SURVIVAL GAMES Shady Hollow

[SuperxAndrew]

I like it. great job! :]

OMG I fan! lol Thanks bro.

 

[Joel/MadDawg]

Joel's Map Review
I'd just like to say congrats to Cad and Andrew for completing this map. This map is of particular interest to me because I did a review of Andrew's last map and looked extensively at Cad's last one (even though I didn't have time to do a review of it). Both of your previous maps are still two of the better maps on the forums, so I had high hopes about this map. With great interest I downloaded and looked at it, and here are my thoughts about what I saw.

Builds
This map I am pleased to say has the most detailed small city buildings I have ever seen in an sg map. Every single building is unique, and no pattern is repeated much. Thankfully, the interiors of these buildings don't disappoint either. They are all unique and detailed to an impressive extent. At the center of the city is the corn, which is also built well and fits in nicely with the surrounding city. Plus, there are tons of awesome cars around the city. Overall, the main city is built very well.

As you approach the border, the builds get a little more inconsistent. While the best build on the map is outside the city (this might be my favorite minecraft bridge ever), so is the worst build on the map - the construction site. It seems like every map made nowadays has a big construction site, and the construction site in this map in not one of the best out there. It has practically no detail and ugly random walls of brick. Also, the block scheme gets inconsistent as you move away from the city (three block schemes in one screenshot?!). The majority of the builds on this map are well done, but a few inconsistencies keep it from being as good as it could be.

Terraforming
The terraforming on this map has its moments, but also has some glaring miscues. One thing that I do love is the use of sandstone instead of sand for the beaches - it gives minecraft beaches a nice change of pace. And for the most part, the hills surrounding the city are terraformed well and look very nice (there's even an arch). Unfortunately, there are large spots in a few places where large stone walls are revealed. I must admit this is a little disappointing, because without these spots this map would be almost flawless in its terraforming.

Tiering and Chest Placement
After flying around the map for an hour I am impressed by the chest placement. The chests are well spread out and it appears that thought was given into were they would be placed. The tiering, while doing a decent job of spreading tier twos throughout the map, I personally found to be too generous. There is literally at least one tier 2 in all but one city building - at least two or three in some of the larger buildings. While I'm sure that not many people will complain about this, I personally feel that you should have to earn your tier twos and not just find them out in the open. This problem doesn't get helped either by the abnormally large ten corn chests (all tier twos). In total, I'd estimate this map has close to 45 tier twos, which I find crazy for a map of its size. I do realize this is not a huge problem to most of the mcsg community, but I personally find tiering like this bad.

Other Thoughts
One cool thing about this map is that it has lots of mini parkour jumps/courses. I personally find small jump courses like that to add a layer of depth to a map. I also found some secrets around the map which I were impressed by. I also loved small touches like these security cameras in the bank.

Final Score
8.5/10
This map is very solid as a whole. Other than a few bad terraforming spots and some weird build situations, there's not that much to complain about. Even though I didn't like the tiering, I'm not holding that against you because I do realize that it is just my personal preference that makes me not like your tiering. This is a very nice map overall, and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets accepted ​

 

[SuperxAndrew]

Joel's Map Review
I'd just like to say congrats to Cad and Andrew for completing this map. This map is of particular interest to me because I did a review of Andrew's last map and looked extensively at Cad's last one (even though I didn't have time to do a review of it). Both of your previous maps are still two of the better maps on the forums, so I had high hopes about this map. With great interest I downloaded and looked at it, and here are my thoughts about what I saw.

Builds
This map I am pleased to say has the most detailed small city buildings I have ever seen in an sg map. Every single building is unique, and no pattern is repeated much. Thankfully, the interiors of these buildings don't disappoint either. They are all unique and detailed to an impressive extent. At the center of the city is the corn, which is also built well and fits in nicely with the surrounding city. Plus, there are tons of awesome cars around the city. Overall, the main city is built very well.

