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Welcome to Season 3 Masters! We've got some updates this year as season 3 has had slightly different rules - so we need to update this accordingly - plus bonus prizes!
Invitations
Invites will be sent out by April 28th to anyone* who has turned in a valid City Plan contest entry in the Season 3 of contests which started March 2021 and will end with the contest that started March 28th 2022. Previous season participation does not grant you entry! Expect the invitation to come through the SimSettlements.com forums to the username you submitted your other entries to the City Plan contest.
*Users who failed to maintain good standing with the community, ie. were banned from the forums or one of our Discord servers will not be invited.
Judging
Judging is different from a typical City Plan contest, with the Sim Settlements team picking what we determine to be the best 3 and presenting those for public voting by anyone with an active SimSettlements.com forum account. Patrons will not be eligible to vote for the cut to top 3 like a normal monthly contest.
In addition, the initial internal judging to cut to the finalists will be a little more nuanced, as the vote scoring will be done across three categories and the combined score will be used (in the normal contest, we merely ask team members to choose their favorites among the entries).
Prizes
Changes this year are very similar to last year, the biggest change is that all participants will now receive a commemorative custom Displate!
**We'll work with you to dream up a short story and video to tell the tale of your settlement as it rises from foundation to level 3, and have a professional voice actor do the narration to make your video shine. This video will be used during the finals to help sell your settlement to the public voting, you'll also be given a high-quality render you can post or use anywhere you like!
Prize Split Option
Once we reach the final three, each person will be asked if they'd like to split the prize pool in private, if each responds yes, the prize structure will change slightly: Each person will receive a $50 Steam Gift Card, and the remaining $550 will be divided giving each person $183.33 through Paypal. If any one person declines, the prizes will remain as initially presented, and the declining parties will not be revealed.
Regardless, voting will continue as usual, and a winner will be determined.
Specific Rules
Settlement to Build: The settlement will be announced on the day the contest starts. You MUST start from a specific pre-determined save file that we will provide with the 2.1.1 update to the City Plan Contest Assistant mod, which will be released on April 28th.
Build Limits: You must stay within the build limit. Under normal City Plan Contest rules you can go to double the build limit, but the save file you’ll be starting from already has the build limit configured - it is higher than usual, so you should have plenty of room for creativity.
All plots and the recruitment beacon must be within the settlement boundaries.
City Plan Requirements:
Timeframe: The Masters Contest will run from April 28th to June 9th. You may turn in your entry at any time between the start and finish.
Turning In Your Design: A subforum for the Masters Contest entries will be created, the same as a normal monthly contest. Unlike a normal monthly contest, do NOT post your City Plan to Nexusmods.com immediately, instead, you’ll submit your entries to the contest runners Yagisan and Sirlach, by messaging them via the SimSettlements.com forums. You must include the following in your message:
Mods Required
The following mods MUST be installed while working on your design. If these are removed, it will be detected in your save file and the entry will be invalid.
Assets Allowed: You may only use building objects with the vanilla game, those from the 6 official DLC, and those found in the Sim Settlements build menu. Spawning items not available through the workshop mode is not allowed. Creation Club items are not allowed.
Building Plans from any released addon pack that is publicly available through Nexusmods.com or Bethesda.net are allowed, but individual buildable items from them are not. Addon packs that are no longer publicly available are not valid for the contest. Please include a list of used addon packs with your entry.
Disallowed Mods: Scrap mods such as Scrap Everything and Spring Cleaning, or any other mod that breaks precombines, even partially, is disallowed as they cause complications with City Plans, especially for XBox players. Raze my Settlement, and Clean my Settlement are not allowed.
Additional Rules: There is now code in place to detect Workshop Items that were not placed by the player, entries with items placed in this way will be considered invalid.
This means that tools like Clipboard, Transfer Settlements, the Workshop Plus blueprint system, the Workshop Framework Layout system, or any other mod that produces a workshop item without you directly placing it in workshop mode, will invalidate your entry.
Unless a rule stated above says otherwise, the normal City Plan rules still apply! Rules above may be changed or expanded on between now and the start date of the contest. Everyone invited to the contest will be contacted again anytime the rules are updated.
Final Thoughts
Please keep in mind that we are not a business, this is just a community run event. So I don't have proper legalese drafted, and am counting on the good will of the community to help this contest go smoothly. If I failed to cover something important to your understanding of the rules, please reply here and I will update things to clarify ASAP.
Season 3 has been absolutely epic with you all outdoing yourselves over and over!
-kinggath
Invitations
Invites will be sent out by April 28th to anyone* who has turned in a valid City Plan contest entry in the Season 3 of contests which started March 2021 and will end with the contest that started March 28th 2022. Previous season participation does not grant you entry! Expect the invitation to come through the SimSettlements.com forums to the username you submitted your other entries to the City Plan contest.
*Users who failed to maintain good standing with the community, ie. were banned from the forums or one of our Discord servers will not be invited.
Judging
Judging is different from a typical City Plan contest, with the Sim Settlements team picking what we determine to be the best 3 and presenting those for public voting by anyone with an active SimSettlements.com forum account. Patrons will not be eligible to vote for the cut to top 3 like a normal monthly contest.
In addition, the initial internal judging to cut to the finalists will be a little more nuanced, as the vote scoring will be done across three categories and the combined score will be used (in the normal contest, we merely ask team members to choose their favorites among the entries).
- Creativity: Does your settlement make clever use of the space, plots, and available assets?
- Immersion: Do your settlement levels tell a believable story about how your settlement evolved over time?
