May/June 2010 Contest Voting

Welcome to the May/June 2010 contest voting. We have 11 Multiplayer maps and 6 Single Player maps this time.

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, no decimals. You can not vote on your own map. Votes where the voter obviously did not play the level in its intended gametype, or where the voter did not play the multiplayer maps with other real players 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 July 8th at midnight GMT (July 7th, 7:00 PM EST). The scores will be then averaged, and the person with the highest score is the winner.

Winners will have their usertitle changed to "Contest Winner", and will be given a golden username. This will last up and until the next contest winners are decided.

The maps follow:

Single Player Level Pack

Single Player:
Dangerous Volcano Zone by Internet Explorer - 5.14
Buzzards Bay Zone, Act 1 by WEREHOG - 4.45
Canyon Operation Zone by ComRante - 6.35
Starlit City by Brawl - 3.50
Metropolis Sprint Zone by Whackjood - 5.77
Cyber Gauntlet by verifiaman - 4.35

Multiplayer Level Pack

Match:
MAPM1 - Diamond Blizzard Zone by Spherallic - 7.88
MAPM2 - Coastal Cavern by RedEchidna - 5.80
MAPM3 - Citrus Foyer Zone by Brawl - 1.80
MAPM4 - Lost Paradise Zone by Neo Chaotikal - 4.70

CTF:
MAPF1 - Freezing Flame Zone by RedEchidna - 5.47
MAPF2 - Wellspring Keep Zone by SpiritCrusher/Cinefast - 6.15
MAPF3 - Radiant Cavern by Spherallic/KO.T.E - 6.69
MAPF4 - Climate Chaos Zone by Scizor300 - 3.46

Circuit:
MAPR1 - Grassy Cliffs Zone by AndyMan123 - 3.13
MAPR2 - Tidal Cave by RedEchidna/darkbob1713 - 6.14
MAPR3 - Iron Aquarium Zone by Zap610 - 6.07

Voting Results: http://www.srb2.org/contest/contest.xls

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

Let's get this party started! Good luck to all of the OLDC participants :D

Good luck everyone. I hope the maps are gonna be awesome!

http://www.amazing-animations.com/animations/fireworks22.gif

Multiplayer pack is up.

Um, Climate Chaos Zone is listed as a match map in-game. Just wanted to let you know.
EDIT: Actually, it is listed as both a CTF map, AND a match map.

Dangerous Volcano Zone by Internet Explorer - 0/10, the beginning was too confusing, I had no idea that you were supposed to hit the mario ? block at all, I thought it was just there for decoration. I also got trapped when the lava started rising (way too quick in my opinion) the zoom tubes at the beginning also seemed kind of pointless.

Starlit City Zone by Brawl - N/A, I refuse to play this map based on what I've heard.

Metropolis Sprint Zone by Whackjood - 3/10 I found this map pretty dull and boring since it was mostly hold forward to win, I gave you more points for the nice detail and variation you tried to have, though.

Cyber Gauntlet by verifiaman - N/A Based on what JEV3 said, I don't think I'm gonna bother finishing this.

Buzzards Bay Zone by WEREHOG - 6/10 Decent map, playable, design isn't too bad. My only complaint is that the entire map is too cramped.

Canyon Operation Zone by ComRante - 8/10 Awesome map! I even see you fixed that arrow thing at the beginning I mentioned. A really interesting theme as well. The gameplay could have used a little more variation, but it was not bad at all.

Well. I might see them :D and rate them. But then. I'll give a ten probably. :P


Metropolis Sprint by Whackjood (3/10)
Ok. I didn't really like this. Cheap enemy placement is enough. But I liked the texture variety you used here. Also. The part where you press a switch to stop the turret. The Box or whatever you call it is glitched...

Starlit City - 3/10
Wow, almost the worst ever, besides City Jump. There was horrible enemy placement (man, what were 2 jetty-syns doing so close to a spring surrounded by fissures?), too many goddamn fissures (pitfalls), half the time I didn't know where to go, I suggest adding some arrows, and the background looked ugly as crap. I gave it a 3 because I did see some nice textures.

