Bannerlord Creative Competition 2: 3D Art Contest

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Dejan

Community Manager
Bannerlord_Creative_Competition_2_keyart.jpg

Area & Theme​

  • Area: Melee Weapons Set
  • Theme: Calradian Royal Armoury
  • The competition closes on the 31st of July 2022, 23:59 UTC+3.

Description​

Experienced smithies will know that each weapon in Bannerlord is composed of multiple crafting pieces across a number of categories, allowing for the creation of hundreds of thousands of different weapons. 3D art contest participants are invited to take a shot at creating a Calradian royal melee weapon set, worthy of being used in battle by the highest of nobles and implement it into the game so that it fits with the native crafting pieces and works with the crafting system.

General Rules​

TaleWorlds Entertainment reserves the right to change the below rules at any time.
  • You may only submit your work during the submission time period specified above.
  • You may only submit your own work, no derivatives of another asset or asset theft is allowed.
  • No obscene or illegal content is allowed.
  • Contest judges, employees and contractors of TaleWorlds Entertainment are not eligible to receive prizes.
  • Taleworlds Entertainment is not obliged to award all of the prizes if there is a lack of submissions or if submissions are not of acceptable quality.
  • Winners must be able to supply us with their full name, email, home address and phone number within two weeks of announcing the winners, to be eligible to receive their prize.
  • Your submission should not be based on a third-party IP.
  • By submitting an entry you agree to comply with all the contest rules and all decisions of the contest judges.

3D Art Contest Rules​

  • By submitting your work to the contest, you agree that it will be shared as open source with all the submissions at the end of the contest, to be used in various M&B II: Bannerlord modifications, according to the open source license provided here. None of the submissions will be integrated into the base game.
  • Your submission will be evaluated in-game with the completed module you provide. The completed module should include your 3D art assets as well as your implementation of them into the game. Please see the FAQ section for guidance.
  • Your themed melee weapons set should include a maximum of 16 crafting pieces that fit within the existing native crafting templates (scabbards don’t count towards the 16 crafting pieces limit). Every crafting piece inside your set should allow for a creation of a melee weapon but should only be used once within the pack. Here’s an example of a submission:
    • Blade_1, guard_1, grip_1, pommel_1 (4 crafting pieces) - OneHandedSword (optional scabbard_1)
    • Blade_2, guard_2, grip_2, pommel_2 (4 crafting pieces) - OneHandedSword (optional scabbard_2)
    • Blade_3, guard_3, grip_3, pommel_3 (4 crafting pieces) - TwoHandedSword (optional scabbard_3)
    • Blade_4, handle_1, pommel_4 (3 crafting pieces) - OneHandedAxe
  • The texture resolution must be a power of 2 - e.g. 1024x1024, 1024x2048,... The maximum size of the texture maps is 4096x4096. The whole weapon set should be on the same texture map. Your submission should include the 3 texture maps, DiffuseMap, NormalMap and SpecularMap.
  • Triangle count limits (only applies to LOD0, other LODs aren't counted in this limit):
    • Weapon made out of 4 crafting pieces: 4000 (optional scabbard is included in this limit)
    • Weapon made out of 3 crafting pieces: 2500
  • The models must be provided in a .fbx format.
  • Textures must be provided in "tif", "psd", "dds", "bmp", "tga" or "png" formats.
  • The Bannerlord engine also utilises LODs (Level of Detail). Your submission must include the main level as well as 5 LOD levels.
  • Your melee weapons set can include scabbards for OneHandedSwords and TwoHandedSwords. (Optional)
  • Your melee weapons set shouldn’t utilise cloth physics.
  • You must post screenshots of your work in progress in at least three different stages of completion, to confirm that it is your creation. You are encouraged to post more!
  • Your entry must work with version e1.8.0 of Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord and the Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord - Modding Kit.
  • You may submit up to three individual weapon packs to the contest but only your best-rated submission will be taken into account when deciding the winners.

FAQ​

How do I access the Bannerlord Modding Kit?
  • Currently, you can access the modding kit via Steam only. You can download the “Mount & Blade Bannerlord Modding Tools” from the Tools section of Steam. Note that the tools use some of the files downloaded within the game itself. As such, the tools and game should be at the same main version (not beta) and installed on the same hard drive.
How do I launch the tools?
  • You can choose the Singleplayer option from the launcher and once you are in the Initial Menu, you can either press the Editor button or press the Ctrl + E key combination to start up the editor.
How do I implement a weapon that will work with the crafting system?
  • We have added a new page to our documentation: Weapon Smithing & Crafting Pieces. It contains an explanation on how the crafting system works, what XML nodes need to be created to implement the crafting pieces, how to implement them and more.
Do you have an example module that allows me to check how crafting pieces are implemented code-wise?
  • Yes, you can download it here.
What kind of melee weapons can my crafting pieces be made into and which crafting pieces should each weapon have?
  • OneHandedSword - Blade, guard, grip, pommel (4 crafting pieces, optional scabbard)
  • TwoHandedSword - Blade, guard, grip, pommel (4 crafting pieces, optional scabbard)
  • Dagger - Blade, guard, grip, pommel (4 crafting pieces)
  • OneHandedAxe - Blade, handle, pommel (3 crafting pieces)
  • TwoHandedAxe - Blade, handle, pommel (3 crafting pieces)
  • TwoHandedPolearm - Blade, guard, grip, pommel (4 crafting pieces)
  • Pike - Blade, guard, grip, pommel (4 crafting pieces)
  • Mace - Blade, handle, pommel (3 crafting pieces)
  • TwoHandedMace - Blade, handle, pommel (3 crafting pieces)
Where can I get help with various 3D art design questions or the implementation of it into the game?

