Official Level Design Contest - January Voting

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MAP01 - Deep Ruins Zone by BlazeHedgehog - 2/10

I was originally planning to joke about how this would make a good Doom level, but thinking about it more, I realised even Doom levels have more Z variation and more interesting layouts than this. The whole map is boring, flat, huge, and confusing. Even with five players, I spent more than half the play time just looking for someone to shoot at, and there wasn't much to keep me entertained either. The new textures are nice; that's really the only positive thing I can say about it.

MAP02 - Nightside Rouge Zone by Digiku - 0/10

When I saw all the secret work Digiku had been doing for weeks had culminated in this, I couldn't hide my disappointment. Gameplay is garbage due to the constant shortage of rings (automatics require lots of ammunition), visuals aren't that great either with the lines between floor tiles. I could make this in five minutes with GFZROCK and FLOOR0_3, and it would be better, because there wouldn't be glitchy lines on the floor, it wouldn't be 3 MB, and it wouldn't mess up the animations in all the other maps. (This map's ANIMATED lump, which the contest rules technically don't provide for, is the reason slime, water, and waterfalls don't move when you have the contest wad loaded.)

MAP03 - Stratosphere Tower Zone by Digiku - 4/10

An unfortunate case of overcomplexity takes its toll on this map. If it was just the lower areas, with the whole tower part gone or simply used as a visual, this would be a quite fun map. But since all the bonuses are inside the tower, and there aren't enough rings out of it, we can't ignore the tower and have our fun. The red diagonal springs aren't spaced right and send players too far, unless careful adjustments are made, which is hard because the framerate is getting mauled during that flight. The red vertical spring was equally hard to use, and the inside area it occupies was too cramped to serve any real purpose. I did have some fun in it, mostly in the lower areas, so it wasn't a total failure.

MAP04 - Acid Ravine Zone by a441 - N/A

Can't rate this one, obviously, but I honestly believe it was the best map in the set. The matches I played on it were the closest and the most enjoyable. The powerup monitors in the slime offended some people's sensibilities -- it's supposed to be a tradeoff, at least for Sonic, and if you're one of the weaker characters you get the privilege of grabbing the bonuses without being hurt, which evens it out some. The only thing I'll admit is wrong with this level is the lack of special rings except for infinity. I somehow forgot my plans to add some in the corners of the top part.

MAP05 - Cloudscape Zone by Tets - 6/10

Looks almost big enough to be a single player stage, something I thought would be a huge problem, but I actually didn't have much trouble locating people, at least when there were five players. The map really suffers from poor navigation, however. I often had to travel great distances to find my way up to a platform that was right next to me on the map. There was also a shortage of rings, something so common in Tets's maps I'm starting to think of it as a "theme" more than a "problem." Please try another theme next time, Tets; I'm not too fond of that one. Still provided some good fun, though.

MAP06 - Tropical Paradise Zone by hotdog - 7/10

Very simplistic design. The moving platform and the FOF up high in the sky were pointless, the non-deaf rings are ugly, and monitor selection could've been better. Still, I had a lot of fun on this one, and it's cool that you gave people a reason to prefer using Tails.

MAP07 - Mushroom Kingdom Zone by FuriousFox - 7/10

Again, a simplistic design, but one that works fairly nicely. It would be good if the depression in the center weren't so deep. It would be better as a jumpable distance, like two steps down of 64 fracunits each. I also would've liked to see the monitors respawn at random for some variety, and it could've been made harder to grab all the weapon rings in quick succession; maybe they could be up on top of the tunnels, or there could be obstacles between the tunnels. But, as is, it worked well and was very enjoyable.
 
This contest proves to be quite interesting. In my opinion, most of the maps are nothing special, but the opinions are very widely placed. I like what's going on so far XD.


MAP01 - Deep Ruins Zone by BlazeHedgehog
7/10

I didn't really have very high hopes for this map, though I did like the graphics. I also didn't expect you to get such a high remark, Blaze ;P (Sorry).
This proved to be really fun, despite its size. I really quite liked it XD.
The problem with this map? The size. And somewhat the layout. The size makes it quite hard to find people, and the walled-in maze-like layout made it a lot harder.

MAP02 - Nightside Rouge Zone by Digiku
y/boy

This was my ace for this contest. Seeing from the judgings, I guess it didn't really work XD.
As some of you might know, this is a 90% accurate conversion of Club Rouge from Sonic Battle. That's really why the size is so small. Just so you know, I'm not going to make it any bigger :P.

And all of it for effort.
I worked my ass off this map, mon. Thanks for recognizing that factor XD.

