Official Level Design Contest Voting: September/October 2008
- Thread starter FuriousFox
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Mystic said:
A nine from Mystic? Wow, I wasn't expecting that. Coming from one of the most respected members of the community, that means a lot. The whirlpools were actually my little 9-year-old brother's idea, and he's rather pleased that some of you guys like them. I had it in my head that Red Desert Zone would surely get a lower score than Poison Palace Zone.
Mystic said:
Yeah, it is a terrible mode. I intend to make a 2D stage for the next contest, but at least I feel like I know what I'm doing with this broken mode, and beta tester Boinciel agrees.
SRB2WikiSonicMaster said:
It's hard, but possible, to make a good 2D level. Two really good tips are:
1. Make sure that there is some awesome 3D scenery in the background. Palmtree Panic Zone pulled that off spectacularly.
2. It is a cool trick to have zoom tubes/diagonal springs/conveyor belts/whatever transfer you forward and backward, so that gameplay is 3D even if the camera isn't.
Linedef Type 121 works. However, it makes the camera stationary. I have found that Linedef Type 63 sadly does not do anything in 2D mode, but that would naturally make the camera side-scrolling. Either way, I have techniques against 2D mode's problem. If we had slopes, 2D mode would be even easier to map in. I see that they are used strategically to stop Sonic's X momentum while only slowly decreasing speed.
JEV3
There and back again~
====Single Player====
Freezing Flare - 4/10
Aesthetics: The level almost entirely bland, and the only thing that stood out to me was the use of the rock texture against the snow wall in the transition into the lava area. It felt like the only thing that differentiated one theme from the other was the choice of textures.
The theme switch was also not very creatively implemented. Switching themes like that mid-level has been used in countless SRB2 levels, while I was hoping for something that blended both the lava and the ice more closely. Additionally the level as a whole was way to bright in the ice area, even if it is generally supposed to be that way, I would recommend toning down the brightness or adding some dark textures for possibly no reason other than the fact that the textures are so bright.
Lastly the music was not bad, but I didn't like the use of it in SMG and I didn't like it here because it just felt like a menu theme with no gameplay 'flavor' in the melody. The music switch addressed that slightly, and was a nice touch, however.
Gameplay: There was actually very little that makes this level stand out. No distinguishable gimmicks are really present aside from using fans/steam instead of springs in some areas. The layout is uninteresting and the ice theme pretty much dominates a map which I'd expect to have at least balanced the two into even sections. There was also an area where the problems with the brightness mentioned above actually hurt the gameplay, making it impossible to make out the difference from the ice from the water.
--------------------------
Skyline Paradise - 2/10
Aesthetics: Actually the use of a city as a theme for NiGHTS was quite good, but in most areas, it was only just detailed enough for me to tell it was a city as opposed to ocean ruins or whatever other theme there might have been.
Gameplay: Due to the weird bounce SRB2 gives the player when he runs into a wall, this made the cramped corners even more miserable. Furthermore, there were many areas where I went to the bottom of a skyscraper to find out I had to go around the top, and vice versa. Lack of decent item placement gave absolutely no direction, and to top it all off, it doesn't even play like a NiGHTS map, with there being no emphasis on achieving combos or trying to go through quickly. The challenge is merely to navigate through the area without bouncing.
-------------------------
Electric Dungeon Zone - 5/10
Aesthetics: There really wasn't anything significant here, which is more apparent due to the map's theme being that of a factory... which probably has the heaviest emphasis on and the widest range of gimmicks and detail of all those commonly used. The music surprisingly fit pretty well with the stage and for the most part the graphics were not broken.
Gameplay: The main star here is the button pressing, and the unfortunate thing is that it is the only star here. The use of the scripts to play the noise and show the text made it pretty neat, but overall, being required to activate the lift made it even more tedious than waiting for the lift to bring you where you want to go.
Aside from overall issues with the lifts, there was an area where the platforms wouldn't respawn when you died, there was a button that seemed to do absolutely nothing near the beginning, and the room with the turret provides absolutely no cover after you fill it with chemical water.
--------------------
Red Desert Zone - 9/10
Aesthetics: The texture set was new at least, and that was cool enough. However, the sand ended up looking like lava that didn't hurt you for some strange reason, and the washed out pink for quicksand fit with the level, but just barely. There are some areas that find a way to strike a perfect balance in detail, and the abundant secrets of your SP levels are still there. Most of these secrets are something short of notable, but the one secret caught my attention because of the terrific interpretation of a familiar melody used upon the music swap for that area. The normal music fits the level though, and is well composed.
Gameplay: The platforming was solid and there were plenty of interesting gimmicks. As others have mentioned, the quicksand launcher was neat, and the enemy-sector-special with the Jetty guards were implemented in a way that does not disrupt the flow of Sonic, rather than the usual hide-and-seek effect it provides in other wads. The layout was linear enough to keep the player on the right track, but nonlinear enough to provide replay value. Ideally, I would like to see multiple paths implemented in synthetically rather than the neat and tidy use here where there is not a single path the players can take, and not have access to any of the other major paths.
