Fire Flight Zone by fawfulfan - 7/10
I actually really liked this. The area with all the flamethrowers was lame, but otherwise this was really well done and quite a lot of fun. A few of the passages could probably use some more help in finding them as they're through some walls that the player might not notice, but otherwise I really liked this stage quite a lot. More fun than I've had in a NiGHTS stage since Spring Hill.
Dark Forest Zone by Videogame9 - 2/10
This is just a room of platforms over a pit. There's no actual content or stage here. It's playable I guess, but there's no real stage here. Jump on little platforms for a while, then you're done. Look at how other people make single player stages as an example.
Jadeflower Zone, Act 1 by blahblahbal - 2/10
This has the exact opposite issue as the previous map. There is a lot of area here, but there's no detail at all. You added a few areas with some content, like where you placed the Sonic emblem. Now add that level of detail to the entire map, with streams across the stage, and sector variations and other scenery. Anything but huge areas that have nothing in them but a renderer error.
Cloud Cradle by D00D64 - 3/10
You need Star Posts. REALLY badly. A lot of the gimmicks in this stage really don't work at all, such as the laser room being exceptionally painful on the eyes and being impossible to navigate in third person, and the enemy bouncing over a pit being exceptionally fidgety. Also, using enemies like that on ropes is basically impossible to see because of the camera. Don't do that.
Water Works Zone by Kyasarin - 7/10
The visuals in this map are really great. I loved the indoor rooms with the outside texturing used in there. The gameplay is good, but quite generic. Especially near the end it feels like you ran out of ideas. Most of the ideas used here aren't really used in interesting new ways at all. The stage also could really use a lot more secrets. I searched the stage pretty well and didn't find much at all. With all the scenery, you should hide stuff in it to match.
Moonlit Mountain Zone, Act 1 by Darkbob1713 - 8/10
This was surprisingly fun. I don't really like the visuals much, but they all provided a unified look at least. I really liked the variety of gameplay provided, with areas with ice, water, platforming, and other concepts. The main thing that brings it down is that the stage really could use a lot more in the way of secrets. I liked the Attraction Shield near the beginning, and the 1-up on the zoom tube was cool, but a lot of the stage just felt empty when I explored it.
Lava Rock Zone by Eggmanfan - 1/10
Wow, this is awful. Playable, I guess, but completely terrible. Don't build maps like this.
MAPM1 - Abandoned Shrine Zone by Ash - 5/10
This would have been a truly awesome 1.X map. The fans are a great gimmick that provides a really fun way to get to the upper floors and the central room is open, yet has cover to run behind. The problem is that the level really isn't any good in 2.0. The SRM in the center is a particular problem, making the entire stage focus in spamming right there. The play flow of the stage is to grab whatever rings you can, get a weapon you can spam, and circle-strafe the central area and spam it until you're out of ammo or you get hit. The WRM is actually harder to get than the SRM, which basically means nobody has any shields except the person camping the SRM and having the proper reflexes to thok onto it right when it respawns. Also, because the stage is symmetrical it's not possible to know which weapon you're moving towards on a fan until you get there.
MAPM2 - Two House Forest Zone by Kratzean - 2/10
This feels like you put match starts into an RP map. It's cramped, and laggy as anything, with not enough rings and monitors inside FOFs that are possible to get anyways. Even worse, both the houses have the same layout with different texturing. There's no flow in the map at all, stopping dead constantly, and since there's only one way in and out of the buildings, there's no interesting ways to get around the stage.
MAPM3 - Frost Columns Zone by Mystic - N/A
Well, I'm pretty happy with it, although the visuals aren't particularly great.
MAPM4 - Plasma Plant Zone by Darkbob1713 - 4/10
Honestly, I should probably give this a 3, but I had so much fun camping the rail platform and railing people into pits that I couldn't help but give it another point. This map is in dire need of more rings, and the weapons are really all hidden away in non-obvious locations. The painful floor isn't nearly obvious enough, either. The instant-drowning liquid is a cool idea, but nowhere in the stage is it really used very well. It feels like it's just used as a place to put the weapon panels and that's all.
MAPM5 - Waterfall Hill Zone by MajinD - 4/10
This map is WAY too big and open. We had 16 people in the game and even then I was occasionally alone. There are also far too few rings in the level, making anything that requires a lot completely useless. The level itself could mainly use being made smaller, but also a lot of the areas could use some refinement. For instance, the pool with the bounce panel has waterfalls on the edge to aid the springs, but they're really narrow and hard to use properly. The main thing I did really like about it was the mountain the rail panel was placed on, considering how strong rail is on the map, it's nice to have the weapon placed in such a dangerous location, requiring springs to reach.
