Official Level Design Contest Voting: May/June 2009

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Callum said:
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AFAIL!

I used "Fix missing textures" and gave a walk to see if something bad happened, but I didn't it enough times.

You are being really useful helping me on it.

Callum said:
From the platform in the middle, you can't get out, not even as Sonic.
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Really it was my fault, I should have done more tests and raised up that toggle 16 FU, or lowered border wall. The only way to get out is the monitor bouncing, but this is not so "guessable" at the first try. I agree it's not necessary to get in that "trap" to finish the level, but it'll be fixed anyway.

Next version of MCZ2 will be improved, considering all problems you and others pointed me out. I'm needing precise feedbacks.

Thanks.

Callum said:
Hidden Sanctuary Zone, Act 2 by Ice - 10/10
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
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If Ice wins, he really deserves the award. Although his level is not that epic challenging, is strong and Presence and Immersion. I should quote Mark Overmars:

You might have wondered why we did not talk about graphics yet, or about sound and music. Many people consider them crucial ingredients of a game. New commercial games try to achieve great new graphical effects and hire famous musicians to create the music. So isn't this important? Well, yes and no. If you look at the games available on devices like the Nintendo Game Boy or mobile phones, they have rather poor graphics and the sound is also limited. Still they are great fun to play and many people are addicted to them. On the other hand, some of the best three-dimensional games create a special atmosphere using the right type of music and stunning graphics effects like dripping water, smoke, and flickering torch lights.

The key issue here is immersion. Game play is largely enhanced if the player feels immersed in the game; if he feels that he is present in the game world and that his decisions and actions really matter; and if he becomes emotionally attached to the main characters in the game and really wants to help them. Important ingredients to achieve this immersion are the story in and behind the game, the surroundings in which the game takes place, the way the main characters in the game look and behave, the music, and the special effects.
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glaber said:
The 2 for Glaber Base 5 was expected due to a reputation I'm trying to change.
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Glaber, I played your level and I could say you've improved considering variety and length; your main problem keeps being dimensioning. I'd hardly give you a 2 or 3/10.

Also, I think reputation is not the "thing" that is being rated in this contest (nor in other ones), but level design.
 
Well, I've finally finished voting on all the Single Player maps. I'm rather surprised that Geometric Void is significantly more popular than Green Canyon.
 
Single Player only, because I can't join netgames for too many reasons.

Green Canyon Zone - 4/10 - Letdown.

Wow. What a letdown. I expect more from you, :SonicMaster:.
While the water skip gimmick was somewhat original, there wasn't anything original except for that. It was a bit too easy, and the wall texture was ugly. The graphics were decent otherwise.

Aquatic Labyrinth Zone 2 - 5/10 - HARD.

Okay, this level is like, the opposite of Green Canyon Zone. It was too hard instead of too easy, it was original rather than generic, and it was lagging instead of lag-free. I died 80% of the time because of the lag. It looked pretty decent too.

Hidden Sanctuary Zone 2 - 8/10 - Beautiful.

This level looked BEAUTIFUL. Seriously. It played pretty good too, and it was somewhat original. I really liked the water-fountain-thingy, and the gargoyle contraption too. It wasn't exactly the most inspired level ever, though.

Glaber Base 5 - 3/10 - ...

I never use external characters. I always play with Sonic.
As you can see, I didn't play with Sally, because I don't feel like downloading it. Maybe I missed something, but this level isn't even decent.
It was pretty ugly (for god's sake, keep the sprites intact), it didn't play well, and it was... well, not good.

Cosmic Galaxy Zone - 1/10 - Impossible.

I couldn't beat the level, how hard I tried (15 times, probably). Please, turn down the difficulty. The first jump was almost impossible, the lasers were impossible not to get through unharmed, and the zero-gravity part was... impossible. If you got hurt, you would die. Not to mention it was butt-ugly too.

Flooded Forest Zone - 5/10 - Generic.

It was generic. That's all I have to say, except for the fact that the trees were nice, and it was a bit lame in difficulty.

Factory Farce Zone - 9/10 - Brilliant.

Awesome floor gimmick. That was really nice and original. This level looked very good too, and it had a good length. The music was awesome too. But the gameplay. Epic. This is one of the best levels ever, gameplay-wise. Congratulations.

Mill Citadel Zone 2 - 9/10 - Highly original.

Another winner. Never thought a mill could be so interesting to play in! I loved the spinning wheels and millstones. The level had a good length too. The visuals are a bit bland, but I can't blame you. Mills are a bit bland in real life too.

Greenery Pass Zone 2 - 6/10 - Above average.

The gameplay was very average and generic. It had it's moments though, there were enough paths to take. The visuals were very nice (loved the custom things,sky and music), but it suffered a bit from graphic glitches. The death pits were unexpected though, and they were a bit lame.

This was a pretty good contest guys, perfect way to finish 1.09.4!
Every level was actually at least a bit special in it's own way (Green Canyon Zone is special beacuse it's an uninspired level from :SonicMaster:), because every level had something custom or original.
 
