Community Feedback For The Top 27 Halloween Contest Entries

Xenonetix · Before February 2015

Welcome to the Feedback for the Top 27 Halloween Contest Levels!

Firstly, I should explain why it's a Top 27 (if you haven't seen Mustang's post in the other thread). The judges apologise, but the committees came to the conclusion that Team 19 (Halloween Castle GD) was overlooked and deserved extra time spent to produce feedback for it. Team 63 (2ndStory) was overlooked because it was not posted on RPGMaster's original list when we compiled it. He updated it two days later.

The feedback is shown in Team Number order. We've given feedback on every section submitted by the Committee Heads. Just to remind people, the sections were Art, Gameplay, Concept and Integration.

I would also like to thank all members of the judging community for their time and huge amounts of effort put in to make this possible and to show people the potential for improvement.

Feedback for the other 142 levels will be posted later.

(1) LX Crew - LX spooky castle
Art:
- Minimap looks very good with very nice detail of smaller objects. The foggy clouds really set a Halloween mood, but the tree trunk looks too straight and the sky colour seems like a weird choice.
- Mixed in-game appearance. Certain parts are cluttered with decorations and keys, while others have none and look nice on screen, like you are actually inside the castle.
- Usage of backgrounds very nicely done. They don't disorient you and actually fit in with the map very nicely.
- Shading nicely done. The art follows the light source (the moon) and the colours blend very nicely.
- The map has a really nice range of colour. They all fit into one another and it still manages to look gloomy and grey without being too grey.
Gameplay:
- Very messy due to decorations and backgrounds making it hard to see.
- There were many above-average minis but also a few poor ones especially for the blue coins.
- There was no scaling of difficulty, just a jump at the blue coins.
- Many arrow challenges which at times felt a bit random and generic.
- The path was at times difficult to follow causing some confusion.
Concept:
- The concept itself isn't too original, a castle with lightning, it doesn't tell a story.
- The execution of a "haunted castle" concept is therefore average (and so is the design).
- The gamescreen is cluttered with decorations/keys which kills the atmosphere of being in a castle and makes the pathing very difficult to see sometimes.
- It's fun to play, but there is a lack of motivations as to why you're going through the castle.
Integration:
- Halloween theme is decent.
- Used the shapes well but the art is not strongly connected to the challenges which also causes it to be hard to see what to do sometimes.

(5) Carvers of Victory - Dimension H
Art:
- The skull and the house look really great on the minimap. Great attempts at perspective. The map contains really nice Halloween elements to it, but there are too many crinkles on the pumpkin and they don't follow its shape; the face on it looks great. The use of transparent backgrounds doesn't make the map look as good as it could be as it doesn't link the pieces of art together.
- In-game appearance isn't cluttered. It's rather simple and ties in with the minimap.
- There really aren't a lot of backgrounds, but where they are, they're well put together and neat.
- A lot of things are shaded well: The house (the shading follows its perspective) and the individual floating islands, especially where the skull is resting.
- The colours in the level are used well. They all tie in really well and there's a good range.
Gameplay:
- Little to no difficulty other than repeating challenges if you fall.
- Boring gameplay, lots of wondering around in a void.
- There's a trap in the house, making you start all over.
- No direction or hints where the coins are located.
- Overall it was an ambitious design, but it was not executed correctly.
Concept:
- The design is very weird in a good way. As the title suggests, you're in a different dimension and the feeling of that is executed well.
- The pathing is very weird, I mostly didn't know where to go; it's hard to guess where stuff is: most things levitate in the air and there is no connection between them.
- I didn't feel like I knew what was going on or what I was doing, just random coin collecting.
- I appreciate the attempt to a new concept, but it does not work well due to its lack of orientation/purpose.
Integration:
- The connection between art/gameplay is present with the spiderweb/tentacles/ladder, but the rest is rather random.
- You just navigate through black and fall on the ground, which makes it appear unfinished.

(13) MG Crew - MG Crew Alcatraz
Art:
- The map looks amazing; really realistic and really well drawn with a lot of attention to detail. However, the random transparent batman sign, the cartoony ghosts and the witch ruin it because they don't tie in with the realness of the prison itself. The pumpkins look good along with the mini-map, but both of them pretty much look the same.
- The in-game appearance is pretty terrible, cluttered with decorations. Even when you are on the surface, you can still see the decoration mess below you. It also includes black blocks and a lot of keys/crowns spammed.
- Not keen on the usage of backgrounds. They are pretty much only used to cover up the huge use of decorations instead of for art purposes.
- Great shading. You can see a lot of detail went into producing this and it really shows. You shaded it well and at least you followed the light.
- There is a little bit too much green on the island and the colour range does look sort of dull, especially with the water being the colour that it is.
Gameplay:
- Fallback into previous challenges was often a problem.
- Hunting for blue coins had too many decorations obscuring everything.
- No difficulty curve, it seemed random at best.
- There were may exploits throughout with a possible lack of testing.
- Overall gameplay was boring with no sense of accomplishment.
Concept:
- While the concept is completely unrelated to Halloween (no, adding some eyes/pumpkins does not classify it as a Halloween map) and the concept is a prison, I at least expected to be thrown into a cell or at least SOMETHING prison or Halloween related. You're just walking on a lump of blocks and there is no feel of prison at all.
- The pathing is straightforward but not interesting.
Integration:
- There is no connection between art/gameplay/concept whatsoever, neither is it related to Halloween.
- The green outline clearly indicates theyre replacing black blocks.

