May/June 2014 Voting

[clairebun]

Man, am I glad to be writing this kind of post again.

Spoiler

1. Seraphic Skylands Zone by Spherallic
2. Sand Valley Zone by Chrome
3. Glacier Gear Zone by toaster
4. Egg Outposts Zone by Tyrannic
5. Clock Tower Zone by RedEnchilada and Pac
6. Sacred Woodland by HAPPYFOX
7. Midnight Caves Zone by Chaobrother
8. Floral Road Zone, Act 1 by "Lat'"
9. Emerald Lake Zone, Act 2 by glaber

Honestly, I don't think anything in here is terrible. The last four were just a coin toss, ultimately they're all pretty playable. Good job guys! (except you glaber)

Floral Road Zone, Act 1 by "Lat'"
One thing you seem to have a problem with is filling up space. There are a lot of stretches of just running or very basic platforming, and it seems to me like you could do a lot more to make the experience more engaging. The player vertically has a lot of breathing room already, so try some advanced level geometry, throw some FOFs in there. Aesthetically the level looks pleasant enough. Also you're really generous with just handing the player 1ups for finding a spot.

Music files need to be normalized. Too quiet compared to ingame audio. Sonic's speed mod and the red crawla's extra "bulk" don't really come into play with the way the level is designed.

Sacred Woodland by HAPPYFOX
My reaction to your level to boss transition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx9srMlojDg#t=622

You had a great atmosphere building up with your first two music tracks. Dialga/Palkia just... doesn't do it for me.

Aesthetics are nice, but you could build up your surrounding walls a little bit; actually they're pretty featureless gameplay-wise too. Room warp transitions need work. Platforming is pretty decent. Button hunt feels a bit arbitrary.

Glacier Gear Zone by toaster
Well, this level's way better than Wacky Workbench, I'll tell you that. But man, that one bouncing section with the laser for a ceiling that you have to zigzag across? Kind of a bitch. Aesthetics are great, challenges are neat and engaging. I feel like you could have used the gimmick even more than you have already though.

Clock Tower Zone by RedEnchilada and Pac
This is a great demonstration of the fantastic 2D mechanics that have been implemented. I want to like this level, but Robo Hoods really suck shit in a 2D environment when their only telegraph is a crappy two-frame animation with no sound effects. Honestly I would have just used pop-up turrets. The trampoline object is cool too, but it feels wrong that I can't use my abilities while I'm on it. The interior aesthetics are just uninteresting; the level progression is a bit confusing in spots (where do I go after obtaining the armageddon shield?)and punishing in others. Also, your audio is too loud, normalize it.

Emerald Lake Zone, Act 2 by glaber
It crashed instantly. Welp! That's one glaber map I don't have to worry about.

Alright alright, I retried and it worked this time. It's... passable, but really doesn't feel inspired at all. Aesthetics are really bare in a lot of spots, motorbugs don't work in some spots. Whole thing kinda just feels like an obstacle course with not a lot to offer. You could have done something with the slope "physics" you showed off at the end of the level, but you didn't. Why is there a 4-foot-tall fence that I can't jump over guarding the goal sign at the beginning? That's dumb.

Midnight Caves Zone by Chaobrother
No one ever uses TUNES 91! My ears thank you.

I actually kinda like this, your different areas have a decent amount of personality. However, you made some glaring mistakes:

* Arrow signs everywhere! I know you want to keep your player from getting lost or dying a cheap death, but arrow signs just break immersion. You need to try more graceful solutions. Entice them with rings, modify your level branches to "flow" into the next section so that your player sees it first.
* I wanted to jump out the windows of your castle to reach the secret area, but I'm being mysteriously held back by invisible walls. You should add glass panes to make it clear that you can't jump through them.
* Your waterslide completely lacks water rushing sound effects. Breaks immersion.
* All in all just not really engaging in terms of obstacles.

Sand Valley Zone by Chrome

Oh man, now this is a level! This takes a handful of gimmicks and just constantly builds ideas off of them. Feels really expertly crafted, great theming and just a lot of fun to play.

Egg Outposts Zone by Tyrannic
That tune is cool and all, but I don't know how well it fits the theme of this level. Level seems fine overall, the theming feels a bit eclectic though. It's not contained well into a single palette of colors. There is an instance in the second-to-last section where I got sucker-punched by a turret and had to climb all the way back up; considering the platforming, that wasn't very fun. I don't have much else to say.

Seraphic Skylands Zone by Spherallic
Oh my gooooddddd~~~

This is like the most sublime experience. I just kept gushing over the aesthetics and the skybox and... JESUS it's good. It's full of secrets and fun gimmicks, the little details like the patterns you put your rings in.... Everything in here is just cavity inducing. #1 for sure.

 

[BlazingPhoenix]

1. Seraphic Skylands - Clearly the Botanic Serenity of 2.1. =P It looks great, it plays well. Sure it's rather empty regarding enemies, but that's actually a good thing in this case.
2. Glacier Gear
3. Sacred Woodland
4. Clock towers - Enemy placement is the only thing that kept me from rating this any higher. I thought some of it was rather stupid and could've done without. The platforming otherwise was amazing for a 2D level. The midtexture clocks were really cool too.
5. Sand Valley - I hated the sand gimmick here, but I do realize that yeah, it was put together pretty well. I still got about halfway before I quit because of this gimmick.
6. Midnight Caves
7. Egg Outposts - I think this one had some decent ideas but they weren't executed very well. Try and think about how some of these gimmicks were used originally. Also some bull turret placements.
8. Floral Road - it was really short. It also had some ridiculous GFZ texturing and nothing interesting at all.
9. Emerald Lake - Same as above.

 

[Sapheros]

I think I'll be the only one who actually HASN'T played all of the stages, but alot of stages caught my eye, and i'll give you the greatest to least order and rating of the stages I played.

1: Clockwork Towers by RedEnchilada *9/10*
Man, 2D stages in SRB2 have been so plain, yes, I'm looking at you SRB1 Remake (no hard feelings c:), but this stage is beautiful, awesome, and probably the BEST 2D stage in SRB2. My only complaints are the enemies in the stage, for their main purpose of stopping you in their tracks, they will literally PREVENT YOU FROM MOVING ON WITH THE STAGE. The Egg Guards in many locations, were just very pointlessly bouncy hazards that sent you into the bottomless pit, or will make you want to play the Benny Hill theme trying to hit them behind their shields. The Robo-Hood, is, by, far, the WORST, enemy for this zone. The bouncy chains that are really cool take a while to get the height you want, and since the robo-hoods like to time their arrows just right, you WILL get fucked over, you WILL not keep your rings, you WILL die by those fuckers. But all in all, my favorite stage for being something SRB2 never ever saw attempted correctly. And those bouncy chains, reminds me of those slingshots in Ice Cap Zone...