Green Canyon Zone by SonicMaster - 4/10
The adjective to describe this whole level is "bland". There is one gimmick in this stage, and that gimmick removes control from the player for a graphical "oh neat". That's it. The rest of it is generic jumping on grassy platforms over and over again, avoiding Crawlas, and generally FEELING like the level is as old as the textures suggest. I shouldn't be able to hit the sky by jumping from the ground as Sonic unassisted, ever.

Aquatic Labyrinth Zone, Act 2 by Kuja - 9/10
What can I say? I'm a sucker for challenging water levels. This level has SO much territory and stuff to do, and I loved pretty much every minute of it. I especially liked the use of textures to make it look like the water was being held back by a force field of some kind, and the water wall texture was great. That said, there are a few things that could be improved, especially the visuals. So many of the areas were not very detailed (probably for framerate reasons) and the water colormap, while effective, does kinda obscure the air a bit.

Hidden Sanctuary Zone, Act 2 by Ice - 9/10
Wow, this was quite a nice surprise. A really well-made stage with plenty of territory and stuff in it. The stage design is pretty good across the board, with multiple paths and some really clever rooms. Other than the previously mentioned gargoyle contraption, the water spring was clever, and the constant use of waterfalls as "windows" across the stage was really quite great. I also really liked the emerald token I found hidden in the treetops. I do think a few of the areas could use some different items, though. I found WAY too many Silver Ring boxes when I looked around. A little variety in the hidden stuff would go a long way for this map.

Glaber Base 5 by Glaber - 4/10
There's not much to say about this level. It's bland and you're missing textures in a few places. I kept getting flashbacks to SRB2 XMas, but I don't really consider that a positive thing. You have a ton of blank passages with nothing to see, and there isn't really anything original at all in this level.

Cosmic Galaxy by verifiaman - 3/10
Well, there are a few cool ideas, but overall I think everyone here before me has pretty much hit all the points. This just needs MUCH better balancing.

Flooded Forest Zone by Cheese - 3/10
Another contest, another person comes forward to try 2D again and remind us that 2D sucks balls. The level is cute with the leaf platforms and the boss at the end, but really, I spent all my time running head on into a hazard I couldn't see, as well as landing on spikes after blind jumping. This is not fun. Maybe in ME this kind of level will have a chance, so I am SO glad this is the last time I have to play this kind of stuff in 1.09.4

Factory Farce Zone, Act 1 by MattW_CFI - 7/10
Well, there are some cool ideas here, but they aren't particularly fleshed out. The first time I played the stage I didn't even realize there WERE wacky workbench floors, as I avoided them as they looked like they hurt. Some of the architecture here is quite bland, where some of the other areas in the level were really awesome. I like the usage of the pipe FOFs everywhere, though; it adds a lot to the stage.

Mill Citadel Zone, Act 2 by Ezer'Arch - 7/10
While not quite as awesomely original as Act 1, you managed to still add some new gimmicks in the rotational parts of the stage, as well as more cool machinery for whatever kind of grain this mill is carrying. The problem, however, is that there is really a lot of empty space that isn't scenic or interesting. The level could use some more detail, especially in the longer hallways. Otherwise, the platforming is quite solid.

Greenery Pass Zone, Act 2 by Knockout The Echidna - 6/10
Hmm, I really like the usage of new scenery objects and the layout is nice, but there isn't much to this stage. I assume it's designed as an early stage in a mod, and for that it'd do just fine. Just so you know, the diagonal spring into a strong downward spring can cause the player to land on a Crawla. Otherwise, not really much to this stage but nothing objectionable either.
 
Aquatic Labyrinth Act 2 is making me VERY angry...or mabye it's just because of the small amount of lag i'm dieing. I lost track at about 93 deaths, now to just get it over with.
 
It really stinks IMO that people are taking points away from Kuja's level just because their computers suck at running it.
 
Which is why I'm thinking that it won't make it to the level pack I'm slowly working on. Shame.
 
Yeah, I don't really know what to say. You've got half a minute to find an air bubble/get out of the water, and I was a LOT more generous with them than I was in Act 1. There are also Blue Shields in places for those that bother to look for them.

That aside, I've updated my post with comments on each level.

Still haven't found a multiplayer server, though. :(
 
As for running it, perhaps you could just put it through a bit of optimization. A few tricks worked wonders for Botanic Serenity, and that was an obscenely open level. Just clean up your linedefs. (yeah... in case I made it sound easy... its not, but it is bound to help anyway)
 
OK, Circuit and CTF naoz...

Circuit:

Submerged Cavern Zone by Cheese: 3/10
There's quite a few problems here. First, I get that it's optional to press the button, but if you don't it makes the race go slower. Also, I had at least one cheap death every time I tried the level. Here's a prime example: as Sonic, you have to thok into the yellow springs to get through the second room, or it's a cheap death. Need I go farther?

