While Pheno's forum runs an unthemed custom competition every year, a number of members asked about having a theme the next time round after the 2007 contest. Zed suggested racing, a number of people thought it would be fun...and so, the idea was filed away in the back of my mind.

A few months later, Zoidspoison contacted me about the forum possibly running a second contest this year as part of the 2008 Grand Prix. The racing idea seemed perfectly suited to this...and so, here we are.

Voting is closed. View the winners and entries alike on the entries page!

On-forum discussion

Story
Rules: Overview, Voting, Entering
Prizes

Story

Greetings, Zoid fans and racing junkies alike! This is Bob Kerensky of Top Core, reporting on the latest and greatest thing to hit the Zoids world.

Now, speed is of the essence in any race. It tests reactions, resolve, and just plain old guts. Zoids keep getting faster, pilots keep getting faster. But racing's not just about who's got the best numbers, and the people want more than running in circles.

So, at last, Zimotors Performance Zoids and its eccentric CEO Zakari Akonius have thrown down the gauntlet and brought out the bling, issuing a challenge to pilots, designers, and customizers all over Zi: Create not just the fastest racing Zoids, but the best racing Zoids from every type of league. Bring us your sleek aerodynamic cats, the agile kings of your obstacle courses, the most stubborn and endurant beasts of cross-country. Bring us your pilots too, the ones not afraid to push these machines to the edge of their potential and beyond. Together, we'll assemble a team that'll show the battle leagues there's more to our favorite sport than running in circles on a track - and pave the road for a new generation of racing Zoids.

The bravest pilots and their Zoids will go on to compete in several races. Details about the track and the nature of these races will be aired here as they're given to the press - all we know right now is it's going to be a hell of a ride, and the winner will walk away with an exclusive chrome model Zero from Akonius's personal collection.

Pilots, are you ready? We're waiting to see what you can do.

Rules

Overview and explanation of the racing theme

As was stated above, the contest starts June 1st. Entries close on July 31st, voting begins August 1st and ends the 14th, with a week for each stage of voting.

There's a few simple guidelines applying to forum contests in general:

• Anyone can enter so long as they were a registered forum member before the contest started.
• The limit is one custom per person, period - don't try to fudge it with multiple accounts.
• Your custom must be Zoid-based and fully painted where paint is needed - for example, no Blox bashes unless they're made to match each other properly.
• You must create a new custom specifically for the contest - no starting ahead of time or reusing/reworking old customs. This puts everyone on the same playing field time-wise.
• The old "sworn to secrecy" rule is loosened a bit. You may discuss your customs and post teasers and such, so long as it's in the appropriate forum. However, you MAY NOT post your finished product (or close to it) on the forums or anywhere else until all the entries go up, or it will count as a disqualification.

In addition, this is a themed contest. What does "racing theme" mean? As suggested by the "story" above, this won't be restricted to just straightline speed, zoom-in-a-circle racing, and the final story will find a way to work in whatever Zoids win as fairly as possible. If you want to make a Horn with boosters designed to keep stomping through a gruelling cross-country endurance competition or a highly maneuverable sniper bred for an obstacle-and-target-practice track, that's great.

After some deliberation, this was restricted to just ground Zoids. Hoverflight like a Sinker or Energy Liger is acceptable, as are Zoids designed to function on water and land like Brachios. Zoids restricted to only the air or only the water are a no-go.

If you're not sure about whether your idea would fit in, feel free to contact Tilly, either via PM or e-mail.

There is also an optional side activity for the people that like to detail things beyond the models themselves - if you'd like to write up a bio and/or draw a picture of your racing Zoid's pilot, feel free to send one in with your entry as per the instructions. Don't like the story aspect? Feel free to skip this, it's just for fun (and possibly a small prize).

Voting

Since this contest is part of the Grand Prix, it will have a first, second, and third place winner, all of which will move on to being featured there. To tie in with the racing theme, there will be two stages of voting, the first to pick the three finalists for a final race/vote-off.

The first time round (August 1st-7th), members simply list their three favorites out of all the entries. Each custom they vote for gets one point, and the three with the highest totals advance on. (Members can also send in their pick for "Favorite pilot" at this time - this is unrelated to the model portion of the contest and will just go by straight up popular vote.)

Once the three finalists are chosen, members will again vote (August 8th-14th) - this time on only one Zoid out of the three. The highest vote total wins the "race" and first place, and so on for second and third place.

Entering / What to send

E-mail Tilly using the e-mail address you registered with. If this is not possible, you may be asked to do something to confirm your ID (such as PMing Tilly a phrase e-mailed back to you). Include your member ID and display name (that is, both the name you use to log in and what shows with your posts) along with the following:

Your Zoid's name
Your pilot's name (not your name - this will be used in the "race" involving the winners)
What kind of race your Zoid specializes in (just a single word or phrase, please, nothing long!)
Some base stats such as height, length, width, weight, max speed (these are optional)

Fluff text, a brief story, or notes on your custom. Pretty much anything not covered above you want to say about your Zoid, so long as it's under 400 words.

Up to three photos (maximum size 800x600 pixels) of your custom, preferably jpg format. Editing multiple small photos into one that fits these dimensions is fine, and you may have pics in edited diorama style so long as there is at least one showing it NOT retouched - that is, you aren't using Photoshop et al to hide flaws.

If you have more story, more photographs, or other added information, you may also include ONE link to it in your entry. A photo gallery with descriptions, an HTML page...whatever it is, you get one "more info" link, period. (Note also that these links will not be usable in the Grand Prix, as per its rules.)

Optional extra: Up to 400 words and/or one drawing (800x600 pixel size limit) detailing your Zoid's pilot. Give them some history, doodle a little stick figure comic about their career...anything that fits those requirements. The pilot named favorite by the voters doesn't get anything but a mention in the story that'll go up with the winners post (and possibly a small prize). This bit's for fun. Do it if you want, skip it if you don't.

Entry period over. NO MORE CUSTOMS!

Prizes

First place recieves a now very rare Leoshop chrome/vacuum metalized Liger Zero as donated by Zed. Racers dig bling, after all.

Second place recieves a Kotobukiya Commando Command Wolf of the white variety, as preordered-for-contest-purposes by Colodie, and third place recieves a Museum "aka Bone" Geno Saurer, also donated by Zed.