Unofficial Minor Contest #1: Voting Thread

Sonoma

tf_logic_lesbian
aa
May 12, 2020
595
580
ktf16FNVd7aHoLHAtm4bBFfIxs7MDT8TAnVCoeTFcT3HVgGWtMZ5odDTG6pLyaUyk4vXzuVj0FfW6jE1i8qE9Ufv1QG1QBnh4RYbU9Py8LqiRRKtORv4HaNI3-HkNzzF8do5G_h3=s0



D E A D L I N E S


Minor Contest voting ends Dec 28nd, 2021,11:59 PM (23:59) GMT. If turnout is low, voting will be extended an extra week.

S C O R I N G

Maps will be scored on a 1 to 10 scale, using 5 as an average score. Use decimals if you must, but the intent here is that you shouldn't think too hard about the exact score for every map.


A ballot must contain scores for at least 3 maps to count. You may not vote for your own map, obviously. Ballots may be thrown out by my discretion. A public log will be kept of any ballots that are disqualified for the sake of transparency.

If you wish to submit your ballot privately, DM it to me on the forums. Any private ballots will be made public at the end of voting for the sake of transparency.

Use this table to cast your votes:

Code:
[table=head]
MAP | SCORE | Favorite Aspect (optional)
Robin | |
Holtzmann | |
Zenvorathing | |
Kemilcoldthing | |
[/table]
 
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Will Alfred

L2: Junior Member
Oct 13, 2020
51
30

MAP | SCORE | Favorite Aspect (optional)
Robin | 5,7 | Its really nice, i really like the map, but i feel like some refinement could be done around lighting aspects and geometry. It lacks a theme but gameplay is really well done.
Holtzmann | amongossusy |
Zenvorathing | 3 | Its very easy for you to lose yourself in the map, and since theres no proper signage or hinting of where leads to what, half of the time playing the map you get lost very easily
Kemilcoldthing | 7 | The map is really damn good! i really liked it and it has a very nice feeling to it. I really wish to see the final and artpassed version of kemilcoldthing
 

Skylark

Super Gay Developer
aa
Aug 9, 2018
163
373

MAP | SCORE | Favorite Aspect (optional)
Robin | 3.631268 | I like that it requires being sneaky which other maps don't have and is an aspect I like for flag maps
Holtzmann | 5.307613 | There is an interesting use of height without being a complicated knot
Zenvorathing | 4.822262 | I think this might be as good as gravelpit adctf as it can be, only limited by this being an a1, looking forward to future versions
Kemilcoldthing | 6.238857 | With adctf things can be more open as defenders only have to look out for the flag carrier so this map utilises that features that would suck in regular a/d

It averages to 5 \_(^-^)_/
 
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D0om

L2: Junior Member
Feb 26, 2016
97
104

MAP | SCORE | Thoughts
Robin | 6 | Unfortunately majority of combat revolves around two dropdowns which neither team can really access, but overall enjoyable to play as mobile class.
Holtzmann | 4 | Tight, narrow, lots of spam and generally dustbowl-like gameplay. Though of all dustbowl-like gameplay maps this one I enjoyed more than most others.
Zenvorathing | 6.5 | Gravelpit formula is actually somewhat fun when you apply adctf to it. Good combat spaces. C is too tight and convoluted though.
Kemilcoldthing | 8.5 | Veryy fun map, I wish the connection between the points was more interesting though. First is also quite hard to defend.
 
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Buic

Dragon Hugger
Jul 8, 2016
36
25

MAP | SCORE
Robin | 6
Holtzmann | 7
Zenvorathing | 4
Kemilcoldthing | 8
 
Mar 23, 2010
1,872
1,696

MAP | SCORE | Favorite Aspect (optional)
Robin | 5 | Gamemode
Holtzmann | 7 | Simplicity & Size
Zenvorathing | 3 | I want to try this adctf w/ 2 capzones it sounds cool
Kemilcoldthing | 8 | B is great, A once you get thru the sightlines

Robin: Not a bad idea, but I think it needs some progression of difficulty for blu. Combat spaces are pretty hard to move through for blu, which I imagine was supposed to be some sort of forward hold dynamic for red, but the gamemode just makes red hang back.

Holtzmann: Most Fun Had Award. Very team-oriented dustbowl gameplay although it is heavily imbalanced with A being super hard, B easier, C never defended. I like the silo + conveyor stuff at A a lot.

