I also fixed a few glitches in my map. Both DLDB and the post have been updated. Also, I found another unintended, easy solution in stage 17, but this time I gave up removing it.

Since everyone is posting patches there's one for me too, just this dldb link for now http://www.staredit.net/files/2837/

OK did more streaming today:
http://www.twitch.tv/ohmantfe/b/374839801

http://www.twitch.tv/ohmantfe/b/374850495

Wow what a terrible glitch. Hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.

Also, oh_man, you are making zzt's map impossible by playing it on battle.net. You have to play it on LAN network for 0 latency.

Also, LOL at 32:00-1:00:00. Not much of a bounder?

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Mar 7 2013, 11:34 pm by Leeroy_Jenkins.

Lol, how was that missed? It says in the showcase thread and the DLDB info that the game has been balanced for 0 latency.

Well it didn't say it anywhere on the map which is the only thing I have read.
& Playing on bnet and still making progress I guess that makes me pro.

PART 2: http://www.twitch.tv/ohmantfe/b/375200574

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 8 2013, 6:14 pm by Oh_Man.

Also, the map you showed off after the architect looked awesome

You mean BEFORE? The one with voice acting?

Yeah that's what I meant.

If you play on battle.net but only with yourself, there will be no latency. It's only when you add other players in the mix that it will have any latency.

Dat 1998 blizz.

It would be the same today; the only difference is that there are launchers that lower the latency to as low as the connection will allow (still has delay) instead of the three levels of latency Blizzard shipped the game with.

I've seen your Tower of Dream gameplay, and have seen that the version you are playing is an old version. I recommend you to update your map to a newer one, since that version has less glitches. DLDB has the latest version.

The Dide cutscene part was pretty awkward because of a bug. Now that bug is fixed, and this is what it looks like in the latest version:


Also, if you think the map is too difficult and playing it is partially waste of time, let me give you a tip: If you're playing in single player mode, pressing 'ESC' will prevent you from taking most of the damages. (Edit: you have to keep pressing 'ESC'.) This map works perfectly fine in single player mode as well, so if you feel like you've tried enough in one part and it's time that you have to go on to the next part, feel free to use this neat cheat.

I just finished your map today. Didn't need to use that cheat though for sunkens I played on normal so I could select units easier.

Now I just have Eternal Death to play and I should finally be able to end this contest.

Also what do all the different gems do? I collected several but could never tell what they were supposed to do.

The amount of gems matter. If you have 0-7 Gems, you'll see the worst ending. If you have 8 or more, the conversation with Nuhod in stage 19 becomes a lot diferent. The ending changes as well - if you have 8-10, you'll see ending B and if you have 11-13, you'll see ending C.

I'll give you the codes for all possible endings. Since there is no stage 20 code at this momend, you have to start from 19. Just use cheats if you want.



Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Mar 24 2013, 12:36 am by zzt.

You should probably give him the codes for 9a and 9b as well That's a pretty significant difference determined by your number of gems.

OK well as of today the contest is officially over at last. Here are my thoughts, I'll try and keep them short and to the point - as the maps themselves and my thoughts during playing them are all available on my Twitch channel.



Middle of the Ocean 3 by Leeroy Jenkins
Download: http://www.staredit.net/topic/15775/
http://www.twitch.tv/ohmantfe/b/367249204
http://www.twitch.tv/ohmantfe/b/374839801

The final installment of the Middle of the Ocean series sees the player returning to a hometown that has taken a turn for the worse. Wolves roam the countryside and an evil boss needs to be defeated. Leeroy brings back his trademark humorous dialogue with a relatively arbitrary storyline (hero is doing this all for the girl!), along with improvements on all his old gameplay mechanics (lockpicking, fishing, cooking, day/night, level ups and armour equipping all make a return).

What makes this map stand out is its implementation of the brand new "NeoEUDs" pioneered by Bio. These are used to great effect as spells for the player (a first in the MotO series if I recall correctly) - a ghost that uses dark swarm to cast its spells - or just default attack with some sort of gun. (Why the hero is running around with a rifle during the medieval era is anyone's guess).