(19) Team GD - Halloween Castle GD
Art:
- The castle, even though it looks quite flat, it looks great on the minimap. It's nice and symmetrical and the details inside are lovely, especially the chandeliers. However, the lightning looks rather weird and even though the ground does too, it kind of works.
- Really lovely in-game appearance. It feels like you are going through an old castle with rips in it's walls and a very nice use of decorations. There are secret blocks, but it's really great that you used backgrounds to show where they are. Possibly one of the neatest in-game appearances overall.
- Great use of backgrounds. Nice variety within the castle. There aren't groups of single backgrounds which is always good.
- There isn't much shading as it's mostly 2D. The clouds look okay, as well as the moon and the ground.
- It is a little bit too grey, but not so much for it to be a really bad thing. The variety of greys used is rather good so not too much of a problem with colour.
Gameplay:
- Simple challenges that were fun without being ever frustrating.
- Sometimes the rooms felt a bit empty and under-utilized.
- Pathing was straight forward and easy to follow.
- Overall it was an easy-to-play map that wasn't innovative but was still fun.
Concept:
- Pathing is nice, multilinear, slightly puzzling but intuitive.
- Castle isn't too original but execution-wise it's done well: swinging on chandeliers etc.
- Overall, it has a good overview and design.
Integration:
- Some minis were really well integrated. Other minis were more generic and could have been in any map/box room.
- The theme was decently Halloween-related with the spooky castle.

(24) DT - Full Moon Rising
Art:
- Amazing minimap. The amount of detail gone into this is stunning. The moon, the trees, each and every individual tombstone and the grim reaper all look fantastic.
- Terrible in-game appearance. It's all a big jumble of backgrounds, keys, crowns, blocks, black blocks and decorations.
- The sky looks fantastic; the colour of it blends really well. The trees and tombstones are also shaded nicely.
- There isn't a wide range, but the colours that are there complement each other nicely.
Gameplay:
- Far too easy to fallback into previous challenges.
- Little thought given to layout of the minis.
- Extensive use of black box minis plus distracting decorations and BGs.
- Challenges were in general annoying and hard-for-the-sake-of-it.
- Overall it was tedious to play, and lacking in any creativity.
Concept:
- Looks great on the minimap but black blocks and decorations all over.
- I'm not even sure what the concept is. It says "run" at the start. What are you running from? The grim reaper? You're actually running towards him at first.
Integration:
- The challenges/art are connected in that they share space, but that is all.
- Black blocks all over.
- No connection between theme, art or challenges.

(27) Cry Kid Cry - Feel the Fear
Art:
- Minimap looks great. Probably one of the most creative pieces of artwork in the competition. Drawn brilliantly with nice details, like the grass and the portals, but the grass seems to randomly stop in a line and doesn't seem to fade away into the darkness.
- It looks good ingame, looks quite neat, apart from the occasional decorations and a few secret and black blocks.
- The backgrounds make the in-game look neater and prettier.
- The shading is lovely. Everything follows light and it blends nicely. Shading's in all the right places.
- Great use of colour. Basically proves that you can use a lot of bright colours and still be Halloweeny.
Gameplay:
- Poor difficulty curve going from easy to hard back to easy.
- Sometimes the BGs and decorations obscured the challenges.
- Blue coins were not more challenging than the gold ones.
- A few challenges including the last had exploits.
- Overall the challenges tended to be fun but a few dull ones hold it back.
Concept:
- The pathing is mostly very well done; it often allows for challenges to exist which would otherwise have a very annoying "restart".
- It took awhile for the map to make sense in the general pathing sense: at the Dragon it finally made sense you went from mouth to stomach etc.
- As the portals warp you all over it's hard to have a sense of progress.
Integration:
- MFL: "This map disturbs me."
- The map is ambitious but manages to bring it all together with decent pathing and good themes.
- The portals through the ghosts are interesting gameplaywise and in theme.
- There are many walls of arrows which cause a feeling of disconnection.
- Considering the completexity of the art with strong gameplay, it is very well done.

