TF2Maps.net Detailing Mini-Contest 2013 - Voting Thread

[Egan]

Detailing Mini-Contest 2013
Voting Thread

Rules and Information | Upload Thread | Voting Thread​

Voting Rules:

• You have 1 week to vote.
• You can vote for as many maps as you want.
• Please don't vote for screenshots alone. Have a look through the areas!

Voting Tips:

• Is the area aesthetically pleasing?
• Are there any mismatched textures/props?
• Do the objects adhere to laws of physics?
• Do the objects feel justified to belong in their environments? If not, is there evidence of lampshading going on?
• Can you imagine the map functioning as the area it presents itself to be?

Map Pack:
Download.

Contest Entries:

Aly
detail_aly
Download Map

Bakscratch
detail_bakscratch
Download Map

Egan
detail_egan
Download Map

Frozen
detail_frozen_1
Download Map

Hexacosichoron
detail_hexacosichoron
Download Map

Idolon
detail_idolon_3
Download Map

MrLate
detail_mrlate
Download Map

PlipPlop
detail_plipplop
Download Map

TheoF114
detail_theof114
Download Map

Yacan1
detail_yacan1
Download Map

 

[Idolon]

Aly:
-Nice atmosphere
-Water looked odd - frothy water for a gentle stream
-Bridge might look better going at an angle rather than a right angle from the building
-Indoors looked nice but maybe could've used some shelving/storage. It didn't really seem like a place people worked/stayed in, despite the beer bottles on the porch

Bakscratch:
-Original
-No cubemaps
-Very nice choice of wood textures
-Rocks on the entry path looked odd. Maybe consider moving them towards the big boulders, or group them somehow. Right now they look nonsensical
-Snow pattern on the wall repeated pretty obviously

Egan:
-Really cool atmosphere, imposing and lonely
-The puddles on the ground look hella cool but don't make any splish splashes when you walk through them
-Seems like a lot of wasted detail space
-You can walk inside the train tunnel entrance model
-Great 3D skybox - texture scale is off by quite a bit though, and you should remove the detail sprites
-I lost it when this happened

Frozen:
-For some reason I was reminded of Tomb Raider, idk exactly why
-Woodwork in first area is too thick in a lot of areas
-Cool exploration aspect
-Collision mesh on the cave waterfall cliff is a bit weird, and I didn't realize I could use the platforms to get up until after I already "solved" that section
-Generally cool but the detailing was just kinda meh

Hexacosichoron:
-Huge! This doesn't seem like a real place at all, the silo is just gargantuan and climbing the stairs seems like it would be more tiring than a marathon
-Waterfall is silent and has no particle effects
-Rough displacements
-The spytech computer consoles seemed useless, just stuck there for sticking there's sake
-Cool idea, but not so great execution. Keep working at it

Idolon:
-best map of the contest will win every prize and more, maybe even some grammys

MrLate:
-Cacti are missing textures
-Particle effects were oddly placed. Splashes were going sideways at the top of the waterfall, and there was a patch of splashing water in the middle of the river
-The river, by the way, looks GRADE A. Excellent!
-Lighting did not carry over into the 3D skybox, maybe copy the level geometry and make it blocklight?
-The woodwork has a nice, used feel to it. Feels like a place that was worked in once
-The 3D skybox waterfall looks amazing and is super cool, as is the rest of the 3D skybox
-Did you compile with vertex lighting? The pipes don't look like it

PlipPlop:
-Hydro is one of my all time favorite detailing passes, and you're just short of being that cool
-This building has a LOT of doors in it, wow
-Feels like somewhere that gets used by real people
-Was a bit confused by the road/concrete areas - the road never connected to the concrete pad by the building, and it wasn't really clear what that concrete pad was used for
-Cliff walls are annoyingly high, I didn't realize I wasn't in a cave until I looked straight up
-Detailing was stuck in places that weren't easy to look
-The metal barrier in the water was a missed opportunity for some great wood fence work imo
-Overall cool theme and great detailing, but the placement/scale of things seemed off to me. Still great work though

