Official Level Design Contest Voting: September/October 2008

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FuriousFox

FuriousFox

AKA FuriousFox
Retired Staff
Welcome to the September/October 2008 contest voting. We have 14 Multiplayer maps and 9 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 November 8th at midnight GMT (November 7th, 7:00 PM EST). The scores will be then averaged, and the person with the highest score is the winner.

The maps follow:

Single Player Level Pack

Single Player:
Freezing Flare Zone, Act 2 by Simsmagic
Skyline Paradise Zone by fawfulfan
Electric Dungeon Zone by Roy
Red Desert Zone by SonicMaster
Dimension Glaber Special Stage 2 by Glaber
Frost Mountain Zone, Act 1 by HyperKnux
Water Ruins Zone by Donovan The Hedgehog
Snowpoint Land Zone, Act 1 by Superusuario
Geothermal Volcano Zone by verifiaman


Match/CTF/Circuit Contest Level Pack

Match:
MAPA1 - Gameboy Valley Zone by SonicMaster
MAPA2 - Treehouse Sanctuary Zone by Ice
MAPA3 - Grassy Pier Zone by astar
MAPA4 - Submerged Sanctuary Zone by ss47
MAPA5 - Dark Fort Zone by Knockout The Echidna

CTF:
MAPA6 - Opposition Zone by SonicMaster
MAPA7 - Green Valley Zone by N.Cenz
MAPA8 - Contaminated Gourge Zone by Shrike
MAPA9 - Lift Bridge Zone by Ezer.Arch
MAPAA - Zero Star Zone by ss47
MAPAB - Techno Base Zone by Blade T. Hedgehog

Circuit:
MAPAC - Quicksand Forest Zone by SonicMaster
MAPAD - No Name Forest Zone by Glaber
MAPAE - Warped Woods Zone by Jazz

Please make sure to play the levels in the intended gametype, and above all, have fun judging!
 
Good stuff. Should be interesting to see what we've got here since it seems to be a large turnout mapwise.

Also a note on my map Warped Woods: It uses fog blocks extensively, so some parts of it look visually broken in OpenGL mode. The map is still perfectly playable in OpenGL, but I would highly suggest playing it in Software mode for maximum viewing pleasure, etc.
 
As a reminder to you all, if you see an illegal entry, this is what you should do:

1. Explain why the map shouldn't be there

2. Post a link or proof of why it should be disqualified

3. Judge it exactly like a legal entry without any point drops because of it

When we see that, we will know that it is disqualified and even if that map is first overall, it won't count as a winner.

Carry on.
 
Red desert zone 9/10
I really liked it. nice, big and you put in custom textures and you didnt use them all over the place. Gotta respaect that.
sky paradise zone 4/10
tsk tsk Ive seen better. there were some textures mising and I couldnt find my way around. And a single sky texture does not make a good decoration
snowpoint land zone 2/10
I had made some bad levels but heres some things id wouldnt do.
I hardly ever overuse gimmicks, and i never thik of making a level that short.
Game boy valley 10/10
Excellent. Good level godd concept you even made it colorless like the gameboy
Dimension Glaber Special Stage 2 5/10
Not as good as your first one. in your first one you combined
single player with the special stage you made it a trek.
 
Freezing Flare Zone 2 by Simsmagic - 5/10
Your first mistake was the music. I extremely dislike Super Mario Galaxy, so the music instantly connected your zone and Galaxy, which didn't help my opinion of your level. Now that I think about it, it feels like the entire idea for the zone (hot/cold) was ripped from Galaxy.

Other than that, I dislike the bare-bones style of level design which only features the bare essentials necessary for gameplay.

Skyline Paradise Zone by fawfulfan - 3/10
I can't deny that some of the concepts behind this zone are incredibly cool, but NiGHTS maps are generally more difficult to make, which is why there's a comparatively few amount of NiGHTS maps in circulation. And even fewer of them are worth playing.

Needless to say, stay away from NiGHTS levels for a few years before you try to do this again. Seriously.

