Atmosphere Judgeing Discussion

judgeing now commences. ive sent PM's to DaUn1T and DungeonM, and ill talk to [Death] as soon as hes on msn.

this thread is for any discussion of the judgeing, every decision will be public, so no results can be disputed.

Judging Criteria: (the judges will be marking all of these areas out of 10, then an average will be taken of all the judges rateings)

10 points are availble for overall effect of the terrain (the quality of the final atmosphere)

10 points are available origonality. this means simpley createing a normal forest with a typical blizz atmosphere will loose you points. while createing an atmosphere as yet seen in terrain will get you more points. you will also loose points in this section, for something that is a typical blizz terrain. meaning something like a NE vilage. i strongly suggest that if you make a village or town of any kind, not to make it useing the standard doodads that blizz made to be used togeather, for example; haveing an NE village where all the buildings are the the NE buildings)

10 ponts will be awarded for couler ballence. this means how well the terrain tiles and the doodads you use either blend togeather well, or contrast for an interesting effect. this is to encourage everyone to tint their doodads to fit the terrain

5 bonus points are available for an epic terrain. with only 200 doodads, it will be a challenge to create an epicly sized terrain. but doing so will earn you more points

5 bonus points will be available for a compleatly new terraining style. this will only be awarded to one person (possably more, possably none) who come up with as compleatly original style that is noticable differant from the style WE was designed to create. for example, PheoVII's "red dawn" terrain that used exponential fog to create a siluet terrain. obviousely this wont count as it is now unorigonal, but anyhting that is compleatly new like that terrain
(unlike the other graded areas, this will be awarded as a standard 5 points. no more, no less. and will be decided by a majoraty vote by the judges)

5 bonus points will be awarded by the judges for inovative and atmosphereic use of buff and ability models

1 point is available to every 10 doodads below 200 you use

up to 5 bonus points are avalable for atmospheric inovation. this dose not mean that points are available for createion of structures (be they artificial or natural). but that extra points will be available for interesting combinations of doodads and tiles that are not typicaly used togeather, but blend well for a good atmospheric effect

The Entires:

Krazac - 100


Mouse.Pad - 14


Diabolo - 99


Anub'arak - 200


PlasticAngel - 94


Metal Sonic64 - 117

Map Attached

Divine Peon - 9


ForgottenLight - 19


Murcielago) - 14


DarKSonG - unknown

Map Attached

the last 2 will be judged, but untill i find out the doodad count, their score wont be compleate

although they cannot win, here are the judges entires

[Death] - 8


DungeonM - 15


Gitlich - 165 (although, that is an entire map, not just the one shot)

So, i guess comments on the rules\pictures are not allowed until you decide who is the winner?

on the contrary, comments are more than welcome. although the judges will have the final word on the results, extra opinions will help us come to a more reasoned result.

also, challengeing of the rules and judgeing criteria is definately encouraged, as with all rules, these are susceptable to change, so if someone thinks the rules could do with a change, id definatly review the criteria

Well, for the entries, i prefer to wait until the winner will be selected. For the rules, it's just that i'm not very fond of the "points" system. The goal of this challenge is the atmosphere, the feeling that a scene give, it would be difficult to conciliar the tecnical evaluation with the overall taste. I mean, the bonus point you gain for having used only two doodads could erase the score difference with a picture with a greater feeling, but more doodads (though with the current entries, this will probably not happen. I'm speaking in general, in case there will be another similar competition)
Another thing, is that using units would have been either allowed or completely banned. Some people focused on the pure terrain, while others put most of the attention on the characters, and in this case this shouldn't be considered terrain, since the subject isn't anymore the whole scene, but only a little detail of it.

in retrospect, i could have named the challenge better. its not all about atmosphere, as im intreauged to see what people can do with under 200 hundred doodads, and for those who can achive a good effect with very few doodads. this was a bit of an experiment in a lot of areas. i was partialy intended to get more terrainers to work with a doodad limit, so playable maps could be made with a great atmpshere (also, it has been a worthwhile learning experiance for me, in terms of seeing what i can do without cluttering the screen with doodads)

Another thing, is that using units would have been either allowed or completely banned. Some people focused on the pure terrain, while others put most of the attention on the characters, and in this case this shouldn't be considered terrain, since the subject isn't anymore the whole scene, but only a little detail of it.[/quote]

a good point. however, i prefer to think of units as focal points, just as any models (be it a tree, building or anything else) can be. i also find they tend to add life to a picture, and make it less sterile looking

