Tannar on 30/4/2015 at 16:44
Well, the votes are in and counted. Now that the contest is over, we are free to reveal the authors' identities as well. There were 20 possible points to be made for each mission, and the results of the voting are as follows:
1st Place: The Curse of the Skull Goblet by FireMage
Number of votes: 44
Average Score: 17.59
2nd Place: A Lucky Hand by Darthslair
Number of votes: 44
Average Score: 16.59
3rd Place: Saving Caroline by Caradavin
Number of votes: 43
Average Score: 14.23
Congratulations to FireMage for winning the contest!
And a big 'Thank You!' to all our contestants. Great work by everyone. As always, it's the players that are the true winners in these contests as we now have three more well-done and enjoyable missions to play.
Thanks go to FireMage for his work organizing and running the contest, and to Al_B for creating and managing the voting site.
The comments for the missions can be found in the following three posts, one post for each mission.
Tannar on 30/4/2015 at 16:49
* I don't remember a bottle in this mission and I beta tested it 7 times......LoL
* This was absolutely amazing! A lot of different areas, and much larger than it seems (due to part 2; on the island). I probably still have missed some hidden areas! I liked all the different things, including the witch, the lighthouse, the pagan temple, etc. A lot of fun!
* I really liked this mission and it's theme, but I was unable to complete the mission. I don't play them too well. That's not your fault, but I did feel it was a bit too hard on the first difficulty level. I had fun with what I did complete, though.
* This was fantastic. Much larger than I was expecting, and far more complex. I'd never have guessed it was done for a contest. My only criticism would be that sneaking around the metal ship at the beginning isn't a ton of fun due to the surfaces used - hard to imagine the crew would really hear a thief in that noisy engine room.
* Excellent FM. Loved having to sneak around the ship, then the unexpected change of pace to a whole new environment.
* Very nice! I really loved this pirate island, beatiful and creepy at the same time.
* I had a little trouble with the first part (that red book was hard to see!) but after that it turned out to be a really fun mission set.
* This is a very well done mission. The story is a good one, and the realization of the story is remarkably well done. The ship is great and the island architecture and layout are superb! The atmosphere/ambiance is spot on and the music choices are perfect! I can't say enough good things about these aspects of the mission. And the gameplay was fun, but I thought it suffered from two things, lack of sufficient clues at times, and the forced ghosting in the first part. Also, I am not a fan of the texture/light effect used in the caves. It was unrealistic and very annoying. It's a cool effect, it just seemed to me that it was present in the mission only because it's a cool effect. But that's a minor thing. I also wish there had been more time for beta testing because there are several issues that need fixing (e.g. items that cannot be dropped or used once picked up, missing textures, etc.). I hope the author will fix those after the contest and release an updated version because this is too good a mission for it to be marred by such easily fixed things. So, a few flaws that kept it from being as good as I think it could be, but still an excellent mission.
* Great and surprising mission!
* I enjoyed the mission as frustrating as it was. It was really ambitious to the point maybe it would be better as a non contest mission and put a little more time into the game play verses some really fantastic and unique aspects of Dromed. Paratroopers I had to cheat to get to the switch. I also had to cheat to get to the top of the tower exit route. It was just too difficult even on easy.
* Very challenging mission, especially the second part. Atmosphere is even better than in the Sturmdrang Peak.
Cons:
- a little too big overall for a contest mission
- some bugs (when you reach the goblet, and the witch follows you)
- map is of no help
- lots of mazes (hard to navigate)
* The Curse of the Skull Goblet is a long mission occurring in a pirate ambience and divided in two parts. Some custom objects in the mission allow me to think I know who the creator is.
For the first 5 points: no problem at all : we are in a complete pirate atmosphere (in the 2nd part, but we still hear of them in the 1st one), we must take a goblet, it is linked to a skull, of course there are tons of bottles, and there is no spider. So good on that point.
Let's talk about the story now : it's excellent. Mixing Pirates and Pagans could have sounded odd, but it was original and the result is definitely good, because of their voices, their appearances, their story. And the transition from the 1st part to the 2nd one is very good. I recognize the style of the author in this mission for it remembers me another one presented in a previous contest, where it was also divided in two parts, with the same schema : 1st part, you must steal something and it should be simple ; 2nd part, all didn't happen as expected. And it still worked here, for I'm sure everyone was surprised to see the boat sinking, and above all that the mission doesn't end to show you a 2nd mission, but does continue! So the author must have used a lot of brushes and objects for this mission to be operational. Anyway, I really like the way the mission continues, from a dangerous island to a hidden Pagan sanctuary, with really creepy creatures during and after the main plot. Books were immersive, and it's always good to see new Hammerite tenets. I also enjoyed the sea atmosphere. I still think there are too few fan missions occurring around it.