(32) Squad of Fish - Halloween Nightmare
Art:
- Minimap looks great. I like how it's in layers reflecting getting deeper and deeper. It also has a lot of pretty detail, especially in the last layer with the spider webs, zombies and witch's cauldron.
- In-game looks okay. It's not overly distracting, but it isn't too neat either.
- Usage of backgrounds is sort of good. It's cute how it looks like rain in the first layer.
- It's great that you went for 3D layers instead of 2D, but there seems to be a lot of light in the 1st and 2nd layers when there isn't a light source.
- Not a wide range of colours, but they complement each other nicely. The level could use more colour on the ground as, in the 1st and 2nd layers, it looks kinda flat.
Gameplay:
- The helpful BGs were often wrong or showed a harder path.
- Overuse of one-way blocks allowed players to get kicked.
- Some fun minigames but they were at times repetitive and they varied in quality.
- The decorations often obscured the path making it unclear at times.
- There was a trap at the end, which is harsh and hopefully not intentional.
Concept:
- The pathing is as obvious as it can get and sticking to the old fashion linearity isn't necessarily bad because you know where you're going, but it's a bit boring.
- The title says "nightmares". What are the nightmares? I can't find these in the level art or gameplay.
- The layout is ok, so is the design, just not innovative.
Integration:
- Very weak connection between art/challenges: the monsters were just bricks that did nothing. For example, you can't stand on an axe properly, but ingame you can.
- No black blocks, shapes were used decently.
- Lots of variety in art that was not addressed for unique gameplay, like water and monsters. Good amount of Halloween elements, but the story doesn't come together.

(33) The Mighty Morphin Block Arrangers - Skull Citadel
Art:
- The stars are great. The web is simply amazing too although the transparent blocks look weird. The purple pillars are good but a bit weird. The big pillar between the skull in the house is amazing, but the skull on it is not good as it's too 2D. The trees are cool too.
- Very neat in-game appearance, although walking through pillars and stuff can be a bit annoying.
- Usage of backgrounds is decent. I don't like how you put darker BGs around the bricks in the house, although it's good how you use it in the cellar.
- Shading's good at parts. The house is well made, but in the pillars holding the big skull it's weird. The trees are well shaded too and really well made.
- Really good colour usage. It's good how you use different colours for stars and make them darker and darker. The ground amuses me too.
Gameplay:
- Backtracking on the minis felt a bit lacking, also confused the path a bit.
- There wasn't a clear difficulty curve.
- The challenges were often fun and fairly innovative.
- Overall a very enjoyable map in terms of gameplay.
Concept:
- Good stuff, but backtracking made the pathing slightly boring sometimes.
Integration:
- Lots of space goes unused.
- The Halloween connection is there, but it's mostly focused on stereotypical things.
- Minis are repetitive and, while they fit the landscape, they don't fit the art.
- Where there is no art to make minis important, either add something, or don't put minis there; turn it into something else.
- The minis are connected in concept and style, but not to the art theme itself.

(34) SOAK CREW - soak SPOOKY house
Art:
- The minimap is cute but it's nothing special; it's too blank.
- In-game appearance is quite neat and tidy, not overly loaded with decorations.
- There're hardly any backgrounds, but where there is, it's neat and doesn't distract you from the game.
- There isn't a lot of shading. The map as a whole seems to be 2D.
- With all the grey it, it looks rather bland, apart from the name and logo, but as they are both one colour texts, they don't really help.
Gameplay:
- The fallbacks to previous challenges were annoying.
- Had a mix of some fun and some dull minigames.
- The ending felt empty and lacking in direction.
- There was no indication early on if coins were needed to finish the map.
Concept:
- Has an appealing cartoony style at first glance, but it becomes very monotonous on the gamescreen due to its monochrome style.
- The shapes leave little room for interesting challenges which results in many random air challenges.
- The pathing is odd and I felt like I was just coin collecting around blocks: there is no immersive gameplay.
Integration:
- Only 1/3rd of the map is actually used for gameplay.
- The landscape is generic and concepts are re-used.
- There is a connection between art/challenges present but it's weak.

(63) 2ndStory - The Mirage at Coulton
Art:
- The minimap is really good and nicely drawn.
- The ingame is ok but some of the decos at the bottom are problematic.
- The level is shaded well with nice perspective.
Gameplay:
- Highlighting the coins with BGs was smart, making them easier to find.
- Lots of keys and decorations often cluttered the path and challenges.
- There was a trap in the map, meaning you could be forced to restart.
- The minis were somewhat tedious and lacked innovation.
Concept:
- The design choice of a spooky mansion in a field of pumpkins was interesting.
- Paths tend to snake around the outline of the pumpkins, and it's easy to not know where to go next since the layout is spread out.
- It's far too easy to fall down and have to repeat challenges, which is due to the layout.
- When playing the map, there's no feeling whatsoever that you're in a spooky mansion with a field of pumpkins.
Integration:
- The art was outlined in black, giving a disconnection between minis and art.
- The theme was not strongly Halloween, but it was recognizable.

