I did my last year's map in Photoshop, though any half-decent graphics editing program would have worked. This is not meant to knock the beauties of hand-drawn, either-- just that I hate coloring stuff by hand, always have, always will, and my last year's map sort of necessitated coloring.
RPG Superstar 2015
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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I did my map last time with graph paper, a straight edge, pencil, fine point sharpie pens and some crayola markers.
You can see it here: Lost Water Gardens of Jalmeray
Fancy mapping software is not required. This is from an IT guy.
I had to get a compass and curves for the blades of the axe, but yeah, mine were all hand drawn and fine point sharpie pens, and lots of erasers after the pencil was done.
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RPG Superstar 2015
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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We are mere HOURS away from the start of Season 9 RPG Superstar!
At this point if you have already turned over an item of less than 300 words, that has no references outside the PRD, it is a magical weapon, wondrous item (with 'wondrous' spelled correctly), or a piece of magical armor, yay you! If you haven't, you have a few more hours.
So, this is what YOU, the potential contestant should be doing right now: Thinking about your flip map for Round 2. A flip map is 30x24 and it will probably be 1sq=5', but that has not yet been announced.
You should be mapping these kinds of things as practice (while you vote, of course):
An underground location
A wilderness location
An urban location
A water location
A swampy location
A mountainous location
A building/dungeon portion location
Any location you can think of that I did not list
In light of the last couple of years having a more focused theme for each season, you may or may not have that area revealed in this round. So, your practice maps are so you get a feel for what it is like to design a space like that and if you're lucky, one of your practice maps can be modified to fit the rules.
AND you get 50 words to describe this map, unlike the 8 words for the title we had last year, so consider what 50 words you need to describe each map. However, a picture is worth a thousand words, use your picture wisely.
Good luck everyone!
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Regarding mapping, do what makes it easiest for you to work. I hand drew (pencilled, then inked in on graph paper) and digitally colored my Round 2 entry, because that's what was easiest for me for that round--I had a firm idea of the town, was happy with how it turned out, and felt digital coloring was faster than manual, especially as I had to scan in the drawing anyway.
I did my round 4 entry in Campaign Cartographer because I wanted to move pieces around and see how things looked from different angles and spots, and that program makes it easy to do that. It also means I got to have fun making funky glowing crystal effects, but as far as design effectiveness, it was neither here nor there, just me having a bit of fun.
I'd say of the two, my Round 2 map is better. Not because how it was drawn, but it was because it just was the better design. I made a better city than I did a cave/lost temple. If I had done the town in CC3 (which I actually hope to finish and show some day) and hand drawn the cave, I'd still say the town was better. And a lot of the excellent entries I've seen in past years have been pencil, ink, and graph paper and little else. So ultimately---it's what best allows you to show off your skills.
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Thanks for the welcoming thread. I've had an account here for years, but haven't really posted in the forums.
Anyhow, I'm pretty close to submitting an entry! If not for the great amount of info available here, I would have been done days ago. Which would have been a bad thing. So, thanks for making me put on the white gloves, grab the fine-toothed comb, and polish up my magnifying glass!
Just need to figure out price and construction cost now...
Thanks for the welcoming thread. I've had an account here for years, but haven't really posted in the forums.Anyhow, I'm pretty close to submitting an entry! If not for the great amount of info available here, I would have been done days ago. Which would have been a bad thing. So, thanks for making me put on the white gloves, grab the fine-toothed comb, and polish up my magnifying glass!
Just need to figure out price and construction cost now...
Good luck 3 hours to go!
Gotta double check this.
Just like while I'm making this post, when I am about to submit my entry, I see my user name and avatar above, next to an empty text box. I know that when I submit this post that my name and avatar will show up. What I'm worried about, is that the same will happen when I post my entry.
It will not show up until/unless you get into the Top 32.
Thanks for the quick response! Here it goes...
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Good luck
Gotta double check this.Just like while I'm making this post, when I am about to submit my entry, I see my user name and avatar above, next to an empty text box. I know that when I submit this post that my name and avatar will show up. What I'm worried about, is that the same will happen when I post my entry.
