November/December 2010 Voting

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FuriousFox

FuriousFox

AKA FuriousFox
Retired Staff
Welcome to the November/December 2010 contest voting. We have 14 Multiplayer maps and 3 Single Player maps this time.

The voting works as follows: Play a few games of the stage in question, in the intended gametype for judging, and give the map a vote from 0 to 10, no decimals. You can not vote on your own map. Votes where the voter obviously did not play the level in its intended gametype, or where the voter did not play the multiplayer maps with other real players will be discarded. To encourage voting, if you are an author and you judge all of the competitor's maps, the lowest score on your map will be dropped. Please be as unbiased as possible for the author or the look of the map. It's all about how good the map plays, nothing else.

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

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

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

The maps follow:

Single Player Level Pack

Single Player:
Icicle Warehouse Zone by glaber
Flooded Mine Zone, Act 1 by Spongecar
Twilight Isles Zone by Thompson

Multiplayer Level Pack

Match:
MAPM1 - Setting Sands Zone by ZarroTsu
MAPM2 - Celestial Sanctuary Zone by Mystic
MAPM3 - Quick Cliffs Zone by Scizor300
MAPM4 - Orange Stream Zone by Brawl

CTF:
MAPF1 - Castle CTF Zone by Teleporter 412
MAPF2 - Water Hall Zone by Kuba11
MAPF3 - Seaside Strike Zone by RedEchidna
MAPF4 - Gravity Garden Zone by Charybdizs
MAPF5 - Volcanic Temple Zone by Metal Fighter

Circuit:
MAPR1 - Mushroom Hill Zone by Simsmagic
MAPR2 - Cherry Canyon Zone by Katmint
MAPR3 - Sunken Cave by Kuba11
MAPR4 - Greenflower Rush Zone by Spongecar
MAPR5 - Disco Dash Zone by Brawl

Please make sure to play the levels in the intended gametype, and above all, have fun judging!
 
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Furious fox, Are you sure you uploaded the correct version of my map? It should have today's date as the modifacation date and the date on the one in the pack here doesn't match.

Oh well, at least this time it's a minor differance involving plugging up a tunnel.

RATINGS
Icicle Warehouse Zone by glaber N/A
Based off of my Match mode map of the same name, Icicle Warehouse is to be the Zone that Replaces Toxic Mines in my mod based off of my TGF fangame. There is a tunnel at the end of the map that was only ment to be scenery with a snow pile blocking it, unfortunately, the update missed the 2 hours to contest deadline. Either that, or I forgot to say that I updated my submission last minuet.

This stage was not ment to be specular, just basic.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2jAvb_Csjg

Flooded Mine Zone, Act 1 by Spongecar 3/10
Invisible walls, I had to learn not to do that the hard way. the level also felt like somone was just getting into mapping.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khbwYuT006Y


Twilight Isles Zone by Thompson 5/10
eh, what can I really say about this map? on my original run (see old video) I had a really hard time figuring out where to go and getting frustrated by the puzzles and the smasher. This time around though, thanks to spirit crusher, I actually found the yellow spring that lead to the final pond filler. This actually felt like a button hunt. Speaking of button hunts, I had to hunt down a gargoyle too, why?
Before I even got to that, I found myself getting confused and headed back in the wrong direction due to badniks facing the wrong way. When I finally got past that part, I really wasn't looking forward to the hang gliders. Of course, I never knew that even if you crashed into a wall, you'd still hang on to them. Because of that, I practically jumped every time I though I was going to crash.

Going the route of the water puzzle I can actually see what people like about this stage. The bouncing mushrooms and the gliders. But still, tone it down on the badniks. We can't filter them by difficulty like we could in 1.09.4.

Other things still need to be addressed, such as Tails' flight nerf, and the lack of bubbles leading to and in the room I got Sigseved in.

Old Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glCMWm_IzZQ
NEW Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnfDDVuToQw

MATCH
MAPM1 - Setting Sands Zone by ZarroTsu CR/10
Can't really rate as I joined on this map, and we switched game types when we hit this map again. But It looked good for what I saw.

MAPM2 - Celestial Sanctuary Zone by Mystic 7/10
good for games with lots of players, not so much with 3.

MAPM3 - Quick Cliffs Zone by Scizor300 7/10
Wasn't really all that quick. Of courst that may of been due to how many players were on it. You may also want to pick either tunes 13 or 14 ad 15 made me think at first that the stage didn't have any music.