Cyber Gountlet Zone: 5/10
Actually, this map was pretty fun, but kind of wierd, and just sucked with repeating textures.

I'll add more reviews as I play through the levels.

Single Player Division

Dangerous Volcano Zone by Internet Explorer - 3/10 (BUMPING IT DOWN)
Well, let's see, I couldn't finish it on the subject of me not being able to find the exit of the second rising lava room. Please, make a clearer path next time.


Buzzards Bay Zone by WEREHOG - 6/10
Holy hell, since when did your maps start kicking ass? The textures meshed nicely, and the gameplay was great. The only real problem I had was that some of the wals entering the tunnels didn't look right, try using FOF's next time.


Canyon Operation Zone by ComRante - 8/10
Ho-ly crap, that music is awesome. As for the gameplay, it was decent, and the textures were pretty good.


Starlit City by Brawl - 2/10
Okay, please tell me what i'm looking at here. The name does not fit, it's monotonous platforming, the textures are ugly, and I quote from the unholy words of Satan...

"What the fuck is this shit!?"
Please improve your mapping, for the love of God.


Metropolis Sprint Zone by Whackjood - 4/10
Most of the texturing was pretty ugly, but that's DCZ for ya'. The gameplay was decent, but it needed to be less flat. It had some interesting points, but other than that, it was pretty bland.


Cyber Gauntlet by Verifaman - 5/10
Extremely frustrating at first, but once you learn how to beat it by trial-and-error, it becomes rather easy.

Dangerous Volcano Zone by Internet Explorer 8/10
That was odd. Yet fun. There were a few cases where I felt, well, like I fell into the lava in Red Volcano of 1.09.4.

Buzzards Bay Zone, Act 1 by WEREHOG 4/7
the visual presentation could use some work and some of the puddles, less piranha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FU_HKgoZDQ

Canyon Operation Zone by ComRante 7/10
I can't really comment without visuals, but the music didn't loop right. Must be the way Sonic CD tracks are.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6peuEM9Lwo

Starlit City by Brawl 5/10
It was a decent level, just fix the sky
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZv1ooyWH8o

Metropolis Sprint Zone by Whackjood 7/10
I found this city zone interesting, it made good use of the Grand Eggship and Eggrock textures.
Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z913jWnUrtw

Cyber Gauntlet by verifiaman 7/10
Oi, this sort of felt like a Special Stage from hell
Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiT1_9allww

Multiplayer Division

Match Division

Diamond Blizzard Zone by Spherallic - 7/10
Textures are great, and it can be quite hectic in large netgames, good job!

Coastal Cavern by RedEchidna - 6/10
The level plays great, but some of the visuals are meh.

Citrus Foyer Zone by Brawl - 3/10
It's small, cramped, and overloaded with rings, 'nuff said.

Lost Paradise Zone by Neo - 8/10
Okay, first off, this level is fucking gigantic, but extremely playable. The textures are impressive, the spread of rings and panels are great, and the exploration value of this map is insane, Great work Neo!

Capture The Flag Division

Freezing Flame Zone by RedEchidna - 6/10
Pretty good, and the themes blend decently too.

Wellspring Keep Zone by SpiritCrusher\Cinefast - 8/10
Easily one of the best maps in the pack. It had great texture variation, and it had a great flow.

Radiant Cavern Zone by Sphere/KOTE - 9/10
You guys ruin my chances, yet again....

/me vows to get revenge.

Climate Chaos Zone by Scizor300 - Sad/Face
Well, the "Different but balanced" gimmick sort of worked, but there were many things I forgot to tend to, hence the "Whoops".

Circuit Division

Grassy Cliffs Zone by Andyman123 - 6/10
Well, I didn't know that music was in srb2.srb, mind telling me what Tunes number it is? As for the level, the layout was strange, I just don't know how to put it, though.

Tidal Palace Zone by RedEchidna\Darkbob1713 - 7/10
The layout was pretty straightforward, but it was still varied with the somewhat split paths.

