Generic Contest Discussion

[Seasider]

3 hours ago, Jurss said:

Approved.

Seconded 👍

[howitzer]

12 hours ago, SaperPL said:

Pros will know which set to pick for the best possibilities for example.

Pros will always have an advantage over more casual builders, that's the basic nature of contests.

[marcus2388]

On 3/16/2022 at 3:18 PM, Jim said:

It's not that hard if you ask me; we had a "boundary box limit" in the past. This boundary was (for example) 20 studs wide x 30 studs long x 20 studs high = 12.000 cubic studs.

If we say the limit is 12.000 cubic studs you can also go for 16 wide x 45 studs long x 15 studs high = 10800 cubic studs.

is this like... the essence of the new contest?

just asking because GT7 servers are still down

[Seasider]

@marcus2388 it’s just Jim’s thoughts at the moment. Nothing is official until a new contest thread is started.

[Erik Leppen]

Whatever the theme... I like the cubic studs measurement limit thing :) It's simple enough, flexible enough and restrictive enough. Maybe that can be of use as a generic size limit for future contests that need one.

[gyenesvi]

On 3/16/2022 at 12:31 PM, SaperPL said:

I'd also consider a contest about b-models with added 10% of bricks out of the set or something like this, where you're almost there with what the set has, but you need some critical pieces or minor touches - this is also something that would allow to build those cheaply in contrast to getting all pieces for a custom build.

I like this approach for a B-model contest! Sometimes one or two extra parts could open up new interesting possibilities. I think this combined with a part count limitation (on the base set) could result in meaningful and easy-to-define rules.

Edited March 19, 2022 by gyenesvi

[Jim]

1 hour ago, gyenesvi said:

I like this approach for a B-model contest! Sometimes one or two extra parts could open up new interesting possibilities. I think this combined with a part count limitation (on the base set) could result in meaningful and easy-to-define rules.

Maybe easy to define but hard to regulate and verify. I like to keep things as simple as possible.

[gyenesvi]

2 hours ago, Jim said:

Maybe easy to define but hard to regulate and verify. I like to keep things as simple as possible.

And I thought that is as simple as it gets :) Not sure what you mean by hard to regulate and verify though. It does not sound harder to me than a pure B-model contest (or is that already too hard?). Contestants would have to explicitly list all extra parts used and that's it. Of course it would rely on contestants being honest, but the same would be required for a pure B-model contest as well. Furthermore, as some means of checking, people could spot parts on photos that are neither listed as extra nor in the set.

I actually find the cubic size limit mentioned above more problematic because it would put models with highly non-cubic shape into a disadvantage.

[Seasider]

The problem with B-model contests, as someone has said before is that bigger often equals better in terms of voting on this forum. Also licensed (building a model of a real vehicle) often beats building an original creation.

the volume box has worked well before with the small car contest we had for vehicles to fit the transporter

 

[SaperPL]

1 hour ago, Seasider said:

Also licensed (building a model of a real vehicle) often beats building an original creation.

Yes, this is a problem as well... I've had my favourites in TC18 that didn't really get much love in contrast to models being based on real car. Red Sky is one of such examples of original creation that didn't get to the stage 2, while podium was taken completely by builds of real vehicles with sharp corners/flat surfaces mostly.

[gyenesvi]

17 hours ago, Seasider said:

The problem with B-model contests, as someone has said before is that bigger often equals better in terms of voting on this forum. Also licensed (building a model of a real vehicle) often beats building an original creation.

That's what I thought the part count limit on the base set would solve, no? You are right about the licensed models though, I can see that with MOCs in general.

17 hours ago, Seasider said:

the volume box has worked well before with the small car contest we had for vehicles to fit the transporter

Sure, for a car contest I can see that work, because the shapes are box-like and similar for all contestants.

[Jurss]

18 hours ago, Seasider said:

the volume box has worked well before

Imagine contest with minimum volume box 

[howitzer]

5 minutes ago, Jurss said:

Imagine contest with minimum volume box 

Both, minimum and maximum volume boxes. With difference of 1 stud. Who can make the best box? 

