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#81 |
The Tortured Planet guy
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Officially, aesthetics are supposed to take a back seat to gameplay. A level that plays epic and looks hideous should get a much, much higher score than a level that looks fantastic and is totally unplayable.
Of course, in practice, the look of a level has a great bearing on whether or not it plays well. Spherallic's point is that rating a level poorly on terms of ugliness alone isn't what the OLDC is supposed to encourage. Last edited by Fawfulfan; 03-05-2011 at 02:11 AM. |
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#82 | |
Retired
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Especially for multiplayer maps, aesthetics aren't all that important. For single player maps, that's a vastly different thing. Mystic probably disagrees with me on this, but I think that looks are an extremely factor to making an enjoyable single player map. |
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#83 | ||
Permanently Banned
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tl;dr: This is a contest for level design, not level decoration. Looks do not count at all. |
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#84 | |||
it's lamp for supper, kids
Moderator
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Of course, I wasn't trying to say that looks is THE most major thing to consider, but I'd still consider it most after gameplay. I mean, the levels that always stick out to me most are the ones that are really unique in decoration, e.g. Clockwork Towers, Acid Plant, or, to be more recent, Damp Campus.
EDIT: Ninja'd by Mystic. Quote:
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Hmm this talking has all given me an idea... EDIT2: Quote:
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Planning ahead is for ninnies who think they can predict every possible outcome. The future is mutable! Go with the flow! Last edited by Charybdizs; 03-04-2011 at 10:04 PM. |
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#85 |
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#86 | |
a scar in time...
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Finally, here are my reviews! Scores are based on Mystic’s 1-10 scale. I'm not a very experienced mapper, but I hope my reviews can contribute something to help each of you improve your maps.
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10 - Epic 9 - Awesome 8 - Great 7 - Good 6 - Decent 5 - Average 4 - Mediocre 3 - Bad 2 - Awful 1 - Horrendous 0 - Unplayable ------ Wood Asleep by Internet Explorer - 4 (Mediocre) Spoiler: Colossal Castle Zone by Katmint - 3 (Bad) I'm sorry, I really want to give you a better score...please read my review Spoiler: Grassy Cliffs by NeroTheArmadillo - Spoiler: Windmill Hill Zone by Ultimate – Spoiler: Clockwork Grove by Thompson – 9 (Awesome) Spoiler: Wonder Terrace Zone by BlazeFan1 – Spoiler: Splash Garden Zone Act 1 by Blade – 8 (Great) Spoiler:
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Most Recent Piano Video - Sonic 2: Aquatic Ruin Zone Last edited by Ultimate; 03-06-2011 at 07:18 PM. |
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#87 |
Also known as Teravolt now
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Nonono you guys didn't get me, or didn't read the other half of my "Not cool!" post. I said the level looks like the bottom of the waterfall room in Jade Valley Zone (or whatever it's name is) copy pasted 4 times with red "caves" that transport you from one bottom of the waterfall room to another. It's not cool 'cause it's not original, IMO.
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Always remember to have fun well not always but y'know |
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#88 |
Retired
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Introducing: my voting post. At least what I've done of it until now, the rest will be added when I've write them. Already reviewed levels are in italics. If I'm gonna do multiplayer depends on whether somebody actually hosts a netgame.