MAP03 - Stratosphere Tower Zone by Digiku
x/girl

Seeing that this would also be the last contest I'd dedicate maps to, I decided to create a second entry (TRVZ and TRZ don't count :P).
I actually believe this is one of my most successful Match maps too. I realize the problems with framerate as well as the OMG RED SKY *Still eyes a441*, but somehow, it's still really good in gameplay.

A ripoff, but it's a ripoff of my favorite map
That's the map I had in mind most of the time XD
Actually, when I first started this map, I thought of this as a ripoff of Map92.
Some springs are offcenter
So are the springs in Map98 :P.

I wonder if anyone noticed the diagonal springs at the corners of the map :E.

MAP04 - Acid Ravine Zone by a441
3/10

Remember when I showed you Nightside Rouge and you badmouthed my map without apology? Well well, time to return the favor ;D.
This stage is pants. I really was expecting something contest-winning from you, as per (almost) usual, but I guess I put my hopes too high XD.
First off, it's really hard to move from place to place in this map. The spaces are extremely closed and the paths are extremely thin. Overall, everything seems a bit cramped. I usually like seeing open spaces :/
Due to the rather horrid layout, it's really easy to fall into the slime. Heck, placing monitors within the slime is just idiocy, as in a criminal escaping in broad daylight. From the netgames, I know you were trying to create balance between the characters, but that was just "ugh".
With the mentioned two flaws combined, what hurt this map most was the horrible music change. What in the hell were you thinking, mon?! GHZ music's possible relation to this stage just makes me think "UGH!" over and over again. Believe me, I really like the GHZ music itself (Hi AJ :D!), but using that as the music for a map like this was also just idiocy. THZ2 music might've brought this map up to a 6.
</rant>

MAP05 - Cloudscape Zone by Tets
7/10

By the time I played this map, I started to realize Mystic's point: These maps really aren't anything special. Just a little fun fact :E.
I did like the bigness of the map, Tet. It really felt good to run as Sonic. I loved it XD.
The layout does make it a bit hard to find the players though, but it still seemed pretty fun.

MAP06 - Tropical Paradise Zone by hotdog
6/10

I'm really quite astonished that'd this get higher than a441. Quite an amazement.
It was surprisingly really to play in. That's really about it, though
The things placement was just really horrid. It was like you were placing everything in random places (which I know, in some spots, isn't the case). That's what hurt this map the most. The flat river also somewhat hurts as well.
But still, it's really good for one of your first maps. My God, it even has a floating platform, and I didn't even learn those until after DLZ XD.

MAP07 - Mushroom Condo--*shot* Zone by FuriousFox
7/10

The Mario theme was something I tried to implement before in Match back in the 4.35 days. I never got around to finishing it, though XD. I for one really like the Mario decorations/graphics, and I'm glad I gave up my own ;P.
Not bad. Not bad at all. The map seemed way too open to be able to fire at anybody, though. That's really the only huge flaw :E.


Overall, I think it's time to say this'll be the last contest I'll dedicate to. Sorry, but I simply have ideas that were more meant for single-player >_o. It's been fun though. Quite... fun.
 
ok, Time for me to make some people cry....


MAP01 - Deep Ruins Zone by BlazeHedgehog 8/10
I liked the see-through fence idea, it gives people something to chase at and they get all like "oooooooh, when I get over theeeeere, you're gonna get it sooooooooooooooo bad!" the Items in the water is also a good point, and a nice hiding spot in Tag, plus the wall coloring let's you know which sector of the map you're in, witch lowers the chance of being lost.

MAP02 - Nightside Rouge Zone by Digiku 7/10
Good likeness, VERY bad size ratio.... Try comparing the Sonic Battle sprites to the stage if you do this, or if you go to fix it.
Awsome idea though.
ooh! Club Rouge music!!!

MAP03 - Stratosphere Tower Zone by Digiku 7/10
Nice layout, very... *koff* symetrical, good placing of springs. This would be a nice stage for Chaos.

MAP04 - Acid Ravine Zone by a441 7/10
Very Very nice, it reminds me of how I'd blast through the stages of Sonic at 20 sec. per zone.... good for Random Boxes, with Elemental sheild on high....
hmm... maybe I can actually make them put random boxes on for this wad....... (nobody likes random boxes in netgames!)

MAP05 - Cloudscape Zone by Tets 4/10
now, this was a very 'vibrant' zone. Good scenery, great compadibility for Sonic, awsome choice of textures (I was attracted to the brown towers first, only to see thet there wasn't much there. lol) little pool/pond with air bubbles in it, which would be a perfect place to hide in Tag only if the water was opague instead of translucent. I would rate this higher BUT.... but, there were NO item boxes and one special ring... the rail ring. it was good though with all the diffrent platforms around.

