Official Level Design Contest Voting: September/October 2008

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Ok, here's my feedback on the single player maps.


DimenGlabSpecial II: 4/10

The stage was good for gimmicks, and would fit in well as a special satge level, but at least make it stand better by giving it different textures. It gets boring looking at yellow & brown everywhere, and it looks dull to. Also change the music. I turned the volume right down as soon as I heard the music.

Freezing Flare act 2: 3/10

It's too cramped, and very flat & bland throughout the whole stage. You should of spent more time making this map instead of putting it into the contest so early. I've given it a 2 foor the music & 1 for the spring gimmick & the falling lava at the end.

Geothermal Volcano act 1: 1/10

Dear lord, no offence here, but this is terrible. The level design is extremely flat & bland, the texture choices hurt my eyes in some parts, and the hazards were really bad. I mean come on, you can't just make deadly fog, and random sectors which make speedy lava come up, that isn't very fair for the player who's attempting to complete the stage. I suggest you scrap this, and redo it again.

Skyline Paradise act 1: 2/10

I really didn't like this one, but it wasn't the worst one. I gave it 2 for a okish attempt for a NiGHTS stage, but the design wasn't what I'd expect. It was cramped when you are Super Sonic, and also, it makes it an attractive place for a RP.Hangut. Plus it's very flat & bland too. The 2 is for the idea.

Water ruins: 1/10

More like non water ruins. This stage was flat, terrible in terms of gameplay & deisgn, all I had to do was run to the end. The first collapsing floor was unfair as the crawla hits me unexpectingly, and bam, dead as a dodo. This needs redoing.

Red Desert: 7/10

Holy Jesus. This stage blew me away. Plenty to explore, the theme is perfect, the gimmicks, hazards, and scenery were damn nice, one of the best desert stages I've seen in a long time. My problems are it's a bit cramped in a few places, a bit bland in a few places, and as GCFreak says, it has that deja vu feeling in parts of the stage as well. Other from that, damn impressive.

Snowpoint land act 1: 1/10

The stage is completely flat & bland. There is almost no challenge at all, and the enemy placements were horrible. I lol'd at I'll Begin's post about the penis icicles. The water parts were very unfair as the ice was too slippery to even move on falling in the water of death. Not fair. You need to do this stage again I'm afraid.

Electric Dungeon: 4/10

The gimmicks were pretty cool such as the lift activating switches, but the design is too linear, bland, and flat on some occassions. I also don't like getting hit by certain lasers on fast converyor belts. Not cool. The boss fight was annoying due to camera problems too. Other from that, not bad compared to some levels in the singel player pack.

Frost Mountain: My stage, so I can't rate.
 
Excuse me, but I believe I submitted two maps for this contest, one for CTF, and one for Circuit. Did I mis-spell the e-mail or something? Or were they considered "unplayable"? This confuses me.
 
I confess myself very disappointed. I didn't like very many of these levels. Multiplayer levels as well. Now, for the ratings on singleplayer:

Freezing Flare Zone, Act 2 by Simsmagic 8/10
Nice transition between ice and fire. Music transition was good too. Add some depth to the volcano part, and It'll be great.

Skyline Paradise Zone by fawfulfan 5/10
I'll put it to you this way: By the time I figured out where the ideya plate was and where I was going, I could have flewn the course with tails.

Electric Dungeon Zone by Roy 2/10
I don't know what to say about this one. I quit before the first starpost.

Red Desert Zone by SonicMaster 9/10
Respect. But you know I like your work anyway. This comprises a challenge of tempting sonic to thok through. Assuming that there would be quicksand, I used rouge, however. Suprisingly, I got lost and fell into that funnel of quicksand (I also let go of the glide button prematurely) Not bad, man.

Dimension Glaber Special Stage 2 by Glaber 8/10
It's a special stage...but the kind of special stage I like.

Frost Mountain Zone, Act 1 by HyperKnux 9/10
It's Tikal heaven!!! I climbed through nearly all of the course, but yay.

Water Ruins Zone by Donovan The Hedgehog 1/10
Lame! 14 Seconds with sonic. MAKE IT HARDER!!!!!

