Let me state this is a project i wish to put in motion, and it is entirely of my own motivation. I had planned on executing this competition prior to being offered a DM staff position. I will, however, refrain from committing to starting this competition if there is gross disfavor within the DM/Admin forums.
The immediate purpose of this competition would be to encourage members to 'learn' about various aspects of NWN2, therein becoming more capable of assisting in the development of ALFA2. It is geared towards unskilled members, thus those who are presently developing NWN2 mods, or those who already know how to build, should resist the temptation to enroll in the competition. It is, after all, a Njub challenge.
The secondary purpose of this competition is to provide immediate content for our ALFA NWN2 mod developers. The advent of the Lyceum forums (as discussed here) will serve as a utility for the talented ALFAns to help the competitors to learn quicker, and to provide higher quality content. Thus, by participating as instructors, you increase the likelihood of obtaining content, and may just gain a few new team members (give them time to grow first though, we don't want to burn them out with too much too quickly).
My intention is to announce the challenge by providing a two week warning, with links to recommended tutorials for the topic of the challenge, and training videos of our own making (i have links to free video capture softwares, which i will provide later). Specifics of the competition will be announced in two weeks, with either two weeks or one month in which for them to turn in their entry (depending on the type of challenge). There is no limit to the 'amount' of entries that a single competitor can enter.
The opening competition will be that of developing 'interior mods,' sans scripts of any kind (scripts can be added, but it is not a requirement). In this, they become comfortable modding interiors and gain confidence in using the Toolset. No haks/overrides will be allowed (too complicated for beginners anyway).
Rewards will be dependent upon the amount of competitors. The more competitors (not entries), the greater the rewards. 5 or less competitors, and there will only be a 1st prize of an ALFA item (small). 10 or less and 1st prize will be an ALFA item (medium), with 2nd prize being an ALFA item (small). 15 or less and 1st prize will be a 3.5 manual, 2nd an ALFA item (medium), 3rd an ALFA item (small). Yes, i'll be paying for the prizes, unless other members wish to contribute.
I wish to maintain a record of winners on a sticky. If we have the same people winning all the time, it will discourage others, so I will be setting a tentative limit, in which a competitor can win 1st place, of up to two times on a particular topic (interior, exterior, script, etc). After this, they will be given the title of Adept (or instructor) in whatever topic they excell in.
I will, of course, need to setup the ALFA items. CafeExpress was used in the past, but i think i may be able to find a service that provides much lower prices. If any of you have recommends, by all means let me know. We will need an FTP where they can upload their entries (no download feature).
Essentially, i'm hoping we can provide an atmosphere that is rewarding and fun for people to contribute and learn, as well as teach. My goal is for this competition to change regularly, to cover a 'different' part of the toolset each time. Interiors, exteriors, dialogue, basic behavior script, etc. However, i will leave the 'focus' of the competitions to the developers of ALFA2 mods. Content provision is the 'underlying' goal of these competitions.
All this stated, i request a list of interiors that the ALFA2 developers need for thier mods. Please respond with those interiors you need, and please be specific, as i will create a 'list' of acceptable interiors the community can make for their competition entries.
Finally, every competition needs judges. Please consider whether you would like to volunteer to be a judge. We need a minimum of three judges.
Thanks for your participation
combination swordsmen and archery TRAINING AREA - dimensions 100 feet wide x 20 feet deep - interior stone brick walls should be very dark grey
I would like to place here my assistance to anyone new who will be trying to do interiors, but who doesn't know too much about them. In other words, should anyone have questions or problems building these, they can bounce their questions off of me, and I will be more than happy to help them in a timely manner.