I hope to be able to keep existing website functionality ticking over - but I do not expect to put significant active development time in in the near future. MapHaven will continue to accept maps for Heroes 3 and Heroes 4. Whether I add Heroes 5 depends on several things - how similar its properties are to past Heroes games, and whether it gets to me very long before my baby does, and whether I have time and energy to spare after getting our home ready for the baby.

The overall award goes to THUNK. This was not as clear-cut as some might suppose. THUNK just intimidated me and I never finished it. DOOM! DOOM! DOOM! I wasn't the only one who found other maps more enjoyable. However, the judges who liked it generally thought it was the bees knees, and there were slightly more of them. I can see why they'd be pleased - complex, interesting story, on-going challenges, sophisticated scripting, nice layout, etc. THUNK also wins the Hero's crown award.

Underdogs gets the Clover Magic award. It was a darn good map, with one or two flaws, that I really enjoyed; THUNK was held to be better.

For the non-WoG part of the competition, the prize goes to Mystery of the Zodiac. This was another close decision, as some of the Judges favoured Childs of Bhaal over Zodiac. Both maps are worth playing. Many Islands V suffered from a lack of story and a setup that interfered with strategic play - were there 50 monoliths? 100? The judges found the number of monoliths an un-necessary draw on their patience; although it seems other people enjoy that style.

Judging is in progress - and I've enjoyed the maps I've played so far!

We need your help. One of the three awards that we will give this competition is the Hero's Crown award, which is given by you! It goes to the map voted the most enjoyable by the community. So please, play some of the maps, then log in to MapHaven and vote for your favourite map. (We ask you to log in, so that you can come back and change your mind later if you play more maps from the competition.)

The poll will remain open at least until the end of January; then I'll check with the judges who are awarding the other two prizes. The judging period may continue until 9th March.

A bug has been identified in one of the competition maps. The makers of THUNK advise that it only occurs rarely, but if the Red player abandons its cause without you attacking the red player, then the map becomes unwinnable. The competition rules don't allow them to update the map during the competition judging period; but that doesn't stop you emailing the authors for an updated copy of the map if you so choose.

DragonSister

The HOMM4 'Seasons' mapmaking competition will close at the end of January, as previously announced.

The fourth quarter is nearly over, and we will soon be judging the new Heroes 3 maps that are available.

I need some judges! So far we have 2 XL entries and one medium entry - so we're looking at seven weeks judging time; more if more entries come in. Judges need to have the Shadow of Death expansion, and be prepared to download and install the latest version of WoG. If you're interested, please email me at DragonSister@heroes.mycomport.com.

Judges for the HOMM4 competition closing at the end of january will also be needed.

DragonSister

Map-making competitions are such good fun that MapHaven has decided to run two of them! Details of both are on the Competition page.

Firstly, we'll run an open competition for Heroes of Might and Magic 3. This will be open to all HOMM3 maps that first get released in the last quarter of 2004. So if the map's already on Celestial Heavens or MapHaven - so are hundreds of others, and we can't play them all! But if the map first gets shared on websites between 1 October and 31 December, then submit it to MapHaven and we shall judge it with the rest! There is a strict limit of one submission per mapmaker, and the normal map submission rules still apply - if you haven't gotten someone else to play the map to completion, the map will be excluded from the competition!

Secondly, we'll run a competition for Heroes of Might and Magic 4. The theme will be Seasons:
Winter is cold, howling winds and snow - if you live far enough from the equator. The warmth and flowers of spring make many people happy - summer is a halcyon period of fun for some, and a dry, baking season for others. And autumn can also be seen in many different ways depending who and where you are.

Possible interpretations include:

• It is May and still the snows of winter howl about the land. What evil magic is this? Find the perpetrator and break his spell.
• A story that "spans" a year by teleporting the main hero to new parts of the map for each season.

Maps built around "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme", or "the Salt and Pepper Shakers of Doom", or other spice-type seasons, are also eligible for this competition - however, as these are harder to represent properly within the game of HOMM4, such maps need relatively strong stories.

DragonSister