What challenges would you like to see?

[Hamish 1,369]

The weekly challenges have just returned after a short hiatus over the holidays, and are rearing to go! But they need your help to continue.

While they work well, we want to revive them for the new year. In the past they have been based around showing images of a specific theme, and that's fine, but there may be better things to do during the week. We haven't run out of ideas yet, however before things get too complacent we thought we'd shake it up a bit, maybe this can be a thing that happens ever 10 weeks or so.

Any way, I'll cut to the chase. We'd like to hear what you think the coming weekly challenges consist of. This could be themed image challenges, or gameplay challenges, or anything we haven't tried before. It's really all up to you, if you have wacky ideas though you might have to explain yourself a bit more than others, keep that in mind. So I'll give you a couple of days to come up with a few really good ideas, and then let you submit up to three of your best with members voting with reputation.

 

When submitting ideas:

One idea per post.

Keep them simple with easy obtainable goals. (Should be able to complete within a week)

And a brief description of the challenge should be included.

 

Rules for this thread:

One idea per post.

Three ideas in total (only the first three will be accepted, any more will be deleted)

Two post rule is in effect so that others can get some ideas in close to the top of the page (can not post again until two others have posted between your first post)

Please don't cheat the reputation system.

And please only post submission, ancillary posts will be removed. Use the general discussion thread to discuss this topic.

 

This post will be locked for a few days for you to come up with a few ideas. On Thursday it will be open for you to submit your ideas, and vote through the reputation system on which ones you'd like to participate in. Try not to vote for all ideas, just the ones that you would participate in. And try to submit your ideas on Thursday so that your ideas have the most possible viewers. The thread will close Sunday night with the most voted on entry launching the following Monday.

Collect your best three ideas and I'll see you on Thursday to hear what you have. Looking forward to some great ideas!

[ROFLyoshi 1,760]

I think best river to sea transitions would be great to see, as would best mountain shot and best "suburbia" (with the cul-de-sacs)

[Charlie_Zane 963]

I like the idea of a transition theme, maybe even a Urban/Developed transitioning into a natural setting? 

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

I've been thinking this through all week...

Vexilloligcal challenge: based on only a few pictures of a city/region, design a flag for that city/region. This is an art-based challenge.

 

Possible guidelines or recommendations may include the rule of tincture or this infographic. There was another list of guidelines that I can't seem to find; a few of those were "use no more than three colours", "don't use any text", and "no seals or coats of arms or something" (though I find that breaking those guidelines are necessary half the time).

I found the list of guidelines I was talking about.

http://www.nava.org/flag-design/good-flag-bad-flag/5-basic-principles-flag-design

Oh, I should mention: for the vex challenge, you're given pictures of a randomly made city or region, like with the Halloween Photoshop Challenge. You can't use your own flag or own city/region. You have to make the flag from scratch.

[Charlie_Zane 963]

Ooh I do like that idea! Although that gives me a head start as I've already created flags for New Duveland's provinces.

http://aoin.eu/wiki/index.php?title=Flags_of_New_Duveland

[TekindusT 3,809]

I think somebody proposed a Vanilla city challenge some time ago. Best city without using any mods, lots, BATs, photoedition or whatsoever except the NAM.

[art128 4,618]

I think somebody proposed a Vanilla city challenge some time ago. Best city without using any mods, lots, BATs, photoedition or whatsoever except the NAM.

 

Make that without the NAM and you have a real vanilla challenge. 

[TekindusT 3,809]

 

I think somebody proposed a Vanilla city challenge some time ago. Best city without using any mods, lots, BATs, photoedition or whatsoever except the NAM.

 

Make that without the NAM and you have a real vanilla challenge. 

 

 

I thought on that first. But actually removing the NAM out of your system in order to take part in the challenge could stop some players to play. You have to reinstall it later, and if in the meantime you want to play some off-challenge city, you have to reinstall the NAM in order to avoid crashing the game... Furthermore, playing SC4+RH vanilla without the NAM is almost playing a different game!