Snowpoint Land Zone, Act 1 by Superusuario 6/10
Good but fill it up more. Give it more screnery objects...

Geothermal Volcano Zone by verifiaman 3/10
Meh, good concept, but too short and too easy.
 
I had a huge post full of detailed reviews. Phpbb2 nuked it due to various reasons. So I'll just write out the scores, no reviews for j00. Unless you ask me why I gave a specific level what score I gave it.

EDIT: Added reviews.

Single Player:
Freezing Flare Zone, Act 2 by Simsmagic 5
Fairly enjoyable, but had its flaws. For example, it was too short.

Skyline Paradise Zone by fawfulfan 4
The water hurts. The conveyer belt section was too easy to be a threat. I don't like SRB2's NiGHTS engine. Still somewhat enjoyable, though.

Electric Dungeon Zone by Roy 6
Button hunting did not detract from gameplay, and the Master Emerald added a nice touch.

Red Desert Zone by SonicMaster 7
Too much platforming, but contains many other stuff. This includes the easter egg, the multiple paths, the >9000 emerald tokens and certain gimmicks. Though some gimmicks are horrible.

Dimension Glaber Special Stage 2 by Glaber 3
Good for a special stage, but special stages are bad in general.

Frost Mountain Zone, Act 1 by HyperKnux 5
Enjoyable, but I got confused at one point.

Water Ruins Zone by Donovan The Hedgehog 3
Somewhat fun, but still rather bad.

Snowpoint Land Zone, Act 1 by Superusuario 2
I don't think I need to explain this.

Geothermal Volcano Zone by verifiaman 3
Was good at first, but quickly dropped down to abysmal.

Match/CTF/Circuit Contest Level Pack

Match:
MAPA1 - Gameboy Valley Zone by SonicMaster 5
The grayscale thing isn't quite a nice touch, adds nothing to the gameplay, and only works in Software. As such, I am judging as if the grayscale never happened. Anyways, it's kind of small.

MAPA2 - Treehouse Sanctuary Zone by Ice 4
I did not enjopy the name (no points taken off for that btw) I also did not enjoy the center area, and the center is too easy to go into as Sonic.

MAPA3 - Grassy Pier Zone by astar 3
The gravity is an interesting concept, but failed execution.

MAPA4 - Submerged Sanctuary Zone by ss47 N/A
I had gotten bored of match by this time in the netgame, so I wasn't really playing the level, but rather goofing around. I'll play it for real later.

MAPA5 - Dark Fort Zone by Knockout The Echidna N/A
See above

CTF:
MAPA6 - Opposition Zone by SonicMaster 4
Too much pplatforming. An elemental gimmick. Honestly, I knew this was yours as soon as I saw it, SonicMaster.

MAPA7 - Green Valley Zone by N.Cenz 5
Contains too much platforming for a CTF level.

MAPA8 - Contaminated Gourge Zone by Shrike 5
Enjoyable, but lagged. Though it could have been my connection.

MAPA9 - Lift Bridge Zone by Ezer.Arch 6
I like the shortcut.

MAPAA - Zero Star Zone by ss47 4
Inferno shield is overpowered. Too small.

MAPAB - Techno Base Zone by Blade T. Hedgehog 5
Has an armageddon shield placed directly onto the map.

Circuit:
MAPAC - Quicksand Forest Zone by SonicMaster 5
You think Quicksand Ruins is bad? Don't make a level exactly like it. Lucky for you, I like that stage, so I like this one too. Sort of.

MAPAD - No Name Forest Zone by Glaber 5
To be honest, I don't like NiGHTS Race. So, I based this relative to Slumber Circuit. Since most would give Slumber Circuit about a 3, this would be a 5 relative to that.

MAPAE - Warped Woods Zone by Jazz 5
I found it hard to find my way through. I know there are a lot of arrows, but the part I got lost in was pretty much the only area without an arrow.
 
nightmare cenz said:
Ctf Maps:




Match Maps:
  • Gameboy Valley Zone
    I'll say what i think in 3 words "Awesome and original"
    Design: Nice
    Points: 10/10

  • I don't see how originality gives it such a good rating. And the word "Good" is stronger than "nice" in terms of compliments.
 