Looking back on my review for the previous MotO it appears Leeroy has addressed basically all criticism leveled at his works previously. Fleshed out boss battles have been added, a plethora of spells exist, monsters now spawn dynamically and gold is now picked up automatically.

The music was great as usual and certainly gave it that RPG feel however I believe it would not have hurt to add more music in new areas and especially boss-themed music.

Overall - Leeroy has gone from strength to strength which each addition to his MotO series. A solid mapper who can produce complete, enjoyable RPGs in a relatively short timespan - a rare breed indeed!

Tower of Dream by zzt
Download: http://www.staredit.net/topic/14746/
http://www.twitch.tv/ohmantfe/b/374850495
http://www.twitch.tv/ohmantfe/b/375200574
http://www.twitch.tv/ohmantfe/b/375622687
http://www.twitch.tv/ohmantfe/b/379318725
http://www.twitch.tv/ohmantfe/b/381326699

This is a map you love to hate - though no one could complain they were shortchanged. The game time on this map was equivalent to a full fledged triple A game! However, the difficulty on this map is nightmarish - if you're one who enjoys bending over and taking a good pounding then this map is the map for you!

The storyline was certainly interesting - and I did very much enjoy all the little sidequests in that area - but I felt the storytelling took a back seat with all the different levels being the main focal point, though this isn't necessarily a bad thing, simply a design choice. Great use of varied music too. That being said it WAS let down by what Jack termed "Konglish" simply, a bad Korean-to-English translation for which Jack is purely responsible. You should get him or someone else to fix that English up! (Tower of Dream? or should it be Tower of Dreams? At any rate I think Tower of Nightmares is more apt...) Also I felt that the initial introduction went for way too long (I think I timed it at 6 minutes) - and you were basically too verbose about it. The info you were trying to get across in the intro could have been told in far fewer words, imo. Less is more!

The fact that there are multiple endings was also a big plus and allows for purists to go back and collect all the bonus objectives to see the best ending. That aspect reminded me of another great RPG, Essence - by Chia-Tyrant.

What may turn people off (or on) about ToD is the extreme difficulty. Coupled with the length of the game itself (over 10 hours for me) it becomes a massive undertaking to complete this map with your sanity intact. Even then I didn't get through the whole thing without cheating. I saved whored through the nightmarish Lurker-dodge scene. I had to check the walkthrough to figure out that I had to teleport while three Firebats were lined up precisely - and I needed to run the game on NORMAL speed in order to get through the Sunken Colony section. But I'm not trying to say this game drags on. Each level has its own unique challenge and I never felt like it became a repetitive grindfest. What always slows you down and drags the game out is the players own ineptitude at the level in question. And with zzt's save system and online walkthroughs - impatient players can simply skip to the next level.

The levels themselves can only be described as masterfully wrought. It seemed to me that zzt has crazy attention to detail and each level was fine-tuned perfectly to provide the ultimate challenge. The gameplay does have interesting quirks with hallucinations that deal damage but for many levels it does not rely on triggers so much as it relies on the mechanics of Starcraft - whether it be worker floating exploits, trolling spider mines or hardcore micro for combat scenes. This type of gameplay reminded me of Canal by qPirateKing

There's not really any mechanics you see in other RPGs, like level systems, equippable items, or so on. In fact it could almost be classed as a bound. However it does have multiple boss battles, side quests, bonus objectives (collecting gems which modify other levels in the game and can even unlock a variant level) and a storyline.

Overall a map that I did not personally enjoy due to its nightmare difficulty, however it is a masterpiece, precisely crafted and can give you over 10 hours of varied and challenging playtime.

Eternal Death by TF-
Download: http://www.staredit.net/topic/14761/
http://www.twitch.tv/ohmantfe/b/383443971

An installation tileset RPG which pits players against an exploding reactor inside a nuclear power plant swamped with mutants and bandits. This is the only map that came with three player multiplayer capability - and I would argue had the best writing of the three maps, although gameplay that was not as unique or exciting as the other two.

First off the top of my head - I felt this map had the best ambiance. The dripping sounds in the hydroponics bay, the reactor blowouts every now and then - the well written textual descriptions upon interacting with various scenery - it all adds up. Oh also the hacking module was really great - Jack in his map from the 1 week contest should have used something like that!

