The submitted maps have been carefully evaluated by us judges. We have spent hours rating many aspects of each map and discussed our findings thoroughly. Only three mappers have submitted their masterpieces, but each one of them did an excellent job! Tournament map maker Predatore has taken the liberty of making modifications to the submitted maps, which the contestants may choose to use, or to discard and continue using their own versions, to keep improving until their final versions.
Ice Arena
The very first submission, Ice Arena, was made by AggressivePanda. Apparantly he decided that the worst place his enemies could go to, is a cold place. A freezing cold place. With a battleship! Yeah, that works for me! AggressivePanda created an excellent multiplayer map, but it seems he ran out of paint, seeing as the map could still use a few more textures here and there. This is what he made:
Here is our combined feedback for this cold piece of work:
Feedback
A cool map with plenty of tiberium to go around with. The spikes were a bit too close to the base and the tiberium fields were too easy to defend. Most of the map was symmetrical, although the twin tiberium field in the top right is a bit out of place and some structures were not mirrored. While it's a nice touch to naturally add some ionic clouds over tiberium fields, the Scrin factions don't mind an occasional ion storm, so the balance shifts a bit in their favour. Anyway, the map has some great open spaces, which could do with a little more paintwork, but action-wise it's a great map to play on! Below are the scores per judge for our bamboo-eating friend:
Wasteland Circles
The next upload, Wasteland Circles, came from Stayer231, who was also really quick in uploading. After careful consideration we decided that the map could use a little more work and luckily for him, he hadn't uploaded it in the offical thread yet. He worked very hard on the next version and uploaded an excellent piece of work. Who wouldn't send his enemy to a Wasteland Circle?
Here's what we've got for the vicious circles:
Feedback
Stayer231 wasted no land while making his circles and made a red zone resort for his enemies. There is plenty of tiberium on the map, but they don't regrow quite fast enough to keep the action alive on the rather large battlefields. If only these large battlefields had large enough ramps to get the forces there in the first place... Now, Scrin Droneships don't really mind these narrow and impassable areas and find themselves at a mild advantage. The Scrin also love an occasional ion-storm-shower, further shifting the game to their advantage. While playing the map, it's a bit too quiet, due to the lack of ambient sounds and one would also expect some eerie fog on such a wasteland. Individual scores are written down here:
Volcano Valley
The last of the uploaders was Hydrolase. He took all the time he could get, and with very good reason! He decided that his enemies would be best off in a valley. A Volcano Valley, that is! Hydrolase drenched his map in the textures palette, kicked up a bunch of volcanoes and went nuts while destroying everything. This is what it looks like:
Feedback for this blazing hot map is here:
Feedback
A hot, but beautiful scenery with lava and flames all over, along with some unorthodox tiberium fields and easily defendable, narrow paths. The starting field is okay, but the dry blue expansion, contested middle field and lack of other expansion fields leave the player out of credits rather quickly. While this map is great for new players, we suspect that higher level players may object to the small paths and areas due to their micro mania. Balance-wise, even the small paths were mirrored perfectly and the only issue we found were the defensive turrets who did not look into a physically perfect mirror. By the way, did you know that crushed nuke trucks leave little Christmas presents? phantom9399 found out the hard way! Look below to see what each judge rated:
The mappers gave us judges a very hard time, because all the pieces were unique and great in their own way. After individual voting, we each ended up with a different winner. We then discussed each score and created the following scoresheet:
The scores of the maps were so close that we decided to call it a tie. But worry not, because we've got something in store for all of the winners. Along with all the scores, the mappers have been sent a personal message with more specific feedback from each judge about improving their maps.
For the second stage of the WorldBuilder Challenge, we have edited the submitted maps helping the map makers to improve their maps visually and gameplay-wise.
This is how they look:
Ice Arena
Wasteland Circles
Volcano Valley
The mappers have until December 22nd to improve, test their maps online, and submit a final version. They can start by using their original creations, or by editing the maps provided by Predatore. The final version of the maps will be evaluated again. By the players this time! While you guys are playing and rating the new maps, we will be setting up a poll where players may vote from the 23rd of December until the very last day of this year.
There will be a 2v2 tournament in January which is going to feature these new maps. The winner of the Worldbuilder Challenge will have their map played on in the grand final!
Well, our dear mappers, it seems like you will have to wait a little longer to find out who ends up taking the first place!
We all wish you good luck! ~Zypherbullet, member of The judges
