Beginners, now's your chance to have your voice heard! Which is better: Melee Weapons or Guns? We want to determine a winner once and for all - so pick a side, come up with a weapon design, and defend your choice by animating how a battle would play out between your weapon design and your opponent! The title does not mean you have to choose a knife, you can create any kind of weapon as long as it's either a melee weapon or a gun, and you must have either a melee weapon or a gun win the battle. Don't just show how deadly your weapon could be, prove your choice is the better one by any means! Is it terrifying? Effective? Defensible? Your imagination is the limit! At the end of this competition, we will look at what side the top 10 submissions chose to prove what the better weapon type is. May the better team win!

We would like all entrants to make a thread in the Works In Progress forum and keep it updated with your progress as you animate your submission. Doing this is not a requirement but we will be granting bonus points to those that keep their thread up to date, so make sure you make your thread to collect those points! Here are some past examples of the kind of thread we want you to make:

• Evangelion - 1st Place (Pro) Film Tribute Competition - exceld
  
• Gurren-Lagann - 3rd Place (Pro) Film Tribute Competition - Irian
  
• The Hobbit 3 - 1st Place (Intermediate) Film Tribute Competition - Barthimo1
  
• Super Mario - 2nd Place (Pro) Game Tribute Legion 2 - Syrius
  
• Metal Stick Rising - 3rd Place (Pro) Game Tribute Legion 2 - Xrebellion

Note: This competition is intended for beginners only. Not sure if you're a beginner? Neither are we. Chances are if you feel comfortable competing in one of our main competitions, you're not a beginner. Otherwise, feel free to join in!

Submissions will be scored on the following criteria:

Submission

• Weapon Design - We're looking for unique, well thought out weapon designs!
  
• Animation - Demonstration of technical animation skill. Things such as timing, rhythm, arcs, squash, stretch, etc. will all be taken into account.
  
• Art - How well you can draw. We'll look at things like design, detail, coloring, outlines, etc.
  
• Length - We require a minimum of 60 seconds, but it doesn't have to be exactly 60 seconds. A longer animation is better as long as the quality doesn't suffer because of it.
  
• Originality - We're looking for entrants to try new things! The more you set yourself apart the better.

Extra

• Posted Chosen Side in Competition Thread
  
• Created WIP Thread
  
• Kept WIP Thread Updated

The animation itself accounts for the majority of total possible points, but final ranking is not determined solely by how good your animation is.

To enter the competition all you need to do is reply to this thread stating what side you've chosen. After posting, make your progress thread in the Works in Progress section. When you have finished your animation, double check that you've met all the requirements listed below and send me a private message with your PayPal email address and a link to both the SWF and the FLA of your entry, or the video file if you've chosen to use another program. You may still submit an entry even if you don't make a WIP thread or post here, but you will be at an automatic disadvantage to those who do!

We will accept submissions and announce the winners according to the timeline above. We will be releasing the submitted animations on a weekly schedule after the competitions ends, so remember not to leak your entry anywhere until two days after it goes up on official StickPage channels! If you do not supply a PayPal email address you will not be able to receive your prize if you win.

These must be followed in order for your submission to qualify. Failure to meet these requirements will automatically disqualify your entry.

• Must involve stick figures in some way
  
• Must be a complete self-contained animation - no two-parters
  
• Must have sound effects & music
  
• Credits & introductions should not be excessively long, we will not accept submissions that have more credits than animation
  
• Must contain a minimum of 60 seconds of animation excluding any introductions or credits
  
• Must contain official StickPage branding (download Flash package here or MP4 video package here), applied in the following ways:
  
  • Introduction - A brief animated introduction to be placed at the very beginning of your animation, after any preloaders and before any other introductions
    
  • Main Menu Link - If your animation is a SWF and has a menu, a link to StickPage must be present somewhere in it
    
  • Watermark - A StickPage watermark must be present in the lower left-hand corner of the animation throughout playback, must be a link to StickPage if it's a SWF
    
  • Credits - StickPage must also appear during the credits, must be a link if it's a SWF
  
  
• All released versions of the animation must contain the StickPage branding described above
  
• Must not be released until a two days after it goes up on official StickPage channels
  
• Must have a PayPal account to receive prize

We have a total of $1,000 in prizes for this competition. Check out the break down below:

Not sure on something? Feel free to post questions in this thread! Common answers or good questions will be added below.

Here are our entrants and their progress so far!

Announced: 15 | Progress Threads: 10/15

Melee

Seagull Progress Thread	Scatterface Progress Thread	TekSoda Progress Thread
Mr Michael Progress Thread	mr.qu Progress Thread	Dragzor Progress Thread
TheBurningSword	Tecness2 Progress Thread	shadowtears
Clic anim's

Guns

TacezzaPivot	Darknesspawn Progress Thread	TheBestG Progress Thread
[Constant] Progress Thread	Bearry