The storyline was well written but ultimately as arbitrary as Leeroy's. You're just a nameless hero saving the day - business per usual, cutting straight to the chase. No characters have personality (even the enigmatic Ranger) merely serving as game mechanics/plot devices to get the player moving toward the end game. Bandits, mutants, survivors - they are all just THERE - backstory and lore would have been a nice addition and could still easily be added in future patches.

Gameplay had its good and its bad. I felt that reactor blowouts were an interesting game mechanic but ultimately became less fun as the game went on. It did add a sense of stress to getting to safe rooms and such but later in the game it just felt like a chore. The mechanic itself could benefit with more transparent indicators that you are about to be irridated and killed. I have spoken to TF- about some ideas for this. Also, as with any game where dying is a frequent occurence (and especially in a multiplayer game) - a respawn system should have been designed. Both Leeroy and zzt had one, but TF- did not. And it became painful having to reload the game over and over after a death. This issue would be much worse in multiplayer.

Randomised room interiors and drops were neat - and guarantees differing playthroughs for those coming back to the game. This tied in well with having multiple items to collect and there being multiple ways to get to your goal, such as roaming around in vehicles, disabling AI traps with hacker tools, or destroying blockages with a spider mine tool. Monsters roamed around randomly, although they were just vanilla units which you could simply dodge with cloak and, as far as I could tell, had no benefits to killing them. However I was playing a Ghost.

You can play as one of four classes from the Terran Barracks. Of course different strategies would be required with different units, and in multiplayer you could work together. But in the end there is nothing like a boss battle that requires a group of players to work together - the game can be completed in solo. Even the end-game sequence is really just a minor puzzle as opposed to some big boss battle. This is a design choice though, not a downside.

Overall, this map was short and sweet but not groundbreaking or overly exciting to play. Some neat concepts but the execution fell a bit flat.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS
In the end this was a difficult decision between Leeroy's MotO3 and zzt's ToD.

I personally enjoyed Middle of the Ocean 3 more. However, Tower of Dream - even as I was shattering my keyboard and spiraling downward into depression - managed to continually impress me with its perfectly crafted levels and varied, challenging gameplay throughout its massive 10 hour plus gametime. Though I found myself watching youtube videos in the background while I pushed myself through some of the more nightmarish levels - I was still unable to convince myself that this map was not worthy of the prize.

PRIZE DETAILS
So, to the prizes then.

I know I said I'd give HotS keys to the runners up. However, seeing as how I was unable to finish the judging in time - I am willing to offer other game keys not just HotS - as long as they are in the same price range.

zzt - a choice between an under $100 computer peripheral, or HoTs deluxe digital edition or some other such game.
Leeroy - HotS regular edition or some other such game.
TF- - HotS regular edition or some other such game.

Contact me through PM or however to sort out the details. Take pics of your prize when you get them and upload on this thread!

Good job on producing three great RPGs for the community to play. And shame on the rest for not managing to put out some more maps for me!

Will I be hosting future contests? I don't know. Only three products to show for this makes me think this is not a worthwhile investment. If there is some resurgence of interest, maybe. But as it stands today - I do not think these contests are enough to revitalise the scene. It would seem we are truly in our twilight years after all.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Apr 1 2013, 5:59 pm by Oh_Man.

I definitely enjoyed reading your thoughts on the maps, you really put a lot of time into judging Congratulations to everyone who participated. It was good to see people putting significant effort into the contest, both in the submissions and the judging.

As for number of contestants, I'd imagine the best time for maximum participation would be in the summer, since students will have much more time free. I know this contest also included the summer, but the mentality of many people is "If everyone else has worked on their map 8 months more than me, I can't possibly win, so I won't even bother trying".

Although, three new high quality maps is nothing to scoff at either

Thank you very much for the copy of HoTs, I wasn't going to pay all that money for it but now I'll have it anyways I also liked watch the play-through video, it was nice to get feedback from someone.

Nice read. I knew not making the map "friendly" enough would end up costing me, but the most important features (to me) are on display so that's that.
Congrats, zzt.

Edit: regarding twilight years, seems obvious to me that only some breakthrough will bring mapping back, a new editor and ideally a new engine or edition of the game to make maps for