Screenshot Of The Month Competition Jan 2016 - Mar 2020

[Emperor Jake]

THIS IS THE OLD SCREENSHOT COMPETITION. PLEASE USE THE LINK BELOW TO GO TO THE CURRENT COMPETITION:
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=86892


TT Screenshot Of The Month Competition - January 2016 thru March 2020

A comprehensive overview of past competition results was partially maintained on the SotM wiki entry. This may/may not be updated.

TT Screenshot Competition Rules

• All participants must register an account on tt-forums.
• Screenshots should be submitted to this thread. Please make sure your entry is in an "attachment" and not just a direct link.
• Screenshots can be any size. However, large zoomed-in screenshots should be downsized and "giant" screenshots are discouraged as they don't work well in the voting post.
• Animated GIFS are permitted if specified in the current month's theme. GIFs must focus on one moving or stationary subject, as a slideshow constitutes multiple screenshots and breaks the following rule.
• Only one entry per participant. Entries may be withdrawn or replaced at any time before the deadline.
• Captions are permitted and encouraged in order to elicit greater voting.
• Use of graphics programs to enhance screenshots (aka "Photoshopping") is permitted to an extent. Heavy editing (things not normally possible in the game) is only allowed if the competition theme calls for it.
• The winner is offered the chance to pick the next month's theme. If the winner declines to select a theme, or is not able to submit a theme within seven (7) days after being declared the winner, the competition moderator shall select a theme for the next competition.
• In the event of a tie, the winners will be offered an opportunity to collaborate together on a theme. If they cannot come to a quick decision, the competition moderator shall select a theme for the next competition.
• If fewer than three entries are submitted in a month, the competition will automatically roll over to the next month. If after two months there are still fewer than three entries, the competition moderator will declare the competition a draw, and select a theme for the next competition.
• If more than 20 screenshots are entered: the forums will break, the world will collapse and the competition organiser will be declared the winner in the post-apocalyptic world.

TT Screenshot Competition Leaderboard

Code: Select all

WINNER        		TOTAL   MONTHS
Emperor Jake		8     04/12, 10/12, 11/12, 10/16, 01/17, 06/17, 07/17, 09/17, 11/17
Quast65			6     09/12, 01/13, 04/13, 08/13, 03/14, 03/16
temporal8		6	07/19, 08/19, 10/19, 11/19, 12/19, 01/20
wallyweb		6     08/15, 05/16, 01/17, 01/18, 12/18, 05/19
ISA			5     06/12, 05/13, 02/14, 04/14, 07/14   
Yoshi			5     03/13, 06/14, 09/15, 10/15, 11/15  
SwissFan91		4     06/13, 10/13, 10/16, 10/17   
andres1555		3	10/18, 04/19, 07/19
doikdi			3	05/16, 06/16, 07/16
Ladusa			3     11/13, 01/14, 04/16   
le_harv			3     06/18, 09/18, 06/19 
OzTrans			3     07/13, 01/19, 03/19
romazoon		3     07/12, 08/12, 04/18  
leifbk			2	  03/17, 04/17     
Mr Bruco		2	  11/16, 12/16
mr jj			2	  12/17, 03/18
Purno			2     12/12, 05/13   
Tintinfan		2     08/16, 05/18                                                                                                              
alluke			1     07/14                         
Badger			1     07/12
Chataigne		1	  08/18
Darthrafael		1	  11/17
Eddy Arfik		1     02/16                               
Erato			1	  11/18                       
EXTspotter		1     07/12   
flogeza			1	  05/17
fredinho			1	02/20
FulliAutomatix		1	  07/18
GarryG			1	03/20
Juggynaunt		1	  02/19
luxtram			1 	 10/16                     
Pilot			1	  02/18
Pyoro			1     04/17                                               
Sallarsahr		1     02/13                                     
Seeker			1     12/13  
STD			1	  08/17  
Valle			1     09/13    
 

todo: fix this mess^^^

[Emperor Jake]

Welcome to a new year, a new competition, and a new moderator.

I've decided on a simple and general theme of "The Future" to kick off the new competition. The subject can be anything, as long as it contains something even vaguely futuristic.

