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The Situation Room - Single Player Version
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| Author |
File Description |
| Joshonator |
Posted on 05/01/09 @ 05:58 PM
| File Details |
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Screenshot:
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| Version: |
AoM: The Titans |
You will be placed in a room and faced with challenges, it will take all of your skills to get through them.
Please refrain from reviewing until you have beaten the game at least once.
Please do not complain that the game is too hard and you can't beat the first level. None of the levels can be beaten unless you use tactics. If you are really stumped on how to beat a particlar level, send me an email (josh_jjdg@hotmail.com) and if i am feeling charitable i will give you instruction. |
| Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
|---|
| PurpleWorm |
Posted on 05/09/09 @ 03:50 PM
This map is exactly what I expected when I downloaded it. It didn't "wow" me, it didn't disappoint me, it just matched my expectations. Apart from the odd introduction where I was asked to select a lighthouse without any explanation, I usually knew what was going on. The point of the challenges was fairly easy to understand (kill, garrison, etc) and the storyline made sense. It was neither too long nor too short, and was a good use of 10-20min. The end was a bit anticlimatic, and the eyecandy could have used some work, but overall it was enjoyable piece of work.
Balance: 5
This is the one area this map excelled in. The "situations" were tough, and many took numerous repeats to complete. I have no idea how this would work as a multiplayer map, the difficulty in combination with 4 different players would require such cooperation it would be very, very hard to complete. I killed off two of the four units I was supplied for the meteor challenge, in a multiplayer map I would have certainly died on the first try. But since this isn't a multiplayer map I'm rating, the balance was excellent. I got the tough challenge I was looking for. The kill-or-be-killed situations took more thought than just hacking away at the enemy, and the garrison missions were well made as well.
Creativity: 4
More creative than your average map. The premise itself is creative, using logic and reasoning to fight your way through several puzzles. The only reason you didn't get a 5 here is because the challenges, while interesting and difficult, are somewhat repetitive. All of the killing situations relied on the same exact strategy: let one or two units run around while archers/towers kill off the enemy. The maze wasn't very difficult, and to avoid the spider traps all one had to do was force all the horses into the little crevice provided. I wanted more logical puzzles and more diverse challenges (it might have had something to do with the fact you limited yourself to a very small piece of map).
Map Design: 2
Yeah, this needs some work. Your cinematics consistently show the edge of the map, you didn't use the 'obscured units' effect for improved quality, and your terrain mixing is mediocre. The camera tracks were a bit bumpy, and you used the default lighting without any set sky effects. The only thing I got from the opening cinematic apart from the storyline was that you know how to use the set animation feature, which was really the only thing your cinematic did. The waterfall looked clumpy, not smooth, and the camera track's display of terrain looked false and uninteresting. I'm being critical mostly because I enjoyed the map, and want the map design to reflect the scenario itself. With just an hour's worth of fine tuning and careful consideration to each aspect of design, this rating would improve dramatically. On the bright side, the building containing the lighthouses and Apollo's place were well made.
Story/Instructions: 3
Good storyline, instructions self explanatory. An objectives banner highlighting the number situation you are in and the brief points made in the introduction would go a long way towards even better clarity. I like how depending on how far you get, the people of earth are granted more or less freedom. Nice work.
Additional Comments:
A few things:
Meteor situation is very laggy, I can't imagine how terrible multiplayer is with it, my guess is OoS left and right. You could get the same effect using 2/3 less meteors, the units don't have to be very close to be killed by the blow.
I don't know if it was intentional or not, but all four fire siphons do not convert to player 1. It doesn't hinder the final situation, but it is very odd considering you converted all other units to player 1.
If the average map has a total rating of 3.0, this map is a 3.4. Not the next award winning scenario perhaps, but worth a download and certainly an idea which if expanded on could recieve a much higher rating.[Edited on 05/10/09 @ 09:42 PM]
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Joshonator
File Author |
Posted on 05/10/09 @ 10:50 PM
The reason the quality of the cinematics were not the greatest is because i had only made one cinematic before making the the second cinematic i ever made. I hope that in the future my cinematics will satisfy your desire for quality.
For the meteor situation, it was the second last one and i was in a hurry to get it done, i didn't realize how much lag it caused until after i completed it and by then i lost motivation to redesign the whole level so i just left it as it was. Originally i wanted to have a more climatic ending cinematic but I didn't have enough space left on the map which limited me to short endings. Probably the main reason it wasn't so good was because of inexperience but thanks for your honesty, it will likely motivate me to improve in the future.
For some reason the convert all trigger did not convert the fire siphons, I did not know how to solve the problem but since it didn't hinder the gameplay i left it as it was.
Thanks for your time and advice
[Edited on 05/10/09 @ 10:50 PM]
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| mpghappinesss |
Posted on 05/21/09 @ 04:51 PM
Great Game! A good 15ish minute time killer. The challenges where nicely thought out. They weren't too alike (although the last two garrison ones were very similar). I actually didn't think it was going to be as good as it was when I first looked at it. The only problem was that the end of the map was extremely rushed. The end was very poor quality compared to your story. The last few challenges, besides the 10th one, also seemed rush. Overall, a good start to your map-making.
Balance: 5
The challenges were very balanced. I didn't have to look at the screen for a minute waiting for an answer to come, and it didn't take me too long to find out the answer to the situations. The micro-managing of units was also great balance here. I wasn't able to just move all my units around in one big blob, while I didn't have to frantically click around the screen. No real problems in balance.