Iron Aquarium Zone by Zap610 - 8/10
It was definetly the best Race map, but I still have a few problems. The rings were undeafed, and the path wasn't completely clear on where to go.

In the end it was the average OLDC, some good maps, some average maps, and some downright crappy ones.

Also, re-ordered the SP list.

SINGLE PLAYER

Buzzards Bay Zone Act 1, by WEREHOG
Rating: 3/10
Explanation: Ewww...I can tell you gave this some effort, but it turned out butt-ugly, annoyingly vertical, and just all-around poorly designed. You've gotten better since you first started out here, WEREHOG, but your level design skills seem to have plateaued in a very awkward place. The texturing was generic and dull, the enemy placement was sloppy and poorly thought out, there was too much springing, and the level was way too short. Did you get that boat from Drowned Downtown? Oh, and is there any particular reason why you typed out the filename all in caps?

Cyber Gauntlet, by verifiaman
Rating: 3/10
Explanation: I wanted to give this a higher score. Really, I did. Because you have some really clever ideas here, and it was one of the most original concepts I've ever seen in SRB2. For that I applaud you. But this contest is really supposed to give points based on how it played, not how clever it was, and this is quite frankly one of the most frustrating levels I've ever played. In that red section, I must have gotten warped back to the start more than 20 times. The whole concept completely disrupts the speed and flow that SRB2 is supposed to be about. So, to both your creativity and the way the level played, I say "wow". It's just that those are two extremely different kinds of "wow"s.

Dangerous Volcano Zone, by Internet Explorer
Rating: 5/10
Explanation: Wow, this map sure is heavy with the gimmicks. But come on, that start sequence was not only way too long, it made absolutely no sense. It's like a "Family Guy" flashback...but not as funny. Anyway, the Mario Blocks also were hugely out of place. And it was incredibly hard to figure out what to do in the rising lava rooms (they were really frustrating, especially since they were slime in disguise, rather than actual lava). The blue colormaps were terribly out of place...I had no clue what they were supposed to be. And also, it's kind of bad design to send a player through the same stretch twice...if you're going to do that, you should at least make it different the second time around by using linedef executors to create new bits of scenery and stuff. Another issue I had was that the end was pretty anticlimactic...the 2D section was great, but it shouldn't end the level. There should be a short, dramatic 3D stretch after it that brings you to the end. All in all, this level is a somewhat awkward gimmickfest. But unlike Cyber Gauntlet, the gimmicks don't TOTALLY destroy gameplay. Some of them were cool. In fact, the level kind of had a "Crash Bandicoot" feel to it in places. So you get some points for that.

Canyon Operation Zone, by ComRante
Rating: 6/10
Explanation: We've got an interesting combination of environments here. ACZ, THZ, a little bit of ERZ. The trouble is, you took the most boring scenery elements out of all three. But the thematic blend is so unique that I can forgive that to some extent. Harder to forgive is the level layout. It's nice and long, and most of it plays okay, but it was very confusing and mazelike in parts. Several times I went backward, and my only clue was that the enemies were facing away from me. Also, that EGRID-textured room was practically seizure-inducing...it was a real relief to get out of it. I also think that your extra life bonuses were too obvious...they were pretty much just there, sometimes slightly off the beaten path, but never hard to spot. All in all, the level has a fair amount of flaws, but also just enough unique charm to kind of get away with it.

Starlit City, by Brawl
Rating: 2/10
Explanation: So, you didn't learn your lesson from City Jump, eh? This level was just appalling in so many ways. To begin with, that's gotta be one of the worst custom sky textures I've ever seen. Looks like someone threw a bunch of clumped-up used kitty litter on the GFZ sky. Now, we actually get into gameplay. Jump jump jump, hop hop hop, crumble crumble crumble. Those metal ACZ platforms made absolutely no sense. Same goes for the entire buildings that crumbled beneath your feet. And what was that part at the end? A park? The edge of the city? I spotted a few custom textures (and a few taken from Acid Missile) but none of them were good. And we also have a bunch of random Crawla swarms, and some weird pieces of other themes that looked like a feeble attempt at varying up the landscape. Here's a piece of advice, Brawl. Don't make city levels ever again. Or at least, not until the official Dark City Zone gets released and we all get a good look at what a really good city level should be.