Now for my ratings for the multiplayer stages. Starting with the Match stages.

Game Boy Valley Zone: 8/10

Wow, it fits with the theme, and the level design is nice. My only issues are that there's no D pads on neither Game boys. How would we move without it? and also, the upper sectons especially the middle of the zone lack in a small bit of scenery, other from that, nice work.

Treehouse Sanctuary Zone: 8/10

Very nice map. But is it me, or is this Hidden Sanctuary with a level header change? anyways, my only suggesting is to make it bigger as I thought it was a bit small for my tastes. Other from that, nice work.

Grassy Pier: 2/10

Oh dear, this is not I was expecting. The design is very linear, and not very good. You can see visual glitches because the map is too stretched out with hardly anything there. This needs redoing.

Submerged Sanctuary: 2/10

Way too cramped, and too easy to get all the powerups & the weapon rings especially the infinite one. This one needs redoing I'm afraid.

Dark Fort: 5/10

Not bad, but it could be better. There is hardly any scenery there, and you are missing the grass edges as well for some of your sectors. For a tag map, this would be fine, but for a match map, it needs more design done to it, and more bigger to have a better score.

Contaminated Gorge: 5/10

I like the idea, but there are a few flaws with this one. First of all, it's very linear, and too bland which lacks in scenery. I suggest you get rid of the pathways especially at the very start spawning point for player 1. Also, major deep drops are annoying, especially when near the cave with the red spring, you hit the rock, and if not sorted out in time, a big friggin drop to your doom. Not fun at all. But the textures, and everything else was quite nice. It's just this map needs more work on to reach it's full potential.

Now onto the CTF stages.

Opposistion Zone: 8/10

Wow, ever since I played srb2, this has to be one of the best CTF stages I've ever played on, not because of the design, but the theme and gimmick changes. You could of added more scenery, and make the FOF's in the spacelike part better, but those are minor things. Other from that, I'm impressed.

Green Valley Zone: 5/10

Not bad, but not the best. The stage was a bit short, and it really lacked in scenery throughout the whole stage. The good thing is it's playable.

Contaminated Gorge CTF: Ditto with the match version, but with two CTF bases.

Lift Bridge Zone: 7/10

Pretty decent map. The bridge gimmick was quite cool, and it plays well on CTF although try to size it down a small bit. Other from that, nice job.

Zero Star Zone: 3/10

This suffers the same effects as Metal Star Zone. It's too small at first, you need to make this bigger, and also, it's quite unrealistic as a space stage which it has no spacial effect with the gravity change and stuff. This needs a bit of work on to be a decent map.

Techno Base Zone: 9/10

Now this is a truely astonishing map. This is so far the best of the best CTF stages. I loved the gimmicks, and the design was awesome. My only drawback is the infinite rings are placed where people can get it and abuse it so easily. Other from that, great stuff.

Now onto the Race stages.

Quicksand Forest: 6/10

I liked the idea, but there were some flaws with this. First of all, i didn't like the spin parts. I don't think most players would want to come to a stop, then spindash just to get through a small space. Not fair, also it was quite crampped in some places, and it lacked in scenery. Other from that, not bad.

No Name Forest Zone: 5/10

Not bad for a NiGHTS race map, but it lacked in scenery a lot, and some sectors were too close, as a fast racer would be annoyed to crash into the logs near the end because he/she is going too fast. Think about your design from start to finish to make it good. But it isn't that bad, I'd rather play this than Submerged sanctum to be honest.

Warped Woods Zone: 7/10

I quite liked this, but there were a few things about it. There wasn't much scenery, and some parts were pretty confusing. Also, it's quite unfair character wise, as Tails & Knuckles players could easily cheat in some bits. Make it so it's fair for all 3 charatcers, otherwise, pretty good.

That's it from me.
 
I will be rating every level.

