Official Level Design Contest Voting: November/December

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Sonicandtails218 said:
What the hell is up with you people? Seriously, how is a bouncing floor or levitating lava so confusing? Do I need to put Omochao there to tell you what it does? Whatever happened to something doing what it did and that's that?

Sorry if I sound a little angry there, but you know, in the older games, if you didn't know what it did, there weren't any help icons or anything, you just had to try it and that was that. I think we've been spoiled by the SA era games, people just don't try things and do them anymore. They're all like "What was that about?!?!?"
No, you don't need Omochao to tell you how to play. However, you need to give the player experience with it before he gets to the point where if you screw it up you die. Classic games still had a "tutorial", it just wasn't called that. It was called "the first level". It didn't explain it out in words, but it showed you by example. You show the player the game mechanics, and then later you do complicated and difficult stuff with it.

Your map does non-standard stuff with the game's textures, and while that's not necessarily bad, the player should be given information as to what the textures do before they are dangerous to the player. Unless it's common sense (ice is slippery, for instance), the player should be given ample warning and knowledge before it's actually dangerous. If you want to make bouncy floors, show them bouncy floors early in the map so they learn how they work and what textures you're using for them. Then, later on in the map, start doing them in areas where it would be dangerous not to know how it works. Because the player already knows what bouncy floors look like in your map, and what they do, they'll feel comfortable landing on the bouncy floor and knows what will happen when they do.

Again, levitating lava doesn't make sense logically, so you could do it first by having a grating underneath so people walk over it and levitate. Anything that isn't standard fare in your map should have something demonstrating it to the player. Otherwise, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to jump into lava, now wouldn't it? Personally, I'm trained to avoid lava like the plague. You have to give the player REASON to go over the lava earlier before you make it NECESSARY.
 
Voting

Molten Mountain Zone - 5

Not bad. I don't really have much to add to what's already been said on this one. Its flaws don't detract too much from gameplay.

Grass Highway - 4

I'm not especially fond of levels where you can see a long way into the distance. I like walls; they help to keep the player on his toes a little. However, I won't mark the level down for that. Indeed, if the enemies were spread a little, and the rings more numerous and orderly, I'd imagine it'd gain a few points.

Incomplete Xmas - 8

Very nice, but almost unplayable on my modest machine. I was able to get an almost-acceptable eight-ish FPS in OpenGL at 320*200, until the corridor bit before the fake platform, whereupon things became a little more sensible. It was worth it, though: the level layout was impeccable, with its GFZ2-esque overtones. Minus a few points for the framerate problems (which I imagine could be fixed) and the precipitousness of the ending, but brilliant otherwise.

~

Lava Dome - 8

I played several games on this map, but never with more than three players. I suspect, however, that that is pretty much the optimum for the layout. The use of plentiful fire shields in a lava enivornment is a nice touch, but with more players it might not work so well, which might explain some of the above criticisms, foundation for whose objections I haven't encountered firsthand. Other, that is, than the tagging issue, which I did notice but was not overly bothered by.

Tree Ring - 10

Wheee! Fantastic map. The space is used extremely imaginatively. Well done, that wadder: full marks.

Atmospheric Temple Zone - 6

There are several problems with this map: it's too big, there are places with far too few rings, and there are more death pits than I care for. For all that, though, it plays remarkably well. If this had been limited to the central part, and a had had some rings added in appropriate places, it could probably have garnered a couple of extra points.

Emerald Beach - 5

Small, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It is, however, when there are two each of bomb and rail rings. Not dire, though, by any means.

Ice Summit - 2

It's little more than a room with lots of rings, I'm afraid. And several homing rings very near to one another. Oh, and a non-deaf armageddon shield. Games on this map weren't too exciting, alas.

Chaotic Caves Zone - 5

Quite definitely a CTF level, which made it a little awkward in Match mode, unfortunately. Even then, I think it could benefit from being a little more spacious. Certainly not bad, though.

Eggman's Lab - 1

Too small; far too few rings; too many and varied powerups.