Metropolis Sprint Zone, by Whackjood
Rating: 5/10
Explanation: And now we come to the second city level in this contest. This is better than Starlit City because it at least has varied gimmicks, but here is a level that just can't decide what theme it is. Sure, it's a city underneath, but all these building interiors are pretty weird, and some of them, like that THZ turret room, are too cramped (incidentally, you don't seem to have a good handle on how best to set up a THZ turret room...as the most overpowered enemy in the game, SRB2 level designers must handle it was tremendous care, and the way you set it up, it can rain death from above). The cars are really blocky...you can't make a great upright car in a game without slopes (one of the reasons I made the cars in DDZ lie on their side). I think that to some extent, even though your level's scenery is at times random, it's good that you did your best to deviate from city theming whenever possible, because those areas that were strictly city-ish were incredibly plain and flat and ugly. Not so much your fault as it is the fault of the lack of available city textures in SRB2, but still.

Single player division as a whole: This is the worst crop of Single Player levels I've seen in a long time. Lots of botched gimmicks, repetitiveness, and stuff that just screams out "not as good as it was in the creator's head". The only genuinely decent level was Canyon Operation Zone, and even that was in spite of some fairly significant flaws. Everything else was average, mediocre, or just flat out terrible. The good news is that the chances the next contest's entries are this bad can't be that huge. We've set the bar so low here, I'm sure next time we can do better as a community.

MATCH

Diamond Blizzard Zone, by Spherallic
Rating: 8/10
Explanation: The whole ice theme is getting pretty overused, but this level does a great job of it none the less. It's got great scenery and layout that encourages some confrontations, especially with the bounce rings. I had a lot of fun on this map.

Coastal Cavern, by RedEchidna
Rating: 4/10
Explanation: Frenzied gameplay, but only in the sense of Meadow Match. And that kind of stage can only be epic once. This place is pretty flat and dull.

Citrus Foyer Zone, by Brawl
Rating: 2/10
Explanation: Is this a joke? With you, I can't be sure.

Lost Paradise Zone, by Neo Chaotikal
Rating: 5/10
Explanation: I had fun with this stage, but not because of good design. It was actually kind of bad. It was mostly just one texture, and really squarey, especially in the central structure. I think I had fun in the same sense that I had fun in Coastal Cavern...lack of content meant more unfettered fighting. But having fun because of content and having fun because of lack of content are two very different ways of having fun, that say very different things about the quality of the level.

Match division as a whole: A reasonable mix of good and bad. Nothing about this contest really stands out, either in a positive way or a negative way. It was just...average.

CAPTURE THE FLAG

Freezing Flame Zone, by RedEchidna
Rating: 4/10
Explanation: Yeesh, I am REALLY getting sick of physics-defying fire-ice blend stages. And this one was hardly phenomenal. The scenery wasn't that great, the lava was actually slime in disguise, and the layout was just underwhelming. I say it's high time we move away from this tired old theme.

Wellspring Keep Zone, by SpiritCrusher and Cinefast
Rating: 4/10
Explanation: Cool to see you getting into the game, SpiritCrusher (Cinefast, you've already been in the game to some extent), but it's kind of a bumpy start. That button gimmick was confusing, and the stage layout just didn't work at all. It took me a while to even figure out where the bases were. I think this map could be a lot better if a bunch of it was just cut out and the path between bases was made more obvious.

Radiant Cavern, by Spherallic and KO.T.E.
Rating: 9/10
Explanation: Whoops, spoke too soon about how much the fire-ice theme sucks. This stage was absolutely gorgeous, and gameplay was fantastic too. In all the other CTF stages, I found myself wondering when it was going to be over. In this one, I was devastated when it was. I'd really, really like to see a Single Player stage in this theme...it's just dazzling, and I think the layout would also translate pretty well from CTF to Single Player. My only little complaint was that the central area was a tad ugly and awkward, but I think that's quite trivial. If this map doesn't win, that proves that there's something wrong with society. It's that good.

