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Old 11-01-2009   #21


Single Player:
Gothic Gardens Zone, Act 1 by VX501 - ew/10 (Technically, I didn't finish this, so I can't give a rating)
Graceful Coast Zone by D00D64 - 4/10 Glitches cost you the 5
Refurbished Gadgetry Zone by SonicMaster - 7/10
Magma Core Zone, Act 2 by Blade - 7/10

MAPM1 - Battle Forest Zone by Aaron
MAPM2 - Misty Mesa Zone by fawfulfan
MAPM3 - Acid Comet Zone by D00D64 - 4/10
MAPM4 - Icicle Warehouse Zone by glaber - 8/10 aaaa hectic
MAPM5 - Volcanic Desolation Zone by Scizor300 - 2/10
MAPM6 - Azure Lake Zone by KO.T.E - biased/10 snk <3
MAPM7 - 30 Minute Zone by RedEchidna - 2/10

MAPF1 - Canyon CTF Zone by Eggmanfan - 1000/10 highlight of the pack
MAPF2 - Ancient Arboretum Zone by Com Rante
MAPF3 - Red River Zone by darkbob1713
MAPF4 - Sunshower Canyon Zone by D00D64
MAPF5 - Techno Laser Zone by KO.T.E
MAPF6 - Iron Turret Returns Zone by Neo
MAPF7 - La Villa Strangiato Zone by Penopat

MAPR1 - Frostbite Peak Zone by RedEchidna - 8/10 lol mystic sucks at this stage
MAPR2 - Egg Flower Zone by Mach = 8/10 this stage too


Last edited by Kaysakado; 11-01-2009 at 02:16 PM.
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Old 11-01-2009   #22
VX501's Avatar

Originally Posted by Kaysakado View Post
Originally Posted by D00D64 View Post
MAPF1 - Canyon CTF Zone by Eggmanfan: 0/10
No, I am not kidding. This map is so bad it's UNPLAYABLE TO A HEAVY DEGREE. Rocks over the flag, barely any rings (undeaf'd, no less), most rings being team based, unfunctional quick sand...whatever the hell that was supposed to be, and ridiculously cramped. Easily the lousiest map here.
Kaysakado, you're being sarcastic, right?
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Old 11-01-2009   #23
dispenser erection
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Quite clearly he gave him a 1000/10, VX501. He just likes it THAT much that he feels it can go above and beyond the barriers made by the contest rules.

Anyways, might as well state my reasoning for this CTF map I made.

Rush job! I made it today after realizing there was about 7 hours left to submission. I understand it's not remarkable at all, but I feel like I did a passable job considering time constraints and me attempting to something purely original. And don't whine about the music.
Originally Posted by supa tails
Ok... Normaly, I would give a complement on something EVEN if it was TERRIBEL!!! And I hope I dont hurt your feelings or anything because I am not trying to be mean, but... THIS LEVEL IS TERRIBAL + !!!!!!!!
I sure wish my MB name was changed to Penopat...

Last edited by Penopat; 11-01-2009 at 06:20 AM.
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Old 11-01-2009   #24
i 2 i
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Explanations when I feel like it.

Graceful Coast: 6/10


Magma Cavern 2: 8/10

Refurbished Gadgetry: 5/10

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Old 11-01-2009   #25
Mystic's Avatar

I won't be voting yet either, but I'd like to remind everyone of something:

For the love of god, do not place ? monitors in your level. ? monitors are not weighted and hence will give stuff like Recyclers and Teleports just as frequently as it'll give a Super Ring. This makes them infinitely annoying and many of the rarer items are rare for a reason.
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Old 11-01-2009   #26
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Well, it's been awhile since I've voted in a contest, so here goes. I played VX501 and SonicMaster's levels twice, Blade's level three times, and I spent about 15 minutes before giving up on trying to figure out D00D64's level.

Gothic Gardens Zone, Act 1 by VX501 - 2/10

It is pretty clear that you have a functional knowledge of making a map in SRB2. That's one half of the battle. Unfortunately the map that you've created simply isn't that much fun.

