Room of the Week 2014 - Archives

[begrimed]

Crateria week again, is it?

[spoiler][/spoiler]

[FullOfFail]

Damn! I have a room that would fit in great this week, but I made it for the mini-contest. It's really similar to Vismunds. Hmm.

[Digital_Mantra]

I too can play the Crateria game.
[spoiler=Mst is jealous because he'll never be as good as me][/spoiler]

That sky and mountain palette is amazing. It's perfect. Those mountains are simply lush.
Err.. nice room too.

[Quietus]

Vismund for me.  That lush green is lush.  Grime was a close second.  His room lost a few points due to its length lending itself to repetition, even though the tiling itself is random.

[Vismund Cygnus]

Holy cow! Enough entries to do this!
[spoiler=Mst]I've never really been a fan of this red CRE stuff that you do. The background is also quite repetitive. Not bad, but nothing special either.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=RetroKnuckles]This rooms could really be something special if the layering were a bit better, and if the background weren't simply the same block repeated over and over again. As it stands, it looks like a good start. A skeleton of a room almost. It's just missing those final touches that can really make a room stand out.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Grime]Rounding off the theme of background repetition, your room would get away with it in game because it's broken up well. As always your level design is great. The filler variation makes the room less repetitive, and the same goes for the terrain itself. Overall pretty solid but it lacks the punch your stuff usually delivers.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Me]I think this palette is perfect now. I think that in general Super Metroid is a bit too dark, so I wanted to make something bright and sunny, while still being hopefully aesthetically pleasing. The darker foreground clashes a little with the bright sky but it looks much better than attempting to lighten the foreground. Overall I'm happy with this.[/spoiler]

[Quietus]

I forgot to mention, Vismund.  My only bug with your room was the cutting off of the grass under the door. :^_^:

[Vismund Cygnus]

I forgot to mention, Vismund.  My only bug with your room was the cutting off of the grass under the door. :^_^:

yeah, that is a bit of an issue, unfortunately in game with the grass over the top, it stuffs the door up a bit, or else it just doesn't appear. I wanted the missile door in there though. I could always just exchange that for mossy stuffs, or alternatively leave it clear. Either one would probably work.

[Retroo]

i have vote for you vismund i really like the sunny of that room! =)

[craighypheno]

Vismund for me. Looks great! Grime a close second.

[Silver Skree]

Vismund's room is definitely more pleasing to look at a screenshot of, but I'm actually gonna vote for Grime.

First of all (this isn't really a pro for the room, just a non-con), it's undoubtedly an underwater room and we're not seeing it with its FX1. Vismund's room doesn't seem like it would have any FX1 that would mess with the palette, especially considering that he has expressed pleasure in finally nailing the palette and probably wants to show it off (which I sure don't blame him for. Mmm). Basically, I'm saying that I'm giving Grime's room the benefit of the doubt in terms of color appeal, which is what also makes Vismund's room so strong.

Another thing I'd like to point out is that while the tiling in the four screens of Vismund's room is certainly nice, it's four screens' worth of tiling with moderately high detail, whereas Grime's room roughly matches the attention to detail and is also much larger, which gives it a leg up regarding the amount of creative effort required to make each room. Vismund's palette sort of balances out the effort department, so it's a really hard choice.

However, this is room of the week, and not palette of the week. Palettes impact rooms in a big way, but they shouldn't be the deciding factor in which one is worthy of more praise. After taking some time to get over the wow of Vismund's palette and looking closely at both rooms, I'm gonna go for Grime this time.

Good show, folks.

EDIT: Also, in regards to background repetition... Grime may have used a repeated pattern, but Vismund didn't do a whole lot better with his stock scrolling sky background. Just sayin'. I also don't entirely agree with Quietus; if you're skimming over the room at mouse-dragging speed, it's easy to perceive as repetitive, but for one thing, the room is symmetrical with three pillars partitioning the hallway in the center and a long open section on either side; I wouldn't call that repetition. Another thing to consider is the speed at which you'd be moving through the room in-game. It's underwater, and assuming that the player doesn't have Gravity, all the little details in the terrain are gonna be on-screen for a while. The player will really get a chance to soak up the detail (since they also have to navigate it with cumbersome physics), which is easy to forget when you're just looking at a screenshot and it all looks vaguely the same.

