The Hammer Cup 2017 consisted of five mapping challenges, each with a different theme.
Entrants received points for each challenge they enter.
At the end of the event, the best 3 points totals from the challenges they entered were added together for each entrant. These totals decided who won the Grand Prizes.
This means that entrants did NOT have to enter each and every contest to win the grand prize but they needed to have entered at least 3 challenges to have a chance of winning the grand prizes.
The top 5 finishers overall in the Hammer Cup receive the following prizes:
First: $400
Second: $200
Third: $100
Fourth: $50
Fifth: $25
In addition, there are two special prizes, discussed below.
Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to all participants and players!
Clément Baticle AKA Klems
Maps: Zombie Defense, Antlion Farm, The Crab, The Shadow Over Ravensmouth
Abdulhamid Cayirli AKA Crowbar
Maps: Haven, Blighttown, Fog of War, Raid
ethosaur
Maps: Castle Defender, Sludge Hole, Smog City, Arctic Rumble, Slime Dump
Sockman
Maps: Warm Up, Waste Management, Time Bridge, Portal Storm, Takeover
1upD
Maps: Countermeasure, Floodgates, Double Crossed, Stolen Research (bonus), Finale
Full points for each entry can be seen on The Hammer Cup 2017 Spreadsheet.
This year there were two special prizes awarded: first, $50 to a random entrant not in the top 5 and second, $25 to the Most Inventive map.
Rekurer
Maps: Neocortex Prosecution, Night Train
Stonie Blue AKA BlueASIS
Map: BlueOS
The Hammer Cup 2017 was composed of 5 challenges scattered throughout the year. Each challenge’s theme and winners are outlined below.
DefendVilleTwo was of course the sequel to the successful DefendVille. Mappers had to create a scenario where the player had up to 5 minutes to prepare to defend a location against an attack.
Submitted: 12 entries
The Winners:
Zombie Defense by Clément Baticle AKA Klems: 98 points
Haven by Abdulhamid Cayirli AKA Crowbar: 80 points
Unexpected Interference by Stanislav Rosecky AKA Stanleyros: 69 points
ToxicVille required mappers to make clever use of the classic HL2 yellow/green toxic sludge in the level design.
Submitted: 18 entries
The Winners:
Detour by Osko: 113 points
Antlion Farm by Clément Baticle AKA Klems: 86 points
Tunnel Vision by Dats Ridonkulous: 48 points
BridgeVille required any type of bridge to be a main feature in the map – and players must cross that bridge at some point while playing.
Submitted: 19 entries plus 1 bonus map
The Winners:
Fog of War by Abdulhamid Cayirli AKA Crowbar: 99 points
BlueOS by Stonie Blue AKA BlueASIS: 90 points
Sunova Bridge by krassell: 61 points
TeleportVille asked mappers to use the idea of teleportation to influence the gameplay in their levels.
Submitted: 12 entries plus 3 bonus maps
The Winners:
The Crab by Clément Baticle AKA Klems: 110 points
Arctic Rumble by ethosaur: 81 points
Body Swap by HighFire: 41 points
FusionVille required mappers to fuse together 3 of the 8 themes from the 2016 and 2017 Hammer Cup challenges into their unique creation: chasm, liberation, backtrack, trap, defend, toxic, bridge, and teleport.
Submitted: 17 entries
The Winners:
The Shadow over Ravensmouth by Clément Baticle AKA Klems: 94 points
A Hero Once More Part 2 by marnamai: 93 points
The Crossing by Ildarion: 91 points
Full points for each entry can be seen on The Hammer Cup 2017 Spreadsheet.
First, a hearty thank you to all the participants of the 2017 Hammer Cup. Your creativity and hard work makes this site possible. We had a huge number of first-time entrants as well as first-time mappers – and we hope the variety of themes helps stimulate your creative side and keeps you mapping!
Finally, thanks to all the players, reviewers, and site visitors. The 2017 mapping challenges were some of the most popular ever, and we’re hoping for a strong 2018!
Great summary!
It was a really good year. The quality of the entries keeps getting better and better each year I think and it’s exciting to know that so many people are still interested in mapping for HL2.
Congrats to all those who received awards above.. well deserved!
Looking forward to a great new year of maps in 2018!
I also think the 2017 Hammer Cup produced some quality mods. Ranging from er… okay to the “I can’t believe such an old game engine can do this!” quality of mod. The range of challenges brought such huge variety and more than a little head scratching with some ingenious new types of switch., making some players rate low due to brain fatigue! I got caught out on more than a few, but Phillip’s playthroughs and others saved the day.
The Fusionville Maps provided a fitting conclusion with some excellent, and bloody difficult gameplay challenges.
The highlight for me, was playing on a collapsing bridge which, at first seemed ridiculously impossible and then ingenious! It didn’t even phase my Jurassic PC either!
A good vintage year for HL2 modding in general as well as the Hammer Cup.
Bring on 2018!