Electric Dungeon Zone by Roy - 4/10
Eww, gamedata.

Also incredibly bare boned. It felt like the level was dragged on for more content. I really do think it would've been more interesting to have a shorter map with more work put into it. I mean, some of the gimmicks were cool, but it didn't save the level.

Red Desert Zone by SonicMaster - 6/10
After all of that other crap I've played, I only have good things to say about this level. I don't recognize the music, it's not stale and overdone, and it actually doesn't suck.

But then, I see things I dislike. The red sand looked more like Doritos, there's no new gimmicks, and I honestly have no reason to replay this level to try to find anything new or fresh. See, that's the difference between uninteresting levels and levels I want to come back to: Interesting levels can provide me with something I've never seen before. I want to come back to those levels again and again just to see that one unique thing that's just so awesome. Your level couldn't provide that, so it won't be remembered.

How do I suggest you fix this? Find something that inspires you. Find something that drives you to create things that are new and different. If you're just doing the same old routine every time, we'll always be treating your maps the same way. Nothing will change, and you won't grow in your mapping and you'll never become anything more than you are now.

Dimension Glaber Special Stage 2 by Glaber - 2/10
Um, I'm not sure how to put this. Well, if you don't like playing it yourself, then nobody else will.

Also, I liked the music. Where was it from?

Frost Mountain Zone 1 by HyperKnux - 7/10
Sweet mercy, this is the first true breath of fresh air so far. You, sir, have won my vote because you are actually using more than an eighth of your brain. I mean, this has all the same quirks as all of the rest of your levels (linear, small scale, a little bit cramped), but that feels like only a minor drawback. You have my eternal thanks.

Water Ruins Zone by Donovan The Hedgehog - 1/10
I feel like there should be some redeeming quality here, but I just can't find one. All I did was hold right and thok-thok-thok to the end of the level. Really now, shouldn't levels be a little bit more fun than this?

Snowpoint Land Zone 1 by Superusuario - 4/10
Despite how incredibly bare-bones this was, the challenges made this level more fun than Sonic Master's. The length was also fitting, and it didn't kill the level's difficulty. Granted, I wish the water didn't hurt you, but that's easily fixable by turning on god.

I do feel like I'm being a little bit lenient, though.

Geothermal Volcano Zone by verifiaman - 1/10
Come back and talk to us after you're serious about mapping.
 
Voting for Circut:

Quicksand Forest 2/10

Nothing special to say about it, it was a thokfest, with one path, and nothing was really interesting, it could even be compared to Quicksand Ruins.

No Name Forest 4/10

Gamplay was fun, and it wasn't a drillfest, but the obsticalse were too unexpected. Also, the arrows didn't help too much with avoiding things either.

Warped Woods 7/10

After playing this in a lagless server, and using the other two characters, I realized that its quite balanced. I actually managed to beat a Sonic player with Tails, granted he died, but still, I beat him. :D
 
Single Player.

Dimension Glaber Special Stage 2 by Glaber - 2/10
This isn't how a special stage should be. One, I only just finished it before time ran out. Two, all of the textures blend into each other so I pretty much can't see anything interesting. The size was OK, I guess, but there wasn't anything that any other special stage doesn't do, either.

Freezing Flare Zone, Act 2 by Simsmagic - 4/10
Freezeflame Galaxy is all I can start this one off with. The music for one. Any way, the transition from ice to fire was interesting, but apart from that it was pretty meh. Cramped passages, no colormap, no slippage on the ice, no current for that river part, and alot of no jumping, just straight running with little danger. It was also on the short side too. But the transition with the music was unexpectedly smooth somehow o_O and I guess the design isn't THAT bad. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to, so, it's just a bit below average for a map.

Geothermal Volcano Zone by verifiaman - 1/10
Um, wow. Just, wow. Short, non-fitting textures, huge pits of death concealed by opaque lava (no colormap either), no sense of direction, random and big instant kill block, abrupt ending to the level, needing invincibility monitor to get past an otherwise incredibly easy part. I am going to guess this is your first level? Maybe it would have been better to put this in Editing rather than the OLDC. The filename doesn't reflect the zone name either.