Generally, the beginning of the map is too cramped. The diagonal spring at the very beginning doesn't seem to lead anywhere. Was that an oversight? The area with the cannon floor was an interesting idea, but easily bypassed by jumping and air strafing, or simply dropping down to the floor and taking the alternate path. Perhaps you could have forced the player to cross a wider version of the cannon bridge, where you force the player to actually time his jumps? The green slime room is rather oddly textured. I'd choose one brick texture, rather than two or three. The final area is way too large and unfocused. There is a lot of empty space that you could easily do without. Also, the area lacked direction, as I had to switch from Sonic to Tails to find the end of the level.

Overall, it is clear that you have the knowledge of how to make a level. You just need to work on your design.

Graceful Coast Zone by D00D64 0/10

Cannot complete the level. Took me ten minutes to accidentally find a zoom tube to take me to another dead end. Stopped bothering after that.

Refurbished Gadgetry Zone by SonicMaster 5/10

Generally good ideas, but lackluster execution. I loved the idea of having a two rooms flipped on top of each other than work as a separate path. Unfortunately, neither path seemed inspired. There was a lot of generic platforming going on in this map.

There are some really good ideas that could use some elaboration and improvement in this or a future work: Your "light to dark" room is a great idea. The awkward jumps aren't. The "spike platform room" was also a great idea, except the sector based spike collision causes the platform to appear lower than you are actually aiming for, causing numerous cheap deaths. Also, that path is too short. I should be at the skin of my teeth running out of invincible time at the end. Your "megaman path" bonus area was a cool too, except it just followed one pattern. Had it snaked around in a slightly more complicated fashion, it could have been one wild ride.

Overall, you had more than a few good ideas, just not so good on the implementation.

Magma Core Zone, Act 2 by Blade 8/10

This level kept me on my toes throughout without being overstaying its welcome, and without being cheap. Honestly, I enjoyed the vast majority of this level. It only has a few minor flaws.

I liked how you used sector based "wheel" flame jets. I wish you had done that for the other wall based flame jets in the level. Without seeing some kind of evidence of a flame jet, knowing where they are is a crap shoot. Generally the rock spawners were a nice touch, but perhaps you could have combined them with harder obstacles later on to make them seem less repetitive. The only room I felt was particularly uninspired was the room where you seemed to use the exact same lava column about 50 times with thin wooden frames to jump on to get across. It just seemed less natural than the rest of the level. The fire enemies were overall a fitting addition, but you could probably tone down on the amount of fire they spew out to make them more in line with other flame jets. Especially since the fire they spew out is a lot thicker.

Honestly, I liked this level quite a bit. I played through it an extra time for posterity. As a closing aside, the light fading in when you fell into the level, the light in the elevator and the tunnel collapse scene were really nice touches.

Will judge multiplayer later when I catch a netgame.
Now that's a real game logo.

Last edited by Jazz; 11-01-2009 at 05:39 AM. Reason: it is
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Old 11-01-2009   #27
Formerly known as 'Neo'
Fred's Avatar

Originally Posted by Mystic View Post

Then why does the random monitor even exist in the first place? I'll admit I made this mistake, apparently. I had no idea the random monitor didn't pick stuff from the random table.
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Old 11-01-2009   #28
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It exists for Race mode, but to be honest it's not particularly important. It has an object because the item exists in-game and it might as well.

When placing monitors in your map for Match/CTF, please make sure to use flag 8 for weak random respawn and flag 4 for strong random respawn. Don't use ? monitors for anything as they will make your map worse.
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Old 11-01-2009   #29
DS # 1
One Rude Dewd.
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JUST tried them out, I give them all a perfect 10/10.

(DS # 1 received an infraction for this post: Do not spam. Put actual content in your posts.)
Got high speed internet at home finally.
Xbox LIVE Gamertag: DarkShadic13
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Old 11-01-2009   #30
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Gothic Gardens Zone, Act 1 by VX501 -- 4/10
First ok, you should have used Grass pegging. some parts was cramped. I also didn't find any alt paths, so there was no real reason to play it again. Fairly boring.

Graceful Coast Zone -- D00D64 -- 6/10
This map looks pretty cool, and has some cool music, but there was some parts that was stupidly hard, like the three water jets that moved platforms on top of them. There was also some Turtle robots put near edges that made it hard to get up without being hurt. It was pretty good, though.

Refurbished Gadgetry Zone -- SonicMaster -- 5/10
Defently not you best map. The upside down parts were annoying, and the 2D water slide didn't give you much of a warning of what was coming.