TheoF114:
-Cool theme, very industrial/urban. Definitely felt like a place that people used at one point
-Good use of space and flow, no dead-ends was cool
-Lighting was hit and miss - sometimes done really well and created a good sense of drama, other times looked sorta bland or even incorrect (dark props in light areas)
-Good mix of old and new assets, liked the soho props
-Generally, lighter textures should be used for indoor areas. The spawn building looked weird, as that red concrete texture is usually reserved for outdoor walls rather than interior
-Cool 3D sky, would be even cooler with tall urban buildings like in soho or more, smaller ports sticking out into the ocean. Could've used stuff sticking out from the map-side of the waterway as well
-Outdoor areas could've used some more trash
-No cubemaps

Yacan:
-The most wildly creative entry I think, just poor execution
-White light seemed to be coming up from the bottom of the map?
-An overlay on the metal wall was missing
-Bland lighting. Go for a dark environment light and use the spotlights to highlight the cool/important parts
-Those metal fences are REALLY thick, go for maybe 8/4hu thick instead
-Yellow windows could use some brushwork borders. Cutting off the yellow window texture looked bad on those diagonal walls because it was meant to be a continuous window, but it changes shades on the edge (pic)
-Red lights would look better if they were brighter and/or had a glow sprite on them
-I would place this in the bottom three in terms of final product/execution, but this is seriously the #1 entry in terms of creativity/base idea. Keep it up!

 

[nightwatch]

I really like what Idolon's done so I'm going to leave my feedback for everyone too.


Bakscratch - While the geometry of the wall was pretty cool, the whole thing felt a little out of place and there wasn't really much of a story to the scene - I couldn't make much sense out of it, other than "wooden wall in the winter". Also, your map-to-skybox transition had holes in it, which was really noticeable because it happened right in front of the player's eyes.

Frozen - This map inspired me to "play" the others too, just in case, but the experience you gave was really awesome. I didn't like how the areas didn't really tie in that well with each other, but each one was quite nice in its own right, aside from the portal doors sticking out like a sore thumb. I spent the most time looking at your map, mostly because I refused to just go spectate until i had solved it. The visuals weren't 100 % but overall it had an amazing feel.

The others - coming, one day.

 

[Fruity Snacks]

Aly - Stop doing Alpine, you can do others, I know you can! Besides that it was a quaint little simple scene. I felt though, there was more to be desired. The transition to the skybox was a bit rough and the invisible walls were a let down and immersion breaker.

bakscratch - I really don't have much to say beyond, it's a nice looking wall. Beyond that, I really wish you had done more with the scene, allowing me to walk onto the wall, or into the little cabin would have been great. The skybox transition was really rough and could've been done a bit better.

hexacosichoron - I really enjoyed what you did with this. I feel like with a bit more time you could've had an excellent map to explore. The scaling was a bit on the large side, and the stairs were a bit wonky, but I really felt that this was still slightly above the rest because you could actually see a use for this scene and actually explore it. A bit more work with it and it could've been really really good. That being said, I would still be very proud of it.

Idolon - Please finish this environment, make a map or something. I really liked the geometry you had going and truely enjoyed the fact that I could wander around it and look at it from almost all angles.

MrLate - (Your cacti textures were missing) you had a lot of weird shading issues I found on rocks and such, and the views were very limiting. The verticality is nice, but limited in view.

plipplop - Your attention to detail is really nice. There was some nice little nooks I could explore through, but I wish I had more of an ability to explore the rest environment you created. It's a really nice facade and I had wished I could see more of the insides.

theof114 - WOW, I was pleasantly surprised with this environment. I started to walk around and explore, and just when I thought that I had seen everything, there was more to it. I really, really enjoyed exploring this map and might possibly go back to it again later to see if I missed anything. You didn't build HDR cubemaps which was a slight drawback, and the map felt a little too dark. But besides that this was a really well done environment.

Yacan - I love the moon base theme and would love to see a map like this (hint hint). You had some obvious seams and a missing texture which was a drawback. I was walking around outside the building wish that I could go in and see what was going on inside and wished that I had that opportunity.