Climate Chaos Zone, by Scizor300
Rating: 4/10
Explanation: This is better than your last attempt, but it's still got problems. For one thing, it's too big and spans too many themes. It's also really laggy, though fortunately not quite as bad as that disaster you entered into the last contest. Keep trying, Scizor, and at this rate you'll eventually get good. But you've got a ways to go.

CTF division as a whole: There was one little nugget of awesomeness in a sea of mediocrity. Nothing in this division was horrendous, but most of it left a lot to be desired. The exception, of course, was Radiant Cavern.

RACE

Grassy Cliffs Zone, by AndyMan123
Rating: 3/10
Explanation: Ugh, this one was a CHORE. Fortunately a short chore, but a chore nonetheless. It meandered and went up and down and was generally very confusing. There were also a lot of weird solid invisible walls (you'd think they'd at least have the Not Climbable flag checked). And you should never be able to make a complete circuit and miss the Star Post. That's just a cardinal rule of designing Race levels.

Tidal Cave, by RedEchidna and darkbob1713
Rating: 6/10
Explanation: This was a decent level with a few interesting gimmicks to keep players on their toes. But it wasn't that pretty, and its gimmicks weren't numerous enough to justify the level's length. The fact that this level stands out in this contest is kind of sad, really.

Iron Aquarium Zone, by Zap610
Rating: 4/10
Explanation: In appearance, this was the clear winner, except for that damn colormap (next time, try using #40A0FFJ instead). But this contest isn't about levels that are pretty; it's about levels that are fun. And I really didn't enjoy playing this level. There were a lot of cheap jumps, overly open areas, and places where it's not entirely clear what you have to do. Race levels should force you to make snap decisions, but they should never force you to stop and think about what you're doing.

Race division as a whole: Really not an interesting set of levels. Iron Aquarium looks cool, but none of them add anything new to the table in terms of gameplay.

Contest as a whole: Really not one of our best contests. Aside from Radiant Cavern and Diamond Blizzard, none of the levels were particularly stunning. Seems like there wasn't a lot of inspiration behind it all. Or rather, it seems like most of the inspiration that did go into it wasn't used to the fullest. I'll be waiting for the next contest.

Geez, is it me, or is Single Player just getting worse and worse? I dunno if I'll rate the maps this time. Ever since I started playing/modding for Skulltag, I just lost interest in SRB2.

And although I said it many times on irc, I'm saying it again; SRB2 really really REALLY needs DECORATE. Seriously, it's so amazing.

Dangerous Volcano Zone by Internet Explorer 6/10

Let me get this out of the way first; you know that part in the beginning right? Yeah, it is crap. It adds nothing to the level and is totally confusing. I thought that this would be a "Choose your own adventure!" style level when I saw the branching arrows. But seriously, what were you thinking? The visuals in this NON-INTERACTIVE segment were extremely boring and nothing at all happened, besides the fact that I was flung into the most anti-climatic looking volcano I have ever seen in the most drug-induced way I could possibly think of.

But after that, things get better. Although the intial rooms that used the rising lava concept were endlessly frustrating and broken in the sense that there was no reasonable recovery from falling, everything after that wasn't too bad, from a gameplay standpoint. Sure, parts where cramped and the map was linear, but I liked some of what you did with the lavaslide and the depth in the 2D section.

Where I found the most enjoyment in this map, however, was in how you handled your secret area. I won't spoil it, but your use of music was great; it really brought a sense of atmosphere to that piece of the gameplay, and reminded me of the soul seen in a game called Terranigma. The secret itself was surprising, yet contrived and it relied way to much upon the rule of cool.


Buzzards Bay Zone, Act 1 by WEREHOG 3/10

The idea of a bay level in SRB2 is exciting, yet this level is anything but that. It is terribly unpolished, short, and completely devoid of anything noteworthy. There were no surprising secrets or interactions to be found except a bunch of arbitrarily placed spikes in a pit and far to many useless fish enemies than the player knows what to do with. The palm trees look pathetic (I recommend using a decorative thing instead of a hideous geometric obstruction) and the ending, which is intended to be a visual reward, is completely anti-climatic.