MAPM6 - Crystalline Caves Zone by Spherallic - 8/10
I don't see why you were so worried about using the same theme as me, considering this map is probably as good as mine. I would suggest adding some visual clarity in places, and probably cut down on the translucent FOFs, as they're kinda distracting. There were several times when I had trouble seeing what was going on. With as many people as we had in the stage, the level turned into a pure madhouse. It might be nice to add an extra WRM in a reasonably easy to reach location to add a few more shields, because it was really easy to get hit. Overall, though, the stage is really quite great. I had a blast on it.
MAPM7 - Oil Operation Zone by RedEchidna - 6/10
This still needs work, but it's more than fun at this point. Some of the room transitions are really awkward, and there should probably more stuff added in a few of the areas, but the basic stage layout is really solid and it played rather well. Instead of a small alcove for the SRM, it may be more effective to have a hallow interior area in the central pillar and have 2 entrances to it.
MAPM8 - Lush Forest Zone by Blade - 7/10
Quite fun stage, although it really could use some gimmicks. As a basic layout it's solid, but could really use a little more to distinguish the various rooms, perhaps use the scenery objects differently in the different rooms if messing with the textures doesn't work. I also actually found myself wishing a few of the tunnels connecting the rooms were a little smaller so I could actually fill them with fire, but it's a minor complaint and I'm not sure it would actually improve the map. There really aren't any choke points to exploit in this map at all.
MAPM9 - VG Disco by Brawl - 4/10
Well, the basic idea and layout here is pretty sound, although I really don't like the pool of water at all. It feels arbitrary and is just annoying. The main problem with this stage is item placement. You're completely missing 3 weapons, and you're using ? monitors. I went Super for approximately 15 seconds thanks to them bringing up Recycler exceptionally frequently. I'd suggest reading the thing placement section of Level Design 101 on the Wiki, and applying that information to your stage. If you fixed the thing placement this could easily be a 6 or maybe even a 7.
MAPMA - Disorient Battle Zone by JJames - 6/10
Well, this is quite well-done. Nice to see reverse gravity in match actually be fun. The problem is that there's basically no difference between the floor and ceiling of the stage. It's essentially symmetrical on the Z axis. Have a different layout on the floor and the ceiling, and then place the different weapons on each side. With everything essentially available on both sides, it's not really encouraged to flip since it makes you vulnerable, which is the core gimmick of the map.
MAPMB - Strawberry Shortcake by Errol - 5/10
This stage seems to get the essentials, but it really is in dire need of some visual variety and detail. Especially the underwater passage should be completely reworked, maybe removing the water so the WRM can spawn as Attraction occasionally. I had a complete blast throwing people into pits over and over with knockback weapons, regardless =P
MAPMC - Silver Canyon Zone by KO.T.E - 6/10
Well, it's a definite improvement over the version we tested earlier. It's easy to see now and the gameplay is now much better. The problem is just that there's so much extra territory in places, especially underwater, that the stage frequently feels empty, even with a lot of people. The SRMs should probably be harder to reach, as well, both of them in an easy to reach method. Simply making the underwater passages shorter would probably do a lot to help the map's flow.
MAPF1 - Twilight Groove Zone by Scizor300 - 3/10
This is massively laggy, and most of the territory of the map doesn't get used at all. Nobody ever uses the bottom floor, and just dashes straight between the two bases. It's also quite painful to look at with all the bright textures being offset by absolutely nothing. The disco room in SRB2 itself uses a variety of textures so it doesn't make your eyes bleed.
MAPF2 - Lava Fort Zone by Kratzean - 3/10
Augh, set the bottom of the lava to return the flag. This turned into a complete stall war as both sides essentially camped the bases for 30 seconds at a time while we waited for the flag to respawn. The central room with the moving lava was completely cheap, and the pool of lava under the flag was insanely annoying because you would step down onto it when running on the grate in front of the flag. Also, all the Elemental Shields everywhere got completely stale, because almost everyone had one. It would feel more special if everyone in the map didn't have one. This level just desperately needs some open space somewhere, and perhaps an alternate path that's actually SAFE to the other base, as long as it's much slower than the main path.
MAPF3 - Magma Valley Zone by Darkbob1713 - 4/10
I actually had a lot of fun on this map, but it needs serious work. The falling platforms to get to the flag were really annoying, and the blue springs were just dumb. On the up side, I really liked how the bases were laid out, as they were actually defensible and the springs let you actually get out of the base without using the falling platforms. I'd personally suggest connecting the platform with Explosion with the platform with the Bounce, to provide a second path between the bases. With another path this level would be far better.
MAPF4 - Abandoned Disco Zone by Spherallic - 7/10
What a cute, simple map. I had quite a lot of fun on it, but that flag REALLY needs to be moved to a position where the other team can't run up and grab it instantly. I really liked hiding out on the second floor, and spamming bounce at anyone who tried to take the flag from me. Overall, a great map with good flow, and it's nice to see SOMEONE from this contest used the disco textures to good effect.
