2025 HC Base Contest Discussion Thread

[Easter Bunny]

Use this thread to discuss the 2025 HC Base Contest hosted by @Easter Bunny and @Dacy.

Entry submissions should not go here. Please use this thread for entry submissions.

[Easter Bunny]

Guess i'll use this post here to keep a running tally of the number of bases entered per category. Keep an eye here if that's of interest to you:

Fantasy / Arcane: 11
Nature: 5
Novice: 23
Realism: 7
Tech / Sci-Fi: 6
Other / Misc: 6

Edited Friday at 05:28 AM by Easter Bunny

[Aalya]

A couple of questions for you:

If the base is meant to be for private use, not for public events (AKA not a club, but someone's house for example) will that alter how things are scored?

If the functional items are hidden because they don't fit the theme/decor, will that count against us? For example, if I don't want a random NPC in the middle of my bedroom and so I hide the face maker in the closet, will that still be kosher for functionality? Will we need to list all of the hidden functional items on our entry if they are hidden?

[Easter Bunny]

10 hours ago, Aalya said:

If the base is meant to be for private use, not for public events (AKA not a club, but someone's house for example) will that alter how things are scored?

No, the rubric does not favor event spaces over personal residences.
The only potential difference is in the Player Engagement category, as event spaces are generally designed to host players. However, as we've stated elsewhere, no base is expected to achieve a perfect score. This rubric is simply our attempt to capture the multitudes of ways that a base can be special.

 

10 hours ago, Aalya said:

If the functional items are hidden because they don't fit the theme/decor, will that count against us? For example, if I don't want a random NPC in the middle of my bedroom and so I hide the face maker in the closet, will that still be kosher for functionality? Will we need to list all of the hidden functional items on our entry if they are hidden?

Not at all! While we appreciate seeing services in a base, this time we aren't awarding points just for including them. In fact, we find it even more impressive when services are cleverly hidden or integrated into the design. If your base has hidden functional items, please let us know in advance so you get credit for the effort you put in to disguise them. 

[Easter Bunny]

@Snarky

Attempting to keep discussion off the contest entry thread, but we did see your request here:

The category your base is entering under: Arcane or Other ( please advise ) 

Two judges have taken a look and felt that out of the two options Arcane made the most sense. That being said, it's your base, classify it how you feel best fits your intention. No wrong answers 🙂

[Snarky]

18 minutes ago, Easter Bunny said:

@Snarky

Attempting to keep discussion off the contest entry thread, but we did see your request here:

The category your base is entering under: Arcane or Other ( please advise ) 

Two judges have taken a look and felt that out of the two options Arcane made the most sense. That being said, it's your base, classify it how you feel best fits your intention. No wrong answers 🙂

arcane then.  

[Rudra]

Would it be possible to get a base or a few bases graded without entering the competition?

[Dacy]

10 hours ago, Rudra said:

Would it be possible to get a base or a few bases graded without entering the competition?

Great question, Rudra! We would, actually, be happy to evaluate your base, but: we would prefer to do this after the competition, so as not to confuse people or judges (okay, they are people too, just judge shaped people) :). In the meantime, if there is something specific you'd like to know regarding your base, or if you'd like to talk to someone about it 1:1 and get some feedback, there are many of us who are happy to do that.

 

The easiest and fastest way to get responses regarding your base would be to join the Builder's Discord (see my sig for a link), but if not, we will look for you after the contest and see about getting you an evaluation if we've not heard from you before then. And if we don't, well, sometimes we get busy and forget, so track us down! 🙂

[Forager]

How literally should I take the description for the Realism category? I was shooting for realistic in style, but it's still definitely a CoH base. Realism was the driving force behind most of the design, but there is an aspect of pillar on the back of a truck and a giant robot rat parked outside the nightclub... so it couldn't exist in the real world.