Skyline Paradise Zone by fawfulfan - 4/10
Better than the other maps I've reviewed so far >_>. Once again, another NiGHTS map in the contest, although this one doesn't stack up well to other ones like Botanic Serenity. I was stopping constantly to go around a corner or obstacle, this broke up the flow alot. And pretty much everything didn't fit with the flow of the level, was slowing down constantly to get things. And the level was also the easiest above 150 links (can't remember what I got) I've ever gotten in ANY NiGHTS level.
Breath of fresh air, but still not good enough to be called "decent".

Water Ruins Zone by Donovan The Hedgehog - 0/10
This level is exactly why no one uses stock 2D mode in levels anymore. It just doesn't work. I couldn't go fast, because I would get owned for moving too fast and can't see whats right in front of me, I almost fell into a death pit with a crumbling platform, there was nothing in front of me to slow me down, just empty space, just pressing right all the time. Not fun. No detail in the background, no enemies, pretty much no rings at all, boring to look at, boring and unfair to play. Yeah.

Frost Mountain Zone, Act 1 by HyperKnux - 6/10
Thank you, HyperKnux. I almost just quit SRB2 and just posted here that ALL the SP levels in the contest were terrible. You just showed me here that occasionally some levels that pass through here DO have potential. The landscape was interesting to look at, because it's so...different to what I'm used to in SRB2. And it played alright as well, I was finally jumping and ENJOYING some of the platforming for the first time in this contest review. But this doesn't mean that the level doesn't have problems. Apart from being a little different, it doesn't really do anything that utterly amazes me. Nothing that makes me really want to come back to this level and play it over and over. And, GET. RID. OF. THE. DETONS. Oh yeah, and the music should have looped, and it was kinda cramped in some places. Apart from that, it's a pretty fair map.

Red Desert Zone by SonicMaster - 8/10
Yes, a good map. Nicely done, SonicMaster. A good desert level hasn't been done in a while, good looks, and plays pretty well, lots of paths to take, and a bit of secrets as well. I love the custom textures and the custom trees, the upside down flames and gargoyles, and the retracting spikes were pretty damn exotic as well. But I struggled to give it an 8. Some of the gimmicks have been done alot already, and the music is pretty unmemorable IMO. And some moving objects were kind of stiff as well. And it had a really bad deja vu feeling like "Haven't I already played this before?" These issues made it less than 8, but it's better than a 7, but since this IS the best map in the pack, I gave it 8 anyway.

Snowpoint Land Zone, Act 1 by Superusuario - 2/10
Meh, like most of the others. Huge empty open space, giant armies of crawlas, sparce rings and thin slippery ice platforms which are incredibly easy to slip off and die. Your fake floors haven't got a side texture set as well.

Electric Dungeon Zone by Roy - 5/10
Again, better than some of the other maps that have been entered. But, it's not perfect. I like how the switch echoes "activating lift...", the custom door sounds (though they don't sync with the doors, which does make it look unrealistic), the cute "B-B-Boss time!" cecho from Sonic 1 Megamix, the change of focus to the Master Emerald when you beat the boss and some other things I forgot. It has quite a few problems as well though. I got lost on some of the parts because where the switch does something was not completely obvious, there were camera teething problems during the boss fight, and there were some uninteresting hallways filled with enemies. But the third one is just a niggle I guess. This is an average map, I guess.
 
Single Player votes sorted by score:

Frost Mountain Zone, Act 1 by HyperKnux 7/10

Very nicely done. Enemies and platforming were balanced and fun to boot. Environment was also an interesting take on the mountain theme and I thought it fit quite well. This contest may yet see the light of day.

My main beef is with two things, the first thing is you really need to fix your offsets. Go into 3D mode in SRB2Doombuilder, look at your walls and press "A." Wherever you have stair-stepped sectors, all the wall textures are garbled and need to be smoothed out. The other issue is that many places in the map are quite a bit too small. This was well suited for your platforming aspects, but it did inhibit flow to a moderate degree. We should be able to run as well as jump.

