Official Level Design Contest Voting: July/August

Status
Not open for further replies.

Mystic

Member
Welcome to the July/August 2006 contest. We have a respectable 29 entries this contest, in four categories, so you're bound to find something to your taste, as well as my inevitable copy-paste error in this post.

The voting works as follows: Play a few games of the stage in question, in the intended gametype for judging, and give the map a vote from 0 to 10. You can not vote on your own map. Votes where the voter obviously did not play the level in its intended gametype will be discarded. To encourage voting, if you are an author and you judge all of the competitor's maps, the lowest score on your map will be dropped. Please be as unbiased as possible for the author or the look of the map. It's all about how good the map plays, nothing else.

Although it's not necessary, it's very helpful to make comments about what you liked and didn't like about the map, so the author can improve his skill for future attempts.

Judging will end September 8th at midnight GMT (September 7th, 7:00 PM EST). The scores will be then averaged, and the person with the highest score is the winner.

The maps follow:

Single Player Contest Levels - 4041 KB

The single player levels are:
Moon Temple - JJames
Rocky Cavern 1 - KingofFlames
Dandjr Palace - Penopat

Match/CTF/Circuit Contest Level Pack - 1109 KB

Match/CTF/Circuit Pack contains the following maps:

Match
MAP01 - Carrier Crisis - JJames
MAP02 - Twilight Tower - JJames
MAP03 - Crater Lakes - Flame the Hedgehog
MAP04 - Platform Chaos - Flame the Hedgehog
MAP05 - Sonic Islands - Flame the Hedgehog
MAP06 - Ozone Island - GCFreak
MAP07 - Meadow Garden - Mikel93
MAP08 - Chaotic Belief - JJames
MAP09 - Ship Yard - Sonict
MAP10 - PC Motherboard - Sonict
MAP11 - Hill Top Battle - Flame the Hedgehog
MAP12 - Arctic Halls - Oogaland
MAP13 - Glacier Cocktail - Neo Chaotikal
MAP14 - Feudal Age Rush - Penopat

Capture the Flag
MAP15 - Greenery Cave - JJames
MAP16 - Mountech - Blue Blur
MAP17 - Mountain Peaks - Espyo

Circuit
MAP18 - City Heat - JJames
MAP19 - Lime Isle - JJames
MAP20 - Morning Hill - JJames
MAP21 - Dusk Street - GCFreak
MAP22 - Royal Raceway - Spazzo
MAP23 - Cosmic Valley - Lloyd
MAP24 - Nebulous - Sonict
MAP25 - Four Seasons Circuit - Oogaland
MAP26 - Race Alley - FoxBlitzz

Please make sure to play the levels in the intended gametype, and above all, have fun judging!
 
Single Player

Rocky Cavern Zone 1 (KingofFlames) - 6/10
There are many problems with this map. The end sector doesn't exist, the starposts are broken, Missing textures on the crushers, and the lava waterblocks have no colormap.

Moon Temple (JJames) - 10/10
This map is awesome. Possibly the best out of all of them. All I have to say is Good Job, JJ.

Dandjr Palace (Penopat) - 7/10
This was rushed like Los Gehts, wasn't it? Oh well. It's an awesome level, but the Lava as Death Pit is something I think needs addressing to.

Self Assessments

Ozone Island - This turned out Confail central, also being a bit boring.

Dusk Street - Argh, a bit of death pit trouble because of the bad jumps.
 
I will not officially rate the maps due to personal constraints, but I will wager a guess on what I might give if I actually played through these maps properly. Because these are just guesses, I've made use of fractions; a "6.5", for example, means I'd either rate them a 6 or a 7 (and I've dealt with this in every contest). THESE ARE NOT TO BE COUNTED, and should only be used to get a general idea. For all I know, they might be completely off!

All I'll do with these maps is skim them over anyway, but I'll be happy to give my thoughts about all of the entries. If the consensus conflicts with my own sentiments, then, by all means, take my advice with a grain of salt! :)

Single Player Levels

Moon Temple - JJames
A professional-quality level! The structure arrangement seemed very polished, much like the regular game or Mystic Realm. One major flaw, however: going through the left fork at the very beginning (with the toxic waterfalls), at the part with vertical ring rows and the square platforms below them: that seemed very much like a Tails route. I was playing as Sonic, and there was no indication at the beginning of that fork telling me that I needed Tails to go through that path (did I, actually?) I didn't bother to restart the level to go to the other fork, again, due to personal constraints. I liked the gray lighting though. Really nice touch :).
Guess: 8/10

Rocky Cavern 1 - KingofFlames
Barring its flaws, this level isn't actually too bad. The lava setting looked pretty convincing and without ugly mishaps. I guess this level's biggest flaw is the lack of direction. I found myself going in circles from time to time, wondering, "hey, have I been here?" Another thing to note is that the level design allows for Sonic to just run and turn, and even avoid badniks entirely. That's a characteristic of running on flat levels, or otherwise lousy level design. What I think makes a level interesting is its use of higher and lower ground. Jumping from obstacle to obstacle, high and low, just makes a level more involved to me. I applaud the aesthetics of this level, though.
Guess: 6.5/10

Dandjr Palace - Penopat
On the other hand, this level is very puzzle-oriented! Not neccessarily a bad thing, mind you, but I would've appreciated more running segments, where the direction and flow just takes care of itself. In this level, I found myself making critical jumps and analytical maneuvers, which I'd interpret as, actually, the point of the level: exploration, I guess. Different from the "ignore everything and just run through!" type of level, and again not bad, but it's just not up to my personal tastes. I dig the music, though.
This level also seemed very Aerial Garden-esque. It looks like somebody's been playing Mystic Realm ;P.
Guess: 7/10

Match Levels

MAP01 - Carrier Crisis - JJames
I dunno. This map seems too closely confined, what with the obstacles, and even the floor space isn't big. It gives me the impression that Matches here would be a little slow. I do like the visuals of it!
Guess: 6.5/10

MAP02 - Twilight Tower - JJames
Ooh, I like FOF towers!
This level seems to be a little big, even for the colossal 10-player netgames everyone seems to be having these days. That's all, really. I like the floor layouts, at least.
Guess: 7/10

MAP03 - Crater Lakes - Flame the Hedgehog
Seems awfully simplistic, I think. The space is too open and the terrain just seems very flat. Actually, it's not, but I consider the crater and the grassy area above it totally separate when considering a space. Purely, it's "shoot and evade". Not much to explore. Kinda' boring, really.
Guess: 5/10

MAP04 - Platform Chaos - Flame the Hedgehog
This actually seems pretty confined! The platforms are too small for comfort and the center area is too closed in. I might be spending more time trying to stay on the ground instead of shooting at others. The paranoia factor is too emphasized here, I think.
Guess: 5/10

