Terrain render by MineTimelapser

presents the 2018 Hexagon
3-Person Team Build Contest

hosted by

The hexagon contest was inspired by a community-collaborative idea from Sean of Gamemode One and James of Blockworks.  The map was created by Blockworks terraformer and environmental artist Paul Sireau with this contest in mind to resemble a “game board” reminiscent of Settlers of Catan™ and other table-top games like it.  There are several compact biomes in the 2048×2048 block area.  The highest peak is at y=150 which should give plenty of vertical room for building at any location on the map.  The map has been subdivided by hexagons in order to offer a unique build space and introduce territory management.  The terrain is also featureless (no trees or structures) to allow you to build on the map to suit your needs.

Click here to see the winners of the 2018 HexPlot Contest!

When

Important Dates

Sign-up begins Friday 16 March 2018
at 14:00 GMT

Contest begins Friday 30 March 2018
at 23:00 GMT

Contest ends Sunday 29 April 2018
at 23:00 GMT

Please note your local daylight savings time change.
The times listed above are in GMT.

Theme

Solarpunk

…is a literary movement, a hashtag, a flag, and a statement of intent about the future we hope to create. It is an imagining wherein all humans live in balance with our finite environment, where local communities thrive, diversity is embraced, and the world is a beautiful green utopia.

Useful Links

Menu

Dynamic Map

So… How Does This Work?

What's the point of this contest?

  • This contest occurs on a world and while it is subdivided into plots, the hexagonal plots are interlocked and are not separated like a usual plot-based build contest.
  • When the contest is complete, ideally the world will be filled with builds representing diverse teams of builders from all across the community.
  • The final world will be added to the Builder’s Refuge showcase area and will be given to each team for display and rendering and will be a remarkable piece of art symbolizing the unity of the creative building community.

How do I sign up?

  • On March 16, the sign-up form will go live!
  • Fill in the following information:
    • Your build team name (or independent)
    • The Minecraft usernames of the three contest-team members
    • Contact information for the team captain
  • We only have space for up to 15 teams on the build map, therefore only the first 15 teams who sign up will be accepted. We will post a list of participating teams when the contest begins.

How do the teams work?

  • Contest-teams are first-come, first-serve by signing up
  • Contest-teams consist of 3 builders
  • We will take a maximum of 15 teams
  • A recognized build team can have only one contest-team participating
  • Participants who are not affiliated with a recognized build team are allowed to form an independent contest-team

What is a recognized build team?

  • A recognized build team is an entity of builders who work together and release builds under a common name via an official website, twitter, youtube, etc.
  • Examples include but are not limited to:  Astrium, Blockworks, ElysiumFire, Everbloom Studios, Octovon, PixelBiester, Podcrash, Shapescape, Sound of Blocks, Saphire Studios

What qualifies as an independent contest-team?

  • An independent participant is a builder who is not officially associated with a recognized build team and typically produces and publishes content with their own name for their own enjoyment and challenge.

How will plots be chosen?

  • The initial plot (Plot 1) will be assigned to teams at random and notification given to the team captain before the first week begins.
  • All initial plots will be at least one blank plot away from each other.
  • Plots thereafter (Plot 2, 3 & 4) will be chosen by the team captain submitting a form before the end of the week to request a preferred and alternate plot. The subsequent plots must be adjacent to any plot owned by the contest-team.
  • Plot 2, 3 & 4 will be assigned in random order.
  • If a team’s requested plot is already taken by the time that order is filled, the alternate will be given. If the team’s alternate plot is taken, any remaining plot will be arbitrarily chosen and assigned.
  • If the contest-team is completely locked by surrounding players, no more plots will be given.

How do I get to the contest area?

  • The contest will be held on Builder’s Refuge at mc.buildersrefuge.com
  • Type /hexplot to teleport to the hexagon build contest world
  • Participants and Builder’s Refuge Staff will be in creative mode and everyone else will be in spectator mode

What size are the plots?

  • Each hexagon is approximately 250×300

So, we don't need to terraform?

  • The game map is already created, so you can consider basic terraforming already done.
  • The map is featureless, meaning there are no trees or objects already present on the map to give you full flexibility in building.
  • You are free to change the terrain as you see fit

Are there any plugin limits?