Otherwise, this is a decent accomplishment indeed.

Red Desert Zone by SonicMaster 7/10

Another nicely done map. While your platforming was generally uninteresting, the map had very nice flow and balance of gimmicks. Your environment could have really used those custom rock textures we discussed. Would have improved an already fresh look. Still wish you could have used that hieroglyph texture elsewhere.

My beef is that despite the balance of gimmicks and flow, your platforming is generally not very challenging. It seems to me that both you and Hyperknux seem to specialize in creating maps that do one of the two things (flow/platforming) well and the other not so well.

We need to fuse you two together or something. >.>

Electric Dungeon Zone by Roy 5/10

Lots of flat areas with lots of crawlas. Fortunately there were more than a few interesting obstacles. The "beat the boss and then go get the emerald" was actually a pretty interesting idea. However, most of the map is just flat and littered with hordes of enemies.

Freezing Flare Zone, Act 2 by Simsmagic 4/10

Nothing broken in particular but many things dragged this map down. The first was the overall flatness and emptiness of your map punctuated by sharp angled stairs downward and upward. This only served to break flow, as well as the maze-like sections within some areas. I see no issue with the theme or music, but the depth of gameplay here needs a serious boost.

Skyline Paradise Zone by fawfulfan 4/10

I have to give you props. Most people can't create NiGHTS levels in any fashion. However, this map was simply a long drillfest filled with oodles and oodles of rings.

Snowpoint Land Zone, Act 1 by Superusuario 3/10

It is definitely an improvement from your submission last contest. Unfortunately, this one is riddled with a different problem: artificial difficulty. Yes, your level was relatively difficult, but hopping from one tiny platform to the next isn't the way to go about it. I would suggest taking a look at SonicMaster and Hyperknux's maps. See how they made their maps differently from yours.

Water Ruins Zone by Donovan The Hedgehog 1/10

I think I popped a crawla and hit a spring. Other than that, I simply right-clicked my way out of the level. In all seriousness, a level needs to have more depth and challenge than simply running along the floor and thokking.

Dimension Glaber Special Stage 2 by Glaber 1/10

Yellow rings against yellow background. Run around and circles and collect rings that blend into everything. Not much to say about this one.

Geothermal Volcano Zone by verifiaman 0/10

A map utterly devoid of anything other than cheap traps and empty space. Please try again.
 
Well, here's the maps I have played with so far.


Freezing Flare Zone: 5/10
This map is really flat, and and cramped. There's not much to say about this level- you just run thok and pop a few enemies. I liked the idea however.

Electric Dungeon Zone: 2/10
This stage is really, really, flat. It's also a button hunt, and filled with enemies. Pushing the buttons to go on felt more like a chore then a challenge, and one or two Jettys would have been fine in certain parts, but instead you used 10 to make the level harder.

Electric Dungeon Zone (Match): 1/10
You took a part out of your level and made it an arena. It's small, flat, and not very exciting. And the buttons don't do anything.

Snowpoint Land zone: 3/10
This level...... hard. That's usually good, but in this case it isn't. You put a bunch of crawlas in the beginning for no reason. Then, you put small platforms that are not only hard to jump on to, but slippery. And I was getting confused about where I was going; a lot of things look the same. Also, those lives are too easy to get.

Water Ruins: 1/10
This stage is simply WAY too short. I finished it in about 15 seconds, which could have been 10 is I didn't fall into some water. What there is in the level, is very flat and bland.

More later..
 
Freezing Flare Zone, Act 2 by Simsmagic - 4/10
A bit flat. Not enough indication whether ice water hurts you or not, and the themes don't transition very well. It was also a bit flat in the ice area. The maze in the ice area sucked too, and had walls you can thok into.



Skyline Paradise Zone by fawfulfan - 3/10
With the recent popularity of NiGHTS levels, we seriously need it's own Level Design 101. This level was cramped, maze-like, had a poor layout, was bland at times and didn't start out close enough to the NiGHTS Drone. You also had a problem with emblems being underground. And why's there an end sign? NiGHTS levels do not have end signs.


