Upland
Master Builders Contest Phase 2

March 31, 2023

Master Builders Contest Phase 2

[UPDATE 4.21.23]

Thank you to all who participated in Phase 2 of the Master Builder's Contest. The submissions were fantastic, and the voting results were incredibly close. Congratulations to the Phase 2 winners of the Master Builder's Contest! Please check out their winning designs below.

Las Vegas Winner

Spanish Luxus Villa by Antikmaster

Queens Winner

Brownstone Queens by land4land

Buenos Aires Winner

Historical City Apartment Building by Antikmaster

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[UPDATE 4.19.23]

Below are the finalists for Phase 2 of the Master Builder’s Contest! Head to your profile and vote for your favorite Structure designs! Voting ends on Friday, April 21, at 9 AM PT.

Las Vegas Finalists

 prospector tower by dieguis1976

Luci's Lux Modern Loft by SaintLuci

Lucky Seven by Deathender

Las Vegas Lux Mansion by fadi04

Atomic Bungalow by HattieLou

Spanish Luxus Villa by Antikmaster

Queens Finalists

Apartment the Queen by dieguis1976

Brownstone Queens by land4land

The Queen of New York by TossHed

Bleurain's Queens Mansion by Bleurain

The Cube - Luxury Apartments, Queens by fadi04

Charming Lil' Single Family Home by zolaandcody

The Aristocrat Luxury Townhouse by Antikmaster

Queen of Hats Townhouse by HattieLou

Stick Queen House by BENNIST

Buenos Aires Finalists

Neoclassical architecture building by pils

Beaux Art by Land4Land

Bleurain's Buenos Bodega by Bleurain

Boca Vista by DeSjaak

Cielo Azur by Deathender

Metropoli Apartment by DIEGUIS1976

Historical City Apartment Building by Antikmaster

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[UPDATE 4.10.23]

To ensure that all submissions for the Master Builder's Contest meet all the guidelines, we have decided to extend the Phase 2 schedule. As a result, the resubmission deadline for Phase 2 has been moved to Thursday, April 13 at 11:59 PM PT. Please refer to the updated schedule listed in the 'Master Builders Contest Phase 2 Details and Schedule' section below.

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Phase 2 of the Master Builders Contest is now underway, and players are now able to submit their own Structure Model designs for Buenos Aires, Queens, and Las Vegas. The deadline for Phase 2 submissions is Wednesday, April 5 at 11:59 PM PT, with re-submissions closing a few days later. After the Upland Team approves submissions, there will be a community vote to determine whose Structure design will permanently reside in Upland. Contest winners will be awarded the coveted "Master Builder" badge, along with 1 Spark and 100,000 UPX.

We also encourage players to collaborate and share each others’ designs in the #master-builders channel in Discord!

Master Builders Contest Details

To participate in the contest, players must submit a polished 3D model for any of the eight cities. Contestants are welcome to submit one model for each city. Model submissions should borrow elements from and reflect the flavors of the city. Builders cannot recreate landmarks or famous buildings for the contest. Instead, players are encouraged to use their imagination and try to capture the essence of a city. 

After the Upland team reviews and accepts submissions, the community will vote on their favorite models for each city. Whichever model gets the most votes for each city wins! 

Note: Some models may not qualify for community voting due to submission issues and disqualifications. Designers have one chance to re-submit a design before being disqualified. 

Master Builder Contest Rewards

Having your own Structure in Upland is no small feat, and we would like to reward each contest winner for making it through the contest. Each winner will get: 

  • Naming rights to their model in the model’s description 
  • The highly-exclusive “Master Builder” badge
  • 1 Spark 
  • 100,000 UPX

Designing a building that will live forever in Upland is a unique reward for designers. The Spark and UPX would also go a long way for the winners in getting a property and building their new model!

Master Builders Contest Phase 2 Details and Schedule

Below are the three cities submissions will be open for along with the schedule for Phase 2 of the Master Builders contest.

Phase 2 Cities: Buenos Aires, Queens, Las Vegas 

Here is the Phase 2 Schedule of the Master Builders Contest.