Since SwissFan91, our old competition moderator went AWOL, we don't yet know the results of the Christmas Markets competition. It seems clear that he no longer has the time or willingness to continue moderating the competition, as evidenced by his being consistently late for the past few months. I hope no-one minds that I've decided to take over, I will try to be more punctual.
Also if a moderator could sticky this and un-sticky the old one that would be great.

I've also made slight tweaks to the rules regarding GIFs and heavily edited entries. These are in the interest of fairness to people who are less skilled at these things and I hope nobody minds. For anyone interested in making GIFs, I recommend checking out the program GifCam.


One problem is deciding what to do if the competition moderator wants to enter in the competition as well. For this reason I will not be participating this time.

Under the current system, we send PMs to the competition moderator so nobody else can see them until voting time. This would give the moderator an unfair advantage because he would have access to everyone else's entries. There are two possible alternatives:
- Post the screenshots directly to the forum thread, where everyone can see them, just like in the Photo of the Month competition.
- Email the screenshots to a dedicated email account which the moderator only checks when voting time starts. You'll just have to take the moderator's word that they won't take sneak peeks.

Which would you prefer? Of course alternative suggestions can also be considered.

[wallyweb]

One problem is deciding what to do if the competition moderator wants to enter in the competition as well. For this reason I will not be participating this time.

Very honourable and the right thing to do. Thank you.

Under the current system, we send PMs to the competition moderator so nobody else can see them until voting time. This would give the moderator an unfair advantage because he would have access to everyone else's entries. There are two possible alternatives:
- Post the screenshots directly to the forum thread, where everyone can see them, just like in the Photo of the Month competition.
- Email the screenshots to a dedicated email account which the moderator only checks when voting time starts. You'll just have to take the moderator's word that they won't take sneak peeks.

Which would you prefer? Of course alternative suggestions can also be considered.

- The winner of the current competition proposes the next month's theme.
- The winner of the current competition does not participate in the next month's contest.
- The winner of the current competition accepts by PM submissions for the next month's contest.
- The winner of the current competition forwards the PMs for the next month's contest to the moderator after the closing of the next month's contest submission period.

[ISA]

Good going Emperor!

I would like to see the Christmas theme shots tough! At the moment it feels like I spent those few hours for nothing!
We could send those shots to You Emperor and then decide if we vote, if yes, how these two themes will be voted...

[Emperor Jake]

- The winner of the current competition proposes the next month's theme.
- The winner of the current competition does not participate in the next month's contest.
- The winner of the current competition accepts by PM submissions for the next month's contest.
- The winner of the current competition forwards the PMs for the next month's contest to the moderator after the closing of the next month's contest submission period.

Sounds like a good plan, but there are two new potential downsides: For one, winning twice or more in a row becomes impossible, but I don't think that's a bad thing necessarily. Secondly, the competition winner has to remember to PM the screenshots to the moderator in a timely manner, and can cause potential extra delays, in addition to the delay caused by the winner choosing the theme. If a winner goes AWOL under the current system then the moderator can choose a theme after a week; but if that happens and only they have the submissions, then the competition can't continue. Also people would have to remember to PM the last winner instead of the moderator, but I'm sure people can get used to that quickly.

Since no-one else came up with anything, I'll put a poll up between Wallyweb's idea and the other two ideas. Note that this month's entries should still be PMed to me under the current system.

To summarise:


EDIT - Option 1: The way we've always done it, except the moderator can compete as well.
Pros: Simplest option, no change required, almost no-one can see each other's entries
Cons: Moderator can see all entries, potentially unfair

EDIT - Option 2: Entrants can choose whether to PM or post to thread. Moderator must post to thread.
Pros: Entrants have a choice, some entries are visible
Cons: Some entries are visible but not all, so potentially imbalanced

Option 3: Post submissions directly to the thread. Personally I'm in favour of this option as it's easiest and the Photo of the Month competition seems to do fine with it.
Pros: completely fair, no reliance on anyone to send stuff, no trust required, easiest to do, you can see everyone else's entries
Cons: Everyone can see your submission.