------------------------
Frost Mountain - 5/10
Aesthetics: The overall theme looks good, but there is little in the way of detail throughout most of the map. The music also didn't *quite* seem to fit.
Gameplay: There is nothing new here, and nothing notable. The layout does branch out near the end, but its hardly noticeable because they meet almost before you realize you've taken a different path. The overall level was pretty compact, and it would have performed better had there been quite a bit more room.
------------------------------
Glaber Special Stage - 6/10
Aesthetics: The entire thing was one texture, and it didn't look that bad but it would have looked much better with a more unique blend of textures. The yellow looked good against the green backdrop however...
Gameplay: Its an average special stage, which is a vast improvement over most of the other custom special stages I've seen, regrettably. There is nothing here that makes the special stage stand out, but the layout is pretty good and the rings are well placed for the most part. I would have preferred a wider rings total to rings required ratio, especially for the first special stage.
-----------------------
Snowpoint Land - 2/10
The entirety of the stage consisted of jumping over frozen blocks over harmful water. This got very repetitive after a while, especially when it got to the point where it was so skinny you had to tip-toe to avoid falling. The whole thing was bland and empty, but there wasn't enough gameplay for it to detract from it.
-------------------------
Water Ruins - 1/10
There was practically no gameplay, but at least it didn't trip you up like 2d mode usually does. Quite frankly, while it should be longer, I don't think there is a way to improve it in this iteration of 2d mode.
----------------------------
Geothermal Volcano - 0/10
I don't know where to start with this one, there's a messed up texture, textures are irregularly placed, lava inconsistently is either a pool or over a pit, sector layout is sloppy, some areas are cramped, one area requires you to use invinc to pass through an area, falling lava sector is misplaced so that its impossible for all but Sonic to pass, there is pretty much no half-decent detail or visuals, the exit sectors were indistinguishable, etc...
====Race====
Quicksand Forest - 5/10
I didn't really care for this one, the quicksand was waaaay to punishing if you made one slight trip up. The race had very little to it, and was very bland and ugly, the most significant gameplay area being the platforming area at the end where the quicksand becomes even more aggravating because slipping up there means you have to start back at the beginning of the area.
----------------
No Name Forest - 3/10
You had to pretty much memorize a lot of the obstacles to avoid ending up hurtling through a punishing ricochet. They were all too close together for your first run through the race to be any good. After memorizing it, its substandard NiGHTS gameplay, having neither decent item placement, nor interesting layout.
-----------------
Warped Woods - 10/10
This map is, without a doubt, the best circuit I've played. There may be room for improvement, but its kind of hard to place. The hazards are well placed to avoid running blindly and are detailed enough without being so complicated as to impede the progress through the map. The layout was very interesting, requiring the player to make several direction changes that weren't confusing but made the race overall unique. It's also one of the best looking circuit maps I've seen. Additionally, I've had more than one close race with a Tails player, and that is a feat in itself.
My only nitpicks would be that its hard to fit through the trunk at full speed, and that apparently, under a large amount of lag the map becomes disorienting. Neither of which are flaws in the map design as much as server stability and personal skill. (you should see how often I end up stuck behind a torch in Toxic Citadel)
====CTF====
Opposition Zone - 7/10
The level looks good overall, and the teleporters are integrated solidly, but the teleporters also make it impossible to see any more than a fraction of the playing field at a time. In a gametype such as CTF, this is rather important. If there was some way the player could actually see from one playing field to the other (teleporter or not), then the whole thing might have worked. Because of the teleporters, the stage ends up too big for all but the largest games. Its still pretty solid, visibility or not, and I quite like of the use of the non-damaging water in the lava area.
-----------------------
Green Valley - 5/10
This was a somewhat average level, the layout was pretty plain but there was nothing that really broke it. However, the platforming required to get into the base is painful when you are under fire, and even more so given the chance of camping. This makes returning the flag successfully nearly impossible.
----------------------
Contaminated Gourge - 3/10
The level looks pretty cool, but it ends up being a platform over a bottomless pit, with alternate paths being a cave on the side, and a ledge over top. Because of the level of transparency, the platform has a tendency to blend and its hard to judge distances, and even though the platforms are wide enough to run on there is not any room for error. Additionally, the entire thing is flat, and with the exception of the caves and the ledge, there is only one level. Additionally, using a spring to reach the flag is often debilitating.
--------------------------
Lift Bridge - 4/10
The concept is cool, in fact, I spent most of the first match just playing with the buttons. The problem is that that bridge and pit is all that separates the two bases. This tends to make the map somewhat dull, as it ends up running in a straight line. It would be preferable to have a fully implemented area beneath the bridge in place of the pit.
---------------------------
Zero Star - 3/10
The only thing this has in common with Zero Wing is the big pipe. The layout is similar to Metal Star in that two bases are across a pit. However, the pipes don't really make things that interesting, and hopping from the arrow to the center, to the next arrow, to the other base is infuriating given the small amount of room there is to move around.
