Simtropolis 1st Annual Halloween Map Contest

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

The S.H.A.A.T.S. Club is proud to announce it's first(hopefully not last) event, a contest to test the skill and artistry of our many talented members. This year's theme- Dracula's castle. Simply, create a scene with Drac's hangout in one or all styles. Categories will then be voted on by all available members who wish to do so. The entries will be judged by scene assembly and craftsmanship, atmosphere, and faithfulness to the category. I have excluded myself from the contest. Cori and CB can decide whether to allow moderators to participate. You can use the Drac castle pictured(sorry, kind of diminutive in the pic) or assemble a castle from the sets floating around the STEX. Or even make one out of the landscape. City size or if you want to do a whole region, that's entirely up to you. I've uploaded the Transylvania region for use too-

The 3 categories are as follows-

Expressionist Black and White: glorious monotone ala Nosferatu and Bela Lugosi. Sepia counts too.

 

Hammer Time: Rich,  vibrant Technicolor ala Chris Lee

 

Quirky, retro, ornate: Gary Oldman overdone opulence.

There are 3 chances to win, and 1 over-all winner. 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive silver and bronze fangs(or coffins, I haven't decided yet ).  1st place will receive Bela Lugosi's medallion from the 1931 classic.*

Entries should be posted in this thread by midnight October 25th. Voting polls will begin on the 26th thru midnight of the 29th. Winners will be announced on Halloween, the 31st. Maybe CB can whip up one of his poll tabulators like he did last year. Be on your "A" game. Korver might have entries.

*a badge under your ava, not the actual medal.

[CorinaMarie 29,926]

On 01/10/2020 at 7:44 PM, SIM-ple Jack said:

Cori and CB can decide whether to allow moderators to participate.

My personal opinion is they should be allowed.

Moderators (and admins for that matter) are just like regular members with regard to creating scenes in the game. Staff merely have extra buttons available to keep Simtropolis organized and free from evil spammers as well as being more familiar with the site layout so they can help guide peeps to finding stuff. Ofc, it's often true that mods are also more familiar with BAT and Modding tools and the internal workings of the game because they've shown a penchant for such. So, there are some mods who know more about the game than some members and also there are some members who know more than some mods.

The bottom line, IMO, is it's your contest so feel free to make the decision yourself.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

13 hours ago, CorinaMarie said:

My personal opinion is they should be allowed.

Moderators (and admins for that matter) are just like regular members with regard to creating scenes in the game. Staff merely have extra buttons available to keep Simtropolis organized and free from evil spammers as well as being more familiar with the site layout so they can help guide peeps to finding stuff. Ofc, it's often true that mods are also more familiar with BAT and Modding tools and the internal workings of the game because they've shown a penchant for such. So, there are some mods who know more about the game than some members and also there are some members who know more than some mods.

The bottom line, IMO, is it's your contest so feel free to make the decision yourself.

So be it then. There's very little way to cheat anyway, as it's all up to the voters. I'll help define the rules when needed, but will stay out of the way, mostly. I will need a hand setting up multiple polls, or, (scratch that)...I guess it can all be done in one. Look forward to some entries.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

Call for entries- just 16 days left.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

2nd and 3rd place medals are made. Just 13 days for entries- anybody?

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

9 days for entries. I'll be sending out a notice to the entire forum on Sunday.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

Just 6 days left.

[+Guest 760649]

I found this photo in my grandfather's notes. He wrote that Dracula no longer lives in his castle, but in an old house on the coast.

I then went looking and found the house. At least it looks similar ... to be honest, it was night and I didn't dare get closer.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

Looks like the old Barlow house.

Dracula Fun Facts:

The first film with Dracula in it was Nosferatu (1922). It starred a German actor by the name of Max Schreck. Not much was known about him for a long time, mostly due to post-war chaos and misplacement of records. The production company changed Dracula's name to Count Orloff to avoid a lawsuit with the Bram Stoker estate.

Nosferatu did not make another appearance until 1976, under the guise of Mr. Barlow in Salem's Lot. Played by Austrian actor Reggie Nalder, who was just as scary without makeup.

In 1979, German actor Klaus Kinski played Nosferatu in Werner Herzog's Nosferatu, the Vampire. Kinski was scarier in person, mostly because of his famous tantrums. (see YouTube)

In 1992, Christopher Walken played Max Schreck in Batman Returns.

In 2000, Willem Defoe portrayed Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire, as a real vampire who amused himself among mere mortals, pretending to act in the original 1922 film.

And a remake of Salem's Lot is in the work.

Is all that clear?

As usual, though, the internet ruined the story, by hunting down details of Max's life. He was just...an actor, with a wife, birth date and date of death.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

Dracula Fun Facts:

It was a custom to put rice in the coffin of suspected vampires. Being obsessive creatures, they would then spend their waking hours counting the rice instead of dining on human prey.

4 days for entries, folks.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

While Christopher Lee is probably the most well-known actor to portray Dracula in films, in non-English speaking countries, Spanish actor Paul Naschy is the king of horror flicks. Much like Lee, he portrayed just about every monster there is, but his specialty was werewolves. He was called the "Spanish Lon Chaney".

Lon Chaney was the first American to portray a vampire in an English(albeit silent era) film, the now lost classic London After Midnight in 1927.

The film would be remade in 1936 as Mark of the Vampire starring Lon's successor Bela Lugosi.

[wibbert 38]

Here's my submission, it's what a Dracula castle would look like in my imagination/memory.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

Now we have a horse race! Kind of "Giallo" style ^.

Dracula Fun Facts:

Christopher Lee holds the record for portraying Dracula 10 times in films(more than Bela Lugosi and John Carradine). Unofficially, he played him 2 more times in The Magic Christian

and as the real life Dracula, Prince Vlad "the Impaler" Tepes in In Search of Dracula (1975)

Only 1 more day for entries.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

Last day for entries!

Dracula Fun Facts: Famous Vampiress, ...um, Vampiras, Vamp....Lady Vampires

Carol Borland

Vampira (Maila Nurmi)

Lili Munster(Yvonne DeCarlo)

Ingrid Pitt

Elvira (Cassandra Peterson)

Grace Jones

[TheEstGuy 721]

Can i post my spooky SimCity3K unlimited mansion? (if yes i can post more)(i know im getting cancelled but anyways) Am I also late to the party?

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

4 minutes ago, TheEstGut said:

Can i post my spooky SimCity3K unlimited mansion? (if yes i can post more)(i know im getting cancelled but anyways) Am I also late to the party?

 

I didn't exclude any other city-builder games in the rules. You are allowed up to 3 entrees, 1 in each category(check the first post). Anything over that and I'll have to choose which 3 best fit the categories. You have till midnight(my time)which means 12 1/2 hrs. from this post. Good luck!

[TheEstGuy 721]

So this is the Spooky Dracula mansion and there is a small road that connects up there, the story goes that a rich man wanted a private place to live so he went to transylvania and bought this fancy house for 1 dollar and decided to repair the place... After that when he went there he was never seen again. Also in one picture, there is a chopper in the woods, noone knows why and noone does not wan't to know.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

Last call for entries. You've got 5 hours left to whip something up.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

Here are the entries in each category-

Expressionist Black and White:

On 24/10/2020 at 9:40 AM, wibbert said:

 

On 19/10/2020 at 10:12 PM, WolfZe said:

 

Hammer Time:

On 24/10/2020 at 9:40 AM, wibbert said:

 

On 25/10/2020 at 3:56 PM, TheEstGuy said:

 

Quirky, retro, ornate:

On 19/10/2020 at 10:12 PM, WolfZe said:

 

On 25/10/2020 at 3:56 PM, TheEstGuy said:

 

So, we're gonna need a poll. Assistance is requested.

[Cyclone Boom 17,032]

7 hours ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

So, we're gonna need a poll. Assistance is requested.

Polls can be added by editing the initial post, and then click the tab from where a title can be set.

As follows:

 

You may wish to check the box for closing the poll automatically on a particular day and time, but best avoid the middle one since it'll effectively lock the thread I believe otherwise. The 1st option will display who voted when clicking to see the tally of each choice. Keeping this unchecked will make the poll publicly anonymous.

Then click the Add Question button which then allows multiple choices to be added. I guess it'd be worth doing this as a choice per entry, and then people can pick which is their chosen preference to win. There is a "Multiple choice question?" option which allows more than one choice to be voted for. If leaving this unchecked, each voter can only answer a question with an individual choice. Of course, it's your contest and so go for whatever you think is best with any of this.

Let me know if you'd like any direct assistance too, and I'm happy to help with the poll setup.

  Edited October 26, 2020 by Cyclone Boom  
Fixed little typo. Thanks Cori for letting me know! :-)

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

2 hours ago, Cyclone Boom said:

Let me know if you'd like any direct assistance too, and I'm happy to help with the poll setup.

Yes please. As you can see from the post above yours, there are 3 categories, each requiring separate polls. I don't think editing the first post will allow that.

[Cyclone Boom 17,032]

All sorted now hopefully with each of the 3 categories.

Additionally I expanded the quotes for the entries, so they can be viewed in full without needing to click the "Expand" link on each. Then I added a poll tag to the topic, and renamed the title so it says the voting is open. The poll is set to automatically close after midnight on the 29th, but it can always be extended if that needs to be lengthened for the voting period. Also I added a message note to the top which links down to your post with the entry pics quoted.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

Grazi!

TO VOTE!

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

We can do better than 7 votes people!

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

I know we have more than 7 members here. Get out and vote. Just 2 days left.

[wibbert 38]

Congratz to the winners, thank for hosting the competition @SIM-ple Jack!

I kinda feel like I misunderstood the contest a bit but it was fun to make the build anyway, see you next year!

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

WolfZe takes first place, TheEstGuy comes in second(silver bat) and wibbert takes 3rd and the bronze.

3 hours ago, wibbert said:

 

I kinda feel like I misunderstood the contest a bit but it was fun to make the build anyway, see you next year!

Actually, you understood it pretty good. You used the Drac castle. I actually liked your effects, too.

Well, we just need the bosses to apply your medals, now.

[TheEstGuy 721]

"What do I win? Oh well nothing, Ok."  I wanted to send this message 5 minutes ago but didn't send lol.

[SIM-ple Jack 17,451]

6 minutes ago, TheEstGuy said:

"What do I win? Oh well nothing, Ok."  I wanted to send this message 5 minutes ago but didn't send lol.

You get that Silver Bat Award dangling under your username. That is, when it gets applied. You were expecting a check?  (it's in the mail)

[CorinaMarie 29,926]

1 hour ago, SIM-ple Jack said:

That is, when it gets applied.

While we're happy for you to have your contest, those aren't awards we'll be posting to member's accounts.