Option 4: Dedicated email address.
Pros: No-one can see each other's entries
Cons: Requires trust in moderator to not view entries prematurely, requires setup and change of routine

Option 5: Wallyweb's idea
Pros: Fair, no-one can see each other's entries, no external service required
Cons: Reliance on last winner to forward entries in time for voting, no winning streaks, people have to remember to PM the right person

[wallyweb]

To summarise:
Option 1: Post submissions directly to the thread. Personally I'm in favour of this option as it's easiest and the Photo of the Month competition seems to do fine with it.ant
Pros: completely fair, no reliance on anyone to send stuff, no trust required, easiest to do, you can see everyone else's submissions
Cons: Everyone can see your submission.

Option 2: Dedicated email address.
Pros: No-one can see each other's submissions
Cons: Requires trust in moderator to not view submissions prematurely, requires setup and change of routine

Option 3: Wallyweb's idea
Pros: Fair, no-one can see each other's submissions, no external service required
Cons: Reliance on last winner to forward submissions in time for voting, no winning streaks, people have to remember to PM the right person

That wallyweb guy is an idiot, but he is a nice idiot.

Actually, option 1 is the best. If a contestant wants to hide his/her submission, he/she can always wait until the last minute before submitting.

[Quast65]

I still think PM-ing to the moderator is the best option (why isnt this included in the options?), like we already did.

- It keeps the entries hidden from the other competitors (and yes we have to trust the moderator, but lets just say that the reward for taking the time to organise this competition is seeing the entries in advance )
I believe this is a key-part of the competition, no one is influenced by another entry. And more importantly, no one is scared off from competing by a very good entry from someone else!!
- A winning streak is possible, I see no problems with that. Good entries should be rewarded and creativity should not be limited by not being able to take part because you won the previous round.
The perk of winning the previous round (apart from the everlasting glory ), is being able to choose a theme that suits you and maybe one can make an even better screenshot then.
- Furthermore, sending new entrys to the previous winner is confusing for the competitors (where do we send entries to this time??) and relies on the previous winner willing to take the time to sort them out and submit them to the moderator. It is easier and clearer to have one single dedicated person to send entries to (in this case, the moderator of this thread).
- Finally, PM-ing is in my opinion also preferred to emailing, because I dont want to give away my email-adress to just anyone

So.... Is it possible to add this option to the poll?

[Emperor Jake]

You make some very good points Quast65, I'll add it to the poll. It's a good option but I just thought people would find it unfair that the moderator can see everyone's submissions and potentially alter his submission accordingly.

In the previous poll, the option for posting submissions directly to the thread was ahead by a large margin. Let's see if that changes.


And another thing, in case anyone was curious about the new "Heavy Editing" rule, here's a clarification.
Heavy editing means to edit a screenshot to do things that aren't normally possible in TTD even with NewGRFs and patches. The rule disallows it unless specified by a tag on the month's theme, just like the "GIFs Allowed" tag.

Here are two previous winning examples:

Yoshi's entry from September 2015, the flooded town of Dresden. The "Natural Disasters" theme would be a perfect candidate for a "Heavy Editing Allowed" tag, as this theme clearly benefits from doing things not normally possible in TTD.


Yoshi's entry from October 2015. The theme was "Terminus Stations", and probably wouldn't be tagged as "Heavy Editing" (but nobody's stopping winners from setting what they want). If it hadn't been tagged as such, this screenshot would have been disqualified because of the diagonal roads and custom road interchanges (the building would be codeable as a station/object NewGRF, therefore doesn't constitute Heavy Editing).


I do very much appreciate the effort put into this shot however, and I think it still would have won without the custom roads.
This rule was put in place to prevent people who are proficient at pixel art or Photoshop or GRF editing to win the competition repetitively, while allowing those people to have a go at it when the right opportunity comes in a theme such as "Natural Disasters"


Finally, setting both "GIFS Allowed" and "Heavy Editing" is possible, but IMO should be limited to the annual traditional Christmas/Holiday theme

[Dave]

FWIW, when I was running the photo comp (and I still keep a beady on it) I never saw the point of trying to hide entries. Appreciate it may put people off but on the flip side it also encourages people to post as they see others' ideas. (It's also the least amount of effort, which encourages users.)

That eliminates the issue of the moderator having an advantage because everyone gets the advantage and, ergo, no one does.

I also don't think banning the winner from the next round is a useful step - it's very very rare that a user wins two in a row in the photo comp and judging by the standard of the screenshot forum I imagine the same applies.