It's also fun to look at those pillars and imagine all the ways you could carve through them. On one or two it's obvious to a savvy player where to break them, but look at that middle one. There's no single obvious, slopeless spot. Those passages don't give themselves away, but they're not hard to perceive.


TL;DR: Don't let a big room trick you into overlooking all its small things.

[Quietus]

I get what you're saying about FX1 and stuff, but I tend to ignore it, primarily since it's RotW, and its criteria state a room from SMILE.  I guess most hackers are aware that the FX1 isn't going to show, just like enemies and PLMs, which could also improve a room.  In short, I can only vote on what I can see, not what I can't. :heheh:

As for repetition, I wasn't grumbling so much that it was repetitious, only that that type of room tends to feel that way when traversing it, even when it's done as well as in Grime's room.  I'd liken it to travelling from the top to the bottom of Red Brinstar in vanilla.  It's different all the way down, but it still feels like it starts to go on and on and on when you're actually doing it. :^_^:

[personitis]

I remember the time I use to actually write out my thoughts on each room instead of just voting and not saying a thing. That said, I've voted for Vismund this week.

Vismund: The foreground palette here I feel is pretty standard as grey is fitting for the rocky section while the green suits the mossy/algae tiles. What really gives points to the room is the mountains and sky blue palette which just makes the whole room "pop." Surprisingly natural looking, both in formation and coloring as well. Minus points for cutting off grass with the door. :heheh:

MetroidMst: Though I know where this room's origins are, you aren't getting bonus points for it. Standard Crateria with a changed palette and lots of CRE usage. I really don't have much else to say except that the green background color doesn't work as well as I think it could or that there could be another color in its place, but whatever. Lots of wasted space in between the two rooms also. Crateria/Crateria.

Grime: I almost want to say standard Crateria, but that's only because of the palette. The randomized formation of the room is well done and the background tiles, from what I've seen, are tiles that don't get used enough or to their fullest potential. In this case, I'd say those tiles were very well used. I would still love to see some/one of those Grime-y palettes on this room however.

RetroKnuckles: A really shiny grey for the rocks makes me think that whatever planet this room is on is primarily made out of silver or a similar metal. The rock formations on the right side of the room look unnatural and weird at the same time which is... strange. Nothing special at all with the background as well; there's no variation and could definitely benefit from using what is used in the vanilla to break how plain it is. The room is also very monotone and could be fixed by throwing in some grass or anything else with color. I also think that those pipes are better looking when they aren't used so far out of the wall or when they travel long distances.

[Zephoras]

vis

[Quietus]

* Quietus hands Zephoras the Succinct medal.

:heheh:

[Alisa Orlova]

All works are quite nice, don't worry about outcome of the vote. Keep it up guys!  :heheh:

[Zephoras]

yay my first award ;)

[squishy_ichigo]

[spoiler=????]Ok, this room was done hastily just as a spur of the moment idea that came into my head because of some offhand comment skree said, enjoy.

Vanilla everything.



[/spoiler]

[Vismund Cygnus]

I'll fight you.
[spoiler=3:30am Blues][/spoiler]

[DSO]

DEEP SPACE OBSERVER wants to fight!

Go, AngryFireChozozard!

[spoiler][/spoiler]

[Quietus]

The only suggestion I have for your room, DSO, is dealing with the black outline on the tiles.  It doesn't seem so obvious on the red versions, but on the white it seems to make the tiles clash more with their surroundings.  Possibly made more difficult by the tiles being so light in colour, so you risk losing the edge of the tiles if they're not oulined..? :O_o:

[Quote58]

Rotw was updated a day early by someone who is not me?? Heracy!! Seriously though good to see a room from you again squish, been too long.
[Spoiler=and a quote too? What fresh hell is this????][/spoiler]

[personitis]

* person701 goes click crazy on Quote's spoiler

I SEE NO IMAGE!!!!

[Vismund Cygnus]

I believe Quote meant to post this:
[spoiler=Quotation][/spoiler]

[Hawntah]

[spoiler=My long shaft][/spoiler]
Ugh, this tileset is a pain to work with. Also, the background repeats in game, but DH's screenshit feature is somewhat lacking.

[craighypheno]

[spoiler=My long shaft][/spoiler]
Ugh, this tileset is a pain to work with. Also, the background repeats in game, but DH's screenshit feature is somewhat lacking.

Who doesn't love a good screenshit?