Evaluation System​

The submissions will be rated based on their performance in the following categories: Visuals, Originality, Performance and Craftability. Once the submission end date is reached and the submissions are closed, the hand-picked community team of experts will first check the submissions. The melee weapons set will then be judged by a panel of artists and other developers at TaleWorlds Entertainment to determine the winners based on the following criteria:
  • Visuals - The visual appeal of a submission, how well the different shapes and features fit into the overall look.
  • Originality - The use of new and original concepts while designing your submission.
  • Performance - Sensible usage of triangles, texture map sizes and the evaluation of LOD meshes.
  • Craftability - Compatibility of your set with the native crafting pieces and system. Keep in mind that we won’t evaluate design choices (for example, how much iron is required to craft a piece, what culture it belongs to, how much damage it does,...) but we will evaluate how well your set works in combination with itself and in combination with the native crafting pieces (correct piece_offsets, correct length, correct positioning of your models in the .fbx file,...).

Contest Prizes​

Bannerlord_Creative_Competition_2_prizes.jpg

How to submit your 3D art​

RAR/ZIP the whole module you’ve created which includes your source models, texture files and the implementation of them into the game which ensures they work with the native crafting system and the native crafting pieces with the following name: “3DArt_YourForumUsername”. Then upload the RAR/ZIP file to contest-upload.taleworlds.com.

After uploading the RAR/ZIP file, reply to this thread with the following template:
Code:
Melee weapons set name:
Created weapons:
Work-in-progress screenshots [at least 3]:
Completed set screenshots:
Melee weapons set name: Vadrios’s Battle Set
Created weapons: 2x OneHandedSword, 1x TwoHandedPolearm, 1x Mace
Work-in-progress screenshots [at least 3]:
Completed set screenshots:

Good luck to all participants, you're encouraged to discuss the contest below, share work-in-progress images and of course, submit your entries!
 
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I didn't understand which visual reference I should be working with. Do I need to create a custom one myself?
ss3.png


ss4.png
 
1. Weapons of what centuries are we allowed to create?
2. Is it acceptable to use indian, chinese or japanese cultures?
3. Are we allowed to create replicas of real weapons or we need to change details?
 
1. Weapons of what centuries are we allowed to create?
2. Is it acceptable to use indian, chinese or japanese cultures?
3. Are we allowed to create replicas of real weapons or we need to change details?

By "Calradian Royal Armoury" being the theme, I think they mean inside the time period of the game, and game cultures only. So by extension you will need to create your own details inspired by each cultures real-world inspirations.
 
By "Calradian Royal Armoury" being the theme, I think they mean inside the time period of the game, and game cultures only. So by extension you will need to create your own details inspired by each cultures real-world inspirations.

So what is the exact century in the game? According to ingame weaponry it feels like 14th, but there is no plate armor.
 
What's the requirement for the weapons to be included in the set? Do we need one of each weapon listed, or can we pick from that list? If the latter, what's the requirement on number of weapons to have?
 
I sort of take Issue with the restrictive triangle counts. 4k total inlcuding scabbard for a 4 peice weapon? I mean these are supposed to be high end (royal). Why not just give us a wiggle room in reference to the 3D workflow document? For example somewhere in the middle of medium and maximum triangles in the 3D workflow document? Also you're kind of shooting those in the foot that do decide to put extra effort into making a scabbard as it limits their triangle count even more...
 
Axes in the game are made of 2 pieces, not 3. Is it planned to add pommels or there is a mistake in competition description?
 
I sort of take Issue with the restrictive triangle counts. 4k total inlcuding scabbard for a 4 peice weapon? I mean these are supposed to be high end (royal). Why not just give us a wiggle room in reference to the 3D workflow document? For example somewhere in the middle of medium and maximum triangles in the 3D workflow document? Also you're kind of shooting those in the foot that do decide to put extra effort into making a scabbard as it limits their triangle count even more...
Swords, pikes, and even halberds are rather simple geometries. 2k polys or less is a pretty reasonable limit for these, especially considering a game scene could contain as many as 4,000 swords at once. At that number you're effectively modeling for an MMORPG here, so efficient meshes are a must.
Any ornate details should be left to the textures anyways, as is standard practice. They've been very generous with texture requirements. Just police your polys like you normally would and you'll be fine.

Since it's relevant: For anyone in Blender, you can get a display of your poly/triangle count in the viewport as you go. Highly recommend doing this.
Viewport Overlays -> 'Statistics' (enable this)

Image Example Here
 
I didn't understand which visual reference I should be working with. Do I need to create a custom one myself?
There's no set visual reference, you should just follow the theme of the contest which is the Calradian Royal Armory.
What is the deadline for submissions ?
The competition closes on the 31st of July 2022, 23:59 UTC+3.
1. Weapons of what centuries are we allowed to create?
2. Is it acceptable to use indian, chinese or japanese cultures?
3. Are we allowed to create replicas of real weapons or we need to change details?
As @Fïshe said, the theme of the contest is Calradian Royal Armory. That gives you quite a broad range of inspirations you can draw your creation from. In general, avoid high fantasy but there are many ways of applying the in-game cultures to your weapon set and we won't be strict about that. You can create a replica of a real weapon but we appreciate Originality as mentioned under the Evaluation System.
What's the requirement for the weapons to be included in the set? Do we need one of each weapon listed, or can we pick from that list? If the latter, what's the requirement on number of weapons to have?
There's no minimum amount of weapons you should include. You can, however, include a maximum of 16 crafting pieces. You can pick from the list and can create any combination of the listed weapons. This part of the ruleset answers your questions:
  • Your themed melee weapons set should include a maximum of 16 crafting pieces that fit within the existing native crafting templates (scabbards don’t count towards the 16 crafting pieces limit). Every crafting piece inside your set should allow for a creation of a melee weapon but should only be used once within the pack. Here’s an example of a submission:
    • Blade_1, guard_1, grip_1, pommel_1 (4 crafting pieces) - OneHandedSword (optional scabbard_1)
    • Blade_2, guard_2, grip_2, pommel_2 (4 crafting pieces) - OneHandedSword (optional scabbard_2)
    • Blade_3, guard_3, grip_3, pommel_3 (4 crafting pieces) - TwoHandedSword (optional scabbard_3)
    • Blade_4, handle_1, pommel_4 (3 crafting pieces) - OneHandedAxe
Axes in the game are made of 2 pieces, not 3. Is it planned to add pommels or there is a mistake in competition description?
Indeed, the next Beta version of the game will expand on the crafting slots of one-handed axes, two-handed axes, maces and two-handed maces to include pommels.
Since it's relevant: For anyone in Blender, you can get a display of your poly/triangle count in the viewport as you go. Highly recommend doing this.
Viewport Overlays -> 'Statistics' (enable this)
Thanks for posting tips!

I have also included this clarification in the ruleset:
  • Triangle count limits (only applies to LOD0, other LODs aren't counted in this limit):
    • Weapon made out of 4 crafting pieces: 4000 (optional scabbard is included in this limit)
    • Weapon made out of 3 crafting pieces: 2500
 
Is it possible to use overlaps on uv, what type of normals does the game use? opengl or directx?
 
Hello!
Here's my entry for this contest! I hope you'll like it

Melee weapons set name: Guedin Royal Set

Created weapons: 1x one handed sword, 1x two handed axe, 1x spear.

Work-in-progress screenshots [at least 3]:
High Res in Blender:
Screenshot-2022-05-23-094007.jpg


Screenshot-2022-05-23-094230.jpg

Screenshot-2022-05-23-094354.jpg

Low Res:
Screenshot-2022-05-23-094518.jpg


Completed set screenshots:
Screenshot-2022-05-23-095759.jpg

Screenshot-2022-05-23-095830.jpg

Screenshot-2022-05-23-095711.jpg

Screenshot-2022-05-23-100224.jpg

Screenshot-2022-05-23-100311.jpg

Screenshot-2022-05-23-100359.jpg
 
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Hello!
Here's my entry for this contest! I hope you'll like it

Melee weapons set name: Guedin Royal Set

Created weapons: 1x one handed sword, 1x two handed axe, 1x spear.

Work-in-progress screenshots [at least 3]:
High Res in Blender:
Screenshot-2022-05-23-094007.jpg


Screenshot-2022-05-23-094230.jpg

Screenshot-2022-05-23-094354.jpg

Low Res:
Screenshot-2022-05-23-094518.jpg


Completed set screenshots:
Screenshot-2022-05-23-095759.jpg

Screenshot-2022-05-23-095830.jpg

Screenshot-2022-05-23-095711.jpg

Screenshot-2022-05-23-100224.jpg

Screenshot-2022-05-23-100311.jpg

Screenshot-2022-05-23-100359.jpg
Good work. One handed sword and spear looks really good.Btw, it would be better if you could use spoiler for screenshots though, like in my quote.
 
Good work. One handed sword and spear looks really good.Btw, it would be better if you could use spoiler for screenshots though, like in my quote.
Woops! Sorry about that, it should be fixed now :grin:
And thanks for the kind words :wink:
 
If we are limited with 16 crafting pieces, is it fine to make something like 3 types of weapon for different culture, for example 1 for empire, 1 for vlandia and 1 for sturgia, or are we limited for 1 culture of our choice?

  • You may only submit your own work, no derivatives of another asset or asset theft is allowed.
Are we not allowed to use on modding tool a native material such as weapon_crafting.mat material for our blade metal?
 
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