(65) I don't give a Financially Unclear Cause, K? - Children of the Pie
Art:
- Minimap is brilliant. The kids and the moon look so cute and the pumpkin people look great. 'The scream' looks great, but the remaining walls seem a bit blank.
- In-game appearance is pretty neat, apart from the few decorations, but they are still quite neat anyway.
- Backgrounds mostly used for art. They're well done and not too distracting.
- Shading is amazing. The detail on the art is fantastic and everything looks so lovely and 3D. It all fits nicely.
- Great use of colour. Things, like the grass, look very vivid without being too bright. There is also a wide range of colours, bright and dim, and it ties in nicely.
Gameplay:
- The one-way platforms can kick players, especially the elevator challenge.
- The "big" challenges were fun, smooth, and fairly unique.
- The final "big" minigame needed just a tiny bit more fine-tuning.
- The challenges were fairly clean but the difficulty often oscillated.
- Overall it was a very enjoyable map.
Concept:
- Right off the bat the minimap tells a story and sets a funny yet dramatic atmosphere.
- The pathing is often innovative: it allows for multilinearity to come back to linearity.
- Overall design and layout are pretty strong, I'm just missing the gameplay/concept connection.
Integration:
- The theme with Halloween is very strong but it's clear art was added first and the challenges afterwards.
- No black blocks; integration is decent but no strong connection between art/challenges.

(67) Llama Group - Towers of Moonlight
Art:
- Minimap is very simple. The ghosts look kind of plain and the castle looks quite flat, but there are
nice little details such as the tree and water.
- In-game is kind of plain. Going down the side of the map, the decoration use isn't too bad.
- Shading is not particularly good. The castle itself is a bit shaded, but too lightly, making it look quite flat.
- Would have been better if there were more colourful things. It just looks kind of bland, but it's not that bad.
Gameplay:
- The challenges were often smooth and fun and at times innovative.
- The fallback system was usually handled well except in a few areas.
- Some minis could be exploited and the tree section was weak.
- Overall it was an enjoyable map although not the most creative.
Concept:
- Another castle...at least ingame it feels castle...y.
- Pathing is straightforward, layout is decent and design could use some improvement.
Integration:
- The castle could have been used more, space went to waste.
- The theme was there but lacking a bit.
- The variety is well done.
- Challenges/art sometimes work together but they mostly don't.

(73) Team Slime - Slime Exploration
Art:
- Minimap is nice and simple, but great at the same time. The word 'Slime' looks great, but the texture doesn't really seem too slimey.
- In-game is very neat and tidy. It feels like the arrows are a part of the art.
- Usage of backgrounds is great. Very simplistic, but it works because of the theme. The windows made out
of the backgrounds are also well made.
- The 'Slime' text looks is shaded well. It looks so 3D and very slimey, as do the drops.
- It's only 2 colours, making it a bit plain, but there is quite a wide variety of different shades and tones of green, making it work. It looks good overall.
Gameplay:
- Too many hard to reach single arrow rows and not enough floating.
- Exploration was sometimes difficult and the coins were not always easy to find.
- Many of the challenges became repetitive after awhile.
- It was fun to explore overall, definitely a good gameplay concept.
Concept:
- I like the fact that it's not the same linear stuff as always, but when it comes down to it it's only a polished coin collect.
- At some point it became difficult to find the coins I was still missing, which could be considered a layout issue.
- It felt bumpy/slimey so the execution is done well.
Integration:
- The slime feels like proper slime mostly.
- Air challenges are present a tad too much.

(74) Joyful Ducks - Escape Your Fears
Art:
- Although the map itself looks quite flat, the ground looks okay. It could have been more detailed. The houses are interesting though; very nice and odd shape.
- At times, the backgrounds can get annoying. There is also quite a few black blocks, but it's not that bad.
- Inside, it looks quite neat, making you feel like you are actually inside the caves and going through them.
- The shading of the ground looks rather messy, like it was just trolled or dotted around. The upper part is better, like how the grass is thicker and isn't just a plain line, but the map still looks quite flat.
- Nice use of colour in the caves. To make sure the brown and red ground didn't overload the
map, the level has a nice variety of colours, such as purple for the tree trunk.
Gameplay:
- Too many black/invisiblocks to create the challenges.
- At times it was very messy and difficult to see what to do.
- Some minis were fun, but some were tedious such as the spiderweb.
- The pacing was fairly inconsistent and grew worse deeper into the map.
- Overall this map had potential, but its overall messy nature held it back.
Concept:
- You should play this level in reverse for the title to make sense: you start in your comfortable bed and go out to meet scary things? That's not escaping, that's facing. Assuming that's what you mean, I like it how there are different facets one must face.
- This is executed well at the spider web and the cage, but not so much at the rest.
- It's a shame so many unnecessary black blocks were used.
Integration:
- Black blocks, but at certain parts you do integrate well (spiderweb for example).
- Decent Halloween theme.
- The borders on the houses seem like a sneaky replacement for black ones.
- The water doesn't feel like water, lacking connection.