Now for the visual atmosphere : I love it! Honestly, custom textures, custom objects, custom meshes, custom AIs, and even custom motions! The author has really put a lot of effort in this mission, until creating frightening creatures in it. I really like the originality of this mission. I generally don't like Pagan missions, and I won't say this mission is my favourite one (even from this author), but this mission showed me another way to encounter the Pagan universe, and the graphical work put into it forces me to congratulate the author for his efforts. Really, even the sounds and music are excellent, and even if you only take in account the boat part of the mission, it was well done, with beautiful effects with the candles, beautiful doors, a realistic architecture of a cargo, a map (yes, a map!) and so many things... Rare downside : I don't like the lamps in the ship... But for the rest, excellent!
So you understood it, I really loved this mission. It's well done, it was surely made with care and patience, the ambiance is good, there is originality, which is what I need the most when I play something. So again congratulations to the author, and I do hope this mission will be remembered as one of the best missions of the year!
Tannar on 30/4/2015 at 16:57
* Wow! Great mission, lots of places to go and things to check out, and at least some variety (between the party upstairs and the witch down below).
* I really enjoyed this mission! It was well done.
* A great, fun mission. Only criticism would be the square, grid-like city walls.
* Very enjoyable and interesting FM that kept me busy for a few hours.
* It was real fun to visit Ramirez' mansion for stealing his fire poker again)
* Great gameplay! Great textures! :-)
* On my first play through I could not finish but replayed and was successful. Great mission!!
* These restrictions were hard to apply because it was uneasy to try to do anything else than a second Assassin mission-like. I was although quite disappointed on the way the mission run. We are starting to a "simple job", to loot. It was good from the cell to the mansion scene but the next was pretty... clumsy to me... regardless the bugs, hard puzzle and the difficulty, we lost the Ramirez Theme to get a Thief Theme. The objectives are raining and it is really embarrassing because it floods the goal screen and prevent to see all objectives.. The poker, supposed to be the "Main"; goal, become finally a secondary item beaten by the valuable ring which monopolizes the plot. A witch could have been a good idea in another mission, but not in such mission. To me, her presence was too much and not really interesting in the circumstances of the mission. Then, I consider that words have been respected despite their short lifetime but the off-topic scenes have broken a bit the enjoyment and the mission itself. :/
* A Lucky Hand is a sympathetic mission, and I think the author is not that hard to guess, seeing at the style of the mission.
For the first 5 points: Ramiez is indeed here, no problem. There is a hand, for sure! And there are swordsmen, thieves to be accurate related to the main plot, while no ghost is here, good. Nevertheless, for me, the 5th point cannot be granted because of the poker: the fire poker might be the initial goal of the mission, its importance vanishes when the ring plot arrives. The ring becomes clearly the main plot, while the poker becomes a simple secondary task among many other in the mission. So this objective isn't achieved.
As for the general marking now: the mission is well done graphically, although I still dislike seeing modern toilets, bathrooms, objects etc. in Thief universe ; this is personal thinking though, but I don't like that style of designing, it kills the Thief atmosphere for me. Concerning the story, well, it was okay, but not impressive. It's always Ramirez who wants his debts paid, although the immiscion of the thieves' gang was original there. But nothing more. I'm sorry to be so harsh, but the story is a bit banal, and really helps to identify the author: you are in jail, you must find your equipment, and then go explore and steal important objects, until a wicked witch coming from nowhere attacks you. I'd like one day to be surprised by the author, to see something I couldn't have imagined from him, and then, my marking of his missions will surely be better. But here again, I have the feeling to play the exact same style of mission every time.
Finally, for the global feeling of the mission, I like the idea of stealing objects here and there, but the quests are really numerous but simple, so there's no real pleasure in searching. I was also puzzled with the fact to go here and there as the objectives popped up, and it was a bit annoying to have to move from a place to another far away often. Eventually, I deplore the amount of buggy behaviours of some AI, like the thief against the witch, the hammerites who look friendly and then beat you out of nowhere... Plus the strange things like the cutscene with Ramirez and Desmond, the thieves who are friendly while some aren't... Many things like that that leave a mixed impression over this mission. So this mission is cool, no problem with it, but it looks too upside down and trivial. More originality, and less objectives replaced by a better plot with a more Thief feeling will be granted better marks next times ;)
* I liked very much the scripted events. The only confusion was sometimes when thieves started robbing the bank, but it adds to the change of pace. Gameplay was fantastic, especially due to the clever use of space of the map. Not to mention the music-fantastic job by the author.
* This mission was a lot of fun. Very creative and some great areas to explore and quests to perform. I really liked the architecture of Ramirez' place. The gameplay was a lot of fun; I enjoyed figuring out how to deal with the witch and the thieves. There were one or two aspects of the story/characters that I would like to have seen done in more depth, but all in all a solid, enjoyable mission.