MAPM4 - Orange Stream Zone by Brawl 5/10
What's with all the huge levels? Weapon rings were also layed out badly pluss I was able to score a good amount with the players going under the low trees, or is it a big bush?

CTF:
MAPF1 - Castle CTF Zone by Teleporter 412 2/10
At least test these levels on line or something.

MAPF2 - Water Hall Zone by Kuba11 5/10
One word: Purple

MAPF3 - Seaside Strike Zone by RedEchidna 6/10
It was a good level. The teams were unbalanced, but I managed to score a few times. We mainly took the middle path.

MAPF4 - Gravity Garden Zone by Charybdizs 7/10
Would of been better with a few more players, and CTF player starts. (Simsmagic spawned next to me prompting me to shoot him.) But it seemed way to easy for me to win. Might of been the other players though.

MAPF5 - Volcanic Temple Zone by Metal Fighter 6/10
It's Red volcano CTF! Could of done without the falling lava though.

Circuit:
MAPR1 - Mushroom Hill Zone by Simsmagic 5/10
A decent level, I liked the mushrooms, but not the sigsev. The Sigsev didn't contribute to the score as I have no idea how to trigger it again.

MAPR2 - Cherry Canyon Zone by Katmint 5/10
Ladies and Gentelmen, I present, SONIC'S NIGHTMARE 2!
I had just completed a lap on a personal run, and this stage is not circuit friendly. This stage is a Gauntlet that could only work in a Sonic 2 style race.

Filled with, as I believe either Simsmagic or Fawafuffan said, Deadly Cherry Coke. Never finished. We're trying to race though it. Not calculate where we need to jump. Using all that red doesn't help either.

MAPR3 - Sunken Cave by Kuba11 6/10
Things got easier once I found the short cut.

MAPR4 - Greenflower Rush Zone by Spongecar 3/10
I almost finished, but I didn't and got a game over.

MAPR5 - Disco Dash Zone by Brawl 0/10
We couldn't even finish 1 lap on this map. Plus You're able to get stuck if you don't get killed
 
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glaber said:
Furious fox, Are you sure you uploaded the correct version of my map? It should have today's date as the modifacation date and the date on the one in the pack here doesn't match.

Oh well, at least this time it's a minor differance involving plugging up a tunnel.
Click to expand...

I downloaded whichever one was attached to your topic as of 2 hours ago.
 
Icicle warhouse 8/10 - Really nice and calm level. Way to go glaber.
Twilight isles 7/10- Good level but i liked icicle warhouse a little bit more
Flooded mine 4/10 - Some graphics arent making much sense and that level was a bit boring and short.
 
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SP Division Reviews

Well, the OLDC has been kicked into gear and here are my reviews for the Single Player Division.

SINGLE PLAYER DIVISION

Icicle Warehouse by Glaber - 3/10

Jesus christ Glaber, I'd advocate for you just to put away your mapping programs and move on to something else. You obviously have some form of obsession with SRB2 Christmas, putting enemies from it in there. The texture variation is hideous and fits little to none. The level design is in general bad. The conveyor belts are also broken. There is also this one area where it seems like a secret, but when you spindash through the hole as Sonic. you're stuck.

Glaber, this was looking promising bro, but something along the way went to shit.


Flooded Mine Zone, Act 1 by Spongecar - 2/10

So, first off...
- The crate textures are sky-high
- The flow is bad
- The texture variation is WORSE than Icicle Warehouse
- And the reverse-gravity not only didn't fit at all, but it was slow, and a chore to go through.

Now, I'd reccomend you get more practice and come back next time, but please try to improve.


Twilight Isles by Thompson - 8/10

YES, A GOOD LEVE- You're cancelling 2K6RE...

What

The visuals were great, and the level design was, though a bit confusing at times, still awesome. The music fit pretty well with the stage, and there was enough challenge for me to keep going, but not rage at. Overall, this level is pretty fun, and it's the best SP level out of this OLDC.

EDIT: So I finally explored more of the level and found some of the best tidbits, so I'm bumping up the vote.


Anyways, MP Division reviews will be out soon.
 
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Yay, let's get this over with. =)

Single Player:

Flooded Mine Zone, Act 1 by Spongecar - 2/10
While this level is not particularly glitchy, the actual design of it is rather shocking. You have a weird mix of themes here, and I'm sorry, but reverse gravity does not fit into either a mine theme OR a GFZ theme. AT ALL. That part of the level was the one I hated the most, you couldn't run OR jump, since both of those would get you killed, and the fact that you had to go around those spikes wasn't exactly obvious or easy. The rest of the level was boring, rather cramped hallways with bad texturing.

