Turtle Map Contest: 4th Feb

Post by **Myth** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 5:32 pm

Turtle Map Contest

Hi q3w

We're putting on a "Turtle Speed" Map Contest over at Map-Center starting on Sunday the 4th of Feb.

It will last for 1 week, and is for Quake 3. There are no winners, and the maps will not be officially judged; it's just for fun and personal development. Once the week is up we'll put the maps up on a server for a few games, and send the pack off to ..::lvl

Full information can be found in This Thread.

Post by **roughrider** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:08 pm

GG on the "contest". GL to all that get into this, is a learning thing I know so get to it. Now, go make a map. :icon30:

Post by **wviperw** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 7:17 pm

The 1 Turtle Map contest I participated in was a great experience and really forced the creative juices to flow out of me in a short amount of time (producing "Kryptonite" in the process). I would encourage people to give it a try!

Post by **wattro** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:04 am

yup, truly some class people who participate in the turtle map competitions

Post by **v1l3** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 3:40 pm

Alot of really good maps have come out of turtlemap competitions in the past. I'm hoping alot of you jump into this comp as a little side project...especially those of you that have moved towards Q4 mapping. It's not like it would become a project that would eat up a year of your time.
It'd be nice if some of you ol' school mappers come up with some pseudo-name's to do one for it...if needed. I've talked with some of you (w/o mentioning names) that don't feel like taking the heat of bullsh1t from others for still making q3 maps.

-hf

-oh, and Kryptonite(wvwq3dm6)does Rock! tm4_psion, tm4_shallow, tm5_shallow, tm5_equim, tm5_tscaboid, and tm5_mr also.

Post by **pjw** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:59 pm

v1l3 wrote:I've talked with some of you (w/o mentioning names) that don't feel like taking the heat of bullsh1t from others for still making q3 maps.

Who the hell is handing out heat, and what is their major malfunction?

I'm as stoked about more Q4 maps (or next-gen whatever) as anyone, but people should make what they enjoy, and if anyone wants to tell you what you should and shouldn't create on your own time, they should probably STFU and go map.

Post by **phantazm11** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:07 pm

pjw wrote:
v1l3 wrote:I've talked with some of you (w/o mentioning names) that don't feel like taking the heat of bullsh1t from others for still making q3 maps.
Who the hell is handing out heat, and what is their major malfunction?

I'm as stoked about more Q4 maps (or next-gen whatever) as anyone, but people should make what they enjoy, and if anyone wants to tell you what you should and shouldn't create on your own time, they should probably STFU and go map.

ditto

Post by **v1l3** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:21 pm

You should make one too pjw...that'd be sweet. ...I guess I can bet on that not happening... haha :icon25:

Post by **pjw** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 1:45 am

I'm pretty busy these days with other projects (and inherently lazy; it's a tough combination), and I don't tend to wander around MapCenter much.

But I appreciate the thought.

Post by **dichtfux** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:55 am

Exams will be done tomorrow, time for some mapping - so I'll try to participate.

But I was really proud of myself when I pushed my second map from first idea to beta in ~3 weeks - don't know if I could complete a map in even less time...

Post by **StormShadow** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 3:05 pm

i'll give it a go

of course I havent been to map center in so long my account has been erased

Post by **Shallow** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 6:07 pm

v1l3 wrote:-oh, and Kryptonite(wvwq3dm6)does Rock! tm4_psion, tm4_shallow, tm5_shallow, tm5_equim, tm5_tscaboid, and tm5_mr also.

I am a winner

I'd certainly agree that Equim and Psion's stuff was always top notch. Also Myth did a couple I really liked.

I always really liked scampie's TM stuff too, he usually tried doing something quite different and always pulled them off really well.

StormShadow wrote:of course I havent been to map center in so long my account has been erased

The whole MC forum and content system had to be replaced after a particularly nasty hack.

Post by **Myth** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 1:29 am

Here are the results

Download (49 Mb)

Akuma - Prospect - DM

Amphetamine - Coldwar Strogg - CTF

dONKEY - sottosuolo - DM

Kaustic - noname - DM

Kle - World of Gravediggerz - DM

Master Jed - noname - DM

MaTeL1s - Flag Factory - CTF

Myth - Wish You Were Here - DM

q3map - Paper Kraft - CTF

StjartMunnen - Nausia - DM

StormShadow - noname - DM

Download (49 Mb)

Post by **v1l3** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:08 am

Very Nice. I heard it was gonna be around 100mb's, 49 is much better. I'll download it, when I have some time to d/l with my slow ass dial-up connection...and possibly get some decent review action goin on once I play them enough. Thanks guys :icon25:

Post by **wattro** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:11 am

looks very cool - checking it out

Post by **maz0r** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 4:08 pm

Okay here is my short review for each map. First I have to admit, that this is a really great pak, especially under the circumstances of a one-week-contest. I needed more than one week for blocking out the basic layout of my current q3 map. So applause for all of you!

