Some i wanna do:
Pretty Forest Contest - Last Hosted by The Conqueror (July 2002)
Totaly Terrain Contest - Last Hosted by Tanks_fst (March 2010)
Cave Design Contest Last Hosted by Dark_Reign (September 2005)
Pretty Town Contest - Last Hosted By Tetsuo Shima (March 2013)

How does these Contests/competitions work:
Best Army Competition - Last Hosted by Fanica (April 2010)
The Speed Contest - Last Hosted by Possidon (February 2010)
ES Remake Contest - Last Hosted By Jatayu (April 2012)

I'm pretty sure the Chinese Design Contest is intended to run on a 15 year cycle, so we've got to have that.

I always thought there was a lot of mileage in an idea called the Green Map Contest. The concept was that by severely restricting map design the focus would be on creating a challenging and imaginative setup. Entering wouldn't be an onerous task, because filling up a map is often a particularly time consuming part of design.

I think a Historical Scenario Contest would be nice if you were allowed to use any expansion.

Otherwise I could go for another Defend the Spot Competition, Pretty Town Contest or Cinematic Scenario Competition.

Minigmae Competition - Last Hosted by Lord Basse (August 2014)

1. Typo 2. I'd definetily vote for that as well as:

Cinematic Scenario Competition - Last Hosted By Tetsuo Shima (October 2012)

ES Remake Contest - Last Hosted By Jatayu (April 2012)
Halloween Horror Contest - Last Hosted By Scibadi (October 2011)

I'd be down for a modded fantasy scenario contest.

How does these Contests/competitions work:
Best Army Competition - Last Hosted by Fanica (April 2010)
The Speed Contest - Last Hosted by Possidon (February 2010)
ES Remake Contest - Last Hosted By Jatayu (April 2012)

Best Army Competition involved the contestants selecting a selected number of units to form the most effective army. The armies would then be placed against each other in a tournament and the winning army wins the competition.

The Speed Contest was a contest where contestants race to see who can get a the castle age in the quickest possible time.

ES Remake Contest is a contest where contestants remake a scenario from one of the ES campaigns that come with the game in their own way.

I'm pretty sure the Chinese Design Contest is intended to run on a 15 year cycle, so we've got to have that.

My thoughts exactly. We've been discussing this as staff and we are thinking of doing this contest again but perhaps with a different civ instead of the Chinese.

I always thought there was a lot of mileage in an idea called the Green Map Contest. The concept was that by severely restricting map design the focus would be on creating a challenging and imaginative setup. Entering wouldn't be an onerous task, because filling up a map is often a particularly time consuming part of design.

The Limited-Object Contest on the list is an idea that John the Late came up with which is a similar concept. Contest have to build a scenario in which they are only allowed to place a limited number of objects on the map (eg 1000) which can be counted with Trigger Studio.

[This message has been edited by Possidon (edited 01-14-2015 @ 04:28 PM).]

How about a limited-trigger contest as well, of say 50 triggers or less.

If you read the list there is a Zero-Trigger Contest idea. This is an idea to create an AOK scenario like an original AOE scenario without any triggers. AOE 1 didn't have the triggers options if I recall correctly.

Minigame Competition
Speed contest
Best Army Contest
Pretty Town Contest
Defend the spot competition
Apocalypse map contest

Multiplayer Scenario contest -- Yes Please Multiplayer maps is my forte haha

Fantasy contest

In conclusion i'll join almost anything :P

Yep I saw it possidon. I was more thinking limited triggers for multiplayer scenarios, like who can make the most fun/interesting with the least triggers.

Pretty Town Contest
Totaly Terrain Contest
Pretty Forest Contest
Apocalypse Map Contest
Ice Age Contest
Random Map Scripting Contest

I'd basically be interested in anything that doesn't require too much trigger-work and instead focuses on terrain and map design.

Pretty Forest Contest - Last Hosted by The Conqueror (July 2002)
Random Map Scripting Contest
Limited Objects Contest
Zero-Trigger Contest
Best Army Competition - Last Hosted by Fanica (April 2010)

Any of those.

Pretty Town Contest
Pretty Forest Contest
Tottaly Terrain Contest

Basically, I'd want a contest that would focus on pretty maps and lightly on triggers.

historical battles

Pretty Forest Contest is a terrible idea. I see the original version failed, and it deserved to. It's like a PTC (which can easily contain a pretty forest) but narrower in scope. And the main criticism you can make of the PTC is that it is too narrow in scope.

I don't know why people like map design contests so much. I say this as someone who likes entering them. Scenarios that are nothing more than map design are only worthwhile if they are exceptional.

AOE 1 didn't have the triggers options if I recall correctly.

True, but you could set up victory conditions, which actually makes quite a difference. It allows the designer to stipulate that a particular unit must survive, for example, and for the setting of basic objectives. If you want to be faithful to AoE style, it would be best if the only triggers allowed had to contain a Declare Victory effect.

[This message has been edited by Julius999 (edited 01-15-2015 @ 01:08 PM).]

A Pretty Forest Contest seems very basic indeed. And I do prefer at least some triggering, it often separates the wheat from the chaff.

[This message has been edited by Lildbehr (edited 01-15-2015 @ 01:55 PM).]

I still can't understand how everyone loves map design only contests

If you want to be faithful to AoE style, it would be best if the only triggers allowed had to contain a Declare Victory effect.

Doesn't AoK also have Global Victory options one can use instead of triggers?

[This message has been edited by Devestator (edited 01-15-2015 @ 02:46 PM).]

