The contest is now over.
We've announced our winners!
Check out some of the fab entries we received.
2023 is flying by, but before it's over, have we got a contest for you! Let's end the year with one of the most exciting contests we've ever thrown at you--your best opportunity yet to get your artwork into the game.
Submission Window
Submissions open from 11:00 p.m. CT (5:00 a.m. British Time / 6:00 Central European Time) Saturday, November 11th, 2023 (Sunday, November 12th, 2023 in Europe) until 11:59 p.m. CT (5:59 a.m. British Time / 6:59 Central European Time) Saturday, December 30th, 2023 (Sunday, December 31st, 2023 in Europe) .
Entry Guidelines
How do we do that, you ask?
Well, imagine that a new business is setting up shop in Paragon City and that you've been hired to create their signage. Your task is to invent a brand-new ad campaign--displayed on a billboard--to promote a product, retailer, restaurant chain, in-lore political candidate, or service of your own devising (or based on lore) that you've always wanted to see in the game!
Whether you do it with a drawing, a painting, or a screenshot, we are offering you the opportunity to create your own billboard for the delight of the denizens of Paragon city. Make it clever, funny (or punny!), make it deep and contemplative, make it dramatic and histrionic--it is up to you as long as it fits into the City of Heroes universe AND doesn't infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right, or any privacy, publicity or publishing rights of any third party, or libelous, obscene or otherwise contrary to law.
Now, how do you go about designing a billboard? We'll try and keep it as simple as possible but make sure you familiarize yourselves with the following requirements for your entry to be valid!
- Choose one of the following resolution for your entry. Each entry must be set to that resolution exactly.
- 512 x 512 exactly.
- 1024 x 256 exactly.
- 512 x 1024 exactly.
- 256 x 1024 exactly.
- 1024 x 512 exactly.
- You must submit your entries in .PSD format ONLY (support by most major and free tools like Photoshop, Gimp, Paint .NET, etc. Here is a link to a free tool, Gimp, if needed).
- Create your artwork using layers (so we have the ability to make adjustments).
- Send us your unflattened image in .PSD format. Submission details below.
- If you are using in-game screenshots in your submission, please use the highest Ultra Mode settings that your computer allows (e.g.: shadows, water, ambient occlusion, texture quality, anti-aliasing have to be turned up; environment reflections must be turned up where applicable).
And a little art direction to help you hit just the right note:
- Unlike the Praetorian propaganda/graffiti contest, no particular artistic style or method of presentation is required to succeed in this contest.
- Look at real-world advertisements for inspiration.
- Be clever. "Up-N-Away Burger" is one of our favorite existing billboards, to give you an example. Not everything needs to be a pop-culture reference or funny necessarily, but the best ad campaigns have a certain wittiness that hooks in viewers.
- Match the art style to the thing you're advertising. Not everything needs to be clean and sharp; if you're advertising something seedy, maybe grunge and splatter is more appropriate for your campaign).
- Because we'll likely make more than one billboard out of your original art, please include uncropped artwork on your layers (example: even if you're only showing half a character on your billboard, please include the full figure on the actual layer. This gives us the option to use your artwork more easily in a vertical format).
Your submission will be judged on originality, creativity, and visual appearance. Feel free to submit as many entries as you want, but you may only place once as a Contest Winner. We reserved the right to make alterations to the winning entries.
Submisisons
Do NOT post your submission publicly! Enter only through email or through one of the below mentioned sites. We will share the winning entries with you when the contest concludes.
Here's how to enter:
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Send a message in our Discord Contest-Submissions channel or send an email to [email protected] with the subject heading "City of Heroes Billboards Contest." Include the following information in the body of the email (please send each submission individually!):
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Include your Billboard file as an attachment if its size doesn't exceed 25MB or use Sendspace.com if you have several files or the total file size exceeds 25MB.
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Include the name of your in-game character that you would like to receive prizes on.
Prizes
There will be three (3) Winners for each resolution size so feel free to submit multiple entries. Their prizes are:
One (1) First Place Winner Will Receive:
- Ten (10) Reward Tokens
- One (1) Permanent in-game special reward title for one character so long as such account is in good standing.
- One (1) Full Set of the all-new Challenge IO Enhancements.
- One (1) Full Set of Halloween IO Enhancements.
- One (1) Full Set of Winter IO Enhancements.
- *Possible entry inclusion in the City of Heroes game
One (1) Second Place Winner Will Receive:
- Eight (8) Reward Tokens
- One (1) 365 Day in-game special reward title for one character so long as such account is in good standing.
- One (1) Full Set of Halloween IO Enhancements.
- One (1) Full Set of Winter IO Enhancements.
- *Possible entry inclusion in the City of Heroes game
One (1) Third Place Winner Will Receive:
- Six (6) Reward Tokens
- One (1) 183 Day in-game special reward title for one character so long as such account is in good standing.
- One (1) Full Set of Winter IO Enhancements.
- *Possible entry inclusion in the City of Heroes game
Runners-ups:
We reserve the right to award prizes to further Winners (Runner-ups) if their submission is selected to be used as a billboard in the game but don't place in the top 3 Winners, in which case their prize would be:
- Three (3) Reward Token
- One (1) 90 Day in-game special reward title for one character so long as such account is in good standing.
- *Possible entry inclusion in the City of Heroes game
All Participants Will Receive:
- Five (5) Super Pack: All Hallows' Eve.
We're looking forward to admiring your creations!
