Contest?

[klambert]

I think auran should hold a contest for trainz users to create the best route and in the following catagories: UK and Ireland, US, Europe and India. The would be the moderators selected for the country they know most about, for example a moderator into british routes would be selected for the UK and Ireland catagory. the routes can be in any era so the moderators should have a good knowledge of both steam and diesel eras there should be no bias towards any era just because a certain judge likes it best.

the route should fill this criteria

1. Have a specific era in mind dont do a time range to broad maximum could be a decade minimum is one year.

2. The frameroutes should flow easily yet the route has to be detailed so dont make the route to basic and dont make it to detailed balence the two out.

3. The track should have enough signilling and and speed indicators so that the train will be safe when its driven, just dont go overboard with it try to keep things prototypical.

4. The route has to be fictional becuse judging a route that is real will make things more complicated. But you are allowed to represent copy some aspects of real routes like you are allowed to copy a station layout or a track plan but try to use your imagination as well.

5. It cant be an iportal route.

6. It can only be a railway route not a bus or boat route but it can be a tram route.

7. do not use a modifiction of anyone else's routes.

Here are some things you can do:

1. The route can be of any length

2. the route can be of any era

3. you can make a tram route.

4. It can be narrow gauge or any other forms of lightrail

5. you can make your own custom buildings for the route if you want but it still gives you an equall chance to someone that hasnt.

Prizes:

First prize would be a Trainz game auran hasnt released yet

Runner up prizes would be payware trains or buildings of your choice.

What do you think of the idea?

 

[aardvark1]

It is possible that you need to rethink this a bit more.

By this, I mean, what Trainz version would be used?

That said, there will be a fair amount of angst, as each route creator will use the version that they are most happy with.

Another point, if this works, is that ALL the assets in the route MUST BE on the DLS.

Have fun,

 

[klambert]

There would be another lot of catagories depending on the version of trainz you use, there would be TRS04 06 and 09. All the dependencies have to be on the the DLS

 

[aardvark1]

Last question..... who is paying for all of the prizes?

Have fun,

 

[pware]

... and why does it seem that railways and Trainz DLS routes only exist in UK and Ireland, US, Europe and India?

 

[meatloaf747]

Last question..... who is paying for all of the prizes?
Have fun,

Last "Competition" had $1,000 US for first prize !!! (the cheque must have got lost in the mail, as the "winner" is still waiting for it). :wave::hehe:
Cheers, Mac...

 

[aodgh0st]

good idea although i doubt it would work sadly =( honestly, i enjoy downloading peoples routes and just redoing the track to make it more operational. for what its worth, ya'll do some great work. that goes for everyone.

 

[StorkNest]

klambert,
Suggest getting with the peopple in this topic and working out the idea more as discussed in the last several posts.
http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=41606

 

[mjolnir]

First, in response to pware:

and why does it seem that railways and Trainz DLS routes only exist in UK and Ireland, US, Europe and India?

If the language of the DLS is in English, this might be one reason. I suspect that routes for other areas are to be found on 3pp sites where the language is other than English.

In response to KLamberts' suggestion, I would respond:


Why do we need for Auran to hold the contest? Why have all the contests at the same time?

I suggest instead a series of contests. Each contest would provide the parameters of the contest, which might include, but not necessarily be limited to Trainz version, theme (logging, urban industrial), scope (size of railroad), location (country, region), time (era and season), content restrictions (only "built in" content; built-in + DLS, Built-in + DLS + third party freeware; no restrictions to equipment), and size (nor restriction; 1-4 boards; 4-16 boards; 16-64 boards; &c.).

Conditions of participation could also be decided separately for each contest. One might be open to all; another might require payment of a modest registration fee, or there might be "pro-am" contests, where the contest is open to everyone, but those who don't pay a fee, get only an "Attaboy", while those who pay to participate are eligible for a more valuable prize. It might be that Auran, or some of the third party payware providers might wish to sponsor a contest thereby assuming the responsibility of providing judging, and perhaps prizes.

Duration of the contest could vary by the size and complexity. A contest where the size of the route is limited to a single board have a duration of a month or two, while a contest intended to seek the best representation of a 150 mile railroad might have a deadline six or twelve months in advance.

And contests would not necessarily have to be limited to entire routes. One could have a contest for the best city commercial block, or the best residential block, or for other new content. For example, railcars. As far as I can tell, no one has yet produced a jumbo covered hopper in the 6200 cubic foot capacity (and larger) range, such cars being used in contemporary US for lighter density plastics, and other materials. Producing such a car might be a good choice for a contest.

 

[Sourdough]

... and why does it seem that railways and Trainz DLS routes only exist in UK and Ireland, US, Europe and India?

Routes are created by Trainzers....if people want routes representing other countries, they'll have to create them...it's up to us to create the stuff so it's pointless to try to imply unfairness or bias....

 

[klambert]

... and why does it seem that railways and Trainz DLS routes only exist in UK and Ireland, US, Europe and India?

Because those appear to be the most popular regions to go for.

 

[klambert]

alright alright it was just an idea no wonder people leave the forums.

 

[mjolnir]

I didn't think the idea of contests was "just an idea", I thought it was a GREAT idea. In my view, how the number, frequency, sponsorship, and rules governing the contests are details, and I just happen to have a different view of some of the details.

ns

 

[Baureihe41]

Last question..... who is paying for all of the prizes?