(78) Kle Crew - Halloween Dream
Art:
- Having the map on the left side of the room space possibly wasn't the best idea. It's quite distracting if you are playing with minimap open, and it looks odd.
- The art itself is great. The planet/sun/moon thing with the glow, looks fantastic; very fantasy-like and creative. However, the ground looks trolled or dotted around.
- Very messy in-game. The umbrellas, stones, one ways in purple blocks, and arrows seem dotted too. It just looks very messy and very distracting.
- The backgrounds don't help. With the decorations everywhere, it makes the backgrounds look messy.
- The sun/planet/moon thing with its glow looks brilliant, as does the castle. It's shaded very well, but everything below it does look pretty flat and plain due to the lack of shading.
- The colour range and selection itself is pretty good throughout the level. Apart from the ground, that colour blue with the purple doesn't really seem to mix that well and it looks rather odd.
Gameplay:
- Far too many arrow challenges that felt random and luck based.
- Too much clutter obscuring the path and confusing the challenges.
- Fairly tedious and often cramped gameplay with only a few fun minigames.
- Some black/invisiblocks were used to create the challenges.
- Overall the minis were the hard-for-the-sake-of-it variety and lacked fun.
Concept:
- Generic platformer with annoying the infamous "random arrows" challenges.
- It does not feel dreamy and there is no sense of purpose.
- Sometimes it has interesting pathing when you go over a challenge instead of through it.
- The overall design is ok, but this map is one of the many to suffer from "artitus": sacrificing gameplay for art.
Integration:
- No connection to Halloween whatsoever.
- It's a shame you didn't use the last 1/3rd of the map.

(79) Bro Co. - Devilish Terms
Art:
- From the grass and below, it looks really good. The ground has a very lovely pattern that's new. Yhe fire is drawn brilliantly and the little devil and Bro co. logo are so cute.
- Above the grass, it just seems messy. There is too much going on in the house and it also looks blank and plain. The rain looks too sharp and it doesn't seem natural. The clouds and the lightning are great though; very nice effects and details on those.
- From the start it looks very much overwhelmed with decorations, making it look rough and not really neat in-game.
- Below the ground, the backgrounds look great as they blend in with the art, but the top half doesn't seem to have that many.
- There is hardly any shading present. The clouds are shaded nicely, but other than that, nothing really seems to be. It looks quite flat.
- For the grass and below, the colours look lovely, nice and vivid with a great colour range. The top just seems so dull and colourless.
Gameplay:
- Some poor pathing leading to much confusion.
- Too many decorations and keys often cluttered the challenges and path.
- Minigames were solid with some annoying exceptions.
- Going backwards felt a bit forced and was tedious.
- Overall this map had many enjoyable moments, but also some frustrating ones
Concept:
- There's a sense of evil everywhere, well done.
- The pathing is intuitive despite some back-tracking and a chaotic feeling.
- Concept isn't too original but not bad either.
- Not sure what else to say, good map.
Integration:
- Some challenges connected to art, but not all.
- No black blocks in sight! Excellent.
- Decent connection to Halloween, but you have to look for it a bit.
- You could have used the big rooms for bigger challenges.

(89) SN Crew - Abandoned Cemetery
Art:
- On the minimap, the pumpkin looks weirdly creepy. The map is just so wrong though and the background is an ugly colour. The ghosts need re-shaping and shading as they look SO weird. It's not good. Plus, I can see the minigames; not good.
- Why put backgrounds for hints for such easy minigames? It makes it look bad and you don't really need a hint for every single mini-game as it becomes less fun. Apart from that it's quite neat.
- Colour is so depressing. It's so flat and too dull. You can use grey and still make it look pretty...
Gameplay:
- The challenges were not memorable and somewhat bland.
- The BG hints were usually accurate with a few exceptions, good for beginners.
- Overall the map was dull and lacking really fun minis.
Concept:
- Replacing black blocks with coloured blocks but using them in the same fashion to create space for gameplay is almost just as bad as using black blocks. The concept is therefore rather poor and creates linearity in a bad way. In addition, the guiding background blocks are just holding one's hand and treating players as babies. It might be different to do that sometimes for hard challenges, but not everywhere.
- The layout and design are chaotic.
Integration:
- Replacing black blocks with blood blocks on a grey background is just as bad.
- There is no connection between art/challenges whatsoever.

(92) SCAR - Rocky Horror
Art:
- Stunning minimap. The tent is shaded so beautifully and the moon is so pretty too. The way the tree looks against the moon is just stunning. The aurora looks a bit weird, as do the clouds. They seem too flat compared to everything else.
- In-game it was kinda poor. It had keys, black blocks, decorations, and wasn't particularly neat.
- There were hardly any backgrounds apart from to make the in-game look a bit neater.
- The shading is stunning. The tent, the cliff, the moon and the tree are brilliant. The aurora is good even though it looks a bit weird. The clouds are a bit of a disappointment though.
- The colour use was nice. The moon, tent and aurora are great vivid colours, making the map look great.
Gameplay:
- Beginning was full of cramped and somewhat tedious minigames.
- Too many decorations and keys cluttered up the path and minis.
- Some black box challenges, which were at times generic.
- There were many decent challenges throughout, and the central wheel was much improved from the original.
- Overall the gameplay lacked fun and seemed too generic and cramped.
Concept:
- The pathing can be confusing sometimes as decorations can obscure the path and coindoors can be missed, but overall it's decent.
- The design is great, but the layout seems a bit off sometimes: it's hard to know where you are at some points.
- As far the the design is concerned it's quite nice.
Integration:
- The connection to Halloween is lacking: a moon and 1 pumpkin does not justify it.
- You don't "play" the level, you walk on top of it and in the air.
- The big wheel has a good connection between art/challenge but everything else is lacking.