MAPF5 - Thunder Coil Zone by ZarroTsu & Mach - 4/10
Ugh, more lag. This would probably be fixed if you used less FOFs and didn't use a black pit, instead using a sky texture below. Anyhow, the base design here is pretty nice, with the springs outside reminding me of the things I liked about Cloud Palace. Unfortunately, the rest of the level design just wasn't up to par. The coil is kinda neat but doesn't work as expected, hitting me when I didn't think I was touched by anything, and the rest of the level is bland, boring platforms over a bottomless pit. Nimbus Ruins just isn't interesting when there isn't a risk of dying to the pit. Also, I could not for the life of me figure out where some of the weapon panels were. It would probably help to hide them a little less. I basically ended up using red rings both games.
MAPF6 - Crosswalk by ShadowHog - 4/10
Ugh, this is a cramped mess, but for some reason I had so much FUN on the cramped mess. There are WAY too many monitors, and you need team ring monitors in the bases so you can actually kick the opposing team out of the base. There are tons of WRMs and SRMs to the point that I was getting blasted by Armageddon and Invincibility constantly. The central area is about the right size but could probably use some of the stuff in the middle removed, and both the bases are too small. The entire stage reeks of unbalance, but for some reason it didn't matter and we all spammed rings excessively and had fun. With some balancing work this could be a really great map.
MAPF7 - Metropolis Madness Zone by RedEchidna - 6/10
I really don't know why I had so much fun with this. I think it's partly because of how defensible the base was, though. I liked the hole to get back down to the first floor when flag running, but the mid-field area is really bland and the alternate path is completely nonsensical and I couldn't figure it out in either game. That area needs to be reworked quite badly.
MAPF8 - Midnight Ice by Ash - 0/10
When you said bad framerate, I didn't think "unplayable", but that's the experience here. Within a second of loading, the whining about the lag started in the round and did not cease until the game sigsegved to end it in both games. While it looks really pretty and seems to have a solid layout, the framerate being so bad because of precipitation combined with excessive graphical detail in a map with nothing blocking line of sight that the entire game stuttered to a slideshow renders it completely unplayable.
MAPR1 - Freaky Factory Zone by RedEchidna - 4/10
The pits in this level are completely arbitrary and invisible until you've already fallen into them. Other than that, the level bugs up if you happen to die while on the ceiling, forcing me to switch to Tails to hit the Star Posts on the ceiling. The concept was really cool, it just needs a MUCH better execution.
MAPR2 - Bleeding Green by D00D64 - 1/10
Well, aside from the Star Posts completely not working and having several places it's possible to get completely stuck with an Elemental Shield, this could be somewhat playable. As it stands, this level is barely playable. Also, I'm sure you know from the name, but the visuals in this stage are completely awful.
MAPR3 - Quicksand Night Zone by Darkbob1713 - 7/10
I quite liked this. The gimmicks were interesting while at the same time preventing me from just thokking my entire way through the stage. I don't really like the section after the first Star Post, with the repetitive jumping it just felt boring. Also, the platform that moves up and down dips under the pit, which felt cheap as I lost a life to something I couldn't have predicted. Otherwise, keep up the good work here.
MAPR4 - Not A Thokfest Zone by Mystic - N/A
An idea I had at 4 AM that I just HAD to make reality. If you guys derive any amusement from this then the goal has been achieved. Remember, guys: There is a difference between a thokfest and a map that just lets you thok a lot.
MAPR5 - Digital Dimension Zone by SonicMaster - 5/10
I've never played Riders for more than an hour, so I can't comment on the quality of the port, but this is a solid stage with really crappy transitions that really hurt the experience. The first pit is really kinda annoying, and I'd personally suggest replacing it with lava. Also, the spikes will hit you if you just graze them and not fall on them, which is really painful if you're NOT thokking at the time to try to not get hit. Otherwise it's a pretty decently fun stage that just needs better balancing.
MAPR6 - Sky Castle Zone by Mach - 2/10
Wow, you sure did make a thokfest to counter my stage all right. You need to fix the Star Posts majorly, and I really hate the staircase section. Also, the maze is a gigantic renderer error. I actually like how you can take the collapsing platforms over the slime as a shortcut, and the jumps in a few areas. Just needs a lot less flat, and a bit less thokking through areas with nothing there.
MAPR7 - Crimson Caves Zone by Blade - 8/10
I really liked this level. I really dislike the lighting breaking down and flickering hardcore across the entire stage, but the actual gameplay is great, with some challenging jumps and several places where you can just barely make a thok for a time savings if you risk going into the lava if you screw it up. Also, other than the lighting going berserk the whole thing looks great. I especially like the curve at the end of the stage with all the flamethrowers; it looks great. Just fix that lighting, alright?