MAP05 - Sonic Islands - Flame the Hedgehog
A cute idea, but I'll admit that I was never optimistic about this map since I saw it in Releases. The design of this map just doesn't fare well in terms of game mechanics. The powerup placement is unneccessarily abundant, and also (I think) unbalanced. I also think this map is a little too big. In a three player netgame, I'd spend half my time just trying to find the other person.
Guess: 3.5/10

MAP06 - Ozone Island - GCFreak
I kinda' like this level, but it has one really glaring flaw. For one, the block-textured platforms are way too thin. It's really hard to move on a thin platform, especially over a pit. I'd worry more about actually staying on it than shooting the other person. It's just not fun. Also, the layout is a little obscure. It's not obvious that to get to the top of the centerpiece, and ergo the platforms on the perimeter of the map, you have to use the yellow springs. Speaking in terms of visuals, actually, I quite like the centerpiece.
Guess: 5.5/10

MAP07 - Meadow Garden - Mikel93
I've gotta say: this is much more developed than your past attempts. I applaud you for that.
That being said, I'm not sure what to think of this one. For certain, though, I consider the AGZ-themed area of the map as extra junk. That area is just totally boring. The GFZ-themed area, on the other hand, is open and has height depth. The GFZ-themed area alone would make an acceptable map, I think.
Guess: 5.75/10

MAP08 - Chaotic Belief - JJames
Pretty. :)
Actually, I'm not going to play this since this map is in the PAZ theme and, not having played Mystic Realm for awhile, I'd rather play the actual PAZ just for the sake of "plot" (and by that I mean visual setting, too). I don't like spoilers, really. Sorry.
Guess: na/10

MAP09 - Ship Yard - Sonict
Ooh, this looks interesting. Flaw: some unbalanced practices seem to be set here. An established black shield, for one, and a liquid shield, for another. Even if a level has an extensive underwater part to it, I wouldn't go using the liquid shield. I'll say though that, especially designed around a distinct theme, the layout seem to flow quite nicely.
Guess: 6.5/10

MAP10 - PC Motherboard - Sonict
A Match in here might be mindless thokking and throwing rings. Though obstacles are in place (which is miles ahead than "open, flat field" actually), the entire room is just open. There's not much involvement with the player and the layout, which only leaves the match itself, with players throwing rings at each other. That alone is boring, yet an involving level design makes a Match level interesting.
Guess: 5.5/10

MAP11 - Hill Top Battle - Flame the Hedgehog
Really interesting, but I think it's a tad big. My only gripe with this is the deep lava depressions; I don't like depressions filled by hazardous water blocks. They're annoying, really.
Guess: 6.5/10

MAP12 - Arctic Halls - Oogaland
This looks like a really solid level. You've got a center area which unifies the perimeter really nicely, both the lowest level and the highest level. The fact that it's not just two floors on top of each other and instead rooms that increment in height really works. The flow of that is just that much better.
Guess: 8.5/10

MAP13 - Glacier Cocktail - Neo Chaotikal
Hah, an actual cocktail. That's really nice :).
Though, when you get down to it, it's the typical "center pit open area Match level". Though, the way you executed this map seems to be pretty optimal when it comes to that sort of layout, but I still know this type of layout to be pretty unspectacular. I love the cocktail, though. At least that's original :P.
Guess: 7/10

MAP14 - Feudal Age Rush - Penopat
I don't know what to make of this one. The theme is really interesting - I'll give you that. Some parts of the level are unusual for Match, such as the houses, but other parts of the level do seem suited for Match. I don't know, really.
Guess: 7/10

Capture the Flag Levels

MAP15 - Greenery Cave - JJames
Wow, the bases are back-to-back. That is really, really neat.
Can't say much here, other than that the level seems to be a little too confined. Other than that, the level seems to flow pretty smoothly. I'm quite fond of the back-to-back thing :).
Guess: 7/10

MAP16 - Mountech - Blue Blur
The flow's alright, but in my opinion, the layout seems a little complicated. It took me a little bit to find the bases, and it didn't help that the spectators all start on the one Player 1 Start. Other than that, I guess it's okay.
Guess: 7/10

MAP17 - Mountain Peaks - Espyo
The layout's simplistic. The use of pyramid-like structures just totally stops the flow. Pyramid-like structures make the action really slow, and it's also annoying when someone shoots you and you drop the flag. You'd have to start climbing all over again! At least you can run from base to base on acceptable, flat ground. Still simpistic, though.
Guess: 3.5/10

Circuit Levels

MAP18 - City Heat - JJames
I really quite like this. Maybe a tad haphazard with the flow, but the fact that there are plenty of obstacles to thwart thokkers really makes the player pay close attention to the track. I quite like that. Though, I noticed the shortcut near the beginning with the red spring and the building seemed to be Tails/Knuckles-only, without indication of such. As with your single player entry, that seemed annoying. Though, the first word that came up to mind with this level is "creative" :).
Guess: 7.5/10

MAP19 - Lime Isle - JJames
Works. It just simply works. I like how there are psuedo-alternate paths (though it looks as if they're really are shortcuts), which is good since it's not all one linear track like in the regular game.
Guess: 7.5/10

MAP20 - Morning Hill - JJames
Wow, realistic lighting! That is really neat. I wanted to do something similar to this in BSZ, actually, but the framerate just screamed "NO!" at me :(.
Though, the level layout just seems a little too simplistic to me. The pitfalls that existed in your other two maps didn't seem to be in this one. It's really more of a thok-fest, like in the regular game, than a track you'd have to be careful with. Kudos for the decoration, though!
Guess: 7/10

MAP21 - Dusk Street - GCFreak
Not bad. I like how the track goes through parts of a city, like a highway, streets, and through a building. That's all.
Guess: 7/10

MAP22 - Royal Raceway - Spazzo
Thok-fest. Unlike in the other maps, there are no pitfalls here. You just go thok on the overly large track. That's all. Also, the map seems to lack direction. I got lost at Peach's castle and just gave up from there. I don't care if it's from MKDS; this map doesn't really go the extra mile.
Guess: 6/10

MAP23 - Cosmic Valley - Lloyd
This is even more of a thok-fest. Furthermore, the terrain is entirely flat; ergo, the action is boring. Height-depth makes a level interesting. Without floors of multiple heights, a level is just dull.
Guess: 2/10

MAP24 - Nebulous - Sonict
The idea is really innovative. Though, the execution kinda' falls short. The transition makes the game itself lock up a bit to change the sky and music, and then it also screws up the player a little bit. The track itself is alright. Maybe a little simplistic, but it's not too much of a thok-fest.
Guess: 6.5/10

MAP25 - Four Seasons Circuit - Oogaland
Using the Crawlas as spectators was really cute :).
I liked how at some parts the track forks, but the paths are really quite equal. It comes off as a bit of a thok-fest, but the turns are well-placed enough to make the player sort of pay attention to the track.
Guess: 7/10

MAP26 - Race Alley - FoxBlitzz
Really neat. I like the floating arrows!
It looks like a thok-fest, but the obstacles are well-placed and the turns are well-situated to prevent the map from being so. In the end, it actually comes off as a little tricky (especially the turns), which is really good. I like being kept on my toes.
Guess: 7.5/10
 
Well, I'll just vote on Circuit for now, since I played a good couple rounds on all of them.