Electric Dungeon Zone by Roy - 5/10
The no level reset thing really doesn't work on this map. I hit the lift button, then hit the water button right after it, got killed by the cheap water that appeared from nowhere, and I couldn't get back in that room because there was a giant textureless wall in the way. That aside, there were also many cheap deaths and way too much button pressing. At least this map was kinda decent, but you could have done much better.


Red Desert Zone by SonicMaster - 7/10
Terrible music, annoying platforming, and there was something else about it that really made it seem uninteresting.


Dimension Glaber Special Stage 2 by Glaber - 3/10
Blech. Special stages. Even the original ones are better than this. :P I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the rings are hard to see, since everyone else has probably done that already. Also, the music was kinda weird.


Frost Mountain Zone, Act 1 by HyperKnux - 6/10
Palmtree Panic Past? You sure that music fits? Anywho, it had lots of platforming, but it was a bit cramped here and there and it was also linear. It did look rather nice. I can't say I've seen a level that looks like this before. Overall, good work.


Water Ruins Zone by Donovan The Hedgehog - 1/10
Flat and bland. Also, why are there 3 life boxes at the start when you can't even die in this stage that easily.


Snowpoint Land Zone, Act 1 by Superusuario - 3/10
Snowpoint is an overused name. Plus, you would have been better off calling it Snowpoint or Snow Land rather than Snowpoint Land. Anyway, as for the stage itself, it's much better than Waterfail Town. It's nice to see that you're improving (bonus point for that). It still didn't play that well, though. Some parts were thokfests (and I play as Tails) while other parts were very cramped and, combined with the slippery floors, were a pain in the butt. It's not easy to make a good Ice-themed level. Visually, everywhere looked the same, and there wasn't much variation in the scenery at all. I reckon you should have made it darker, since it's hard to tell depth in snow levels when it's at that brightness. Besides, isn't your level supposed to be at night time?

Oh, and one more thing:

I'll be blunt. They look more like penises than icicles.


Geothermal Volcano Zone by verifiaman - 1/10
"Ooh! What's this white thing! Oh, now I'm dead"
I don't appreciate being punished for my curiosity. Anyway. The level looked and played terribly and the falling lava was annoying. I had more fun with Superusario's map, and his has virtually no platforming at all.
 
Ctf Maps:
  • Opposition Zone
    Good map, there are many part to run with the flag.
    Design: Good
    Points:8/10

    Contaminated Gourge Zone
    This map gives a challenge, is not that easy to pass through
    Design: Good
    Points: 7/10

    Lift Bridge Zone
    Nothing more than, "Awesome map"
    Design: Nice
    Points: 10/10

    Zero Star Zone
    This map needs more parts to pass through. Its very playable though
    Design: Average
    Points: 5/10

    Techno Base Zone
    This would be better for race but its one of the most original maps i have seen , this has potential so keep the good work.
    Design: Good
    Points: 8/10
Match Maps:
  • Gameboy Valley Zone
    I'll say what i think in 3 words "Awesome and original"
    Design: Nice
    Points: 10/10

    Treehouse Sanctuary Zone
    I like how the trees look, Simple and very playable
    Design: Good
    Points: 9/10

    Grassy Pier Zone
    Please Improve next time, the water doesnt look good , too flat, etc
    Design: Poor
    Points: 3/10

    Submerged Sanctuary Zone
    Good map, but you should add more parts outside the water
    Deisgn: Good
    Points: 6/10

    Dark Fort Zone
    This map is very playable , it's simple and it's Original
    Design: Good
    Points: 9/10

My comments arent so long.
so deal with it =P
 
Well, I'm quite surprised. All this time, I thought Red Desert would surely be less well-received than Poison Palace, but so far, the votes tally a 7.40, which is actually my highest so far. I thought it was funny when BZ4 said the red sand looks like Doritos. They actually kind of DO look like Doritos.
 