Question of tastes ^^ Yep, in theory they are a subject of the scene like anything else, and yes, they bring action to the scene. Maybe too much. In my opinion, it's the easiest way to get the interest of the spectator. With the right camera angle and fog, only a huge dragon preparing to attack an harmless child could be a really intresting scene. But that would be too easy if you know what i mean. In the entries i have noticed two beautiful and simple pictures without any trace of life but with a great atmosphere, and two in wich the units distract the eye from what could be a good terrain; you may argue that either choosing between "units" or "no units" would harm the freedom of the contest, but i think that could've also lead the terrainers to search more creative ways to use what they have.

true, units are probably the least subtle way of guiding someones eye round a pic. however, i trust that the other judges will be able to see when a unit is placed for a quick and easy effect, and comment on the scean and the atmpshere seperately. i did consider not alowing units in this competition, however, there have been some terrains ive seen where units have been used subtlety, and i woudlnt wish to restrict anyone from attempting that (just for an excample, a bear half visable through some bushes, and just behind a tree in a forest can add to the atmosphere without being a cheap attempt at distracting the viwer from the rest of the terrain)

im acctualy supprised that more people didnt use units in their entrys

that would be because units just "stand"in WE so it would be hard to make em look natural.....and wtf? i thought i told u i had only 20 doodads? whats up with my entry??? :o o_O

EDIT: i counted the doodads visible, and i came up with 14, (probably it was 20 tho)

1× Sky doodad
3× Volcano doddads
2× Dragons
2× Demon storm doodads(which as far as i know, im the first to use em)
6× Spire doodads
-----------------------
14 Total doodads

also how is 200 points possible?

-Murcielago)

1 point for every 10 doodads below 200, so thats only a 20 maximum. now that i think about it, that is a little high. 1 point for every 20 doodads below 200 (so up to 10 points)

time to get the ball rolling then.



overall atmospheric effect: 7

the tiles seem a little too bland. haveing more smaller patches of differant tiles would give a more complex and natural feel. the sky really dosnt fit the fog at all. the rain looks good. and there is a wide enough variaty of plant life, although, too many mushrooms for my likeing

Origonality: 3

the use of sunken ruins rocks, with those trees and that fog isnt too origonal. looking at the finer detail, such as the grass tufts and mushroom, there is a little more origonality in the choise of doodads. however, the overall effect of the terrain is somewthing thats been seen many times before

Colour Ballence: 8

the couler ballence in this pic is all good, expect for that sky. its just too much of an eyesore. not useing the fogged or generic sky has lost you 2 points for this pic

Epic Terrain: 2

it is big compared to some pic, but still nothing larger than average

New style: N/A

Buffs and Abilities: 1

one point for the buff around the obilisc, but other than that, nothing that i can see


atmospheric inovation: 1

one point for the use of the grass tuft model, but appart from that, nothing new. and just the standard ashenvale tileset

5 extra points awarded for the 100 doodads below 200 used

total: 27

Fine, fine, fine, I'm judging now. (psst, you happy, Murcielago)?)

Overall Atmospheric Effect: 6

It would've been nice to see more tile variation, since the middle feels empty. Agreed that the fog doesn't fit the sky... The fog could've been a darker color, and the sky a bluer color. It seems like it's supposed to be midnight, but doesn't look it.


Originality: 3

That kind of forest has been done before. I haven't seen the obelisk models nor grass tufts much, so that gives you a little extra.


Color Balance: 7

If I put my hand in front of the Felwood Sky, the screenshot gets better. If only you had chosen a different sky.


Epic Terrain: 2

Er, whatever, Gitlich has the map, not me.


New style: N/A

No new style. Forests have been done.


Buffs and Abilities: 1

I can only see two or three apparent Buff and Ability models, one of which seems to be the firefly model.


Atmospheric Innovation: 1



Total - 25. Maybe you should spend some time cycling through the fog before posting an entry? Just friendly advice, which nobody has to take.

Sorry for posting but is it a tad too late to change my entry? The other one, is well, retarded.
Angel

as judgeing hasnt started on your entry yet, then you can change your entry if you wish. although i quite liked your current one. simplistic, yet epic

I like this one better. Doodads 94
Angel

uhh, can i suggest making the judging 1 pic per day.. coz i find it to be very long. thanks.