As you approach the border, the builds get a little more inconsistent. While the best build on the map is outside the city (this might be my favorite minecraft bridge ever), so is the worst build on the map - the construction site. It seems like every map made nowadays has a big construction site, and the construction site in this map in not one of the best out there. It has practically no detail and ugly random walls of brick. Also, the block scheme gets inconsistent as you move away from the city (three block schemes in one screenshot?!). The majority of the builds on this map are well done, but a few inconsistencies keep it from being as good as it could be.

Terraforming
The terraforming on this map has its moments, but also has some glaring miscues. One thing that I do love is the use of sandstone instead of sand for the beaches - it gives minecraft beaches a nice change of pace. And for the most part, the hills surrounding the city are terraformed well and look very nice (there's even an arch). Unfortunately, there are large spots in a few places where large stone walls are revealed. I must admit this is a little disappointing, because without these spots this map would be almost flawless in its terraforming.

Tiering and Chest Placement
After flying around the map for an hour I am impressed by the chest placement. The chests are well spread out and it appears that thought was given into were they would be placed. The tiering, while doing a decent job of spreading tier twos throughout the map, I personally found to be too generous. There is literally at least one tier 2 in all but one city building - at least two or three in some of the larger buildings. While I'm sure that not many people will complain about this, I personally feel that you should have to earn your tier twos and not just find them out in the open. This problem doesn't get helped either by the abnormally large ten corn chests (all tier twos). In total, I'd estimate this map has close to 45 tier twos, which I find crazy for a map of its size. I do realize this is not a huge problem to most of the mcsg community, but I personally find tiering like this bad.

Other Thoughts
One cool thing about this map is that it has lots of mini parkour jumps/courses. I personally find small jump courses like that to add a layer of depth to a map. I also found some secrets around the map which I were impressed by. I also loved small touches like these security cameras in the bank.

Final Score
8.5/10
This map is very solid as a whole. Other than a few bad terraforming spots and some weird build situations, there's not that much to complain about. Even though I didn't like the tiering, I'm not holding that against you because I do realize that it is just my personal preference that makes me not like your tiering. This is a very nice map overall, and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets accepted ​

Thanks for the review. I appreciate you taking time out of your day to do this!

EDIT: The only things I have to disagree with you about are the walls of stone in the terraforming and the contruction site.

Walls of Stone: Terraforming isn't meant to be completely smoothed out. If it is, then it looks weird. Plus those specific areas are close to large slopes: as a mountain goes up there are steeper walls, thus resulting in more stone showing in terraforming.

Construction Site: While I understand all of your arguments about this (block variation, unoriginal, etc.) I don't think you are giving us enough credit for it. It is not a terrible build. Just wanted to clarify this, but I do understand your opinions.

Once again thanks so much for posting the review. It is very helpful and we are both thankful for it. I just thought I'd counter-argue a bit. xD

 

[iBearHD]

OMg, I love this map. Hope its get added.

 

[SuperxAndrew]

OMg, I love this map. Hope its get added.

Thanks m8.

 

[cadbane4321]

Joel's Map Review
I'd just like to say congrats to Cad and Andrew for completing this map. This map is of particular interest to me because I did a review of Andrew's last map and looked extensively at Cad's last one (even though I didn't have time to do a review of it). Both of your previous maps are still two of the better maps on the forums, so I had high hopes about this map. With great interest I downloaded and looked at it, and here are my thoughts about what I saw.

Builds
This map I am pleased to say has the most detailed small city buildings I have ever seen in an sg map. Every single building is unique, and no pattern is repeated much. Thankfully, the interiors of these buildings don't disappoint either. They are all unique and detailed to an impressive extent. At the center of the city is the corn, which is also built well and fits in nicely with the surrounding city. Plus, there are tons of awesome cars around the city. Overall, the main city is built very well.

As you approach the border, the builds get a little more inconsistent. While the best build on the map is outside the city (this might be my favorite minecraft bridge ever), so is the worst build on the map - the construction site. It seems like every map made nowadays has a big construction site, and the construction site in this map in not one of the best out there. It has practically no detail and ugly random walls of brick. Also, the block scheme gets inconsistent as you move away from the city (three block schemes in one screenshot?!). The majority of the builds on this map are well done, but a few inconsistencies keep it from being as good as it could be.