* The way this mission kept developing was well fashioned and greatly enjoyable!
- very big map, well prepared and nice to visit, many different AIs, complex objectives, interesting twists
- some elements lacked logical explanation (e.g. AIs behaviour sometimes... like guests on the party)
Thank you :)
* Really well done mission - bigger than I expected for the time to build. Nice gameplay
Tannar on 30/4/2015 at 17:03
* This was a good mission - it's just that the other two were so much more detailed. I liked the girl who you saved by having her follow you - I'm sick of the "rescue person x by dragging their unconscious body all over the mission"; mode that I've seen in many other missions - this is a refreshing alternative (and I didn't have any problems with it).
* This was a fun little romp, though short and simple, and with fairly primitive architecture. But a solid effort nonetheless.
* Very enjoyable FM, and great use of contest words - esp. "painting".
* Good idea for the girl to be able following Garrett
* This mission reminded me of the weird rooms and textures that were in Constantine's mansion. I enjoyed it!
* This mission is small, and have several bugs. But this contestant has perfectly respected the word restrictions, the theme was not an easy one and I can do nothing but recognize that the author have explored it wonderfully. The story is pretty strange but interesting and fit with the theme too! Summary, not perfect but the mission is cool and fun. The author may proceed on that way for the future missions! :)
* Old textures. A bit too ordinary.
* This was a little basic in design and there were some issues with scale, etc. It seemed to be the work of a beginner but the storyline was interesting and overall, it was a very good effort for a first mission.
* A fun romp that wasn't too hard to figure the directions to your goals. It could have had a little better graphics in places but it was worth the play. I enjoyed it.
* 30 very good minutes of gameplay and I even managed to miss 245 loot, so that is why I will replay it one day. What I liked especially was the ability to interact with person which then follows you. The pagan decorated worlds (after you enter the picture) were visually very good, although maybe they lacked a little bit of sound ambient. The end when you bring the daughter to the dead mother ghost is full of emotions, similar to the original Trail of blood.
* Saving Caroline is a little mission occurring for the major part in a Pagan forest.
For the 5 first points then, no problem at all : there is child painting everywhere, a child has to be saved, she is a Pagan apparently, I remember there are statues, and despite being in a Pagan universe, Lt. Mosley is absent. So perfect on that point.
For the rest, well, I'm forced to say the mission, not only is too short, but is also still in a beginner style. There are no custom objects (at least, I don't remember it), for the textures, there are only child paintings, which on a hand gives the good feeling that they were made by the imprisoned child, on the other hand don't look beautiful and are too much present. For the environment, it's rather good, the maze gave me the impression to be in a forest, and I think there aren't so many Pagan missions unlike the Hammerite/Mechanist/Thieves missions. After though, there aren't many AIs, the places are rather simple, apart from the museum, I don't really find the areas in the mission beautiful, but at least, we have the feeling to be in the nature.
The story now. Well, it's way too simplistic. A child kidnapping isn't that common in a Thief mission, but it's not that original in my opinion. I would have liked a more complex story, with unexpected things, more voice acting, more places to explore. It appears the author is still in an improving phase of 'Dromedization', and I encourage her/his efforts. But still, this mission needs more to be really enjoyable (although it is not boring either). I must also say the secret entrance was hard to find and the secret tunnel too dark...
So to conclude, a simple mission but not bad. It just needs to be improved and to be more complex, for I cannot grant a big mark until there is more to do in this mission. Still, I respect the fact that the author has respected all the limitations of the contest. So my marking isn't to take as a punishment, but as an encouragement. :)
* This mission was a bit too short, if I'm to be honest. But what is here is a lot of fun and I love the imagination that went into it. The textures and story were just fun and fresh and I really enjoyed it. I don't know if this is a first mission for this author or not, but if it is, I'm happy to see we have a promising new author among us. Either way, I hope to see more of this kind of thing (or new ideas) from this author.
* While this mission was fairly simple, the idea of the 'painted world' was a very good one, and appropriately designed for a child's creation.
* +1 point for submitting in time :)
- great museum part! you should create a classic museum mission, I'm sure it'll be fantastic!
- some minor bugs, but playable
- too much Emilie Victor for me, but in general the story was OK
Thank you :)
* Probably kept to the criteria best. Good solid contest entry - loved the psychedelic anti-gravity waterfall area.
downwinder on 30/4/2015 at 17:31
congrats to all,and the results are 100% as i figured :)
FireMage on 30/4/2015 at 17:58
Wow... ^^ I didn't except from such result!
There are many interesting things in the comments for my mission, and I will, with pleasure, keep some tips in mind. ;)
Many thanks to Al_B, Tannar and perhaps the other staff members who helped me to manage this contest!