It's very obvious that you have most of the technical aspects of mapping perfect now. Just work on your design and I hope to see some good maps from you soon.

Icicle Warehouse Zone by glaber - 3/10
Seems like standard glaber to me. I don't think you take in what people say about your levels. The texturing was bad at some points and the enemy and ring placement wasn't good, I found quite a few glitches while going through here, including but not limited to a hallway I could spindash into but couldn't get out of near the end, floating Minus enemies and some other problems. And please, stop using those SRB2 Christmas enemies, they are ugly and useless. Also, it didn't seem like a warehouse to me at all. It was just a few outside parts, and inside a small building and then mostly caves... Anything good to say about the level? Well, it seems you aligned the textures you DID get right, and there weren't any actual sector/texture-based glitches or problems.

Twilight Isles Zone by Thompson - 8/10
Oooh yeah, I quite liked this one. I was originally going to give this 7/10, but I thought it deserved one more point. The reason why this is 8/10 is different from other levels that I've given 8/10 before though... this level isn't without problems. The texturing and some of the level design is iffy in some places, and some of the puzzles are a bit confusing at times (especially the very first one). But those two criticisms are easily swamped by everything that's GOOD about the level.

The puzzles, though somewhat confusing at times were quite sophisticated and challenging, but not frustrating so I kept on going throughout the level. The best thing about the level though, are the gimmicks. The way you exploited that glider SOC was superb, flying through those hoops was very fun (for me at least), though changing altitude could be a tiny bit faster. =) The mushrooms were a very nice touch, I thought, and would have been even better if you used the Sonic & Knuckles Mushroom bouncing sound when you bounced on them. The ending sequence was very interesting as well. I also thought the music and sky fit well, as well. Well done, and please start making a mod with even better quality than this. =)

--

Sorry I couldn't get Undersea Palace in, I want it to be perfect. Overall though, the single player division sucked (again...) apart from Twilight Isles. Oh well, got to try multiplayer soon.
 
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SINGLE PLAYER

Icicle Warehouse Zone, by Glaber
Rating: 4/10
Explanation: When I first started the level, I was begging for it to throw something at me, ANYTHING. Eventually it kind of did, but I still wasn't that impressed. The level mostly consists of plain, boring hallways filled with enemies, a typical flaw in your levels. Here and there you had decent scenery, but no real gameplay to speak of. There were WAY too many icy floors--there was nothing to balance out the constant sliding around. And what the hell was up with that pile of snow almost blocking the empty tunnel? I jumped in there expecting to find an alternate path or a secret of some kind, and was instead treated to an ugly and inexplicable wall of X's. The level ended just when the scenery was starting to get impressive. As far as this theme goes, I'm really hungry for more--this level failed to do it justice.

Twilight Isles Zone, by Thompson
Rating: 6/10
Explanation: It's pretty, it's full of fascinating gimmicks, and it has a funky charm all its own. But its Achilles heel is that the level layout is thoroughly nonintuitive. There are all kinds of frustrating leaps of faith and sections where it takes an inordinate amount of searching to figure out what to do. Confusing layout seriously damages a level even if it is top-notch in other regards. My other complaints are overuse of the DSZ rock textures and all kinds of visual oddities (accidental holes in FOFs, slime trails and HOMs, places where F_SKY1 pits are raised above adjacent F_SKY1 pits). I would be interested to see this expanded into a mod, but first you're going to have to address the major issues.

Flooded Mine Zone, by Spongecar
Rating: 2/10
Explanation: One of my cousins walked into my room while I was playing this, and he couldn't even tell it was supposed to be a mine. Knowing what it is, however, doesn't really make the experience better. The level was extremely short and extremely linear, with no content apart from some uneventful stretches of water, spikes, and vertical leaps into ugly-as-sin aboveground trails. The texturing was very unattractive. The ending was abrupt, as though somebody pulled a plug on the whole experience. The theme made absolutely no sense--what the hell is a gravity reversal over an upside-down sky doing in a water-filled mine!? Not that that was even executed properly in any case--you couldn't jump without flipping over and falling to your death, but couldn't get past the spikes without jumping. Luckily I was playing as Knuckles, and glided to safety. I think you know better than this--please actually demonstrate some effort next time you enter the contest.

MATCH

Setting Sands Zone, by ZarroTsu
Rating: 7/10
Explanation: Oh, I liked this zone a lot. The colormap was pretty cool, the ceiling torches were a nice touch, there was all kinds of potential for action, and the rising/falling sand gimmick was a stroke of brilliance. I only have two complaints. First, it was a bit too large for there to be continuous action. Second, with a name like Setting Sands and a universal colormap, I would expect there to be some outside sections where you could see the sun set. In that regard I was disappointed. Other than that, it was great.

Celestial Sanctuary Zone, by Mystic
Rating: 6/10
Explanation: Predictably, this is a solid, enjoyable level. However, it is also a tad too big. Also, the theme, while executed well, is distinctly unoriginal (although there are some interesting novel touches, like the CEZ fences lining the inner paths).

Quick Cliffs Zone, by Scizor300
Rating: 4/10
Explanation: Another monstrously big level, but this one fails to make up for it in other regards. It's just too flat and too spread out, and some of the scenery doesn't really fit either. Unless it's a really crowded server, you could wander around for ages without running into an opponent. Also, the ACZ2 music would have been much more appropriate than the remix.

Orange Stream Zone, by Brawl
Rating: 3/10
Explanation: What is it with you and orange levels? This place made no freaking sense, and the layout wasn't very well thought out at all. The jungle grass textures were severely misused. Worst of all, your item placement was atrocious, with huge, uneven lumps of rings here and there, and multiple weapon pickups clustered together. One weapon at a time, please!

CAPTURE THE FLAG:

Castle CTF Zone, by Teleporter 412
Rating: 0/10
Explanation: What the hell was this!? Okay, first of all, I--well, actually, you know what? I'm gonna take a leaf out of D00D64's book here. Instead of enumerating all the problems with this stage, I'm going to post the server log from our game. Only that will give you a true idea of how much is wrong with this stage.

Code: 
Gametype was changed from Match to CTF
Speeding off to level...
R_GetFlatNumForName: Could not find flat FLOOR0_6
R_GetFlatNumForName: Could not find flat GFZFLR_2
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 809 at (3543, -1279)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 809 at (3542, -934)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 809 at (3544, -495)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 809 at (3544, -152)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 809 at (-8158, 1152)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 809 at (-8164, 1489)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 809 at (-8162, 1938)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 809 at (-8158, 2274)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 809 at (-7599, -145)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 809 at (2989, 1135)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-5600, 6272)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7200, 8096)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7200, 7968)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7200, 7520)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7200, 7392)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7200, 6944)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7200, 6816)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7200, 6368)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7200, 6240)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-5536, 8064)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-5536, 7936)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-5536, 7488)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-5536, 7360)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-5536, 6912)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-5536, 6784)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-5536, 6336)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-5536, 6208)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7776, 8096)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7776, 7968)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7776, 7520)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7776, 7392)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7776, 6944)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7776, 6816)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7776, 6368)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7776, 6240)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-6112, 8064)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-6112, 7936)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-6112, 7488)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-6112, 7360)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-6112, 6912)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-6112, 6784)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-6112, 6336)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-6112, 6208)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7712, 7456)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7712, 8032)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7712, 6880)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7712, 6304)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-6048, 8000)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-6048, 7424)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-6048, 6848)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-6048, 6272)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7264, 6304)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7264, 6880)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7264, 7456)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-7264, 8032)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-5600, 8000)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-5600, 7424)
P_SpawnMapThing: Unknown type 36 at (-5600, 6848)
Map is now "MAPF1: CASTLE CTF ZONE"
Time limit disabled
Levels will end after a team scores 5 points.
Simsmagic switched to the red team
Fawfulfan switched to the blue team
glaber switched to the red team
<Simsmagic> WHY IS IT SO DAAAAAAARK
>say timelimit
<~Fawfulfan> timelimit
>timelimit
"timelimit" is "0" default is "0"
>timelimit 5
Levels will end after 5 minutes.
<Simsmagic> too many team rings
>say wtf is this!?
<~Fawfulfan> wtf is this!?
<Simsmagic> holy jesus
<Simsmagic> I think this is supposed to be a parody of canyon  ctf
>say f12 me
<~Fawfulfan> f12 me
>say where the fuck am I supposed to go!?
<~Fawfulfan> where the fuck am I supposed to go!?
Simsmagic became a spectator.
<Simsmagic> jesus fuck
>say LOL
<~Fawfulfan> LOL
<Simsmagic> what is WITH this level
<glaber> seriously
Simsmagic switched to the red team
You're already on that team!
Fawfulfan switched to the red team
<Simsmagic> I don't even know where the flags are
>say 0/10, right?
<~Fawfulfan> 0/10, right?
>say utterly unplayable bullshit
<~Fawfulfan> utterly unplayable bullshit
<Simsmagic> -10/10
>say -10000/10
<~Fawfulfan> -10000/10
>say fail/10
<~Fawfulfan> fail/10
<glaber> 0/10, can't find flag
<Simsmagic> oh hey I found it
Simsmagic picked up the blue flag!
>say i will f12 you
<~Fawfulfan> i will f12 you
Fawfulfan became a spectator.
Viewpoint: Simsmagic
>say where are you?
<~Fawfulfan> where are you?
>say this level is complete nonsense
<~Fawfulfan> this level is complete nonsense
<Simsmagic> you have to get over the walls
<glaber> up there?
>say if this level was a language, it would be like the alphabet vomited
<~Fawfulfan> if this level was a language, it would be like the alphabet vomited
<Simsmagic> and navigate to teh farthest part of it
<Simsmagic> now how do I get back into my base
>say XD
<~Fawfulfan> XD
glaber switched to the blue team
>say we have to switch teams just to know where we are!
<~Fawfulfan> we have to switch teams just to know where we are!
>say utter bullcrap
<~Fawfulfan> utter bullcrap
<Simsmagic> oh jesus
<Simsmagic> I'm in the spawn
>say ragequit anyone?
<~Fawfulfan> ragequit anyone?
>say lets just skip this nightmare, shall we?
<~Fawfulfan> lets just skip this nightmare, shall we?
<Simsmagic> I could hold the flag in here for the rest of the game
<Simsmagic> lololololol
>say here we go
<~Fawfulfan> here we go
glaber picked up the red flag!
>map mapf2
Speeding off to level...
For the benefit of those who'd rather avoid reading that whole thing, this stage's layout made no sense whatsoever, to the point that finding and capturing a flag is a herculean feat. There are some rooms I couldn't even figure out how to escape from, and had to switch teams just to get out. THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN. Please, go to Level Design 101 on the Wiki and read the article on CTF. This level was an utter nightmare.

Water Hall Zone, by Kuba11
Rating: 4/10
Explanation: At least this one had a layout that made some sense, but it was really ugly. Purple purple purple purple purple...everywhere purple, as far as the eye can see. And more purple. Plus, there's not much interesting in terms of gameplay, either...you just bounce in pretty much a straight line across the platforms to capture the flag.

Seaside Strike Zone, by RedEchidna
Rating: 6/10
Explanation: I really had fun with this level, because it was simple, small, and full of unadulterated conflict, but it still had some issues. The most pressing problem is that there is no incentive whatsoever to take the higher path. It's longer, harder, and riskier. Taking the main path, you can capture the flag in under ten seconds. Nevertheless, it's still got solid visuals and fast-paced action. I'd advise anyone playing it to up the requirement to 10 points, though.

Gravity Garden Zone, by Charybdizs
Rating: 4/10
Explanation: The visuals are competent for the most part, but a lot of other things need work. For one thing, with a name like Gravity Garden Zone, you'd expect there to be equal action in normal and reverse gravity, but practically all of the content is right side up. The flags were kind of awkwardly positioned as well. Furthermore, it is customary to place deathmatch starts in a CTF level--the fact that you didn't is not the end of the world, but that's something you should bear in mind in the future. Still, I'm glad to see that you took most of my advice after I tested your level. I think it helped somewhat.

Volcanic Temple Zone, by Metal Fighter
Rating: 7/10
Explanation: Not bad at all. In fact, the clear highlight of this contest's CTF division. The visuals are great, there are multiple paths which are at least somewhat balanced, and the fire doesn't interfere too much with the gameplay, with possible exception of the corridors just next to the base, when you have to time jumps to avoid lava falls. It's not perfect, but I had fun playing on this one. Good job.

CIRCUIT:

Mushroom Hill Zone, by Simsmagic
Rating: 5/10
Explanation: I can't help but feel that this level somehow missed the mark, and that it wasn't all that it was supposed to be. I like how the stage is designed to be used differently by each character, but it didn't quite work out. Tails and Knuckles can still skip so much of this stage. Still, I like the visuals, and once you get the hang of it, there is a decent flow.

Cherry Canyon Zone, by Katmint
Rating: 1/10
Explanation: I swear that I was roaring with laughter as I played through this. Seriously, what the heck? I never even completed ONE circuit, it was just so long and so full of cheap hazards. We all Game Over'd really quickly. Besides, the visuals were pretty terrible. Nice try.

Sunken Cave, by Kuba11
Rating: 7/10
Explanation: Ooh, this stage was kind of mesmerizing. Plus, it flowed really well, and presented a well-balanced set of obstacles. Easily the best circuit level. Not much else to say about this one.

Greenflower Rush Zone, by Spongecar
Rating: 2/10
Explanation: Entirely-2D-Race-Number-One. And definitely not quite as good as you were hoping it would be. Just simple platform hopping, a Zoom Tube that makes the camera jerk in a seizure-inducing fashion, and a really cheap teleporter that prevents the track from looping cleanly. This last bit really got on my nerves...I seriously thought the track was going to loop all the way back to the start, and sending you back with a teleporter is just lazy. The sad thing is, this is still far from the worst entry in this contest.

Disco Dash Zone, by Brawl
Rating: 0/10
Explanation: Entirely-2D-Race-Number-Two. Just like Cherry Canyon, I was paralyzed with laughter as I watched the events unfold here. I mean, come on, a TURRET!? IN A RACE LEVEL!? Red Springs that sometimes propel the player into an impossible-to-continue location? Death Pits galore without any means of warning the player beforehand? Also just like Cherry Canyon, we all Game Over'd before we could complete a single lap. I never thought I'd see you make a worse level than City Jump. Well, I guess you showed me.
 
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Setting Sands Zone - 9/10 this one was the bigest fun. thanks to sandfilling it was like whole level was still changing. (my english sux)
Celestial Sanctuary Zone - 7/10- really nice map but huuuuuuuuuuge. Also i found spot that sonic cant reach.
Quick Cliffs Zone - 6/10 - Youre not safe anywhere in this map, thats why you probably wont plaz this map more than ten minutes but its real fun when ten or more people are playing. I liked music too.
Orange Stream Zone - 1/10 - Why so small rating? Because of:
-orange lake
-wierd trees or bushes or what the crap was that suposed to be
-too many rings and railrings
-grasswalls
-ugliness

Race maps:
Mushroom Hill Zone: 7/10 wow level that is fun. I think this one is one of small amount of circuits that are fair for all three chars.
Cherry Canyon Zone: 0/10 this level is horrid. I played with my friend we both were Sonics. We died in 2 minutes, so we tried this level with Tails. And we died on that last spring part. Thats ridiculous! I had 6 lives before it.
Everyhing with springs, fire or that wierd brown water in this level sucks.
Sunken Cave: 6/10 It wasnt bad but it wasnt as fun as Mushroom hill.
Greenflower Rush Zone: 2/10 This level: Runinng, 2 jumps, Glitchy 3D part, Running, Thok, End of lap. Wow! Is that how you think good circuit should look like?
Disco Dash Zone: 1/10 Turrets and undodgeble spring deaths? This level is really bad. Its as bad as Cherry Canyon but its not so long (and thats good). Another good thing is that this level is possible to complete.

CTF maps:Castle CTF Zone: 0/10 OH MAN - Its canyon CTFs sequel. This level is terible. Teleports work - sometimes. It once locked me and Scizor had to restart game.
Water Hall Zone: 4/10 Not so bad, but its ugly and it wasnt much fun.
Seaside Strike Zone: 6/10 Its really small and fact that upper path is completly worthless isnt making it any better. At least its fun.
Gravity Garden Zone: 8/10 Best CTF zone - those gravity changes makes it more interisting (i would lose against Scizor in one minute without them)
Volcanic Temple Zone: 4/10 Its more like Fire Maze version of Water Hall
 
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By the way, I can't hear any of your overused music selections over my Grooveshark.

Icicle Warehouse Zone by Glaber - 5/10
Hi, Glaber! How ya' doin? You look a lot better since the last time I saw you. At least, your map does. I'm really glad you've gotten rid of all of the problems since we've last talked, I think.

I only have one problem with your map. It's a small nuance I think we've left out of Level Design 101 as a community on the whole, so I'm not surprised you've missed it. There's one small part of the process I wonder if you're missing: Have you asked yourself WHY you're making this map?

It's just that your map reminds me of a road. It's nice and flat and very open. Not hard to traverse at all. Kinda like the freeway. I drive on the freeway because there's some place on the other side of it that's so interesting that I don't mind the drive, however long it is.

Problem is, in SRB2, we don't just throw our arms up and shout "To Grandmother's house we go!" Thing is, in SRB2 we're more focused on the journey itself. There's no reward at the end, not in the same sense that you'd enjoy a nice evening around the fire with all your family.