Terraforming
The terraforming on this map has its moments, but also has some glaring miscues. One thing that I do love is the use of sandstone instead of sand for the beaches - it gives minecraft beaches a nice change of pace. And for the most part, the hills surrounding the city are terraformed well and look very nice (there's even an arch). Unfortunately, there are large spots in a few places where large stone walls are revealed. I must admit this is a little disappointing, because without these spots this map would be almost flawless in its terraforming.

Tiering and Chest Placement
After flying around the map for an hour I am impressed by the chest placement. The chests are well spread out and it appears that thought was given into were they would be placed. The tiering, while doing a decent job of spreading tier twos throughout the map, I personally found to be too generous. There is literally at least one tier 2 in all but one city building - at least two or three in some of the larger buildings. While I'm sure that not many people will complain about this, I personally feel that you should have to earn your tier twos and not just find them out in the open. This problem doesn't get helped either by the abnormally large ten corn chests (all tier twos). In total, I'd estimate this map has close to 45 tier twos, which I find crazy for a map of its size. I do realize this is not a huge problem to most of the mcsg community, but I personally find tiering like this bad.

Other Thoughts
One cool thing about this map is that it has lots of mini parkour jumps/courses. I personally find small jump courses like that to add a layer of depth to a map. I also found some secrets around the map which I were impressed by. I also loved small touches like these security cameras in the bank.

Final Score
8.5/10
This map is very solid as a whole. Other than a few bad terraforming spots and some weird build situations, there's not that much to complain about. Even though I didn't like the tiering, I'm not holding that against you because I do realize that it is just my personal preference that makes me not like your tiering. This is a very nice map overall, and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets accepted ​

Thank you so much for taking your time to write this review

I would have to agree with the tier 2's. We went a little bit crazy with them
However, we thought it would be better to have more tier 2s because to be honest, people like maps with a lot of tier 2s.

 

[Joel/MadDawg]

Walls of Stone: Terraforming isn't meant to be completely smoothed out. If it is, then it looks weird. Plus those specific areas are close to large slopes: as a mountain goes up there are steeper walls, thus resulting in more stone showing in terraforming.

I remember we had this exact same argument about the terraforming on Zone 85 . I understand the effect you're going for and can see why you terraformed it like that, and I guess it just comes down to personal preference if you like it or not.

Construction Site: While I understand all of your arguments about this (block variation, unoriginal, etc.) I don't think you are giving us enough credit for it. It is not a terrible build. Just wanted to clarify this, but I do understand your opinions.

It's not a terrible build, it's just not the most original/pretty build on the map. I only call it the worst build on the map because all the other builds are so good

Thank you so much for taking your time to write this review

I would have to agree with the tier 2's. We went a little bit crazy with them
However, we thought it would be better to have more tier 2s because to be honest, people like maps with a lot of tier 2s.

I call it the Valleyside effect; make a map with over 30 tier twos and people will automatically like it

 

[SuperxAndrew]

I remember we had this exact same argument about the terraforming on Zone 85 . I understand the effect you're going for and can see why you terraformed it like that, and I guess it just comes down to personal preference if you like it or not.

It's not a terrible build, it's just not the most original/pretty build on the map. I only call it the worst build on the map because all the other builds are so good

I call it the Valleyside effect; make a map with over 30 tier twos and people will automatically like it

Thanks for the help with reviews and discussion with all my maps. It really helps! <3

 

[SuperxAndrew]

Sorry for the double post, but I had to take a moment to be immature and claim post #69 as mine! xD

 

[iBearHD]

But the ultimate things about this map I like.
1.) They are multiple Choke points with tier 2's. (Great For Clans)
2.) Many tier 2s. (Who wouldn't like that)
3.) The map is very detailed, and is down right beautiful.
4.) Very good map for getting away from a chase.
5.) Good places to knock people off for fall damage, or flat grounds on 1v1s.
6.) already mentioned but very detailed.

 

[SC_Swag]

Sorry for the double post, but I had to take a moment to be immature and claim post #69 as mine! xD

Ew

 

[Bunns]

ChadTheDJ