- Functionality: Does your settlement meet the game needs of the settlers (food, water, defense, happiness, power), allow them to path well, and provide the player with useful things (such as Crafting Benches, a Commercial area, or even a player bed/home)?
Prizes
Changes this year are very similar to last year, the biggest change is that all participants will now receive a commemorative custom Displate!
- 1st Place: USD $500 - This will be given out via Paypal* and a special version of the Displate denoting winning status.
- 2nd/3rd Place: $100 Steam Gift Card and a special version of the Displate denoting finalist status.
- Finalists (1st, 2nd, and 3rd): Professionally voiced city tour video of your settlements**.
- All Participants (anyone who submits a valid build): Custom commemorative Displate and choice of City Planner Vault Boy merch!
- The addition of the Vault Boy merch is thanks to the community who donated additional funds during a Live Stream to support the contest!
**We'll work with you to dream up a short story and video to tell the tale of your settlement as it rises from foundation to level 3, and have a professional voice actor do the narration to make your video shine. This video will be used during the finals to help sell your settlement to the public voting, you'll also be given a high-quality render you can post or use anywhere you like!
Prize Split Option
Once we reach the final three, each person will be asked if they'd like to split the prize pool in private, if each responds yes, the prize structure will change slightly: Each person will receive a $50 Steam Gift Card, and the remaining $550 will be divided giving each person $183.33 through Paypal. If any one person declines, the prizes will remain as initially presented, and the declining parties will not be revealed.
Regardless, voting will continue as usual, and a winner will be determined.
Specific Rules
Settlement to Build: The settlement will be announced on the day the contest starts. You MUST start from a specific pre-determined save file that we will provide with the 2.1.1 update to the City Plan Contest Assistant mod, which will be released on April 28th.
Build Limits: You must stay within the build limit. Under normal City Plan Contest rules you can go to double the build limit, but the save file you’ll be starting from already has the build limit configured - it is higher than usual, so you should have plenty of room for creativity.
All plots and the recruitment beacon must be within the settlement boundaries.
City Plan Requirements:
- Must support between 15 and 20 settlers at level 3 (that means one home or bed and one job for each - recreational assignments for each are optional).
- Earlier levels may have less settlers.
- Must include at least one of each of the 7 plot classes at level 3. This includes Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, Martial, Municipal, Recreational, and Residential.
- Must include at least 20 plots.
- Must include a City Planner’s Desk and Recruitment Beacon at each level.
- Must include a Caravan Services class building plan.
- Must be self-sufficient - this means that at each level, all of the Sim Settlements 2 Status Meters should be full (with the exception of Cleanliness and Recreation).
Timeframe: The Masters Contest will run from April 28th to June 9th. You may turn in your entry at any time between the start and finish.
Turning In Your Design: A subforum for the Masters Contest entries will be created, the same as a normal monthly contest. Unlike a normal monthly contest, do NOT post your City Plan to Nexusmods.com immediately, instead, you’ll submit your entries to the contest runners Yagisan and Sirlach, by messaging them via the SimSettlements.com forums. You must include the following in your message:
- Links to download your .fos save files for each level, screenshots, and description of your settlement’s story, these should be uploaded to a shared Google Drive or Dropbox.com folder.
- Up to 28 total screenshots spanning your 4 levels to be split up in whatever amounts you see fit. Be sure to clearly label each filename so we know which level it belongs to, and post them to your entry post on the forums as well as including them in the archive.
- A brief description of your settlement’s story posted with your entry as well as included with your archive. (No longer than a single page of text with size 12 font and 0.5 inch margins on all sides)
Mods Required
The following mods MUST be installed while working on your design. If these are removed, it will be detected in your save file and the entry will be invalid.
- Sim Settlements 2 version 2.1.1 or greater
- Sim Settlements 2 Chapter 2 version 2.1.1 or greater
- SS2Extended version 2.1.1 or greater
- Workshop Framework version 2.1.0 or greater
- City Plan Contest Assistant version 2.1.1 or greater
- Wasteland Reconstruction Kit version 0.1g or greater
Assets Allowed: You may only use building objects with the vanilla game, those from the 6 official DLC, and those found in the Sim Settlements build menu. Spawning items not available through the workshop mode is not allowed. Creation Club items are not allowed.
Building Plans from any released addon pack that is publicly available through Nexusmods.com or Bethesda.net are allowed, but individual buildable items from them are not. Addon packs that are no longer publicly available are not valid for the contest. Please include a list of used addon packs with your entry.
Disallowed Mods: Scrap mods such as Scrap Everything and Spring Cleaning, or any other mod that breaks precombines, even partially, is disallowed as they cause complications with City Plans, especially for XBox players. Raze my Settlement, and Clean my Settlement are not allowed.
Additional Rules: There is now code in place to detect Workshop Items that were not placed by the player, entries with items placed in this way will be considered invalid.
This means that tools like Clipboard, Transfer Settlements, the Workshop Plus blueprint system, the Workshop Framework Layout system, or any other mod that produces a workshop item without you directly placing it in workshop mode, will invalidate your entry.
Unless a rule stated above says otherwise, the normal City Plan rules still apply! Rules above may be changed or expanded on between now and the start date of the contest. Everyone invited to the contest will be contacted again anytime the rules are updated.
Final Thoughts
Please keep in mind that we are not a business, this is just a community run event. So I don't have proper legalese drafted, and am counting on the good will of the community to help this contest go smoothly. If I failed to cover something important to your understanding of the rules, please reply here and I will update things to clarify ASAP.
Season 3 has been absolutely epic with you all outdoing yourselves over and over!
-kinggath
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