The announcement of the competition on the forum is delayed due to technical issues with the forum itself.
The competition for Heroes of Might and Magic IV adaptations begins on June 8th. The prize pool is 20,000 rubles.
To participate, you must create a map adaptation of a non-Heroes storyline (or a storyline from another part of the game, although that would be rather commonplace). Ideally, the map should be medium or small in size, take 2-3 hours to complete, and be designed for a single human player, but you have complete creative freedom. Any mods are allowed, as long as you can provide the files for those mods. So, use all your resources to transform Heroes IV into a different game.
I will review the participants' submissions on a stream, so that viewers can evaluate the work together with me. I will assign scores later based on my system: 10 points each for Story, Design, and Gameplay, but here, instead of Story, the criterion will be the map's Adherence to the original source. Although you don't have to come up with the storyline yourself, you will have to do creative work to organically integrate it into the framework of Heroes IV. After the evaluation, there will be a poll to see if you agree with my assessment, and if not, it can be revised. There will also be a popularity rating, which is described in detail in the video. In short, the more submissions there are, the more significant it becomes, but the map's evaluation plays the decisive role. All of this combined gives the final score for the work, based on which the winners will be determined.
The competition will run until September 8, 2024. If there are fewer than three completed submissions by that time, it will be extended until December 8. If there are still fewer than three, the prize will go to those who participated. There are three prize places in total, and the reward will be divided between them as follows:
1ST PLACE — 10,000 ₽
2ND PLACE — 6,000 ₽
3RD PLACE — 4,000 ₽
Anyone can participate; entry is free. Each participant can submit only ONE work. The work should not be unfinished; I will not evaluate sloppy work. Of course, I cannot participate myself.
When submitting your work, be sure to indicate what exactly you have adapted. The map must be new; if you have already made adaptations in the past, I will not accept them. If you rework an existing map or submit someone else's work, you will be disqualified. If you are not in Russia, I am not sure if I will be able to pay you the prize due to the current global situation.
News about the competition will be posted here, in my group, and on my channel. You can also ask questions here if anything is unclear. I recommend watching the video, even if you have read the entire post.
You can submit your work for evaluation and participation directly here. Submissions will be accepted until September 8, 2024 (December 8, if the deadline is extended).
Please submit your work with the following information:
Author (name or pseudonym, preferably include this in the map itself)
Map name in the game
Game version and mods used (files for rare mods must be attached to the map) (should also be in the map description)
Map size
Number of human players
Recommended difficulty (can be any, if not any, it should also be in the map description)
Approximate completion time (how long did your test run last)
What the map is based on/what it is an adaptation of (can be a chapter or episode of a larger storyline) (also best to include this in the map itself)
Any comments from you, if you have anything to add; the main thing is to include the basic information.
