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So if I got you correctly, you would like the entrants to draw a treasure map or at least a part of it, with the path to the treasure marked on it. And in the actual background, to place two terrain objects from the treasure map and also the path that connects them.

So the background would be some sort of a close-up in-game picture of the treasure map fragment? Or am I wrong?

Bad news... Meet Steve.

The game can be finished without solving the mystery. By the way, it's funny somebody has just asked exactly the same question in the main ATOTK hint thread.
Anyway,

Spoiler

the blacksmith was the murderer.

[close]

Spoiler

The blacksmith.

[close]

Congratulations Arboris, a well deserved win
The Amazing Amnesiac surely looks as if he was thinking: "Damn, damn, what was I up to again..?! What am I doing here?!"
Very nice style by the way.

[Xavia]

I initially intended to post a different entry, but I wanted to give a shot at ProgZmax' idea. So here she is (hope the description doesn't sound *too* stupid):

Name: May Morgan

Alter Ego: Xavia, Switch

Age: ??

Height: 5'8"

Weight: 407 lbs.

Eye color: Blue

Hair color: Red

IQ: High

Powers:
(As Xavia): Ability to fly, exceptional strength and stamina, sharp claws and teeth. Decent brawl skills.

(As Switch): She can no longer fly and endure any type of blow, though her brawl skills remained as decent as Xavia's. She can also be Switch as long as she likes, while Xavia form lasts up to 6 hours.

Short description:
Said to be a gargoyle construct brought to life by the Alchemist, though she refused to give any details on how she acquired her powers. The only person who might know something about her origin is Ross, as they had a long talk in his laboratory after her unsuccessful assault at Dwight. Switch is far more eager to side with the good guys, though she can't much help but obey Nate's orders when she's Xavia.
The weird thing about May is that she's unusually heavy for a slim young lady.

Background:

After Ross and Dwight joined forces, Nate Dux, suffering from lack of allies and feeling a bit uneasy at the thought of Copper and Acid, retreated to his secret laboratory in search of a way to bring the lady luck back to his side. Shortly after, a hideous she-monster named Xavia started roaming the university campus at nights. Even though the monster did not prove particularly dangerous (she would only break a few windows and freak out several members of the cleaning staff), Doc Copper found her appearance concerning and kept wondering about her true purpose.
Anxious, he talked Dwight into approaching another newcomer, a transfer student named May Morgan, usually seen hanging around Nate and his band, and trying to ask her out. Dwight wasn't particularly keen on the idea because of his tendency to get nervous around women, especially around cute ones like May. He finally agreed to do it as a quest for a higher good.
As Ross expected, May agreed without any hestitation at all, which was pretty unusual as Dwight wasn't exactly a ladies man. The next evening when Dwight was waiting for May near Doc Copper's place where they were supposed to meet, he was suddenly attacked by Xavia. For the first time the she-monster would show her true powers, knocking Dwight down with a single powerful blow and smashing him against the wall. If it wasn't for the power belt he was wearing under his evening clothes, this would have been a deadly blow. The moment before she dug her claws into his body, Dwight managed to execude his electricity charge on her, which obviously didn't do her much harm, but at least threw her back, allowing Dwight to start running for his life. Following Robert's instructions, he lured Xavia to Ross' private laboratory where they managed to lock her up behind a solid metal door. After a few hours, Xavia changed back into May, who laid exhausted on the laboratory floor. Ross somehow convinced her to talk with him and made her admit that she didn't follow Nate's orders fully by her own will. Doc installed a switch on May's head, and thus allowing Xavia to be switched back into May. The switch also gave May powers to transform into Switch, a superheroine who occasionally helps the Hyper-Hero Squad in their quests for justice. Switch wears a protective metal headband, made to prevent Nate from switching her into Xavia while she's Switch (though she's perfectly vunerable while she's May and can be switched to any of her forms).

Might be, I once saw a World of Warcraft screenshot of orcs riding wolves and thought it looked cool. Though I think I was even more inspired by the goblin horde from ATOTK and goblin wolf riders from old HoM&M, cause this is what I've recently (re)played 

I'm working on an entry too. It's turning out a bit higher res than I planned, but I hope I can finish it on time anyway.

