The Shroud of the Avatar has been involving fans in the creation of the game since the start of the project.  Now we’re giving you a chance to contribute in a whole different way!  On September 20th at 6PM CST (UTC-6), we are kicking off the first in a series of Shroud of the Avatar Unity Scene Jams!

Before we dive into the details of what it is, let me tell you why you should keep reading.  The overall winner receives:

• Unity Pro License – $1500 value
• Oculus Rift – $300 value
• Alienware Grab Bag (Backpack, mouse, keyboard, headset) – $350 value
• UnityVS 1.2 License – $249 value
• Shroud of the Avatar Duke Pledge – $5300 value

Now that we have your attention, here is how the contest will work!

Starting on September 20th and then every other weekend for the next 6 weeks, we are doing 48 hour Shroud Scene Jams!  On every other Friday at 6PM CST (UTC-6) we will announce the scene challenge details with documentation and a video message from members the team.  You then have 48 hours to create the scene in Unity and start your upload for it by Sunday night at 6PM.  We’ll announce the weekly winner the following Friday.  Weekly winners get:

• Shroud of the Avatar KNIGHT Level Pledge ($800 value! Can be divided into smaller pledge tiers for multi-person teams)
• Game box will be signed by the entire dev team
• Shroud of the Avatar T-Shirt

The Friday after the final weekend of the contest, November 8th, we will announce the over all grand prize winner!  Grand prize winner will be based on the single best scene of the entire competition!

Starting times for the 48 hour jams:

• September 20, 6PM CST (UTC-6)
• October 4, 6pm CST (UTC-6)
• October 18, 6PM CST (UTC-6)
• November 1, 6PM CST (UTC-6)

At the start of each game jam we will reveal the secret scene challenge and the details!  This will likely be done in the form of a document, a video, and some specific assets to help you get started.  The secret scene challenge will vary each week and could be anything from Richard describing one of his ideas for a scene to a piece of concept art.

Scenes will be judged by Richard and the team based on quality, creativity, how closely it matches the announced challenge, and how closely it resembles something that would feel right at home in Shroud of the Avatar!

We’re mostly focused on the construction and architecture of the scene and less concerned with implementation aspects.  A well built and well lit scene with text describing the details should be all that is needed.  Implementing various features will obviously help us visualize some aspects of the scene and might sway our decisions but we’ll likely have to re-implement them to match our systems.

Rules:

• We’ll provide some assets with each jam but you can also use any assets which we can easily license.  Unity store assets, free or purchased are fine.  We’ll have a section in our submission process for you to list what assets were used in the creation of your piece so we can purchase them if we decide to use your piece.  Custom created art is also fine as long as you are willing to grant us a free license to distribute the art with Shroud of the Avatar.
• The final submission must be in the form of a Unity Package, run in Unity 4, and the upload must be started by 6PM on the Sunday after the start of the jam.  We’ll include a document detailing how to turn a scene into a Unity Package.  It might sound scary but it is really just a couple of clicks!
• Any version of Unity is fine.  The free version will work fine.  You can use an older version of Unity if you choose to but we’ll only be testing the assets we distribute on Unity 4 and we’ll expect all submissions to work on Unity 4.

 

FAQ

What do I need to upload?
-The only thing that you have to give us is the final UnityPackage file created from your scene!
How do I create a UnityPackage from my scene?
-Find your scene in your project window, right click on it and “Export Package…”  By default it will find all files used in the scene and have them selected.  You should just have to click the “Export” button in the bottom right hand corner and tell it the name of the file you want to save it to.

How do I upload it?
-Several options for this!  The preferred option is to use the following link and upload it through this system:  http://goo.gl/HVQeQb and this survey must be used to agree to the terms even if it is not used to upload
If you prefer you can use dropbox’s public folder and share the link in the comments section on the above survey. FTP links are fine as well!  As long as we can get to your file(s), we’re ok with it!

Do I have to be a Shroud of the Avatar backer to compete?
-No, you only have to register with the Shroud site so that we have your information.  No donation required but definitely appreciated!  

Can I work with friends on this?
-Team efforts are welcome.  Only one set of prizes will be awarded and it is up to the team to figure out how to divide them.  Working with a team can be beneficial but is not without some additional challenges!

What if I have a bad connection and my upload doesn’t finish by 6PM?
-No worries, we only ask that you start uploading it by 6PM.  We will be verifying links and packages starting Monday morning at 6AM so as long as your upload doesn’t take more than 12 hours, you should be fine!