Submissions Open: Friday, March 31 

Submissions Close: Wednesday, April 5 at 11:59 PM PT

Re-submissions Close: Sunday, April 13 at 11:59 PM PT

Voting Begins: Wednesday, April 19 at 9 AM PT

Voting Ends: Friday, April 21 at 9 AM PT

Winners Announced: Friday, April 21

Submission Guidelines

Players must utilize Upland’s Official ‘Structure’ Blender template file (provided below) as their base. Please refer to the Style Guide for additional information on how to design your models.

Official Structure Template

Structure Style-Guide

Note: Blend files will be the ONLY 3D file type that we support.

Here are some additional guidelines to help model submissions: 

  • Models must reflect the real world.
  • Models should not contain fantasy-based elements.
  • Models should mimic the style of structures within the city’s real-world location. 
  • The scale, footprint, and height of each model must all match the real world.

Finally, all models must pass Upland’s QA Checklist included in the Submission Form. 

Click the link below to submit your Phase 2 model!

Note: The winning models of the Master Builder’s Contest may require slight modifications before being officially added to Upland.

Phase 2 Submission Form (Submissions Closed)

Model Documentation

The following documentation outlines the 3D model specs to follow when creating a model for the Master Builders Contest. Also, we created a video tutorial for step-by-step instructions. 

Master Builders Contest Video Tutorial

Model Objects

● No light objects

● No camera objects

● No empty objects

● No animation objects

Model Positioning

● Origin: [0, 0, 0] (For Origin, Scale, and Rotation please do the following: CTRL A —>All transforms)

● Scale: [1, 1, 1]

● Rotation: [0, 0, 0]

● Max X Offset (width): 0.01 (Model must be properly centered)

● Max Y Offset (height): 0.01(model must be on the ‘ground’; neither floating nor below ground level)

● Max Z Offset (length): 0.01(Model must be properly centered)

Model Materials

● Material Alpha (opacity): 1.0

● Texture format: JPEG

● Texture map must be baked (shadows must be baked into the texture map)

● Ambient Occlusion can be baked in the main material (Avoid flat color or non-shaded areas)

● No duplicated materials (4 materials required, each with their own unique baked texture)

● 4 Materials are mandatory for Structures

● Structure material 1: Roof labeled ‘primary’

● Structure material 2: Walls labeled ‘secondary’

● Structure material 3: Details labeled ‘details’

● Structure material 4: Other labeled ‘other’’

Model UVmaps

  • Do not leave unused areas
  • Avoid stretched images
  • If the model is symmetrical or has any repeated mesh or shape, these should be overlapped to optimize the texture map.
  • Include a 6-16px bleed for the UV islands
  • Any UV island with flat colors/textures should be overlapped
  • Keep UV island size relatively scaled according to the actual size of the area (Even texel density)
  • Avoid any stretched or curved sections for cylindrical shapes UV map

Model Naming Conventions

  • All names should use lowercase letters (blender file, gltf, images textures, textures)
  • Space between letters should use underscores “_ “
  • Do not use any name extension that may not be needed
  • Names for materials and images should be the same as the GLTF file

Examples of naming conventions:

  • Carnaval_ornament_ranchhouse_nft.gtf
  • Carnaval_ornament_ranchhouse_lod_0.gtf
  • Carnaval_ornament_ranchhouse_lod_1.gtf
  • Carnaval_ornament_ranchhouse_wireframe.gtf

Model Requirements

Blender File

  • Include all the texture images, fonts, HDRI used
  • Models should only use quads, no n-gons or unnecessary triangles allowed
  • Duplicated materials are not allowed
  • Texture: 2048 x 2048
  • Triangles: < 20,000

GLTF Files

GLTF Characteristics

  • File type: GLTF - (GLB not allowed)
  • GTLF jpg texture image should be compressed
  • Transform Y Up
  • Mesh should include tangents, normals, UVs
  • Compression level = 6

HDRI (High Dynamic Range Image) Design for Lighting

Material Node Tree Sheet

Need Some Guidance? Use Our New Office Hours!

Nothing beats building in the metaverse, but it has its challenges. To help out, we’ve opened new “office hours” in Discord so designers can get answers straight from Upland’s designers. 

Office hours start this week and will be held every Friday from 11 AM to 1 PM PT.