[Jim]

22 hours ago, Jurss said:

Imagine contest with minimum volume box 

Minimum volume box is 1 cubic stud. The builds will be fairly simply though 

I will try to come up with something shortly.

[Jundis]

Already news about an upcoming contest? Finally, I have some free time coming up during easter...

Edit: This is not a pressure post :D

Edited April 3, 2022 by Jundis

[Jim]

I already wanted to have something up, because there is also a window of opportunity for requesting prizes.

Basically it will be "Build something small fitting a certain bounding box". I just wasn't sure about a fixed box or a cubic box where you can play with the WxHxD. I'm leaning towards the latter to allow a bit of flexibility.

On the other hand; I can also simply copy TCxx and get the show on the road.

 

I'm going through the contests and it seems that TC18 was the one with the bounding box.

But most entries don't have a bounding box picture. Did we have another contest with a bounding box?

[Seasider]

I can’t think of one @Jim we’ve had a couple with Part count limits. The triple and mini contests both were part limited, I think you’re right and the small car was the only one with a described volume box.

[SaperPL]

36 minutes ago, Jundis said:

Already news about an upcoming contest? Finally, I have some free time coming up during easter...

26 minutes ago, Jim said:

I already wanted to have something up, because there is also a window of opportunity for requesting prizes.

Am I blind or is there a thread or post about the next contest already somewhere?

30 minutes ago, Jim said:

Basically it will be "Build something small fitting a certain bounding box".

Is the "something in here" waiting to be decided or is it hidden for the sake of everyone having same chances?

Are new suggestions still open for debate? How about a contest about Speed Champions cars made in Technic, at specific scale? Not necessarily remaking original set cars as there are also tons of awesome MOCs at the scale/style, so not a "studless remake" kind of contest, but something like miniature TC18 on 30 mm wheels for example.

[Jundis]

5 minutes ago, SaperPL said:

but something like miniature TC18 on 30 mm wheels for example

The TC18 was on 30 mm wheels... or do you mean 30 mm tires?

[Jim]

15 minutes ago, SaperPL said:

Are new suggestions still open for debate?

Nope.

15 minutes ago, SaperPL said:

Is the "something in here" waiting to be decided or is it hidden for the sake of everyone having same chances?

Neither. You can build anything you want, fitting the bounding box.

I need to finish some work today. After that I will try to get something on-the-line. No guarantees, but I will do my best,

[SaperPL]

12 minutes ago, Jundis said:

The TC18 was on 30 mm wheels... or do you mean 30 mm tires?

30 mm tires, like the ones in mini claas xerion. By wheel I mean whole package of rim and tire, I wonder why often the wheel rim is called a wheel in studio, huh...

7 minutes ago, Jim said:

Neither. You can build anything you want, fitting the bounding box.

Oh, that's interesting. Any RC limitations? Manual or whatever?

[Jurss]

[TC9] had size limit

Each model (both A and B) needs to fit in 10.000 cubic studs, meaning that WxHXL (in studs) cannot exceed 10.000 (see examples below).

 

[Jim]

2 minutes ago, Jurss said:

[TC9] had size limit

Each model (both A and B) needs to fit in 10.000 cubic studs, meaning that WxHXL (in studs) cannot exceed 10.000 (see examples below).

Sweet!! That is actually what I was looking for. Thanks for looking it up.

So the contest will basically be something like TC9, but with a single model.

Maybe we can allow electronics this time.

[Jurss]

Depends on allowed size. If it will be something pretty small, then there wont be almost no functions, and that won't be interesting.

[Jim]

7 minutes ago, Jurss said:

Depends on allowed size. If it will be something pretty small, then there wont be almost no functions, and that won't be interesting.

TC9 was rather small. We can go for something a bit bigger. I'm thinking Corvette-ish scale.

Or simply double the TC9 limit and go for 20.000 CS.