52 replies to this topic

[Ryan201821]

NIC Homemades Creation Contest

The time has come! Let's see who can build the best homemade blaster.

The contest starts now. No previous homemades that have already been built will be accepted. You must build your submission in between now and the deadline of the contest. Your submission must be a write-up. A block of pictures with some text is not a write-up.

Your blaster will be judged on several criteria which are listed below. Each category is weighted a different amount of points.

• Creativity (15 points) - Has this been done before, or is it something completely new and radical? More points will be awarded to submissions that "break the mold", so to speak. Example, if you print out templates for a plusbow, you won’t be getting many points for this category.
  
• War Effectiveness/Practicality (15 points) - This category will judge how effective your blaster is at a Nerf war. This does not include wars where you stand at opposite sides of a field, hide in the bushes, and take pot shots at your max range. The more scenarios your blaster will excel in, the better. Sustained rate of fire is always more important than range. Also, how practical is it to use? Easy to use or cumbersome to carry? Do you need two people to prime it? Is it 4 feet long or can it fit in your pocket? You get the idea.
  
• Difficulty/Repeatability (10 points) - How easy is your blaster to reproduce, and what skill level is involved in constructing your blaster? A blaster like the "SNAP” would get a lot of points here. The more simplistic, the better. On the opposite side of the spectrum, a blaster like Boltsniper's FAR, would get zero points. If you need exotic tooling to create certain parts, you won't get many points here. Same goes for exotic materials.
  
• Durability (5 points) - Since we won't be able to physically examine the blasters, we'll look at your design and recognize possible weak points in the construction. If you can prove it's been through several wars without a hitch, you'll get a lot of points here. If your blaster looks like it's going to explode into a million pieces when you dry-fire it, that's a problem. Over-building something is definitely not a problem.
  
• Writeup Quality (5 points) - Is your write-up easy to follow? Detailed instructions and extra pictures of things difficult to explain in words will get more points in this category. Proper grammar and coherent sentences are required. Templates are always nice, too.
  
• Cost/Labor (5 points) - Self-explanatory, but the cheapest, and the least amount of labor required, will be awarded the most points.

Edited by Ryan201821, 10 May 2011 - 01:03 PM.

[Ryan201821]

Restrictions:

-Your blaster must shoot standard "nerf" ammunition. This means any current acceptable homemade ammo or Nerf stock darts, etc. No death darts, paintballs, airsoft, or any of that bullshit. This shouldn't be hard.
-Your blaster may use "nerf" components. However, if you use a component from a blaster, you have to add the entire value of whatever blaster you took the component from to your total cost.
-As long as the propulsion method is safe, I don't care what you use. You may lose a lot of points in other categories (war effectiveness), if you're using CO₂, HPA, combustibles, etc., since those are banned from almost every Nerf war.
-Video Write-ups are not allowed.

Miscellaneous:

-This contest will be run here and at NerfHQ. There will be no "forum winners", rather all entries from both forums will be compiled together and judged then.
-Multiple entries are permitted, as long as they're different blasters
-If you use a mechanism or idea from another person, be sure to give credit. You'll also lose some points for creativity.
-If there happens to be a tie, we'll go to a popular vote across both boards.
-If you can, we extremely encourage you to post of firing video of your blaster, and also overall function. It's nice to see your blaster actually works.

Prizes:

Each person can potentially score 165, 55 points from each judge.

First place will receive their choice of a RainbowPump Rev2, or Pump-action Crossbow built by Ryan.

Second place will receive an Aabow built by Kane.

Third place will receive 3 wyes and 15m of hot pink foam.

Judges:

RyanMcNumbers
KanetheMediocre
Carbon

Submission Deadline:

All blasters must be posted on either forum before August 21st, 2011, 12:00 AM CDT. The winners will be announced a few days after the contest has ended.


Any questions please post here.

Post submissions HERE

Thanks to the Nerfhaven staff, for letting me run this contest.

Edited by Ryan201821, 29 July 2011 - 03:08 PM.

[shmmee]

-Your blaster must shoot standard "nerf" ammunition. This means any current acceptable homemade ammo or Nerf stock darts, etc. No death darts, paintballs, airsoft, or any of that bullshit. This shouldn't be hard.
-

Are discs now considered standard "nerf" ammunition? Laugh all you want, but I'm thinking of welcoming the vortex line by doing a homemade disc shooter.

[Ryan201821]

Are discs now considered standard "nerf" ammunition? Laugh all you want, but I'm thinking of welcoming the vortex line by doing a homemade disc shooter.

They aren't standard, but they're definitely acceptable. I would love to see a disc shooter.

[Edible Autopsy]

When you say you're not aloud to use nerf components, do pumps count?