MAP18 - City Heat - JJames - 5/10
I like the design, but there is SO much that stops the player dead, which really hurts it. I especially don't like the random springs over a bottomless pit.

MAP19 - Lime Isle - JJames - 5/10
This is just so strictly average. Nothing special, but nothing wrong with it either. Needs some originality.

MAP20 - Morning Hill - JJames - 7/10
As beautiful as this map is, the level needs help in terms of flow, as it's far too easy to hit a wall and stop dead. However, assuming you memorize the pathway a bit and can make the jumps, it's quite satisfying, and very beautiful, even without the custom sky.

MAP21 - Dusk Street - GCFreak - 3/10
Meh. I passed the course once. The other two times I got a Game Over for running too fast on the jumps. Even discounting that, the passages were too thin, and the level just wasn't that interesting.

MAP22 - Royal Raceway - Spazzo - 4/10
This level could have been done SO much better than this, and honestly I never thought this level was that great to begin with. The zippers are borked and weird, and the jump is just WEIRD. Otherwise, it's an excercise in trying to jump over bottomless pits as close as possible to shave seconds off, which gets old after the 2nd death.

MAP23 - Cosmic Valley - Lloyd - 2/10
Seriously, man, the Star Posts should be easier to hit. Otherwise, there's just nothing here. Thok from beginning to end, stopping to hit one red spring along the way. Needs more content.

MAP24 - Nebulous - Sonict - 0/10
Oh GOD. Okay, first off, you screwed up the precipitation load, which causes that lag spike which promptly consistancy fails every player in the game. Please TEST your maps in the intended gametype, especially if you're doing something weird. Even if you get past the fatal error, the level itself sucks. It took me 7 lives to figure out how to get out of the first area, and I only found out how I was supposed to go into the next area by accident. I almost disqualified your map because I thought it was impossible to complete. Little did I know it WAS in an actual netgame. There MIGHT be a clever map somewhere in here, but I sure as hell cannot find it.

MAP25 - Four Seasons Circuit - Oogaland - 7/10
This was enjoyable. The winter section was annoyingly dull, but the rest of the stage was very well made and quite fun to play through. You need to get rid of those tiny platforms and make something new for winter, but otherwise a great map.

MAP26 - Race Alley - FoxBlitzz - 9/10
This was a LOT of fun. Brilliant looks and design combined with an insanely quick and entertaining layout and plenty of obstacles and passages. The anti-gravity section is really interesting in circuit, and overall a solid piece of work. Bravo. Better than many of the stages I made for the actual game. =P
 
Digiku said:
Moon Temple - JJames
A professional-quality level! The structure arrangement seemed very polished, much like the regular game or Mystic Realm. One major flaw, however: going through the left fork at the very beginning (with the toxic waterfalls), at the part with vertical ring rows and the square platforms below them: that seemed very much like a Tails route. I was playing as Sonic, and there was no indication at the beginning of that fork telling me that I needed Tails to go through that path (did I, actually?) I didn't bother to restart the level to go to the other fork, again, due to personal constraints. I liked the gray lighting though. Really nice touch :).
Guess: 8/10

Actually, that isn't a tails-only route. Try spin-dashing on the platforms with rings above them...
 
Voting time!...Again!
Match Levels

MAP01 - Carrier Crisis - JJames 4/10
Its a nice idea, but somewhat badly done. There are few too many obstacles that stop flow. Oh, and I also found that you sorta went overboard with ring boxes. It was a nice idea, I guess.

MAP02 - Twilight Tower - JJames 6/10
This one was great in small netgames. However, when it gets too big, I seem to not be able to find enough rings. Looks pretty nice.

MAP03 - Crater Lakes - Flame the Hedgehog 3/10
You can easily tell this came from a sniper. Very flat and boring terrain, thin as paper platforms, and somewhat too many rings.

MAP04 - Platform Chaos - Flame the Hedgehog 9/10
YOU made this map? Hehe, I remember all the great times on it, just randomly shooting and such. It had questionable design, but it works great in match.

MAP05 - Sonic Islands - Flame the Hedgehog NA/10
Uh, isnt it against the rules to put released maps into the contest?
If it isnt against the rules, I will edit this post and rate it.

MAP06 - Ozone Island - GCFreak 8/10
Very crazy in 1 on 1. Yes, very crazy. I felt that the outer platforms with the rail were a bit un-used and hard to get to, however.

MAP07 - Meadow Garden - Mikel93 3/10
Well, I can see an improvement...?

MAP08 - Chaotic Belief - JJames 7/10
Somebody's been playing too much Mystic Realm. :P
In terms of gameplay, it works alright, other than the fact that its a tad too easy to fall of for sonic players. Luckily, i'm not a sonic player. :D

MAP09 - Ship Yard - Sonict 1/10
Respawning black shield? Rail + Homing? Nononono.

MAP10 - PC Motherboard - Sonict 1/10
Read above.

MAP11 - Hill Top Battle - Flame the Hedgehog 7/10
Interesting...My only grips are that the elevator moved VERY VERY SLOWLY, and the fact that its too big. It was a change from the rest, however, which I liked.

MAP12 - Arctic Halls - Oogaland 4/10
This looks like a really solid level, yet it lacks in...control. Yes, control. You might of gone a tad crazy with the ice. It's also kinda easy to get lost, especially in smaller netgames.

MAP13 - Glacier Cocktail - Neo Chaotikal 8/10
Hehe, cute level. It was fun shooting people while bouncing, and seeing them bounce away. ;) The straws were nice, too. Very innovating level, I guess.

MAP14 - Feudal Age Rush - Penopat 5/10
Wow, er. For some odd reason, this screams ROLEPLAY. A tad confusing, too. A few of this map's sections wasn't really match material, either.

Capture the Flag Levels

MAP15 - Greenery Cave - JJames 10/10
The placement of the flags is brilliant, really says "so close yet so far" to me. This map is really, really great. it has no major flaws. Ring placement is great. It isn't overpowered at all either. I would really enjoy if this were put into the SRB2 rotation, as this blows away that old vine cavern...Nice work, regardless.

MAP16 - Mountech - Blue Blur NA/10
For some odd reason, I can't find this map... I'll rate it when I find it.

MAP17 - Mountain Peaks - Espyo 3/10
I pronounce this level, flowless. That is all.

