Mapping Tutorial (much more up to date)
Afterglows series (great starting point for 0 experience in hammer) + Tophatwaffle (valuable for stuff like packing maps and/or adv stuff):
http://jump.tf/category/mapping-tutorials/Judging and ResultsMaps will be judged on 2 main criteria, Level Design and Aesthetics.
Level Design: how well each level plays and how well the levels flow together (connectors, flow, difficulty curve)
Aesthetics: how well the map is detailed, environment design, and if the map stands out from others
New mappers will have their own Best Overall title, so don't worry about being put up against mapping veterans in the community.
There will also be a 'Misc' category, which will include submissions that are unfinished, singular jumps, surf maps, etc, so don't feel discouraged to work on only a few jumps if you can't manage to make an entire map.
Collaborated maps are accepted, and will have their own 'Collab' category. These will be judged against other multi-effort projects.
So, if you're somewhat interested in mapping for the jump community, or have been lacking the motivation to start Hammer back up, this is the perfect opportunity to do so! Good-luck to all participants, and happy mapping as always!