[Ryan201821]

When you say you're not aloud to use nerf components, do pumps count?

Yes. Bike pumps would be fine, though. Homemade pumps would be better.

Edited by Ryan201821, 10 May 2011 - 04:22 PM.

[VACC]

I've decided to add a bonus incentive. This offer stands for submissions to NerfHaven's thread for this contest.

What I'm looking for:

A homemade Airgun that is:
- War Legal: it shouldn't fire more than 120' with slugs (the close to 100' the better).
- Easily regulatable, so that a war organizer can allow one with no fear of it's user overpumping or easily disabling/removing a safety feature to attain greater range/velocity
- Easily reproducible with a standard homemade tool set.
- Cheap: $100 or cheaper in parts
- Easily Primable/Refillable mid war without any manner of automated assistance.
- Ass-Kicking: Will help if it does something that other easily obtainable blasters do not.

Homemade springers have been widely, if not universally, accepted at NIC wars over the past few years. This is largely thanks to Captain Slug's pioneering work on the +bow and it's adherence to the above criteria.

I'm hoping Air Guns are next.

If someone can create a homemade airgun with these characteristics, it may have the potential to war-legalize the genre. The designer/builder responsible for such an entrant will recieve a custom title, a custom avatar, and an old ass, dare I say vintage, nerf gun yet to be named (I have some of these things). Oh, and I guess I'll tender that person an invite to any of my wars, most of which are haughty taughty private affairs, or allow them to run, or have run, a round of their choice at Apoc, if they can make it (we can work something out for the geographically challenged).

Oh, I should note, this will have no bearing on Ryan's choice for the contest winners, and I have no indication that I will have any imput into that choice whatsoever. Think of this as a side bet.

Go forth and make non-nerf.

VACC

[Jewstein]

On the topic of unique ammunition, would a homemade ball gun be practical for this competition, or should i set me sights elsewhere? Thanks for the clarification.

[Ryan201821]

On the topic of unique ammunition, would a homemade ball gun be practical for this competition, or should i set me sights elsewhere? Thanks for the clarification.

Homemade ball guns can definitely be practical. Ammunition, although expensive, is easily obtainable for people. However if yours is or isn't practical, is up to you. But as far as the ammo goes, I have no problem with a ball gun.

[Jewstein]

Removed, no real relevance.

Edited by Jewstein, 11 May 2011 - 04:22 PM.

[blitz]

When you say HPA and CO2, I realize that that those are dangerous, but could we make our own air bladders or other semi-auto systems?

[Ryan201821]

When you say HPA and CO2, I realize that that those are dangerous, but could we make our own air bladders or other semi-auto systems?

Sure, although like I said, if you're using HPA or CO₂, you won't get many points for war effectiveness, since those are banned at pretty much every war.

[LotusNerf]

Ryan, something about your criteria bugs me a little.

When I think of homemades, I think of a goal. The goal of the homemade can be various things, and since there are so many fundamentals already available when coming to homemades I believe that the next generation will start to and should be more complex and innovative. I'm not saying basic blasters like the SNAP and plusbow are not great (in fact, it's the opposite), I'm just saying that the "best homemade" should be something that truly amazes us, like how Captain Slug and Carbon did for their time.

If the desire of the builder is to win the contest, he will have to follow everything on the criteria, and the parts that bug me are Difficulty/Repeatablity and Cost/Labor. I disagree with "The more simplistic, the better." Probably the simplest form of a blaster is a springer, and there are so many ways already existent in building one. The builder of the homemade blaster will probably have to come up with another catch method or a new plunger head in order to effectively earn the most points in these categories as well as in the Creativity category. And even then, is recreating another way for a springer really creative? And let's say that someone creates an innovative and efficient fully auto blaster which is totally amazing. Such person would probably lose a good amount of points in the Difficulty and Cost criteria which is pretty unfair. I didn't exactly explain things too well but whatever, I think you get the point.

To close up this mess of a ramble, I'll just say that if someone wants to win the contest, expandability and innovation of new homemades will be quite hindered, which in my opinion, completely contradicts the original point of making a homemade. I think of this contest more as just a community event in trying to create the most cost effective, ergonomic, and easily "replicatable" (for lack of better terminology) homemade blaster and not really about trying to create "the best homemade" as most would expect the contest to be. So that was just my 2 cents on this.

Edited by LotusNerf, 12 May 2011 - 03:25 AM.

[Daniel Beaver]

I disagree with "The more simplistic, the better."

The FAR and Abp5k were awesome sights to behold. And they had about zero practical impact on the Nerf scene.

The +bow and SNAP were not nearly as "awesome" in comparison. But they revolutionized Nerf. Because they were simple enough that people could fucking replicate them.