-----------------------------
Techno Base - 7/10
I really liked the way this looked, and overall it was pretty solid except for a few small issues. One was that the flag area was way too removed from the rest of the map, two was that it is too big even for a large netgame, and my biggest complaint is using AGZ style terrain over the pits. The textures look good, but unfortunately, since they are all crammed in there, you don't realize you are running into a pit between the platforms instead of hitting a wall. I'd say move the base and cut out one of the sides, then experiment with attaching certain areas and spacing out others to make dying in between pits more believable.
====Match====
Gameboy Valley - 5/10
This was an okay map, however the Software version was blindingly white, and you couldn't see through the wood textures. This did make it much harder to enjoy the map, but the layout itself was pretty average with nothing exceedingly unique about it to set it apart from anything else. One issue also existed with the weapons, where there was never enough rings to supply your automatic.
-----------------------------
Treehouse Sanctuary - 5/10
This map's layout suffered from the central pit where the player ended up trapped if they fell in the river. The problem was that this pit was fenced in, and players there were at a disadvantage. Everything else was quite generic, a more creative design would have been much appreciated. It played well enough however, despite all that.
---------------------------
Grassy Pier - 0/10
This map had HOM, overtly thick colormap, and a generic design that the poorly implemented gimmick failed to make interesting. Everything looked rather dull and even if someone did get the hang of the wall launching the player, there weren't enough rings to seriously do any fighting there. Given the wide space, homing weapons did not make anything easier.
------------------------
Submerged Sanctuary - 5/10
This map was quite annoying because the only source of air in the tight areas was either a bubble on the outer corner, or heading to the upper area. Like Hydro Plant, you end up with people camping by the springs to rack up points without drowning, and like Midnight Abyss you get people running around the outside to rack up on a ton of rings. The automatic weapon in the confined areas were downright painful, especially when considered in conjunction with the fact that water severely hampers Sonic's movement. Despite its flaws, it was still solidly built and there was at least some fun to be had.
------------------------
Dark Fort - 6/10
This was probably the best map of the bunch, and while it suffers from the same generic arena theme that plagues almost every other map in this division, the arena layout is solid and fun. The CEZ textures were sharp and distinct and the weapons were, for the most part, well distributed. The problem was, however, that the springs were all just a little bit off from performing their task. Additionally, it *would* have been nice to at least see some decor to break it from the generic mold, but it was good enough to survive without it.
EDIT: After another playthough in Jazz's server, I modified some of the scores:
Lift Bridge: Raised to 4, which is just below average. The alternate paths were a nice touch (once I knew they existed >_<), but in the netgame they really didn't make much of a difference because the layout pretty much kept them in one place.
Contaminated Gourge: Lowered to 3.
Green Valley: Lowered to 5.
The rest are still fair votes as far as I'm concerned.
Freezing Flare - 4/10
Aesthetics: The level almost entirely bland, and the only thing that stood out to me was the use of the rock texture against the snow wall in the transition into the lava area. It felt like the only thing that differentiated one theme from the other was the choice of textures.
The theme switch was also not very creatively implemented. Switching themes like that mid-level has been used in countless SRB2 levels, while I was hoping for something that blended both the lava and the ice more closely. Additionally the level as a whole was way to bright in the ice area, even if it is generally supposed to be that way, I would recommend toning down the brightness or adding some dark textures for possibly no reason other than the fact that the textures are so bright.
Lastly the music was not bad, but I didn't like the use of it in SMG and I didn't like it here because it just felt like a menu theme with no gameplay 'flavor' in the melody. The music switch addressed that slightly, and was a nice touch, however.
Gameplay: There was actually very little that makes this level stand out. No distinguishable gimmicks are really present aside from using fans/steam instead of springs in some areas. The layout is uninteresting and the ice theme pretty much dominates a map which I'd expect to have at least balanced the two into even sections. There was also an area where the problems with the brightness mentioned above actually hurt the gameplay, making it impossible to make out the difference from the ice from the water.
--------------------------
Skyline Paradise - 2/10
Aesthetics: Actually the use of a city as a theme for NiGHTS was quite good, but in most areas, it was only just detailed enough for me to tell it was a city as opposed to ocean ruins or whatever other theme there might have been.
Gameplay: Due to the weird bounce SRB2 gives the player when he runs into a wall, this made the cramped corners even more miserable. Furthermore, there were many areas where I went to the bottom of a skyscraper to find out I had to go around the top, and vice versa. Lack of decent item placement gave absolutely no direction, and to top it all off, it doesn't even play like a NiGHTS map, with there being no emphasis on achieving combos or trying to go through quickly. The challenge is merely to navigate through the area without bouncing.
-------------------------
Electric Dungeon Zone - 5/10
Aesthetics: There really wasn't anything significant here, which is more apparent due to the map's theme being that of a factory... which probably has the heaviest emphasis on and the widest range of gimmicks and detail of all those commonly used. The music surprisingly fit pretty well with the stage and for the most part the graphics were not broken.
Gameplay: The main star here is the button pressing, and the unfortunate thing is that it is the only star here. The use of the scripts to play the noise and show the text made it pretty neat, but overall, being required to activate the lift made it even more tedious than waiting for the lift to bring you where you want to go.
Aside from overall issues with the lifts, there was an area where the platforms wouldn't respawn when you died, there was a button that seemed to do absolutely nothing near the beginning, and the room with the turret provides absolutely no cover after you fill it with chemical water.