(99) cod-stormers - hakashouseoffun
Art:
- Great minimap. It's simple but looks great, especially with the background use. A bit flat though.
- Amazing in-game appearance. It feels like an adventure. Very neat with no decorations to have to go through.
- Backgrounds are really great. They really help to make you feel like it's an adventure. They look pretty in-game and on the minimap. There is also a wide variety of them used throughout the level.
- There isn't much shading, but where there is, such as the house walls, it's really well done, considering how small scale they are.
- This is an example of how you can have grey and still make it look pretty. There is a lovely range in colour and looks great.
Gameplay:
- Very innovative minis that made great use of the space.
- The map had just a few spots that felt a bit tedious until you learned the trick.
- Overall this had the most enjoyable and smooth gameplay out of all the maps.
Concept:
- While the concept is nothing new, it does feel like a house, in which one has fun.
- Pathing is innovative at most points (you come back to several rooms which have changed).
- Layout is simple and clear, good stuff, but not too original.
Integration:
- Halloween theme is just somewhat "there".
- The connection to the art is there but could have be stronger, some missed opportunities.
- You used the shapes very well and no black blocks makes for a strong integration.

(110) XP and friends. - Halloween Take Over
Art:
- The map looks pretty decent. The sky is just plain weird; I don't understand why it goes red-grey-blue. It just looks like a mess. The house is good though, especially the monster on top of it.
- In-game is kinda messy. The decoration ghosts at the start make the game look meh. The random arrows and keys etc... meh.
- Background usage is not particularly anything special, used for normal background use and hints...
- The shading is pretty bad. There really doesn't seem to be a light source coming from anywhere, yet certain bits are shaded, while some are not.
- Not a good use of colour. The house was a plain shade of grey and the sky colours seemed very random.
Gameplay:
- Concepts behind the larger challengers were good, the execution was lacking.
- Numerous exploits and some very precise challenges implied a lack of testing.
- Fallbacks were common and far too easy to do by accident.
- A bit too many decorations and keys in the beginning.
- Overall the challenges were ambitious, but just needed more planning.
Concept:
- The level is exactly what the title suggests: a take over.
- Feels good, pathing a bit too linear.
- Design is neat and the layout is clear.
Integration:
- Not much art-to-challenges integration.
- Even some black blocks or invisiblocks are blocking off paths.
- The integration of art/challenges appears good at first, but when it comes down to it they're boxes with simple shapes.
- Slight overkill on the Halloween theme. You could have used more of the other art outside the house for challenges.

(119) Hallowinners - Hallowinners
Art:
- Minimap is pretty average, nothing too special. The trees look quite weird. The skeleton at the end could have been so much better. The ground looks quite plain.
- Mediocre in-game, containing decorations in certain places just for art and decreasing the prettiness of the level.
- Weird usage of backgrounds. They can get pretty confusing and aren't used in a good way.
Gameplay:
- No indication the coins were needed, which could force a restart at the end.
- Challenges were somewhat generic and often bland, but some were fun.
- Some decorations and keys got in the way of the minis.
- The underground areas were cramped and somewhat messy.
Concept:
- The design was simple with a spooky landscape and a small underground section.
- The pathing is linear and the layout it annoying: it's easy to fall down and you have to re-do a lot of stuff.
- The underground felt tacked on and not connected to the rest of the map, and it seemed overall weak.
- Not having any indication that coins were needed was a poor concept choice since no one enjoys redoing challenges.
Integration:
- No black blocks but little connection to the art.
- The Halloween theme is ok with the skeletons etc.

(125) KO crew - Sinister
Art:
- Amazing minimap. No need to say more.
- Not the neatest in-game art ever, but there is nothing annoying. Pretty nice.
- Stunning shading. The depth and perspective of the objects are just right. The water looks stunning; brilliantly shaded.
- Very nice use of colour. It all blends in nicely, fits together perfectly, and lovely and vivid.
Gameplay:
- Many of the minigames felt cramped especially at the beginning.
- The outside area was clutters with too many keys which were distracting.
- There was lots of wasted space that lacked any gameplay, such as the sky.
- Overall the challenges were average and none really stood out, but it had sections that were fun.
Concept:
- The pathing was straightforward and made sense as you go from room to room until you reach the exterior part of the map.
- The layout was odd since the entire upper portion of the map was wasted with just a sky, it seemed like a missed opportunity.
- Nothing sinister about the map can be found in the gameplay.
- Overall it was rather annoying and precise.
- Later on the map it became OK but it needs work.
Integration:
- This map probably has a very strong connection of challenges/art.
- There is very little relation to the theme of Halloween.

