August Contest Discussion

[karamazovapy]

The contest server is up! This month, designers used mythology to help inspire a level's design. Topics for discussion may include execution of theme, gameplay, visual design, and general creativity.

This month's entries are:
Level Name - Gametype
Astrology - Zone Control
Cyclops - Bitbash
Half-assed Minotaur - Retrieve (2 team)
Into The Wandering Rocks - Retrieve - levelgen
Labyrinth - Rabbit - levelgen
Minotaur - Retrieve (4 team)
The Fall of Troy - Hold the Flag
Unicorns - Hold the Flag

(For your consideration:)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac
Astrology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclops
Cyclops

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur
Half-assed Minotaur, Labyrinth, Minotaur

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planctae
Into the Wandering Rocks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_War
The Fall of Troy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn
Um...Unicorns.


Level Designers, remember to keep your identities secret!

[watusimoto]

Just a word of caution -- some of the levels appear to have the min/max player settings set. While I strongly encourage you to include these settings, beware that if you are playing alone, not all levels will come up if you just cycle through them using the /next command. You'll need to pick some of them by name from the menu.

[bobdaduck]

Astrology: I don't know... Looks nice but gameplay isn't very good.

Cyclops: Its a bitbash... There's no retarded crap, and there's not really anything to make it stand out.

Half-minotaur: Meh. A retrieve, but not a good one. Looks ok but nothing outstanding here either.

Into the wandering Rocks: Kinda fun. Kinda ok. Medium-good.

Labyrinth: I like this one, but its gotta be annoying, having a different level to play in every time. Still, making it was probably hard so I give the author credit.

Minotaur: Loses points for aesthetics because the projectors are off. A lot of the stuff in the level serves no purpose, its just there to get in the way, such as the middle turrets. Half minotaur was better.

The Fall of Troy: I don't know. I think its nice, but a lot of the stuff serves no purpose. But, as far as scenic maps go, its pretty good. I think the gameplay might not work too well. Score to win is a bit high. Lots and lots of things that won't be noticed first play.

Unicorns: What. The crap. I guess its... ok. But... Grumph... The feel of the map repulses me.

[watusimoto]

Well, this crop of levels is lesser than what we've had in previous contests, which I think is the result of the challenging theme.

I am very impressed by the circular maze level gen, would rate that as my favorite (excluding Airlock, of course, which, based on a technicality, was excluded at the last minute). It has a good combination of clean aesthetics and playability. And it shows some great technical work.

[karamazovapy]

Sadly, I haven't really gotten to play any of these with a group. Maybe this weekend...we'll see. Anyway, I'll say what I can say.

Astrology - Zone Control
The idea of using stars/constellations in zap/bitfighter seems so obvious, I can't believe nobody's done it before! Clever. Obviously it's really open, but like a lot of these, it's a concept map.

Cyclops - Bitbash
This one cracks me up. Love the cyclops. Also, delivers on the name. What do you expect? Cyclops. What do you get? Cyclops.

Half-assed Minotaur - Retrieve (2 team)
I've kind of sort of played this one a couple times. I like the flag spawns and the hardcore minotaur in the middle. Four flags might be a bit much.

Into The Wandering Rocks - Retrieve - levelgen
This is the first non-maze levelgen we've seen. I don't know how well it works as a level, but it's an interesting concept.

Labyrinth - Rabbit - levelgen
I'll admit that this one is my favorite. I actually kind of have fun solving the maze each time it loads. Not sure the scoring structure works.

Minotaur - Retrieve (4 team)
This one is a good effort, but it could use a bit of polish. A lot of little things almost line up, but not quite. I'm also not sure if it's totally fair for the top and bottom teams versus the right and left teams.

The Fall of Troy - Hold the Flag
I like the idea of this one, but it confuses me a little to look at. I really need to play it with three or four other people to get a handle on the gameplay.

Unicorns - Hold the Flag
Woooooooo! UNICORNS!!!

[watusimoto]

I didn't realize the Wandering Rocks used a level gen as well. That's pretty awesome, and ties in well with the theme, in a manner less obvious than all the Minotaur/labyrinth levels do. I'll need to give that one some serious consideration.

[Skybax]

As the levelchangepass does not work for me either, even with the new version, so far Wandering Rocks is my favorite.

[ZoombeR]

I think unicorns is going to win, but not by 1st choice votes.