Overall, I really liked all the entries into the contest. Unfortunately, many of them felt like they were made with just taking a picture in mind, and disregarded the fact that people would be going through exploring the map; they had no story or purpose. Those that made you walk around and explore and look for those little nooks of detail, or to look for little secrets soar far beyond those who don't, at least in my opinion.

I might be going through and adding to this feedback later if I feel like it. I've already voted.

 

[Egan]

Aly
The bridge leading out of the mill area looks great and gives a pathway for people to come in, but it just ends before the 3d skybox to a dense forest. Could have continued that path somehow into the 3d skybox.
I've always liked age of empires' humble self sustained areas, and this hits that pretty well on the outside area, but the indoor area feels slightly empty (and maybe a bit too clean, but we could just be dealing with germaphobe lumberjacks).
Otherwise looks pretty great, the lighting turned out nicely for the foresty area.

Bakscratch
The blend into the 3d skybox could have been done better, specifically on the road since there's a big white gap in the center of it.
Though, the woodwork is really great and I like the details you've put on it!
It does however feel like the wall doesn't do much since it's only protecting a small house and only from the front. (Also that small house has no snow on it!)

Egan
rain sounds but its not raining, could have used the space for the buildings to make an indoor section as well, the bottom rocks transition into the 3dskybox could have been done better, the grass on the cliff tops look too pattern-y

Frozen
Didn't make much sense for the builders to place a metal radio tower onto 4 long wooden posts. (Not very sturdy). Although you could argue its still being worked on, hence the scaffolding, but apart from that, there isn't any evidence it's still being worked on (no tools, no easy access, no mess).
The indoor lava section looked pretty dandy and I like how the intel orb thing was on fire there.
The swampy area looked a little plain, but I think you know that Probably could have put some sounds onto that elevator for some quick effect.

Hexocosichoron
The skybox's fog was pretty heavy which made the far away stuff look bland, speaking of which, the forest cards could have been placed better. (If you need to rotate those you can just use ctrl + m).
The detail with the props seemed a bit random both inside and outside of the top section. (windmill way on top of a rock, a half buried shipping contained with no way for it to get there)
The indoor rocket area looked pretty dang sweet, but for being an important doomy area, it felt lackluster without any soundscape and with just basic white lighting in places.

Idolon
Really cool environment and theme, the space feels really unique.
Would have been cool if you had a 3D skybox that built off that design though (gave reason for the water pouring out of the wall etc).
The top walking areas felt a bit bland, could have cut them up more like you did to the one small section where it's tilted.

MrLate
Missing cacti materials, but even if they were there, it wouldn't make a lot of sense that cacti would grow so long in such a place as this.
The lighting on the pipes looks kinda bland and also the lighting on the walkable space is as well. The lights should be tinted yellow or orange somewhat if they're on all the time in a place like this.
The bridge across the gap looks cool, and the river looks pretty great. I also like the distant buildings both across the basin and up above the chasm!

PlipPlop
Really nice even coating of details, and I like how vertical the area is. Also the transition into the skybox is done believably well. the skybox itself is pretty cool too.
The area with the two no entry doors and the road tracks has an area with a sunken tire sticking out of concrete, which is kinda weird. You do give reason for the weirdly shaped concrete road in places with the cracked tile bits in the center, but the shape is still kinda strange. (road cuts off at an angle to not hit a rock in the center).

TheoF114
Fantastic use of the 2048 squared space! The road section and the back alley are well done.
The fog outside is sorta strong near the water area as it completely silhouettes the buildings behind the ship, which is weird cause the ship is fully visible and there's only like a 20ft difference.
Some of the details were questionable, like the giant pipe leading to nowhere specific with a fluorescent light on inside, and the completely fenced in cabinet full of junk - but no way to get stuff out of it.
The missing cubemaps is a shame cause it keeps popping up everywhere, but overall the prop details look really even and useful.

