Clash of Planesmiths Contest

[Koi-Spark]

We are hosting a contest to see just what kind of Planesmiths our players would make. Are you up for the challenge?

Post your contest submissions here by June 30th and we'll choose the best entry and bring that winner's idea to life in Underlight for everyone to enjoy!

Entries should include the following:

• A room name. Every good room needs a creative, awesome name! See the rules below for a few restrictions.
• Some piece of concept artwork: painting, drawing, photo, 3D model, floorplan, or any other visual depiction of your dream space. Elaborate and detailed, or simple sketches, it's up to you. Something to give everyone an idea of the scale and layout of your ideas. Not a good artist? That's okay! We're not here to judge your art skills, but the concepts and ideas in them. Have a favorite room in your house or is your backyard lounge space someone everyone can enjoy? Maybe submit a photo of your space and tell us how it can be altered to fit in our Dream space.
• A written narrative: history, short story, room description. You can describe the space in detail, or go for more of an "if these walls could talk" narrative. Maybe a significant event in UL history that occurred there. If you have an idea of what existing level/plane it should be a part of, describe where it should be added. Maybe a nice short story of how the room will be re-discovered or created in the City of Dreams?

Here are the rules:

1 - Room names may not reference any player name, characters of any kind, or out-of-character people, places, or things. For example, the following room names would not be allowed: "Arwen's Refuge," "Lanister's Depths," "The Shire," "Cliffs of Dover," "Jeff's Fire Pit," "The Death Star"

2 - Submitted artwork must be original and created by YOU. Don't steal someone else's ideas/artwork. The entire point of this contest is creativity! Even though the final submission may be original, it should not derive from any copyright materials. In other words, don't take screenshots from World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, and Skyrim and combine them into some awesomely creative mish-mash. Also, don't just sketch up an exact replica of an area from any other game, movie, etc. That's just plagiarizing and that's no fun for anyone.

3 - Narratives, in whichever form you wish to submit, should also be free of plagiarism. Keep it all original! Your best chance at success will be to tie your concepts to the existing world of Underlight.

4 - Contest winner will be chosen after the submission period ends, no earlier than July 1st, 2014. Submitted winning materials will be considered property of KoiWare/Underlight and winner will not be compensated for materials or concepts in any way! So please, do not expect a paycheck. Your winnings will be in the form of your very own personalized original room/area in Underlight!

5 - The ideas you have to NOT have to be limited to only one room, but we cannot guarantee an idea including multiple rooms can be implemented. We will do our best to keep the final implementation as close to your specifications as possible, but some adjustments are to be expected due to limitations in the game itself. Please keep in mind that additions are limited to existing textures/ornaments and we will not create new visual artwork to accompany your ideas. Textures/ornaments will be matched to existing artwork as much as possible.


If you have any questions, feel free to let us know via the forums or in IRC. Looking forward to seeing your submissions. Good luck!

[Tary]

Behold! My fake entry!
Stupid image hosting service keeps cutting my picture off, so just click the link below for maximal shenanigans (the picture displayed truncated the right side of my artistry)
http://2imgs.com/c3b1b69c4f

[Roleplayer]

This is a hidden mineral spring inside Harrows Glade: The warm lava flow heats the spring and creates a steamy hidden water retreat. Waters have focal healing powers. The vines of fauna are hanging down from the ceiling to keep with the design of Harrows Glade. I am no artist but it is a clear scale and all parts are used in our game. Like Tary's non-entry; click this link to see cutoff area.
http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/ac16 ... ba9738.png

[Cherokee]

Room name: The Masked Ballroom
Plane: Threshold Pits

Description:
Upon entry, this expansive circular room has an inviting atmosphere. A cluster of mounted flames form the illusion of orbiting the elegant chandelier, that dangles from the middle of the tall concave ceiling. Its teardrop crystals reflect the lit candles, casting a glow of illumination across the golden, ornate interior. The hard, polished floor has a spiral design that starts from the center of the room and expands outward. Off to one side, a harp and other musical instruments can be seen. Heavy maroon curtains are draped around ancient murals, as if in presentation. Ground torches gleam near the painted walls, staving off the creeping shadows.

