Dragon Fogel
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Back when we did the Blind Races, I thought about doing an architectural equivalent. And I think I've got an idea for how to make that work.

Rather than a race, this is going to be a one-hour streamed architecture contest. Interested architects will sign up in advance, and decide on a stream time.

At the start of the contest, I will post a list of ten room ideas. These will vary in complexity - some will just be "include a roach and a rattlesnake", some will be along the lines of the prompts in Putting the Pieces Together, and one or two may be overly specific or otherwise silly ones.

Once the constraints are posted, entrants have one hour to make three rooms, each of which must satisfy at least one constraint on the list. If we hold the event again, we might change the time limit and expected number of rooms, but we'll see how this works out first.

After the hour is up, the holds are posted and voted on like a regular architecture contest. Polishing them up for a compilation afterwards is allowed, but that's up to architect discretion.

Entrants are permitted to make a hold with empty rooms ahead of time. They may name it whatever they like, as long as the name won't interfere with publication, and can select a level theme as they see fit. Adding a description is also okay.
Rooms in this hold must not have anything in them, not even removing walls to set up access from other rooms. You are permitted to place a level entrance in each room anywhere you want, in any position.
However, it is not necessary to make the rooms accessible during the time limit. They should be before being posted for voting, but this can be done after the hour is up.

Scripting is allowed, but you probably don't want to set up anything complicated, as you won't have that much time for debugging.

I'll schedule a time for this when we have some entrants who can agree on when that should be. I'd also like a volunteer to help me come up with a good list of room constraints. Whoever it is can also serve as a backup host if I'm not able to make the start time for some reason. (If it looks like we both won't be able to, I guess we'll find another backup host.)

Entrants:
navithmastero - https://youtu.be/x9g6eHb_jno
Xindaris - https://www.twitch.tv/xindaris
mauvebutterfly - https://youtu.be/jIetMYz0Swk
kieranmillar - https://youtu.be/yx1zGS5XxkQ
Someone Else - https://www.twitch.tv/spitemaster

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[Last edited by Dragon Fogel at 03-06-2021 06:47 AM]

navithmastero
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Provided the time doesn't clash with something else I'd love to participate.


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Xindaris
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I'm interested, if I can manage to have the time free! By the way, does allowed scripting include copying in a custom element from a different hold? If so, you may want to make specific rules for that just so someone doesn't do something silly to save time like make an NPC beforehand that effectively builds the entire room for them via build and generate commands...not that I would ever do that!

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[Last edited by Xindaris at 02-11-2021 10:13 PM]

Dragon Fogel
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Well, since it's streamed, if they do that we'll see it and will judge them for it.

mauvebutterfly
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My timezone makes coordinating things awkward, but I'd like to participate.

Regarding custom scripting stuff, I imagine using lemmings or other "standard" custom elements wouldn't be an issue, not that I intend to do anything with that anyway.

Then again, that kind of sounds like setting up something in advance, so maybe in the spirit of the contest no scripts should be allowed to be imported. If you want to spend time scripting your own lemming, that's your choice.

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kieranmillar
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I'm happy to take part in this, depending on the schedule. I'm in the UK, just to make it a bit more awkward when it comes to everybody's timezones.

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[Last edited by kieranmillar at 02-12-2021 07:32 AM]

Lucky Luc
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This sounds kind of fun. If we manage to find a time that works, I'm in.

Xindaris
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I do have a small suggestion: On the off chance that people's timezones and/or schedules are completely incompatible, perhaps it'd be allowable for some people's hour of stream to be at a different time than others? Like, whoever's going later could swear not to look at the room ideas until it's their time? If they were posted into a secret in the first place that'd help everyone keep from accidentally spoiling themselves.

I guess you could argue there's a possibility of "screen cheating" by looking at someone else's stream, but the whole reason you'd do this is because people couldn't stream at the same time, so they probably also wouldn't be able to watch a stream at a time that they...can't stream.

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109th Skywatcher

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[Last edited by Xindaris at 02-12-2021 04:25 PM]

Dragon Fogel
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On copying scripts: I'll say that scripts used in published holds or the TSS Custom Elements hold can be copied. I guess this technically opens a loophole where you can script something and publish a hold with it before the actual stream happens, but the HAs can either make sure it comes out with plenty of time for other people to see what the custom element does or hold it back until after the event.

As for Xindaris' question, ultimately it's a matter of what the participants are okay with. I also don't know how many people are going to sign up - if there's a lot, maybe it will be easiest to just have two or more separate events, each with their own list of constraints.

mauvebutterfly
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When we do blind races there are often a few people who can't make the initial time but still run it after the fact. I think it's fine. Better to have more participants than to be strict on this.

I guess if prize pile stuff is up for grabs it might be an issue. I don't mind stating that I'll just participate anyway even if I can't win if the timing forces me to do it later than everyone else.

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Dragon Fogel
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Oh, yeah, architecting from the list outside of an actual entry later is no problem. As is doing this unofficially without streaming, which a couple of people have already told me they hope to do.