Name: Skyline Paradise Zone
Type: Single Player, NiGHTS
Rating: 5/10
Comments:
This level is a real challenge to rate objectively, because I was the one who made it. However, I’ll make an honest attempt. On one hand, the level had really cool ideas, such as the computer scrolling text at the beginning, the red car on the street, and the sky texture (incidentally, the skyline in the texture is of Sydney, Australia). But, halfway through the mare, the level feels distinctly rushed, and the hoops and circles are placed too sparsely in some places and too densely in others. The end of the level felt a little weak, too. The reason that NiGHTS levels are rare is that they’re much harder to make, and Skyline Paradise Zone illustrated that strongly.

Name: Freezing Flare Zone Act 2
Type: Single Player
Rating: 4/10
Comments:
Interesting…this level reminds me of my very own Frost Flare Zone, minus the factory elements, although, now I stop and think, I believe Freezing Flare Zone Act 1 came out before Frost Flare Zone. Anyway, this level is a tad sparse, but it’s definitely passable…and is that Super Mario Galaxy music I hear in the background? It works for this level.

Name: Snowpoint Land
Type: Single Player
Rating: 2/10
Comments:
Another snowy level. But, whereas in Freezing Flare Zone, it was only a little too empty, Snowpoint Land Zone was a LOT too empty. And what’s with the thick pack of Crawlas towards the beginning, and the white pillar that rises into the heavens at the beginning? Wadders need to learn that the Things do NOT make the level. (Am I being a bit of a hypocrite here? Because in my own level, a couple of parts felt a little like that. But not nearly as much.)

Name: Frost Mountain
Type: Single Player
Rating: 7/10
Comments:
When I first saw the title, I thought “Oh, come on, not ANOTHER ice-themed level!” However, the instant I loaded the level, I knew it was nothing like the previous two. In fact, it was more like the legendary Gelespious Mountain Zone. This was the first really good level I played. The only problems I had with it were that there were too many “tough” enemies like Crawla Commanders in wide areas (though that was balanced out reasonably well with sector based scenery), the level pretty much remained the same difficulty throughout, and it was too short. Other than that, though, it was great!

Name: Geothermal Volcano
Type: Single Player
Rating: 4/10
Comments:
This level isn’t nearly as terrible as most people seem to be saying, but there’s no doubt it has problems. The path layout was cool enough, but it needed more scenery, both Thing-based and Sector-based. I liked how the lighting was set up, but some texture choices made little sense. If the level had been filled in more and had its textures changed a bit, this level could have been great. As it stands, the level is only sort of decent.

Name: DimenGlabSpecial II
Type: Single Player, Special Stage
Rating: 3/10
Comments:
Wow, a special stage. I hadn’t expected that. Well, I enjoyed the custom music and the layout, but I didn’t like the choice of texture. Using a uniform checked pattern on Special Stages is an outdated practice—there are better special stage textures now. If the textures were more provocative and diverse, this special stage could have been fantastic.

Name: Electric Dungeon
Type: Single Player with Gamedata
Rating: 3/10
Comments:
Nice layout, great sound effects, cool switch effects. So why, you ask, do I give this level a 3 out of 10? It has some crippling problems. First of all, the lag is terrible, even in OpenGL mode. Second of all, the texture choices were awful—they made the level look gray and dull. Third of all, very little scenery, empty feeling, and WAY TOO MANY ENEMIES. Fourth of all, making the level not reload on losing a life was a terrible idea—how the heck am I supposed to cross a vast pit if the crumbling platforms never respawn!? This level has a great premise and is full of cool ideas…it just needed massive revision to eliminate the horrible problems.

Name: Water Ruins
Type: Single Player in 2D
Rating: 3/10
Comments:
Most people are bashing this level ruthlessly, and I must admit that it’s empty and pretty bland. Good 2D levels are hard to make. But I also have some good things to say about it. First of all, those three extra lives at the beginning are a nice way to show that even a 2D level can have some good secrets. Second of all, there were some surprises. I liked how the whole level seemed to crumble away about halfway through. And I could see that at least some effort was made to have some scenery, if not nearly enough. My biggest complaint about the level was probably that it was too short. But if this level were to be improved, it would need fixes on what it already has before it could be expanded.

