Contest #4 Final entries are in. Vote now!

[sniprpenguin]

Maps|Gameplay|Class Involvement|Style|Optimization
Cloudburst|4|7|6|6
Landfall|1|2|6|4
Stockpile|7|7|3|6
Mercy|-|-|-|-
Wiretap|6|6|6|6
Deliverance|2|4|5|4
Converge|3|5|4|5
Overlook|-|-|-|-
Bedrock|-|-|-|-
Wildfire|-|-|-|-
Fusion|4|3|7|4

Will have to play Mercy, Overlook, Bedrock, and Wildfire more.

 

[Ravidge]

Feel free to contact me via PM if you have any questions about my scoring.
I'm keeping my comments REALLY short. So what you see in the comment field is not all there is to my reasoning, and also all the "you did <thing> really well" and "this part <there> is particulary impressive" fluff-talk is stripped out. Which makes every comment sound negative, but imagine a little "" at the end of them and you'll be fine.

Maps|Gameplay|Class Involvement|Style|Optimization|Comment
Clouburst|3|6|4|4|Long distances to push, engineer friendly. Does a good job of being a normal ctf map. Can get camped but often a good game.
Landfall|3|3|5|6|A little TOO vertical. Easy to miss the opponent going past you. Interesting style and runs great.
Stockpile|2|3|4|6|Far too small, limited options and predictable attacks. Valve theme done well, but nothing eye catching.
Mercy|1|3|4|5|Much too small, very limited gameplay. Looks nice and has stable fps.
Wiretap|2|5|4|4|Tight bases, impossible to dodge explosives. Spytech all the way.. it's usually hidden behind a innocent facade, feels odd but looks good either way.
Deliverance|5|6|4|6|Great fun. Some Invade related issues such as backcapping but overall enjoyable and diverse gameplay. Environment feels abandoned and dull.
Converge|4|4|5|5|Inconsistently fun, full base lockdowns and incredible back-and-forth replace eachother. Nice touches in every corner.
Overlook|2|4|7|4|Very small and fast. Feel very polished but uncontrolled gameplay.
Bedrock|5|3|1|4|Plays great. Looks bland, definitely work to be done but there's potential for a fun ctf map.
Wildfire|6|6|5|3|Solid Map. Interesting gameplay. Ugly optimization but it works.
Fusion|-|-|-|-|Could use a new central heating system in red spawn

Everything is subject to change until the thread is closed.

 

[Dark]

Maps| Gameplay | Class Involvement | Style | Optimization Clouburs t|X|X|5|5
Landfall |X|X|6|5
Stockpile |X|X|4|5
Mercy |X|X|X|X
Wiretap |X|X|5|4
Deliverance |X|X|6|6
Converge |X|X|4|7
Overlook |X|X|5|5
Bedrock |X|X|3|6
Wildfire |X|X|6|5
Fusion |X|X|5|3

In case you are wondering why you got the score you did http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3765894/table.rtf

 

[Void]

Maps|Gameplay|Class Involvement|Style|Optimization|Comments
Clouburst|5|5|6|6|The map seemed very spacious and contained at points. It could use a bit of breathing room, views into the outside world, etc. Some areas feel like arenas. Besides that, I think the map was perfect. Rainbow was a nice touch.
Landfall|5|5|7|5|I liked the big trees, although it triggered a "rats map" feeling at times. It's a nice modification of themes, and the gameplay seems well-polished where it need be.
Stockpile|4|5|5|5|It did good on its own, but it could've stuck out some more. Needed more original kicks to it.
Mercy|2|2|3|3|I'll be honest. I don't like it. It feels like Doublecross had all of its bones broken and the remaining mush got jammed together into a very small map.
Wiretap|-|-|-|-|I'd tap it.
Deliverance|5|6|6|7|I've always liked Deliverance, but it's detailing always seemed lacking. It feels bland with the Sawmill sky. The Sawmill theme itself is fine, but it just feels like it needs more oomph.
Converge|4|5|6|7|I liked the detailing, although it was a bit full at points. It felt that you were confined to a very small portion of a much bigger system. Not that that's bad, it just seems like a lot of that went unexplored.
Overlook|5|6|5|5|Cornfield Mark II? It's a swell map and all, but seems to be supporting your recurring detailing structure. But, to each their own.
Bedrock|6|3|4|6|I haven't play too much of the latest version, but from the ones I have, I've played a lot. And they played great.
Wildfire|5|5|6|5|Not much to say about this other than that I hope to see more of it in the future... that is, when you get back, Mangy.
Fusion|6|5|6|7|The map may be cold, but everything in it was smokin' hot. I'm sorry you had to read that.