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

I edited my first post to be a bit more specific; be sure to read up on that. (This way, everyone's in the same boat: no unfair advantages from having a premade flag.)

 

In accordance to the guidelines of this thread, I actually have two other ideas. But then as I was trying to explain one of them, I thought of another one that has more freedom of choice than the one I was trying to explain. It's also really simple...

 

Postcard challenge: Users must make a postcard of a city, suburb, architectural landmark, forest, or other natural feature. Users are free to use any of their own images. This is a Photoshop-based challenge.

[cardiomonkey 32]

I am thinking of something that is tailored towards newcomers (including myself), that will help us/them develop and learn.

 

A challenge that doesn't require several years of experience and a plugins folder the size of a small server centre. 

 

Goal - simple enough challenge that might require some kind of problem solving.

Just a thought. 

[vortext 573]

Challenges themed around landscape features: cliffs, beaches, mountains, rivers, swamps, glaciers, lakes, dunes, forests, waterfalls, canyons, etc.

 

edit, missed the one idea / two post rules. Retracted the other idea until later date.   

[Terring 6,473]

Best green city. I'm not talking about small villages in the middle of a forest, but about large cities with high rise buildings and a lot of parks, trees, and green zones.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

A possible idea:

 

Custom Content Challenge

 

The aim is to create a custom lot using the Lot Editor, from a limited selection of prop & texture packs. The challenge would be focussed on creativity, and the ability to select and make the best use of items to create visual appeal.

 

Suggested rules:

 

• Limited number of dependencies (e.g. 3 packs).
• The dependencies must be publicly available for download on a file exchange (e.g. STEX, LEX, PLEX).
• The lot can be of any type or style (e.g. park, shopping area, landmark, futuristic, etc).
• The lot must be ploppable.
• Maximum size up to 8x8.

 

Submission requirements:

 

1. An image showcasing the finished lot in the game.
2. The completed lot uploaded (e.g. to Dropbox / Google Drive).
3. Links to the dependencies used, so the lot can be verified.
4. A brief description of the lot.

  Edited January 28, 2015 by Cyclone Boom  

[Terring 6,473]

Another idea. How about best spaceports? It can be anything you want, from a real world space center to a sci-fi spaceport.

[SimCoug 5,972]

How about a 'best caption' challenge.  Contestants would submit an image and a caption (it could be funny, dramatic, thought provoking, etc) and members would vote on their favorite.  (The New Yorker magazine does something similar by providing a cartoon image each issue and readers are encouraged to submit the best caption that goes with the image.)

 

For example...

 

I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.  Are you listening?  Dependencies.

[vortext 573]

Maybe a bit boring but the second idea I had was challenges themed around civic services in the broadest sense: police and fire stations, hospitals, garbage disposals, water treatment, city halls, museums, schools, universities, public transport hubs, etc. Basically it'd be anything that makes a city functional in game terms. Maybe not a very sexy subject but therein lies the challenge, right? 

[T Wrecks 10,209]

 

A possible idea:

 

Custom Content Challenge

 

The aim is to create a custom lot using the Lot Editor, from a limited selection of prop & texture packs. The challenge would be focussed on creativity, and the ability to select and make the best use of items to create visual appeal.

 

Suggested rules:

 

• Limited number of dependencies (e.g. 3 packs).
• The dependencies must be currently available for download on a SC4 file exchange.
• The lot can be of any type or style (e.g. park, shopping area, landmark, futuristic, etc).
• The lot must be ploppable.
• Maximum size up to 8x8.

 

Submission requirements:

 

1. An image showcasing the finished lot in the game.
2. The completed lot uploaded (e.g. to Dropbox / Google Drive).
3. Links to the dependencies used, so the lot can be verified.
4. A brief description of the lot.

 

Not too surprisingly, I like that challenge.    However, the part "The dependencies must be currently available for download on a SC4 file exchange" could become problematic because all BSC dependency packs aren't, and these belong to the most frequently used dependencies.