Circuit Levels

MAP18 - City Heat - JJames 6/10
Had a good concept, but was drawn back by the lack of flow in specific areas, like the end. I did like the speed pads, however.

MAP19 - Lime Isle - JJames 9/10
Very Nice. I loved how you presented the middle section as a shortcut, for it to really be a long way around. The blue spring part the only bad part that stuck out for me, otherwise, it was a good, solid, map.

MAP20 - Morning Hill - JJames 6/10
This map likes to frustrate me. :P It had some quirks, but the lighting, well, was enlightening. *shot*

MAP21 - Dusk Street - GCFreak 4/10
Not alot of flow here, and alot of the jumps were very badly placed, as I game over'd the first time I tried it.

MAP22 - Royal Raceway - Spazzo NA/10
After thouroughly playing this map, I realize that Toxic Turmoil kicked its ass. Yeah, it ain't that well done.

MAP23 - Cosmic Valley - Lloyd 0/10
Er, WAY to spaced out. Need I say more?

MAP24 - Nebulous - Sonict 2/10
At first, I saw it as incompletable, until I saw that you were supposed to run into what looks like a bottomless pit! If you had some sorta marker to show that, this map might of been better. Oh, and the lag from switching the sky and music wasnt that great, either.

MAP25 - Four Seasons Circuit - Oogaland 8/10
Crawlas as spectators. What will you think up next? :P
Nice conversion from a match map to a circuit one, but the winter section, as written before, really wasnt all that well done. The rest of the map was great, however.

MAP26 - Race Alley - FoxBlitzz 10/10
Floaty arrows! :)
I, REALLY liked this map. Why? it really had some great parts to it, without losing flow. It was challenging, yet fun. I applaud, this is a perfect circuit map.

In conclusion, this contest pack really, owns the previous one. You wadders are getting better! :P
 
Meh. This time around, the contest is another doozy. The match levels failed, the circuit levels were okay, and, well, at least we didn't have any REAL crappy SP maps this time around. CTF was rather interesting, though... It didn't really *suck*, but... yeah.

Ok, ususal: I suck at voting, yadda yaada.


SP levels - Current votings temporary

Moon Temple - JJames
Pretty. I do like the level's aesthetics. It looks rather professional, and definately had alot of effort into it.
In gameplay, it feels rather "pathy", drawn out (pop-up turrets), and rather cheap at times. This level could use some more room just to run around and such, I guess? It's rather nice otherwise, though. I'm currently leaning towards the 6~8/10 range, I'll have to play it again to decide.

Rocky Cavern 1 - KingofFlames
Hrm. Rather maze-like design. Alot of problems with this one, yes. Sonic can fall into holes he can't get out of. Bad. Also, glitchy crushers and the non-existance of an exit sector kinda hurts. The level did look rather nice, the lava rather fit well with the texture set. I'll just give this a 4/10. I hated falling to unescapeable holes... :/

Dandjr Palace - Penopat
lol total blatant agz1 clone. You all better find the secret, or I shall kill you all, yes?
This was basically my first attempt to REALLY get away from that pathy style that is rather abused by beginner level designers. Take a look at the more popular levels, They're usually rather open. And no, this wasn't excatly rushed, but nor did I have all the time in the world to make this anyways. This WAS made in a couple of days...

Match levels - Current votings temporary

MAP01 - Carrier Crisis - JJames
Felt rather cramped. I'll need to play this again.

MAP02 - Twilight Tower - JJames
Rather neat, though it was unneedingly big. Everyone seemed to stay in a specific spot. I'll also need to play this again.

MAP03 - Crater Lakes - Flame the Hedgehog
This was released, wasn't it? Anyways, unneedingly huge. Didn't look that nice, and wasn't exactly that unique, either. Rail was a bit too abusable in this map, but not like anything else works better with what you made. Bland. 3/10

MAP04 - Platform Chaos - Flame the Hedgehog
Eh. Wasn't this also released? Anyways, rather blatant death pits, and a ubercramped middle area makes this map seem blah. Although, I DID have some fun playing this for some reason. And those platforms were at lease unique. 4/10

MAP05 - Sonic Islands - Flame the Hedgehog
Wasn't this ALSO released? Homing + Rail? Meh. Still, it was a somewhat unique idea, I'll give you that. But your choice of special rings was rather unbalanced, and the level lacked any real substance, so... yeah. 4/10

MAP06 - Ozone Island - GCFreak
CONSISFAILURE. Small, lacking of rings, and infinate isn't exactly a subsitute for that. 3/10

MAP07 - Meadow Garden - Mikel93
No. HOM errors in OPENGL. Very, very bland. Unneedingly huge. This is just fail. 1/10

MAP08 - Chaotic Belief - JJames
Pretty, someone found a way to make the Special Stage textures not ugly. This one was rather fun, although it felt like it was missing.... something. Don't know why. Was really good compared to some of the other maps in this pack... 6/10

MAP09 - Ship Yard - Sonict
I'll need to replay this.

MAP10 - PC Motherboard - Sonict
Flllat. We need some more walls and height with the special rings you packed in here. Also, why is the motherboard... purple? 4/10

MAP11 - Hill Top Battle - Flame the Hedgehog
Rather bland. It was rather confusing, though, and there was nothing that great about it. Still, remember having SOME fun in this... 5/10

MAP12 - Arctic Halls - Oogaland
Ooo, I liked this one. Although the ice was rather mean, everything else seemed rather good. The design was nice, and seemed fairly balanced, and was fun. Probaly the best map in this division. 8/10

MAP13 - Glacier Cocktail - Neo Chaotikal
I'd love to give this a 10/10 just for the originality factor, but yeah. Gameplay wise, the bouncyness added a new factor into the game, but otherwise, seemed pretty generic. Still, was rather fun... 6/10

MAP14 - Feudal Age Rush - Penopat
AGE OF EMPIRES 2 IS A GREAT STRATEGY GAME. BUY IT NOW. </advert>
The whole point of this map was to "look" good, basicially. It was not made to be thar besterst match levels evar, but I DID make it so it would be at least a hint of fun. I took advantage of the abusive amount of rings in this level and the rather large amount of walls with an Auto + Bomb combo. Thus how the name describes, I wanted this to be a real "rush", athough it's a bit big for a small netgame...


