Would you say you are satisfied with your 72hr contest entry?

HQDefault

HQDefault

...what
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Aug 6, 2014
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Now that the first voting stage is over, I want to bring this topic up.

Whether your map had not a single yes vote, or your map was unanimously praised, do you think your map was worth the effort you put in, and do you feel like you've made a half-decent map?

Personally, I got 1 yes vote.
And that's just enough for me to feel like I did my job.
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Kube

Kube

Not the correct way to make lasagna
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Aug 31, 2014
1,342
1,849
I'm less satisfied with my entry and more satisfied with myself for doing and completing the contest. I learned a lot about myself and how I react to having to be creative under a time limit.

However, after considering that I nearly gave up at around the 3-hour mark, I would say that I'm very satisfied with my fleshed-out, nearly-beta-ready map (that is, once I completely re-do the layout to proper scaling).
 
MaccyF

MaccyF

Notoriously Unreliable
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Mar 27, 2015
914
1,545
I'm proud of both the detailing and layout of my map (bar a few points which are fairly obvious in hindsight), but I'm kicking myself over how small I made it. I was going on the basis that every arena server I've ever played on has had less than 8 people on it, and based the map around that - never even considering that as it was a 72 hour map, it would be played on a full server :/

For those who played my entry, do you think that this new doorway between the two corridors will help for flanking/ the cramped feel of the interiors? (Don't worry; that's not the only change I'm making)

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Also, I'm a bit surprised and disappointed over how few people voted; a full server for every map and only 30 people bothered. MORE PEOPLE COMPETED THAN VOTED FOR GOD'S SAKE!
 
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killohurtz

killohurtz

Distinction in Applied Carving
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Feb 22, 2014
1,016
1,277
Ms. Mudpie said:
I was really proud of my map when I first submitted it, but over time my love for it has diminished.

Still, it made the top ten, so it can't be that bad.
Click to expand...

I bet most of us (me included) were more proud of our maps at first, before loads of problems were unearthed that we weren't allowed to fix :p

Anyway, given that this contest actually forced me to finish an a1 for the first time, I'd say I'm pretty happy with the result. Even happier now that I can get started developing it.
 
Lain

Lain

lobotomy success story
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Jan 8, 2015
724
757
I am very satisfied, it's probably my favourite map of my own, it's definitely something I'm proud of. I wish I put more time into making it look pretty though, since the gameplay has stayed largely the same since A1 except for a few excessive routes.

I am definitely going to improve the gameplay on and between second and last. Those are the places where it gets very cramped, but the last (despite looking generic) is actually very unique. Players defending want to gain a height advantage to the point, but at the same time also want to stand on it, which made for some intense battles. I remember one game where a demoknight won the game by charging in and knocking the defending soldier away and piping him (might have been turbo). I feel those are the situations where the layout of the last point shines.
I also made a point to make engineers not as relevant on the last, as I feel that's what makes stalemates happen. I did this by introducing pillars to the point. So one engineer will only be able to hold one 'dimension' of the point, and players can stand behind the pillars to evade them altogether if there are no supporting players there to assist the sentry gun.

Places where my novice design came in where for the connectors from mid, they are terrible. One is objectively better than the other two for pushing, and it isn't really that much harder to push than the other locations. And pushing into mid once again was difficult also, because of the flat ground and height advantage that the enemy gets it makes is very hard to get across that large 550hmu divide between the mid point and the connectors.
 
phi

phi

aa
Nov 6, 2011
832
1,815
I'm satisfied. I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in those 72hrs and out came something I'm pretty proud of. There are a lot of little issues (and one not-so-little clipping bug) but other than that I can't say I'm not satisfied. A lot of planning went into it and I'd say the planning paid off. It was fun!

My initial goal going into the contest was to get a map from nothing to fully detailed in 72hrs. While some areas are a bit spotty I think I accomplished that pretty well!
 
MegapiemanPHD

MegapiemanPHD

Doctorate in Deliciousness
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Mar 31, 2012
1,942
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I thought I did alright. Got one yes vote and one no vote in the thread for Ace and it tied at 19th place. It's annoying though that 99% of the time My Map fell under the "haven't played yet" sections of people's voting. Hard to improve without knowing what I need to work on.
 
Hyperion

Hyperion

L16: Grid Member
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Jun 8, 2015
840
659
It was my first map, so Im kinda happy but because I uploaded old version it really sucked
 
worMatty

worMatty

Repacking Evangelist
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Jul 22, 2014
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That's a pretty sad reason not to participate. Given that only one person can 'win' in this competition, are you really ready to label the 68 other map authors as losers? That's not fair at all. Everyone who submitted work has achieved something. Choosing not to take part because you are scared that you aren't going to be No. 1 is irrational, and you achieve nothing.
 