--------------------
Red Desert Zone - 9/10
Aesthetics: The texture set was new at least, and that was cool enough. However, the sand ended up looking like lava that didn't hurt you for some strange reason, and the washed out pink for quicksand fit with the level, but just barely. There are some areas that find a way to strike a perfect balance in detail, and the abundant secrets of your SP levels are still there. Most of these secrets are something short of notable, but the one secret caught my attention because of the terrific interpretation of a familiar melody used upon the music swap for that area. The normal music fits the level though, and is well composed.
Gameplay: The platforming was solid and there were plenty of interesting gimmicks. As others have mentioned, the quicksand launcher was neat, and the enemy-sector-special with the Jetty guards were implemented in a way that does not disrupt the flow of Sonic, rather than the usual hide-and-seek effect it provides in other wads. The layout was linear enough to keep the player on the right track, but nonlinear enough to provide replay value. Ideally, I would like to see multiple paths implemented in synthetically rather than the neat and tidy use here where there is not a single path the players can take, and not have access to any of the other major paths.
------------------------
Frost Mountain - 5/10
Aesthetics: The overall theme looks good, but there is little in the way of detail throughout most of the map. The music also didn't *quite* seem to fit.
Gameplay: There is nothing new here, and nothing notable. The layout does branch out near the end, but its hardly noticeable because they meet almost before you realize you've taken a different path. The overall level was pretty compact, and it would have performed better had there been quite a bit more room.
------------------------------
Glaber Special Stage - 6/10
Aesthetics: The entire thing was one texture, and it didn't look that bad but it would have looked much better with a more unique blend of textures. The yellow looked good against the green backdrop however...
Gameplay: Its an average special stage, which is a vast improvement over most of the other custom special stages I've seen, regrettably. There is nothing here that makes the special stage stand out, but the layout is pretty good and the rings are well placed for the most part. I would have preferred a wider rings total to rings required ratio, especially for the first special stage.
-----------------------
Snowpoint Land - 2/10
The entirety of the stage consisted of jumping over frozen blocks over harmful water. This got very repetitive after a while, especially when it got to the point where it was so skinny you had to tip-toe to avoid falling. The whole thing was bland and empty, but there wasn't enough gameplay for it to detract from it.
-------------------------
Water Ruins - 1/10
There was practically no gameplay, but at least it didn't trip you up like 2d mode usually does. Quite frankly, while it should be longer, I don't think there is a way to improve it in this iteration of 2d mode.
----------------------------
Geothermal Volcano - 0/10
I don't know where to start with this one, there's a messed up texture, textures are irregularly placed, lava inconsistently is either a pool or over a pit, sector layout is sloppy, some areas are cramped, one area requires you to use invinc to pass through an area, falling lava sector is misplaced so that its impossible for all but Sonic to pass, there is pretty much no half-decent detail or visuals, the exit sectors were indistinguishable, etc...
====Race====
Quicksand Forest - 5/10
I didn't really care for this one, the quicksand was waaaay to punishing if you made one slight trip up. The race had very little to it, and was very bland and ugly, the most significant gameplay area being the platforming area at the end where the quicksand becomes even more aggravating because slipping up there means you have to start back at the beginning of the area.
----------------
No Name Forest - 3/10
You had to pretty much memorize a lot of the obstacles to avoid ending up hurtling through a punishing ricochet. They were all too close together for your first run through the race to be any good. After memorizing it, its substandard NiGHTS gameplay, having neither decent item placement, nor interesting layout.
-----------------
Warped Woods - 10/10
This map is, without a doubt, the best circuit I've played. There may be room for improvement, but its kind of hard to place. The hazards are well placed to avoid running blindly and are detailed enough without being so complicated as to impede the progress through the map. The layout was very interesting, requiring the player to make several direction changes that weren't confusing but made the race overall unique. It's also one of the best looking circuit maps I've seen. Additionally, I've had more than one close race with a Tails player, and that is a feat in itself.
My only nitpicks would be that its hard to fit through the trunk at full speed, and that apparently, under a large amount of lag the map becomes disorienting. Neither of which are flaws in the map design as much as server stability and personal skill. (you should see how often I end up stuck behind a torch in Toxic Citadel)
====CTF====
Opposition Zone - 7/10
The level looks good overall, and the teleporters are integrated solidly, but the teleporters also make it impossible to see any more than a fraction of the playing field at a time. In a gametype such as CTF, this is rather important. If there was some way the player could actually see from one playing field to the other (teleporter or not), then the whole thing might have worked. Because of the teleporters, the stage ends up too big for all but the largest games. Its still pretty solid, visibility or not, and I quite like of the use of the non-damaging water in the lava area.
-----------------------
Green Valley - 5/10
This was a somewhat average level, the layout was pretty plain but there was nothing that really broke it. However, the platforming required to get into the base is painful when you are under fire, and even more so given the chance of camping. This makes returning the flag successfully nearly impossible.