Name: Red Desert
Type: Single Player
Rating: 7/10
Comments:
This level rocks. There are so many custom parts which fit perfectly. I just have two small problems. First too many Crawla Commanders. I hate Crawla Commanders; there should never be more than one in a given area, if you ask me. Second, the music. It was okay, but I think I would have preferred the Arid Canyon Zone music—it works very well for any desert-themed level. These two issues notwithstanding, this is probably my favorite of the Single Player levels…I must say that overall I was kind of disappointed by how poor the general standard for Single Player levels was in this contest, and this was a relaxing change of pace.

Name: Gameboy Valley
Type: Match and Tag
Rating: 7/10
Comments:
Hahaha, floating Game Boys! The premise for this level was silly, but it somehow worked. Nice size and placement of rings.

Name: Treehouse Sanctuary
Type: Match and Tag
Rating: 7/10
Comments:
Very nice. I like match levels to have a plenty of vertical levels, so long as they’re not empty…which, in this case, they weren’t!

Name: Grassy Pier
Type: Match and Tag
Rating: 3/10
Comments:
Sorry, but no. This level was far too plain and just wasn’t interesting. But, on the plus side, nice colormaps for the water.

Name: Submerged Sanctuary
Type: Match and Tag
Rating: 4/10
Comments:
I guess having the name “Sanctuary” in your level is something of a fashion now. A shade cramped, and the surface could use a bit more detail and some rings, but this is definitely not nearly as bad as it could have been.

Name: Dark Fort
Type: Match and Tag
Rating: 8/10
Comments:
Excellent level. You can see elaborate towers and structures right on level load. It only gets better from there.

Name: Opposition
Type: Capture the Flag
Rating: 7/10
Comments:
The way the textures change here is very neat, but, within each set of textures, they could have been handled better. For instance, the use of REDWALL to represent a lava fall. There’s such a thing as a lava flow texture. Use it.

Name: Green Valley
Type: Capture the Flag
Rating: 6/10
Comments:
Hmmm…I like this level. Nice and open, but not overdone. And the massive trees looming over everything adds to the scenery and makes the level feel large without feeling too empty. Good work.

Name: Contaminated Gourge
Type: Capture the Flag
Rating: 9/10
Comments:
Extremely good! This level is a bit empty at first, but the vastness seems to fit, and there’s a whole lot to see. If I could make any suggestion, it would be to add purple slime to some of the more empty places, and make it damaging but not fatal. But that’s not a criticism—it’s a suggestion to make the great even greater.
(P.S. “Gorge” is misspelled. But that doesn’t detract from the level at all.)

Name: Lift Bridge
Type: Capture the Flag
Rating: 9/10
Comments:
Lift Bridge Zone is also really good. It’s very pleasing to the eye and fun to explore. Plus, the textures are used very well. It’s bad luck that you had to submit this level to the contest with Techno Base Zone—in any other contest, this one probably would be my favorite.

Name: Zero Star
Type: Capture the Flag
Rating: 6/10
Comments:
Good textures, but it’s a bit small. Also, it would have been much cooler to lower the gravity—it would have made sense in this level, and a low-grav CTF would be really cool.

Name: Techno Base
Type: Capture the Flag
Rating: 10/10
Comments:
This has got to be the greatest Capture the Flag level ever created for SRB2. It is just unbelievable. The scenery is breathtaking, the obstacles are expertly placed, and the whole thing just feels perfect. Words fail to describe it, and I won’t try, for fear of sounding ridiculously over-the-top. But nobody should have any doubt in their mind that I believe this level to be utterly fantastic.

Name: Quicksand Forest
Type: Circuit
Rating: 5/10
Comments:
Wow…that quicksand is really sludgy! But it’s possible to avoid, which is good. I’d just say it needs more starposts, and PLEASE don’t have a section that you have to spindash under to get through—not all characters can spindash, you know, even if the basic three can.

Name: No Name Forest
Type: NiGHTS Circuit
Rating: 7/10
Comments:
Cool layout, but I got lost on the track at one point. Also, the scenery was good, but there wasn’t really any variation, and it got boring after a while. Still, good NiGHTS levels are hard to come by.
…Hang on. I distinctly recall having seen this level before the contest. Isn’t it against the rules to submit a level that’s already out there?