It will not show up until/unless you get into the Top 32.
Folks should be aware though that if you get into the Top 32, in the Superstar forum, your name automatically changes to your store account name.
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RPG Superstar 2015
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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An important reminder about voting - above and beyond the last round of comments about voting that you should read - do not think of voting as a job. You are doing this because you want to be part of this process, not because you are mandated to do so. If you find yourself hating the items you're reading, angry at your family/dog/parents, or you are in general less pleasant feeling or saying nasty things off the cuff, take a break. No one will think any less of you because you don't have a voter tag, they will think less of you if you say something awful on one of the many threads in the forum. If you entered, put your best foot forward, always.
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka Locke1520
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New viewers and veterans alike are welcome to offer constructive commentary in this thread.
Random Question from a new kid:
Where are the details for the future rounds? I doubt I'll move on to the next round but just in case, I'm curious if there's a place to see what the future holds for this Season.
The FAQ directs me to the RPGSS home page which doesn't have the info..yet?
Sorry if I'm missing something obvious.
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Random Question from a new kid:
Where are the details for the future rounds? I doubt I'll move on to the next round but just in case, I'm curious if there's a place to see what the future holds for this Season.
The FAQ directs me to the RPGSS home page which doesn't have the info..yet?Sorry if I'm missing something obvious.
Here you go, Rats
Rocking! Thanks for that. Now to read up on map formats/restrictions/history in the RPGSS, find that grid (if it's been released yet), and get down to it.
........
or I could just be lazy, assume I won't make it, and then panic with the power of 72 hour last minute oh dear lord. It worked for my item, right? <_<
Contributor
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Marathon Voter Season 9
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I have some questions about the final round, although they can probably wait:
-The winner is writing a Dragon's Demand-style module, right? Longer than the older ones?
-How long was the pitch in recent years?
I'll be honest - I'm going to be really sad if I T8 and don't win, since it means I'll be banned in future years, and thus, locked out from ever writing my module...
Dedicated Voter Season 9
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I'll be honest - I'm going to be really sad if I T8 and don't win, since it means I'll be banned in future years, and thus, locked out from ever writing my module...
As I understand it, they only ban the top 8 since they're generally good enough to get published through freelancing already, so that particular problem might go away. ;-)
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I have some questions about the final round, although they can probably wait:
-The winner is writing a Dragon's Demand-style module, right? Longer than the older ones?
-How long was the pitch in recent years?
I'll be honest - I'm going to be really sad if I T8 and don't win, since it means I'll be banned in future years, and thus, locked out from ever writing my module...
I believe the module is 32 pages of adventure, with the other material supplementing it. The winner is responsible for some of those other pages as well, but some are also Superstar magic items and monsters.
IIRC, the pitch is 3,000 words. Been a while since I've looked at that.
And as Arianwen says, that's not necessarily true. My module, Ironwall Gap Must Hold, is based on what I would have pitched had I made Top 4 my first year. Obviously it's not the same -- it's not set in Golarion -- but the basic concept is what I'd thought up for Superstar. The only people who can't write their module are the three runners-up, whose pitch becomes Paizo's property per the rules of the contest.
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RPG Superstar 2015
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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I have some questions about the final round, although they can probably wait:
-The winner is writing a Dragon's Demand-style module, right? Longer than the older ones?
-How long was the pitch in recent years?
I'll be honest - I'm going to be really sad if I T8 and don't win, since it means I'll be banned in future years, and thus, locked out from ever writing my module...
*ahem* :-)
The pitch round is usually 3,000 words and of all the rounds that one seems to remain constant, but you can never be certain. Last year (and I believe the year before) we had to include an *optional* location that was not explicitly part of the adventure. We also had to create a monster and a new magic item, these did not need to be stat'ed out, but just described.
The winner writes 32 pages worth of material for the adventure, but the modules are now 64 pages, that is not all written by the RPG Superstar. A couple years ago they started including other successful entries from the contest from other contestants who did not win or even make it to the Top 4. Those individuals have been paid for their entries in the published module, I do not expect that to change. So if you place in the Top 32, you could actually end up with an inside title credit for the Season 9 module and get a paycheck for it.