If you remove the Difficulty/Repeatablity and Cost/Labor incentives of the contest, you effectively shit all over amateur homemade builders who don't have access to kickass tools and materials.

And let's say that someone creates an innovative and efficient fully auto blaster which is totally amazing. Such person would probably lose a good amount of points in the Difficulty and Cost criteria which is pretty unfair.

No, it is absolutely fair for them to lose points on Difficulty/Repeatablity and Cost/Labor. LOOK GUYS, I HAVE AN AMAZING SUPER-GUN THAT NO-ONE ELSE WILL EVERY HAVE BECAUSE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE!!! IT'S SUPER COOL!!!!

Edited by Daniel Beaver, 12 May 2011 - 06:44 AM.

[taerKitty]

If the point of this is to measure dicks, then we already have a thread for that - the Homemades Picture thread. There, you can post your Arduino-chipped masterpiece that costs $300 in raw materials, and requires a $5000 mill to make. We'll applaud, go 'awwwww' and be on our way.

That may advance the -art- of Nerf, but won't help the -hobby- one bit.

Now, a SNAP, on the other hand - that was something almost anyone could make. Even more so with the HAMP. Less so with the stuff that required a scrollsaw, such as the +bow, RTP, RPB, or whatever MHA is calling their bullpup these days. Still, how much is a scrollsaw? $100? Someone on an allowance may have trouble fronting that, but anyone with a part-time job could swing it.

What I think, and I'm just a potential contestant, is that he's looking for the next homebrew that will start showing up coast-to-coast, independently made (as opposed to SorrowX's magnificent turrets, which were single-sourced.) While I applaud the skills of those who sell blasters such as MHA, BrokenSVT, Louie, et. al., I think it benefits the hobby far more for the 'entry cost' to be lower - so someone who isn't an old hand still can make a viable blaster.

That said, such a blaster has to be cheap, easily made, using ubiquitous parts and tools, and have a good writeup. This is what I see the contest as being, and I support it whole-heartedly.

[Langley]

Ryan, something about your criteria bugs me a little.

So don't participate.

From what little I know about Ryan, I have a feeling that he's not going to change the criteria of his contest over a philosophical debate, so let's all just stick to questions about the contest, and keep the thread on topic.

[Ryan201821]

Taerkitty and Beaver hit it pretty much dead on. Lotusnerf, if you still have questions, you can PM me directly. You're missing the goal of this contest completely.

[c0rrupt10n]

This sounds great, I plan on building an airgun for the main competition anyway, so I'll submit it for both ryan and VACC.

[LotusNerf]

Sorry Ryan, but I don't have questions, and I didn't have questions to start. I just had comments and ideas to try to help make the contest better (in my opinion).

[What he said].

But you're making a write-up on how to make the blaster. The Abp5k, FAR, and all of the blasters of the like had no impact because they had no write-up. Nobody taught us exactly how to make them. I don't think that there would be nearly as many plusbows if Captain Slug did not create that awesome guide with parts lists and everything, we would've had to figure out how to build one on our own. I hope you see my argument here.

[What he said].

That's why I think that the incentive should be scored on how you achieved your goal, so those who create uneasy to replicate blasters and others who create easy to replicate blasters will both have a fair chance at this contest.

If someone has created a generally more difficult to make and costly blaster, but has achieved war effectiveness and creativity beyond the charts, they should receive generally the same amount of points as someone who made a blaster that fit all the incentives decently enough, but not exceptional in them (so like a balanced blaster), who should also receive the same amount of points as . . . well the opposite of the first example. I think you get my point, just there should be a balance that will give all the different types of homemade builders a fair chance.




And on a side note, as Nerf is often considered a craft, and craft is considered an art, I think an Aesthetic/Cleanliness incentive should be added. Maybe not for actual points, but as bonus to make for any lost points that was failed to be achieved.

Also another note, In no way did I ever think about being able to change the incentives, I just wanted to share my opinion and for others to see where I am coming from.

Edited by LotusNerf, 12 May 2011 - 11:20 PM.

[taerKitty]

Also another note, In no way did I ever think about being able to change the incentives, I just wanted to share my opinion and for others to see where I am coming from.

Left field, got it. Look, you want to run a contest for the cleanest-looking, most-expensive-to-make blaster, I'm all for it.

This ain't it.

Bringing this back on track - I do have a hair to split with you, Ryan. If pumps are okay for airguns, are they allowed as plunger tubes? Do you see the paradox? Not trying to poke holes, but wanted to see what is allowed.

[Ryan201821]

That's why I think that the incentive should be scored on how you achieved your goal, so those who create uneasy to replicate blasters and others who create easy to replicate blasters will both have a fair chance at this contest.