All content subject to change until voting is closed.

 

[Languid]

Maps|Gameplay|Class Involvement|Style|Optimization
Cloudburst|4|5|3|5
Landfall|3|2|6|5
Stockpile|4|4|3|4
Mercy|1|2|3|5
Wiretap|2|3|4|4
Deliverance|5|5|4|5
Converge|4|4|6|5
Overlook|3|3|7|5
Bedrock|5|4|2|4
Wildfire|6|5|6|5
Fusion|5|5|4|5

Cloudburst
The gameplay areas are solid and easily understood, focusing teams into a coherent push to grab the intel. The intel room itself is slightly marginalised and protected, with most of the fighting occuring in the yard at front. Soldiers, scouts and demos get love with the high and open areas throughout the map, but more vulnerable classes still had their place. The detailing is good, but the tall cliffs surrounding the map are the definition of unadventurous. Get a nice 3d skybox and poke some holes in those cliffs.

Landfall I quite like the layout, it was new and intuitive. However, it seemed to have the opposite effect of cloudburst's layout, splitting up teams and making the majority of battles 1v1 situations. The detailing is very nice, achieving the alpine feel with a unique twist.

Stockpile
The gameplay areas of stockpile have interesting height variation and layouts, but I feel the ramp route to the intel is too powerful, leading to slightly predictable pushes for the intel. The detailing is so so, sort of aiming between granary and 2fort, but missing both. Granary is all about the towering buildings teeming with windows, the fighting taking place in the cool shade between them. 2fort is a homely outhouse, filled with junk and sprawling buildings. Stockpile feels ramshackle, but too clean at the same time. The blend texture is nice, though!

Mercy
It was worth a shot. You tried something new with the map, but sadly it either just didn't work (that window), or it wasn't right for 6v6. It really really needs to be bigger, with a much larger mid. The detailing is okay, but a bit messy and uncontrolled. Take this the way of 4v4 or scrap the mid and stretch the whole map out.

Wiretap It's fun in pubs, but like landfall, actively discourages teamwork. The intel room is quite easily locked down, but this is countered somewhat by the sprawling inner bases, which belongs more to the enemies team than to your own. The detail I feel is very professional, but quite overdone in some areas and underdone in others. It's a pity that my favourite detail area, the bridge, is surrounded by dull old square cliffs.

Deliverance
Deliverance is an interesting take on invade ctf. The layout allows for good back and forth gameplay, but still manages to keep teams focused. The detailing is very individual and natural, if a bit bare when it comes to the buildings. I can't really think of something that would definitely improve it, so you're doing well.

Converge
Converge has what I'd believe to be a more conventional hourglass shape for invade ctf. The outside area gives a good first engagement, even if the inner areas have slightly less flow. The detailing for this level is of a very high quality, with your custom model fitting in well. Once again, no definite improvements to be suggested here.

Overlook
Overlook is the only map in the final to earn 7 for style due to DBP's brilliant grasp on detailing. Your map has by far the best lighting to be in this contest, and the various areas of the map capture their respective themes precisely. Now, as for the gameplay. I marked overlook very low on my first pass, for its predictable attack routes, but on second thoughts it is still a strong map, just not as good as a few others in this contest. Talk to people about gameplay issues, try and fix a few of the problems. Otherwise, the map is absolutely fine.