By the way, you really should mention the bsp names in the readme. Had to look them up inside the pk3 and write them down. Was a bit annoying, so maybe next time name them mc-tm01-map1 until -10 or somewhat. Makes it a little easier.

I just ran around every map without any bots. So don't blame me if my first impressions are not that well-founded.

So here we go:
Akuma
Nice looking little DM map. The outside looks stunning, the interior could have had a little more work, but I guess this was just a time issue. The item placement is not balanced enough for a serious tourney I suppose. Flow is good, which makes it easy to navigate around the map. Thumbs up for a small scrimmage with 3-4 players or bots.

Amphetamine
Q2 CTF Action!!11 This reminds me of my good ol' q2 lmctf days. Wish I could turn back time to this glory era of online gaming. Really liked the terrain connecting the bases. This is hot shit. Lighting is very nice, just a tad too dark on my crt. Had to turn up gamma a little. Item placement could be improved, especially by placing some weapons in the middle, while removing some from the base. Seems to be a map for the defenders at the moment. Oh and where is my beloved grapple, it just cries for it

dONKEY
Okay I spawned in the map and just said 'woah'. Visually stunning map, nice work on modelling the terrain and combining with the brushwork. Texturing and lighting is also high-class. Kudos to you!
The look really reminded me of Petra.
Gaming wise it feels really cramped, but it seems to be intentionally. So I won't blame you for this. Item placement is also a little strange with mega and ra right next to each other. Could be fun while lanning with 2 or 3 friends.

Kaustic
Mid-sized box map without anything special. The top ledge seems to be a little overpowered with rail, the only armor and another strong item (forget what it was, rl?). Also the bottom feels a little empty. Visually really okay. With a better weapon placement it could be fun with some friends thrown in.

Kle
Small, symmetrical map. Reminds me of the standard q3 maps, maybe due to the texturing. Visually and playing wise IMO the weakest map in the pak. But nevertheless solid work, more than ever if you think of the one week limit. And if a map like this is the weakest, it just speaks for the quality delivered with this pak.

Master Jed
Another boxy floater. Got some z-fighting here and there (mainly because of brush overlapping). The lighting seems broken. I only got full bright or darkend walls, nothing between. Judging from the screenshot it is not just me. What a bummer since the texturing is more than solid. I Really liked it. Item placement seems ok, connectivity is good also. The 'pit of death' could be better declared as such. Looks like water if you ask me

Also seems a little too open to include the rail, but q3dm17 also worked with it.

MaTeL1s
Another nice ctf map in the pak. It's small and fast. Promises a shitload of fun when playing it with a few buddies on lan. Item placement seems good overall, the invis pu is kinda odd and unusual but could work here.
Really really liked it, maybe the map offering the best gameplay in the pak. Oh texturing and lighting goes with the rest, just great.

Myth
First thought: Different. Liked the particle effects on the jumppads and especially on the teles. Flow seems pretty good, so is the item placement. Also liked the visuals, focussing on brushwork and not on texturing. Could also be made for a geocomp contest.
Can feature some nice 1on1s, 2on2s and FFAs I suppose.

q3map
Oh jesus

Got a bit sick while playing this little ctf map. This sky just drove me crazy. Also due to the cel-shaded look combined with this skybox, I was not capable in judging distances and fell into the void again and again. But after a while I got used to this strange exterior and layout I started to like it for its own way. Item placement seems solid, the rail is out of place, and all other items were there, where they are supposed to be. Only the flag is placed kinda annoying, if you have to wait for it to come down again.
Finally I have to admit that this map could bring some fun to boring lan sessions, laughing your a** off when others keep jumping in the void. Oh and the starting screen is definitely the best in this pak

StjartMunnen
Hmm rusty, dark and solid. Liked the texturing and especially the lighting. The flow could maybe a little tweaked with inserting a few possibilities to reach the upper floors. Maybe the map with the most amount of work in it, due to its size and detail. Nicely done StjartMunnen. Seems like a very good map for tdm.

StormShadow
Last came this map by storm. First impressions were: what a strange texture set. Don't like the its coloring, but this is personal taste I suppose. But I had really hard times navigating through the map first, because all looked very similar. But I really liked the lighting, nice work here. Item placement seems good also, you notice that Storm already made some successful tourney maps. Gameplay wise it seems more than solid, definitely in the top 3 of the pak. Maybe best for 2on2, could be a too tight for tdm. 1on1 could work also, not sure about this though.