Do not think of hitting Top 8 as being "banned" it means you have been discovered and are no long eligible. There are a lot of Top 8's and Top 4's who have gone on to do great things, see Clinton Boomer, Jason Eric Nelson, Jim Groves, and Matthew Morris just to name a few. This is just a door by which you enter the realm of game design. Once you're inside the realm, you decide which path to take.
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What Monica said. Basically, you just have to stop treating it like a contest, and start treating it like a job. ;-)
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Alright, I’ve got some time free so let’s discuss the new voting system. For the first time since voting was introduced the vote ranks alone will determine the top 32 and four alternates. Before now the top 100 or so were looked at by judges—professional game designers—who then picked the best to move on. No longer. It is up to the lot of us to decide every round of the contest.
At first I was rather concerned; the judges have always acted as a filter against power game design or faulty mechanical skills. Now with that filter removed, will the top 32 still represent the best each year could offer? To help with this Paizo has upped the number of culls (the point where a bottom percentage is dropped) from the usual one or two to several, allowing the higher up items to face more competition as the round progresses.
As an aside, this undoubtedly has increased the workload of the RPG Superstar “Staff”. Hang in there, Chris! ;)
The increased number of culls is what finally made me realise what was happening and embrace the new voting system. I believe that it will produce a selection very close to past years.
Because we are racking over wine.
When making wine yeast ferments the sugar into alcohol until there is too much alcohol and the yeast all dies. Being denser than the liquid it is suspended in, the dead yeast sinks to the bottom of the fermenter along with any dust, dirt, or any other suspended elements in the wine. This thick goop is referred to as the lees. To rack over, you siphon the wine above the lees into another container. The lees usually smells something akin to cheese gone bad, so gravity is doing everyone a favour there.
After disposing of the lees, you rack over several times during the aging process. The more you do it, the better the wine as the sediment is continually being removed before it can taint the flavour. The wine gets clearer and better tasting. Thus each racking over removes the bad material and concentrates the good. Experts can do this a number of times to a point where filtering is unnecessary to make the wine finished.
That is what is happening here. Each time the number of entries gets concentrated by removing those items that can’t statistically win, the whole gets mixed up and the ones on top start getting compared to everything left again. Each time the distance between the top and bottom gets closer, making it much fairer overall and improving the overall quality of the remaining entries.
Done enough times only the entries that really have a hold on a clear majority of the voters should reach the top positions. Previous years the top contenders would have faced very few of the other top dogs due to the way the algorithm is set up. No longer. When we see the finished top 32 they will have faced off against each other several times if the process is taken far enough. So the rankings should be far more thorough and accurate than past years.
However all of this is dependent on thousands of votes and voters strongly punching in after each rack. Without our input each time this is done it might as well not be done at all. Our insights and preferences will “clarify the wine” as it were and make something truly wonderful. So get out there and vote!
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Thanks for the er....clarification Feros. I'm sure your amount of votes (and other Marathoners) is doing it's level best to clarify the base by helping to determine the lees...
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Nice Feros :)
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TDIL neat new stuff about wine. Thanks, Feros.
Although now I'm wondering if you could make Vegemite from the lees.
Vegemite aka the next wayfinder issue.
I think Wayfinder comes out rather poorly in that comparison. But I'm not a Vegemite (or Marmite, or Batmite) fan.
How about Promite, Ambi?
Feros wrote:
Actually, I've been looking at the system in a new light: as racking over wine as opposed to filtering as has been done in the past. By allowing the ones less likely to move on sink and then having the top bunch actually get compared to one another, the results shouldn't be that dissimilar."Far more accurate" to what standard? Certainly not the actual quality of the item. It'll be a more accurate representation -of what the forum likes-, but that is not representative of the actual quality of the item, writing, or design. The current voting method isn't indicative of what is good, simply what is popular.