Name: Warped Woods
Type: Circuit
Rating: 8/10
Comments:
Ingenious! I’ll have to remember the way the slime was made here. I really liked the scenery and the lighting effects. Definitely the best of the circuits in this contest.
 
Dimension Glaber Special Stage 2 - 3
The music was pretty good, actually. It did somewhat sound like Special Stage music. But the bright textures weren't too easy on the eyes and did an excellent job of hiding rings, which isn't a good thing. Second, most of your rings were clumped together in a group and I had to waste time jumping around trying to collect them. Overall, not very fun.

Freezing Flare Zone Act 2 - lolwut
Pity that the map is only getting sub-average scores. I actually put a lot of time and effort into it. Also, yes, it was somewhat inspired by similar named SMG level, but it was actually more inspired by Hailfire Peaks in Banjo-Tooie. I thought the music fit, however. And SM said in the wiki that he really liked the music change.

Geothermal Volcano Act 1 - 2
A bonus point for the multiple paths, but other that that, this level is horrendous. One path is easy and fast, while the other is long and difficult. You should really have some rings after that first checkpoint in the lava section. Also, the fog block offered no hints that it was going to kill you. It would've been more obvious if the block was green or purple, but white just makes it look like steam of something. Also, you missed a texture:
fwqbm9.png

Skyline Paradise Zone - 3
The thing that griped me first was that had no clue where the start was. I wandered around the small city area into pitch black tunnels until I finally found where the NiGHTS section actually began. Then, I flew through a bunch of cramped, bland sections of building. My biggest complaint was that there is almost always no clear indication of where you're supposed to go. I found myself trapped inside a warehouse thing for a while until I found out that you were supposed to go back the way you came and go up. I kind've liked the factory part, as it seemed as if it had the most effort put into it.

Water Ruins Zone - 1
Okay, so we've got a short, bland course here that has little to no enemies. And when there are enemies, they pop out of nowhere and I get hit. Admittedly, I didn't really like any of the level.

Frost Mountain Zone Act 1 - 7
I'm wondering why it replaces THZ1 instead of GHZ1, but whatever. Anyways, this one I liked. It was pretty, it played well, and had good gimmicks. One thing, however, was that there were random deathpits placed around at not obvious places, and there seemed to be an overflow of enemies. Other than that, nice job.

Red Desert Zone - 8
The use of multiple paths was expected, and appreciated. It gave the level variety. The music was soothing, and fitting. I was actually a bit confused at the part with the funnel of sand, and it took me a few tries to figure out what I was supposed to do, but it was a highly original gimmick. The custom textures really made the level stand out, whether it was simply the recolored sand, or the hieroglyphics. I had fun here, the finishing time was decent enough. My only real gripe was that the position of the Special Stage Token at the ned was a bit obvious.

Snowpoint Land Zone - 3
The level consists almost solely of traveling across low friction ice over damaging water, which got annoying fast. I also did not like the flood of enemies at the very beginning. I suppose that I did like the part where the snow piles up, but it left a texture error that is mostly invisible unless your playing in OpenGL.
fu6t5j.png


Electric Dungeon Zone - 3
This is an aggravating level. I could not finish it, due to many death pits with Jetty-Sons and Crawla Commanders knocking you into them. The music wasn't very fitting, why RVZ? Anyways, your use of No Reload led to a visual glitch.
wu1lf.png


Fairly disappointed with this contest, and I'm going to have low standards for Nov/Dec as well thanks to how his year has been going.
 
Hyperknux said:
Treehouse Sanctuary Zone: 8/10

Very nice map. But is it me, or is this Hidden Sanctuary with a level header change?

Ice from the other topic said:
Yea, I won't be able to enter my SP map this time. Next time for sure.
However, I'm still entering the contest. As maybe none of you know, Hidden Sanctuary started off as a match level, but then, certain level designing aspects made me decide to make it a single player level. I recently revisited the old map, and thought that I should spruce it up a lot. I will be entering a match level that is made in the same style that my other map was created in.

Sorry, I should have explained this a bit earlier on for those who didn't read it before...
 