Score overview, for easy tallying: Wood Asleep by Internet Explorer - 4/10 Colossal Castle Zone by Katmint - 3/10 Grassy Cliffs by NeroTheArmadillo - 0/10 Windmill Hill Zone by Ultimate - 5/10 Clockwork Grove Zone by Thompson - 8/10 Wonder Terrace Zone by BlazeFan1 - 5/10 Splash Garden Zone Act 1 by Blade - 6/10 Reviews: Spoiler: Single Player Last edited by MascaraSnake; 03-09-2011 at 02:34 PM. |
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#89 |
currently away
Developer
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SINGLE PLAYER
Wood Asleep - 2/10 Aside from the truckload of unnecessary custom music and graphic files, this level just doesn’t have anything going for it. The beginning looked and played decently enough, a tad boring and gray maybe, but the outside area… well, let’s just say that I’ve never seen such a dull, boring, large and featureless area in any SRB2 level ever created. Sure, it didn’t look bad (aside from the absolutely gigantic slime trails) and it had a lot of atmosphere, but there wasn’t anything to do aside from getting lost and finding the exit by randomly running around. Oh, and your custom textures weren’t implemented correctly. Colossal Castle - 4/10 Unlike most people here, I actually got quite a lot of enjoyment out of this level. Sure, it was about 4 times as long as it should be, but I enjoyed playing through this, really! But it does have a lot of flaws, so I can see why people dislike this level so much. First of all, stair jumping is incredibly tedious and boring. I know that you’re trying to give the player the illusion of thinking that they’re small, but it’s not an excuse for simply boring level design. Second, the gargoyle monitors were completely new to me, so I had no clue as to what they did. Really, turning the player into a pushable object is just weird. The next room features a door that doesn’t open up, even after you press the button. I first restarted the stage about 3 times after deciding that it’s broken, and then I discovered that it actually opened up a door at the beginning of the stage, instead of the door that is visible from the gargoyle hole. Maybe add a sound effect when you trigger the door, so that players won’t be tricked into believing that the level is broken? After that, I spent about 5 minutes trying to figure out what to do in the dining hall. Eventually I noticed floor crumbling below me, and then I noticed the non-obvious cracks in the floor. And then, I need to find the correct one that leads on to the next area. Yay. Then I get presented by a suspiciously maze-like library that luckily doesn’t take that long to figure out, followed by a star post and some more weird gargoyle monitor puzzle action, this time not even giving any clue to tell you that you need to be a pushable object to get teleported to the other side of the mirror! After a basic crusher maze and a tiny spike checkerboard area, I- BRAK EGGMAN FIGHT GOGOGO! But suddenly, the missiles don’t hurt him and there’s no obvious way to get on top of his head! What to do now? Well, I won’t spoil it, but after that there are some basic platforming sections and a secret room that’s way too easy to find. Suddenly, the level goes all NAGZ! And it looks quite good compared to what I saw before in this level. It even plays sort of well too! But then, upgraded Eggmobile time! Sadly, without a fancy ending or an Egg Capsule. And one final thing: being scaled is quite annoying, as it makes mouselook more responsive than it should be ): Grassy Cliffs - 0/10 Unplayable: crash on level load. Then I loaded it up in SRB2DB and all I found was a small-scaled, boring level. And I guess it’s obvious that there’s something wrong when the Eggmobile fight takes longer than the level itself. Windmill Hill - 5/10 Okay, if it weren’t for the high exploration level and the windmill gimmick, this stage would have gotten a 3 from me: the main/bottom/whatever path is simply that boring. I could count the amount of times I jumped on one hand, and it doesn’t help that the level is really short. The windmill gimmick, sadly enough, has absolutely no clue to show that it’s there. When I first played this level, I noticed no other paths aside from the aforementioned ‘main path’, and I was going to actually rate this level a 3. Only by accident I figured out that the upward currents were actually there, and that’s where the stage became more fun to me. Trying to get to seemingly out-of-reach platforms (like the one at the start), trying to explore every single nook and cranny, it was all much more fun than simply following the path. I guess that makes it a GFZ2-esque stage (your stage even has GFZ2 music!): Sort of boring and short when trying to follow the path, but much more fun and rewarding when taking the time to explore everything. And I really like stages with that design, I prefer them over fun to play but secret-less maps. One thing I suggest is the usage of the higher resolution GHZ textures: the current ones are quite ugly. Clockwork Grove - 8/10 And here comes Thompson again, making the best map of the single player division once again. Give