MAP06 - Tropical Paradise Zone by hotdog 6/10
Nice for a first timer... I still have yet to make a wad..... or even learn...
I started off this stage and looked "hmm... cool, a waterfall." I walked through it to find I was 30ft. deep in water so I jumped out pretty quick. lol. I looked around, and saw a speed-up so I cruised ontop of the water for a while. I seen the fans and they're pretty strong... nice so you can get thouse rings, unlike in the last Special Stage. Homing Rings in the air pockets, nice hiding spots whic is another good Tag stage. It would probably be nice for Chaos too.

oh yeah... ~Where~ is that music from?!? It's ringing a bell but I can't quite place my finger on which bell in my head is ringing... too many sonic music to remember...

MAP07 - Mushroom Kingdon Zone by FuriousFox 5/10
*boots up the stage and hears mario blast from his speakers*
......BWWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! LOLOLOLOL!!!11!1!!1!!!1!11!!!! ROTFLAFAOAHAIC!!!
hahaha...... *ahem* Mario music is sooo funny to me.

ok... Now, I liked the quality and medium size of the stage, along with the warp pipes in in and Item Blocks, plus the randomness of the item boxes. The first no-no I saw was the Fire sheild sitting right out in the open, more like the starting place as some people like to abuse that thing (glaes at some sertain somebody's... you know who you are) When I started, I thought those trees were Auto's. ooh! Toadstool, and a nice Infinate ring at the top.
Great for a first-timer.... I wish I knew how to make wads.... *sobsnifflecry*



Overall: Deep Ruins zone followed closely by Nightside Rouge zone... if only NRz was checked for size, then that would be above DRz
 
VERY bad size ratio....

You've got be kidding me. How about you check how high Sonic jumps at the relation to the height of the platform, how Sonic Battle Sonic's feet (spaced the same as SRB2 Sonic) are positioned in a random flat, how tall Sonic can get as compared to the star walls, etc.?

It seems someone's missing their perspective skills ;D *Shot*
 
plus the wall coloring let's you know which sector of the map you're in, witch lowers the chance of being lost.

Exactly! And Shields are color-coordinated to the area they're located in. Red Shield is in the red section, green shield in the green section, etc.

Oh, and, I've been meaning to comment about this:

The maze-like layout actually was fun, and the Attraction Shield isn't overpowered with such few rings.

500 rings is "few"?
 
VERY bad size ratio....
I said that for a diffrent reason, it's not the wall height, the wall height is perfect. It's the Area of the stage, you should have to run for a few seconds before you get to the edge of the stage, and the Armeggedon sheild should only reach 1/4th of the stage. I should be able to blow it up in a corner and hit everyone in a radius from there to the middle.

Get what I'm saying?
 
Have you played Battle? That's almost exactly how the stage is in the actual game.

I'm kinda tired, so I won't grade these, just comment.

MAP01 - Deep Ruins Zone by BlazeHedgehog
I liked the textures, but it was abit big and empty.
MAP02 - Nightside Rouge Zone by Digiku
Perfect recreation. I like it. Not very practical, but cool.
MAP03 - Stratosphere Tower Zone by Digiku
It's good, but getting up the tower in the franticness of deathmatch isn't a thing you can easily do, not to mention I hate falling off of something over and over.
MAP04 - Acid Ravine Zone by a441
Ick, worst stage in the bunch if not for the last two.
MAP05 - Cloudscape Zone by Tets
It's good, but it's abit too big for anyone but Sonic to traverse.
MAP06 - Tropical Paradise Zone by hotdog
Not too good. The fof up there doesn't work right, most of the water doesn't work right, I don't like it. Not at all.
MAP07 - Mushroom Kingdon Zone by FuriousFox
It's okay, but too basic, and not very Mario-y. If the textures were swapped with THZ no one would know the difference....infact, that might of been better.
 
It's the Area of the stage, you should have to run for a few seconds before you get to the edge of the stage
Sonic just moves loads faster in SRB2.

AJ's got it right at the button :P


Perfect recreation.
Minus the digit counters. My patience was at its last legs when I started that :E
But thanks
 
And now to spend some time reviewing the reviews of my submission, just because I'm bored.

Blaze said:
Holy CRAP. This map needs at LEAST 8 players I'm guessing, otherwise it's gonna be a big game of "hide and go seek".
I thought that too when I submitted it, but I was proven wrong in a recent game with Mystic and Hedges. It actually works pretty well because you can easily see players clearway across the map (assuming you aren't in like... 320x200 resolution).