If someone has created a generally more difficult to make and costly blaster, but has achieved war effectiveness and creativity beyond the charts, they should receive generally the same amount of points as someone who made a blaster that fit all the incentives decently enough, but not exceptional in them (so like a balanced blaster), who should also receive the same amount of points as . . . well the opposite of the first example. I think you get my point, just there should be a balance that will give all the different types of homemade builders a fair chance.

First of all, you should learn how to use the word "incentive". Second, I don't care what your goals are. For this contest your goals should be to fulfill each criteria to the best of your ability. Your point makes total sense and that's exactly how I would judge those two examples. Although, while it would be perfectly fine if you sacrifice build difficulty and cost to create outstanding results in other categories, it would be even more impressive if you did the same thing with a more simplistic design and/or a cheaper design. This is true innovation, and exactly what I'm looking for. I highly, highly doubt people are going to be getting perfect score here, so there will be certain aspects where you'll have to sacrifice points in one category to satisfy the others.


If you don't like the criteria, don't enter. Feel free to run your own contest and be flamed by everyone.


Taerkitty:

I wasn't so much concerned about people using pre-fab parts, as I am about people using nerf components. Things like bike pumps, valves, etc., are fine with me, but keeping in mind you won't score as many points for creativity (as opposed to making it from scratch), and cost (in most cases).

[shardbearer]

Damn. I gotta choose between finally finishing my springer that I started 9 months ago and then abandoned, or building my semi auto airgun. Don't think I'll have enough time to do both! And will my springer be legal? Do I need to start building or finish building within the timeframe?

Non HPA/CO2 airguns will not inherently lose points because they are banned at most wars, right?

Anyway, I think it would help the discussion with taerKitty and LotusNerf to state the intent of this contest. I think it is to inspire and induce more innovation throughout the homemade category, to make another plusbow, rather than another FAR.

On the judging, the last catergory should be just cost, not labor, because it is already covered in Difficulty/Repeatability, and cost and labor are very different. Some people have tons of time and no money, or vice versa.

Edited by shardbearer, 13 May 2011 - 02:11 AM.

[VACC]

all kinds of stuff.

I'm not going to argue with your reasoning, indefensible as I may find it. The reality of the matter is that it misses the point entirely.

This is a contest. In order for a winner to be declared in ANY contest, there needs to be a set of rules and/or objectives. Without them, it's not so much a contest as it is 'Nam. While, perhaps, you were unaware, Ryan has assured me that he's attempting to run a contest, and not fucking Vietnam.

By providing competitors and judges/officials/whomever with a metric by which to measure and evaluate the competition, these rules and/or objectives define the contest. Please note that this is in direct contrast with the role of arbitrary pontifications by some random onlooker...which define nothing. Are you starting to see the picture I'm painting here? This is a contest that you are not running, so you do not decide the objectives. Your philosophy is welcome elsewhere, but has no fucking bearing on this topic. Consider it a bottled universe under the magnanimous control of Ryan McNumbers. Trying to redefine the foundation of said universe will ultimately result in the cessation of your existence within it.

[Carbon]

Anyway, I think it would help the discussion with taerKitty and LotusNerf to state the intent of this contest. I think it is to inspire and induce more innovation throughout the homemade category, to make another plusbow, rather than another FAR.

Summing it up: For the purposes of this contest, "best" is defined as a creative way to make a war-practical, durable, versatile blaster that is easy and cheap to build.

On the judging, the last catergory should be just cost, not labor, because it is already covered in Difficulty/Repeatability, and cost and labor are very different. Some people have tons of time and no money, or vice versa.

Time and money are both resources spent to make a blaster, so they go together (i.e. time is money). Labor isn't covered under difficulty, because labor is raw time spent, while difficulty speaks to the precision and skill needed to pull it off. Something can take a lot of time to do, but very little skill, or vice versa.

[Ryan201821]

Damn. I gotta choose between finally finishing my springer that I started 9 months ago and then abandoned, or building my semi auto airgun. Don't think I'll have enough time to do both! And will my springer be legal? Do I need to start building or finish building within the timeframe?

Non HPA/CO2 airguns will not inherently lose points because they are banned at most wars, right?

Anyway, I think it would help the discussion with taerKitty and LotusNerf to state the intent of this contest. I think it is to inspire and induce more innovation throughout the homemade category, to make another plusbow, rather than another FAR.

On the judging, the last catergory should be just cost, not labor, because it is already covered in Difficulty/Repeatability, and cost and labor are very different. Some people have tons of time and no money, or vice versa.

You can build and submit both blasters if you want.

As long as you haven't posted your work in progress anywhere, then I don't know when you started building it, so it's fine for the contest. You do need to finish it before the contest is over, however.

If you're interested in HPA/CO₂, you will lose points for war effectivity, basically because it doesn't have any, because that stuff is pretty much indefinitely banned.