Basic Summary

Finalists Jam accepted Skins from participants.
Accepts only standard resolution skins.

Read the about for more information.

Judging

Ranked by Judges - Only members of the jam assigned with judging permission can vote.
Entries can't be updated during the judge phase.
14 day entry period.

Rating Criteria

1. Creativity & Uniqueness
   Rate how original and creative the entry is in its conception.
   Rated 1 to 5
2. Technique & Execution
   Rate the level of skill demonstrated with the creation of the entry.
   Rated 1 to 10

Contest Theme

Apocalypse Skin Contest!

The Minecraft world is in shambles, mobs roam night AND day, all our builds are crumbling; it's Minecraft Post-Apocalypse! Create original Minecraft skins for the Apocalypse.

1. Create Original Characters.

You should not have a problem with this but your submission should be something that you came up with entirely on your own. It is perfectly acceptable to be influenced by something, but do not model or name your submission after someone else's concepts.

2. Skins must be new and made for this contest.

No copies, re-posts, or old skins created before the contest's announcement date will be accepted. This includes:
Copies of default textures from the minecraft.jar - That means no Steve skins!
Existing texture packs or mods, even if you are the original author.
Existing member submissions, from this site or others, including your own galleries. Give us something new and fresh, please!

3. Skins must be valid, use-able character skins.

This is a contest for player skins only. Please do not submit mob skins, villager skins, or anything but the format expected for the player model. Skins with transparent portions have not worked since minecraft Alpha. Make sure that your skins are COMPLETELY filled out. No skins with transparent portions will be accepted. Do not use the light blue skin preview background color to fake large areas of transparency.

4. Submit something you made.

Skins that are obvious remixes, recolors, or blatant copies of other people's work are not acceptable. Your entry will be deleted, and you will be disqualified from the contest if you are found to be submitting stolen work.

Using skin-making tools such as SkinCraft, NovaSkin, or MinerShoes is not the same as making a skin yourself. Keep in mind also that, when using those applications, you are copying from a library of 'parts'. Several of those 'parts' were taken from talented skinners without their consent, and as such, skins containing those parts are considered stolen art. Those entries will be disqualified, and potentially deleted from your account.

5. One entry per person.

Each user will only be permitted to submit one skin for this contest. You may edit your one entry as long as the contest is still running. If you decide to change your submission at any point, you are free to do so. However, you should not delete your original entry. Instead, use the "update submission" button to save the new file over your old one, and change the submission title if necessary.

6. The contest will run for two weeks.

Post dates must be made after today's date, May 7th, 2012 @ 12:00 PM EST. The contest will end about two weeks from today, on May 21st, 2012 @ 12:00 PM EST Skins submitted after this date will not be accepted.

7. Take your time, and make it fun!

Give your skin some character! Write a bit about the mythology behind your character and we'll all learn more. Give them some defining characteristics. Make it unique and awesome! Remember, you have two weeks to do this. You don't need to put something up right away - and even if you chose to, you're allowed to update your submission as many times as you want before the final close date of the May 21st, 2012 @ 12:00 PM EST.

All of the normal rules of the site still apply in this contest.

Do not rush yourself to get something in immediately. This contest is not a random drawing - the submissions are judged by a panel of longstanding members with a great deal of experience in making Minecraft skins. It will not help you to submit anything less than fantastic, so take your time. If you notice that other users have submitted something better than yours, edit and update your own submission to make it even better!


Submit a skin like usual but check the box indicating it's for the contest.

1st Place

• (1) Creeper Head - Jinx.com
  
  
  
• A Contest Themed, Gold, Pixel Art Trophy for Member's Profile Trophy Case.
  
• Profile Featured on PMC - 1 Week.
  

2nd Place

• A Contest Themed, Silver, Pixel Art Trophy for Member's Profile Trophy Case.
  
• Profile Featured on PMC - 1 Week.
  

3rd Place

• Contest Themed, Bronze, Pixel Art Trophy for Member's Profile Trophy Case.
  
• Profile Featured on PMC - 1 Week.
  

All Participants

• A Contest Themed, Pixel Art Badge/Medal for Member's Profile Trophy Case.
  

If you do not know how to make skins, or have an idea but have never attempted it before, here are a few things you should know.

1. Skins must be saved as a .PNG file. No other file format will function properly.

2. Even though .PNG files support transparency, Minecraft does not. Any portions that are even partially transparent will show up as pitch-black when used in-game.

3. The most popular tools for editing Minecraft Skins are:

MCSkin3D, an application developed by Paril. You can download it from it's PMC page.

MCSkinEdit, an application developed by a user named Swedman. You can download it from the official forums post, here. You will also need the previewer, which you can download
here or here.

You may wish to use a more advanced editor for certain effects. GIMP and Paint.net are free applications that will give you access to better tools for editing.

4. If you need help or want some tips for making nice skins, Studnicky wrote a step by step guideline for skinning. You may find it here.

Halucid, another fantastic skin maker, recorded the entire process he goes through to make his skins, using GIMP and MCSkinEdit. You can watch the video here.



Here is a list of the current submissions.




Judges will be encouraged to participate, but will be disqualified from winning prizes.