Do you also remember the good old days of PMC contests? Contests were the predecessor of jams, but not just anyone could start them, which is why there were only a few of them, but they always attracted and motivated a lot of people.
I liked the contests because they always motivated me to build something truly special and to invest a lot of work into a project. I really miss the contests because today's jams are unfortunately almost always just pointless garbage. There's almost never any competition – the competitive spirit that motivates participants is completely lost. In addition, most jams either have no theme at all – "Random Stuff", "Anything", "Do What You Want" – or are so extremely focused on a very narrow topic that they hardly appeal to anyone, and participation is correspondingly low.
I would like to bring back the old contests, so I am starting this one as a kind of test to see how it goes and whether am really the only one disappointed with the general Jam offerings. The theme of the contest was deliberately chosen to be both highly restrictive and highly free possibilities. Everyone immediately conjures up many different images when they hear the word caslte. Nevertheless, there is an incredible amount of room for variation and experimentation. For example, you can play with the time period - an oppidum, a classic medieval castle, a fairytale castle or a colonial fort.
There are also many possibilities when it comes to culture or background. Gallic, Roman, Outremer, Japanese, German, Campires, Incas, Elves, Congolese – just to name a few common and less common ideas.
I think the concept is clear. Now let's get to the important rules.
1) It's pointless without a download. And the download should be free and ideally usable in such a way that no third-party software is needed for importing.
2) It must be a military building with defensive capabilities—otherwise, it's no longer a castle. A wall alone isn't sufficient. It should at least be some kind of recognizably military structure.
3) Define for yourselves exactly what I've left open. Choose a culture/period or whatever and stick to it. It doesn't have to be based on reality, but it should be consistent.
4) No mods or texture packs (Minecraft Classic and Normal). Heads are okay, but that's it. No one should be able to simply fake missing cosmetic blocks with a modified texture. This only makes sharing and judging the results much more difficult. Anything that an unmodified Minecraft can do is allowed.
5) Inside AND outside. Yes, the building should have an interior. Again, it must be coherent. The interior doesn't have to be functional; for example, you could include a clock tower without building a working clock mechanism. Command blocks are permitted.
6) Tell a story. It doesn't have to be a novel, but it should fit the theme.
7) Put effort into your presentation on PMC. No generic titles without any individuality, like "Another Castle," "Castle" or "My Contest Castle." Every PMC entry should also include a description and presentation. You're investing time and effort into your work, so give them the time for a nice presentation.
8) This is more of a request than a rule, since it can't be checked anyway: no AI-generated text and no computer-generated structures. Assistance is fine; for example, tools for terrain, drawings with Paint and grids, ideas and suggestions from AI, but be honest and do the work yourself. There's no money in it. This is a competition of honor, and a tool that creates a super HD Minecraft render model from real 3D scans of Neuschwanstein Castle will not bring you honor, but at most the developers of the software.
