April Mapping Contest Voting Thread

Voting has begun, please remember to play both maps before voting! The theme of this contest is Innovation. Vote for the map that really stands out as a new and creative game element.

Voting will end Thursday, May 8 and the winner will receive Free Supporter Status and a Custom Title for life

Good luck.

2 Part Maze by thehermit2
http://forums.thinkingwithportals.com/d ... ile_id=207

pmk4 by mazk1985
http://forums.thinkingwithportals.com/d ... ile_id=208

Map Pack is now up over at the DLDB.

Mappers: the only person who can notice if things got lost in my re-packaging is you. I recommend you download the pack and play through your map and make sure it is all there (music, etc). If it isn't, PM me or use the AIM link at the bottom of this post to contact me.

Enjoy.

2 maps... *sigh* well its better than nothing and atleast both have good design and follow the contest theme.

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2 Part Maze by thehermit2
firstly what an amazing idea. however its amazement in "idea" didn't translate well to "substance" but i might be biased in this because i (personally) do not like "hedge maze" style maps. i hate traversing (randomly (no pun intended)) through corridors hoping to gawd that i don't take the wrong turn. i managed to get through it the first time and tried to play again and just couldn't. but as i said before this might just be because of my hatrid of maze style maps. i almost voted for this map because it is a really new and orriginal idea. but i believe that a good "map" idea must not only be inovative but fun to play :-/ so i couldn't rightly vote for this. HOWEVER: don't take this personal because i think your map was beautifully made and holy crap i can only imagine how you put this crap together. i respect you for hammering this out. but on that note there are some HOM errors here is 2 pictures of the (one) i found. there might be more. there might not don't know, but considering the nature of your map i would be willing to be there are.

oh yeah one more gripe. i suggest that you (and anyone else who reads this) always put ./ infront of their map name in whatever .bns they make. because someone (like me) if a map comes in a .zip/.rar/.etc and the map is not in its own custome directory (ex: /maps/yourname) then i usually make a directory so they aren't a bunch of crap all in one directory, and allows me to (when necessary) delete all appropriate .bps, .tga/etc/etc in one shot. so when i did this with your map it didn't work. so i had to edit the .bns and add the ./ then when it restarted it just closed to menu cuz it said maps/rmaze1.bsp not found


pmk4 by mazk1985
well. this is about what i expected out you. glad to see i wasn't let down lol. the idea isn't incredibly complex. but it is innovative, and it makes what LOOKS like a simple map into something that takes quick thinking, and quick relflexes.. good look. good custom menu icon thingies. my only real complaint is that (and i'm not going to spoiler this cuz i wish i had known) when you go into the elevator i was done so was "ABOUT" to ~quit but luckily (for me) my son caught my attention and so i turned to look at him a minute. then turned back to see that. ?WHAT? there was more level! w00t!

Definitely PMK4

That was fun and filled with great cake

YES!!!
My devious elevator trick worked. Sorry I nearly made you miss the last part though.

my vote goes to PMK 4

edit: elevator trick? sorry, I go all the way to the end where it disconnects, but I never saw any elevator trick

Well it wasn't so much of a trick. I put in the mid way elevator to give the impression that the level was about to end.

I'm glad you enjoyed the map tho

I almost voted for 2 Part Maze, both maps used a fairly new concept and were fun to play. I didn't get fustrated in the 2 Part Maze, and normaly I do get confused and upset in maze type maps. The design and over all look of the map was nice and thehermit2 did a great job with the look & feel.

Pmk4 by mazk1985 won my vote because he took his mechanic and used it in differnt ways. [spoiler]First with having you navigate, then Orbs, and then a combination of orbs, navigating and fizzlers[/spoiler] He also 'tought' the concept to the player before the puzzles became too complex (not that thehermit2's map needed a 'learning' section).

TheHermite2 would have taken my vote if he had used his concept in conjunction with other more common puzzles, maybe haveing to get a cube on a button or having parts of the maze change.

Darn only two maps. I wish I could've finished mine in time. Oh well, I'm almost done.

It's ironic. We have a contest for most innovative challenge for the most innovative game in years, yet the community for it puts out only two maps. kinda funny.

we haven't cought up with the base innovation in portal to start adding our own innovations to it :p

I voted for PMK4. It had the feel of a fully fleshed out test chamber that mazk1985 obviously spent a lot of time making look like the original game. It was a lot of fun to play.

Thanks to whoever voted for my map.

It's sad there are only two maps in the competition, but I think the quality has risen a lot since last time. Good work from both participants!

2 Part Maze
This is the most inventive of the maps. I was excited the first five minutes or so, but then I lost my patience. It was too random. By the fourth maze I quit. I had a feeling it never were going to end. Is that right? To sum up; it's a good concept, but badly implemented.

PMK4
This map got my vote. It's not as inventive as the other map, but the idea is very well implemented. I like the increasing difficulty and the way it teaches the player the concept. This map was fun all the way through. The difficulty of the puzzels were not too easy and not too hard. This map had the best look as well.

Yeah good point. Whoops.

2 Part Maze

A very neat idea, yet in practice not so good. I found myself confused, and somewhat lost.. obviously. I found myself going in circles, and lack of idenifiers meant i found myself back where i started. Also somewhat repeatative and same-y.

My recommendation would be have a maze between sections and possibly a view window at the beginning over looking the whole maze.

Keep up the mapping though, and you'll be sure to have a popular map within no time.


PMK4

Not as inventive, but executes the map better. Very high quality, such that i thought it could have been a professional level. I found myself wishing the level was longer - especially with that cursed elevator

However, i'm think i managed to cheat the system. After the elevator, I managed to get into the room with the turret (unless you're meant to) and portal the ball directly into the catcher. This meant that my first idea where i thought you had to open and close the doors as the ball went along, was useless.

Hope to see future maps from you. Got my vote.

I'm glad those shortcuts were spotted. I like to make my maps so that you can cheat if you look carefully. [spoiler]The last section was suppose to throw you off into thinking you have to navigate the ball through many doors. [/spoiler]Nice one for spotting it