----------------------
Contaminated Gourge - 3/10
The level looks pretty cool, but it ends up being a platform over a bottomless pit, with alternate paths being a cave on the side, and a ledge over top. Because of the level of transparency, the platform has a tendency to blend and its hard to judge distances, and even though the platforms are wide enough to run on there is not any room for error. Additionally, the entire thing is flat, and with the exception of the caves and the ledge, there is only one level. Additionally, using a spring to reach the flag is often debilitating.
--------------------------
Lift Bridge - 4/10
The concept is cool, in fact, I spent most of the first match just playing with the buttons. The problem is that that bridge and pit is all that separates the two bases. This tends to make the map somewhat dull, as it ends up running in a straight line. It would be preferable to have a fully implemented area beneath the bridge in place of the pit.
---------------------------
Zero Star - 3/10
The only thing this has in common with Zero Wing is the big pipe. The layout is similar to Metal Star in that two bases are across a pit. However, the pipes don't really make things that interesting, and hopping from the arrow to the center, to the next arrow, to the other base is infuriating given the small amount of room there is to move around.
-----------------------------
Techno Base - 7/10
I really liked the way this looked, and overall it was pretty solid except for a few small issues. One was that the flag area was way too removed from the rest of the map, two was that it is too big even for a large netgame, and my biggest complaint is using AGZ style terrain over the pits. The textures look good, but unfortunately, since they are all crammed in there, you don't realize you are running into a pit between the platforms instead of hitting a wall. I'd say move the base and cut out one of the sides, then experiment with attaching certain areas and spacing out others to make dying in between pits more believable.
====Match====
Gameboy Valley - 5/10
This was an okay map, however the Software version was blindingly white, and you couldn't see through the wood textures. This did make it much harder to enjoy the map, but the layout itself was pretty average with nothing exceedingly unique about it to set it apart from anything else. One issue also existed with the weapons, where there was never enough rings to supply your automatic.
-----------------------------
Treehouse Sanctuary - 5/10
This map's layout suffered from the central pit where the player ended up trapped if they fell in the river. The problem was that this pit was fenced in, and players there were at a disadvantage. Everything else was quite generic, a more creative design would have been much appreciated. It played well enough however, despite all that.
---------------------------
Grassy Pier - 0/10
This map had HOM, overtly thick colormap, and a generic design that the poorly implemented gimmick failed to make interesting. Everything looked rather dull and even if someone did get the hang of the wall launching the player, there weren't enough rings to seriously do any fighting there. Given the wide space, homing weapons did not make anything easier.
------------------------
Submerged Sanctuary - 5/10
This map was quite annoying because the only source of air in the tight areas was either a bubble on the outer corner, or heading to the upper area. Like Hydro Plant, you end up with people camping by the springs to rack up points without drowning, and like Midnight Abyss you get people running around the outside to rack up on a ton of rings. The automatic weapon in the confined areas were downright painful, especially when considered in conjunction with the fact that water severely hampers Sonic's movement. Despite its flaws, it was still solidly built and there was at least some fun to be had.
------------------------
Dark Fort - 6/10
This was probably the best map of the bunch, and while it suffers from the same generic arena theme that plagues almost every other map in this division, the arena layout is solid and fun. The CEZ textures were sharp and distinct and the weapons were, for the most part, well distributed. The problem was, however, that the springs were all just a little bit off from performing their task. Additionally, it *would* have been nice to at least see some decor to break it from the generic mold, but it was good enough to survive without it.
EDIT: After another playthough in Jazz's server, I modified some of the scores:
Lift Bridge: Raised to 4, which is just below average. The alternate paths were a nice touch (once I knew they existed >_<), but in the netgame they really didn't make much of a difference because the layout pretty much kept them in one place.
Contaminated Gourge: Lowered to 3.
Green Valley: Lowered to 5.
The rest are still fair votes as far as I'm concerned.
JEV3 said:
At least have you tried to find "alternatives paths"?
http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/... CTF Zone/?action=view¤t=LiftBridge.flv
Also, I think if there weren't any death pit, the map wouldn't have any challenge and the bridge would be useless. I didn't want speed, but I want to force players to find new ways of crossing the map, with death pits.
Anyway, thanks for rating. ;-)
That was an unexpected drop for Lift Bridge Zone.
JEV3
There and back again~
Ezer.Arch said:
I had no idea the tunnel was there, but as for the islands and running across the top, those sort of things function a lot better in JTE than netplay because you are not under fire. The pit still ends up restricting things more than it should, and you could still put a lower area down there anyways because most of the time, the player is going to prefer to go the faster route, especially if the alternative involves being underwater, and I refer to Silver Cascade as an example. (which had a pit too, but the lower area was the way to cross it, and it was more desirable to find some other way across....)
I'll keep those paths in mind if I can find any more contest servers up, but unfortunately it didn't perform too well because of the lift abuse, the fact that it's still a straight line whether or not you waterskip instead of thokking across the bridge, and there's a pit restricting the area across. Frozen River in Jazzattack also suffered from similar issues in its first iteration, and Crazy Castles was also subject to the button insanity.