Single Player Division:

Freezing Flare Zone, act 2, by Simsmagic: 5/10
I didn't find many exciting things in this at all. The water shield in the beginning makes things all too easy in the water up until the second half of the level, even though it was easy to get through the water there anyway. The music didn't add much to how good I thought this level was, even though I noticed it changed in the second half of the level. I couldn't find many gimmicks, let alone good, or even interesting ones.

Generally, this level was easy and a bit boring, but the level design isn't that bad.

Skyline Paradise Zone, by fawfulfan: 3/10
Too empty, and I think it needs plenty of arrows to point you in the right direction, as I didn't know the right way to go in plenty of places in the level. The water wasn't done that well - it's just a floor that doesn't even hurt you. Also it was long, yet there were some interesting ideas in there. Also, the level doesn't even fit with it's name that well... I mean, does it really seem like a "Paradise" to you? It doesn't seem like one to me.

It was a good try to make a NiGHTS level, but I don't think it's anywhere near as good as Botanic Serenity.

Electric Dungeon Zone, by Roy: 3/10
I don't like the fact you have to press buttons to move along the level throughout most of it. The sounds used for the doors and the buttons weren't good choices, and are they really needed anyway? One of them, a door sound, suprised me because of how loud it was. And Eggman's missile firing sound for the buttons? That doesn't sound right for them...

I don't think the cechos were needed that much either, and same with the "B-B-B-Boss time!" echo near the boss. The fact there were emblems didn't interest me that much either. I can see you've used a DooM like exit sign as well, but it looks like it's lieing, as it does not lead to the exit at all, does it? One thing that didn't interest me at all was the Master Emerald, and it being where the exit was. Was there any point in that being there at all? I also noticed that that the area leading down near the invincibility box (which I don't think should have been put on the main path) is a bit glitchy.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the falling platforms after the checkpoint after the turret area do not respawn, which is quite bad, especially when you're still in that checkpoint area, and all the platforms have already fallen, since the door behind would be shut, and the only other things you could do then are either giving up or commiting suicide by jumping into the death pit below.

Red Desert Zone, by SonicMaster: 7/10
Much better than the others so far. Did you make that music, or was it taken from a DooM game? It reminds me of some music from DooM, and it's not bad either. The part I liked a lot was the bit with the quicksand leading down to a hole, which then springs you up. I found that a bit interesting, although there's not much else that interests me in this map. The custom floor textures and things were OK too.

Dimension Glaber Special Stage 2, by Glaber: 3/10
This is OK, and much better than that other one earlier this year. But as other people have said, the rings aren't that easy to spot thanks to the textures having similar colours. The music's not bad though.

Frost Mountain Zone, act 1, by HyperKnux: 6/10
This level is good as well, but had no interesting gimmicks at all. It generally felt the same most of the way through. It didn't interest me that much, but the level design is OK. The music didn't help me to enjoy it that much more.

Water Ruins Zone, by Donovan The Hedgehog: 2/10
Water Ruins? More like not-so-watery ruins to me. It was simply going right to the exit, which does not make a good level, especially when it's 2D. On the other hand, it wasn't cramped. Don't enter levels like this next time.

Snowpoint Land Zone, act 1, by Superusario: 2/10
You call those "icicles"? They look nothing like them. It was all too easy to get several extra lives in this level. And there were lots of enemies crowded together in the beginning, which allowed me to knock many of them down like bowling pins through spinning into them. Most of the level after that wasted plenty of my lives trying to cross the frozen water and the slippery ice to the first checkpoint. Also, why did you have to put in the pink emerald?

Geothermal Volcano Zone, by verifiaman: 1/10
You said this was a demo of the level, right verifiaman? Well, you shouldn't enter demos in the OLDC, as that would be a bad idea, like with this level. There was some white fog thing which killed you unexpectedly, which I find bad. And why did you have to put 3 invincibility boxes right next to each other? And what was the point of putting rings for a red spring next to a yellow spring? Sonic wouldn't be able to get them all.

In spite of the bad levels I've seen here, at least the streak of rule-breaking maps in the OLDC this year so far has been ended.

I might rate the match/CTF/Circuit levels later.
 