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14bit

14bit

L14: Bit Member
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Oct 5, 2014
642
2,068
I'm really happy with my entry. I was surprised others liked as much as I hoped. The last time I tried to do a timed contest (7DFPS) I almost failed and had to redo everything in the last few hours, so I'm relived that this contest went so well.

I do have some issues with my map. There are a few misaligned textures that keep bothering me and the singular visible nodraw in playspace (It's on the top step of red's intel room staircase). I'm also not happy with some of the flow of the map overall. The flow directs you up to the roof area in the center, which promotes rushing the intel, rather than encouraging defense. The air vent also seems to be used way more than I ever expected, it was intended to be a sneaky spy route, rather than one of the main ways in and out of the intel room. I intended the fight to the intel to go around the side of the intel room and in through the windows, but the air vent breaks that.

I'm still not fully happy with the intel rooms themselves either, but I did rebuild them in the last few hours with little thought. The area at the bottom of the staircase and the path to the alternate exit for the defenders is unclear and out of the way, and I didn't light things up as much as I should in that area.

Don't get me started on the Scout rush issue. While I think the tense moment having to run and set up a sentry in the intel room as fast as you can before the scouts arrive is somewhat fun, it can lead to quick games and frustrated players if they haven't played the map before and don't know how important defense is.

I do like how it seems to promote teamwork and has a strategic element to deciding when to cap. Do I open their doors to get to the intel, or do I leave them shut while I defend the flag out in the field until it returns?

I also like the art style I went with, but I really didn't know what I was doing art-wise most of the time. The overpass that came to dominate the map was actually never in my original plans, it came out of the need for some form of cover for the whole central area.

I'm still surprised as to how I managed to make it into finals. I though everyone hated CTF? Thank you all for your testing and support!

Final verdict: Yes, I am very satisfied with my map. It definitely has a lot of issues, but for 72 hours, it's not bad. It's definitely my best map to date, and I'm looking forward to iterating on it in the future.

Sorry that turned into a postmortem-thing.
 
HQDefault

HQDefault

...what
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Aug 6, 2014
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Alright, now that people have had a chance to talk, I'd like to elaborate a bit more on how I feel about my entry.

First off, it helped me out that I left my ego at the door, something I haven't been doing with a lot of my previous TF2maps projects. So I wasn't dissatisfied when I didn't win. And quite frankly, since one person gave it a yes vote, that means that my job to give a joyful experience was successful, to an extent. And just in general, it was easily one of my better projects. (You can tell I learned a lot about 5cp since Mineworks) So I will continue it, as soon as "beginning of school stress" is over.

I do wish that I hadn't seen the place it made, though. 34th if I remember correctly. But hey, there was like 60 or so entries. So I just thought of it as running a marathon, really doesn't matter if you win, just as long as you finished it, and you weren't dead last. So smack dab in the middle is acceptable.

As for the issues that people began pointing out after the contest ended, I also like to think I took those pretty well, too. I just sort of had the mindset of: "k, I'll fix it after voting" and didn't even think of it as a contest.

So, the moral of the story is:
Thinking of it as a contest just brings pain and misery!

(I am a little sad no one mentioned my skybox though :'C)
 
Cargo_Tokens

Cargo_Tokens

L3: Member
Feb 19, 2015
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I got 2 yes votes, 2 more than I thought I would get. Clocktower I felt had 1 BIG problem, *cough* Stage 3 *cough* that I think killed the Alpha 1. But at least I made a map, a large one at that, so I'm proud of myself.
 
worMatty

worMatty

Repacking Evangelist
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Jul 22, 2014
1,258
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HQDefault said:
As for the issues that people began pointing out after the contest ended, I also like to think I took those pretty well, too. I just sort of had the mindset of: "k, I'll fix it after voting" and didn't even think of it as a contest.
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You began an argument with someone about the comments they made about your map, in the voting thread.

Thinking about it as a contest shouldn't bring any pain or misery if you are realistic. One should know one's limits and be cautious about the amount of work being taken on.
 
HQDefault

HQDefault

...what
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Aug 6, 2014
1,056
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worMatty said:
You began an argument with someone about the comments they made about your map, in the voting thread.

Thinking about it as a contest shouldn't bring any pain or misery if you are realistic. One should know one's limits and be cautious about the amount of work being taken on.
Click to expand...
Now hold on a second, the guy said it was over-scaled, and no one made the same comment, and I was rather confused.
That was it.
 
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