Thanks to all contestants even those who, alas, have not been able to submitt their mission that I hope to see someday their mission post-contest! :thumb:
A special one to Caradavin for her mission submitted at the first deadline! :thumb:
Thanks to all members for your rating!
I'm pretty sorry to lost my words... I'm not a good man for the speeches ^^'
Soooo... Now let's talk about business...
I said, I choose the words according to some word numbers and some mysterious list right?
Soooo... The question would be: What were the other objects?
The answer right below:
FireMage on 30/4/2015 at 17:58
0: Dewdrop/teddy bear
1: Apple/Fruit
2: Bottle
3: Crate
4: Barrel
5: Chair
6: Candle
7: Swordsman
8: Torc
9: Tiara/Crown
10: Purse
11: Gobelet
12: Archer
13: Gems
14: Haunt/Skeleton
15: Vase
16: Sword
17: Servant
18: Noble
19: Skull/Head
20: Ape
21: Apparition/Phantom
22: Zombie
23: Horn
24: Harp
25: Carpet
26: Eye(Stone or Flesh or EyePlant or Mechanical Eye)
27: Burrick
28: Mask
29: Spider
30: Chest
31: Shovel
32: Pick
33: Gear
34: Treebeast
35: Crayman
36: Scepter
37: Poker
38: Card Deck
39: Glass
40: Plant/Grass/Tree/Bush
41: Mage
42: Potion
43: Coins
44: Rogue
45: Hand
46: Webster
47: Cavador
48: Bafford
49: Keeper
50: Pirate
FireMage on 30/4/2015 at 17:59
0: Bag
1: Statue
2: Painting
3: Skull/head
4: Crate
5: Frog
6: Powderkeg
7: Swordsman
8: Hammerite/Mechanist
9: Daguer
10: Coin
11: Arrow
12: Apparition/Phantom
13: Bucket
14: Ice/Snow
15: Shovel
16: Blackjack
17: Skillet
18: Chest
19: Ape
20: Spider
21: Haunt/Skeleton
22: Carpet
23: Horn
24: Tiara/Crown
25: Torc
26: Gems
27: Mask
28: Hand
29: Zombie
30: Gear
31: Harp
32: Treebeast
33: Lantern
34: BugBeast
35: Burrick
36: Card Deck
37: Poker
38: Glass
39: Bottle
40: Scepter
41: Book/Parchment/Scroll
42: Woodplank
43: Water/WaterArrow
44: Plant/Grass/Tree/Bush
45: Crayman
46: Ramirez
47: Raputo
48: Raoul
49: Keeper
50: Davidson
FireMage on 30/4/2015 at 18:00
0: Rubble/Rock
1: Eye(Stone or Flesh or EyePlant or Mechanical Eye)
2: Swordsman
3: Skull/head
4: Book/Parchment/Scroll
5: Servant
6: Moss/MossArrow/Earth
7: Painting
8: Apparition/Phantom
9: Daguer
10: Coin
11: Arrow
12: Crayman
13: Hammer
14: Dewdrop/Teddy bear
15: Pick
16: Potion
17: Pagan
18: Robot
19: Plate
20: Mage
21: Archer
22: Constantine
23: Sword
24: Vase
25: Torc
26: Gems
27: Child
28: Hand
29: Frog
30: Mine
31: Barrel
32: Fire/FireArrow
33: Lantern
34: BugBeast
35: Apple/Frut
36: Book/Parchment
37: Statue
38: Purse
39: Skillet
40: Ring
41: Boat
42: Cop
43: Blackjack
44: Hammerite/Mechanist
45: Coil
46: Truart
47: Lt.Mosley
48: FireShadow
49: Benny
50: Fence
FireMage on 30/4/2015 at 18:01
0: Golden/Silver nugget
1: Lift
2: Archer
3: Treebeast
4: Barrel
5: Chest
6: Gobelet
7: Karras
8: Blackjack
9: Arrow
10: Burrick
11: Boat
12: Hammerite/Mechanist
13: Robot
14: Apple/Frut
15: Pagan
16: Ape
17: Spider
18: Rogue
19: Tiara/Crown
20: Swordsman
21: Cop
22: Mage
23: Scepter
24: Coins
25: Crate
26: Shovel
27: Lantern
28: Book/Parchment/Scroll
29: Eye(Flesh, Stone, or Eyeball or Mechanical)
30: Daguer
31: Torc
32: Skull/Head
33: Coil
34: Key
35: Horn
36: Potion
37: Bag
38: Noble
39: Poker
40: Card Deck
41: Purse
42: Bucket
43: Gems
44: Mushroom
45: Hammer
46: Talisman
47: Lt.Hagen
48: Viktoria
49: Murus
50: Warden