Yacan
The lighting in comparison to the sky is pretty strange unless I'm playing on the moon, but the moon is in the sky so I assume not.
The brush detailing is pretty great and I like the use of props for the windows and the MVM hatch for the blast proof door. Really seems to fit well.
There were some displacement seems and the ground didn't quite meet up with the bottom of the metal fence at the side, though.
Would have been a lot better with better lighting. :'(

 

[Dr. Spud]

My favorites are Aly's, Egan's, and Idolon's

detail_aly
--------------------
+great mood
+great lighting
+neat spins on an old theme
+out of all the entries felt the most like a consistent and polished environment
-didn't feel like it could work as a real tf2 map (a little awkward to run through)

detail_egan
--------------------
+really cool idea for a scene
+blends into the skybox very well
+although it was a little cramped, I could imagine it being a location in a full map
+the train is super cool
-doesn't look as good from the player's perspective than it does from a spectator camera
-background mountains have ultra-tiling rock textures

detail_idolon
--------------------
+pleasing to the eye and never overwhelming (even when running around close to things)
+out of all the entries feels the most like it would work in a full map
+the stream/waterfall are tied into the architecture very well
-a little uninteresting in places. Lots of blank walls that could use extra texture/prop detail


All the entries were really good. Especially, I thought they were all really cool ideas for scenes and were fun to run through. In the end, the above 3 stood out because in general they had the best lighting, and avoided cluttering with too much detail.

 

[Freyja]

Bakscratch

- I like the creative use of weapon props! (Though, solid arrows?)
- Didn't feel part of a larger thing. The wall doesn't continue, attackers could just walk around!
- Woodwork is magnificent
- Any good castle archiect knows that building your wall right next to the forest only gives a way for attackers to sneak up on you.

Egan

- You can't win the contest don't be silly.


Frozen

- I liked the idea, but the whole thing felt a little empty.
- Light bleeds everywhere ;_;
- Could have used a 3d sky
- Random doors ftw?
- Volcanos!
- Impressive use of fog controllers

Idolon

- Managed to do exactly what I envisioned for the ruins in tethys somehow
- I missed a 3d sky
- Nice architecture
- Good density of details



Mr late

- Missing textures ruined the atmosphere a bit
- River looks really good!
- Lighting was a bit dark in places
- Random rock clusters felt out of place, especially in an "eroded" canyon
- 3D skybox was magnificent


Hexacosichoron

- I liked the maze of catwalks and the large vertical scale of this, allowing you to explore around the rocket
- I liked the contrast between the inside and outside
- Nice 3D skybox!
- Your texture variation is a bit low, and the spytech rooms felt a bit samey
- The windows in the spytech rooms are above eyelevel, feels a bit wierd.


plipplop

- I love the brick texture. You made excellent use of this, a wonderfully done facade.
- 3D skybox is very well done.
- I love your prop placement, the random junk and that. Does a nice job of building a good image
- Lighting is very impressive
- I really like your displacement work, though the texture alignment could use some polish
- The rock sort of grows out of the structures in some places, like some alien glob. Bit strange but not too bad,

theof114

- Lack of cubemaps ruined it a tad
- Some of the hallways are a bit tight
- Nice job with the lighting for the most part, but some props (fan, metal sheetings) could use a lighting origin
- Really felt like a nice industrial port!
- I like the drains, especially with the tiny splashes.
- At first I thought you had gone outside the size limit, but it turned out to be a really well crafted 3D skybox. Excellent work.
- (Extra comment: Your screenshot really betrays this! Your map is really good, the screenshot shows a very boring part of it)

Yacan

- Creative use of the mvm hatch
- Missing textures make Eleryn sad
- I like the geometry
- Was a nice twist on a spytech base I hadn't seen before
- No 3D sky

 

[Ida]

detail_aly
I love the deep forest atmosphere, but it kind of suffers under scrutiny. The edges of the map aren't very elegant, and in some places you can see right past the trees into the skybox, and the lighting on the trees is just a bit too derpy. However, the building is very nicely detailed, and the water wheel is very cool.

detail_bakscratch
Janky skybox edges in this too. However, the skybox itself is pretty. I'm missing a way to navigate the fort/gate, and the way it's constructed makes it look more like a machinima setpiece than actual map detail. That said, this nails the overall atmosphere. The architecture is great, and a lovely complement to the environment. The whole thing feels good, which I really value.