others a chance too ): But seriously, there’s almost nothing wrong with this level! Well, aside from the fact that it might be a little too long for its own good the first time, and that it might look a little too cluttered at points (mostly because of those wisp-things), and that it might be slightly too unclear on where to go sometimes. Otherwise, it’s quality material. Good job, Thompson :) Wonder Terrace - 7/10 Wow, this stage is much more fun than I expected it to be! (based on your previous efforts :P) I really liked each individual theme, most gimmicks were quite clever, and the music was pretty nice. However, the level doesn’t look that good sometimes, for example the final area could do with some less clashing textures. Not all gimmicks are executed that well, particularly the turret lift that sometimes made it hard to see the turrets in question, and the moving platforms around the giant tree that took way too long. Oh, and some items are too easy to get (1-ups in castle and tree area, for example), but otherwise this is a really solidly built and fun level. Splash Garden - 5/10 I’m sorry Blade, how awesome this stage might be, and how awesome this stage may look with my help of course :’), I just can’t stand 2D mode. It has nothing to do with your stage, aside from the god-awful annoying Buzz Bombers with way too accurate aim, but 2D mode’s just too awful to me to get any enjoyment out of any stage designed in it. That doesn’t mean that this stage sucks, in fact, this is and will possibly remain the best 2D stage ever for a long time. Just remove the fake slope physics, they are dumb, and please remove the ring box at the start: it’s lethal :< MATCH Cold Cavern - 2/10 1. Stay in the center 2. Regain your rings when hit 3. ??? 4. Profit! And that’s really all there is to this level. Also symmetry, lack of random monitors and even lack of some weapon panels. Zoom Ship Zone – 3/10 Nice concept... it’s a pity that the stage itself is quite hard to navigate and such a mess. Death pits and hazards all over the place, and not a lot more to comment on otherwise. Rush Flower Zone - 5/10 I like the layout, nice and simple, but this is indeed obviously a rush job, looking at the item placement and the visuals :P It’s still the best match map this contest though. CTF and Race reviews coming later... maybe. Last edited by sphere; 03-05-2011 at 03:06 PM. |
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#90 |
Also known as Teravolt now
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Oh yeah, Katmint, just another comment on your map...
Why overpower enemies? Seriously, the Vultures strike too quickly, the Jetty-Syns rise higher than usual while floating so it's hard to use the spindash-jump trick to destroy them. Oh and I don't think I've mentioned it, but in the NAGZ part outside there's a whole bunch of Jetty Syns, and the Nuke Monitor to destroy them is... After some small pillars which you need focus to do correctly, and the spam of Jetty- Syn's not helping my focus.
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Always remember to have fun well not always but y'know |
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#91 |
Retired
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That happens because everything is scaled down by half in this map. So the player and the enemies are only half as big, but the enemies more with the same pattern as if they were big. Probably not intended, but it could have been sorta fixed.
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#92 | |
a scar in time...
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Thank you very much for the review! I can safely say that so far your review has helped me the most.
Regarding the openness of the map, until I read your post, I was planning on keeping it open and over a death pit. However, after reading what you had to say, I'm definitely and finally going to move away from the deathpit level setup. After I decided this, I was really unsure how to build my map around a non-deathpit scenario, but all of a sudden, some pretty neat ideas popped up in my head. I think it will definitely be a pretty big transition, but hopefully I'll be able to make it work. I know exactly what you mean with the 2D level in a 3D setting. Especially after playing Thompson's level, I noticed this so much more in my own map. I tried to counter this with several secrets, but that's not really enough. The openness was originally there to give a feeling of the ability to explore freely, but in the end it caused more restriction than freedom. I'll try to find a way to make the wind noticeable as well, and find a way to improve the textures. Thanks again for your review! It really helped a lot! Quote:
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Most Recent Piano Video - Sonic 2: Aquatic Ruin Zone Last edited by Ultimate; 03-06-2011 at 07:21 PM. |
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#93 | |
Formerly SRB2PlayerFan
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The levels seem rather hard due to the fact that some people rushed their level-making progresses.
