[b]RESULTS - PART 1[/b]
By #twhl IRC folk: kol, PTS, srry (we grabbed the first person available :D)
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[b]1-st "Asylum" - World Crafter[/b]
I loved this one. Although not very complex structurally - the sound is spot on. I liked the flickery floor light + sound touch. This would have been a clearer winner if the hallway was slightly more structurally complex - maybe instead of being completely flat - it could have gone up & down a bit. The screenshot doesn't do the map justice. - kol
This is an undeniably creepy entry. Nice ambient noises and lighting, although the brushwork felt uninspired and blocky to me. In any case, the textures were very well made, and went great with the theme. -srry
Summary:
- brushwork - 4 - lots of detail, that doesn't actually get in your way, or looks too obvious
- textures - 4 - close to flawless, very well themed
- atmosphere - 5 - that one really wind the cake! I actually got shivers on my back since I was paying it in a dark room, with headphones
- overall - 14 - the name "Silent Hill" easily comes to the mind if you're a fan of the series, although there a bunch of games and movies with such a great atmosphere, without getting too obvious
Notable items: Flickery lights, cool sound effects
Notably lacking: More complex Brushwork.
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[b]2-nd "Gearbox Hallway" [/b]
This is a really superb map. The atmosphere is absolutely amazing, with spinning gears, shaking, and an excellent custom grinding sound to go along with it. Nothing boring about this one. The architecture was generally well made, although I only say generally, because like many of the other entries, it suffered from repetition. The brushwork was copied in places, though even so, it was well constructed. Astounding work. -srry
Daubster's gearbox hallway was only let down by bad lighting - structurally, it's great, with lots of moving gears, great atmospheric sounds and effects. The lighting here really brings this map down. I couldn't even see the moving gears most of the time - would have been nice to light them up red from underneath (yes, i know industrial red lights are cliché - but they still look nice) -kol
Summary:
- brushwork - 4 - very detailed, I liked all those tiny bits and gears everywhere (infact, too many of them)
- textures - 4 - they fit the theme, but it was almost too dark to judge them
- atmosphere - 3 - although some might argue with me for giving a too low score, I'd say the ambients where too overwhelming, although fine placed
- overall - 10.5 - the map just felt like you're inside a huge engine or something that's crashing. Also, that polycount scared me, even for the great detail involved
Notable items: Lots of moving gears, use of special effects like env_shake.
Notably lacking: Lights! Needs better lights!
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[b]3-rd "hydeph hall" [/b]
Pretty good atmosphere coupled with nifty brushwork. I can't really fault anything in this map. Very solid work. The only thing i can think of is the brushwork needs to be a bit "smoother" in places. -kol
This hall was detailed very well, and was one of my favorites. The textures were kind of mismatched, but it made it feel a bit like Blue Shift, to me. The retextured robot model was also put to good use, and I half expected it to come to life and start attacking me. -srry
Summary:
- brushwork - 3.5 - detailed, but the floor thing and the support being too close shaved off half a point
- textures - 3.5 - themed
- atmosphere - 3.5 - ambiance and lighting is fine
- overall - 9.5 - wow, look at this, so average in all categories. I somehow disliked the whole theme - perhaps too tired of Black Mesa and all sorts of labs.
Notable items: Well detailed, robogrunt prop.
Notably lacking: Better textures, brushwork lacking some "smoothness".
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