Accurate in their overall ranking. The judges have never gone beyond the Top 100 in their selections; they didn't have to. The process worked well enough that all the selections they would have picked anyway rose to the top. But because of the way the algorithm works, those items near the top rarely were compared to each other. They were mostly compared in the voting couplets to items below the top 100.
You see once an item starts getting a significant number more up-votes than down-votes, it tends to fall out of the voting queue as its place in the rankings is fairly clear. The middle of the pack and high percentage down-votes get more screen time to give them a fair shot. If you use this method and stop early, the top 100 entries or so will be ranked by how they did against the eliminated entries, not each other. Imagine deciding the Olympics or World Cup based on the qualifying round results. Not too good an idea.
That's where the judges came in. They acted as a filter, going over the items that had rarely been compared to each other and established a top 32 ranking comparing only the top 100 entries. With repeated culls, we get to do that this time around. So it will be a far more accurate ranking than what we gave the judges in past years.
All that said it could still blow up in our faces, but it is a lot less likely than some think. We did a very good job sorting the items in past years. This year we've been given a method of being better still.
END of Quote
This feels like a good expansion on what I wrote, so I'm copying it from the regrets thread to give a more detailed explanation. Thanks to James Cooke for this discussion!
What I've heard in a number of posts (and the "racking wine" analogy you wrote, Feros) leads me to believe there's a genetic algorithm (maybe truncated selection method?) being used for the voting. That sound accurate? Or am I way off base?
DISCLAIMER: It's been a couple years since I studied genetic algorithms so I may simply be seeing something I wish was there (because, guys, genetic algorithms are awesome).
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Champion Voter Season 6, Champion Voter Season 7, Champion Voter Season 8, Champion Voter Season 9
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What I've heard in a number of posts (and the "racking wine" analogy you wrote, Feros) leads me to believe there's a genetic algorithm (maybe truncated selection method?) being used for the voting. That sound accurate? Or am I way off base?
I think they are using something called the Accordion Method with Schulz beating Pat...
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RPG Superstar 2015
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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What I've heard in a number of posts (and the "racking wine" analogy you wrote, Feros) leads me to believe there's a genetic algorithm (maybe truncated selection method?) being used for the voting. That sound accurate? Or am I way off base?
DISCLAIMER: It's been a couple years since I studied genetic algorithms so I may simply be seeing something I wish was there (because, guys, genetic algorithms are awesome).
The first year we voted there was an amazing conversation on statistics, genetics, and algorithms. I don't know exactly where it is at, but if you are so inclined to go thread spelunking, it was well worth the read.
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The first year we voted there was an amazing conversation on statistics, genetics, and algorithms. I don't know exactly where it is at, but if you are so inclined to go thread spelunking, it was well worth the read.What I've heard in a number of posts (and the "racking wine" analogy you wrote, Feros) leads me to believe there's a genetic algorithm (maybe truncated selection method?) being used for the voting. That sound accurate? Or am I way off base?
DISCLAIMER: It's been a couple years since I studied genetic algorithms so I may simply be seeing something I wish was there (because, guys, genetic algorithms are awesome).
Thanks, Monica and Feros! The Schulze method makes sense and, in retrospect, is the obvious choice over a genetic algorithm. If we used a GA, each candidate would require multiple points of comparison (cost accuracy, template/formatting, ability cohesion, theme, imagination, etc) in order to compare which of the two items was more fit. Then it would go ahead and do a crossover between the two for the next generation... which isn't what we want, obviously.
Although, that makes me wonder... if we took all of the items to have ever reached the top 32, gave them all points of comparison, and ran them through a genetic algorithm with some sort of fitness criteria... what monstrosity of an item would it produce?!
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Thanks, Monica and Feros! The Schulze method makes sense and, in retrospect, is the obvious choice over a genetic algorithm. If we used a GA, each candidate would require multiple points of comparison (cost accuracy, template/formatting, ability cohesion, theme, imagination, etc) in order to compare which of the two items was more fit. Then it would go ahead and do a crossover between the two for the next generation... which isn't what we want, obviously.