Snowpoint Land Zone, 5/10
This is actually the most perfect and fun platforming on ice I've ever witnessed. Unfortunately, that's almost all of what this stage is. It needs more stuff, and while it does have secrets, it should have more of that, too. Also, having multiple paths helps. But I was quite surprised by this one.

DimenGlabSpecial II, 7/10
In all honesty, the stage is nearly flawless. I really see nothing wrong with this stage except for texture choice. The floating ring arrangements were lovely, and the entire stage was well thought-out. It just wasn't particularly interesting because it was a Special Stage. Now, if it were a super-gimmicky Special Stage, maybe I might give a higher score if it were as well-balanced as this. But as it stands, 7/10. A very good Special Stage as it is, and it would fit very well in a mod.

Skyline Paradise Zone, 2/10
The design of this level suggests that you haven't played Botanic Serenity, NiGHTS into Dreams, or NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. I never thought anyone would make a NiGHTS level where you would get lost on the track itself. The visuals were very poor, which killed a lot of the level right there. The object placement itself was really bad. I suggest you go and read both NiGHTS sections in Level Design 101.

Geothermal Volcano Zone, 1/10
Uh, this is very, very bland and flat, and it also has very poor visuals. With its severe lack of detail, the level also didn't need to be that wide. The lava fall went way too fast; I thokked just right after an opening to have myself be killed. The non-linearity was nice, but it didn't save the map as a whole. Also, as intuitive as it is to force us to use invincibility to dive into a hazard, it still comes off as being lame, and the fact that the red springs were camouflaged hurt it even more. I give you props for putting three monitors right in a row, because I immediately was hinted that that's what you wanted me to do. That would have been nice if you could have just as effectively hinted me with the fog. White fog in the middle of nowhere often hints the presence of a teleporter, not instant death. Also, End Signs would have been nice.

Water Ruins Zone, 0/10
http://wiki.srb2.org/wiki/Level_Design_101#2D_Single_Player
http://wiki.srb2.org/wiki/Aesthetic_Tips#Other_Tips (Well, it's nice that it has some 3D depth, but not enough to look cool.)

Boinciel said:
If we can set some sort of standard here [with 2D mode] then nobody will even think about doing the flat levels again.
Click to expand...

Freezing Flare Zone Act 2, 4/10
No improvement since your previous beta. What is with the Super Ring Monitor at the beginning that's actually a trap? Kinda reminds me in Crazy Gadget if you pulled the first left-gravity lever in the last room. X_X Anyway, the actual layout is bland, easy, linear, and uninspirational. The lack of colormap is actually kinda cool-looking, to be honest. It's a nice, but probably unintentional nod to Bigboi's April Showers. The most intuitive thing in the level were the SDURFs in the lava. The lava falls looked quite neat, too. Unfortunately, it just didn't play nicely.

Electric Dungeon Zone, 4/10
Some of the neatest ideas inserted into a rather bland stage with a lot of cheap deaths. I really, really like your usage of scripts, and the fact that the boss wasn't the end of the stage was rather intuitive as well. The striped lasers were also cool. I have to complain about how some gimmicks are not needed to complete the level as well as the water that kills you. Putting the whole stage over a death pit isn't always a bad idea, but it was in this case. Overusage of enemies as well. This really had potential, but the cheap deaths and blandness turned this stage into lackluster. =/

Red Desert Zone, I'm/lame puns
I wrote the custom music myself. MSGS is a problem, and Ebmaj7(b5) + Sitar + String Ensemble can be a bit annoying, but oh well, I still like it. Really, I didn't think the stage would be so well-received.

Frost Mountain Zone Act 1, 8/10
This was wonderful! I highly enjoyed this stage from beginning to end. I was quite disappointed with how short this level was, and the fact that there's only one set of branching paths, a left path and a right path. Some of the platforming was too small and tedious; some death pits were badly placed; some platforms blended in, causing me to fall in a pit; and we really could lose the Deton. Still, it managed to have a lot of platforming and still go quite quickly. This would be a great addition to Chaos Twilight. This is your best level ever.
 
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