[Dacy]

Neither do teleporters, but, we accept them in THIS reality. 🙂

 

Realism is a style, not a definition of every item in the base. This is why we had a really hard time naming this category, because there are bases that are meant to be every day living, but it's every day living for a game where super heroes and villains are reality. So reality is somewhat flexible. 🙂

[DarionLeonidas]

Hello, and thanks for running this event!

I have a question about "Novice" status.

I haven't won or placed, but I did receive an "Honorable Mention" in a player-sponsored contest for a base which I have since modified (I added an attic). I've never entered any other contest. May I enter this base as a "Novice" or should I choose one of the other categories?

[Easter Bunny]

@DarionLeonidas

Our intention wasn't to actively police the novice category, as we trust players to assess their own skill level. Since your base was recognized in a player-sponsored contest rather than an HC-sponsored one, I believe you should be fine entering as a novice. We just ask that you honestly evaluate your experience and honor the spirit of the category. If you've done that, then we should be good to go 🙂 Thanks for entering, and best of luck to you!

[GraceAcademy]

I would absolutely love to be able to recognize and honor the great builders in our SG, however we prefer to keep the base access private.  Admitting judges is fine, but posting our base passcode openly on the forums where anyone could use it until the event is over and we can change it is out of the question.  Will you accept private submissions rather than public postings?

[Monty Haull]

1 hour ago, GraceAcademy said:

I would absolutely love to be able to recognize and honor the great builders in our SG, however we prefer to keep the base access private.  Admitting judges is fine, but posting our base passcode openly on the forums where anyone could use it until the event is over and we can change it is out of the question.  Will you accept private submissions rather than public postings?

What if I sign an NDA?

 

You have pique my curiosity.

 

 

Edited April 4 by Monty Haull
FYI: I am not a judge.

[Easter Bunny]

1 hour ago, GraceAcademy said:

I would absolutely love to be able to recognize and honor the great builders in our SG, however we prefer to keep the base access private.  Admitting judges is fine, but posting our base passcode openly on the forums where anyone could use it until the event is over and we can change it is out of the question.  Will you accept private submissions rather than public postings?

 

Thank you for your message. We truly appreciate your interest in participating and completely understand the desire to maintain some privacy around your base.
 

That said, in the interest of fairness and transparency, all contest entries must be made publicly accessible during the judging period, which runs from May 4th to May 18th. We feel it’s important that any base being considered for recognition can be viewed not only by our judges, but also by the wider community. This helps ensure that our selection process is open, consistent, and aboveboard.
 

If your base is selected as a winner, we’d also ask that it remain accessible for a few weeks after the contest concludes, so others can visit and appreciate your work. After that window, we’d still love the option to show the winning base to interested parties upon request, but ongoing public access would not be required.
 

If you're concerned about your usual passcode being exposed, one suggestion is to change it to a temporary code just for the contest period. That way, your usual access remains protected while still allowing the community to enjoy your creation.
 

We completely understand if these terms don’t align with your preferences. If keeping your base private is a top priority, then this particular contest might not be the best fit. That said, we’d truly love to see your work and share it with the community, even if only for a limited time.
 

Please let us know how you’d like to proceed.

[GraceAcademy]

On 4/4/2025 at 1:56 PM, Easter Bunny said:

 

Thank you for your message. We truly appreciate your interest in participating and completely understand the desire to maintain some privacy around your base.
 

That said, in the interest of fairness and transparency, all contest entries must be made publicly accessible during the judging period, which runs from May 4th to May 18th. We feel it’s important that any base being considered for recognition can be viewed not only by our judges, but also by the wider community. This helps ensure that our selection process is open, consistent, and aboveboard.
 

If your base is selected as a winner, we’d also ask that it remain accessible for a few weeks after the contest concludes, so others can visit and appreciate your work. After that window, we’d still love the option to show the winning base to interested parties upon request, but ongoing public access would not be required.
 