CTF levels

MAP15 - Greenery Cave - JJames
Small. Very. Although I liked the window bewteen the two bases, and it was oddly fun. Still, could of been a bit bigger. Also, the warps were a bit buggy at times... 6/10

MAP16 - Mountech - Blue Blur
Interesting. The concept was neat, and I can't tell if the large mountainous area was good or bad, although I loved how you could bop your whole way across it. It was fun. I could say the bases could of been a bit bigger, though, and the middle smaller. 6/10

MAP17 - Mountain Peaks - Espyo
Best. CTF Level. Ever. Actually no, but this level was oddly envigorating. I honestly have no clue why. Still, the design is rather boring, it was a bit small, and felt rather dull. 5/10

Circuit levels

MAP18 - City Heat - JJames
Hrm, I guess it's ... fine. Design was cool, though pointless deathpits and annoying obstacles kinda killed the flow. 5/10

MAP19 - Lime Isle - JJames
I liked. It flowed well except for that blue spring part, that felt like it was there just for the sake of it being there. It was... erm... not bad? It felt rather average, though I did enjoy it. 6/10

MAP20 - Morning Hill - JJames
You keep making pretty maps, eh? Anyways, gameplay was... OK. Much too wall-y for my tastes though. It was rather decent otherwise though. 6/10

MAP21 - Dusk Street - GCFreak
Arrggh death pits. You could of at least made the deathpits easier to avoid. Otherwise, this map seemed... eh. 5/10

MAP22 - Royal Raceway - Spazzo
Eh. It played rather icky. Although the cutting for this track was new, it wasn't great. Good idea, not-so-great execution. 4/10

MAP23 - Cosmic Valley - Lloyd
No. Bad. Starposts are very unresponsive, and there's nothing remotely interesting about this level. It played like peh. 1/10

MAP24 - Nebulous - Sonict
No. 0/10

MAP25 - Four Seasons Circuit - Oogaland
Neato. Crawlas! Anyways, all the parts except the winter played rather well. The Winter, though, had either hard platform jumping or a annoying-to-hit-on-ice red spring. That rather sucked, yes? Was rather fun otherwise. 8/10

MAP26 - Race Alley - FoxBlitzz
:D. Looks great, plays great, is great. Although rings were rather pointless with the lack of hurting sectors. It really COULD of been a bit more... varying? Dunno. It just felt like something was missing... I liked it, anyways. 8/10
 
Here's my circuit, I'll get back to you on match and 1p.

Circuit

MAP18 - City Heat - 6/10
Well, it's not crap, but it's nothing special either. Not reall much to say here. Except that part at the end was rather annoying for everyon except Knuckles.

MAP19 - Lime Isle - 7/10
The flow was just about perfect. I rather loved this level. But there's just something missing. Can't put my finger on it though.

MAP20 - Morning Hill - 7/10
Nice retro themed level. The flow was interrupted here and there. I loved those pits that you could jump. But if you didn't you'd still be in the game.

MAP21 - Dusk Street - 3/10
No, just no. Too many death pits, crappy flow. Next.

MAP22 - Royal Raceway - 6/10
I absolutely love the scenery. But the track itself is meh. There was just too much room to thok your way through.

MAP23 - Cosmic Valley - 2/10
No. Way too much room to thok your way through. Almost nothing to this level anyway. Just running.

MAP24 - Nebulous - 4/10
It was a good level. Until you got to the part where it's impossible to tell about the teleporter thing. And the fact that Music, Weather, Sky, changes and teleporters all at once cause consistency failures.

MAP25 - Four Seasons Circuit - 8/10
Ah, back to the good. I really don't have much to say that hasn't been said. Crawlas funny, mostly good, Winter sucks.

MAP26 - Race Alley - 10/10
This my friend, is an example of a perfect Circuit level. All kinds of obsticles without interrupting the flow. Not enough room to thok your way through the entire thing. Just about perfect.
 
Circuit Levels

City Heat - JJames (7/10)
This circuit level is actually pretty good. But there are some things that break up flow, such as the last part of the circuit.

Lime Isle - JJames (6/10)
Waah, I have control lag for me in netgames, and the Jade Coast style springs do not help that.

Morning Hill - JJames (8/10)
This map is awesome, albeit a bit bright, and a bit bright hurts my eyes. Good colormap, though.

Royal Raceway - Spazzo (7/10)
Ahh, good try at porting it. It seems a bit not like the original, though. That castle is very goodly ported.

Cosmic Valley - Lloyd (0/10)
HOM effects, no specific route, linearity, bland, gets a 0 from me.

Nebulous - Sonict (0/10)
Unplayable. Consistency failures, lag in Single Player.

Four Seasons Circuit - Oogaland (8/10)
Wonderful. It's wonderful. I thought the spring part was pretty stink, but the crawlas as spectators is a cool idea.

Race Alley - FoxBlitzz (8/10)
Wow, I like this map. Alot of good flow, although some of the textures don't fit with each other very well.
 
Are the circuit maps gonna be the ONLY thing you people vote on? I know tomorrow or later tonight I plan on voting on all the maps. :\
 
Having said that, I decided to go ahead and vote now for the sake of it. Let it begin...

Single Player

Moon Temple - JJames - N/A
Yeah it's not really a good level to begin with. It's very hard, has very stupid points in many parts of the level, but hey - at least it looks professional. Must mean I'm getting SOMEWHERE.

Rocky Cavern 1 - KingofFlames - 3/10
Sorry but this level hasn't really changed since the last time I saw this. Gitchy, invisible crushers, places of which Sonic cannot escape, no exit sector...this place needs some REAL work.

Dandjr Palace - Penopat - 6/10
This level was just too hard for me, I always disliked Aerial Garden Zone to begin with. The fact that this was Aerial Garden combined with Prismatic Angel type jumps made it much more worse. The lava also looked funny, being in the sky and all. I did finish it however and going through it a couple times, while a bit frustrating, it wasn't too bad.

Match

MAP01 - Carrier Crisis - JJames - N/A
When I tested this out, it seemed fine. But I never played it as Sonic. :\ It's still not too bad. Nice concept at least.

MAP02 - Twilight Tower - JJames - N/A
Another concept brought to me by a friend. FOF towers, yay. It's quite huge and lags up Software however. The single auto ring and multiple shields also makes people want to just stay in one single spot. Meh.

MAP03 - Crater Lakes - Flame the Hedgehog - 0/10
Map related consis kicks = Insta Phail

MAP04 - Platform Chaos - Flame the Hedgehog - 6/10
This map is strangely, oddly fun. I don't know why because there's small walkways, lots of bottomless pits and a very cramped middle area. Oh well, it was decent fun.

MAP05 - Sonic Islands - Flame the Hedgehog - 2/10
What's this? Rail, homing, auto? No. Over abundance of rings, no higher ground or cover, no real purpose? No. I refuse to give this map any sort of good score. The only good thing I can say about it is that it was an interesting concept.

MAP06 - Ozone Island - GCFreak - 5/10
There was very little cover and very little rings and the infinite ring powerups don't really make up for that. The outside areas were FAR too small and out of the way to be used also. It would be nice to see this expanded though.

MAP07 - Meadow Garden - Mikel93 - 1/10
This level is a disgrace to the GFZ textures. Too big, too weird, too..ugh. No.

