After our PipBuck icon contest we asked for all of you guys’ opinion on what type of contest you would be the most interested in. The results were pretty clear, and the time has come for The Overmare Studios’ first ever Quest contest!

But before we go to that, we would like to present our refined versions of the previous contest’s winning icons. We loved all of the designs, and are quite happy with how they turned out!

At the bottom you can also find a new song by our resident band, the Wasteland Wailers, this time collaborating with Anneli Heed herself. Although it won't be part of the game's soundtrack, be sure to check that out!

Quest Contest

Now, let’s move on to our new contest. Like said above, it is a quest contest, meaning you have a chance of getting your own quest featured in the game!

However, it is not a complete free-for-all, we have set up a few guidelines and requirements that all submissions need to follow. Having specified guidelines for the quests will not only make sure they are reasonable for us to implement, but also allows us to judge them more fairly.

Guidelines & Requirements

First, and perhaps most importantly, the theme is bounty hunting! We feel this is will allow a reasonable amount of flexibility, while still keeping everything under one topic for easier comparison. The exact details like locations, characters, steps are mostly up to you, but do also have certain limitations. For your convenience we have listed all of them below in bullet points, so make sure you read through all of them!

  • Quest is required to be a bounty hunting style quest
  • As few unique assets as possible (preferably none)​
    • No unique weapons/armor​​
  • No need to go into level design​
    • Generic location names/rough descriptions (where necessary) are enough​
  • Max 20 pages total​
    • Length is not a judgement criteria, longer doesn’t necessarily equal better​
  • Where do you get the quest? Note: Limited to the locations listed below, and their immediate vicinity; e.g. “The quest is given by a merchant who is in a small hut outside New Appleloosa.”​
    • New Appleloosa (Western/Frontier)
    • Old Appleloosa (Slave Trading Town)
    • Fillydelphia (Main Slave Trading Town)
    • Tenpony Tower (Civilized)
    • Friendship City (Civilized)​
  • How does the player receive the quest? Write the note/exchange that sets the player on their way​
    • Bounty Board
    • Note
    • Audio Recording
    • Character (Town/Faction Leader, Sheriff, Merchant, Concerned Citizen, etc.)
    • Other​
  • What steps does the player need to go through to find their target?​
    • Are there multiple ways to find the target?
    • Do the steps need to be done in a specific order, and if so why?
    • Are there any skill, S.P.E.C.I.A.L., or perk requirements to complete any of the steps.​
  • Are there any encounters, excluding the target, optional or otherwise?​
    • Who are they?
    • What part do they serve to the questline?
    • Are there multiple ways to deal with them?
    • Can you kill them and if so, what happens if they are killed?​
  • What happens when the player encounters their target?​
    • Does the target attack the player on sight?
    • Does the target run?
    • Can the player talk to the target?
    • Does the player have to choose the target’s fate? How do the rewards differ based on the player’s choice?​
  • What is the reward the player gets from completing the bounty?​
    • Reputation gain
    • Weapon
    • Armor
    • Items
    • Money
    • Karma
    • Perk​
  • What characters are involved in the quest?​
    • What do they look like​
      • Apparel/Equipment
      • Mane/Tail/Body Color & Design
      • Cutie mark
      • Gender
      • Race
        • This is limited to Unicorn, Earth Pony, Griffon, Zebra, their respective Ghoul versions, and robots.​
          • Recommendation is to be prudent with zebras and robots.
        • Pegasi are excluded due to their limited number and existence outside of Enclave​
    • What role do they play in the quest​
    • Do they have any faction ties

Template & Example Quest

In order to make things simpler for all of you, we have drafted a template for easier formatting, and also written up a small example quest! You are not required to use the template, as long as whatever formatting you use is easy to follow and understand. Formatting is one of the judgment criterias, so take extra care with it!

Note that the example quest may or may not appear in the game. The quest is unfinished and is missing some details, and it is highly recommended for the submissions to have all of the proper information filled in. You can add/remove steps as you feel fit, as long as it is a solid quest with all of the necessary information required to complete any and all parts of it.

Template and Example Quest: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-wvD9lcYJDaK3iTMTMllA2_W5rUl5ApDPdGHaF032Xs

Judgement Criteria

There are three major traits we look at when we’re judging your submissions, in no specific order.

Clarity
This includes, but is not limited to formatting, grammar, complete sentences and how easy everything is to understand.

Content
Best way to look at this is to ask yourself, is your quest an engaging story? Does it have interesting characters and events?

Originality
Is your quest a straight up kill/fetch quest, or is it interesting and complex? Does it have unexpected plot twists, or something that makes it unique?

Rewards

The most obvious is the one we already said, namely if you win, your quest will be featured in the game! Naturally, this means you will also get your name in the credits, under the title of “Community Contributor(s)”.

But this time, we have decided to add something completely new as well. Couple weeks ago we started making podcasts, and if get the first place in the contest, you will get a chance to be a part of one as a guest. This will give you an unique chance to talk about your quest with our developers, along with questions you might have!

General Rules & Disclaimers

  • The deadline of the competition is 30th of September 2015
  • Submitting a quest does not make you part of The Overmare Studios
  • The exact use of your quest will be determined on a later date and is subject to change.
  • The number of submissions per participant is unlimited, however we will only highlight and choose one (1) per participant to be a winner.
  • Top 3 submissions will be chosen to be winners (Only 1st place winner can participate in a TOmS podcast)
    • The amount is subject to change depending on the number of unique submitters
  • The Overmare Studios reserves the full right to use and modify any and all aspects of submitted quests, regardless of whether the submission wins the contest

Submission

All submissions should be written using a Google Document. This is simply to make it easier for us to view your submission, as not everyone has access to same documentation software, and formatting can break or otherwise be inconsistent between different softwares. Formatting is one of the judgement criterias, and we don’t want any of you to lose points because of incompatible software.

To submit your quest, send an email to [email protected] with [Bounty Quest Submission] in the title, and add a link to the Google Document with your quest. Make sure the permissions are properly set so that anyone with a link can view the document! (In order to edit the permissions, click the large blue Share button on the top right corner. The required settings are: http://i.imgur.com/51e0S70.png)

Make sure to include the nickname (or real name) you would want to be credited as!

We hope you are as excited about this contest as we are, and are highly looking forward to reading your awesome quest ideas! Good luck!

New Song!

As a little bonus, here is a new song by our resident band, the Wasteland Wailers, this time collaborating with Anneli Heed herself. Although it won't be part of the game's soundtrack, be sure to check that out!