Although, that makes me wonder... if we took all of the items to have ever reached the top 32, gave them all points of comparison, and ran them through a genetic algorithm with some sort of fitness criteria... what monstrosity of an item would it produce?!
Best not to dwell on it. There is a rumour I heard (friend of friend, no names) that someone on the Paizo staff did just that very thing once...
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RPG Superstar 2015
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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Unlike last year, it appears the rules for the next round will be released prior to the start of the round. Round 2's Rules are quite similar to last year's with the exception of the 50 free words and the expected orientation of the map is listed as either horizontal or vertical, last year there was no such guidance. As suspected, this is intended to be a single encounter map. If your item is still in the voting pit, you need to stop voting and start practicing your mapping skills. Right now.
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Not gonna lie, if I progressed I had planned at an isometric map. Looks like that is not allowed!
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RPG Superstar 2015
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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Not gonna lie, if I progressed I had planned at an isometric map. Looks like that is not allowed!
See how lucky the Season 9 people are to get their rules prior to finding out if they're going to advance? Now get back to practicing plain ole flat maps, theheadkase!
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Star Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9
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Unlike last year, it appears the rules for the next round will be released prior to the start of the round. Round 2's Rules are quite similar to last year's with the exception of the 50 free words and the expected orientation of the map is listed as either horizontal or vertical, last year there was no such guidance. As suspected, this is intended to be a single encounter map. If your item is still in the voting pit, you need to stop voting and start practicing your mapping skills. Right now.
I am now confused by what "orientation of the map" means (not a native speaker here).
I understand it as meaning the map can be
Horizontal
************
************
************
or
Vertical
****
****
****
****
****
But does it also mean that what is represented on it (say a ship) has to be along the axes ?
And does the North need to be at the top of the map or can it be anywhere ?
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RPG Superstar 2015
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Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
aka mamaursula
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Unlike last year, it appears the rules for the next round will be released prior to the start of the round. Round 2's Rules are quite similar to last year's with the exception of the 50 free words and the expected orientation of the map is listed as either horizontal or vertical, last year there was no such guidance. As suspected, this is intended to be a single encounter map. If your item is still in the voting pit, you need to stop voting and start practicing your mapping skills. Right now.I am now confused by what "orientation of the map" means (not a native speaker here).
I understand it as meaning the map can be
Horizontal
************
************
************or
Vertical
****
****
****
****
****But does it also mean that what is represented on it (say a ship) has to be along the axes ?
And does the North need to be at the top of the map or can it be anywhere ?
Nope, not at all, orient the structure however you like, point North whichever way you wish.
However, if you go back and take a look at my own map entry, we have a long discussion about why North typically points "up." The long and short of it, to paraphrase Christopher West, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."Essentially - if there's no reason to not have "north" be "up", then seriously consider it for the purposes of ease of understanding. Most maps have north=up for speedy communication of information by cartography convention.
North doesn't *need* to be at the top of the map, but unless there's a big reason not to, I would probably make it so. It's what people tend to be accustomed to, so it feels odd and unnecessary to do it otherwise...
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Unlike last year, it appears the rules for the next round will be released prior to the start of the round. Round 2's Rules are quite similar to last year's with the exception of the 50 free words and the expected orientation of the map is listed as either horizontal or vertical, last year there was no such guidance. As suspected, this is intended to be a single encounter map. If your item is still in the voting pit, you need to stop voting and start practicing your mapping skills. Right now.
I've got somewhere between 35 and 40 years of experience drawing maps; I used to draw them for fun as a child before I even got into D&D. So I'm NOT practicing my mapping skills. They're well honed.
What I am doing—and everyone else who hopes to move on in the contest should be doing—is working out what exactly I'm going to put on the map. That is where everybody should be focussing their attention. Making a clear map that is easy to read is very important. But so is having a map of a great setting for a combat encounter.
Why combat encounter? Because for all other types of encounters a flip-map is not required. Only in combat do we really need to know where everyone is in regards to each other and the terrain. Remember that as you come up with your map design. If a fight in your imaginative and/or beautiful location would be a toe-to-toe slugfest, rethink your design. It will need more work.