(129) N64 org - Mad monster mansion
Art:
- Pretty bad minimap look. The pattern of the house is nice, but the shape is not. The thing in the middle looks like a keyboard (which is very hard to draw from that angle so thumbs up). Apart from the house, moon and hedges, nothing else is really there; not even a sky or some stars. It looks empty.
- Too many black blocks and too many blue coins just makes it look so ugly in-game.
- As the house is the central focus, and that's all one colour with the same pattern, sadly it just looks dull.
Gameplay:
- It was a bit on the short side despite the large space.
- Every challenge was made using black blocks.
- The challenges were smooth, but sometimes a bit on the generic side.
- The blue coins were not needed and caused lag for some players.
- Overall this map was generally fun and had some memorable minis.
Concept:
- It was a poor design choice to have an empty haunted house surrounded with black block minis.
- The pathing was a bit confusing at times and it was easy to miss a coin.
- It's difficult to assess layout when everything was done in black blocks.
- The design allowed for fun minigames which were this map's strong point, but it came at a price for practically all other aspects.
Integration:
- The connection to Halloween is week.
- The title states a "mad monster mansion", yet there are no monsters, let alone mad ones.
- The amount of black blocks is way too high, causing a split between art/challenges.

(146) Spooky Cookies - Spooky Island
Art:
- Great minimap. It looks so different compared to other maps. The tree is weird, but in a good way. The little floating islands are so cute and the monster coming out of the slime water is just brilliant. Very creative.
- In-game appearance is pretty. It's quite neat and the backgrounds really make it seem like an adventure. There are also no annoying decorations or black blocks.
- Lovely use of backgrounds. They really look pretty on the minimap and they are very neat and help make it adventurous.
- Very creative use of shading, looking great and original. Very neat shading too (as in, no trolling shading or dotting randomly).
- The purple/brown/green combo really does work for this level and the colours are of good amounts.
Gameplay:
- Some poor pathing using portals which could cause confusion for some.
- The minis started off fun but grew a bit repetitive later in the map.
- No black blocks used in the challenges which was a positive.
- Innovation was lacking in many minigames, but overall it was a good map.
Concept:
- The atmosphere is great, lots of crazy spooky things going on which is felt during gameplay.
- Pathing was handled a bit awkwardly since the portals kept taking you to different areas of the map.
- It was hard to determine the right way to go, and backtracking for coins was a problem.
- The layout was decent both for the art and challenges.
Integration:
- Some of the shapes could have been used better for bigger and more innovative challenges rather than a lot of small ones.
- The Halloween theme is odd but very present.
- The connection between art/challenges varies, but often it's ok. The integration is strong.

(168) AE crew - Trick or Treat
Art:
- It's amazing how you've made a minigame world and still managed to make it artsy and Halloweeny. Really clever, although the pumpkins at the corner need a bit of work.
- In-game is pretty neat, there really isn't anything annoying in there.
- Backgrounds look quite pretty. Used several colours, yet still making it look dark and Halloweeny.
- There really isn't any shading apart from the pumpkin and sweets which look cute.
- It has a really nice variety of colours. All look Halloweeny and the aren't many repeats of the same colour.
Gameplay:
- Backgrounds were at times deceiving especially the single blocks.
- Coin doors should have been used to ensure players get the coins.
- Most challenges were innovative, fun, and flowed well from one to the next.
- There were a few exploits and the difficulty curve was a bit hard to notice.
- Overall it was a refreshing map due to its fairly unique challenges.
Concept:
- It was a smart design choice to just have a series of connect box rooms since the minis were the star in this map.
- Pathing and layout were straight forward since all you did was move from room to room.
- Not having any indication that coins were needed was a poor concept choice since no one enjoys redoing challenges.
- The title fits the illusion style minis well, although aside from some candy it's hard to say if there was an actual theme.
Integration:
- They're boxes, which means it has a low score on connection between art/gameplay.
- The word-play on the title is reflected in the gameplay, which also partially relates the gameplay and title to the theme of Halloween, but not very strongly.

