I really dig Killing Floor, the co-operative zombie killing game available on Steam (review here). It's a bit rough around the edges, but it occupies a sweet spot somewhere between Left 4 Dead and the Nazi zombie mode in Call of Duty: World at War. And unlike either of those games, it's open from the get-go for custom maps.

So to jump-start the map making process, the developers at Tripwire Interactive have announced a pair of contests that will give fat loot to the creators of the winning maps. The first contest, for $5000, ends July 31st. The second contest, for $10,000, ends September 18th. Runners up will get fancy nVidia graphics cards and Logitech mice. Here's the site for the contest, and here are the official rules.

Of course, the real winners will be those of us who play Killing Floor. I'm looking forward not just to seeing some new maps (I predict several shopping malls), but to some new gameplay gimmicks. As much as I like the game, there's plenty of room to add new features.