A note, all of my scores are subject to change based on future Contest server playing sessions... although I'm pretty sure of most of them. There were a lot of maps this contest that weren't bad but weren't anything special either, I felt like I was spamming fives when I was voting. Overall however, this is probably the best contest we've seen in a long time. =/
I'll Begin
🐑✨
May I suggest using a gargoyle box instead of leaving the bridge position up to the player?
verifiaman
The master of verification.
\Act 1 single player act adventure act 3 emerald hunt. thats the loopholeKaysakado said:
That's not a loophole because you just listed three single player modes. You can enter one single player map into the contest. There are four contest divisions: Single player, match, capture the flag, and circuit. You can enter one map to each division. Only way you can release a multi-act zone to the contest would be doing it over the course of multiple contests.verifiaman said:
Ugh. I really suggest against using 2D mode until 1.1 where it's been fixed. It just doesn't work because of the camera.SRB2WikiSonicMaster said:
It's not just the camera, it's Sonic's speed, too. I use some techniques frequently to force Sonic to stop dead so he can see the hazard right in front of him:
* Yellow/Blue Spring up to a ledge
* Force Sonic to fall down a shaft. To make this a bit more interesting, some of these have SOC'd Sonic Heroes hoops shooting downward.
* Thokguards. However, I've been mostly using these so that Sonic can actually hit the Zoom Tubes correctly.
* Scarcity of enemies. So far, I have only found two completely fair places to put enemies.
I tried to use Camera Scanner to push the camera twice as far back and ANALOG 1 in 3D mode to once and saw that Sonic's sheer speed made it very difficult to have just regular platforming in 2D mode that works just fine in 3D mode. The above techniques work great in SRB2's 2D mode, and you JUST have enough camera distance to see the hazard.
If we had slopes, I could add "allow Sonic to run up the wall" to the list. I've seen it used countless times to maintain flow and still stop Sonic's X movement.
Again, the 2D level might not work out, and I'm aware of this. But I'm trying my very best to see just how capable 2D mode, in its current state, really is. I got a reasonable amount of praise from this level, and I honestly think my next one is better.
* Yellow/Blue Spring up to a ledge
* Force Sonic to fall down a shaft. To make this a bit more interesting, some of these have SOC'd Sonic Heroes hoops shooting downward.
* Thokguards. However, I've been mostly using these so that Sonic can actually hit the Zoom Tubes correctly.
* Scarcity of enemies. So far, I have only found two completely fair places to put enemies.
I tried to use Camera Scanner to push the camera twice as far back and ANALOG 1 in 3D mode to once and saw that Sonic's sheer speed made it very difficult to have just regular platforming in 2D mode that works just fine in 3D mode. The above techniques work great in SRB2's 2D mode, and you JUST have enough camera distance to see the hazard.
If we had slopes, I could add "allow Sonic to run up the wall" to the list. I've seen it used countless times to maintain flow and still stop Sonic's X movement.
Again, the 2D level might not work out, and I'm aware of this. But I'm trying my very best to see just how capable 2D mode, in its current state, really is. I got a reasonable amount of praise from this level, and I honestly think my next one is better.
Well, the reason I name the camera as the problem is because you can move faster than you can see. It's a problem in a lot of Sonic games, especially the newer ones as they seem to keep increasing the maximum speed you can go. Part of why SRB1 Remake works so well is that you're never really allowed to run due to the old level design, and with the given character WAD you can't even do it if you tried. There are plenty of ways to make it so you can't run into enemies, but SRB2's current 2D mode is so bad why would you?
I'm surprised that Glaber hasn't voted yet.
Actually, I was thinking 1P in particular, so at least you can vote on that.
Torgo
Member
Single Player:
Freezing Flare Zone, Act 2 by Simsmagic - 4/10
This was mostly linear and there were some cramped areas here and there. I managed to have some fun with it though.
Skyline Paradise Zone by fawfulfan - 2/10
This level was really, really tedious. It seemed to drag on forever. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the end being an exit rather then the traditional NiGHTs way of ending the level.
Electric Dungeon Zone by Roy - 3/10
The annoying thing about this level is that when you have platforms that don’t respawn when you hit a checkpoint. I was a bit confused on where you were supposed to go in that part with the black death pits and the collapsing fofs. The button gimmick was done in an interesting way.
Red Desert Zone by SonicMaster - 8/10
This zone has very interesting gimmicks. I thought the sonic 3k gimmick was neat, I really haven’t seen that done in srb2 before. I don’t really like the pink sand that much, it make me think of strawberry cool aid power or something. I like the use of multiple paths. I would probably explore all of them if I had more time to do so. I liked what I saw.
Dimension Glaber Special Stage 2 by Glaber – 4/10
I know I heard this music before, but I just can’t seem to place it. Also why don’t you ever use the standard system of naming your WADs. On to the actual map, the map was good for a special stage I guess, the textures made it hard to see the rings. It was an average special stage.
Frost Mountain Zone, Act 1 by HyperKnux - 4/10
The music doesn’t quite fit for the theme to the level. One thing that stuck out for me was the part where you stand on the platform and it goes up, and has 3 other platforms floating for no reason. I think those fofs should be replaced by one vertical moving fof to make it less confusing. Some of the jumps were a bit awkward.