Bedrock
I like the gameplay of this map. The mid is simple, but effective in its layout, the intel area promotes teamwork both from the attackers and defenders. The map has no out of the way dead zones. As for detailing and optimisation, they can be polished to a mirror sheen after the contest. I have a few reccomendations, which I'll post in the thread after the contest.

Wildfire From a1 I could see that wildfire was a very strong and fun to play map. The gameplay is extremely team-orientated, with the very streamlined layout helping this. You have obviously tested this map thoroughly in 6v6 and know exactly what you're doing for gameplay. The detailing of the map is also of a high quality, with a good twist on the Hydro theme. The only thing I could recommend is to take a leaf out of overlook's book and try some interesting lighting situations.

Fusion
Probably the most inventive map in the final, but you make it work. Once the player has the concept sorted out, it really shines. The only thing that I feel lets it down slightly is the flat and unadventurous mid. The detailing doesn't really sit well with me. It is very competent and consistant, but feels angular, and slightly out of place in TF2. Congrats for trying something new though, you seem to do it with a lot of your maps, and it works.

 

[Tinker]

Maps|Gameplay|Class Involvement|Style|Optimization
Cloudburst|X|X|X|X
Landfall|X|X|X|X
Stockpile|7|6|5|6
Mercy|X|X|X|X
Wiretap|4|5|6|5
Deliverance|X|X|X|X
Converge|5|5|5|5
Overlook|5|6|7|5
Bedrock|6|6|4|6
Wildfire|6|5|6|6
Fusion|4|4|7|6

Will update with more feedback and the rest of the maps later. Everything is subject to change. Overall though, let me say that the standard of quality on contest maps has been heightened again. Well done everyone!

Stockpile:

Ah, Stockpile. Pretty much the one that started off with a really solid layout, and got only changed very little over the course of time. But hey, there's reason for that! It takes the initial idea of turbine, but expands it and takes it to a much higher level. The farm detailing impressed me because I was skeptical and it looks pretty good now (even though it could still do with quite a lot more detailing in my opinion), but what shines here is the gameplay. It's simple, it's suited for competition, and it's just fun. With some more tweaking this could be a winner.

Wiretap:

I rather like what you've done with this. The theme works, the gameplay is solid and every class can shine. However, I feel it is just a little too complicated and twisty to work out. Outdoors does great, indoors has too little staircases and corners to make gameplay interesting there.

Converge:

Makes invade ctf work, which is a big plus - I haven't seen it being pulled off in this fashion quite as well yet. With a thoroughly enjoyable mid section and slightly less but still solid indoors section - those could some work, again aiming for simplicity and gameflow. I'm not sure if invade ctf was the best idea to start with, but this made it go the right way.

Overlook:

Can I say this now? I really, really disliked the original Overlook. It had a bad original design, with badly placed spawns, a campy intel room, an uninteresting mid, a boring theme, and it didn't play well either. This map has made amazing progress from pretty much being shoved forcefully from my cool map radar to well on top of it. It looks fantastic and there's lots to see, but even if you're not interested in that the mid section is interesting and the bases are somehow great places for huge battles. Awesome job turning a stinker into a winner!

Bedrock:

Surprise surprise, a low flyer busting through the prelims and making a sparkle. With a real solid and simple layout in a small map, every class is able to shine and do their job. The style isn't interesting (yet), but hey, it if it all works this well, who cares?

Wildfire:

Really cleverly construed and with great attention of manufacturing, this is an easy map to grab everyone's attention. It does a great job at keeping the attention on top of the intelligence, although I think it could use some work on the spawn and mid areas, simply because I've never seen something happen much there. The theme is nice and original, too.

Fusion:
Ooh, flaming barrels. With a great theme, I'm always a little disappointed by what actually happens. The gamemode isn't the problem - the mechanics you got down here work and are fine for as far as I can see. But it's just.. dull, for now. Mid, the biggest source of battle, feels and plays empty and never leads to actual big clashes in any of the matches I've played. The other areas work very well, but as mid is the main arena, it does halt the enjoyment by a fair amount. Spice it up a little, and this could be great.