BADASS MAPPING CONTEST

Deadline is tonight!

Line's dead. I'm still to find the 3rd judge. Shouldn't take long though.

I've organized all the entries on the first post and submitted them to the judge. I wasn't getting responses from the people I wanted to be my third judge, so I'll stick with two, which is probably enough for a contest with 6 entries.

The second judge is Harbour Master from Electron Dance. We (each judge) will drop a quick comment about each entry and pick our favorites.

Results soon!

I just got the judging information from the other judge, but I'll only post final results sunday or monday because I'll be out of town for the weekend, ok?

Ok, so here are the results. Before anything, thanks to everyone who participated! I hope, despite very limiting, this event and its concept inspired you guys to work on new ideas.

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Judge 1 - Calunio's comments

LockeZ
Very nice screen, awesome tiles, I like the contrast of having a ninja-guy in the middle of the scene, and I like the colorfulness.Overall the map seems too geometric though.

InfectionFiles
I like the pose and the expression of the guy holding the gun. It's a cool scene. Train takes too much of the space, I think. The dead guy looks like FFVI's Setzer!

arcan
The checkers duel was brilliant. I also love how they are placed in the middle of a somewhat-empty map, gives them a lot of focus. But I definitely don't dig those shadows.

diaeitsch
Mapping-wise, this is probably the best entry. The map is very well-put together, detailed and beautiful. I like the dead guy and all the blood. It's also very grim. I like it.

Kestumio
This map is very funny and unique. The lack of proportions and absurdity of it is kinda funny. And the dueling characters are really amazing. Wish that was a game.

Dyhalto
That's a cool map, though a bit too empty in the middle, and the roof tiles definitely don't match the rest. It's not my favorite entry, but it's the game I would want to play the most. Love the "strategy feel".

WINNER (Calunio's choice)
I truly truly love the checkers duel. It's a great idea, and the sprites are so cute. But I this is a mapping contest, and in that regard, diaeitsch's entry stands out.

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Judge 2 - Harbour Master's comments
(Electron Dance blog)

LockeZ
While it oozes Wild West, all is not as it seems: an oriental dude! I cannot help but think of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Against a gun, the sword always loses. It's a nice shot suggesting dynamism, the katana about be loosed but the gun already in position.

InfectionFiles
The fight is done, before a train which evokes the speed of the draw. There is a sense that something important has happened here. It feels like the end of the game.

arcan
Very clever play on the competition theme, two cowboy dudes embroiled in a chess duel. I love it just for that reason.

diaeitsch
I'm not seeing the duel, I'm seeing the crack in the rockface at the back. I'm wondering what we might find in there. I want to explore.

Ketsumio
Points here for a wacky wild west. I wonder which of these characters do you play? Being donut guy looks more fun, making off with his money bags - and impossible to shoot because he's already got a giant hole. "Hehe, no senor! You cannot shoot me in the chest because I have no chest!"

Dyhalto
I love those uniforms and I assume the white guy on the right is the heavily outnumbered and goody-goody protagonist. The positioning of the characters suggests tension.

WINNER (Harbour Master's choice)
Tricky. All of the entries successfully evoke the Wild West theme.

In terms of the cleverest entry, I'd side with arcan, but it doesn't tell me anything about the game.

I'm looking for something that shakes off its "staged" origins and offers something I can engage with. We could argue this one out all day, but the ones that feel the most like an authentic game in play are diaeitsch's and Dyhalto's. The tone of each is different. The former is a done duel with the player able to move on; the latter is the opening to a pre-duel conversation.

In the end, diaeitsch gets the edge because the shot also demonstrates this a world to explore. That opening in the rockface and all those lovely buildings suggest you can do more in this game than just shoot dudes. It is more representative of a full experience.

Thanks to everyone who submitted and giving me a real hard time figuring out a winner.

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FINAL WINNER

I was going to give two awards in case of two winner, but since it was unanimous...



Congratulations diaeitsch!