Speaking of which, I should ask about making this contest official, since I haven't technically done that yet.

NoahT
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Will there be guidelines for what streaming platforms entrants can use?

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Illusionist
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I want to create a creepypasta hold that breaks the immersion or rather the suspension of disbelief. But I'm still not ready yet. I need to get better at this game

As such, I will probably keep my time.

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[Last edited by Illusionist at 02-13-2021 10:07 AM]

Dragon Fogel
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NoahT wrote:
Will there be guidelines for what streaming platforms entrants can use?

I'm basically going with what worked for the Blind Races. I don't think we had any particular guidelines there - basically, any service that allows the general public to see the stream easily is fine. I can't remember any racers who used something other than Youtube or Twitch, but my memory's not perfect.

Just be sure to link where you'll be streaming ahead of time, and it's a good idea to do a test stream ahead of time to make sure there aren't any issues.

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[Last edited by Dragon Fogel at 02-12-2021 10:47 PM]

Dragon Fogel
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All right, I'm not closing signups or anything, but I think enough time has passed that we should start talking about scheduling.

Since this has less preparation than a blind race, we can probably get it moving pretty quickly - all that's needed is a list of room ideas. That shouldn't take long to come up with.

That said, I'd still like a volunteer to help me out with the list. I can come up with the whole list myself, but a) I think it would be more fun to have a second person's ideas on there and b) it's helpful to get another set of eyes on my own ideas before I post them publicly. Plus, it's somebody else who can start the actual event if it's at a bad time for me or I get a power outage or something.

So, those of you who have expressed interest in participating, please feel free to start talking about when you expect to be available. And if anyone wants to help me out with managing the event, feel free to speak up. It shouldn't be a lot of work, it just means you can't officially take part in the "race".

Xindaris
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I have all of most Fridays and Saturdays open, and Sunday afternoons. This won't be true next week (the weekend of the 26th), though, and depending on what week in the future there may be other exceptions. I'm often open after 7 PM mid-week also. Ideally I wouldn't want to try to do it really early-morning or late-night. My timezone is US central time, so for example, noon on Saturday the 21st for me is Local Time:02-21-2021 at 06:00 PM.

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[Last edited by Xindaris at 02-19-2021 06:13 AM]

kieranmillar
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I'm 6 hours ahead of Xindaris (his noon is my 6PM) which rules out weekdays. I am free all weekends currently.

navithmastero
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I'm 6 hours ahead also. Weekends suit me too although I should probably leave Sunday 28th free as a one off. Any time in the afternoon/evening is fine with me but I usually eat around 6ish so would prefer to be either a couple of hours earlier (16:00 GMT) or 90 minutes later than that (19:30 GMT). Any other time is fine and if 18:00 GMT is the best time for everyone else I'm sure I can make it work also.

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[Last edited by navithmastero at 02-19-2021 09:39 AM]

Lucky Luc
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7 hours ahead here (Europe fraction is strong this time, apparently), so I'd also prefer weekends. I have plans next weekend (26th - 28th), but otherwise I'm currently free.

Xindaris
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Well, let's see..I'm fine streaming as early as 10 AM Friday or Saturday to make it a bit earlier in the afternoon for a lot of other participants. Sundays it'd have to be something like early afternoon at the earliest. Also, come to think of it, I sort of have 10-11:30 AM on Mondays and Wednesdays free most of the time, but I need to be sure I still have plenty of time to eat lunch before 1 PM, plus there's an Event that happens on sporadic Wednesdays from 11 AM to noon that I tend to participate in.

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[Last edited by Xindaris at 02-19-2021 04:26 PM]

navithmastero
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I'm happy with an afternoon slot on a weekday too but it's understandable if others aren't.

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Dragon Fogel
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All right, based on what people have said so far... weekends and particularly Saturdays seem to be good, but not the weekend of the 28th.

So I'm tentatively going to suggest Local Time:03-06-2021 at 04:00 PM. That's 9 AM for me - I'm usually awake by then, but it would definitely be good to have someone on standby on the offchance I oversleep.

That would give me two weeks to get the idea list together, which shouldn't be a big problem.

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[Last edited by Dragon Fogel at 02-19-2021 08:01 PM]

navithmastero
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Cool. I'm happy with this time.

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Xindaris
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That appears to be a Sunday (the 7th of March) to me, not a Saturday. Did you mean the 6th? If so, I think that should work fine for me.

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[Last edited by Xindaris at 02-19-2021 07:23 PM]

Dragon Fogel
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I did - that's what I get for trying to count the days in my head rather than actually looking at a calendar.

Fixed that now.

Someone Else
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I'm going to tentatively throw my hat in the ring, given the time selected. Here's hoping the toddler cooperates!

Lucky Luc
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Should work for me

kieranmillar
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Works for me 👍

mauvebutterfly
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That's 1am, which isn't too bad for me on a weekend, so I'm good.

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Lucky Luc
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So, I've messed up my scheduling and it's actually the weekend of the 6th that I'm busy on instead of this one. I think this means I have to drop out, unfortunately. Hope you guys have fun, though