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As some of you may know, recently on Map-Craft we had an Innovative Design Competition for JKA. Though there were some delays (to which I claim, my bad), our two competitors submitted their maps, and the marks were calculated today. The winner of this competition was Jedi_Mediator, with his map Small, which is available for download here. Once again, I'd like to thank both competitors for participating in this community event. I'd also like to extend a special thanks to our judges, Crazy-Assassin, MaceCrusherMadunusus and Pande.

MaceCrusherMadunususususus was kind enough to provide a full review (including marks, though it should be noted that these are not the final marks) whilst acting as one of the judges. Here it is, in all it's glory:

Quote:

Here we have a fairly interesting but small map by Jedi Mediator. It encompasses a feature I would have loved to see come before, a day-to-night system. In addition to that, it gives you a really well done feeling of being small. There is a small puddle in the center of the map created by some water droplets coming from the sky. Now these are not your ordinary water droplets, but go in-game and have a look for yourself. Another way this map makes you feel small is the footprint left in the map, on top of the gigantic tree and grass leaves. Well done on that.

Incorporation of 'feature'
Theres not much to say here, other than it works well and how it is intended to. This feature is not one that will hinder gameplay, or flow of any kind. It is just there as a little added bonus, adding a nice feel to the map. I do feel it could have been done a little better, however.

4.9/5

Functionality of 'feature'
As said earlier, this map features a Day-to-night system. In order to do so, it uses shaders to control how/when it changes from day to night and vice versa. This is not a method I would say is Ideal, because its a little hard if others would like to attempt it with different timings and such but it still works nicely.

In the map itself we also see the sun and moon rotating around, I would have liked to see a few things done with this as well. For one, I would not have chose to have it on a cylander with a scroll on it. A better method would be to have it on a func_rotating. Reasoning for this, is because having it on a cylander you notice some odd perspective & stretching issues near the horizon as well as some of the shifts across the tris. Also, this allows for a more detailed texture to be placed on the func_rotating and more control over "remapping". Remapping would allow you to change how the moon looks on each pass, adding more depth to the cycle.

Another area this feature could have improved in is some decal shadows. As of now, this map can be considered just a full bright or entirely ambient lit map. That is not quite a good thing. In order to help fix this, you can create some shadow decal images, which move and change with the time period. Since this is a small map, it is not so much of a problem. Decal method is only one way to do it, however, theres still the possibility of using actual lighting that fades throughout the day. I have never tried to actually do that though, so I am of little help there.

4.5/5

Elegance of 'feature'
As said earlier, the method is not particularily hard, but it would be difficult to understand and modify for a great number of people. Overall, it could be made a lot more simple.

4/5

Originality
This is one thing that has been on the plate for a long time for many people. It has been attempted before, and achieved similar effects. However, this is the first one to actually be fully completed in almost all aspects. While it could still be improved, its still right up there.

5/5

In terms of behind the scenes technicals, this map needs quite a bit of work. There is a lot of "No shader/texture" images across the map where there should be caulk, as well as most of the brushwork needing fixing in order to fix some additional t-junctions being created to help optimize the map. Due to the map being small, that is not as much of an issue, but that all is here for future reference. There is also a sound file which is unsupported giving a console error.

I also feel like the ground texture in the map was stretched way too far, causing massive blurring. And last, but not least, there is not enough spawns in this map at all. As of now, there is one, and one is not enough for having multiple people on the map at all. With this, there is also no gametypes really supported with the map. Since this map is still not being judged on those, it does not hinder score in any way. Just a few things worth noting.

~MaceCrusherMadunusus

Posted by ShadowKnight on Monday, December 14, 2009 (19:19:15)
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