Conclusion:
Never expected that this pak comes along with this amount of quality maps. If I think of what I can do during a week, the results are just outstanding. There wasn't a single disappointment in this contest, okay most maps don't fit for serious play, but I think they were not even supposed to do so.

/me bows

P.S.: Hope you all understood what I tried to say due to my english skills

Post by **wviperw** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 5:38 pm

This is a very cool and eclectic mappack. Memorable maps were the Q2 terrain CTF map (awesome that you did that in a week amp!), the crazy cel-shaded space CTF map, and Stjartmunen's rusty map.

Post by **dnky** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:54 pm

Hey thanks MazOr! Good job on the reviews. I was seriously impressed with every mappers contribution. There was a wide range of designers involved, from relative newb to experienced, and every participant excelled themselves. For a weeks work, truely impressive stuff.

I wanna say publically, many many thanks to Kat. So many of us owe you a huge debt of gratitude for your unselfish sharing of knowledge and artistic vision. Given a longer time there are things I would have changed in my map, but heck, I wouldn't have been able to make it at all without Kat's guidance.

Post by **Myth** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:52 am

v1l3: Cool, I look forward to reading them. By the way, the pack has been submitted to LVL... hint hint somone

Maz0r: Thanks for the cool mini reviews, they're interesting to read.

maz0r wrote: By the way, you really should mention the bsp names in the readme. Had to look them up inside the pk3 and write them down. Was a bit annoying...

Yeah I should have done that, sorry. But don't they show up on your map selection menu?! They all contain .arena files and level shots.

Post by **maz0r** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:17 am

Oh okay. That's a point for you. Tbh I don't use that menu at all. Was waaaaay too overcrowded back in the days I played Q3 regularly. Shame on me

Post by **StormShadow** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 8:41 pm

maz0r wrote: StormShadow
Last came this map by storm. First impressions were: what a strange texture set. Don't like the its coloring, but this is personal taste I suppose. But I had really hard times navigating through the map first, because all looked very similar. But I really liked the lighting, nice work here. Item placement seems good also, you notice that Storm already made some successful tourney maps. Gameplay wise it seems more than solid, definitely in the top 3 of the pak. Maybe best for 2on2, could be a too tight for tdm. 1on1 could work also, not sure about this though.

Thanks for the review. Im not too keen on the tex set either, but due to time constraints I picked something that I hadnt seen used very much and went with it. I didnt like the lighting shaders either, but was in a bit of a time pinch and didnt really have the time to edit them.

I was really going for gameplay here, and I think I achieved it pretty well - although the YA area slows down the flow a bit.

Maybe next turtle map I will do something more visually interesting. Overall, a very worthwhile experience.

Post by **roughrider** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 7:42 pm

GG mappers!
Nice pak size ( 49 mb's is always better than 100 )

.
Don't be surprised if we don't have some of these up on our FFA server before too long. A51 server ips are in my sig

Edit:
Team *A51* clan servers:
CTF: 216.12.96.41
CTF 5v5: 216.12.96.39
FFA: 216.12.96.42
Insta: 216.12.23.253

Post by **Amphetamine** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 7:35 pm

Hey, didn't realize this thread was here

Cheers for the nice comments guys

and to Maz0r of the reviews. (Yeah, I loved LMCTF as well, I miss Komisar's Stat Machine maps the most).

Can't believe that nobody spotted what my flag rooms are a copy of O.O

Also, this map wouldn't have been possible without ydnar's amazing Q3map2, and Sock's terrain and rockwall tutorials, so many thanks to them

FWIW, mine originally had particle snow and a portal sky, but they crippled my machine and got dropped in the end to make sure it would be playable for the majority of people.

Post by **a13n** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 12:04 am

Amphetamine wrote:FWIW, mine originally had particle snow and a portal sky, but they crippled my machine and got dropped in the end to make sure it would be playable for the majority of people.

So that's why we can watch snow falling through the window of the base. :icon26:

Post by **maz0r** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 12:33 am

yeah that was a thing which also irritated me

oh and amph, I actually hated the maps by kommissar, despite lmctf22 (I think?) which was awesome. My favourite one was the famous Battle of little flag run. My upcoming q3ctf map is a bit inspired by phats' work. But there were so many great maps in the lmctf pool. Miss those old days really.
Ah and btw where's your flag room borrowed from? Don't remember any map with a similar one Oo