MAP08 - Chaotic Belief - JJames - N/A
I made this in 1 hour after finishing PAZ1 on hard. SRB2DB's thing offsets rawk. Yes, it's pretty, I seem to love making a habit out of that. My real concern would be how it would play though. The very far outside walkways need walls though.

MAP09 - Ship Yard - Sonict - 4/10
Too many weapon rings sparsed out and then being too close together. Too many rings altogether. This level didn't play well and a respawning black shield made this level ten times worse. It's fnu to play in the water though. =P

MAP10 - PC Motherboard - Sonict - 3/10
Too flat and too many powerful items regenerating. While hectic, it's just too much.

MAP11 - Hill Top Battle - Flame the Hedgehog - 0/10
See Crater Lakes.

MAP12 - Arctic Halls - Oogaland - 7/10
Finally, a decent map. While this is well executed, it's hard to find a few people here and even harder to find a decent amount of rings, though there's enough.

MAP13 - Glacier Cocktail - Neo Chaotikal - 6/10
Very awesome concept. It doesn't play exceptionally well though. Many people don't really bother using the straws because it's too slow and the orange is something not too many want to use much, even with the rail ring, since you're just bouncing too much. In all, a huge amount of people simply stuck to the outside rings and basically it turned into a race around the cocktail with people randomly throwing rings everywhere.

MAP14 - Feudal Age Rush - Penopat - 4/10
Hey, this map looks very good. Sadly it doesn't play very good. Lag, odd structure and bad weapon placement plague this map and it was just basically hard to play. This map is better used as some role play map than a match map.

Capture the Flag

MAP15 - Greenery Cave - JJames - N/A
Yeah I know it's cramped, I tried to rush it as much as possible since I didn't want to spend too much time working on it. As bad as that usually is, it came out very nice, though I realized I messed up on the teleporters a bit. Also famous for the saying "Which base is this?! O_o"

MAP16 - Mountech - Blue Blur - 5/10
It took a VERY long time for me to find my way around. But once I got used to the map, it was big, expansive and very detailed. Good for a 10/12 player game. The mountain area really broke things up since it's in the sky and all though and wasn't really flat enough. Other people also easily get themselves confused here.

MAP17 - Mountain Peaks - Espyo - 1/10
No, this map just plain sucks. Don't use mountains like that, don't use flat surfaces like that, don't use cramped passageways like that, don't use weapon rings like that, don't use secret passageways like that, just NO. Totally broke up any flow this map had a chance of getting.

Circuit

MAP18 - City Heat - JJames - N/A
I made a better version of this but never sent it in. I always hated that death pit with the springs and I could never understand why I used it. :\ I liked the rest of the map though.

MAP19 - Lime Isle - JJames - N/A
I thought the blue spring area was fine. Yes it's bland but it's my second ever circuit map and I wanted to do something simple after City Heat, which was my first. I don't know how I could improve on it sadly.

MAP20 - Morning Hill - JJames - N/A
Lots of flow breaking but at least it's beautiful, right? ^_^; I also made a better version of this and even sent it to Mystic but he never included it. Meh.

MAP21 - Dusk Street - GCFreak - 4/10
Too many game overs. The jumps were very hard to make. A few passageways were too tight and the spring area pissed me off. Blah. Nice looking though.

MAP22 - Royal Raceway - Spazzo - 3/10
Imitating a Mario Kart map is never good because Sonic was designed for jumping, not running never leaving the ground. Many deaths occured cheaply and the jump was all screwed up.

MAP23 - Cosmic Valley - Lloyd - 1/10
What? This is too flat. The starposts aren't forgiving enough and there's nothing exciting about this map. No.

MAP24 - Nebulous - Sonict - 0/10
Unplayable due to consis kicks.

MAP25 - Four Seasons Circuit - Oogaland -9/10
Whee, I love this map. Crawlas as spectators? What wil lthey think of next? =P The scenery, the flow, the map, it was all very good. The winter section could've used more work like making that tiny red spring easier to hit on ice but otherwise, this was a very beautiful and polished map.

MAP26 - Race Alley - FoxBlitzz - 8/10
Not bad, the arrows were a nice touch. I kinda felt this was a bit bland and cramped though, especially the part with the boxes on the outside, then inside and back out again. Extremely hard to thok well through there and too high for Knuckles and Tails players. A pretty solid map otherwise though.
 
Match




MAP01 - Carrier Crisis - 5/10
All I can say is meh. Nothing to great, nothing to terrible. Except a few linedef errors.

MAP02 - Twilight Tower - 7/10
Heh, neat idea, I rather like it. Though I lost my opponents a few times. It didn't take too long to find them.

MAP03 - Crater Lakes - 4/10
Wasn't this released before?

MAP04 - Platform Chaos - 4/10
See Above

MAP05 - Sonic Islands - 5/10
See Above

MAP06 - Ozone Island - 3/10
Interesting concept, but really didn't work out. Big stages require lots of rings, which this didn't have.

MAP07 - Meadow Garden - 5/10
A bit too big. But for some reason, I like it. Coulda used something to fill all the space though.

MAP08 - Chaotic Belief - 8/10
Love it! I love how it's a surreal combination of transparent energy platforms, and solid stone. Though we have seen it before, never in a match stage. (To my knowledge) I absolutely love it!

MAP09 - Ship Yard - 7/10
Again, all I can say is meh. Nothing too good, nothing too bad.

MAP10 - PC Motherboard - 6/10
Looks more like a Mac to me. But yeah, first computer level I think. And I expected it to be a bit more surreal. Maybe something floating. My biggest concern would have to be Homing-Rail-Bomb rings. You're one ring away from the ultimate weapon, and that's a terrible combination anyway.

MAP11 - Hill Top Battle - 7/10
I don't know why, but I loved it. Maybe it was vast explorable feel, despite the ability to find your opponents. Maybe it was the constant complaints from OGL users of OGL errors.... Oh wait that's a bad thing. Yeah, gotta dock the score for that.

MAP12 - Arctic Halls - 5/10
It is slippery Eddy! But yeah, wa-ay to much icy-slippery-ness. Overall it was a fairly nice level. But the ice really got me.

MAP13 - Glacier Cocktail - 7/10
Hehe, love the idea, and it's executed rather well. My only concern was that the snow made white camoflauge

MAP14 - Feudal Age Rush - 2/10
Ok it's pretty, really pretty, extrememly pretty even. But Halo 2 was pretty and it sucked. The big problem with this level is lag, the problem with it, there's way to much of it!


Can't actually vote on CTF, never played it in CTF.
 
Hey Spazzo, I just opened your level and noticed your castle is the exact replica of my Castle. Why did you used it for your level? I didn't give you permision at all. I'm simply asking why didn't you come forth and asked me to use it for your level.
 