Hyperknux said:
Warped Woods Zone: 7/10

I quite liked this, but there were a few things about it. There wasn't much scenery, and some parts were pretty confusing. Also, it's quite unfair character wise, as Tails & Knuckles players could easily cheat in some bits. Make it so it's fair for all 3 charatcers, otherwise, pretty good.

Actually, I added those shortcuts specifically to even things out for Tails and Knuckles. When I ran laps with all three characters, I managed to get them within 5-6 seconds of each other, but not perfect. Sonic is still the best choice for this map, but at least Tails and Knuckles stand a fighting chance, unlike in most circuit maps.

So yeah, you're right, it is still unfair character-wise, for Tails and Knuckles. =P
 
fawfulfan said:
Name: Skyline Paradise Zone
Type: Single Player, NiGHTS
Rating: 5/10

Fawful, you aren't allowed to vote for your own levels, its against the rules.

Voting for Match now:

Gameboy Valley 5/10

The Black and White fog was nice, but it made it difficult to see what was coming at me, or who was coming. It also got a bit annoying after about a minute. The symetrical design makes the level pretty boring too.

Treehouse Sanctuary 6/10

More symetrical design, it got boring fast, and those upper areas could use more rings. It looked nice, and the middle could have used a random box, but a decent match map none the less.

Grassy Pier 1/10

The gravity made me laugh, and thats why you got a point. Very few rings, and bland.

Submerged Sanctuary 5/10

It wasn't completely sumerged, but it was too small for a lot of players, and, it was symetrical. =/

Dark Fort 6/10

Auto-Fail never seemed bad to me, and it kind of worked for this level, but it had more symetrical design, which I just don't like. It had enough rings to support the Auto ring, so a point for that.

Overall, most of these maps are average, in my opinion.
 
Chrome said:
Fawful, you aren't allowed to vote for your own levels, its against the rules.
I didn't vote for my level--I just rated it. I voted for Red Desert Zone. And I'm pretty sure rating your level is okay, because I think I saw an admin do that once. But if rating the level is against the rules, I'm sorry.
 
fawfulfan said:
Chrome said:
Fawful, you aren't allowed to vote for your own levels, its against the rules.
I didn't vote for my level--I just rated it. I voted for Red Desert Zone. And I'm pretty sure rating your level is okay, because I think I saw an admin do that once. But if rating the level is against the rules, I'm sorry.
I suppose you can, just know that it won't be counted when they're tallied up.
 
Hyperknux said:
Lift Bridge Zone: 7/10

Pretty decent map. The bridge gimmick was quite cool, and it plays well on CTF although try to size it down a small bit. Other from that, nice job.

Firstly, thanks for rating.

I've thought of releasing a new version of my map considering suggestions I've received and some ideas I've got.

About "try to size it down a small bit", red springs located near lake extremities helped me to define the map size. If I made the map a bit smaller, a player using a red spring, either he'll hit his face against a wall or would lose an interesting target view if using a rail-ring (SCREENSHOT). Anyhow, I'll consider your comment. I'll have just to study a new positioning of red springs to achieve a better map size. Improvements and ideas are always welcome.

Thanks ^^,
 
fawfulfan said:
I didn't vote for my level--I just rated it.
Honestly, you know you gave your own level a bad score? You really shouldn't create a level if you're not even going to like it yourself.
 
BlueZero4 said:
Honestly, you know you gave your own level a bad score? You really shouldn't create a level if you're not even going to like it yourself.
I do like it myself...I'm just trying to rate it objectively. And, from an objective point of view, it wasn't that great. In other words, I like it myself, but I don't think other people would agree.
 
I realize this borders on something like philosophy and I'm addressing a community of teenagers, but here goes anyway. Note that I'm a teenager myself, so I shouldn't be complaining...

Objectively viewing anything is utterly impossible. Fundamentally, the idea sounds good on paper, except we see everything through our own individual eyes. In order to attempt to view something objectively, we must remove our personal opinions. However, that presents a problem. Mostly, what's the standard to compare yourself to? Everyone's way of thinking is based upon their own opinions, so we'd end up stripping away everything. If we wanted to use the qualities that are most looked for (and agreed upon), we'd--

Actually, screw it, I'd rather just finish FFZ2 than try to write a book about why objectively viewing anything is impossible.
 
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