Water Ruins Zone by Donovan The Hedgehog - 0/10
This level can be summed up with saying hold right to win. There are not many obstacles here. Even improved 2d mode won’t fix this level. It needs to have obstacles and height variance.
Snowpoint Land Zone, Act 1 by Superusuario - 2/10
This looks like someone’s first made map. The map is linear with a bunch of crawlas, not much interesting gameplay.
Geothermal Volcano Zone by verifiaman - 0/10
First off, why is the level name different then the wad name? Every wall having that red wall texture makes my eyes bleed. I don’t get that fog that instantly kills you either.
Match:
MAPA1 - Gameboy Valley Zone by SonicMaster - 4/10
A black and white gimmick is neat, but the thing is, that White color map doesn't work in Open GL mode. It was much easier to see people in Open GL mode, meaning it gave more of an advantage then it usually gets. I think some of the platforms need more ways to get to them. Maybe lowering the Gameboys a bit.
MAPA2 - Treehouse Sanctuary Zone by Ice - 4/10
As pretty much everyone has said already, the center area needs a revamp. It is easy to target people getting out of the water with the spring since there isn't anywhere else to go. I also felt it was way to symmetrical, at least to the point where I noticed it.
MAPA3 - Grassy Pier Zone by astar - 1/10
This doesn't look like it has much effort at all. The gimmick took me by surprise, but it wasn't really executed well. I don't know what you can do to remedy that.
MAPA4 - Submerged Sanctuary Zone by ss47 - 4/10
Really cramped, and was under water. I think most of the people already covered what was wrong with the map.
MAPA5 - Dark Fort Zone by Knockout The Echidna - 6/10
I think the layout was pretty good, at least good enough for people to have some fun. One of the red springs was not facing the correct way, but not many people went to that anyway.
CTF:
MAPA6 - Opposition Zone by SonicMaster - 3/10
The teleports really hurt you for this one. It made it harder to find the person with the flag. The level itself was also too large. Finding the base if the flag is taken is too hard. Try to make it more obvious where the flag is.
MAPA7 - Green Valley Zone by N.Cenz - 5/10
The layout was pretty flat generally. I think it was too wide and not long enough. I kinda like the idea of having a longer path getting the flag back to the base, but I think it could be better if it was stairs instead of small platforms. The way the base was set up, made it easier to do the “just standing here twiddling my thumbs” type of camping. It still managed to be somewhat fun though.
MAPA8 - Contaminated Gourge Zone by Shrike - 2/10
This is really way too flat. I also didn’t like it was just essentially a platform over a bottomless pit. I think the alternate paths need to be a bit more obvious. There aren’t any rings in the main path either.
MAPA9 - Lift Bridge Zone by Ezer.Arch - 7/10
I really like the idea of this one using lifts to strategically make people take alternate paths. The problem is that the alternate paths are not quite obvious enough. The opening of the zoom tube path needs to be larger to not only notice it better, but to get in the zoom tube without having to be so precise. I also thought the level was a tad too wide. I think what may help is some stairs are easily seen to the area where you can skip to the water. Maybe the water level can be slightly raised too.
MAPAA - Zero Star Zone by ss47 - 1/10
This map is way too small. There isn’t enough room to move around. The pipe didn’t really add anything interesting to the gameplay.
MAPAB - Techno Base Zone by Blade T. Hedgehog - 5/10
I really like the way this zone looked. It was a bit of fresh air. The thing that really subtracted point was the fact that the bases were not easily seen. It was also a bit too large.
Circuit:
MAPAC - Quicksand Forest Zone by SonicMaster - 5/10
This zone seemed pretty average to me. It seemed to be lacking some scenic touches or something. The quicksand didn’t add too much to the level.
MAPAD - No Name Forest Zone by Glaber - 4/10
This one also seemed just average too me. However the part where you go either up or down with the tree stump in mid air, the next tree stump is too close to the previous one and disrupts the flow.
MAPAE - Warped Woods Zone by Jazz - 7/10
I liked most of it, though there are two things that I think should be addressed and they are both in the same area. Near the part in the beginning of the level with the tree (see picture below) the tree is far too narrow and is shouldn’t be extended that far. After that tree area it is not easy to see the arrows when going in full speed, and when you have a first person camera. I think that area with the slime and the monitor should be scrapped and have the arrows farther away, and have them more diagonal and in the center so they can be easily seen.
Freezing Flare Zone, Act 2 by Simsmagic - 4/10
This was mostly linear and there were some cramped areas here and there. I managed to have some fun with it though.
Skyline Paradise Zone by fawfulfan - 2/10
This level was really, really tedious. It seemed to drag on forever. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the end being an exit rather then the traditional NiGHTs way of ending the level.
Electric Dungeon Zone by Roy - 3/10
The annoying thing about this level is that when you have platforms that don’t respawn when you hit a checkpoint. I was a bit confused on where you were supposed to go in that part with the black death pits and the collapsing fofs. The button gimmick was done in an interesting way.
Red Desert Zone by SonicMaster - 8/10
This zone has very interesting gimmicks. I thought the sonic 3k gimmick was neat, I really haven’t seen that done in srb2 before. I don’t really like the pink sand that much, it make me think of strawberry cool aid power or something. I like the use of multiple paths. I would probably explore all of them if I had more time to do so. I liked what I saw.