Jackel said:
It's good, but it's abit too big for anyone but Sonic to traverse.
The other characters aren't that much slower than Sonic, and Tails makes up for it by flying anyway. I'd go so far as to say the map is better suited to Tails than Sonic. Although now that I think about it, probably not. As Mystic put it, it's pretty easy to "rail like an idiot" in Cloudscape. And fun! :D

Turbos said:
... and one special ring... the rail ring ...
It's funny because there's actually two rail rings in the map. Not that it really matters, I just felt like pointing that out.
 
Map01:Deep Ruins-6/10
Unlike other people, I had a problem with this one. It reminded me too much of Mine Maze in the last contest. It was too cramped and, being a Tails user, did not work with me.

Map02:Nightside Rouge-7/10
I've played SB, and this is almost a perfect recreation of the stage. How ever, believe it or not, Tails will slaghter here with 30-odd rings along with Auto-Rail rings. This would have benifeted(spelling) much more with a homing ring here and put the rail ring in...

Map03:Stratosphere Tower(Harbor? Make up your mind Digi)-7/10
I know you don't like rail ring, but I still believe that you should have put a rail ring in here. Additionally, the tower(Ship Harbor?) is lag city. This is also a good reason to use Tails, but still, the tower and the lack of a rail ring knock it down in my book.

Map04:Acid Ravine-9/10
Nicely done. The Green Hill music was...music to my ears*SHOT-BOOM!*. But anyway, it felt nice to play as, and nothing compares to teleporting a Sonic to one of the underground caverns. The only problem was size. Although it was made up for in vertical size(coughnightesiderougecough), left to right, it was two small.

Map05:Cloudscape-9/10
The asymmetrical design was a breath of fresh air, but I played as-GASP-Sonic for a bit, and it was hard to get through, being limited to springs. However, the rail rings were nice, and homing rings would have worked instead as well. My only complaint was the moving problems with Sonic, but this would make a great CTF map with a few changes.

Map06:Tropical Paradise-10/10
Barring this being a first wad, this is a very good map. The water effects, such as the underground cave(did I see you there a441|incave?) and the fans. I wanted to get speed shoes and dash across the water, but i never got speed shoes. The underwater springs were nice, but there was not enough of a reason to risk the floating platform. Nicely done, and keep it up.

Map07:Mushroom KingDOM-8/10
First thought:SACRILEGE(possible spelling. don't kill me)!
A Mario DM level in SRB2!?!? Then I hit an item box, got speed shoes, and all inhibitations disapeared. The only problem, and it is a big one, is that this is too open. Too easy to get hit, and the auto-bomb-infinite ring combo did not help my mood.

Edit: New sig. Like it?
 
Well, the contest is over, and it was VERY close. The results are as follows.

MAP01 - Deep Ruins Zone by BlazeHedgehog
(9+8+8+5+2+7+8+6)/8 = 6.625

MAP02 - Nightside Rouge Zone by Digiku
(5+6+3+6+0+7+7)/7 = 4.857

MAP03 - Stratosphere Tower Zone by Digiku
(9+7+7+7+4+7+7)/7 = 6.857

MAP04 - Acid Ravine Zone by a441
(7+7+4+7+3+7+9)/7 = 6.286

MAP05 - Cloudscape Zone by Tets
(8+7+10+6+7+4+9)/7 = 7.286

MAP06 - Tropical Paradise Zone by hotdog
(7+5+7+5+7+6+6+10)/8 = 6.625

MAP07 - Mushroom Kingdon Zone by FuriousFox
(8+7+6+7+7+7+5+8)/8 = 6.875

In other words, Tets is the winner. Congratulations.
 
Yeah, I liked Tets level the best. At least I tied fourth...
How did you guys know that it was my first level?
Game balance was the one thing I shot for in this map...
With the next contest comin' up, what could have made it better?
 
Well a lot of ugliness was prevalent that you normally get in your first few attempts. Don't worry, it's normal. Practice makes perfect.

I definately appreciate you aiming for game balance instead of anything else, though, as that made your map ugly, but at least fun. Fun is a lot better than pretty, in my opinion.

A basic thing to do to make it look better would be to have the objects be in neat order, instead of scatted semi-randomly across the stage. If you note, I generally have rings in groupings of 6-9 rings in a row. Also, give rings the Deaf tag, as that makes them float 32 units above the floor, like the other maps in the game. Looks a ton better that way.
 
Well, OK. Meadow conflict would have better groups of junk. OOPS! I let it out...

Meadow conflict will be my next entry. No more.


Oops! Don't bump topics, hotdog003.
Ok. Sorry.
 
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