To improve this map, I would increase its length and bring forth a massive overhaul on the level's geometry making it appealing in both a visual and interactive way. I would also utilize water more, but in better ways. The ground around that submarine should not have been a death pit. Create situations were water is used as both a way to hinder the player and help the player. I would also choose different, less GFZish textures to make the level look unique and would completely ditch that grass edging texture; it looks terrible and I have no idea why it is even in the main texture set. You know the coast area in the beginning of the second act of Jade Coast Zone in Mystic Realm? Yeah, use that as an inspiration to improve this.


Canyon Operation Zone by Com Rante

For my first single player map, I'm quite proud of this; yet relatively compared to other SP maps, this one has had a bizarre evolution which lead to some of the most arbitrary and misleading design I could accidentally produce. I started this level back in the summer of 2009, shortly after the release of 2.0, in an attempt to create an SP map that made an interesting use of the new release's features. For the most part however, I just ended up using the new textures and enemies (I'm lazy in regards to figuring out how to utilize the more complex features unfortunately. I intend to fix this). It started out as a GFZ themed match level (I still don't know what I was thinking), composed simply of that introductory courtyard area.

Little would I know that that section would make the development of this map go terribly wrong. Lots of geometry and comparing the amount of lindefs to ERZ2 later, I ended up with a "finished" version that I decided to play test through #srb2fun. Though this I came upon the revelation that this map had a terrible sense of direction and was too non-linear for its own good. From there I abandoned it and left, the problems to severe. Never again will I attempt to rip off the better qualities of GFZ2.

Anyways, about three days ago I happened upon the map again and thought it might be fun to try to fix it for the OLDC. It took some thought and cheapness, but I ended up fixing the quite a few of the problems that had potential solutions. Other problems were just too rooted in the maps geometric layout that I just couldn't weed them out in any efficient way. And my solutions to a lot of the problems were quite hap hazardly conceived; after all, I only had three days. Hence the overdose of ugly arrows all over the place. Next time I'll definitely lean towards something more linear and conservative, not out of a fear of risk but out of a respect for my previous mistakes.

I would recommend multiple playthroughs of the map, just to experience the different paths and such. There are around six variations that can be taken. Also, there are two hidden special stage tokens. Both are obviously hidden, but I find one of the hiding spots has quite a bit of character.


Metropolis Sprint Zone by Whackjood 5/10

It is quite strange, considering that despite the fact that there have been multiple attempts to create a city themed level in SRB2, none of them have ever really reached a point of being interactively compelling or visual interesting. This map is no exception. It has an excellent length for a single player map, but none of that time is spent doing anything worth while. The gameplay itself was bland; the only unique elements we've already seen in maps like THZ2, and they were handled far better there. For instance, in the turret room were you must find the button to disable the sinister mounted
gun, every time you got hit by the turret it would frustratingly knock you down onto the bottom floor in a really tight corner. This could've been fixed by placing the boxes along the wall instead of leaving a gap between the two. When I think of cities, I think of verticality; there is almost none of that here.

Visually, the map is definitely not polished, but does attempt to distance itself from ancient DCZ look that makes all city themed maps look like crap. However, most of the textures didn't work too well together; many appeared to be hap hazardly placed. The walls in the map were devoid of detail that would've made this level have actual life. Honestly, the only way anyone is going to get away with making a good metropolis themed map for SRB2 is by way of custom textures. The default set is completely inadequate.

Oh, and you must be proud of your cars, right? Well, though I do appreciate and understand the effort to make a visual impact with them, geometric figures like such generally look terrible in the Doom engine because of how it handles level geometry. If you attempt to make a level like this again, I suggest that you look at some of the mods for ZDoom that use custom textures and such to create more convincing vehicles.


