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11-Day Level Design Challenge 2 Winner/RunnerUps

September 12, 2010
Category: Level Design Challenges

After a week worth of playing, talking and testing; Smog, Nexusdog and AlexG have finally decided on the winner of the challenge and 2 runner ups. It was not an easy task.

11 Day Level Design Challenges are not easy to do. The constraints of a deadline, constant updates, feedback, bugs, errors, crashes and life are a normal part of these challenges. Being able to overcome all that and finish in 11 days is a big accomplishment.

We also decided to give 3 honorable mentions.

Why?

We were very impressed with the amount of work that was done, and wanted to give credit where it's due.

Congratulations to the winner, runner ups and honorable mentions.

Me, Nexusdog and Smog want to ...

Congratulate the Winner ZensDeath for taking the top honors.

As well as both Runner Ups: Sarge Mat and NightClucker.

Following are various notes compiled together from Nexusdog, Smog and AlexG.

WINNER: ZensDeath 'Tranquility' - Unreal 3

Feedback:

• Superb work for only 11 days.
• Captures the essence of its name. Good gameplay, great setting, composition and flow. Those elements gave this map it's soul.
• Great scale and size.
• Beautiful map.
• Foliage and lighting hints at summer theme, but not strong enough.
• Would have been nice to see some jump pads over the water.
• The environment can be pushed to a new visual level by improving the lighting and the sky.

Personal website J.W. Russel.com

Download The Map (personal website link)

11 Day Level Design Thread ZensDeath

RUNNER UP: Sarge Mat 'DM Sanctuary' - UDK

Feedback:

• Great ambiance.
• Sound effects of the birds, trees rustling in the breeze and the water splashing over the rocks. The impact is incredible on the setting, giving it masses of ambiance. Closing your eyes really puts you into the environment.
• Great use of color combination in lighting and foliage.
• The level itself is fairly small; allowing for a more complete and detailed level to be released in 11 days.
• The building could have had further development and use of vertical space on top of it would have been a nice addition.
• Setting is more jungle ruin, than rural summer.
  

Personal website Mat Nelson.net

Download The Map (personal website link)

11 Day Level Design Thread Sarge Mat

RUNNER UP: NightClucker 'Ancient Summer' - UDK

Feedback:

• Ambiance was provided by bright and sunny environment, which could be termed Mediterranean with a bit of work.
• Good use of contrasting elements. Oasis with water, trees, bushes and dry heat.
• Solid map.
• Good use of the installer.
• Desert setting detracts from the rural summer theme of the level.
• A bit heavy on the Depth of Field (DoF).
• Stretched water texture damages the immersion of the level.
• Make the vegetation become part of the map.
  

Download The Map (filefront link)

11-Day Level Design Thread NightClucker

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Notes by Nexusdog.

Reanimated: 11 Day Terrace of Terror Thread (L4D2)

• Massive amount of work done in 11 days.
• Terrace has masses of potential, however the setting feels like two separate maps - the area leading to the house on the hill, and the area on the opposite side.
• The rice terraces and landscape beyond require rethought, way too open.
• Area leading up to house feels good. One oddity was the field/grove on right of barn building at bottom of terraces. It was partially fenced off but didn't seem to serve any distinct purpose.
• The main house on top of terraces has good composition. Event works well, but due to open landscape on rice terraces, plus military sniper rifle on balcony means plenty of kills in relative safety, defending the upper floor of house.
• Ambiance is right on. The sun entity plus lighting were really good. Great use of displacements to make it feel real.
  

zim*: 11 Day Fields of Gore Thread (L4D2)

• House is very good, so is the barn. As are other areas of interest, they just needed to be closer and thought given to composition. Ditch the cornfield - put that behind a fence and bring the other elements mentioned into greater emphasis and it has real potential.
• Ambiance felt a little off, the dawn effect sky and lighting were good, but lacked emphasis.
• It felt like two separate maps; the barn/corn fields a different area that didn't fit, not really required to such a large amount of space.
  
• Setting was huge; fenced off trees on higher ground felt counterproductive, separate areas too far apart. Condensing these disparate areas, like the climbing frame, lake, etc, would benefit this map hugely.

Severance: 11 Day PL_Summer Valley Thread (TF2)

• Scope and scale of map is huge for an 11 day challenge.
• The amount of work completed is to be acknowledged and complimented.
• Good potential but still early WIP.
  

Thanks to everyone who participated.
Big thanks Nexusdog and Smog for helping me to critique all the entires.

Join in on the forum thread to Congratulate the Winner and both Runner-Ups