2: Seraphic Skylands Zone by Spherallic *8/10*
Beautiful, Gimmicky, Retro, Beauti- *shot* But seriously, this stage was competing with Clockwork Towers in my favorites, they both are just too good, except Clockwork is a 2D stage '-'. I really like this stages' gimmicks, from reminding me of Lava Reef's Spindash Elevators (or was it Volcano Valley's Spindash Elevators?) to rooms with cool gimmicks like not falling off or you taste ceiling spikes from above. They were just so much fun.

3:Glacier Gear Zone by toaster *7/10*
Well, sad to see it lower, but this stage is a liking of mine, bouncy floors, socced enemies (kinda annoying by the way), and tough difficulty. The enemies weren't very interesting, and the socced enemies weren't really interesting but more annoying than ever. the bouncy floor gimmicks were really creative, especially when the goop came into play, it was all satisfying, i'm actually glad to see the stage done, since i got a hand at the beta demo a long time ago in the IRC chat.

4: Floral Road Zone, Act 1 by "Lat" *5/10*
Well, it's an improvement from the super-short act of New Horizons Beta. The ring meter wasn't all that interesting, in fact, the only most interesting thing is the mega ring monitor, the ring monitor that awards you 15 rings... (or 20?) where it can boost up your meter really easily, but it made the super ring monitor more useless and the mega ring monitor more rewarding for finding a secret, even though it isn't a big enough reward...

5: Emeralds Lakes Zone, Act 2 by glaber *4/10*
This stage got a bad reputation for all it's worth, and i'm sorry, this is one of most glaring stages ever. The music didn't fit considering it was Act 2, some of the badniks were inactive as if their trigger didn't work, and fish under water were inactive. (reminds me of when i was porting the riders levels to 2.1, which succeeded kinda) Sorry glaber, but as Sonic says: "Gotta try harder!"

6: Egg Outposts Zone by Tyrannic *1/10*
I'm sorry, but the cave segment was so fucking dark, I quit in the middle of the stage, and i pretty much couldn't finish this because the cave segment's lighting was god awful (I could probably blame myself for playing in openGL) The beginning of the stage looks beautiful and it was really promising, also, i never took time to hear out of that track... fascinating....

I didn't get to play all of the stages, maybe i will change my ratings and also rate the match stages later.

 

[Knux576]

Single Player (EDIT: Moved Egg Outpost to the 8th position.)

Spoiler

1. Seraphic Skylands Zone by Spherallic
2. Glacier Gear Zone by toaster
3. Clock Towers Zone by RedEnchilada and Pac
4. Sand Valley Zone by Chrome
5. Sacred Woodland Zone by HAPPYFOX
6. Floral Road Zone, Act 1 by Lat'
7. Midnight Caves Zone by Choabrother
8. Egg Outposts Zone by Tyrannic
9. Emerald Lake Zone, Act 2 by Glaber

Seraphic Skylands Zone 10/10
This level is an experience. Every room felt large and had a purpose, the pacing was perfect, the style was great, the gimmicks were genious, there were lots of branching pathways, the music fits the level perfectly, and I literally cannot think of an adjective that describes how outstanding the visuals were. I had zero lag the whole time too, which pleasently surprised me. The skybox was a nice touch and made the level feel so much larger. I can't wait to play the release version.

Glacier Gear Zone 8/10
This level was surprisingly fun. There were quite a few branching pathways, each with their own fun and interesting gimmicks. The way you used the Wacky Workbench floors was genious, and the music (What's it from?) was catchy and fit the level. I found a button under the slime in one of the last rooms and couldn't figure out what it did even after searching everywhere in the room. It would be nice to have an indicator as to what it does. Overall a very fun and polished level.

Spinach Ripened Butts 2 8/10
This is hands down the best 2D level I've ever played. It had neat scenery and atmosphere, and I thought the way you used the Axis2D script to make alternate paths was genious, I was surprised at how clean and non-buggy it was. Fully charging a spindash and jumping all the way around the cylindrical tower to get the emerald token was fun.

Sand Valley Zone 7/10
Now this was a neat level! The gimmicks are genious, and they never got stale because you kept introducing new ideas using them. The texturing was fantastic and gave it a neat atmosphere. I did have a problem with the detons and the quick sinking sand (I don't know else to call it) though.

Sacred Woodland Zone 6/10
There's not much to say about this level other than it had good texturing and atmosphere, but the teleporters ruin the flow of the level, and it didn't contain anything new. The room with the bridge after the first teleporter lagged like shit though, you might want to remove some scenery to fix that.
Also the boss was fucking hilarious

Floral Road Zone, Act 1 6/10
This is much prettier than GFZ, that's for sure. There's lots of unused space though, and it contains nothing particularly notable. It's fine the first level of a pack though.

Midnight Caves Zone 5/10
This level is the definition of mediocre. My biggest problem with this stage is bad texturing.

Egg Outposts Zone 4/10
*Cave areas are way too dark
*The huge vertical room looks neat, but falling is a nightmare
*The music doesn't fit most of the level
*Lots and lots of effort
*Some neat ideas, just not executed well

Emerald Lake Zone, Act 2 4/10
There is no content in this stage worth noting.

Overall this was a really good Single Player division and I hope to see more maps like this in future contests.

Multiplayer Votes

Spoiler

Match
1. Moonlit Precipice
*My first map.
*It took about three months to make.
*Sorry about the borked grass edges on the big stairs, I forgot to fix that before submitting.

2. Climate Chaos
*Neat climate changing gimmick
*Lot's of effort was put into it
*Visuals aren't the best

3. Crystal Coast
*Long stretches of nothing
*Huge when it doesn't need to be
*Visuals are bland and uninteresting

CTF
1. Forbidden Woods
*Nice atmosphere and visuals
*Just the right size
*The upper route could be more interesting

2. Quicksand Caverns
*Many ways to get to the other base
*Neat quicksand gimmick
*The visuals are fine, but could be a liiitle bit more interesting (stactalites?)

3. Techno Laser
*I liked the sectator rooms in each base
*Texturing is pretty good
*Very confusing at first. It took me a good five minutes to figure out where to go.

4. Old Sport
*Large, bland, and confusing
*Hard to find the flag
*Bad texturing

5. WTF CTF
*Way too small
*Abysmal texturing
*Nothing interesting at all

 

[Lat']

Here we go, in the order that the levels were given:

EDIT: For #Srb2Fun:
EDIT2: Blame me for that, I skipped Midnight Caves!
Seraphic Skylands>Glacier Gear>Clock Towers> Sand valley>Floral Road>Sacred Woodland>Midnight Caves>Emerald Lake 2>Egg Outposts

Seraphic Skylands, IT'S not OVER 9/10
How... how long did you stay in front of your computer?
The level was... I have no words to describe it, or maybe "sensationnel". I really had fun in this atmosphere, I liked the "lost garden" theme, seriously! And that music from 3D blast :3
My only problem was the framerate drop in the first area, besides that, congratulations.
EDIT: Also, the lack of enemy...