Have fun,

Definitely not Auran. If I remember correctly the last route building competition they never coughed up the prizes to the winners.

 

[Johnk]

H Klambert,

As Storknest mentioned above, there is a contest currently running on the link he supplied. It still has a month to go, so we're all waiting to see what the outcome is.

As meatloaf747 also pointed out, it seems that Auran's prize for a previous competition was never awarded. Gee, I'd love to know more about that!

There is a genuine interest for another competition next year, but a lot of that may well be hot air. I agree that a prize would encourage people, but I don't think a copy of Trainz is anything I'd consider all that worthy. The problem with the Trainz program is that it's a niche market. Most people have never heard of it, so it's unlikely we'll ever succeed in getting sponsorship from a car rmanufacturer or even a railroad company. I certainly couldn't ask my local Video Games shop, they've never heard of it!

Any prizes would have to come from this community, but I don't think there's a lot of money to be found there either. Thus, any competition would have to be entered for love and little else. As such, it would be cruel to nominate specific countries regardless of popularity. The rules need to give everyone a go, especially in a world where discrimination is no longer acceptable. Oddly, by ingnoring certain countries from entering, you are actually discriminating.

Any competition must be conducted on a level playing field. Kids, as well as adults must have a chance. You can dictate the size of the route and even the content used (i.e. out-of-the-box), but that's about it. Judging should be based on a variety of criteria; artistic, operational aspects, use of space, realism etc., etc. Kids should also be allowed to participate, so there should be a "junior" section also.

I appreciate your comments, but as there are (were) two current threads on the same subject, I'd love you to place your suggestions on the one Storknest mentioned above. (I asked for my thread to be closed)

 

[mjolnir]

First, I don't agree that there are two current threads on the same subject; I see the thread originated by Storknest to deal with a specific, current contest to which my suggestions do not apply because the rules were established the better part of a half year ago. My suggestions are intended for those contemplating future contests.

Next, When I mentioned sponsorship, I was thinking it might be reasonable to imagine that a payware provider might be interested in sponsoring a contest, and as part of the sponsorship, might be willing to provide prizes, in the form of a certificate for an appropriate quantity of payware; I certainly never contemplated that an (real) automobile manufacturer might be interested. But I also estimated that a modest entry fee, the 5.00 to 10.00 USD range, would, even with a relatively small number of participants, provide a source of funds with which prizes could be purchased. Fifteen participants each paying a USD 5.00 entry fee provides USD 75.00, enough to provide one first prize (USD 30.00), a second prize (USD 20.00), a third prize (USD 15.00) and an honorable mention (USD 10.00). Perhaps the entry fee could be payable in two parts, part (20 percent) when registering to participate; the balance when the route is submitted.

Finally, could a particular contest not be structured to contain several categories? I can imagine a contest where there might be an open, "just for the heck of it" category, with few restrictions, open to anyone who wishes to enter; an intermediate contest, with a modest entry fee, which less experienced members of the community might elect to enter; and an advanced class, with a higher entrance fee available to professionals. Prizes in the contest would be awarded in each category funded by the entrance fees of the participants in that category.

ns

 

[philskene]

For those with a longer memory, we seem to have been there and done that:

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=10942&highlight=port+switching

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=14235&highlight=port+switching

I didn't win, but I did get some satisfaction later - the winning entry, Crewe 2007RBC, has "only" 5,382 downloads; my entry has 15,200.

Phil

 

[Johnk]

Hi mjolnir,

I wasn't aware that Storknest had started a contest thread. If so, that would make it four:

This one.
Storknest's
The current contest being run by Illinoiscentral
And my thread that developed into a contest thread. I've asked people not to post there anymore.

I just find that starting a new thread to discuss rules and concepts for a new competition when the first one isn't even finished, a little unfair on the current competition organizer. Here we have a person that's gone out on a limb to run a competition, but before it's even over, we have other people suggesting what should be done next year without actually inviting the original organizer into the conversation. Sure, he can find his way here if he wants to, but shouldn't we have just a little respect for the guy and let him finalise this one before deciding if he want's to do it all over again next year?

If he does, that would be a good time to discuss the issues raised here. In the meantime, we could all encourage, or discourage him by placing our comments in the current contest thread. That thread by the way, is not just about the current contest. People have already made suggestions for next year and I'm sure Woody is taking them on board.

In all fairness to Illinoiscentral, he started the current competition in good faith. He came up with what he thought were a reasonable set of rules and ran with it. There aren't any prizes and nothing is planned with the winning entries. It was just a fun thing. But next year he may want to do it differently and then your input will be invaluable. If he decides not to do it next year, someone like you could maybe take it on.

I would warn you against charging an entry fee however. That would leave you wide open to all kinds of issues that could eventually turn very ugly.

 

[pware]

First, in response to pware:


If the language of the DLS is in English, this might be one reason. I suspect that routes for other areas are to be found on 3pp sites where the language is other than English.

I was being somewhat facetious. People in the UK and US tend to forget that there are trains in other parts of the world including English speaking Australia and New Zealand.

 

[mjolnir]

I was being somewhat facetious. People in the UK and US tend to forget that there are trains in other parts of the world including English speaking Australia and New Zealand.

My apologies. It's a bit difficult to see your tongue in your cheek in Sydney, tomorrow, from yesterday in Texas.

ns