Quality Not Quantity – An Oswald Rant
02.10.99 – Agree? Disagree? Let Oswald know
After reviewing Action maps for the past 6 months, I have begun to draw some conclusions on maps in general. First, there are far too many mediocre and down right bad maps available for Action Quake2. Secondly, I realize scoring for The [old] 6th Floor was far too lenient and my reviews only adequate. Finally, in an attempt to get quality maps exposure, The [new] 6th Floor will concentrate on that small percentage of maps which exceed in the standards we have set forth and we will not hesitate to exploit maps which are far less inadequate.
Currently AQMD has released 135 “official” maps to the Action Community. This number will only continue to rise. After experiencing and reviewing these maps, there are 25-30, approximately 25% of the maps which we consider worthy enough to be reviews. How did we come about this? It’s our site we can do whatever the hell we want, that’s how. Actually, this is based on our review criteria and an overall agreement on those maps.
There are just too many bad maps being played on a majority of servers. You have seen those map rotations, which have urban as every other map. Who is to fault? The mappers? Players? Server Ops? Consider this, authors submit their maps, they sit for a week or so at AQMD’s Test Matrix. The author gets his clan buddies to give his map high marks, then begins complaining because it has not been released. Maps which are submitted for official release, go through some basic standards: zip structure, r_speeds, lower case file name (for Linux users) and a read me text. Nowhere does it say maps have to have an ingenious layout, unique texturing and a good, strong game flow.
Mappers usually put their blood, sweat and tears into a map, in hopes of getting it released. But when they submit crap and it is released, they think they have done no wrong. When in reality, the map is lacking from the beginning and the author goes on to create another map, with no improvements. Good maps are getting lost in the shuffle of all the horrid maps floating out there. Mappers expect their maps to get some attention and exposure on servers, most don’t.
Now, I can see you sitting there, reading this saying, “Okay, so what the *uck are you thinking? What maps do you think are good?” here is a sampling of maps which are unique and considered to be better then the norm: urban2 by Gerbil!, actcity2 by CryptR, kumanru by Shmitz and city by Ruskprick, just to name a few. Disagree if you must, but this is my rant and our site. Create your own if you don’t like what we say.
What is the solution to getting better quality maps? If I knew this, I would not be ranting. One possible solution is map stanards. These standards could be used as a guideline a map must be created by is a possibility, but not so stringent that it is impossible to get a map released. These standards should be used as a guideline for mappers to follow. Some of you actually have a clue and know how to create excellent maps. So for you, continue submitting your work. But for those of you who can “talk the talk”, but not “walk the walk,” examine our reviews of maps, ask questions and either create a great map or don’t bother submitting it.
Donde Quake 2? 