CountriesXL Contests

Okay, maybe this was a better forum for the CountriesXL contests!

I know that some of you have been sceptical about the contests themselves,
as we earlier demanded to first build a structure, and then to demolish it in the case you did
not win a contest.
We now have already introduced a new concept, based on the following points
(thanks to @veija2 , @royb 98 and others):

• Teams are no longer needed. One can make his own country, but also join an existing one. It is also possible to join multiple countries or just make a small project like an airport.
• Restrictions on landmarks still apply but one can ask for '1'-marked landmarks in the forum. Everyone votes, but we (Dreian, kipate and me) have a veto so that we can decide whether it should be obtained by winning a contest or not.
• The round structure still exists but just as an indication. Everyone can be building in a different round. There are still small contests but you can only win honor. This is because of the difference in rounds between players. People will be able to submit their photos and vote in the forum when they want. The poll will continue and people can change their votes at all times.
• If someone decides to join, he starts wih round 1 (not the introduction round). All the rules still apply.
• No restrictions on city sizes. The difference in progress between players makes it hard to control the city sizes.
• There will also be big contests with big prizes. These will have time limits so that there will be a winner. People can ask us if they want a certain building (see 3.) and if we decide that they have to win it, we use these contests.

TO SUM IT UP:
1) you register here, and make sure you have a map that has not already been taken,
2) you can join an existing country, or start a country with your own city,
3) you participate on the contests, develop your city and have fun
restrictions: there are some buildings that you cannot use directly:

Spoiler

Register or Login to view Spoiler content!

ALSO, you can of course cheat and build skyscrapers right from the start on, but well
this may not look that realistic
If you play together and agree on a certain theme, e.g. to stay consistent and only have
rather southern looking cities, then you could formulate this as a charta

So, the new contests, it is a bit more to read, but afterwards, anything should be clear.

Background:
The Federation of Western States wants to deepen its relationship to the other countries,
hence some organizations as companies and institutions try to find partner cities to realize
some projects.

• How do I participate on a contest?
• You choose on which of the contests you want to participate, and afterwards, you send us an idea of what you would build in case you won the contest. It is similar to all the real contests for the Olympic Games or the Superbowl: a team develops a concept on what should be built, some politicians approve it, and then the concept is sent to the committee, which then decides which concept of all the cities gives the overall best impression, regarding several criteria, e.g. costs, sustainability, etc. ... HERE, of course the architectonic varibles are the most important ones, but we also look for sustainability, so you should not demolish anything afterwards, the Federation notices everything
• How exactly do I create an idea?
• You choose the area that should serve as a construction side for the structure, then you leave the CountriesXL city, open your test city, and try to create some structures you would want to place within the CoXL city. Take some screenshots, write some application, and send it to us. You SHALL NOT be as precise as possible! Of course, you could simply build anything in the CoXL city, take a screenshot, write some application, and then either leave it there or demolish it; BUT we do not want people to demolish things anymore, hence this compromise. BUT we also do not want any castles in the air. So you also need to estimate your own skills
• So how exactly do I apply?
• You have several options: 1) Create the structures you later want to place in the CoXL city first roughly within the test city. You can for example place all the structures next to each other, and then tell us how you want to place them. Here I will show you a quick example of what I mean: For a small convention center: Application would be like: I want to apply for being allowed to place some convention center within my CoXL city. For the main building, I would use four convention center corners that come up with aitortilla01's mod, and put a no collision Swiss Re building atop. The theme was "blue", hence for the hotel, I would use the Blue Hotel by aitortilla01 next to the blue Swiss Re Building. Also, for a secondary building, I would use two of the in-game pyramids, put them next to each other, and connect the upper parts with some skyway by lextacy. Also, I would use some no-collision T2 in-game buildings (insurance company) for the administration. For the entertainment of the visitors that stay longer than just one day, I would place some indoor golf course and tennis courts. Also, I would like to create some little park and use some furniture to fence some parts of the convention center. Some billboards shall stand next to the parking area. The following plan shows the way I would order the buildings: Naturally, your plans will be more detailed and not so cheap as mine Also, it would be cool if you could add some screens of your CoXL city to show us the area, and maybe also name the plazas and trees you want to add, if that does not cause too much trouble... the example was done within 10 minutes all in all, so of course, we do expect a little more, but it really should not be overkill, it is about having fun, always remember Option 2) is that you take some photos of real life existing buildings and tell us the way you want to recreate the area. E.g. go to Moline, Illinois, USA, and say that you were inspired by the Iwireless Center and want to use e.g. the Madison Square Garden mod by karaaib, the skyway by lextacy, the multi storey parking house by aitortilla01, the marinas by PaulJChris to recreate it; if you do not want to fully recreate it, then say what exactly you want to do, Paint and other programs are your friends Mixing both options is of course allowed
• IMPORTANT:
  If you want to create a custom made structure and think it takes too long to create it first within the test city and then within the CoXL city, then maybe a little drawing would be good, or some really precise description. The same holds in general for area terraforming.

The contests themselves, now finally:
1) a small convention center, as a junior partner for the Titanian EXPO.
IMPORTANT: you are not allowed to use the main building of the convention center by aitortilla01, as this building does not allow for small convention centers
also, think about all the logistic necessarities, that is important! Cargo Bays, highways, bus stations, and so on. Btw, here a link for the Iwireless Center:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWireless_Center
look it up on Google Streetview
2) a small abbey, you could use a lot of no collision mods, use some trees and create some
gardens, oh I am already drooling over this
3) a new Castel Gandolfo, for the Pope of Alpha Centauri. He needs a residence where he can spend the winters. Naturally, cities with a generally warm climate close to the sea do have advantages in this challenge, and of course, some Latin Style complex was expected, BUT if you have e.g. a nice post modern approach, who knows... and think about that you should only describe possible terraforming! Also, no steep streets! Use serpentines
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Categoryontifical_Palace_(Castel_Gandolfo)
the new Vatican within Titania:

Spoiler: the earthen Vatican

Register or Login to view Spoiler content!

4) a horse race track, you can e.g. use the horses of the Pack Ferme that is available on the Generation City site. http://www.generation-city.com/citiesxl/index.php/telechargements/batiments/361-pack-ferme-2009
We do not only want a track, we also want an environment.
Logistics are important here as well, and maybe use some stages that come with the mod
by Discopolis: http://xlnation.city/resources/soccer-fields.104/
maybe have a look at the real world horse race tracks, how long they are, how many people
can visit them, how to access them, etc. ...
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Happy_Valley_Racecourse
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sha_Tin_Racecourse
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ascot_Racecourse
5) a hotel resort: use your creativity. This is the contest where you will have the least restrictions, as there are many many hotel resorts around the world; so we look for realism.
Here, the second option of "how to apply" would probably be the best.

How do we choose winners:
well, there are several options, we could make it similar to the Bootleg Contest,
so that there was a certain jury that chooses the winners, or we could have a great poll...

REWARDS:
I first wanted to suggest some feature within the Titanian Times,
BUT I also asked @IcyHot whether it was possible to have some little medals for
the winners of the contests, I haven't received any answer on that yet