(198) Lag Crew - Hellaween
Art:
- This map looks so weird in a cool way. The art itself is drawn very well. It's also probably one of the most creative art pieces. I like how you rounded off the top so it wasn't just a square.
- Not particularly good in-game as there are too many one-way blocks, quite a few decorations and too many keys.
- Good background usage. They look quite neat, but nothing special about them.
- Really great shading. The room looks so good and so 3D with no troll shading.
- A bit too red, but it sort of works.
Gameplay:
- Tunnels at the beginning were very dull.
- Some places had decorations that cluttered the playing field.
- The challenges were often enjoyable and a few were innovative.
- Overall the gameplay felt unique since the map had a different style.
Concept:
- The overall design is very solid and it shows off the theme of the map very well.
- Pathing is very weak in the beginning with nothing but tunnels, fortunately it improves later on.
- The layout was solid and really allowed the minimap art to shine.
Integration:
- Considering the challenge it has to be to get proper challenges in a map this full, the ingeration is pretty well done.
- The Halloween theme is strong, but the connection between art/challenges is lacking.

(200) This is not a team - Zombah Pocaylpse
Art:
- The text at the start looks quite bad. It doesn't really fit in with the art similar to the building at the floating hill. Everything else, like the white castle, floating island and the mountain, look quite nice. The green things don't really look like Zombies at some parts though. They could be mistaken for plants at certain points.
- Certain parts have a few too many black blocks, but other than that, it's fine.
- Decent shading, although there isn't really that much. When there is it looks quite nice, like on the mountain and castle.
Gameplay:
- The beginning had some good minigames.
- The large and fast challenges were well done and enjoyable.
- Many of the smaller minis were too precise and often felt luck based.
- Only a few areas had decorations that cluttered the challenges.
Concept:
- Light tone with challenging things, the small zombies made me lol.
- The tone and the difficulty contrast well.
- The pathing is simple yet effective, layout and design are cool.
- Could have added some more apocalypsey things and zombies.
Integration:
- Little connection between art/challenges.
- The house on top was destroyed by the challenges and the message in the house could have been somewhere else where it's not destroyed by the challenges.
- No black blocks and shapes of the map are often used pretty well.

Last edited by Mega Lamb (Dec 3 2011 8:39:22 pm)

Epicfish · Before February 2015

Thanks for the feedback.

Calicara · Before February 2015

Thanks for the feedback, it pretty much said exactly what I expected. Though we went through a lot of trouble with the pumpkin it was the most difficult art aspect due to a lack of orange bricks.

The concept was good, though I partially blame myself for its not working. I wanted to let Esox do the mini games, but I didn't want to say they were bad because I didn't want to hurt his feelings. I think they would've been better IF there was a clear direction in the order they were done.

As for the Invisible map, I wanted to get rid of it, but Esox didn't We eventually just let is stay, but I thought it rather annoying to the player.

Though it is not his fault we lost, because we were a team and so we lost together. But we are not upset because we learned A LOT about teamwork. We are planning on improving our concept, and hopefully snag first place next contest

Thanks for the advice.

~Failgirl101

Master1 · Before February 2015

thanks for the feedback
by any chance can you include the ratings for each thing, if you guys used those.

treejoe4 · Before February 2015

Thanks!

Xenonetix · Before February 2015

Master1 wrote:

by any chance can you include the ratings for each thing, if you guys used those.

Although the ratings were used purely to determine the top 12, we will not be publicising them to avoid any arguments over positioning. We felt the feedback is enough to show you areas that need improvement and to complement you where necessary

Cyral · Before February 2015

Nice feedback, Toobad mines not in the top25

manurthebest · Before February 2015

Really appreciated. Thanks

Ilikenoah · Before February 2015

What about the top 45?

smileyxp · Before February 2015

lol ^

Nou · Before February 2015

Thanks for compiling it and making it coherent Mega!
+rep for you kind sir.

RhazzleFrazzle · Before February 2015

i like the feedback on my level. just to clarify, before we released the level, dc had a machine gun mounted on a truck at the start and a king zombie in the catacombs at the top (yes im calling that building a catacomb). i used the text for dramatic effect. the background update and poof update screwed up the level, and there would be no background in the castle if i hadnt gone in and fixed it.

Xenonetix · Before February 2015

Ilikenoah wrote:

What about the top 45?

In the other thread (when it's ready), the people with more feedback were in the top 45.

Jaybm · Before February 2015

Great feedback! Even though GD didn't win, i will use this feedback to try to win next time (if there is a next time)

P.S: i wouldn't mind seeing the top 27 ranked

Last edited by Jaybm (Dec 3 2011 7:34:14 pm)

32OrtonEdge32dh · Before February 2015

Quotes would improve the readability tenfold.

Xenonetix · Before February 2015

Done

Muffin · Before February 2015

Thanks Didn't really realise that decorations were such a problem. Probably wouldn't have them if the bg update was earlier.

32OrtonEdge32dh · Before February 2015

Mega Lamb wrote:

Done

Isn't it so much better now?

theditor · Before February 2015

Okay.
Nice negative feedback for llamas!

Muftwin · Before February 2015

Hallowinners

but the coins werent reqquired that was the win zone at the end you just dont get a crown (edit" unless you do the challenge minis)

anyway thanks for the feedback i totally understand what you mean with the deco/bg update this wont happen again anywayh

Last edited by Muftwin (Dec 5 2011 8:21:16 am)

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