Acid Frost Zone - 8

As has been remarked, this style of layout has been seen before, and I am particularly reminded of that map in 1.08, whose name escapes me at the minute. I don't find this dissatisfactory, however -- perhaps I have played fewer netgames in the past than most, and have yet to succumb to symmetrical-quadrilateral-fatigue. As far as I know, the slime/ice combination hasn't been attempted before. It works quite well. Infinity is also the perfect weapon for this map. Enjoyable.

Four Seasons - N/A

I started this as an exercise in aesthetics, which I felt I'd neglected in my previous efforts. While I think I did manage to improve on that aspect this time round, I didn't put nearly enough thought into the level design, as attested to by the undue degree of flatness. Well, except for the Winter bit. In retrospect, I think the water in the Autumn room was a bad idea. Also, thing placement was largely down to afterthought, and it shows. I'm pretty sure I've done worse, though. In fact, I know I have, because...

Saturday Evening Zone - N/A

...of this. I made this by way of atonement for the aforementioned flatness. This liberal use of one design technique led to a number of problems, and I agree with the criticisms levelled against it in earlier posts. Incidentally, it was originally entitled "Offshore Installation Zone", but I renamed it in commemoration of a most unusual bout of productivity.

Volcanic Highway Zone - 5

First impression: too dark. With the brightness turned up a bit, though, I don't think it's a bad map. It's a layout style that I haven't encountered before, and while I don't find it enormously effective, neither do I feel it inhibits movement too severely. I'm not sure what I think of the rings-atop-flames thing.
 
Nobody tallied up the scores.

So I will.

Molten Mountain (Ree-c): 5 9 5 5 4 4 5 (4 dropped) - avg: 5.286
Grass Highway (ST218): 6 6 8 4 4 4 7 (4 dropped) - avg: 5.571
Incomplete Xmas (Me): 10 6 7 7 7 8 8 (6 dropped) - avg: 7.572

Lava Dome (Tailsonic): 8 6 8 8 - avg: 7.5
Tree Ring (Some guy): 10 10 10 10 - avg: 10
Atmospheric Temple (Ree-c): 6 7 4 3 6 - avg: 5.2
Emerald Beach (Cyan): 3 7 5 5 5 - avg: 5
Ice Summit (Mikel): 1 4 3 1 2 - avg: 2.2
Chaotic Caves (Furyhunter): 5 4 3 4 5 - avg: 4.2
Eggman's Lab (Mikel): 2 1 0 0 1 - avg: 0.8
Acid Frost (FuriousFox): 7 7 8 8 - avg: 7.5
Four Seasons (Oogaland): 9 10 (7 dropped) - avg: 9.5
Saturday Evening (Oogaland): 6 4 (4 dropped) - avg: 5
Volcanic Highway (ST218): 5 5 1 5 - avg: 4

So, in short, Incomplete Xmas won the Single Player, and Tree Ring won the Match. Good job, Some Guy, and... uh, me. Yeah.
 
Prime 2.0 said:
wow. A perfect ten on all votes O_o

That is so going into 1.1

...
you obviously have no consept of what people COULD do and what they DID.

Some of these... just wow. I enjoyed playing all of the single player levels. if grass highway's walls weren't cut off on purpose by the thok barrier, it would look much better. (but still, did you really HAVE to group all of one enemy tipe in one area..? ....just NO, the part with the crawla comanders and the green missile dropers is evil unless you jump over them and run like hell)

Then for mp levels, very few of them poped my eyes out. Others were bland. the 'sterday evening zone' had no reference to the name. you could have at least put hidden things in the level to make the character seem high, and you could have at least made the sky a NIGHT one. Then eggman's lab... I'm pretty sure poop looks better than this. WTH would eggman want to work in a small lab with NOTHING in it!?
 
This is kinda late... but I REALLY do not like FREAKY FLASHY GREEN TOY DEATHLAND TORTURESHOW from IXZ.
 
Yeah, and to make it even weirder, he gave molten mountains 10/10, whats wrong with j00?!!?!?
 
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