  • WorldEdit, VoxelSniper, goBrush, and goPaint brushes are limited to a maximum of size of 35
  • WorldEdit maximum radius is 200
  • WorldEdit history is saved for 24 hours

How can you have hex-shaped plots?

  • The hexagon shaped plots are made by using poly2d regions.
  • Special thanks to Empire92 for making this possible in FAWE
  • Since it is a custom setup, there are no plot commands like you would find in plot-squared.  The permissions are assigned manually by the game referees (Builder’s Refuge Staff)

Map Overview

Judging Criteria

  • Judges will be grading each plot with a score from 1-10 in two categories: artistic and technical
  • Judges will be instructed to ignore terraforming (since the terrain is pre-generated) however inadequate integration of the build into the terrain setting may reduce your score for the plot
  • Judges will be instructed to focus on the artistic quality of the build intrinsically as well as how it relates to the solarpunk theme
  • Judges will be instructed to focus on the technical skill of build and to weigh organic and structural components in the context of the build’s design and overall aesthetic.
  • The two score categories from all judges will be averaged separately and then the final two scores will be added together for a total composite score out of 20 which will be the final plot score.
  • The final plot scores will be averaged over 4 plots.  Therefore, if only 3 or less plots are complete, the empty or unclaimed plots will count as a score of zero and will significantly degrade the average team score.

Team Map and Progression

  • BTWN – Build Team with No Name
    • Week 1:  Hex 6
    • Week 2: Hex 13
    • Week 3: Hex 14
    • Week 4: Hex 7
  • BL
    • Week 1: Hex 36
    • Week 2: Hex 28
    • Week 3: Hex 29
    • Week 4: Hex 37
  • Yosh – Team Yosh
    • Week 1: Hex 53
    • Week 2: Hex 54
    • Week 3: Hex 46
    • Week 4: Hex 47
  • PR – Painful Randomness
    • Week 1: Hex 69
    • Week 2: Hex 61
    • Week 3: Hex 60
    • Week 4: Hex 52
  • Exc – Excelsia Build Team
    • Week 1: Hex 2
    • Week 2: Hex 9
    • Week 3: Hex 10
    • Week 4: Hex 17
  • TN – TeamName
    • Week 1: Hex 55
    • Week 2: Hex 62
    • Week 3: Hex 70
    • Week 4: Hex 63

Contest Final Territory Board

Week 4 Contest News

  • 29 March – Build Team: Divinity has dropped out of the contest
  • 30 March – Build Team: TeamName has entered the competition
  • 30 March – Contest Begins
  • 1 April – Build Team: Saphire Studios has dropped out of the contest, hexplot 43 is now available to be claimed
  • 3 April – Build Team: FranVierKla has dropped out of the contest, hexplot 22 is now available to be claimed
  • 6 April – Week 2 plots have been assigned; map updated
  • 8 April – Build Team: LuxStudios has dropped out of the contest
  • 11 April – Build Team: LucidBlocks has dropped out of the contest
  • 12 April – Week 3 plots have been assigned; map updated; Build Team: Human Zoo has dropped out of the contest
  • 20 April – Week 4 plots have been assigned; map updated; Build Team: TeamRF has dropped out of the contest
  • 27 April – Build Team: Roca, Build Team: Flora, Build Team: Meraki have dropped out of the contest
  • 29 April – Contest concludes

Render by Yeti (view from South)

Render by MineTimeLapser (View from North)

Prizes!

Best Plot Average

This award is $100 USD for each builder for the contest-team who has the highest averaged score of the 4 total plots. If a team neglects to claim a plot by the weekly deadline, the score for any unclaimed plots will be zero.

Best Single Plot

This award is $100 USD for each builder for the contest-team who has the highest score of a single plot.

Runner-up Plot Average

This award is $50 USD for each builder for the contest-team who has the second highest averaged score of the 4 total plots. If a team neglects to claim a plot by the weekly deadline, the score for any unclaimed plots will be zero.

Runner-up Single Plot

This award is $50 USD for each builder for the contest-team who has the second highest score of a single plot.

NOTE: In the situation where a contest-team qualifies for more than one prize, only one prize (highest) will be awarded.

Judges

Teams

Teams participating in the contest: