CoH Worldbuilders Map Making Competition 2024

For many months the call for community maps to be added into Company of Heroes 3 has been loud. Finally, Relic has answered this call. Not only have they made this formal announcement, but the Relic team have made an excellent tutorial series on how to use the Essence Editor’s map making features. With these developments, now is the perfect time to bring community maps to the next level.



The CoH Worldbuilders Discord is hosting a new mapping competition, starting today! The goal of the competition is to create a group of maps at the highest quality in terms of gameplay, balance, and aesthetic so that the folks at Relic will want them included in the automatch ladder. Of course, the only things certain in life are death and taxes, so the decision to include any map(s) from the competition is ultimately up to Relic. While this is a competition in name, it's envisioned as a collaborative project between players, content creators, mappers, and the judges to reach the pinnacle of quality in community maps.

Right now, everyone from the die hard 1v1 ultra competitive player to the casual 4v4 enjoyer is in need of new maps so this competition is for every game mode. There have been improvements to maps in recent months to be sure, but let us do our part as a community to create beautiful, balanced landscapes that we can enjoy for years to come both in the ladder and in future tournaments!

How will this competition work to bring out the best maps from the community?



The competition will be as fair as possible with the authors of each map anonymous to the public and the judges. This way we will judge maps solely for their qualities as maps and not for the name attached to them. If you would like to be a judge for the competition please send a message to GBPirate via Discord. If there are enough judges for each category of map then GBPirate will refrain from scoring maps, making the process as fair as possible.

It is possible that a judge may submit a map but they will not be able to score it when the time comes. Details on how this will work can be found in the Information for Map Makers document. There is also the Style Guide that prospective mappers should look over as they create their art for this competition.

Because anonymity is crucial to this competition, the organizers ask that all community members refrain from speculating on or revealing the identity of map makers in the contest.



Because submissions will be anonymous, existing maps already published cannot be accepted. As these maps will be entirely new there will be ample time for map makers. The schedule is as follows

• Submission Period: Concludes 15 January
  
• Judge Feedback I: 15 - 22 January; no map updates
  
• Revision Period I: 22 January - 5 February
  
• Judge Feedback II: 5 - 12 February; no map updates
  
• Revision Period II: 12 - 24 February; maps finalized by the 24th.
  
• Voting Period: 24-26 February
  
• Winners Announced: 2-3 March
  

With more than eight weeks to start a new map or finish up something already under construction, followed by two rounds of formal feedback and iteration, there will be plenty of time to push all submissions to the highest quality. All cutoff times are 08:00 UTC (00:00 Relic HQ Time).

This schedule is subject to change. Two weeks may not be enough time between each Judge Feedback week. However, the competition should conclude sometime in March at the very latest. Please DM GBPirate if you have any concerns, issues, or if you think you need an extra day or two after a deadline.

Please note that maps that do not meet a minimum standard of competitive quality may be rejected even if submitted within the deadline. This standard will be quite loose as maps can be radically altered, but note that this is a possibility especially if there are numerous submissions.



A prize pool for the best overall maps will be awarded and the creators of the top three maps will each receive a key for Company of Heroes 3 that they can share with a friend, courtesy of GBPirate. With $100 from WhiteFlash, $50 from Greyshot 117, and $50 from GBPirate, the starting prize pool is $200 USD.

Public donations are encouraged! They don’t have to be big numbers either. If you and your 4v4 team want to each contribute five dollars, that’s twenty going into the pot. 100% of the funds will go to the map makers and GBPirate will publish the financial records after the winners are announced for maximum transparency and trust.

If you would like to donate to the prize pool visit GBPirate’s Streamlabs page.



The judges for the competition will be trusted community members and experienced players. Maps will not be ranked by the judges, but scored based on various criteria. The maps will then be ranked according to the percent of score received. Specifics on this to come soon. Judges will be invited to enter their game mode preference; if they only want to score 4v4 maps, they will only score 4v4 maps.

The organizers of this event are considering the creation of some sort of “people’s choice” award. At the latest this decision will come during the first Judge Feedback week (15 January) based on factors like map quality, judge interest, and community interest.



Maps are to be submitted using the CoH WB 2024 Map Submission Form. Be sure to consult the Style Guide for the construction of your map. The Information for Map Makers document explains what you need to submit in the form. It also goes over important details about the process of the competition and how to update your map and answer feedback from the community while maintaining anonymity of authorship, something integral to a fair scoring in the competition. There are also details there about remaking old CoH1 and CoH2 maps for this competition. (If this is something that interests you please read Section V of the document as soon as possible).




If you have any further questions, concerns, comments, or would like to be a judge, please DM GBPirate via Discord. Join the CoH Worldbuilders Discord to stay up-to-date on new maps and help shape them into masterpieces. Remember, while this is a competition, it is also a collaboration to create the best community maps for contention into automatch and future community-led tournaments. Again, none of the maps are guaranteed to be added into the ladder but that’s why it’s imperative that we all work together in the coming months to get the best results possible!

• Join the CoH Worldbuilders Discord to participate in the mapping competition, test maps, and share replays and reviews of maps.
  
• Donate to this event's prize pool via Streamlabs.
  
• If you’re interested in submitting a map for the competition, read the Information for Map Makers document.
  
• For requirements, guidelines, and recommendations for your map submissions, read the Style Guide.
  
• To submit your map to the competition, fill out the Map Submission Form.
  
• Company of Heroes 3 Map Making Resources is a document that combines multiple sources for mappers.
  
• Watch GBPirate’s announcement video.