Contest: Second MotQ [Voting Thread]

[giradialkia]

First Map of the Quarter - 2012

Voting

Once again, three maps have been chosen by DrFuji and myself. The voting poll will remain open until January 3rd, so get your votes in before then! Here are the three maps...​

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The Maps​

sab:

Spoiler:

brane

Spoiler:

Darthatron

Spoiler:

Rules:

• No complaining if your map wasn't chosen as one of the final few.
• This thread is for simply posting which map you chose in the poll. No arguments! If you feel a discussion may be getting off-topic, then take it to VMs or PMs. You may also post any questions you may have about the competition here.

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[Aryan143]

I chose Sab's map. It has an interesting cave adventure feeling.

 

[Renegade]

I chose Sab's map. It has an interesting cave adventure feeling.

I completely agree. It has a very welcoming cave-feel and it uses very nice looking tiles and palettes.

 

[Bela]

I voted for Darcy's map because it was the biggest. ;P

 

[chrunch]

Voted for sab's map. I really like the natural feel to it, and it looks absolutely stunning as well. ;D

 

[PikaSaiyan]

I'd have to vote for Sab as well. :P It feels a lot more natural (placement and colors) and at the same time the map doesn't have any space wasted.

 

[bondi.blues]

I voted for sab's map.

I think sab's map feels like a tight cave that is fun to move around in while still being big enough to keep the player from knowing where they are too easily. It just has a great balance to it.

 

[SuperLaluigi]

i voted for sab's map it has the natural feeling also the textures is just amazing!

 

[Pharetra]

I voted on brane's map. It is a nice map which isn't too crowded like Sab's map (I honestly wouldn't want to walk around on that map...) and the map of Darthatron is a bit too linear imo.

 

[hinkage]

Sab's would be good if the player wasn't restricted to only four directions. Brane also had that problem with playability, I think; too diagonal. Although if Brane had less rocks and stuff placed randomly and gave the player more room, it'd be better.

I liked how Darthatron added shorelines and waterfalls (even though the latter look kinda ugly the way he did them). It looks like a sort of cave/base like Team Magma's which is neat, and I could tolerate playing on it, which is important.

 

[Ninja Caterpie]

I think there's too much going on in sab's. I can't even tell what you can step on and what you can't because of all the different sizes of rock (brane's map had this problem too). It's too filled; the palette being all the same as it usually is, it's really hard to see the actual shape of the map. It also seems too restrictive in places with only a few steps to move. I voted for Darths because, while it was a bit empty and plain, I'd rather have that than filling the map with rocks.

 

[Darthatron]

I think sab's map is far too clustered to be playable without straining the eyes too much and my map looks too empty in some places. I voted for brane's map because it's a happy medium of objects and paths.

 

[sab]

I voted for my map for 2 reasons. The first is that I am completely biased and have no shame in admitting it. The second is that I actually prefer my map to the others. Reasons/reviews are contained below.

Brane's map

Spoiler:

Brane's map is very good, but I never liked "caves" that are huge, and seemingly have no set ceiling. It looks far more mountainous than like a cave to me because of the fact that it doesn't have an obvious height limit. I like the use of rocks, and playability is clearly much higher than in my map. I do not like the use of the gray rock above the white rock. I always felt that this tileset was either showing the same type of rock from various distances, or that it was showing different sedementry layers. This map seems to be much more in line with the second of he two, but that gray formation still sticks out like a sore thumb to me. All in all a great map. It was probably only the fact that I never cared much about playability, and that I never liked caves that felt like they were too mountainous that kept me from voting for this one instead.

Darth's map

Spoiler:

Darth's map has the same problem as Brane's in my opinion. Where would you fit a cave that big!? In addition to that the rocks seem a little worse placed to me they don't seem to be where they should given how caves form. The placement of the waterfall is a nice touch, and I like how much this map appears to be centered around gameplay. The problem is that it seems to gain gameplay and story elements by sacrificing aesthetic beauty. Whenever I go through an area in an rpg, I vary rarely care about how much room I can move around in. I instead always think about how a specific area feels and what it represents in real life. I never liked the cerulean cave tileset because I could never think of anywhere that there was green rock and purple dirt. On top of this, I feel it nessecary to add that, while I don't count it off a map, there were quite a few tile errors.

Sab's map

Spoiler:

Finally I get to my map. The main flaw with my map is playability. While both Darth's map and Brane's map had good playability, I made a conscious effort to forgoe playability in the attempt to create an environment which felt like the caves I've seen. Most of them were not very large. They had fairly low ceilings, were small and had tons of rocks. You can walk/surf over all the small pebbles and mushrooms by the way. This cave is meant to be fairly unexplored and expansive, while still keeping a slightly cramped and dank feeling. As I've said before, I never cared a huge amount about whether the map was super playable or not so long as it gave off the right kind of vibe and thrill to the player. Also I feel that my cave is cave sized. The other caves are larger and taller than anything you're likely to come across in a cave in reality. Especially with structural integrity accounted for.

Sorry for the huge rant/post, but I felt like spending a half hour to speak my mind.

 

[giradialkia]

Annnnnnd that's it!

Congratulations sab, you'll be receiving your MotQ emblem soon enough. Commiserations to brane and Darthatron, better luck next time guys!

Closed~