Glacier Gear, 8/10
Wow, just, wow. This was really interesting! Tough it was annoying to get shotted by the same enemy over and over because it denies you to get on the platform ><. The visual were very developped and I really had fun playing this, I liked the 2D section were I had to avoid the blue pannels under the slime, I just had a gameover because of Sonic's incredible maniability and I had to restart the whole level X). Tough, I completed it after and, nothing else to say...

Clocks Tower, 8/10
Why 8/10 for a level as awesome as this? Well, I have my reason.
First, WHY STRAFE KEYS, WHY? This pissed me off and made the stage difficult for me! Other than that, it has nice visual (dunnot if this is a skybox or the level itself in the background, but awesome). Also the 2D axis were very interresting, but when you do the U-turn a bit before the 1st or 2nd starpost (idk) it forces you to change your direction. Nothing else to say.

Sand Valley, 7,5/10
I really, really liked this one! The visual are nice etc. But you could've warn the player before the floor is about to "drop" to leave them a chance to jump, because. Also, the "deathly sand" surprised me the first time I fell in it. My only problem was the timed sand fall at the end, I fell 2 times in the pit ><

Floral Road 1, meh/10
Snip.

Sacred Woodland, 7/10
The visuals were, I agree, very good, and same for the level design, I can't say anything on this, the teleports weren't so annoying in fact. Also, the boss seemed too easy, the trapgoyles could've make an apparition here too. My only problem was my huge FPS drop in front of the temple.

Midnight Caves, 6/10
Even if the level was short, it was good and decent, my only problem was the end of the level which was confusing. Nothing else to say.

Emerald Lake 2, 4,5/10
Seemed decent at the start, but... Those underwater sections... They were so boring, I walked the 3/4 of the level by being bored because I did not find much secrets... Also, the big ammount of motobugs and nothing elese, there wasn't even one red crawla...

Egg Outposts, 4/10
Well, this level looked like a labyrinth for me, I turned around the factory for 3 minutes after the 1st checkpoint by wondering what to do, then I saw the big obvious arrow... I had to pick Tails because of my hate of platforming because of my pc having issues with srb2, making it freezing sometimes... Other than that, it misses visual, and the music doesn't find well.
EDIT:Also, this might be a try to the OLDC, so I do not blame it, and all the level was decent. My only big probleme with it was the amount of platforming ><





I will rate match later, when I will play them with a friend, hard to rate a match map by just exploring it...

 

[Steelie]

Seraphic Skylands Zone > Glacier Gear Zone > Sand Valley Zone > Clock Towers Zone > Floral Road Zone 1 > Sacred Woodlands Zone > Egg Outposts Zone > Midnight Caves Zone > Emerald Lake Zone 2

I'll mostly list only complaints, because no one really needs to read 10 lines of praise from a hermit, right?
Note: the comments are in the order I played the levels, the rating order is above.

Spoiler

Clock Tower Zone by RedEnchilada and Pac

[trivia]The RD emblem was the only one I thought of getting.[/trivia] Some of the enemy placement is ridiculous, ranging from harmless to annoying as hell. Being built on a NiGHTS track makes it pretty cool, but can also make your controls quite wonky when you have no idea what to press. Bouncing chains confused me a lot at the beggining of the level - my first idea was that I'll bounce higher the longer I bounce on it, not by pressing a button when about to bounce. The pit right before the end sign is bullshit, both stupid camera angle and enemies all around you to focus on; I Game Over'd there.

Egg Outposts Zone by Tyrannic

Your Deton placement makes me sick. The cavern portion has grass, despite being a cavern. It's also ridiculously dark. I managed to keep myself from turning brightness up to 11 but dear God. Stay away from those goddamn mushrooms. They make for an unwilling overshoot and also, as I've noticed, are utterly unnecessary at places because the platform you're supposed to bounce on is just as high as Sonic's jump height. The "cutscene" was incredibly laggy (on a computer that easily runs AC4: Black Flag on max graphics) and also made no sense. The scenery was alright, but at places too overdone and at other places too bland. Last call, music doesn't loop properly and was driving me nuts.

Emerald Lake Zone, Act 2 by glaber

The scenery looked like from an unfinished level, even more bland than in GFZ. Oh look, you installed windows in the house (beggining of the level). The fish were just frozen scenery objects? What has science done? Also, both the fish and Jet Jaws either appeared in only one specific underwater hallway in the entire level or I'm just not paying attention. I hate to say this, but this token is more obvious than the spring in front of the same pillar. These textures suffer from the fish syndrome as well, and are also really bad. You actually pulled off slopes. Now, if at least they weren't again in only one part of the level and didn't have the physics of a slimy wet moss floor.

Floral Road Zone, Act 1 by "Lat'"

I had problems writing your name. Random flower placement, seems to be a trend in this OLDC. Some of the secrets were pretty obvious. I disliked Red Crawlas. The script was quite interesting, but the cops gave me a speeding fine. Nothing else to say, the level was simple, yet elegant. Definitely beats the two above.

Glacier Gear Zone by toaster

EXTERMINATE! Also what's this? Okay then. You people need to stop giving me tokens, I'm here to play your stages, not Special Stages. Aside from that, secrets were well hidden. You don't die instantly by making a wrong jump (I'm looking at you Clock Towers). Music fits, I don't see many things to complain about. Maybe except the slime, I really thought I'm not supposed to jump in that when I reached the 2D section due to its sinister colour and the fact that there were random shocks in it.

Midnight Caves Zone by Chaobrother

Straightforward, bland, rather short due to its huge rooms. Music choice doesn't fit. Sometimes it lacks in ANY thing placement and sometimes there's just blatantly too much of it. Looks like a level you'd expect to see in 1.09. And here was the dilemma on where to put it in rating...

Sacred Woodland Zone by HAPPYFOX

Somebody seems to like Pokémon. Quite an interesting concept. Though the level feels like it was mostly made to look at, since it's rather lacking gameplay-wise (mostly just jumping around, button hunting, uninteresting gimmicks). The boss was pathetic, not even close to being as menacing as in ERCZ. Crossing to another portion of the level with that huge fade out was also pretty poorly done.

Sand Valley Zone by Chrome

I've waited to play this since the release of 2.1. The spindash platforms, I'd have no idea how to use these without that #srb2fun leak. Minus placement is a real pain in the neck. Suspicious Game Generosity, and it shows in the very next room. Some of the Deton placement was also laughable.