detail_egan
I feel like this map looks a heck of a lot better from afar than it actually looks inside. It's a very pretty setpiece (ingoring the odd square cliff) and the building details are great, but the illusion is broken when moving around in the map. I feel like I want to explore further down the bridge even though it's off limits, which I don't think is a good way to do a skybox. Also, the cliffs in the skybox are kinda sparse, and their textures are way too small. However, you did a good job of giving the illusion that the skybox is a part of the world.

detail_frozen_1
I'm not sure if your direction is very good in this one. As a neat puzzle-ish map I like it a lot, but I think you should've focues on the detail side of things. Where are these places, what do they have to do with the TF2 universe, etc. The details that are in the map are executed well, don't get me wrong, but there's very little of interest to look at.

detail_hexacosichoron
Very impressive scale. Reminds me of something you'd see in HL or Portal, but you've executed it in reasonably convincing TF2 style. What I'm missing is basically polish. For instance, the outside looks sort of unfinished, as it's missing sounds and the lighting isn't very good. The architecture, decoration and choice of textures is also pretty basic in most places. I can see a lot of interesting potential here.

detail_idolon_3
Excellent mix of ruins with modern "patchwork" architecture. I wouldn't complain if you added some more foliage though, especially the vines seen on some of the walls. The area is fun to move around it and could easily function as an actual game area - kudos for being one of the few maps to do that. Too bad there's no skybox, though, because without it the otherwise excellent waterfall doesn't seem as impressive or dangerous.

detail_mrlate
Excellent utilization of space. I love the detail area above the main area. It's almost a shame that you can only see it by noclipping. My only complaint about that part is that the building embedded into the canyon doesn't really look that good. Another issue is that the canyon seems too straight, especially the part that's in the skybox. And while I'm nitpicking: Many objects/areas in the map are lit kinda strangely, in particular one of the rocks, the cave with the minecart, and the wooden structure separating the main area from the skybox. In addition, the actual area you can move around in is too cluttered to pass as an actual area in TF2. But overall this does a great job of channeling that classic TF2 feel I love so much.

detail_plipplop
Wow, right off the bat this is super impressive. I really dig both the architecture and the nature parts. Feels like a fresh, new take on Hydro. I would say my only complaints here are that the buildings embedded into the cliffs look too strange at times. I could easily imagine this existing in the game. The amount of detail is just right, and it's great fun to walk around and look at. The skybox is superb, and is really well separated from the main area. This has such a good overall feel.

detail_theof114
One of the best industrial themes I've ever seen. Every area of the map is detailed so well, it fits perfectly into the world, and the connection with the skybox is seamless. The mood achieved with the rain and the lighting is really good. I really enjoy how even though you have so many different-looking areas in the map, they all fit perfectly together, all with a hint of slightly shabby industrialism. It's also impressive that this is done mainly with the use of vanilla TF2 materials, the only thing out of place being the Chinese roadblock sign from Kong King. Would rate 10/10 if I could.

detail_yacan1
This is a very impressive building! It's a lot of fun to look at, and it's pretty damn unique without feeling out of place. My main complaint is that because it's so interesting, it becomes all the more annoying that I don't really know what it is or where it is. I think the presence of a skybox and/or some inside areas would help make it seem like less of a static building and more like an actual detailed TF2 area. It's also kind of disappointing that it's so closed off, with the fence and all. Either way, I love the creativity of the building.

In the end I am voting for PlipPlop and TheoF114. There are a lot of great entries and I want to vote for almost all of them, but I feel like these two truly deserve to win. Either way - great work, all of you.

 

[Egan]

Detailing Mini-Contest 2013 Results

The votes are in, the winners decided, and here they are!

First Place
detail_plipplop

Download Map

Second Place
detail_idolon_3

Download Map

Third Place
A tie between:

detail_aly

Download Map

and:

detail_theof114

Download Map

Congratulations to all the winners! I'll add you on steam shortly, PlipPlop.
Also thanks to everyone who took the time to go through the maps and vote, (you're the real winners here).

(I'll update the original rules and information page with a quote of this soon).​

 

[Prestige]

congrats mappermen u deserve it