Dimension Glaber Special Stage 2 by Glaber – 4/10
I know I heard this music before, but I just can’t seem to place it. Also why don’t you ever use the standard system of naming your WADs. On to the actual map, the map was good for a special stage I guess, the textures made it hard to see the rings. It was an average special stage.
Frost Mountain Zone, Act 1 by HyperKnux - 4/10
The music doesn’t quite fit for the theme to the level. One thing that stuck out for me was the part where you stand on the platform and it goes up, and has 3 other platforms floating for no reason. I think those fofs should be replaced by one vertical moving fof to make it less confusing. Some of the jumps were a bit awkward.
Water Ruins Zone by Donovan The Hedgehog - 0/10
This level can be summed up with saying hold right to win. There are not many obstacles here. Even improved 2d mode won’t fix this level. It needs to have obstacles and height variance.
Snowpoint Land Zone, Act 1 by Superusuario - 2/10
This looks like someone’s first made map. The map is linear with a bunch of crawlas, not much interesting gameplay.
Geothermal Volcano Zone by verifiaman - 0/10
First off, why is the level name different then the wad name? Every wall having that red wall texture makes my eyes bleed. I don’t get that fog that instantly kills you either.
Match:
MAPA1 - Gameboy Valley Zone by SonicMaster - 4/10
A black and white gimmick is neat, but the thing is, that White color map doesn't work in Open GL mode. It was much easier to see people in Open GL mode, meaning it gave more of an advantage then it usually gets. I think some of the platforms need more ways to get to them. Maybe lowering the Gameboys a bit.
MAPA2 - Treehouse Sanctuary Zone by Ice - 4/10
As pretty much everyone has said already, the center area needs a revamp. It is easy to target people getting out of the water with the spring since there isn't anywhere else to go. I also felt it was way to symmetrical, at least to the point where I noticed it.
MAPA3 - Grassy Pier Zone by astar - 1/10
This doesn't look like it has much effort at all. The gimmick took me by surprise, but it wasn't really executed well. I don't know what you can do to remedy that.
MAPA4 - Submerged Sanctuary Zone by ss47 - 4/10
Really cramped, and was under water. I think most of the people already covered what was wrong with the map.
MAPA5 - Dark Fort Zone by Knockout The Echidna - 6/10
I think the layout was pretty good, at least good enough for people to have some fun. One of the red springs was not facing the correct way, but not many people went to that anyway.
CTF:
MAPA6 - Opposition Zone by SonicMaster - 3/10
The teleports really hurt you for this one. It made it harder to find the person with the flag. The level itself was also too large. Finding the base if the flag is taken is too hard. Try to make it more obvious where the flag is.
MAPA7 - Green Valley Zone by N.Cenz - 5/10
The layout was pretty flat generally. I think it was too wide and not long enough. I kinda like the idea of having a longer path getting the flag back to the base, but I think it could be better if it was stairs instead of small platforms. The way the base was set up, made it easier to do the “just standing here twiddling my thumbs” type of camping. It still managed to be somewhat fun though.
MAPA8 - Contaminated Gourge Zone by Shrike - 2/10
This is really way too flat. I also didn’t like it was just essentially a platform over a bottomless pit. I think the alternate paths need to be a bit more obvious. There aren’t any rings in the main path either.
MAPA9 - Lift Bridge Zone by Ezer.Arch - 7/10
I really like the idea of this one using lifts to strategically make people take alternate paths. The problem is that the alternate paths are not quite obvious enough. The opening of the zoom tube path needs to be larger to not only notice it better, but to get in the zoom tube without having to be so precise. I also thought the level was a tad too wide. I think what may help is some stairs are easily seen to the area where you can skip to the water. Maybe the water level can be slightly raised too.
MAPAA - Zero Star Zone by ss47 - 1/10
This map is way too small. There isn’t enough room to move around. The pipe didn’t really add anything interesting to the gameplay.
MAPAB - Techno Base Zone by Blade T. Hedgehog - 5/10
I really like the way this zone looked. It was a bit of fresh air. The thing that really subtracted point was the fact that the bases were not easily seen. It was also a bit too large.
Circuit:
MAPAC - Quicksand Forest Zone by SonicMaster - 5/10
This zone seemed pretty average to me. It seemed to be lacking some scenic touches or something. The quicksand didn’t add too much to the level.
MAPAD - No Name Forest Zone by Glaber - 4/10
This one also seemed just average too me. However the part where you go either up or down with the tree stump in mid air, the next tree stump is too close to the previous one and disrupts the flow.
MAPAE - Warped Woods Zone by Jazz - 7/10
I liked most of it, though there are two things that I think should be addressed and they are both in the same area. Near the part in the beginning of the level with the tree (see picture below) the tree is far too narrow and is shouldn’t be extended that far. After that tree area it is not easy to see the arrows when going in full speed, and when you have a first person camera. I think that area with the slime and the monitor should be scrapped and have the arrows farther away, and have them more diagonal and in the center so they can be easily seen.
- Status