Seraphic Skylands Zone by Spherallic

Oh look, Spherallic joined the SP brawl. Somebody likes spindash platforms as well. The skybox is spazzing out quite a lot when camera moves around. The spikes are rather deceiving, having hitbox a few fracunits higher than their textures. Other than that, nothing else to say. This is quite frankly work of art.

I can't be bothered to do Match/CTF since I hate PvP and no game I played yet made me think differently... AC Multiplayer is average, alright?

 

[Monster Iestyn]

Just as a reminder to all those still going x/10 without listing from best to worst, you probably should read the first post again:

To vote, play a few games of each stage in a division and create a list of all the maps in the division, arranging them from best to worst with no ties. If you are voting on a division that includes your own entry, you should list your own map as the best regardless of your opinion on the quality of your own map. Although it's not required for votes to count, it's very helpful to make comments about what you liked and didn't like about the map, so the author can improve for future attempts. Please separate your comments from your votes, though, to make it easier for us to tally the scores at the end.

As a note this is the second OLDC to use this new voting system (even if the previous one was over a year ago).

 

[TehRealSalt]

I got neither of the things I wanted to get done for the OLDC. I am trash.

Anyways, I'm starting to play these right now. Will add my vote in a moment.

EDIT:

1. Seraphic Skylands
2. Sand Valley
3. Glacier Gear
4. Clock Tower
5. Sacred Woodland
6. Floral Road
7. Midnight Cave
8. Egg Outposts
9. Emerald Lake

Most of the lower placed levels are actually quite decent; I feel mean placing them so low but the higher-placed ones blew them out of the water.

 

[Zipper]

Seraphic Skylands > Sand Valley > Glacier Gear > Clock Towers > Midnight Caves > Floral Road 1 > Sacred Woodland > Egg Outposts > Emerald Lake 2

i lied, no reviews I'm bad

 

[Tyrannic]

EDITED AGAIN because Clock Towers/Glacier Gear weren't working due to me being stupid. No ranking update though.

First of all I want to apologize to those who got that big-ass slowdown in EOZ's cutscene and brightness problems in the dark cave, I tested it myself only due too time constrains (school etc.) and my computer was able to pull it off... I realize that due to me being the only tester the stage was pretty confusing, with parts like the dark cave being merely an experiment what I could visually/gameplay-wise do with Srb2. That makes it really had for me to put it first in my voting, but, well, that's what the rules say.

Secondly, I've encountered some weird problems with three stages. In Clock Tower Zone, the 2d mode didn't trigger, so I couldn't play it properly. EDIT 2: Works now, my bad.
In Glacier Gear, the blue platforms did nothing, I suspect they should've worked like in Wacky Workbench? EDIT 3: Works.
In Sand Valley, the black lifts didn't work it seems. EDIT 1: Okay, you need to spin.

I think that might be some mistake by me, but I can't figure it out.
I don't know how to rate these properly now, so I'll have to make assumptions, sorry :(
These ratings may change if I can solve these problems soon enough.

Spoiler

Well:

1. Egg Outposts Zone (sigh)
2. Seraphic Skylands
3. Sacred Woodland
4. Sand Valley
5. Glacier Gear
6. Clock Tower
7. Floral Road
8. Midnight Caves
9. Emerald Lake


1. Egg Outposts Zone:
While I hoped that the paths were clear and the gimmicks okay, it seems that this level was quite bad to play for most of you. Thanks for taking the time anyway, I hope it was acceptable for a first try.

2. Seraphic Skylands: The real number one. Incredible visuals and custom assets, good to follow, pretty fun. The only thing I think could be improved is the addition of one or two custom badniks that fit this stage's feeling for a little added challenge.

3. Sacred Woodlands: Also very beautifully designed, clever Robo-Hood usage and a, well, better attempt than mine certainly at creating a "dark cave". Good choice of music. The boss was a bit unnecessary though and in its arena, those invisible walls were really annoying.

4. Sand Valley: While I found some parts of the level a bit unclear and I didn't know where to go sometimes, I eventually figured it out. Again, I like the visuals, the skybox you used was great and the quicksand was neither over- nor underused. My only complaints: There were way to many different badniks in the stage, maybe lower the count to maybe three different ones. The black lifts also need a proper explanation on how to use them.

5. Glacier Gear: There were some very cool gimmicks in this stage and the new THZ slime was cleverly used. As stated above, I couldn't properly experience the blue platforms, but from what I saw, they were well spread over the level. The penguin is a bit overpowered though and it's sadly the only enemy in the stage.
EDIT: Now that it works: My opinions stay the same, nice looking level, well designed, but some minor improvements are needed.

6. Clock Tower:
Yeah, I couldn't really play this one because the 2d mode didn't trigger. From what I saw though, the visuals were (once again) pretty nice and I really liked the theme of the stage. The chain gimmick was awesome too. This might get up higher in my list if I can solve the problem mentioned before.
EDIT: Problem fixed, but the level stays where it is. The whole 2d mechanic is awesome, really awesome, and due to that, the level is pretty fun. However, there are too many Robo Hoods in this stage. I get that it would be too easy otherwise, but the constant arrow spam is pretty annoying. Apart from that, especially the final platforming segment in the tower was just too much hopping on small, same looking platforms with the ocassional chain here and there. But that's not too bad considering it's the first level like this. I hope this level type is expanded upon in the future.

7. Floral Road: Nice lua implementation and a solid level, nothing special though. I liked the visuals as with all the other stages and the stage had a nice flow.

8. Midnight caves: Pop up turrets underwater are evil >.<
I liked this stages open nature and, I think I don't need to mention it, the visuals, but I felt that some areas were a bit bland with few things in it. Some interesting gimmick would've been cool too. But I still liked playing this stage.

9. Emerald Lake: By no means a bad stage, but not very exciting to play though. I found it funny at the start where the player was teased by the goal sign. Nothing too special or interesting, but worth playing through.

 

[Badnik]

I am absolutely terrible at giving good criticism, so I'll just leave my votes here:
Sand Valley Zone -> Seraphic Skylands Zone -> Glacier Gear Zone -> Clock Tower Zone -> Floral Road Zone act 1 -> Midnight Caves Zone -> Egg Outposts Zone -> Sacred Woodland -> Emerald Lake Zone act 2

 

[Monster Iestyn]

Single Player votes:

Seraphic Skylands
Glacier Gear
Clock Towers
Sand Valley
Egg Outposts
Floral Road
Midnight Caves
Sacred Woodland
Emerald Lake

Spoiler: SP Reviews

Seraphic Skylands Zone, by Spherallic:
You've probably heard it all already, but this level is visually amazing, complete with scrolling clouds in the skybox! Shame about the lag in places though, but it's still playable in a non-frustrating way at least. The wind fans are cool, but the upmost best thing about this level is that it's actually inviting to replay - I'm still not convinced I've found everything to be found in it yet, I'll have to look again later...