Creativity: 4
This is a great example of creativity. The situations, as said above, weren't alike with one another. The story was quite creative as well; I was actually interested in watching the whole movie. I deducted a point because it wasn't the most unique thing I've ever seen, and it reminded me of Cirrow's 'Survival'.
Map Design: 2
This is where you could have easily improved on. The situation room itself was very poor, just some Olympus path with city tiles. The movie eyecandy was poor as well, but it's a good start if it's one of your first 'good' maps. My advice is, for a better situation room, make it a small grassy field of some sort. Those are extremely easy to make, and look very nice if made correctly.
Story/Instructions: 5
Your map excelled here. Never have I seen such a story in such a simple map. The (few) instructions that you gave were good enough to get through the map without ripping my hair out.
Additional Comments:
The only thing I have left to say is to fix the meteor situation. The lag is enormous, and it became hard to play the game. Just only put 5ish meteors per row. The meteor killing range is much larger than it seems.
Overall, a great start to your career as a map maker. I hope to see more great games from you. |
Joshonator
File Author |
Posted on 05/22/09 @ 08:26 AM |
Yeebaagooon
Staff |
Posted on 05/23/09 @ 01:59 PM
Playability: 4
It's a good map to play, and pretty fun. The reason you had a 4 is because of the gap between situations. Sometimes I was wondering if I'd done it right, but eventually got used to waiting ~5 seconds. This can be fixed by moving the priority slider to high for your triggers. I enjoyed playing you map, and as it's one of your first; that really does show signs of an excellent designer.
Balance: 4
Balance is always difficult, but you managed to pull it off quite well. It would be quite difficult and challenging for the average ESO punter, but good strategy and logic are always your greatest friends in scenarios like these. To my delight, you really made me think and threw in a couple of good tricks. For example, the tower with default attack didn't look too colossus destroying, only when completed did the full volley of projectiles prove me wrong :p. There's an underlying strategy to most situations, so good job here.
Creativity: 4
Good job here, there was a nice variety of situations. The only reason you're getting a 4 is because there were too many fighting ones. After the third puzzle I was starting to get bored, but you then went in with different ideas. My favourite situation was the 'frogger' style one. It really needed careful concentration and planning. I feel sorry for any ESO player who had lag on this one :p! I also liked the invisible walls situation; that would bamboozle quite a few people.
Map Design: 2
This was the only thing that let you down. The cinematic was good (more on this later) but the landscape and scenery wasn't that attractive and looked a bit artificial. Try to avoid the edge of maps in cinematics. Olympus also looked a bit barren with the steep slopes and lack of cliffs and mist. The room itself had a nice pattern, but no embellishments.
Your citadel construct was very impressive though, if only there had been more like it.
Story/Instructions: 5
Very good here. I loved the story. How you took the Greek gods and added your own bit of mythology was very impressive and must have taken a while to come up with (or just a spontaneous brainwave :p). The story was well thought out and illustrated by a good and interesting cinematic, however I feel it lacked background music.
Good grammar, always nice to see in maps. Without it they're just barren, unplayable and completely void of effort.
Also instead of 'click your lighthouse' at the start; 'delete your lighthouse if you know how to play' would be better.
You ideally need a camera track in case they do delete the lighthouse to overwrite the one panning down.
Additional Comments:
With a 3.0 as an average rating, you're doing very well already. Hopefully with your next map you can reach up into the tree of success, and pluck the juicy apple of 4.0.
I can see a lot of potential in you. Perhaps one day you be turning out masterpieces in excess of 4.5? |
Joshonator
File Author |
Posted on 05/24/09 @ 06:22 PM |
| The_Great_Eye |
Posted on 06/04/09 @ 10:44 AM |
Joshonator
File Author |
Posted on 06/04/09 @ 12:06 PM |
| Zorx |
Posted on 06/09/09 @ 04:48 PM
This was great in my opinion. It always worked, no glitches for me, and although it was hard it was always possible. I especialy liked the way you had to defeat the final boss, that took some cunning and made it a 5 for me.
Balance: 4
This was generally very good, with games being hard but not insanely so. However I felt the collossuss level was a bit too hard, but that's just my personal opinion.
Creativity: 3
You had some very good ideas but you overused a few of them, especially in early levels. However the method needed to complete varied enough to keep this a 3, and I really liked the story and alternative endings. Also the way you made the tital was inventive and interesting.
Map Design: 3
The room itself was quite plain, and I think with just a bit more eyecandy in the room and cinematic you could have scored much higher. However the bit with the gods floating over the Earth was very clever.
Story/Instructions: 5
As I mentioned earlier, the story was excellent, being entertaining and original. Also the lack of instructions left alot to be thought out especially in the last level and the invisible wall one, which was good. Good work here.
Additional Comments:
Great work for a first map. I think you have some serious potentialm, and if you keep this up you can create some excellent maps in future. Good job and good luck in further maps!
[Edited on 06/09/09 @ 04:49 PM]
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Joshonator
File Author |
Posted on 06/09/09 @ 05:29 PM
although im pretty sure you did it to try to get into the review team :p |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
| Rating |
|---|
| 3.8 | | Breakdown |
|---|
| Playability | 4.0 | | Balance | 4.5 | | Creativity | 3.8 | | Map Design | 2.3 | | Story/Instructions | 4.5 |
| Statistics |
| Downloads: | 468 |
| Favorites: [] | 2 |
| Size: | 102.82 KB |
| Added: | 05/01/09 |
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