Army of Small - Rules & Specifications

[doylle]

General:

The uprising has begun. An Army Of Small is preparing for battle! Your objective in this competition is to create an insect warrior/soldier, that has a specific job on the battlefield (ie medic, demolition, infantry, etc). There are no limitations in style, so you can work in the style you prefer (cartoony, realistic, fantasy, etc), as long as your character is based on a real life insect, and that it is still recognisable as one. (please see specifications for a wikipedia confirmation)

We are very happy to announce that Ballistic Publishing will be sponsoring this competition. They offered 3 books of choice (see conditions below), and with their large collection of excellent books they will make it worth your while.

Concept Guidelines:
To give you a better idea of what we expect, you'll find a short list of allowed and disallowed pieces. This will help you determin if your creature qualifies as an insect, or if it is likely to be rejected. If you have doubts, don't hesitate to contact one of the staff members, they will help you out.

Humanoid vs insect
Allowed: Ant Soldier and Cockroach Warrior. They both look very much like insects, even though they are walking on two legs. If the insects anatomy is respected up to a certain degree then this is allowed.
Questionable: Ant. In many aspects, this looks more like a human, rather than insect. With some changes this can be turned into a valid piece.
Disallowed: LadyBug. Although there's no question that this is a very nice piece with alot of potential, it is simply to human for this competition.

Ask yourself, does my character look like an insect, or like a human. If the answer is human, then you might have to do some more work on the concept...

Vehicles and riders
Vehicles and/or riders are not allowed. It is important that your character/creature is an independent unit, and that it can operate on it's own. If you are thinking about a vehicle, then there are plenty of ways to turn it into an independent unit. After all, insects are living things...

Prizes:

1st prize: Ballistic Publishing offers 3 books of choice* from their collection to the winner. This includes DVDs, and the full essence package which counts as 2.
*excluding all limited editions and special editions.

Specifications:

Maximum Triangles
1000

Maximum Textures
1024 x 1024 Diffuse
1024 x 1024 Specular (optional)
1024 x 1024 Bump / Normal (optional)
1024 x 1024 Alpha (optional)
1024 x 1024 Glow (optional)


It is important that your creature is based on a real life insect, and that it is still recognisable. If there are doubts, use wikipedia and make sure your insect is a member of the "Insecta" class or the "Arachnida" class.

Submission Guidelines

Entry Deadline is the End of Sunday the 27th of July GMT +-0 as time zone.

Work in Progress should be posted by yourself in a seperate thread, named by using the competition number and your username as thread title, i.e. "Competition #14 - doylle". Work in Progress threads are not required, but if you are working with complex normal maps or detailed textures, you may want to receive some advice before submitting. We highly recommend creating such a thread.

Final Submissions should be posted by yourself in the thread titled "Competition #14 - Army Of Small Submissions". Only one entry per contestant and the use of previously created assets is strictly prohibited (Game-Artist.Net has full discretion in this matter).

When posting in the Submission Thread, please provide the following:

* Beauty Render of Final Piece 800x600 (you may make alterations in Photoshop as long as they do not significantly change the original piece, i.e. dodge, burn, blur, sharpen, levels. Use of environments are also allowed)
* Wikipedia name and Latin name of the insect your submission is based on.
* Link to Wireframe of Final Piece 800x600
* Links to all texture sheets used (original size / no watermarks)
* E-mail Address to be used if you are to win any of the prizes

Only your beauty render should be displayed in your post within the submissions thread, all other images linked to. This is so that the thread remains organized. Failure to meet the above or incorrectly post your submission will be brought to your notice a single time, if the issue has not been fixed by the contest deadline, the entry will be eliminated. If you attempt to cheat by either not following the rules above, copying work or using past works you will be disqualified immediately.

Ballistic Publishing is granted use of your final entry posted in the submissions thread on any medium they own as long as the context is related to this competition. By participating in this competition, you also agree to receiving e-mails from our sponsors (through the e-mail you provide in your final entry).

Game-Artist.net reserves the right to amend any of the above during the course of the Competition (can relate to Specifications, Prizes, Submission Guidelines, etc.).

Good luck to all!

[ZASkaggs]

Are teams of two allowed again, or is this strictly a solo thing?

[doylle]

Originally Posted by ZASkaggs

Are teams of two allowed again, or is this strictly a solo thing?

Teams are not allowed for this one, you have to do everything yourself...

[funkdelic]

Nice one Doylle
but teams would be really cool!

nevertherless, gonna give a shot!

[requiem2d]

It's only a 1000 tri's, you can be sure that when we launch a team/couple challenge you'll be hitting at least 5000 Good luck!

[Godo]

Do they have to be insects or can they be gastropods? (snails, slugs)?

[Veko]

what are you guys aiming for,

personalized bugs like in A bugs life ?
or does it have to be more realistic and still walk talk en breathe like a bug ?

[doylle]

@ funkdelic: Cheers . Make no mistake about it though, the organisation of comps like these are a team efford, not a 1 man show

@ godo: yes, they have to be insects...

@ Veko: You are completely free for this. You can choose the style you want, you're also allowed to model extra stuff (thinking about gear and what not), as long as your insect is based of a real species.

[Tom]

Wow, cool.. been waiting for another chance to redeem myself for my horrible entry in the last comp.
Learned so much last time and since so sould be interesting to participate in this one

[Corsair970]

Kinda cool... time to look for some insects...