Magma Core Zone, Act 2 -- Blade -- My Map
Mine :<

Multiplayer votes coming soon.

Originally Posted by Fawfulfan
Blade was hit by Inuyasha.
<Blade> osuwari
Inuyasha is no longer super.
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Old 11-01-2009   #31
Kyasarin's Avatar

Single Player

Gothic Gardens Zone, Act 1 by VX501 - 1/10
One huge flaw is how cramped this is. There's very little room to move, there's several cheap deaths, and the level's just plain ugly. It's fairly linear, and the button-pressing was done in a fairly dull and uninteresting way. Because this level just isn't any fun to begin with, there's no reason to replay it.
And, the 2D area was very unnecessary.

Graceful Coast Zone by D00D64 - 2/10
This is pretty bad, as well. First off, it uses the 2D mode engine. This results in slippery controls and a lack of vision, which causes a lot of frustration. Several parts didn't make sense, such as the area after the Yellow Springs. The Zoom Tube didn't make sense, and accessing it didn't make sense, either. There's some areas which can be mistaken for dead ends. However, on the plus side, this had some very nice scenery.

Refurbished Gadgetry Zone by SonicMaster - 4/10
I don't really know what to say about this. It has all sorts of good ideas, but the implementation is fairly bad, making playing through this a chore. The gimmicks used are generally nothing special (however, the secret area with the gravity reversing over pits was pretty clever) and not used in any particularly new or interesting way. The detail was sorta decent, I suppose.
The camera seems harder to handle when gravity is reversed, making upside-down areas harder to tackle than the regular-gravity areas would.
The 2D "waterslide" area was confusing, mostly because you can't see what's up ahead. You either have to force yourself to go at a snail's pace, or risk your life rushing through.

Magma Core Zone, Act 2 by Blade - 4/10
I really dislike this. Not only are the gimmicks used ridiculously repetitive (flame throwers and falling rocks in just about every single room), they weren't used in any way that was interesting and not annoying to deal with. I'm having to constantly wait for the flame jets to finish, or I have to hug the walls while I walk under some easy-to-dodge rocks. The Sector-based scenery didn't interest me too much, and your custom enemies were completely unnoticeable. I kept hoping that the intensity of this level would pick up, but it never did.
I did like your room with rising lava - I love rooms like that - and the cutscenes were neat and interesting.
In the cutscene where the rocks fall, it's possible to Thok, Spindash when you hit the ground, and go past where the rocks fall. Try adding a way to prevent this, or put an interesting bonus in here.


Match levels

Battle Forest Zone by Aaron - 4/10
This is a mess. The action mostly takes place in a bunch of empty hallways. In them, you placed far too much ammo for Ring Weapons; remove the ammo, or separate it from the cards. There's too many Rings on the staircase in the open room, and it's easy to fall off of them.
The level is fairly undersized, making maneuvering around certain areas (especially, entering the tunnel and going up the staircase) more work than it should be.
There really wasn't much detail to this, making this level visually unappealing.

Misty Mesa Zone by fawfulfan - 2/10
Symmetrical levels don't work with the current gameplay system. Especially ones with four-way symmetry.
The monitors on the islands are very overpowered. Throughout many games I've played here, everyone would kill people with Teleports because you placed them near the edge. There's also three Monitors right next to each other, allowing the player to easily swoop in and take whatever powerful combination they please.
The tunnels were very cramped, while the outside was far too open. There's either nothing to cover yourself with, or no room to shoot.

Acid Comet Zone by D00D64 - 4/10
I don't like this, either. Moving around the rocks is fairly easy, but moving around inside the little base was annoying. The area inside is cramped, while the outside is somewhat open. There isn't too much to hide behind and over, and the powerful items are in areas that are easily accessible.

Icicle Warehouse Zone by Glaber - 3/10
There's one fairly big problem: All the ammo and weapons are put far too close together. Their either in a big clump or together in the same room. It's fairly cramped, and there's too many Rings. Grabbing the Rings raised over 32 units above the ground is a hassle and takes a bit of time to do, which is totally unnecessary. Moving around is hard to do in most areas due to the size, and the platforming in certain areas really disrupts the flow of a fast-paced game.
The level looks pretty nice. I like the window style.
Was this based off of Ordinance Storage in Banjo-Tooie? It bears a resemblance to it.