Star Reactor by Kuja: 3/10
This was a really long thokfest. It was really long. And a thokfest. XD
Anyway, there's also a cheap death for first-timers to the level near the end of the lap; first time I did it, I tried to go straight and landed straight into the pit.

Overall:
Pitiful races. Well, there will probably be better ones coming in the first 2.0 OLDC, so I can hope for that.

Capture the Flag:

Geometric Void by SonicMaster: 7/10
lol it's PAZ on CTF XD KTHXBAI. Much better platforming than Nimbus Ruins has, plus you can come from under the platforms as Tails. Plus it's not as bland as Nimbus Ruins is. Could've had a better mix of weapon rings, but it still works.

Daimondus CTF Zone 2 by Glaber: 3/10
O NOOOOOOOOOOEZ! You should have just done the Daimondus Match, and that would have sufficed! Sapphire Falls CTF is lame for a reason. It's just too big, plus the random monitor passageway has some visual glitches. Oh, and two easy-to-get random monitors provides more cheapness. You could say that this level has Glaber Syndrome!

Illuminated City Zone by Cheese: 7/10
Soooo, a CTF version of Starlit Warehouse, eh? With awesomeness, too! First, it's not bland! It actually has a variety to the level. Sniper bomb isn't the optimal weapon ring choice since it's open, but use it in the area below ground, and it's a lot of fun. Also, nice touch with the conveyor stairs; I actually didn't know that's what they were until I played a few games of it.

Overall:
Some really good CTF levels came out of this contest! I only had issues with the weapon rings on the good levels. Aaaaaaaand then there was Glaber's CTF level. XD Anyway, Single Player should come soon. (hopefully on time =_=)
 
I...uh...didn't die at all on my first attempt and beat Aquatic Labyrinth 2, no problem. I then proceeded to get a Game Over the next attempt because I didn't take the level seriously and thokked everywhere, but after that I didn't have an issue. The level is not THAT hard.
 
Mystic said:
I...uh...didn't die at all on my first attempt and beat Aquatic Labyrinth 2, no problem. The level is not THAT hard.
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I died about 3-4 tries because of cheap deaths like the floor crushing me.

That only because Mystic trained me.
 
I lost count of my deaths, but it was definitly somewhere over 10. I'm grateful for that one extra life Kuja placed. :P
 
glaber said:
Well of course not for you, you're a pro player. I'm not.
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Don't think you can really call people "pro" players for a casual fangame.

I only died once on my first run, though like Mystic, I got a lot of deaths while trying to speedrun and stuff.
 
Derp, first time doing ratings for levels in a long time. Not doing single player since I dislike single player entirely;

Match:
Diamondus Battle by Glaber: 4/10
The first thought I got from playing this was that it looked too similar to Sapphire Falls. Second thought, while it played well in some areas I found it hard to move around since mostly everything felt so damned cramped.

Aerial Match Zone 2 by Cheese: 4/10
I didn't particularly like this map so much. I see great potential for it to become a good map, but I was shortly reminded of that one space map from Demo 4 which I forgot the name of.

CTF:
Geometric Void Zone by SonicMaster: 2/10
Too much like Nimbus ruins, only with smaller platforms. I felt this map was hard to navigate through without falling into a bottomless pit every few seconds. You can't fight or defend very well either. Good looking scenery though, I can say that.

Diamondus CTF2 by Glaber: 3/10
Again, too much like Sapphire falls. While I do like the thought of you adding multiple pathway points, I just didn't feel a good flow coming from them, also a tad cramped too. Scenery was needed at the bases I might add as well.

Illuminated City Zone by Cheese: 5/10
First thought, I got from playing this map is that it seemed too similar to Starlit Warehouse, only with extra doors and an underground passageway. What I disliked is how the bases were so close together with a few simple thoks of getting to the other side without any complications in the way. I also disliked how the doors were one-way-only. This could make it very infuriating for one person trying to get the flag and not knowing where he/she is because a door might not open.
I thought this map was alright though in terms of playability.

Circuit:
Submerged Cavern Zone by Cheese: 6/10
I felt particularly fond of the challenge rating of this map, one person stated in a netgame that this map has a moral of "Watch yourself! You don't know what dangers are around the corner", or something along those lines. I also liked the fact how Tails players might be able to keep up with Sonic players in this map too. Too many deaths though and chances to screw yourself over into a death, try lessening them for the next map you make.

Star Reactor by Kuja: 8/10
Oh boy, such detail and a wide open areas. Good for you! This map I can consider my favorite in this month's OLDC. I loved the fact how you added some separate pathway for Tails players, giving a chance for them to stay in the race. I can't tell you how many times I chose Tails trying to keep up with Sonic players and loosing almost every time.
My suggestion? In the next map you make, try making Tails pathways work faster and stop them in an area where they are just ahead of the Sonic players. You might also want to remove the lasers since I've always had a troubling time getting through those. You also might want to shorten the map, this seemed a little long for a 4 lap race.
 
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