Glacier Gear Zone, by toaster:
I'm still a bit unsure of hearing music I made myself in someone else's level. x_x But then I guess it's just my instinctive artist unsatisfaction with what I've done, so don't mind me on that point. =P

Otherwise, this level is cool in general (no pun intended, I seriously think this). I like the Wacky Workbench-style bounce pads, and the fact they short-circuit underwater is a neat touch, especially since it makes it double as an electrical hazard. The custom penguin enemy (or the "Waddalek" if you prefer) is okay, but after a while it actually gets rather annoying with the Eggmobile laser. If you could change how it attacks I guess it wouldn't be as bad?

One place I didn't like in the level was the falls that push down, just after the button that Knux can't press. It was so frustrating falling down and then climbing back up again constantly, multiplied by the fact you have the penguinator-wannabes shooting you down from out of the water. That was probably the only time I died in the level too.

Otherwise, I really do like this map in general. Just now discovered this other route with wall bouncing, as well as some well-placed secrets there and there. I WAS originally placing this below Clock Towers Zone because of the latter's technical achivements, but after some thought I realised Glacier Gear Zone is just that bit more enjoyable regardless, so I pushed it up a place to show this. Great work toaster, I look forward to playing another level by you in the future. =P

Spoiler

BTW, the box secret was hilarious. Wasn't expecting anything like that at all, but I suppose it was pulled off well. Made the whole experience that bit more enjoyable. =)

Clock Towers Zone, by RedEnchilada and Pac:
The whole idea of this custom built 2D mode with use of axises all over is awesome, don't get me wrong. But there are several things about this level that bug me - first of all the enemy choice. The Robo-Hoods are annoying to put up with, especially while they can shoot at you from offscreen and perhaps disrupt your jumping up and up on those chain spring things. The Egg Guards meanwhile are terrible for 2D mode usage in general, being frustrating just to take down their shields so you can get past them and progress. I'm just glad you don't have them ambushing the player from both sides anymore, that was just absurd.

Next is this one falling down section with spikes scattered all over, that is just completely stupid. Blind leaps of faith all the way down, no excuse around this problem. Alright, alright, it's been pointed out to me there's a blatant safe way down here. I guess I just don't like the dull way of going down, would have been better with chains maybe?

Next up is the fact there was no way of conveying that the strafe controls control side-to-side movement rather than left/right turn keys. Some others around I know are saying "JUST MASH ALL THE CONTROLS AND FIND OUT YOURSELF STUPID", but I at least say you should convey that strafe does this? Normal 2D mode allows left/right turn keys to move left/right after all, yet of course this level doesn't. I understand the technical limitations behind left/right turn not being able to do so, but it could have least been made more clear from the start basically.

Last of all, this level is horrendously laggy, even worse than in Seraphic Skylands. Makes everything a bit more laborious to play in general. Not sure whether this is to do with the level scenery or perhaps the Lua script itself (in which case, this might not be so easily solvable I guess). This IS a good level concept, don't get me wrong, but it could use some improvements wherever possible.

Sand Valley Zone, by Chrome:
Okay, it took me one playthrough to be completely frustrated with the level, and another to sort of get over it a bit. So I'm not really sure what to say about this...

On my first playthrough, I'd quickly decided the things I couldn't stand most were:
1) The brown quicksand that pulls you down and tries to drown you
2) The first few usages of spin-rise platforms surrounded by pits
3) The surprise deton attacks there and there

The brown quicksand I'm just not a fan of at all; no matter how hard I try to say it's bad I'm shot down over at #srb2fun, so I can't really say it's a "bad" gimmick as such more than I just feel it's weird? I much more prefer the other type of quicksand, the jump-up-to-get-somewhere one... but that of course is the normal quicksand type anyway.

Those spin-rise platforms after some crumbling floors with death pits around, meanwhile... it was just too easy to overshoot the platforms first few times I went through, to the point I just objectplaced to avoid losing my last life for the second time! On my second playthrough I discovered this spin-rise platform route is actually a lower route to the higher up and easier to play quicksand falls route (it really wasn't obvious it was there at all, honestly!).

Last but not least, the placement of some of the Detons isn't actually that good - in THZ2 they are obvious and you have space to run. Here, some of them are indeed like this, but others are hidden behind boxes in dark rooms - this latter group of Detons is terrible and should be taken out.

Of the good points, I'm glad you at least use more visible spikeball sprites (the normal ones too easily blend in especially in the dark, as proved by other maps around). Also I liked the idea of jumping between the quicksand falls for the upper route, and of the idea of the continously falling (non-brown) quicksand. You also get a bonus point for the Knuckles route, which has some unique stuff of its own which is good.

It's really hard to review this due to the multiple experiences, please excuse me. There is definitely a solid level going on there, it probably just needs some work, and at the very least with some of the worse Deton placements taken out.

Egg Outposts Zone, by Tyrannic:
(Apologies for not completing this review earlier, I had been distracted by other things!)

This level in general clearly had a ton of effort put into it, and there's a lot of interesting ideas in it too! The execution meanwhile isn't totally quite there though.

First thing I notice walking into this level: Rings actually sitting on the ground - these should definitely have the "Deaf" or "Ambush" flag set.

Another important point to make is the fact that the large room with the swinging chains, as well as the caves with the crystals, suffer greatly from the fact that messing up means you have to start the section all over. They would both be fine if it wasn't for that massive downfall (in a literal sense perhaps).

The first batch of detons in that one route to the exit I had no way of knowing to dodge because of it being dark and cramped; the next batch, while conveniently far easier to spot in the large open hallway, was too easy to botch up getting away from (the 180 turn to the next hallway was in darkness, whyyy?).

Bad points done, you certainly have a few good things going here! There appears to be a number of routes tucked into this level, more than one would expect - even a route for Knuckles! Extra lives are also fairly well placed from what I've been able to tell.

You know how to use bouncy mushrooms certainly, I like how the platforming uses them twice over in some places. Please don't use them for climbing back up platforms though, considering you can't increase your jump with those things! The use of lasers is cool too, especially the alternating yellow ones. The caves with the crystals looked nice, though the fact it is rather dark in there makes it also a little bothersome to go through.

Overall I think this level has a fair bit of potential, you just need to practice level making a bit more so eventually you could be making top-quality levels like the others above! I actually had this in last place originally, but after replaying this I've changed my mind and placed it here now! It's funny how second replays change everything about OLDC voting.