Volcanic Desolation Zone by Scizor300 - 2/10
This just doesn't feel like a Match level. Everything is way too far apart, and it's full of flat stretches of nothing. There isn't a "risk vs. reward" deal with the bonuses, allowing the player to easily gain power over the others.
It didn't have much detail, and the texture use was very repetitive.

Azure Lake Zone by KO.T.E - 5/10
Moving around this place is annoying. You're constantly having the press the jump key. The bonuses were actually put in nice places which aren't too easy to access.
The boundaries wrapping around the level made chasing each other in the background a pain because it limits the amount of space of which you can move in. I think it should be removed.
The detail was decent, but I think it should've felt more forested, with more trees and trunks in the big canopy area.

30 Minute Zone by RedEchidna - 2/10
How quickly you made this really shows. This is very ugly, very small, and the giant current in the middle can be almost game-breaking. Moving around is very annoying, there isn't much effort required to find any bonuses, and you can escape through the boundaries of the level.


I'll review the CTF and Circuit races later.
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Old 11-01-2009   #32
Mystic's Avatar

Gothic Gardens Zone, Act 1 by VX501 - 3/10
Well, as mentioned previously, you clearly at least get the basics of level design. Now you need to make your level fun. This level just isn't interesting. It's a disjointed path of uninteresting gimmicks. Try giving your level a unified theme and some gimmicks to go with the stage.

Graceful Coast Zone by D00D64 - 3/10
Well, this is sure pretty, but it plays awful. Some of the ideas here are quite good, I like the springs with spikeballs, and the music changes were well done, but a few ideas here were just awful. The springs into instant death were horrid, and the time limit just served as a method for me to die randomly while exploring without having any idea why until I respawned and saw the text on the title card. Also, blind jumps are bad. Didn't we fix this already by making the viewpoint bigger? Don't make us jump exceptionally far onto platforms we can't see. Also, all the enemies shooting bullets you can't dodge really suck hardcore.

Refurbished Gadgetry Zone by SonicMaster - 6/10
This isn't the best level by any means, but I had fun. Mainly you just need to expand on your concepts a little better and provide some new ideas. I really liked the hidden area where I had to float up and down over a pit, and the concept of having both paths in the same room, just on the ceiling and floor was nice and well-executed. A few of the rooms just fall flat, though. It's easy to see in the dark room, and the section where I had to jump on platforms with the rotating laser was just cheap as hell. The long walk on the skinny passage over a pit was just the absolute worst, though. It was easy but it took absolutely forever.

Magma Core Zone, Act 2 by Blade - 7/10
This is definitely solid, but it needs a lot of work. The flames, like Infernal Cavern, need some visual cue to show where they're coming from, and I still can't figure out how I'm supposed to hit a flamethrower Jetty-syn without the Elemental Shield. The main thing this level needs is just some original ideas. The few cool things this level does it doesn't flesh out all the way, and the rest is just right out of RVZ1. How about using the rotating flame jets more, or use the flamethrowers in an area where the player has to carefully move to avoid being hit?

MAPM1 - Battle Forest Zone by Aaron - 5/10
Well, here we go, the first 2.0 contest match stage. Overall, the layout here is effective, but it's let down by a MASSIVE amount of grenade ammo. I won a game here by literally grabbing grenades and thokking around the map randomly and throwing a grenade every cooldown. I had 3 times everyone else's points just by spamming one weapon. Grenades should be placed in moderation. Other than that flaw, I'd suggest putting more interesting things on the bottom floor of the central room. In terms of layout your level played okay at least. Just watch that item balance. I'd also suggest putting some ammo away from the tile pickup. You basically HAVE to go back to the tile if you want more ammo.

MAPM2 - Misty Mesa Zone by fawfulfan - 3/10
This level is somehow both too open and too cramped at the same time. This map also shows off the reason why symmetrical design doesn't work well in the new system. I have no way to know which weapons I'll get by riding the rope out to the weapon spawns because the stage is symmetrical. There are almost no rings in the stage and there are a ton of ? monitors so someone got a Recycler every minute or so, if that. I was also annoyed at how the respawning monitors were placed right next to the pit so someone could telefrag someone by thokking off the pit through the teleporter. Don't use ? monitors, use the SRM and WRM instead, and use them in moderation. Also, make sure to make the map not symmetrical and have plenty of rings.