[Goblin Battle Academy]

I didn't have time to work on this :/
Anyway, here goes:

Goblin Battle Academy (or maybe Orc Battle Academy?)

x1
x2

Okay then, I guess it's time to pick a winner. It's been hard to choose a single winning entry, because each one of them manages to evoke the mood I was hoping for (and Strange Visitor, that includes yours =) ).

I was really impressed with Tuomas' and Wreck's entries, which seem to perfectly fit the background style and have a nice idea behind them too.
Bog's and Arboris' entries for a change are both made in somewhat different styles, but fit the idea nonetheless and bring a feeling of nostalgia. 'A guy with a big gun in a devastated world' - a strong classic type, isn't it? Speaking of classics, nice reference Arboris =)
Wyz's and Strange Visitor's entries offer great possibilities for an adventure game designer - imagine the nice puzzles one could come up with using those.

So yeah, it was hard for me to decide. I was tempted to make Wreck the winner, because of a really interesting way of blending the idea into the background. It's clear that this carnivorous mutant plant is a smart one, making its flowers resemble those magical butterflies that fly around this place to lure the unsuspecting victims. Very nicely done!

Still, I think that my favorite entry is Wyz's cat-fox (I think they discovered something like that on Borneo a few years ago?), because it's the most original and imaginative entry in my opinion. And like I said earlier in the post, this kind of half-visible creature would make a very nice adventure game puzzle.

So I guess that's it, Wyz is the winner. Here is the trophy for you:


Or a non-animated version, if you prefer:


Thank you all for all the work you put into your entries.
And this time Wyz, good luck to *you* thinking up the next competition


And on a side note:
The half-finished picture that got to be the theme for this competition is a background for an adventure game I had in mind some time ago. And although it's still but a vague idea (which would have to wait its turn even if I finally managed to learn how to code  : /), someday it might come to life thanks to your entries, which I found really inspiring.
So, does any of you mind me using the ideas and/or graphics you submitted if i ever get to making the game in exchange for a big thank-you in game credits?

Pasting all your trophies into a single image would possibly help.

[loominous]

With all votes counted, the winner is
loominous, who got 12 votes.
Second place goes to
Hudders, who got 9 votes.
Third place goes to
Buckethead, who got 7 votes.

Thank you all for participating and for taking part in voting, and congratulations to the winners

Votes in all categories count because that's the way the background blitz is handled 

Okay then, so I'm taking back my previous post - no main categories.

[Idea]

One more thing: the most important categories for this competition are Idea and Technique, so votes in these two will count. Votes in other categories and are encouraged, but not necessary.

Perhaps, but this image was an entry for a competition titled 'Stan's Used... ?', hence this sign.

[Idea]

IndieBoy, you were not late, I decided to wait until it's past 30th in all places in the world before I announce that the voting has started, which I do now.

Voting categories, I borrowed them from the previous competitions:

Idea - The underlying idea to the background. Doesn't necessarily have to coincide perfectly with the theme of the week, just strike you as interesting/amusing/inspiring; a place you'd really enjoy visiting within a game.

Atmosphere - How well the image manages to evoke a certain feeling or mood.

Design - How well the elements in the image are designed, such as landscapes, buildings, decorations, clouds, doorknobs, etc.

Composition - How well the elements in the image work together/are positioned in relation to each other.

Functionality - How well it would work when adding sprites, including appropriate walking distances, a good angle for character sprites, clever walkway solutions, easily understood exits, etc.

Technique - How well the ideas are executed in form of rendering.

Voting will end around 3rd April.

Then who do you think number 10 is? 

Edit: And I meant that the 'Stan's Used...' sign works as a sort of a spoiler for identifying Stan.

I guess, though the sign on the left provides some hint 
And you got them correct.

And one more thing - clouds look far more natural if they have flat bottoms.

You might have already figured out how to solve a particular puzzle, but depending on how well the parser for the game in question was designed, good luck figuring out what words to type in to make your character execute the solution. Also, the Web as we know it today was only an inkling in the eventual founding fathers' collective imaginations. So if you got stuck, the only recourse was to get a like-minded friend to pitch in with some fresh ideas.

Ah.. so very much true. I remember it took me days to finally make these delivery guys bring the wine in Larry 1, and my friends were no help either. I guess it was beyond us 12 year olds to figure out it was a HONEYMOON suite