Kemilcoldthing: I don't like A, it feels so out of place for a/d ctf and its too open and wide. Solid map, but intel only seems to matter for B. Nothing ever annoys me on this map, but nothing really thrills me either. EDIT: ok A is good once the gate-holding part is over. and its actually pretty darn fun

Zenvora: I wouldn't design it so much like gpit, but the points themselves seem fun. Something really confused players about the layout and made it play worse than it actually was probably. I think the red spawn shortcuts don't work very well.
 
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I dinne ken

Has currently had enough
aa
Apr 16, 2016
324
432

MAP | SCORE | Favorite Aspect (optional)
Robin | 5 | The Underground route is neat. I can never pull low level routes off but this was cool.
Holtzmann | 7 | The geometry on A and also B is fun to play on. Feels pretty fluid.
Zenvorathing | 4 | I like how sneaky some of the routes feel.
Kemilcoldthing | null | Map sux

Robin: Red gets to sit on the exits of routes very easily. Would like if there were more connections between routes for Blue to combat this. I keep getting flanked by Red, it should be the opposite way round where Blue flanks Red. Apart from that, routes can feel kinda funnelly but there wasn't anything too standouty about the map apart from the underground route which I liked.

Holtzmann: The spaces are neat but the routing isn't good. Think it'd be a good idea to consider which routes players will naturally want to go down in any situation. Consider that players generally go down the first route they can see, so you should let them see multiple routes anytime they're in a space where they're meant to choose a route. There's a big problem with players holding onto the flag after the timer runs out and just stalling until they get the momentum together to push. Kinda sux.

Zenvorathing: I really like the idea of an adctf gravelpit type, it'd go someway to making the first two points of a g-pit map more focused in how the attacking team coordinates. I think this map could do a lot more with the idea though. Currently the layout is flawed, and the capture zone system you have is unneccessarily complicated. Right now, there's no point in capping B first among other things.

Maybe this isn't feedback as such, but I really like the idea of a g-pit adctf. So indulge me.
Off the top of my head, how I'd personally go about making an adctf gpit is this:

upload_2021-12-23_23-4-15.png


Some kind of initial medium sized staging area with the intel that Blue can easily lock Red out of.
2 routes to A and B. 1 route from A to B that connects up with 1 of the routes from staging to B.
3 routes from A-C, 1 that opens after B is capped. 1 Route from B-C. 1 one-way route from Red spawn to B that locks off once B is capped.

Kind of a wall of text, but here's some justification:
"1 route from A to B that connects up with 1 of the routes from staging to B". This is so that if A is too difficult, Blue can rotate to B while still getting reinforcements from staging.
"3 routes from A-C, 1 that opens after B is capped". Kind of like Steel where the more points are capped the more options Blue has, this gives Blue reason to cap B if they're struggling with C. I guess this'd entail C being open if at least A or B is capped.
"1 one-way route from Red spawn to B that locks off once B is capped". It's 1 way because that allows for Blue to gain momentum easier if they get a foothold on B. It locks off because you don't want to let Red flank blue that easily when they're trying to cap C.
Basically all these can be summed up as "give Blue more options than Red".


This would allow for the g-pit "choose your control point" gimmick but would make the flow of the map after A+B are capped feel more like a linear a/d map. Which would hopefully solve the problem g-pit has of Blue being uncoordinated at C.

Anyway, although this is only tangentially related to your map, hope you found this to be something that you can compare to your design thoughts for Zenvorathing.
 

Kiglirs

aa
Sep 13, 2014
68
35

MAP | SCORE | Personal Feedback
Robin | 3.5 | Areas too open, CP objective badly placed: once flag is captured and behind BLU's frontline, it's not that possible for RED to cancel the cap.
Holtzmann | 7.5 | Decent layout, missing a phew flanks and some fixes are needed for the layout. Spawns needs to be better with more than 1 chokepoint at the exits of the spawns. Overtime needs changes, really. I'm personally hyped for more update for this map, had often some fun on it!
Zenvorathing | 5 | Confusing gameplay, there is quite no need to cap all the points, at least 1 point + C works fine, and the reward for capturing a point of the base of the pyramid is too low. (Steel provides more rewards applied on its E point for example). C point layout too confusing, cramped and having too many obstacles. Other part of the map's layout seems decent.
Kemilcoldthing | 5 | Too open between BLU spawn and A. A point is decent, can have some fixes. RED have very phew space to defend B point, only the area near spawn. It's often a pain to defend the points. Interesting B point capture area but with some fixes to be done.
1st time rating maps, i hope i'm not kinda f*cked up in my analysis
 