MAPM3 - Acid Comet Zone by D00D64 - 4/10
Well, the basic layout is okay, but this map suffers from the exact same problem the previous map does, a massive amount of ? boxes that generate constant teleports and recyclers, frequently teleporting the player into the exceptionally cheap ring-drain slime. To add even more insult to injury, the weapons are unrecoverable when someone drops into the slime, so everyone ends up stuck using red rings because nobody has any ammo or tiles with the constant teleports and recycles. This map could also use with some more rings, especially in the form of 10 ring boxes.

MAPM4 - Icicle Warehouse Zone by glaber - 4/10
Augh. Well, you appear to have grasped the concept of a decent sector layout now. The level has a nice layout with interesting rooms and passages. It's too bad the thing layout is so atrocious that it doesn't get to shine through. Your weapons are placed randomly and the ammo is just thrown around that even getting hit constantly in the spamfest that resulted I still had max ammo for basically everything. You provide WAY too much ammo for every weapon just randomly around the stage for no reason. Look at how I did it in the official stages to get an idea for the amount of ammo you want for each weapon, and note how it's both located next to the tile AND in random places throughout the map. There were many many times when I just grabbed some weapon tile and just spammed the fire button without care because I knew full-well I was NEVER going to run out of ammo for whatever weapon I was spamming, Bounce in particular. As a result, the map turned into a complete bounce and grenade spamfest.

MAPM5 - Volcanic Desolation Zone by Scizor300 - 4/10
This map is just boring. It's way too large with no content. There are tons of areas in the stage with just nothing of interest and the areas that do have things of interest are still way too large. It's so large that I actually died once because I got hit in a location that I ended up with an HOM while trying to pick up my rings. Also, the lava area seems to have absolutely no purpose, and the towers are completely uninteresting with no seeming purpose. This map just feels unfinished all around.

MAPM6 - Azure Lake Zone by KO.T.E - 5/10
Well, it appears you've grasped the basics of the new system at least, but there are a few major quirks that need fixing. For one, the weapon tile spawns are frequently extremely out of the way or in places that are exceptionally hard to reach, and there always felt like there was a ring shortage no matter how many I had. However, the major issue is with the visuals. The edge of the stage has scenery behind an invisible wall, which hurts the framerate in an already large map, and the "water" that acts like quicksand doesn't look like it should. If you're going to make mud, use a brown colormap and a fog block like lava to make it LOOK like it's a thick substance. As it stands it just looks incredibly weird. Also, like a lot of other maps here, you're using a ? monitor when you shouldn't be. Finally, I really didn't like how you could run around the outside line of the map like you can. It struck me as extremely unnatural and was quite annoying as a lot of the firefights ended up on that outside ring. You really should enclose the stage with a normal wall so you don't have to have that issue.

MAPM7 - 30 Minute Zone by RedEchidna - 3/10
Well, for half an hour this is better than most. It was somewhat enjoyable and the weapons were placed properly, but there are WAY too many rings in this stage and it's easy to end up in a gigantic spamfest on the bottom of the stage with no easy way for anyone to escape. Next time, try submitting a map with more than half an hour's worth of work into it and you might do better, though ^_~

MAPF1 - Canyon CTF Zone by Eggmanfan - 0/10
Uh. There's not much to say about this map. It's completely unplayable to the point of being "so bad it's good" and actually end up kinda amusingly fun. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about this map, play a round of real CTF so you can see how the gametype actually works so you know how to make a map for it. Also, what the hell is up with the quicksand launching you through the air before killing you and the rocks in unavoidable areas? Did you even test this map?

MAPF2 - Ancient Arboretum Zone by Com Rante - 5/10
Well, I had fun here, but the level really suffers from just way too much STUFF onscreen. There's so many random objects and other things in the stage that the whole thing just sorta starts to look the same. Add some flags to help the player figure out where each base is and add something to distinguish each room from each other so it's possible to figure out where you are. When I got teleported in this stage, even after I knew the layout, it took me forever to figure out where I'd ended up.