My votes: Match: Cold Cavern: 1/10 What I say: This level is too symmetrical and would not be good for a King of the Hill map because: 1. The middle area is too low. 2. The map is a circle. 3. There must be traps in a level to prevent other players from getting to the top of the hill. Zoom Ship: 7/10 What I say: This map might just be the next Flying Battery Zone. There's holes in the floor, making the level more challenging, but there's not enough ERZ and Doomship textures to make this a ship, but still, the level is great. Rush Flower: 6/10 Quote: This has to be the most saddest attempt yet. Out of all the OLDC levels I've seen, they were made in 3 days or less, but this level was made in 3 hours. The GFZ theme is excellent. CTF: Damp Campus: 8/10 Quote: This level is in the form of a campus found at colleges and/or universities. The level is like a football game between the Blue and Red teams, except you take flags from the opposing team's base and you try to score a touchdown, and the library is where all the things happen, take the flag and then bolt immediately! Cold Sea: 1/10 Quote: This map has got to be one of the worst CTF levels ever seen. The level layout for the CTF bases is too big, and it's easy for Tails or Knuckles players to easily fly to the opposite bases and take the flags while the Sonic players have to jump from sector to sector instead of falling into the water and taking a very cold bath. Volcanic Shelter: 5/10 Quote: This level layout appears to be a good one, but the area's partially dark and the players can't see where they're going. Misty Mire: 3/10 Quote: This level seems particulary difficult due to the fact that there's a big gaping hole full of qucksand that can kill you if you don't get out on time. Race Sparkling Abyss 4/10 Quote: There is nothing "sparkling" about this level. This level is bound to have players move their cameras down to see if they landed on a platform, and when you go inside the wall, there's a "rainbow" colormap inside there. It should be on the outside instead of inside, and whenever you spindash in the "rainbow" colormap, your thokking sprite will be white. Acid Valley 7/10 Quote: This level is particulary hard, making this level an anti-thokfest due to the fact that there's acid on some portions of the level. The acid in the holes is too transparent, but players can still see them. I found some of the maps interesting, and the others not so interesting.
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Last edited by Super Chris; 03-07-2011 at 02:52 AM. Reason: Forgot to add an 's' to "portion". |
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#94 | |
it's lamp for supper, kids
Moderator
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EDIT: Working on scores, should have the multiplayer ones in some time tomorrow most likely.
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Planning ahead is for ninnies who think they can predict every possible outcome. The future is mutable! Go with the flow! |
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#95 | |
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tl;dr: I realize the shorter deadline in February sneaks up on people, but outside CTF the theme of this contest is "There is, like, nothing here".
== MATCH == Cold Cavern by jloy1 - 2/10 - 1 pity point for the occasional amusement of playing with noobs who don't get the objective and waiting to see how long before they figure out what's going on - A cute concept applied within a map that almost might as well be empty. Try again. Zoom Ship Zone by Katmint - 3/10 - An even better concept that fails for the same reason as above: no execution - Seriously, apply the outdoor area's features on a map that doesn't play like a fraction of a beta - BTW, in Mystic's game, it was funny - in a kind of hollywood suspense way - to see everybody disappear from the outdoor area, and head below deck to discover almost everybody else in the game piled into one dead end going ballistic on each other...just in time for them to all come rushing out. Rush Flower Zone by KO.T.E - 5/10 - By the standard of "2 hours before the deadline on a whim", not bad. Otherwise, an utterly average map that wasn't much fun - That is, unless you're like Mystic who is a f'ing beast at pummeling people with bounce rings: ![]() == CTF == Disclaimer: I only got to play these maps with a decent number of people once. Damp Campus Zone by Fawfulfan - 7/10 - Though Mystic may have a point about having to patrol base to keep enemy campers out, that should not be a necessity for a CTF stage to not be prone to long stalemates in medium-size netgames. More importantly, happen to recall frequently entering the red base to find about 3 or 4 teammates already lying in wait behind the flag most of the time...and I suspect Mystic didn't notice because we were on his team :o - The base camping can maybe be toned down from "nuisance" levels by shifting back the pedestal the flag is on so it's against the wall. But take into account that you can still hide beside the doorway in there and having the bomb ring in such close proximity to that may make it cheap. - As for the rest of the map, kill the rain (very laggy) and tone down the number of dead end nooks & crannies to stash yourself in as they are all over the place. The rest is solid and fun, just quite problematic in the bases. Cold Sea Zone by Katmint - 7/10 - Suprisingly quite entertaining for a map so flat and flooded with rings. The latter problem needs the most attention - The flag