Floral Road Zone Act 1, by "Lat'":
In short this is a rather average first-zone style map ...without really any gimmicks of note. I'm not fooled by the flashy Lua extras such as 2-health red crawlas and a ring-fuelled speed boost - they are rather purposeless extras in general (EDIT: as it turns out they're regular features for your level pack, further supporting this view I guess). The level itself is alright and built decently, but rather simple and suffers from being a bit unmemorable.

Ignore the original review above here! After replaying I thought I'd rewrite this thing. The key to actually reviewing this level relies on its context I've been finding...

As a level against the top bulk of the SP division, this level doesn't provide much in terms of gimmicks besides some waterslides and basic platforming. But as a first zone level for a level pack (which presumably this is), this actually is quite decent given context. Some exploration value in places, decent visuals, well-built level even if it's barebones simple in the end.

I've noticed to others the Lua-scripted extras like the ring fueled boosts for character stats and the two-hit crawlas may seem attractive... but in reality they don't actually play much importance to the level itself. As it also turns out, confirmed by the author himself, these are normal features for the level pack this is intended for, further downplaying the relevance of them here at all!

Yet again my change in views regarding this level happened after several replays of this. It may be an average level, but at least it's a good sort of average!

Midnight Caves Zone, by Chaobrother:
An average map, though not so interesting. The problem with this map, while packed with three different routes with some interesting things there and there, this map just isn't that memorable. Others have been saying it isn't textured well either, and I can see what they mean here.

Also, what's with the placement of the exit? That's just odd to be frank.

Sacred Woodland Zone, by HAPPYFOX:
Sort of not quite so average level here. It's a passable level at best, but there's just some things wrong here:

*Why do the Robo-Hood's shoot fire-creating missiles? These really get in the way of platforming there and there.

*WHY must you place spikeballs in the dark in that one hallway with trapgoyles? They're black in appearance as it is, so it's not actually that easy to see them, making them a really annoying hazard there.

*Why on earth do you have a Brak Eggman battle right at the end here? It's completely out of place with regards the whole level. Also, the invisible walls here are a bad idea, considering there's no real reason why these parts of the arena should be blocked off at all in the first place.

Emerald Lake Zone Act 2, by glaber:
Yet another rather average level, but an ugly one at that. And one with an infinitely high invisible wall marked by a small fence too, seriously?

Normally custom enemies would be an interesting addition, but in the case of your Motobugs they are just yet again dull crawla clones.

Seriously, this formula of yours got stale long ago. But you've probably heard this already from others who are harsher, so I'll just leave it to their commentry from here.

This is getting to be the one exception to all the SP levels - the more I play this the more I find I dislike this. Nothing personal against you glaber, but this feels like a typical level for an SRB2 version long gone, even with the addition of 2.1-style emblems and unlockables and things. This is saying a lot.

Other things I have to say about this level:
*1) Why on earth is a whole section of level blocked off behind the end sign at the start? Not only is there enemies behind there, but rings and monitors and pretty much everything usual, which is frankly a bit stupid. How is anyone supposed to get a perfect bonus in the level without cheating? (if the second point wasn't stopping things anyway, that is)

*2) Why on earth do you also have the beta version of your level as a secret in the same map, accessible only by noclipping through some wall at the start? I've known you to be interested about past versions of official SRB2 levels (as evidenced by SRB2 The Past), but actually pulling the MR archives secret trick with your own OLDC level within itself? That's a bit overdoing it. Not least because the beta definitely is worse than the main map itself.

*3) Did you nodesbuild with ZDBSP by any chance? Your REJECT lump has a filesize of 0 (implying it has absolutely nothing), and in various places rings can't follow attraction shield-wearing players. I'm convinced there is a strong connection between these two things.

*4) Something is seriously wrong if your level is actually crashing the game every second loading of this map in the same game session (or at least that's how it is for me; for others I've heard there's different patterns or something?).

Other than this, your level is rather devoid of anything in some places, and frankly rather dull to play. So I'm placing this last place because there's not really that much to enjoy here.

EDIT: BTW, votes are not final, I am still deciding them as we speak!

 

[BlasterGuy]

I wonder which way do we vote for a map.

 

[MellowJacket]

I wonder which way do we vote for a map.

To vote you list all of the maps in a division from most favourite to least favourite.

 

[BlasterGuy]

Does a top part of a sentence would start with the most favorite and the bottom being the least favorite.

 

[CyanS]

Here are my votes for the single player division:

1.Seraphic Skyland
2.Clock Towers
3.Sand Valley
4.Glacier Gear
5.Floral Road
6.Sacred Woodland
7.Midnight Caves
8.Emerald Lake
9.Egg Outpost

Comments:

Spoiler

Seraphic Skyland
This is for sure one of the prettiest map I have ever seen. The textures are really nice and suit each other well, the skybox is an awesome work, it give a nice celestial feel to the stage. However your stage doesn't have a very interesting gimmick. Ok, the wind is a solid gimmick but if you compare it to the gimmicks we find in stages like Glacier Gear or Sand Valley....Also adding some enemies would not be bad. So this is your first SP stage and it is really well done, keep up the good work, I want to see more.
Clock Towers
When I have started playing this map I was just amazed. I wanted to see it on the top of my list and still now I want to put it higher on this list. BUT your stage suffer of one glaring issue: The horrid enemy placement, notably in the final section where the Robo Hoods make the platforming even more frustrating. However you have done a nice use of the 2D axis script in nearly all the sections and the way you used parts of the stage as a background was pure genius.
Sand Valley
Your stage is pretty well done and also very nice. I really like the sand gimmick where you have to jump to ascend but the quicksands are a bit annoying, maybe you could tone down the speed at which we sink. Remove the Detons they are useless and annoying. Anyway my favorite part is certainly the Knuckles path, fun and challenging at least way better than the Knux path of the official SP rotation. Good job, I hope I could see more of you maps soon.
Glacier Gear
This map would be certainly higher on the list if the penguins was not there. They are just overpowered, they can shoot fire on you even farther than the turret can do. So please remove them so that we can enjoy the true quality of this map: nice visuals, awesome gimmicks and finally that great 2D section.
Floral Road
I've seen this map during all its development, so my point of view may be different from the others point of view. First, this is one of the music I like the most in the Sonic games so my playthrough was very enjoyable. Second, this is a highly improved version from the one found in NewHorizons's beta version: much more open spaces, good exploration, and a little more different from GFZ (thanks to the new grass and the diagonal-ified textures). However the biggest issue of this map is due to one of the improvement: open spaces that have nothing in them. Try to add some platforms here and there, adding extra platforms usually lead on creating an all new path (which could break the linearity of this map). Overall It's a good map for the beginning of a level pack, keep up the good work!
Sacred Woodland
Nice visuals, good atmosphere and Musics. You still have the beginners way of mapping (making round sectors, putting some platform in it to advance to the next round sector....). Like Mystic said on the previous page try looking at some simple but well structured map like Floral Road to improve your stage's layout. There are more elegant way of joining sections than just putting a dark cave with a teleporter. However your stage is fun to play UNTIL you complete the first section of the temple, from there it's a total rushjob (I'm not gonna talk about the boss). If you want to improve this stage delete all the sections from the path split of the temple to the end, try keeping the good ideas like the water current section and the button hunt, improve them and take all your time to find what to do next. This is a good map and you can improve it a lot so don't surrender and continue to map to become better.
Midnight Caves
Nice visuals
Very basic
Emerald Lake
VERY BASIC
Egg Outpost
Confusing as hell
Making the player redo an all section just for missing a jump is a bad idea

Excuse me if you find some grammar mistakes in the spoiler box above and remember that english is not my first language. Thank!