MAPF3 - Red River Zone by darkbob1713 - 4/10
Okay, this map has massive potential, but as it stands right now it's incredibly annoying. The reason is that it is physically impossible to remove the other team from your base. The way it's set up, the team rings are only on the hill with the flag, and there's easy access for the other team from all sides of the flag, with easy access to rings for either team. The result is that the flag is completely impossible to defend, leading to us having to exitlevel because of the complete stalemate. You need to reorganize the bases so that the flag is positioned in a defensible location with team rings used throughout the base so the other team actually has to leave after they get hit. Otherwise, this level actually has a lot going for it. The central passage between the bases is awesome, I LOVE the visual design and the weapon layout is pretty solid.

MAPF4 - Sunshower Canyon Zone by D00D64 - 4/10
This level suffers from the same kind of stalemate issue that the last map had. Instead of having the issue where the bases aren't defensible, the issue is that the bases are simply so large that there's no way to remove the other team from them just from the size alone. The level in general is extremely large, but the bases in particular are way too big, making it impossible to attempt to get rid of the other team because they can just thok and move around. If the bases were smaller it would be far more possible to use explosion or scatter to launch them off the edge. The rest of the level seems quite solid, although I don't like how you have to jump to get onto the bridges. There's a lot of territory on each side, and the stage would probably be better if you made the entire thing slightly smaller, but the basic layout other than the base seems quite good.

MAPF5 - Techno Laser Zone by KO.T.E - 5/10
I don't know what to think of this one. While the growth ray is clearly busted and unworking, this level actually makes surprisingly awesome use of the shrinking and growing once you actually figure out what's going on. I suspect what this level needs is a little more focus. Use only the shrink ray and make it completely obvious to the player what's going on, and add some areas the player can only reach while small. The layout between the bases could use some work, the rooms other than the bases just aren't interesting. Also, the areas where you spindash under lasers are just boring and should probably be replaced. The basic concept for this level is completely awesome and solid, though. Just need to work on that execution.

MAPF6 - Iron Turret Returns Zone by Neo - 7/10
Well, I chuckled if nothing else. You've fixed most of the major issues with Iron Turret by placing an underground passage in, as well as the team ring system actually fixing another one of the major issues of Iron Turret on its own. The execution could use some major work, though. For one, there were a lot of situations where I hit a spring and missed the upper area I was supposed to be going to, because the springs were on the opposite side of the shaft from the passage I was trying to enter. In lag it often took me several tries to get to the rail panel, and there were many times I screwed up the other passages as well. Also, the underground area, while a great idea, needs far clearer texturing to allow the player to know where the entrances to the central room are. As it stands it's very hard to see where the halls are because they blur together with the walls of the room.

MAPF7 - La Villa Strangiato Zone by Penopat - 6/10
Well, this level, while quite ugly, at least played passably. I really didn't like how the bottom floor of the stage was basically only for collecting powerups, as the fastest passage between the two bases was really small. Also, while the flag part of the base was quite small, the room in general was really huge which lead to some really uninteresting firefights. In general, anytime the fight ended up on the bottom floor for some reason, this level really shined, but that rarely happened because the two routes to the other base never go down there. I'd personally block off the fastest route to the other base and add another route that leads through the bottom floor so the entire stage actually gets properly used. The weapon layout seemed solid enough although most of the weapons ended up disused because of how concentrated the fighting was on the flag.

Last edited by Mystic; 11-01-2009 at 07:20 AM.
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Old 11-01-2009   #33
daiches99's Avatar