If you're concerned about your usual passcode being exposed, one suggestion is to change it to a temporary code just for the contest period. That way, your usual access remains protected while still allowing the community to enjoy your creation.
 

We completely understand if these terms don’t align with your preferences. If keeping your base private is a top priority, then this particular contest might not be the best fit. That said, we’d truly love to see your work and share it with the community, even if only for a limited time.
 

Please let us know how you’d like to proceed.

 

Thanks for the reply.  Unfortunately, the time period you are talking about (duration of the contest plus a few weeks afterwards) amounts to approximately two months during which the base would be accessible to anyone, which would potentially be highly disruptive to regular use of the base by SG members, and so even using a temporary passcode for this time is out of the question.  As such, we will not be able to submit an entry.

Edited April 7 by GraceAcademy

[Ragdoll]

Out of curiosity, is this contest set up in a winner-take all for each individual category? Or are there runner-up placements, etc? 

[Dacy]

One winner per category.

 

[jkwak]

9 hours ago, Dacy said:

One winner per category.

 

counter argument, everyone putting up with Basebuilding in CoH is a winner but only one person per category can get a price

[Techwright]

3 hours ago, jkwak said:

everyone putting up with Basebuilding in CoH is a winner

 

You got that right!  🤣  

 

Knowing the, um, challenges of this particular base builder toolkit, I'd never have shifted from the standard, basic base build to something far more complex, except that I discovered that we have a wonderful base building community that provides good instruction, at times hand-holding, and absolutely jaw-dropping inspiration for what can be accomplished with a boat load of patience.   I'm a novice with this game's builder, certainly, but once I bit the bullet, in one month, I've gone from a 1-room base with just the essentials, to something I feel worth sharing.  Sharing will be the real reward.   And I've already been rewarded in visiting so many fine bases as I learn.

[Dacy]

Techwright, thank you, and beautifully said. 🙂

 

Yes, the editor can be very challenging, and it's frustrating to not feel like the higher ups hear us and are working to give us any of the things we've asked for, but, as things stand right now, this editor is tremendously flexible, and to see what people have been able to produce is very inspiring!! Mind blowing, even, in some cases. If people have not seen some of the creations done by ...oh man, I'd name names, but I will inevitably leave out someone who should have been mentioned, so I will just say, go visit bases! See past winners, and visit other bases they've done. Visit current contestants. Get into the editor and see what it is we use and then go see what folks have been able to do with that! No, we don't have all the pieces or tools we'd like, but we DO have an amazingly creative bunch of people!

[Aalya]

 I've been looking over the rubric and trying to update my base to reflect some of the criteria, and I thought, maybe an outside eye could be a help to others too. So, if anyone else entering the contest would like that, hit me up. ☺️

[Aalya]

@Viking Queen Tried to go check out your base and it seems that the code or the shard are wrong.

[DarionLeonidas]

On 4/2/2025 at 12:28 PM, Easter Bunny said:

@DarionLeonidas

Our intention wasn't to actively police the novice category, as we trust players to assess their own skill level. Since your base was recognized in a player-sponsored contest rather than an HC-sponsored one, I believe you should be fine entering as a novice. We just ask that you honestly evaluate your experience and honor the spirit of the category. If you've done that, then we should be good to go 🙂 Thanks for entering, and best of luck to you!

Thank you!
I'm proud of my build and I worked hard ion it, but compared to the amazing builds I have seen, I honestly think I still have a very long way to go!

[Robothenri]

On 3/30/2025 at 2:18 AM, Forager said:

How literally should I take the description for the Realism category? I was shooting for realistic in style, but it's still definitely a CoH base. Realism was the driving force behind most of the design, but there is an aspect of pillar on the back of a truck and a giant robot rat parked outside the nightclub... so it couldn't exist in the real world.

I always go with 'probable' instead of realistic. Nothing in fantasy and Sci-fi is realistic. But, 'if this fantasy world existed, this is a probable dipiction of what it would be like.' Don't know if that helps.