 

[TehRealSalt]

@BlasterGuy: Just look at Monster Iestyn's, Badnik's, or my post for examples on how to do it correctly. There shouldn't be too much to it. If you need an even more detailed description on how to do it, then look at the first post.

 

[fickleheart]

6. Clock Tower:
Yeah, I couldn't really play this one because the 2d mode didn't trigger.

You're still on 2.1.7. Update. That specific version broke the LinedefExecute hook in Lua.

 

[Chaotic Chao]

I don't usually do this, but I figured I should.
Sand Valley > Seraphic Skylands > ClockTowers > Floral Road 1 > Glacier Gear > Sacred Woodland > Midnight Caves > Emerald Lake 2 > Egg Outposts

Spoiler

Sand Valley: 9/10
This map is almost perfect. The level design is reminiscent of Sonic 3 - you fall down, you get another path (and the lower paths aren't bullcrap or even much worse than the upper ones), and the path splits themselves blend in seamlessly. The sand gimmicks, while hard to get used to at first, are probably the most intuitive gimmicks I've seen in the contest (and maybe even in SRB2 for a while). Plus, the level has very cool visuals, despite being almost totally brown. I'd probably like this level way more than Skylands...if it weren't for a few issues.
First of all, the enemy placement is totally annoying, especially the damn detons. The LEAST annoying enemy in this level were the jetty-syns. BASHes come out of practically nowhere and there's probably a minus on 70% of the cliffs this level has. And a bunch of the detons were just placed...badly. As someone who takes their time to explore things and find secrets, I found this downright irritating. Second of all, Knuckles' path is weirdly difficult compared to the rest of the level (not as much as before but still), and some walls seem like he should be able to climb on them even though he can't. Plus, it's really easy to screw up the sandfalls with him by accidentally gliding. Yeah, I realize I went on and on about this level, but it deserves it.

Seraphic Skylands: 9/10
This map is also almost perfect. The level design is interesting, the scenery is excellent (and yet it barely lags even for me), the gimmicks are fun and unique, and there are plenty of paths I didn't even find until playing through a couple times. The level manages to pull of going around in circles at the beginning and I never got lost. I love that~!
On the flip side, there are absolutely no enemies, and pretty much all the challenge comes from spikes which, odds are, you'll run into before even seeing. Also, although I knew about the spin-dash platforms beforehand (exclusive Kart Krew information), they look a bit inconspicuous. I mean, they have like the same texture as the floor around them. It barely loses out to Sand Valley since it's not quite as interesting. But other than those minor issues, I really have no complaints about this map. Amazing!

ClockTowers: 8/10
For the record, lua hates my PC and this level runs at around 15/35 fps, but I tried to ignore that when playing it.
The ways the paths split in this level are amazing. I love how you can see alternate paths in the fore/background. The theme and visuals here are unique and very nicely done. Some of the platforming was a bit annoying, but odds are that was the lag's fault. Robo-hoods are still the most broken enemy ever (well actually Glacier Gear may have changed that) and it's incredibly annoying when they shoot you while bouncing on chains. I couldn't stand still for a second in the last room without fear of getting shot...Speaking of the chains, they were a great gimmick. Figuring out how to bounce higher was a bit tough at first, though. Overall an excellent map.

Floral Road 1: 7/10
While the level isn't overly interesting, it's great in the fact that there's...really nothing wrong with it. It looks wonderful, the speed guage is a nice gimmick (though it definitely should require more rings to use), the extra hit for the red crawlas was interesting, and the level design, first level-wise, is pretty neat. My only gripe with this place is that...it doesn't really try anything or do anything exceptional. First level or not, it could stand out more. Regardless, a great map overall.

Glacier Gear: 7/10
This level has very interesting, exceptional visuals and extremely unique, enjoyable gimmicks. The level design itself, however, isn't all that interesting (except for the 2D part which was great), and the robot penguin badnick is completely overpowered. The damn thing can hit you from eons offscreen thanks to their ridiculous vision and approaching it directly never works, especially if it's elevated on a platform. That enemy really detracts from the level's quality, honestly. That aside, though, this level was pretty fun.

Sacred Woodland: 6.5/10
This level changes music too much, first of all. I love the Forest Temple music, and it works with the theme the best, so...why not just use that throughout...? Second of all, the level splits at the start - the right path was pretty fun and interesting, but the left was just annoying. It seems like every platform on that path was exactly the same height as Sonic's jump height, and the layout was really confusing at first. The outdoor temple has too many rings, but the part with the Spirit Temple music was interesting. Although the corridor with the spike balls and fire-shooting gargoyles is oddly difficult compared to the rest of the level. As for the boss...well, it was totally random, didn't fit the level at all, and had unnecessary invisible walls. I did enjoy this level for the most part, though.

Midnight Caves: 6.5/10
Like Sacred Woodland, this level splits at the beginning (I played 2 paths, not sure if there are more). While the lower path is actually interesting, memorable, AND looks really nice, the upper, more obvious path is...well, it's totally forgettable, looks bland, and the level design is a lot less interesting. The level design is pretty average overall, though I will say the last room is really interestingly designed. Overall a decent map.

Emerald Lake 2: 5/10
I honestly can't say much about this level. It's very...uninteresting. The motobugs are just reskinned crawlas, the scenery and textures are good, but bland at some parts, the fish don't move at all, and the level design doesn't stand out a bit. The slopes at the end of the level are probably the most memorable part, and...there are only 2 of them. Why not use them more? This was pretty forgettable, but not at all bad, really.