GCZ 4/10 It confused me at some points and about halfway through the level it crashed my computer...
GGZ 6/10 It's ok, it wasn't very graphical and was pretty easy to complete.
MCZ 7/10 It was fun and I loved the mini cutscene like part 3/4 of the way through. It lacked graphics though and I went in a loop at the beginning. The gameplay was great though and it was very fun.
RGZ 6/10 It was an OK level and I liked the two different paths in it, it wasn't very fun though and was more platforming than anything.
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Old 11-01-2009   #34
aka SpiritCrusher
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Gothic Gardens Zone by VX501 - 3/10
Actually, for a beginner's map, this has surprisingly interesting gameplay. It's really not as bad as some of you make it out be. However, it looks quite horrible. Green slime + CEZ textures = the worst combination you can have. Really, this map reminds me of how ugly CEZ (both versions) actually is.
As you said, the button gimmick, the 2D part and the cramped hallways at the beginning are already being dealt with. The most important thing you have to fix is the visuals. Make it look like a actual GARDEN. Remove the green slime. Put in some scenery. Don't overuse brick textures. Another problem is the incredible amount of unnecessary emenies. Your map has almost all enemies that are avaible. Concentrate on a few types of enemies and throw the rest out. Put them in places where the are a threat to the player and just put no enemies in if you don't need to.
In terms of gameplay, remove the sets of springs. Jumping from one spring to another over a death pit is quite boring (and if there are as many enemies as in this level, even dangerous). Try to have some more creative gimmicks like the one with the cannonballs. Speaking of the cannonball gimmick: The fact that you can simply avoid it by jumping down ruins the point of it. Why deal with something that can hurt you if you can take the easy way out? Also, try to make the intervals in which the cannonballs are shot a bit faster. As it is now, the player can easily dodge them.
All in all, a pretty solid map for a beginner, however, there's still a lot to fix.

Graceful Coast Zone by D00D64 - 2/10
I posted a long, long rant about how bad this level is, but then I got logged off and my changed weren't saved. So here the whole story in a nutshell:
Too many enemies (and too many different ones), you can't see what's ahead of you and get hit constantly, platforming is frustrating, you can't see the spikeballs in the water, the boss can be skipped and is annoying anyway. The visuals are quite nice, but that doesn't save your map from being an utter mess. Worse that Gothic Gardens.

Refurbished Gadgetry Zone by SonicMaster - 7/10
This is quite possibly the most stupid name I've ever heard, but that doesn't affect your score in any way. First, congratulations for being the only not to have 20 different enemies in your level. You chose to have none at all, which suits your level quite well.
But now to the actual map: The gimmick of having one path on the floor and one of the ceiling is very unique. This does make your level quite linear, but fortunately it is long enough, so that's no problem. But as stated before, the execution is not always that nice, or even unique. A constant problem is that your rooms tend to be very large, but also very empty. There are often large chuncks of floor with nothing in it, especially in the beginning. Also, the textures look randomly chosen and clash quite often. This makes your map somewhat ugly in some places, but mostly, it's fine. Regarding the actual gameplay, you had some really nice ideas (the row of crushers in the second room, the secret path with gravity switches, the room with changing lighting, crossing spiked platforms while invincible, jumping through a moving wall of lasers etc.) but also some really bad ones (the annoying string of blue springs in the lava room and that rotating unpredictable laser). The absolute worst however was that narrow passage. Really, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
All in all, most of it was quite unique and challenging, but a few gimmicks (mostly on the upside-down path) were really stupid. Also, I didn't like the music but that's not your fault.

Magma Core Zone Act 2 by Blade - 8/10
Easily the best map in the pack. Not only did it look very appealing, it also had some interesting gameplay. Falling rocks, flamethrowers, the rope pulley section, rising lava, custom enemies... For the whole level you always kept me on my toes. Still, it flowed nicely. The idea to have a ERZ-textured base inside the volcano was pulled off very smoothly as the textures fit each other. It didn't feel unnatural at all to have space base textures in a RVZ-themed level. However, there were way too many types of enemies in the level. As far as I can recall, there were Jetty-syns, Minuses, Snailers, Egg Guards, Sharps and Pop-up turrets. I'd suggest that you focused on a smaller selection of enemies. As it is now, the enemy placement feels pretty random. Also, you have too much enemies in there in general. I'd suggest to remove the Jetty-syns (apart from the custom one), the Egg Guards and the Sharps as they don't fit the theme.

Last edited by MascaraSnake; 11-01-2009 at 01:03 PM.
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Old 11-01-2009   #35
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Single player reviews:

Graceful Coast Zone by D00D64: 4/10
Ugh...the scenery is great, but gameplay is just horrible. I was getting smacked around by enemies everywhere, there were no open places to run, and--most important--the forward/back transfer springs were set up poorly. When I sprung from the first one, I overshot the area I was supposed to go.

Gothic Gardens Zone, Act 1 by VX501: 5/10
The level is way too cramped, and there aren't enough rings. Also, a word to the wise...when you make a level with thunder, the lighting should NOT be at maximum. That way, you'll actually see flashes of lightning. While we're on the subject of lighting, it was way too uniform. It made the level feel kind of bland.