And what of the competition if the winner can't be bothered to collect entries? That idea introduces a little too much delegation, for me.

But to each their own, I'd be interested in entering but my quaint screens just don't compare to the insanity of you lot these days

[Emperor Jake]

FWIW, when I was running the photo comp (and I still keep a beady on it) I never saw the point of trying to hide entries. Appreciate it may put people off but on the flip side it also encourages people to post as they see others' ideas.

That eliminates the issue of the moderator having an advantage because everyone gets the advantage and, ergo, no one does.

I agree. I personally don't see the point in hiding entries, but Quast65 makes a good counter-argument nevertheless.

I also don't think banning the winner from the next round as a useful step - it's very very rare that a user wins two in a row in the photo comp and judging by the standard of the screenshot forum I imagine the same applies.

Except Yoshi won three times in a row last year - the first two are the examples from above.

And what of the competition if the winner can't be bothered to collect entries? That idea introduces a little too much delegation, for me.

I agree again, I said this as well. It'll just introduce extra steps and delays.

But to each their own, I'd be interested in entering but my quaint screens just don't compare to the insanity of you lot these days

Feel free to do so, you're just the type of person who benefits from the Heavy Editing rule outlined above.

EDIT: I've had a better idea!
Entrants are allowed to choose whether they PM the screenshot to the moderator, who will only reveal it when voting time comes; OR post it directly to the thread. Also the moderator MUST post their entry directly to the thread. Everyone wins!

[Dave]

Fair ripostes on all counts! And I like that idea. If someone would rather their screen not be seen... Then on the day of voting you could just upload them all in a post.

[Chrill]

I've made this a Sticky.

I also voted for simply posting your photos in the topic. There is no need to over-complicate the rules or people will back out because of that.

[Quast65]

Letting the submitter choose to either send directly to thread or PM to moderator is a very workable option for me.
I like to keep my submissions a surprise

[lukasz1985]

If you let the competitors submit directly into the thread - you will get the burden of reposting of off the moderator - his only responsiblity will be to make the poll and announce the start.

[Emperor Jake]

If you let the competitors submit directly into the thread - you will get the burden of reposting of off the moderator - his only responsiblity will be to make the poll and announce the start.

It makes no difference to me, I would put all the shots in one post for voting time regardless of where they were sent, for the voters' convenience

Anyway, looks like the option to post them to the thread is winning now, probably because it's the fairest and easiest option. As stated before, people who prefer not to reveal their screenshots can wait until shortly before voting to post them.

I've made this a Sticky.

Thank you Chrill

[Emperor Jake]

Looks like the people have chosen to post the entries directly to the thread. While this is the simplest and fairest solution, it wasn't preferred by some of our regulars who prefer to keep their shots secret. Of course, hopefully this won't dissuade them, the rules aren't set in stone and are still flexible, as participants can post their entries until the last day. Which seems to be happening anyway as the deadline draws near and I haven't received enough entries yet

[Quast65]

This works for me (as a regular ).
If I want to keep my submission a surprise, Ill just post it on the last day of submission.

As long as you dont mind bundling all the entries up when it is time to vote (so its easier to see all the submissions in one overview). But I think you mentioned earlier that you would do that already.

[STD]

I don't have the screenshots to participate in the theme "the Future".. But I have a screenshot for the December competition. If the Emperor Jake wouldn't mind spending the December competition, I can send a screenshot. I think other players can submit their screenshots . It all depends on the moderator's topics . For example, the December competition can be organized right after the current competition.

[Emperor Jake]

Submission time should have ended, but we still have less than three entries so far should I wait a day or two longer so someone can get a last-minute entry in or declare it a bust?

Anyway, many have suggested I rehost the December competition, so in the meantime I'll do that! Post your submissions that you prepared for the Christmas Markets theme here. Here's mine:

[STD]

My work on the theme "Christmas Markets" :

Christmas market.png (310.61 KiB) Viewed 31937 times

File comment:
On the eve of Christmas throughout the city of Sochi was opened Christmas markets. Residents of the resort city buy different goods and gifts. The main Christmas area is located in the city center next to the Church. Here, too, organized a Christmas market, the largest in the city. Part of the Christmas markets are located close to the ski tracks. This is also a very convenient area for residents and tourists.