[Mapping Contest 16] == Winners Announced!

[niektb]

Almost two months ago the contest started to honor the 5th anniversary of 0 A.D. being open-source. Today this contest has come to and end. Let's take a look at the entries:

1. Stanislas69's Forest Battle (4)

2. Llanos' Northern Highlands (2v2)

3. Juanjo's Northern Highlands (4)

4. SwampGremlin's Castle Battle (2v2)

5. SwampGremlin's Waterfall Mountain (2v2)

During the past week the community was able to cast their votes on the (in their opinion) winner. In the meantime the jury tested and voted behind closed doors. The jury also gave feedback on the maps, these feedbacks are combined and posted below. The jury votes count as 2 while the community votes count as 1. These votes combined give the Contest Winner. Now let's take a look at the votes!

Forest Battle received 5 community votes and 2 jury votes resulting in a total of 9. (5 + 2x2 = 9)

Northern Highlands (2v2) received 1 community vote and 1 jury vote resulting in a total of 3. (1 + 1x2 = 3)

Northern Highlands (4) received 0 community votes and 0 jury votes resulting in a total of 0. (0 + 0 = 0)

Castle Battle received 1 community vote and 0 jury votes resulting in a total of 0. ( 1 + 0 = 1)

Waterfall Mountain received 3 community votes and 1 jury votes resulting in a total of 5. (3 + 1x2 = 5)

The winning map had the majority of both the community ánd the jury on its hand resulting in a clear victory for...

Stanislas69's Forest Battle

Congratulations, Stanislas69!

Here are your awards. You can use it in your signature, feel free to re-size them if needed. I also pre-applied the small icon to your map preview:

Wear them with pride!

For the ones that didn't win, we've seen maps with very strong points. Don't hesitate to create new and enhance other maps now that this contest has ended. As promised, here is some feedback:

Actually every map had the potential to become a very good map. The most recurring problem was a lack of polishing.

Juanjo's Northern Highlands:

This map is unique in the fact that it tries to bring a quality snow environment. The mountain ranges look realistic and the resources are really integrated into the map. The map would however benefit from a smoother texture painting (without the gaps and bits) and a slightly larger variety of textures. Also the river and the roads should've been somewhat wider. Unfortunately the map isn't too balanced: the resources are quite spread out and some players have a better starting position than others have. You also should try and play around with the Environmental Settings. As the following screenshot shows, it can make a huge difference:

SwampGremlin's Castle Battle Map:

The map is well-balanced and is well-suited for multiplayer games. It lacks however on the visual side: The map does look quite artificial and not really realistic. It also doesn't adapt the Environmental Settings like suggested above.

Llanos' Northern Highlands:

This map brings a lot of detail. The Mountain ranges look very good, the shores and waterholes are pretty to look at. Unfortunately the map is quite unbalanced. The city placement should be enhanced (as some players have better positions than others have) and I suggest that you experiment with combining textures from different biomes. That works surprisingly well (The Gallic Wars map for example combined textures from at least 3 different biomes!).

SwampGremlin's Waterfall Mountain:

The strongest point of this map is its uniqueness: A large river circuits across the map. Some players might not appreciate the eyecandy statues and that kind of stuff. The quality of texture usage varies across the map. Some places are very good, others are the opposite. Unfortunately the map is quite unbalanced as well (thanks to that river). the building space is really limited and the resources are not always placed appropriate. The map would benefit from a better city placement and a better texture usage. I personally think that if you would combine a few ideas from your maps and create a solid concept of it (you can probably ask for advice from other mappers), you really can create stunning maps with good polishing.

Stanislas69's Forest Battle:

Forest battle is a nice looking map without using much eyecandy (very efficient). The mountains could use some variety in textures, especially since they are a prominent feature in the map. Also some improvements could be made in terrain mixing. The central village is fairly unique and the look makes it a good center-piece of the map design. Some might complain about the buildings space, but a good general is one that can adapt to his circumstances (As long as these circumstances are not unbalanced across players). Unfortunately the gameplay suffers from the village. Since the players are separated by walls the map feels like an endless siege with narrow, defend-able paths leading from one player to the other. A more spacious design would benefit the gameplay. (Maybe by adding additional paths leading from one player to another or give the starting positions more space). You should take care of the size of the starting positions, some players have more room for expanding than others. Still, all in all, this map beats the competition and is a solid winner in this Contest.

We are thinking of organizing more Mapping Contests so keep in touch!

Happy designing everyone!

Edited September 2, 2014 by niektb

[Pureon]

Congrats to the winner and everyone that took part in the contest!

[SwampGremlin]

O.O Thumbs up. I am curious which jury member voted for my water fall mountain map.

Edited September 1, 2014 by SwampGremlin

[Catalanoic]

Congrats to the winner!!!!!

[Stan`]

@Niektb, Everything should be fixed now. Thanks at Thamlett for reporting the CC bug. For all mappers, when putting models near the black round of the map, make sure you don't place one in the dark, if you do, the influence area will remain, and you'll have to manually edit the file to find the hidden building.

skirmishes.7z