Concept Artwork: http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q177 ... a52e6c.jpg

Story of discovery:
A small group of teachers gathered in the Library to discuss their curriculum. Soon after, their students started to pile in - eager to learn, as always. The teachers were a bit irritated, as they planned to learn a thing or two themselves, by sharing their methods among their colleges. As the teachers started to dismiss their students, a sudden, yet soft, song filtered in through the cracks in the floor.
Several people screwed up their faces in puzzlement, but others became alarmed as the music continued. A dreamer got up the courage to follow the tune, and was soon joined by the rest. They were quick on their feet as they were lead to Threshold Pits. As they neared closer, the music began to crescendo.
They made their way through the maze and raced down the halls, and finally made it to the sanctuary where it was playing the loudest. "There!" a dreamer exclaimed, pointing down the stairs at the wall booming with vibration.
A few people dashed down the stairs and placed their ears up against the wall, while the others hesitantly stayed back. As they made contact with the wall, it began to crack and splinter. Large chunks of rock crumbled to ground, while dust and debris clouded the air. When it all finally settled, and the dreamers could finally see again, they curiously gazed at the wall that so strangely collapsed on its own. And to their amazement, a portal now stood before them.
One of the younger daring males immediately reached for the spinning portal, without a second thought, and was quickly pulled in. As his avatar disintegrated and took shape again in the new room, he became aware of the sudden halt in the symphony that was just blaring moments ago.
But he didn't pay it any mind as he looked around to take in the sight. His jaw dropped in awe. He couldn't believe his eyes! What he now stood in was a seemingly untouched, Grand Ballroom! A true hidden gem, indeed.
------

These are the ornaments I think would work best: http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q177 ... 0fe1af.png
I can't find an image for the ceiling flame ornaments I've seen in the game before, but I was thinking the ones that are in the Evernight Hidden Vault could be used for around the "chandelier". And I didn't draw the murals in the picture, but I was imagining the ones in Threshold Pits. Or maybe it could be paintings of all eight of the house symbols, instead?

I think a spacious room like this would be perfect for larger gatherings, especially formal ones. I chose neutral grounds, so that houses can't try to claim it. The portal to the room could be discovered at the end of the preexisting hallway in the sanctuary that leads to the arena.

[Myristyl]

The Cascading Tears Walkway is a room full of waterfalls, whirlpools and drop offs. They will transport you to gens with wonderful treasures. Be careful to not fall off the wrong falls or through the wrong drop off, you might find yourself at the beginning. It can be made into a maze if you wish or you can have each gen just pop out the same item. That way you will have to find the one you want. I know the game has all three water elements in the game already so it would be easy enough I guess. I picture it to be kind of like the Unknown... Here's my drawing sorry it is not a Picaso HAHA http://s146.photobucket.com/user/pnutsh ... sort=3&o=0

[Koi-Spark]

Great entries so far, but there are only 5 days left to submit yours! Remember, we're not looking for master artists, just a vision of something new and designed by you!

Let me know if you have any questions. Feel free to comment on the entries we already have and show your support for your favorite ideas. Is there anything you'd suggest to add/change/remove from their submissions? Let's hear it!

[Koi-Spark]

This is your last weekend to submit entries! Better hurry, we'll be announcing a winner next week.

[Koi-Spark]

This contest is now closed. We'll announce the winner this week!

Thanks to everyone who participated and submitted their ideas.

[Koi-Spark]

Congratulations to Cherokee, our Clash of Planesmiths contest winner! I am happy to grant her the title of Honorary Planesmith (OOC, of course) for her entry that included an amazingly detailed perspective of the room, as well as an interesting story of discovery. We didn't really need the artwork because of the visuals her words alone provided, but the concept art was just as impressive as the description itself. I'm looking forward to seeing it in the game!

But WAIT...what about our other contest entries? Don't worry, Myristyl and Roleplayer, I haven't forgotten the excellent offerings you gave as well. While Cherokee is our official winner, I was also impressed with your ideas and, after the ballroom is completed, I'm going to work on bringing your ideas to life as well! I think the Harrow Glades could use a little something extra, and the Cascading Tears sounds like a fantastic start to several rooms, or maybe a whole new plane. Expect to see your ideas in the game, too.

Thanks again for submitting those ideas.

[Koi-Spark]

Make sure you download and install the latest patch with your underlight-webinstaller.exe from http://download.underlight.com to get the latest bug fixes and to see the new Hidden Ballroom!

Mineral Spring and Cascading Tears will be included in a future update.