Starlit City by Brawl 4/10

And thus here is the second city themed SP level in this OLDC, and while just like Metropolis Sprint Zone in the fact that it fails to be an interesting urban map, it fails for some different reasons. First, custom content is great, and I'm glad you made the effort to include it into your wad file. However, it doesn't do anything to enhance the level. The sky looks like crap and does nothing to convey a cityscape to me. In regards to the music, I like the theme but I don't think this particular song fits the moods of the colors and interactions seen in the level. You know how I mentioned above that city maps in SRB2 need custom textures to disassociate themselves from the ugly DCZ visual style? Well, you custom textures actually do the complete opposite, sharing that disgusting style and making it even more intrusive in the visually.

Gameplay wise you also barely utilized the beautiful opportunity to exploit verticality. Despite only using gameplay elements that are not unique to your theme, the largest problem with this level is its lack of polish. The geometry is of a messy composition and the falling platforms where lazy. Remember, the next platform the player has to jump onto should NEVER be linked to the current one he is on. You made this mistake several times. Making multiple FOFs is not as time consuming as you must think it is.

I can't think of anything else to say about this level, for it was brief and lacked anything memorable. I can't recall any experience from playing besides the initial disgust at the sky texture chosen and the frustration brought forth by the
falling platforms. Oh yeah, I liked the helipad, even if it was a tad lopsided. Everyone likes helipads in Doom engine maps!


Cyber Gauntlet by verifiaman 4/10

This map is an interesting one to say the least, since its map number and qualities indicate that it is intended to be special stage. When I started this map, I thought it was a joke, using "not-a-thok-fest" spring jumps throughout above a not so distant bottomless pit. It was much to my surprise that the pit didn't kill you, but send you back to the last checkpoint. And then I realized what you were doing here; I had a limited time to get past each section, but I had unlimited lives to do so. Quite different I must say, and while the spring sections were not so great, I was quite amused by the red bars that worked like rope pulleys, yet pulled you back and forth rather than in a circular path; I've never seen that before.

This map was short and linear, and not engaging on a visual level, but did offer up some surprises. It better not be the first in a set of special stages though, it is far too difficult.

Fawfulfan said:

That button gimmick was confusing, and the stage layout just didn't work at all. It took me a while to even figure out where the bases were.

Click to expand...

Erm... Run in a straight line in the outside section, and then turn right in the castle. Yes, that's it. The only other way you could go is left into the button room, but it should be clearly obvious that that is the wrong path after taking it once. Not that I am disappointed with your rating (I don't find this map to be all that phenomenal, really), I just wonder how you get confused so easily. The same applies to Clockwork Towers last contest. After at most one minutes you should know where to go.

Regarding the button gimmick, what exactly was confusing about it? I'm not questioning that it is, I just wanna know what made it so confusing.

SpiritCrusher said:

Erm... Run in a straight line in the outside section, and then turn right in the castle. Yes, that's it.

Click to expand...

Typically it's not a good idea to make any twists and turns like that. Usually a CTF stage should be more or less a straight line, or at least a bit more obvious in where to go.

SpiritCrusher said:

Regarding the button gimmick, what exactly was confusing about it? I'm not questioning that it is, I just wanna know what made it so confusing.

Click to expand...

It was kind of confusing about what it even did. I assume it had something to do with the lava/waterfalls.

Thanks for the tips. As for the boat, I played drowned downtown around the time I made Buzzards Bay. So I decided to put it in. The boat is going to add storyline to the zone once more acts are made. What you guys can expect in the next version of Buzzards Bay, hitting releases soon I think, are these changes:

1. More Roomy
2. Better Textures
3. Longer

As for this level it was made in only 8 hours. I had no internet. So a day ago I worked like crazy to get it out. I am still on another pc. That is exactly why It was rushed. My goal for next time is to make a polluted level.

Maybe you should abandon levels based on New England, WEREHOG. I like New England too...it's where I live, after all...but perhaps you should try designing your own completely fabricated areas. You have more options if you do that.

I never visited most of these places. I just try to name them based on the area.

Fawfulfan said:

It was kind of confusing about what it even did. I assume it had something to do with the lava/waterfalls.

Click to expand...

Is it really that confusing? Before you press the switch, the water is normal water. After you press it, it's lava. Not really all that complicated, don't you think?