Everyone, me and scenery are now battleing over who can create the best "Mars landing" map, anyone wanna be judges?

This isn't exactly the place to ask.

Welcome.

@2859338 very nice map with good decor

@2794596 Looks like this map was picked for its appearence... The most generic gameplay you can make with portals...

Aleeeeeh a dit :

@2794596 Looks like this map was picked for its appearence... The most generic gameplay you can make with portals...

Mhm.
I think it looks really good.
But gameplay is boring.
:/
Like.

Big planks barely fit, it's not really of any use to use anything else besides small planks.

Aleeeeeh a dit :

@2794596 Looks like this map was picked for its appearence... The most generic gameplay you can make with portals...

While it is very easy, P4/P8 maps usually have to be. For shamans who aren't complete newbs, this map is completed in 15 seconds solo. However, P4/P8 have to cater to complete newbs too.

I personally would agree that this is extremely generic given the common sense of a moderately experienced shaman, but perhaps not so much so for the rest. Oh well, easy saves.


You'd be surprised also by how many maps are denied because they're "too hard," whereas you might play the map and find it easy yet enjoyable because it makes you think a little.

Fxie a dit :

While it is very easy, P4/P8 maps usually have to be. For shamans who aren't complete newbs, this map is completed in 15 seconds solo. However, P4/P8 have to cater to complete newbs too.

I personally would agree that this is extremely generic given the common sense of a moderately experienced shaman, but perhaps not so much so for the rest. Oh well, easy saves.


You'd be surprised also by how many maps are denied because they're "too hard," whereas you might play the map and find it easy yet enjoyable because it makes you think a little.

Nothing bad with some easy maps, so yeah like you said easy saves ;)

Welcome Jraton and Skitters and @577692 this map why p4 ?

Xtrollreyizx a dit :

Welcome Jraton and Skitters and @577692 this map why p4 ?

Because @355562 is so old that noone cares?

P4 Thread a dit :

@2833426 Necroseer Concept may be simple, but i like it.
@2838152 Xpisicopatax I enjoyed it. P1 worthy.
@2841881 Bananadaaa Looks good and fun to play / watch the sham build.
@2855228 Edogawaa I found its gameplay interesting.

So these reviews were from the P4 submission thread and all four maps were P1'd. Despite having completely positive reviews, these maps aren't even put up for P4. Is there something missing here? The "being discussed for P4" maps don't even get reviews so I don't see where the difference in opinion or quality is. All of the maps have interesting solutions to them, meet all the guidelines and are generally fine shaman maps so I don't see why they don't even get discussed.

In comparison,

a dit :

@2841679 Sabnach

This map doesn't really make shamans think or try interesting builds at all. The map can be finished within 25s on hard mode and 20s on normal mode. I don't think that this map challenges the shaman or makes for interesting play. The entire left side if pointless as shamans can just spawn a single plank in the centre.

Necroseer a dit :

So these reviews were from the P4 submission thread and all four maps were P1'd. Despite having completely positive reviews, these maps aren't even put up for P4. Is there something missing here? The "being discussed for P4" maps don't even get reviews so I don't see where the difference in opinion or quality is. All of the maps have interesting solutions to them, meet all the guidelines and are generally fine shaman maps so I don't see why they don't even get discussed.

In comparison,

This map doesn't really make shamans think or try interesting builds at all. The map can be finished within 25s on hard mode and 20s on normal mode. I don't think that this map challenges the shaman or makes for interesting play. The entire left side if pointless as shamans can just spawn a single plank in the centre.

I'm going to answer, not because I think that my review needs further explanation, but because I just joined the mapcrew and this way people can know better my taste in shaman maps.

@2833426 > This consists on sliding blocks that you have to move to build, then unblock so mice can get cheese and go to hole. I've seen this concept a lot, but mechanism in this map works fine and is quite worked. Apart from that, and although I like the map, I'm afraid it will turn into a mess with hard mode or non-experienced shamans. Anyway, hard work put in this map must be rewarded, and I think p1 is fine.

@2838152 > I enjoyed it. Generic enjoyment because it's a generic design, but it looks good. I searched for originality, and I didn't find it here, but it obviously deserved being p1'ed.

@2841881 > Cool map where sham has to build using most of the space the screen gives. As said, looks fun to build. Why not in discussion? change one ground and it turns into @504166.

@2855228 > I'd never see this as a p4. I found interesting how ice blocks' positions make it difficult at first, and make you think to build to hole without blocking mice path. Not original enough for me.

@2841679 > I agree in part with you, as I reflected in discussion. Similar to other p4s but lacks challenge and originality, still deserved to be at least discussed.

Decisions in reviews are definitive, but I'll be glad to explain mine when anyone asks me to. However, I don't find ok questioning a mapcrew member's criteria, which looks like what you were doing.

I'll search for original ideas in future p4 reviews, I would be thankful if people had that in mind when they post maps. Enjoy at the map editor ^^

First of all, thank you for the reviews. And in case you think of me as a sour-mouthed random, I'd like to say that I was a member of the map crew but I quit on my own accord. So I should know what I'm talking about.

Of course I'm not questioning your criteria. Rather, I'm questioning the thread review and the maps chosen. The most obvious thing that came from the reviews here was that there was at least some criticism given. In the maps that I posted, there was no criticism at all and only praise. This was why I think that the reviews in the thread may not necessarily be reflective of what the tester actually thinks.

I understand that it is tedious to give proper reviews to each and every map but if you're going to leave a map as P0 or P1, criticism is going to be more helpful than praise. This way, map makers can understand what they can do to improve in their next attempt and why some maps were chosen when theirs were not.

Onto the reviews here, the criticism on my map is fair. However, all testers should keep in mind that while P4 maps shouldn't be too difficult for hard mode shamans, they should still present a good challenge. Hard mode shamans have difficulty on my map but that's not exactly bad (actually I finished this entire map within a minute in hard mode, Jamiison in about 90s on first try). It isn't impossibly difficult for hard mode shamans, but if it's too difficult for normal shamans then fine. That kind of criticism is perfectly acceptable.

Onto the discussed map, why was it discussed? You say that it was similar to other P4s but lacks challenge and originality. Surely, then, it is even worse than some of the P1'd maps? It seems odd to me that you would choose a map that you yourself find original and boring to be put up for discussion.

So I'm not questioning the criteria per se, but I am criticising the thread reviews and perhaps the maps chosen for discussion.

To be honest, when I looked at the map being discussed the first thought that came to mind was style. Just the look of it seems to have won it favoritism because it just looks like a shaman map regardless of play value. That's just my opinion, though. Shaman maps generally seem to have a certain style to them aesthetically.

P4 and P8 maps are usually nothing else ut grass and ice.

Dunald a dit :

P4 and P8 maps are usually nothing else ut grass and ice.

Grass, ice, and cloud grounds typically make up the average shaman map yes.

Fxie a dit :

Grass, ice, and cloud grounds typically make up the average shaman map yes.

wood and sands and like... rectangles especially, never get shaman map.
I think that stupid .
so stupid.

Dunald a dit :

wood and sands and like... rectangles especially, never get shaman map.
I think that stupid .
so stupid.

It's not directly stated, but it's fairly assumed at this point that P4/P8 tend to have vanilla style appearances to them, which yes, means grass, clouds, and ice. It's a sad thing to admit, but they are much more visually appealing that way instead of the same exact design being done with stone or wood or sand or the colored rectangles.

Only the oldoldold P4/P8 maps seem to get to keep their retro look, but most others are forced to conform yes.