I should also mention that I would like to have something like a "Improvisation Scenario Contest" which is where you design whatever you want with barely, or any at all restrictions or themes.

I don't know why people like map design contests so much.

They're simply fun to make. Plus actually making a scenario of full quality could be a pain in the arse, especially if you're a person who procrastinates as often as I do.

[This message has been edited by Arnas (edited 01-15-2015 @ 02:58 PM).]

Doesn't AoK also have Global Victory options one can use instead of triggers?

Yes, but AoE allows the setting of individual victory conditions for each player. This is a bigger difference than it sounds.

There may be other limitations to AoK's Global Victory options too, but I do not know since I always set it to Conquest and then never look at that tab again.

I've also remembered something else about AoE. It was effectively possible to trigger diplomacy changes from ally (or neutral) to enemy, with an Object Visible condition. People could be pretty ingenious with that primitive editor.

[This message has been edited by Julius999 (edited 01-15-2015 @ 03:23 PM).]

Did AoE I allow you to make your own ai scripts? If so you could have a list of legal triggers for the contest and use a script as we'll.

I vote for PTC and cave design contest

Cinematic Contest
Minigame Contest
Pretty Town Contest
Historical Scenario Contest

I don't participate on any of these, but whatever.

I'm interested on the ones quoted above.

Also, why do you all people only want pure design contests? Triggers are half the fun!

[This message has been edited by Mithril Knight (edited 01-15-2015 @ 10:59 PM).]

Triggers are 90% the fun. Map design is repetitive and boring.

Hahaha I find it to the other way around. I'll vote for the mini game contest.

[This message has been edited by MrMew (edited 01-16-2015 @ 03:15 PM).]

Triggers are 90% the fun. Map design is repetitive and boring.

It depends very much on the details of the scenario in question. If you are trying out different unique trigger tricks I'm sure it can be lots of fun. But if you're designing a "Blood" scenario, the triggerwork very quickly comes tedious and repetitive.

Mmmm Zetnus I can it can work for both. If you have to repetitively make the map of a giant map for per se a multiplayer map doing the map gets very boring indeed... And for a trigger heavy map the triggers get repetitive and boring.. However for competition maps I would say the triggers would be more unique so they would be the highlight of the designing :P

I like the idea of a co-op contest because I'd like to at least once collaborate with another designer.

Mmmm Zetnus I can it can work for both. If you have to repetitively make the map of a giant map for per se a multiplayer map doing the map gets very boring indeed... And for a trigger heavy map the triggers get repetitive and boring.. However for competition maps I would say the triggers would be more unique so they would be the highlight of the designing.

Triggers and designing is two very different things. Designing is something done with flow and beauty making the creator look at his work deeper, instantly improving.
Triggers are done effective, productive and when working gives the creator a boost of Dopamine when you succeed in making things work the way you want.

When finding the middle way of both designing and triggerwork most people will enjoy a competition. Which is the whole idea of having a competition in the first place. To have fun.

[This message has been edited by Lildbehr (edited 01-16-2015 @ 12:39 PM).]

Pretty Forest Contest is a terrible idea. I see the original version failed, and it deserved to. It's like a PTC (which can easily contain a pretty forest) but narrower in scope. And the main criticism you can make of the PTC is that it is too narrow in scope.

Agree. Competitions with a very narrow scope rarely ever work: the MLH Contest, which was still pretty wide open and had a ton of prizes, just barely scraped by, and the recent AoK Vanilla contest was also just narrowly successful in terms of the number of entries.

Also, I'm with panel and would like to see another Co-op contest. The first one failed but taking part was a lot of fun (VonCorgath and I began working on "The Jaguar Gold" as an entry to the competiton), and if I have the time I wouldn't mind making another co-op scenario. After the one I'm currently involved in.

I'd like to do a co-op contest but I think it would need a fairly long time scale to get it done

Competitions with a very narrow scope rarely ever work: the MLH Contest, which was still pretty wide open and had a ton of prizes, just barely scraped by

I agree with your point (as should be clear from what I've already said) but I think your example is wrong. The MLH contest had perhaps the widest scope of any contest I can remember. Moreover, it didn't actually lack for entries, relative to other contests that require playable entries of any size: it had three entrants. Let's not forget the mediocre turnout in the Historical Campaign Contest almost a decade ago (also three, but one of those one was rubbish and disqualified) and the abject failure of the Fantasy Contest afterwards. The Chinese Design Contest got ten entries, but the audience in 2001 was so much bigger and expectations were so much lower.

Any contest that doesn't involve a serious restriction about the kind of scenario that can be entered is in practice limited to about three entries. That is the benchmark for success for that kind of contest.

The Co-op Contest idea doesn't restrict the kind of scenario that can be entered, and it adds in extra practical difficulties. That combination is fatal.

AoK Vanilla contest was also just narrowly successful in terms of the number of entries.

Well that's because... it's really restricted..

Why not think of some new category without recycling ideas.Maybe something like a nomadic or migration period contest?Or an asian or meso themed historical contest.

I'd like to see another cinematic, mini-game, or DTS contest. Competitions like those are restrictive enough that enough people will be able to focus and deliver a final product to make the competition worthwhile, but offer enough leeway that everyone's able to have some fun with it. Perhaps another contest along those same lines, restricting to a certain gameplay type or length or something.

It also might be fun to have a completely new contest. That green map contest Julius mentioned would probably yield some interesting results -- I have no idea what I would do if I entered, but it would be neat to see how people approach that kind of problem.

How about the least-work-needed-in-map-design-triggers-and script-with-limited-amounts-of-the-afore-said contest?