[SimCoug 5,972]

Not too surprisingly, I like that challenge.    However, the part "The dependencies must be currently available for download on a SC4 file exchange" could become problematic because all BSC dependency packs aren't, and these belong to the most frequently used dependencies.

I'm guessing CB meant any publicly available SC4 exchange, which would include the LEX, PLEX and so forth.

[Cyclone Boom 16,875]

Oops, sorry if that wasn't quite clear, I've now re-worded it with examples!

 

Yes, I was trying to infer any exchange where the dependencies are currently available. The idea is to prevent someone having access to content that's not accessible for all contestants. This would aim to keep the contest a level playing field, and not give anyone an unfair advantage.

 

Another reason is for verification purposes. Having the dependencies accessible would make it easier to check the lot doesn't use more packs than allowed (the 3 limit could be increased if too restrictive).

[dlsni 156]

what about something with the new simcity?? i know it's allowed to enter images from the game into both the best picture comp and i believe the weekly challenges but afaik none have been entered so far. what about something to entice SC5 players to this part of the forum?

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

Gridbusting?

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

Most vanilla city? IE, use as few plugins as possible, specifically, custom buildings. You may use anything that does not alter the appearance of anything in the game, such as the NAM Transit Simulator and transit station fixes, but any other plugin that adds new content must be used to the absolute minimum. It means you'd have to use the original terrain textures, original transit textures, original water textures, original user interface, original buildings, as many original everythings as possible.

 

Provide a picture of a city that has as few of these as possible:

 - Third-party BATs (growables, ploppables, stations, landmarks, parks)

 - SPAM

 - CAMeLOTs, but the CAM exemplars may be used

 - Industrial Revolution Mod

 - RealRailway, RealHighway, Network Widening Mod, Bullet Train Mod, Street Addon Mod, High Speed Rail Plugin, Euro Textures, bridges, any other of the NAM's plugins; the Transit Simulator and transit station fixes may be used

 - Sidewalk mods

 - Water, terrain, beach, and sky mods

 - Weather mods

 - Automata mods

 - Any plugin that replaces props or overwrites any T21 exemplars

[Thin White Duke 4,072]

Most vanilla city? IE, use as few plugins as possible, specifically, custom buildings. You may use anything that does not alter the appearance of anything in the game, such as the NAM Transit Simulator and transit station fixes, but any other plugin that adds new content must be used to the absolute minimum. It means you'd have to use the original terrain textures, original transit textures, original water textures, original user interface, original buildings, as many original everythings as possible.

 

Provide a picture of a city that has as few of these as possible:

 - Third-party BATs (growables, ploppables, stations, landmarks, parks)

 - SPAM

 - CAMeLOTs, but the CAM exemplars may be used

 - Industrial Revolution Mod

 - RealRailway, RealHighway, Network Widening Mod, Bullet Train Mod, Street Addon Mod, High Speed Rail Plugin, Euro Textures, bridges, any other of the NAM's plugins; the Transit Simulator and transit station fixes may be used

 - Sidewalk mods

 - Water, terrain, beach, and sky mods

 - Weather mods

 - Automata mods

 - Any plugin that replaces props or overwrites any T21 exemplars

Sounds easy enough. Just temporarily remove your plugin folder, build a huge city as realistic as possible, screenshot, exit game and put everything back. Should be really interesting to see how people would go around such a challenge, though.

[cmdp123789 710]

I think a great idea would be "best skyline".. and by skyline I dont mean "skyscraper".. there is a difference between both, and it should be interesting because we have people from all around the world.. so we could be seeing Asian skylines vs Euro skylines vs American skylines and so on.. it has variety, and if applied correctly and explained correctly (the skyscrapers thing) we would have a really nice challenge with lots of different shapes.

