Art:Cursed Isle Challenge

Island Designers, LLC, in association with Artemis Enterprises, are hosting the Cursed Isle Challenge! If you've ever wanted to design islands for the game now is your chance. After six months the cursed isles have been well-explored. Too explored, in fact, and now is the time to add more. We're inviting you to compete with your fellow pirates to design new cursed isles to be seen by all.

Important info

 * What: Design a Cursed Isle for inclusion in the game.
 * Deadline: 11:59:59pm Pirate Time on July 31st
 * Judges: Artemis and the current island designers
 * Prizes: All winners and runners-up will see their isles added to the game and will be invited to join the current team of island designers with first crack at designing for a new ocean or any other island projects.

Small isles

 * 1st - Nemo doll, indigo/black ribbon
 * 2nd - Indigo/black sofa, indigo/black ribbon
 * 3rd - Indigo/black ribbon

Medium isles

 * 1st - Nemo doll, indigo/black ribbon
 * 2nd - Indigo/black sofa, indigo/black ribbon

Large isles

 * 1st - Nemo doll, indigo/black ribbon


 * Runners-up and above - Cursed Isle chart and choice of globe (in any purchasable color) or wall map.

How to Enter
Create a small, medium, or large cursed isle according to specifications below. Once you have finished your island add it to the entry page on the wiki. You will need to remember to specify
 * Your pirate name
 * Your ocean
 * Size of your cursed isle
 * URL for the overview image +
 * URL for the XML file +

+ Please note: you will need a place on the web to host your files. If you do not have access to your own web server, free online sites like PhotoBucket or ImageShack are good for image files, and Webs (formerly Freewebs) and Mediafire can host both images and XML files.

Then make sure you are editing the entry page. Fill in the entry template with your information - the diagram to the right shows how to properly fill it out. Hit the preview button to make sure everything was filled out correctly - if so, then save.

Example
The following code   produces this valid entry:

For all isles

 * Your isle needs to have a rough crescent shape with rocky fringes and a sandy beach so that it looks like the sea battle view.
 * Your isle needs to have a starting point for the players (with rowboats showing where they landed) on the beach. The minimum size for this landing area is different per isle size and is specified below.  The example to the right shows this area in green.
 * Your isle needs the appropriate number of foraging points spaced so that crew members can gather around them. Use the Cult Foraging Pit in the island editor.
 * Your isle needs a space slightly into the interior of the island (inland from the beach) where the enemies can spawn. This area needs to have an enclosed/solid backing so that players can't wander beyond it. Use the Cursed Spawn Point in the island editor. The example to the right shows this area in purple.
 * The spawn point for the bad guys had to have clear open areas for them to be able to walk down to where the players are and engage them. The minimum size for this enemy area is different per isle size and is specified below.  The example to the right shows this area in red.
 * There cannot be any obstructions between the enemy spawn, the enemy area, and the landing area. There must be a clear path for each and every pirate and enemy.
 * Set your scene type to gauntlet.
 * Do not place a default dock arrow.

Small

 * pirates: 1-19
 * landing area: 30 tiles
 * enemy spawn: 5x5
 * enemy area: 40 tiles
 * foraging points: 1 to 2

Medium

 * pirates: 20-69
 * landing area: 105 tiles
 * enemy spawn: 5x5
 * enemy area: 140 tiles
 * foraging points: 1 to 3

Large

 * pirates: 70-159
 * landing area: 240 tiles
 * enemy spawn: 5x5
 * enemy area: 200 tiles
 * foraging points: 1 to 4

Tips and Judging Criteria

 * Take a look around the existing cursed isles. Check out the example isles we're providing here: Birchle's small, Orsino's medium, and Emerson's large.
 * Despite the fantastic nature of the cursed isles we are looking for people who can make natural-looking islands. Be sure to show us what you can do with simple natural elements like grass, dirt, sand, and rocks.
 * Blend and mix your ground tiles, and try to have natural transitions. Very important: Read the Hiding the Grid thread, below.
 * Post early versions of your island and participate in the Discussion and Feedback Thread. This thread will be where you can get feedback on your island from the Island Designers, and learn how to improve your own work. It's also a great place to see what other people in the contest are working on, and give your feedback to them as well!
 * Don't forget to add your isle to the wiki page. Any isles posted to the discussion thread but not on the wiki will not be judged.

Judging
Judging will be conducted by a panel of unaffiliated island designers with Artemis acting as final arbiter. Judging is expected to take at least a month, possibly more, depending on the total number of entries.

Fine print

 * The judges reserve the right to re-classify an island size if they feel it was placed in the wrong category.
 * You can enter as often as you like, but we encourage you to concentrate on making one island as good as possible.
 * Multiple entries must be significantly different from each other - don't try changing the foliage and claim it's a different island.
 * All isles, even the 1st place winners', may be tweaked or altered by OOO artists before being included in the game.
 * Plagiarism will not be tolerated - substantiated accusations of copying will result in disqualification from the contest.
 * Please report any problems directly to Fiddler via Private Message.
 * Questions about the contest itself belong in the contest thread, not the feedback thread.

Links and Reference

 * Download the Island Editor
 * Having trouble getting the Editor to work on your computer?
 * Island Design Guide
 * Scene editor basics
 * Island design tips
 * Hosting files
 * A Helpful Post from Beat the Champs
 * Hiding the Grid