pedestals need to be placed indoors for cover from the opposite base - perhaps place some windows (to escape/shoot through), but the flag spot itself shouldn't be easily snipeable from across the stage. And try to make it more immedeately obvious that Knux can't climb the sides of the bases :p Volcanic Shelter Zone by Kuba11 - 7/10 - Pretty good overall - In spite of the obstacles, you can still get to either base fastest just by barrelling straight down the middle. Though this does leave you liable to get shot a lot, it leaves the other paths frequently ignored. I might suggest curving the shape of the map (ala Icicle Falls) to fix this. - Bases are a mess to navigate for both sides, so the team rings don't help much. Clean it up; also the lavafall at the back of the bases (behind the flag) doesn't inflict damage Misty Mire Zone by Charybdizs - 2/10 - A couple of pity points for the map being enjoyable in spite of it being unfinishable. Besides that problem though, the map is messy: - I find the pedestal climb back to base to be excessively torturous for the flag carrier. If there's any lag, it's easy to fall down, and the enemy can rush you so incredibly easily in that spot. Come up with something a little less brutal. - There are no team rings - Placing two SRMs within reach of each other in the mire is prolly not a good idea - Try making something more out of that dead end with the rail - I noticed this little crevice in the wall down in the mire: ![]() It could be easy to mistake that for a way out when it actually leads straight to bottomless doom. == CIRCUIT == Sparkling Abyss Zone by Katmint - 4/10 - Ok, so it's a tech demo, but um, you kind of have to try harder than this for a contest entry Acid Valley Zone by Miles Knuckle Power - 1/10 - 1/3rd draconian hazards, 1/3rd ponderously long zoom tube intestine trip, 1/3rd filler - Besides playability (barely), there is no redeeming value to this worth speaking of - Why did THIS awful map get a custom level select pic? :( ---------------- Won't be voting on SP as usual, but Thompson, a few issues with Clockwork Grove: ![]() This spot is extremely difficult to pass in XSRB2, because shrunken characters can't defeat normal-sized enemies - you just bounce off if you spin into them. So you have to take a hit on purpose, run through and then hope you can jump to the ledge before you get trapped by bouncing on the Skims. (Thokking characters can get out of it, but others may not be so lucky.) There also needs to be a star post before going into the shrunken area, as it is really really irritating having to do over that climb up beforehand if you die. In fact, put some platforms in those areas or something that you can catch yourself on, so that falling doesn't always mean trekking alllllll the way back up.
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#96 | ||
Endokukennnn
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I was thinking about adding platforms to where if the player attempts and fails to climb the area, but due to Tails' extremely long flight tics, Tails could climb up without even having to plant the seed, and then the whole growing tree gimmick will stop resuming to make sense. Last edited by Thompson; 03-12-2011 at 02:30 PM. |
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#97 | |
IT'S NO USE
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It's alright, go on, you'll never know anything if you don't try |
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#98 |
The Tortured Planet guy
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There's a line between "simple" and "hideous and dull". That zoom tube falls squarely into the second category.
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#99 | |
What am I doing here?
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How much time do I have to vote? I've been SOOOO much time offline, then I want to vote and I'm a bit lost.
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#100 |
gamer
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Judging will end March 14, 2011 at 7 PM local time in the eastern time zone of the United States. Like the entry deadline, this counts the United States's daylight savings time between March and November. Votes submitted after this time by the forum timestamp will NOT be counted in the average, so if you want to be counted, don't vote at the last minute. After the deadline, the scores will be then averaged, and the person with the highest score in each division is the winner.
Thats when it ends. I just copy and paste to replay bar below. Last edited by Dage4; 03-13-2011 at 04:15 PM. Reason: Forgot to say that i just copy and paste the line made by Mystic |
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Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
January/February 2010 Voting | FuriousFox | Outdated Official Level Design Contest (2.0.X) | 136 | 03-10-2010 08:24 PM |
Official Level Design Contest Voting: January/February 2009 | FuriousFox | Outdated Official Level Design Contest (0.X & 1.X) | 85 | 03-11-2009 11:15 AM |
Official Level Design Contest Voting: January/February 2008 | FuriousFox | Outdated Official Level Design Contest (0.X & 1.X) | 103 | 04-08-2008 06:30 PM |
Official Level Design Contest Voting: January-February 2007 | Mystic | Outdated Official Level Design Contest (0.X & 1.X) | 78 | 03-20-2007 07:28 PM |
Official Level Design Contest Voting: January/February | Mystic | Outdated Official Level Design Contest (0.X & 1.X) | 40 | 03-11-2006 11:35 PM |