As I was playing your level, I seriously tried asking myself "Why am I running through this landscape?" No seriously, I did. I can't think of any challenges I'm overcoming, I don't think any of this is terribly beautiful, and I've seen most of this before. You had some nice architectural bits at the beginning, but the novelty of them wore off pretty fast, not to mention they weren't in the entire map. Just a bit.

As I was playing your map, I asked myself "Why do I make maps?" The answer I found was that I wanted to go to these places I had in my head so badly that I made them myself, and I gave them to other people because they'd enjoy being there too.

Flooded Mine Zone 1 by Spongecar - 5/10
You're about as well off as Glaber here. Your map is more interesting than Glaber's, but you're still grappling with some other issues like how big hallways you should use and what kind of things to make the player do which are fun. So I'll ask you a different question instead:

What makes your map memorable? How are you putting your own twist on this idea so that other people look at it and think it's new and different?

And also: Is your map everything you wanted it to be?

Twilight Isles Zone by Thompson - 8/10
Oh my god, you masochistic emo jerk. You do not tell people publicly that you're so friggin' insecure about your own maps. You know what people will do? They'll stomp on your heart. Even if they don't, your heart's gonna feel like it's stomped on anyway because they're not coming by your side to reassure you and say all the things you want them to say.

You see Glaber and Spongecar up there? I'm sugarcoating the truth for them because they can't handle it. So I'll tell you a secret:

I'm deleting both of their maps. I'm keeping yours.

Your map-- Actually, it's not your map, it's you. You have this way of making maps so that, when I'm playing them, I want to see what's next. You make me feel like I'm exploring a brand new, never before seen frontier that's all my own. It's a lovely feeling. I'm going to still be playing this map years from now when I go back through my SRB2 folder and dig up all of the old maps I have lying around. I may not still be on the forums or IRC in that time, but I'll always keep SRB2 with me.

No, your map isn't perfect. No map ever is. (That's another secret.) As you play more maps, you'll begin to open your eyes to those hidden parts of mapping most people gloss over. As you pull mapping apart to its core, you'll decide for each and every part before you whether you want to keep it as part of your style or throw it by the wayside and disown it forever. And as you grow more and more in your style you'll come back to this very map and you'll be able to look at it and know what about it you don't like any more. But nobody can do that for you but yourself.

And if you want to make another map? Don't let us stop you. You're not making maps because you enjoy our praise. You're making maps because you enjoy it. If you're not enjoying mapping right now, then don't make another map just because we like. And if mapping is your favorite thing in the world, don't let our dislike stop you. We can only change your plans if you let us.

Although, I will say this. If I'm still part of this community (Am I now? Was I ever?) and you make a mod made of levels like this, I'll be there for you. And for every OLDC you submit into, I'll be there too. And I'll always like your maps, even if I only say the flaws of your map. Remember, I point out flaws with your maps because I care. When I don't, it looks like this.

And by the looks of it, everyone else is behind you too.
 
Here's my multiplayer division reviews...

Match


MAPM1 - Setting Sands Zone by ZarroTsu - 6/10
Now, I'm sure that this would be dandy and all if it weren't for the fact that it's incredibly huge. Scale it down a bit, especially the center area. Still pretty good, and I liked the new colormap (This place hates OpenGL :<)

MAPM2 - Celestial Sanctuary Zone by Mystic - 7/10
Three words: I. Hate. Pits.
Otherwise, a great level and debatably the best one in this OLDC.

MAPM3 - Quick Cliffs Zone by Scizor300 - Canyon/Match
This is that tiny level that I was going to submit for a previous OLDC, but a number of complications prevented its release. I went through my old level list recently and I rediscovered this. So I went and expanded it a bit.

Note: If you can thok into a spring, you can get anywhere in this level. Bomb ring, SRM (Or at least I think, damn linedef crap for SRM/WRMs now, right?), and the SRM also opens a decent sniping spot.

MAPM4 - Orange Stream Zone by Brawl - 4/10
So, this is the only match level that lagged SRB2 on OpenGL for me, and I have no clue why. The visuals were decent, but some of the things really did not work. Key example being the giant crusher that comes out of the lake from nowhere. The massive clusters of rings were kind of bad, and I saw clumps of ammo in a few spots.


CTF


MAPF1 - Castle CTF Zone by Teleporter 412 - 3/10
This is awesome when you're the only one who knows how to get to the flag, but otherwise it's horrid. The level design is cramped, and the jailing system is completely random.