Magma Core Zone, Act 2 by Blade: 8/10
A real breath of fresh air. Action-packed, fast, and the enemies and obstacles were tastefully placed. An all-around win.

Refurbished Gadgetry Zone by SonicMaster: 9/10
I don't know what to say. Aside from its needless difficulty in places, everything about this level was done right. SonicMaster, you ought to create a basic tutorial for good level design--some people really need your tutelage.
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Old 11-01-2009   #36
aka SpiritCrusher
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Originally Posted by fawfulfan View Post
He has.

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Old 11-01-2009   #37
aka PrismaticAngel

Here's a small review about the two Race levels:

Frostbite Peak Zone: 8/10

Ah, I liked this one; it flows nice and has a nice layout. Only, I was able to ace the place as Knux and what the hecks up with that platform all the way down with those ? monitors?

Egg Flower: 6/10

While the level has some nice visuals and stuff, the crushers made it extremely hard to play without dying. And the Spacecountdown area doesn't make it any easier.
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Old 11-01-2009   #38
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Some brief impressions on the SP levels. Will fill out the reviews if I get time

Gothic Gardens Zone 1 - 4/10

Visuals = None too impressive, but at least they worked... the black cliffs near the end were the only thing that caught my eye.
Gameplay = It was very solid, if a bit uninspired.
Difficulty = Aside from a few jetty-syns in some areas, it felt for the most part appropriate
Layout = Only use teleporters if totally necessary, those things bugged me. Also some areas I fell from a difficult platforming sequence only to find out I didn't need it to pass that area anyway.

Graceful Coast - 3/10

Visuals = You should make NiGHTS or emmy hunt stages, so we can look at the level's decor without being distracted by the gameplay
Gameplay = In some areas, I had to make a leap of faith because the camera didn't show me where I needed to go, I died to the six minute time limit while trying to get past the waterfalls. The springs and spikeballs were clever, but you didn't take into account the inertia and how exaggerated it is in 2d mode
Difficulty = In some areas it was decent, but the only time it really challenged me was due to some cheap challenge
Layout = With all the neat things you pulled off here to put the player on different tracks, I expected there to be more branching paths here. Even these track-switching tricks aren't perfect, I somehow managed to kill myself by hitting the springs at top speed.

Refurbished Gadgetry - Whoops/10

I just got halfway through rating the level before I realized I was rating a beta... At least I hope it was a beta, you of all people wouldn't forget to put an end sign in your OLDC submission.

Magma Core Zone 2 - 7/10 (Subject to change as I try out the other paths)

Visuals = As I've said, Infernal Cavern took ages to perfect in terms of visuals, the textures you've got here are simply too bright and too haphazard. And I hate to say this, but I somehow miss the old visual theme, as the flicker light really worked well on those textures. I might recommend bringing back the brown textures and using the brown cave and cliff textures as compliments.
Gameplay = While it was fun to play, it didn't feel as solid as your previous version. Part of this was due to the fact that certain gimmicks weren't quite solid enough to enjoy. Others have stated the flamethrowers without cues, and there's also the rope pulley which would have been much easier with an alt-view. Additionally, you kept using the rock things but they didn't get much more interesting... mix them up with other gimmicks... maybe just have them fall in an open area with pools of lava or add some of those crushing blocks from the old version.
Difficulty = The difficulty curve was fair and kept things interesting without getting cheap except in areas I've already mentioned.
Layout = I can't say yet until I've played the level more, however I'm glad to see you kept the situation where the player needs to jump on the box in order to use one area or else be forced onto another path. We need more of that kind of thing in SRB2 levels.

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Old 11-01-2009   #39
aka SpiritCrusher
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Originally Posted by JEV3 View Post
Refurbished Gadgetry - Whoops/10

What are you talking about? There is an end sign in the level, and I don't think it is a beta either.
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Old 11-01-2009   #40
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Azure Lake - A good level. It has trees and beautiful backround. It is decorated well with flowers.
Next tons of room to move. Great in hide and seek.
Last is the fun. I really enjoy playing here. I had a challenge and it reminds me of the clasic level.
Overall it is a 8.5/10 9/10.

Last edited by FuriousFox; 11-07-2009 at 10:21 PM. Reason: Votes must be whole numbers.
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