[Huston 5,798]

We haven't seen a purely/or near to vanilla challenge yet. It seems to this day, vanilla pics are still sidelined Would be pretty good if we could get a vanilla one going, for at least one week, just so those with those vanilla pics could have a chance at it

[gviper 922]

I think a great idea would be "best skyline".. and by skyline I dont mean "skyscraper".. there is a difference between both, and it should be interesting because we have people from all around the world.. so we could be seeing Asian skylines vs Euro skylines vs American skylines and so on.. it has variety, and if applied correctly and explained correctly (the skyscrapers thing) we would have a really nice challenge with lots of different shapes.

Absolutely. Though I haven't showcased Vista Del Mar's skyline in my CBD yet I would consider such a contest.  Though my skyline has a variety of Euro, Asian, and American architecture in it.  I not sure about competing with a heavily Photoshopped entry though since I don't have such a program but hope to buy one and learn one in the future.

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

Sounds easy enough. Just temporarily remove your plugin folder, build a huge city as realistic as possible, screenshot, exit game and put everything back. Should be really interesting to see how people would go around such a challenge, though.

We haven't seen a purely/or near to vanilla challenge yet. It seems to this day, vanilla pics are still sidelined Would be pretty good if we could get a vanilla one going, for at least one week, just so those with those vanilla pics could have a chance at it

The goal with my suggestion's not so much to strip your plugins folder dry, but to trim it down to the absolute minimum. Obviously, there are certain plugins that are too essential to not use, but the goal's to not use the ones that just add new things. That's the distinction between an addon and a mod that no one ever pays attention to: addons add and mods modify.

Maybe a "minimal plugin challenge" would be a more fitting title for such a challenge?

[cmdp123789 710]

 

Sounds easy enough. Just temporarily remove your plugin folder, build a huge city as realistic as possible, screenshot, exit game and put everything back. Should be really interesting to see how people would go around such a challenge, though.

We haven't seen a purely/or near to vanilla challenge yet. It seems to this day, vanilla pics are still sidelined Would be pretty good if we could get a vanilla one going, for at least one week, just so those with those vanilla pics could have a chance at it

The goal with my suggestion's not so much to strip your plugins folder dry, but to trim it down to the absolute minimum. Obviously, there are certain plugins that are too essential to not use, but the goal's to not use the ones that just add new things. That's the distinction between an addon and a mod that no one ever pays attention to: addons add and mods modify.

Maybe a "minimal plugin challenge" would be a more fitting title for such a challenge?

 

But the question is "how much is minimal"? the only way to make it fair is either nothing or stablish what mods or addons are allowed.. so for example you would say : NAM and darknite.. or something like that.. 

[Ganaram Inukshuk 906]

But the question is "how much is minimal"? the only way to make it fair is either nothing or stablish what mods or addons are allowed.. so for example you would say : NAM and darknite.. or something like that..

What matters is you use as few plugins as you want, but the voting determines how minimal is minimal.

[Huston 5,798]

 

 

Sounds easy enough. Just temporarily remove your plugin folder, build a huge city as realistic as possible, screenshot, exit game and put everything back. Should be really interesting to see how people would go around such a challenge, though.

We haven't seen a purely/or near to vanilla challenge yet. It seems to this day, vanilla pics are still sidelined Would be pretty good if we could get a vanilla one going, for at least one week, just so those with those vanilla pics could have a chance at it

The goal with my suggestion's not so much to strip your plugins folder dry, but to trim it down to the absolute minimum. Obviously, there are certain plugins that are too essential to not use, but the goal's to not use the ones that just add new things. That's the distinction between an addon and a mod that no one ever pays attention to: addons add and mods modify.

Maybe a "minimal plugin challenge" would be a more fitting title for such a challenge?

 

But the question is "how much is minimal"? the only way to make it fair is either nothing or stablish what mods or addons are allowed.. so for example you would say : NAM and darknite.. or something like that.. 

 

 

I would probably just go with the restricting everything but possibly any road network mods (which can be a hassle to remove and reinstall) and day/nite mods. Probably even exclude terrain in water mods since they can remove the essence of what is a vanilla game.