Egg Outposts: 4/10
Ok, I'll admit the scenery here was decent and the theme was really interesting, but the level design itself definitely wasn't good. The last room was horribly annoying thanks to vague platforming and a HUGE drop if you fall down. And if you DO fall (especially if you got the checkpoint after the lasers) prepare to spend like a whole MINUTE climbing back up. The first time I played this I decided to drown myself after I fell the third time instead of climbing again. And I had around 200 rings. When I fell the fourth time I switched to Tails (luckily I was playing coop alone). That wheel with yellow and red lasers is especially annoying.
The second time I played this level I decided to go left instead of right, and I found myself inside a cave that was so freakin' dark that the entire time I wandered around aimlessly while staring at my own face's reflection in my black computer screen. Naturally I quit and took the right path on my retry. That room is impossibly dark. Overall, this level is pretty...poor. I reiterate, though: the theme and scenery are pretty nice.

Why do I type paragraphs upon paragraphs
Why can't I ever be short and simple

 

[Eblo]

Singleplayer:
Sand Valley > Glacier Gear > Seraphic Skylands > Sacred Woodland > Clock Towers > Midnight Caves > Floral Road 1 > Emerald Lake 2 > Egg Outposts

Spoiler: SP Reviews

Sand Valley

• Skybox looked nice, made the level feel like its own world in a way
• Really felt like a mine with the railroads and textures
• Super quicksand and jumping quicksand were alright, not a huge fan of them but they worked
• Some rock sprites float above the ground
• Not a fan of the rows of spikeballs
• Couldn't figure out how to get Sonic past the giant machine on the wall, had to use another character
• Camera really fucked me up, but that isn't mostly your fault
• Detons were just plain assholes
• I really, really enjoyed seeing the gravflipped Whirlwind Shield on the stalactite. It greatly reminded me of the similar, upside-down situation within The Great Gatsby and how the characters' lives were being swept away, as if by a whirlwind. Kudos on your subtle yet powerful symbolism.
• Definitely the most fun level to play in the pack

Glacier Gear

• The theme was fresh and it worked
• Music really added to the atmosphere
• Hated the penguins, dodging was annoying and the range and accuracy were ridiculous
• Gimmicks proved to be truly enjoyable
  • wacky workbench
• The blue "alarm" laser things proved for an interesting punishment for less agile players
• Visuals are another plus

Seraphic Skylands

• First impression: beautiful scenery, beautiful music. Reminds me of an older song in a foreign language with a music video in a Catholic church, perhaps in France. It had two parts.
• Exploring the trees was fun
• The first level I played that made white water look good
• It feels less like a level and more like a positively gorgeous terrain explorer. There are hardly any obstacles to challenge the player.
• Definitely the greatest beauty I've encountered in SRB2, but there's hardly any substance to running and jumping through it.

Sacred Woodland

• Too many levels in this contest attempted terrible mushroom platforming
• Bridge area looked pretty sweet
• Having multiple tunes for the same level was unneeded
• For some reason, I really liked the dark waterslide room with bright flames. Made them easier to see
• A boss and it's Brak. No.

Clock Towers Zone

• Certainly pretty
• The camera was pretty cool, separated it from other 2D levels
• The broken movement was a definite blunder
• Did not particularly enjoy playing through it, partially due to Robo Hoods

Midnight Caves

• Took me ages to find the bustable block in the castle thing
• The giant ring waypoints were pretty cool, haven't seen it done before
• The end sign felt really out of place
• You clearly know how to design levels, but there is much room for improvement. The level was as average as average can get.

Floral Road 1

• Ring meter thing made it slightly more interesting, actually made me want to keep my rings
• Red Crawla two hits added a little variety
• Really short, and that goes doubly so because of speed+
• Definitely a solid level, but nothing makes it memorable

Emerald Lake 2

• tails can't fly over the fence to end sign
• Certainly not terrible by any means
• but platforming is rather elementary
• Nothing really noteworthy to the level in gameplay or aesthetics

Egg Outposts

• Dodging lasers is trivial
• Nothing noteworthy in visuals
• Undeafed rings in 2.1
• Clashing colors
• Mushroom platforming is annoying
• Pitch black cave = no

Match:
Moonlit Precipice Zone > Climate Chaos Zone > Crystal Coast Zone

CTF:
Old Sport Zone Act 1922: New Money vs Old Money > Forbidden Woods Zone > Techno Laser 4 > Quicksand Caverns Zone > Wtf? CTF Zone

Spoiler: MP Reviews

Match

Moonlit Precipice Zone

• Nighttime is refreshing
• Hallways and underwater areas are rather boring
• Feels a bit overpacked with rings and flora
• Plays decently
• Could use more texture variation and sector-based scenery

Climate Chaos Zone

• Interesting concept, but the climate changes far too rapidly for players to accustom to it
• Too much purple
• Not much to explore. This could easily be remedied by having certain areas exclusive to specific climates

Crystal Coast Zone

• Hey, this actually reminds me of my maps when I first started building.
• Opaque water over a death pit. Don't do that.
• Clashing textures everywhere
• Very flat and long, and as a result it plays terribly
• I can tell you've got the basics down; you just need to practice practice practice before you take on a level design contest.

CTF

Old Sport Zone Act 1922: New Money vs Old Money

• What can we say? The novel is easily our favorite, so we felt compelled to give it a proper adaptation in a new medium. It's not often that one encounters playable literature in a video game.
• While we did have to make tiny sacrifices in the level's gameplay, it was done to ensure that it would be a definitive testament to F. Scott Fitzgerald's literary masterpiece, one we consider a true work of art. In that case, the CTF level could be considered an OOPArt.

Forbidden Woods Zone

• First impression: very bland and brown
• Second impression: it manages to be very fun and competitive
• please make the FOFs above the springs intangible from below
• Some sort of coloration would make the level easier to look at

Techno Laser 4

• Definitely the best visuals in the rotation; it's music to my eyes
• It's fairly easy to get lost on the first few playthroughs
• Experienced players can just hide behind some obstacles, including flag holders
• Find the opposite base is quite a chore
• Pretty fun once you memorize the layout

Quicksand Caverns Zone

• Gotta admit, the colored quicksand was cool
• Skybox was nice, but beyond that there wasn't much to the level's aesthetics
• Quicksand felt like it did more harm than good. Remove the countdown since slowing down the player is enough of a hazard for CTF.
• It plays decently, but it's not a map I'll remember a week from now

Wtf? CTF Zone

• do I even need to explain this one

As co-creator of Old Sport Zone, I feel it is necessary to at least shed some green light on the less literary players. In addition to what Jellybones has already explained, there is the matter of the hidden flags. As any savvy reader could deduce, this was deliberately designed to represent the metaphorical walls that Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby had constructed around their inner feelings, with the flags representing their respective hearts. The death pit near the fireplace was our way of demonstrating the novel's true message: death awaits Gatsby, death awaits Myrtle, death awaits New Money and Old Money, and (most importantly) death awaits the American dream. Some players might even realize that the pianos are mysteriously unplayable. Why? Death awaited Klipspringer.

There is much more symbolism to the level than that, but I fear that Jellybones and I may have spoiled just enough.