MAPF2 - Water Hall Zone by Kuba11 - 6/10
Lots of purple, but a great map. The level design flowed pretty well, but it was incredibly easy to get the flag, even as Sonic. The bomb ring location could have stood out a bit more, too.

MAPF3 - Seaside Strike Zone by RedEchidna - 7/10
Well holy damn, Red, for a rush job this is pretty fun. The matches were short but nice, there was a good amount of action, and the item placement was good. The top path was never really used, though.

MAPF4 - Gravity Garden Zone by Charybdizs - 4/10
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA SO MUCH DETAIL!!! But yeah, this is the laggiest portion of my OLDC runthrough while I had my server up. The level was incredibly empty, but it somehow lagged my game pretty bad. The anti-gravity gimmick didn't really work out that well, to be honest. Try adding more level structure, but use less sectors and FOFs.

MAPF5 - Volcanic Temple Zone by Metal Fighter - 5/10
A pretty average map, if you ask me. Try making the lava liquid, using the newer lava textures, and adding some springs into the lava pits.


Circuit


MAPR1 - Mushroom Hill Zone by Simsmagic - 6/10
This map was short but sweet, and the mushroom gimmick was used pretty well. My suggestions would be to make it longer, and maybe use some more texturing.

MAPR2 - Cherry Canyon Zone by Katmint - 4/10
PROTIP: setlives 99 is required in this map. This is the hardest race map I've ever played. The texturing isn't much of a problem, but those flame jets at the crusher lag the entire level, making it a pain in the ass to finish the spring portion. Please remove those flame jets. Please.

MAPR3 - Sunken Cave by Kuba11 - 7/10
Well, this is definetly the best map in the Circuit division. The texturing is great, the flow is nice (Though some springs in certain areas would be nice), and the map is overall great.

MAPR4 - Greenflower Rush Zone by Spongecar - 4/10
Well, I don't really see many 2D maps in the OLDC. The flow was horrid, and there wasn't many hazards other than the unforseen death pits. Bopping the SDURF is funny, though... in some way.

MAPR5 - Disco Dash Zone by Brawl - 2/10
...PFFFFFFFFT HAHAHAHAHAHAH!

The flow was somewhat better than Greenflower Rush, but that's pretty much it. I kept randomly flying off the track, sometimes flying into the death pits, or going just far enough that I just can't get to the spring. The scenery is bad, and the turret made no sense to have in it. Please, I'd rather you do 3D abominations than 2D abominations.


So-so OLDC, at least better than the last one

EDIT: Finally got off my ass and posted some reviews.
 
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Circuit

MAPR1 - Mushroom Hill Zone by Simsmagic - N/A
This was an experiment more than anything. The concept was originally going to be applied to a circuit level last contest (titled "Hoooooooonk Zone" because it wasn't serious.) I started working on this level shortly after the last contest ended, and finished maybe a month ago.

MAPR2 - Cherry Canyon Zone by Katmint - 3/10
Reeeeeeeed everywhere. Texture deviation plzkthxbai
Okay, first of all, this level is much harder and much longer than it should be. Spots where there were damaging water + pit should be replaced with damaging water + solid ground with a spring to jump out. Unfortunately, I can't really say much else because both servers that I've played this map on had everyone game over in the first lap.

MAPR3 - Sunken Cave by Kuba11 - 6/10
Puuuuuuuurple everywhere. Texture deviation plzkthxbai
Maybe this was a deliberate design choice, but when I played this, I kept getting stuck behind various obstacles and needing to jump or otherwise move around them. And not every water block has a colormap while the waterfall at the end does. Consistency would be appreciated.

MAPR4 - Greenflower Rush Zone by Spongecar - 2/10
2D circuit levels do not work.
I would appreciate if you made those water pits have solid ground instead of pits. I may not have gotten a game over on the first lap otherwise. Otherwise it's just platforming over a 2D plane.

MAPR5 - Disco Dash Zone by Brawl - 0/10
2D circuit levels do not work.
Okay seriously. Why are there turrets in a a circuit level? They don't need to be there. They need to be removed. It is a horrible design choice to place enemies in any circuit level. Second point, you REQUIRE checkpoint activator sectors. Multiple times I missed a checkpoint because I jumped over it by accident. Third point, your springs are horribly inconsistent. I could mark it up as a deliberate design decision because it allows you to collect multiple rings in multiple laps, but it still feels worth saying.
 
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