JJames19119 said:
MAP03 - Crater Lakes - Flame the Hedgehog - 0/10
Map related consis kicks = Insta Phail

How the hell does this cause consistency kicks?!?! :x

I battled on this map and no consistency kicks
and my hill top battle map caused no consistency kicks when I battled on it!

EDIT: I just battled Super mystic sonic on hill top battle and the Elevator caused no consistency kicks >_>
so i hardly believe that my maps cause consistency kicks
 
Ok, seeing as i don't have much time on my hands- ill only judge the Match maps. Here we go!

-----------------------------------

Map 01 - Carrier Crisis

I remember testing this one out in its early stages...definitely best for 1 on 1 matches, since its a "Tiny" boat. XD;

No vote since this map was my concept, brought to life by JJames (w00t).

---

Map 02 - Twilight Tower

Another concept of mine given to JJames to create, tons of fun for around 4 players. The top floor is where most of the fighting ends up at thanks to the items placed there, but the other 2 floors are great for collecting rings as you make your way up the dark tower.

Again, no vote since this was a concept of mine brought to life by JJames.

---

Map 03 - Crater Lakes

Uh oh...this maps a player kicker! Usually happens when a player attempts to bust open a monitor. Due to that big fault- this one gets the dead 0. Sorry.

0/10

---

Map 04 - Platform Chaos

...Is this Super Mario 64 now?! XD *chuckles* Rather fun map- But Snipers can easily PWN players who make use of the springs for travel. Otherwise, this ones not bad.

6/10

---

Map 05 - Sonic Islands

...ugh...no way man. Way to big, rings in GIANT rows make ring collecting way too easy, and instant PWNage. I just cant stand this map, sorry buddy...

1/10

---

Map 06 - Ozone Island

This is a fun map, i should say. The only thing i dislike is the lack of rings, but otherwise this can make a good match map for 4 players or less.

7/10

---

Map 07 - Meadow Garden

HUUUGE...x.x This is one of those maps that would need 20 or more players to play decently. But even i cant host that many players...

2/10

---

Map 08 - Chaotic Belief

JJames - you did it again! XD FUN, lots of fun!! Even for a sonic player like myself, i had a blast on this map! A good amount of platforms and rings, the item box in the middle- i love it. A but more of a challenge for sonic players (may cause the "fall syndrome" for hedgehog newbies), but still a hells worth of fun- w00t!

9/10

---

Map 09 - Ship Yard

Onos- he sunk my battle ship! *shot for pun* This map is good, with one exception- Blending Textures. Heck, i easily got lost inside the ship looking for the exit because of that flaw- and that's a major downfall when your stuck with someone inside the ship! So that's the major problem man, fix it! >.> Otherwise, not bad.

5/10

---

Map 10 - PC Motherboard

Many Rings + Rail Ring + Homing Ring + Bomb Ring =...well, YOU do the math.

1/10

---

Map 11 - Hill Top Battle

Another Kicker Map, thanks to the elevators...No.

0/10

---

Map 12 - Arctic Halls

As much as i love playing on ice as sonic- this maps too big. x_x; Also you can easily get lost in there...10+ player map, perhaps?

4/10

---

Map 13 - Glacier Cocktail

Lmao...XD I gotta love this one for originality! And as much as its visually good- it just as much play-wise too! Tons of fun here...only one suggestion- Could those ice cubes be transparent maybe? it took me a good moment to realize they even were ice cubes, hence my suggestion. otherwise- great!

8/10

---

Map 14 - Feudal Age Rush

One word- LAG. X_X Visually great- but at a price! this is just not good...(and doesn't this look more like a Role Play map? >.> )

2/10
 
I can only grade the ones I have played so far, so here they are:
Single Player
Moon Temple - JJames 5/10
A role playing game. Kill all the enemies in this room advance to next. The second starpost was rigged so you die almost immiediately.
Rocky Cavern 1 - KingofFlames 7/10
This was my favorite until the broken checkpoints and endzone.
Dandjr Palace - Penopat 7/10
It was clearly designed for Sonic, because it was really easy with Tails. It was nice and big though.

Match:
MAP12 - Arctic Halls - Oogaland 8/10
It was a pretty good map although the center of gameplay was in the ice center.
MAP13 - Glacier Cocktail - Neo Chaotikal 10/10
Very ingenuitive without glitches and lag.
MAP14 - Feudal Age Rush - Penopat 5/10
It was fun but ran really really slow, and it had technical problems.

Capture the Flag
MAP15 - Greenery Cave - JJames 8/10
A good ctf map with no evil deathpits.

I will edit this post when I have had a chance to try more.
 
Finishing my voting:

Match
MAP01 - Carrier Crisis - JJames - 5/10
Bleh. At least homing wasn't dull here with all the stuff to hide behind. Still not a very interesting map, though.

MAP02 - Twilight Tower - JJames - 4/10
The moving platforms are FAR too slow, and the top floor is the ONLY relevant place on the map. There just isn't much here.

MAP03 - Crater Lakes - Flame the Hedgehog - 3/10
At least it was fun for sniping. Otherwise, needs MUCH more detail and stuff to do.

MAP04 - Platform Chaos - Flame the Hedgehog - 2/10
I won one of the rounds 500-0-0-0. That's not fun for anyone. There's just nothing here except Rail and a bottomless pit. What fun.

MAP05 - Sonic Islands - Flame the Hedgehog - 1/10
It's playable...I guess. There are so many things wrong with this I'm not going to list them. Look at the Level Design 101 topic.

MAP06 - Ozone Island - GCFreak - 3/10
Hey, Infinity. Otherwise, far too few rings and even Rail manages to be useless as you're out of ammo.

MAP07 - Meadow Garden - Mikel93 - 2/10
Mikel, I've come to believe you have never played any of the maps you make in an actual netgame, because otherwise I think you would have learned by now that gigantic, open, no-detail rooms with all the weapons in one place suck.

MAP08 - Chaotic Belief - JJames - 7/10
Yay! A map that isn't awful! Thank god! I think you need something to keep the player from thokking onto a spring and missing the platform above them by hitting the bottom of it, but otherwise at least a solid level. Where are the weapon rings, though? Explosion would be fun in such a vertical level.

MAP09 - Ship Yard - Sonict - 5/10
Despite being totally unbalanced, this was actually fun because the level was detailed and had plenty of space to run around. Fix your item balance and you'll probably do rather well.

MAP10 - PC Motherboard - Sonict - 1/10
LOL RAILHOMING IN COMPLETELY OPEN MAP!!!!1

MAP11 - Hill Top Battle - Flame the Hedgehog - 4/10
Plenty of space and things to do, but what is with the teleport fetish in this contest? Seriously, if this didn't have teleports, it would probably get +2 at least, but the teleports provide choke points which ruin the flow. Just use FOFs for high-detail complex areas instead. It would be much more fun.