Tiftid

the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil
aa
Sep 10, 2016
518
391

MAP | SCORE | NOTES
Robin | 8 |
I'll start with the good. The gamemode seemed to work. There was a natural forward hold (at the flag area) that would naturally regenerate itself when the intel reset back into RED's territory. The capzone was also close enough to RED spawn for RED to mount tense, last-ditch retakes which really felt great. The big problem was the layout. Making Engi's life misery doesn't make your map harder to defend. This map had both traits that make playing Engi torturous - an overabundance of flanks and spaces so large that any sentry spot could be outranged and my shotgun did no damage. Either a scout was appearing from nowhere and instakilling me, or a sniper was pressuring me at long range and I literally couldn't do anything about it. Remember that this doesn't just apply to Engi. I can't even imagine trying to play Medic on this map. Most people play this game by switching from class to class, so if two of them are torturous to play at the best of times, your map isn't gonna look very fun. Although only psychopaths play Engi and Medic, right??
Holtzmann | 5 |
B was pretty good. A seemed to be designed wholly around the notion of RED not getting to access BLU's routes, which made the backward hold pretty stagnant and unfun since you were totally at the mercy of the attackers. C forced RED to pass BLU's major entry point and then enter a massive area with no cover or health if they wanted a forward hold, so forward holds are ultra-rare and gameplay consists mostly of RED being holed up in a corner, praying BLU doesn't muster up one strong push.
Zenvorathing | 2 |
I can't help but feel that I misunderstood this map somehow. First I tried defending B, but it seemed impossible. I then tried defending A and found more success, but then I realised that BLU could just ignore me and go to C with no penalty. So I packed up shop and moved to C, and found something shocking. Making Engi's life misery doesn't make your map harder to defend. Every spot was designed to be countered with absolute ease, so I couldn't be competitive with other classes no matter how hard I tried. And yet C held really well, because it was right outside RED spawn, took ages to cap and BLU's attack could easily be foiled by flanking them from any of the 10 or so isolated corridors. This meant that I didn't have much fun defending C, but BLU probably didn't have much fun attacking it either. I spent my entire time wishing I was defending A instead, but I knew full well that it'd be meaningless to do so, because BLU could just walk around me and win the game. Is there a right way to play this map? While I played, it felt like everything I tried was wrong somehow.
Kemilcoldthing | 4 |
No, I don't expect to get set up in the courtyard. I'm not that stuck-up. I recognise that the courtyard is the place teams meet to battle after the previous point was taken, and the battle that takes place there lets me get set up on the point. Think of Gorge, think of the room right before B. In fact, B on this map has just such a room. But it's not really as good as Gorge, because BLU spawns pretty close to it, and RED doesn't approach it with any kind of health, ammo or safe dispenser spots. But if RED gets into that room fast enough B can be pretty fun, so I'll give it that. I'm less optimistic about A. After RED gives up the courtyard in front of BLU's spawn, they can't really retake it, because it's massive, devoid of cover and health and right in front of BLU's spawn. So RED has to hold their hill, knowing full well that one uber-push will make them lose A, which I have seen happen time and time again. Not very interactive.
 

Conga Lyne

L2: Junior Member
Sep 2, 2017
65
47

MAP | SCORE | Favorite Aspect (optional)
Holtzmann | 8 | Fun areas to play in, even if some elements felt very difficult to get a good flank on and some parts unfinished, I had a good time on it. You could hold the flag infinitely and stall out round times for blue for as long as you needed to push however which lead to a few cheap wins.
Zenvorathing | 6 | A map with a lot of confusing geometry and barriers I had a difficult time navigating, DM was fun despite that even if last point felt very restraining in movement.
Kemilcoldthing | 4 | Very long sightlines, especially benefitting blue team. The custom control point graphics on B were pretty but there were some unplayable areas which felt lit up & detailed enough to be a play space. Overall I felt like I had a difficult time playing without feeling like my head was about to get blown off at any moment though. Was kinda fun on soldier though if the enemy snipers weren't too mean.