MAP12 - Arctic Halls - Oogaland - 6/10
While solidly constructed, there isn't really any reason to leave the central area on the bottom floor, resulting in a thok fest of epic proportions. Maybe add some more powerups outside the main area so people actually use the rest of the map?

MAP13 - Glacier Cocktail - Neo Chaotikal - 7/10
Wow, this was fun. Points for creativity, too. I was very pleasantly surprised with how this map looked like it would play awful, but in actual gameplay was quite fun. Bouncy bouncy! The Rail-Explosion is kinda cheap in such an open area, though. Maybe just straight Rail would be a better match?

MAP14 - Feudal Age Rush - Penopat - 6/10
Again, very pleasant surprise. Looked overly detailed with no flow, and it turns out that there is definitely a lot of stuff here to like. Would have given it a 7-8 if certain people didn't experience framerate drop. Maybe some killer optimization would do wonders, if you haven't already. Also, Automatic-Explosion might not be the best choice for a map with framerate issues already. Gameplay-wise, though, this was ace. I quite enjoyed it.

Capture the Flag
MAP15 - Greenery Cave - JJames - 7/10
Fun. I really love how you can see the other base from your own base, yet you have to go around to get there. Brilliant use of teleports, too, unlike the other maps. Maybe a little more detail would be for the better, though.

MAP16 - Mountech - Blue Blur - 4/10
Someone mentioned an X-Box joke, and honestly, that's the main problem. Even in the bigger game I played on this, it was too big. The smaller game ended in a zero-zero tie because no one could find anyone. This level is just too massive. Maybe in a 20 player game it would be good, but I haven't found that many people to play in a while.

MAP17 - Mountain Peaks - Espyo - 4/10
Okay, honestly this level should be completely awful, but when I played it, I was shocked to find myself actually enjoying myself. Doesn't change the fact that the level has no detail, no real creativity, or nothing original, but I had FUN and I don't know why.
 
***Match***

MAP01 - Carrier Crisis - JJames - 5/10
Pretty average, not much to say. It seemed a little cramped, and was kinda hard to get around.

MAP02 - Twilight Tower - JJames - 3/10
It was hard to find people in small netgames, and the upper areas were hard to run around in.

MAP03 - Crater Lakes - Flame the Hedgehog - 2/10
Sniper map. It's just a big hole with 4 rail rings on FOFs in the corners. Add to that the fact that the death pit is hard to see, and you'll realize why I gave it a 2.

MAP04 - Platform Chaos - Flame the Hedgehog - 1/10
Narrow paths, cramped spaces, big death pits and some rail rings. This is definitely not a winning combination.

MAP05 - Sonic Islands - Flame the Hedgehog - 1/10
Flat with respawning armageddons. Again, not exactly a winning combination.

MAP06 - Ozone Island - GCFreak - 2/10
Small, with large deathpits, few rings, and springs that send you too far so that you go right into a death pit.

MAP07 - Meadow Garden - Mikel93 - 1/10
Mikel, it's obvious that you aren't listening to our criticsm, so I'm not even going to bother trying to give you any.

MAP08 - Chaotic Belief - JJames - 6/10
Pretty good, but you guys are still overusing death pits. I can't really think of much to say; the map wasn't really all that interesting.

MAP09 - Ship Yard - Sonict - 6/10
I like the detail in the level, but I don't think the inside of the ship should've used all one texture. It made it hard to distinguish the floor from the wall. I also don't think you should have put Rail-Explosion in this map, as it seemed rather powerful.

MAP10 - PC Motherboard - Sonict - 1/10
Uninteresting, and pretty flat. Rail-Homing didn't make things any better.

MAP11 - Hill Top Battle - Flame the Hedgehog - 3/10
Too big. Most of the players seemed to be drawn towards the area in front of the factory, instead of going throughout the level.

MAP12 - Arctic Halls - Oogaland - 4/10
Everyone stayed in the round part in the middle, instead of going throughout the rest of the level. Also, why was the snow in that area (not the ice) slippery? It would have helped to have a few areas around there with friction.

MAP13 - Glacier Cocktail - Neo Chaotikal - 7/10
Interesting idea, with pretty good gameplay. I wouldn't have gone with Rail-Explosion, since it was too easy to snipe people with it after bouncing off the middle (or, as Tails, just flying). I also felt there were too many explosion rings; everyone in the game seemed to have one. You should change the music too; just change it to something more lively than Midnight Freeze's music.

MAP14 - Feudal Age Rush - Penopat - N/A
I kept getting consis failed in this map. No one else seemed to be getting it, so I guess it's something on my end.



***Capture the Flag***

MAP15 - Greenery Cave - JJames - 6/10
I thought it was a bit cramped, but it played pretty well. I experienced some of the problems Shuffle had with the teleporters, but only once. I would've liked to have seen something Tails could make use of, since there really wasn't many places you could fly to.

MAP16 - Mountech - Blue Blur - 3/10
FAR too big. You guys need to remember that not everyone can hold as many people as Mystic, and even then, there aren't always that many people that want to play. As Mystic described in his judgement, we went through the whole timelimit with no scores, because no one could find anyone else.

MAP17 - Mountain Peaks - Espyo - 3/10
Heh, this reminds me of my first map, Dueling Peaks Zone. Just like my level, your level has many flaws. It is almost impossible to get up the mountain with the other team shooting at you, with or without the Rail. The map is very flat in between the bases, which is pretty boring. Finally, the alternate path is nearly impossible to get to as Sonic.

---


Conclusion: I noticed in the past few contests that there are many "themed" maps. What I mean by that is, the maps are designed around something else, and aren't really designed to be a fun map. While maps like this can be fun (Such as Glacier Cocktail Zone), most of them aren't. Sonic Islands is obviously supposed to be each of the 3 characters' heads, and PC Motherboard Zone was supposed to be a PC motherboard. While both of these maps suceeded in looking like what they're modeled after, they aren't particularly fun, and that is what matters. I've also noticed alot of insanely huge maps. I guess everyone has gotten it into their heads that bigger is better, which just isn't true. Try to design levels that would work well with about 6-8 players, since that is about the average size of a normal netgame. Another similarity is bad weapon choice. Obviously you shouldn't put Rail and Homing in the same map, and you should DEFINITELY not put all 5 in the same map (Luckily we didn't have any of those kinds of maps this time). It's not hard to figure out what works good in your map, just get some people to help you test your levels in netplay. That's the whole reason we encourage testing, to help you guys figure out what's wrong with your map before you send it in to be judged. If you need someone to test with, just come by #srb2fun and ask. Some people probably won't want to test it right then, but I'm sure that at least a few people will be willing to help. Finally, listen to the criticism that you recieve with the ratings you get in these contests. We aren't trying to be mean and we aren't trying to tell you that you suck at making levels, we're just trying to tell you what you did wrong so that you won't make the same mistakes in your next map.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Who is viewing this thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Back
Top