Mini-Mapping Contest #20 - Metroidvania

Archian · Sep 22, 2022

Contestants must create a Metroidvania map, which is a genre of action-adventure video games focused on guided non-linearity and utility-gated exploration and progression. A metroidvania video game is a subgenre of the action-adventure game platform that is mostly two-dimensional, where the player travels through a map to collect items and gain new abilities, both of which open up the world to further exploration.

Submissions must follow the contest theme.
Submissions may not be started / made before the official launch of the contest.
Teamwork is not allowed (physically working on someone else's entry).
- Giving feedback isn't considered teamwork and is always welcome. However, if you feel someone is abusing it, you may appeal to the appointed moderator.
Post 2 Works-In-Progress (pictures or videos) in the contest thread during the contest process. It must be clear that you are working on the submission.
The submission must be posted in the respective resource section, before the contest ends.
- The resource description must make it clear it's a submission from the respective contest.
Post your final entry in the contest thread before contest is over. The post should be a little presentation, having your submission attached.
Judges may not participate.
Submissions must follow the Map Submission Rules.
Finding voice actors, or testers to test multiplayer mode isn't considered as teamwork, and is allowed.
The map must be playable in battle net. (current max map size is 256MB, for example)
Using imports is allowed as long as it follows Resource Submission Rules (Models, skins, icons, spells).
The submission must be unprotected so that it's openable via the normal WorldEditor.

In order to enter the contest and be eligible to win a prize, contestants must submit their final entry to the Map section. Remember to write in the description: "Entry for the 20th Mini-Mapping Contest".

Breaking any of these rules may lead to punishment in the judgement score, up to disqualification from the contest, depending on the weight of the issue. In case of doubts towards a certain rule you are very encouraged to discuss it in the contest thread so others and judges may help with sorting it out.

1st place: 750 experience points
2nd place: 600 experience points
3rd place: 450 experience points
Entry: 150 experience points
Judge: 25 experience points per entrant

The three winners will receive an award icon representing the winning entry.

To be announced.
Want to be a judge? Read this.

Gameplay	Is the map an enjoyable experience? Are the spells creative and satisfying? Is there replayability? Does the map have unique and original ideas? Does the map conform to the theme?	/55
Immersion	Do the terrain and music create a desirable atmosphere? Are the sound and art assets used well? How is the general execution?	/35
Technical	Does the map run well performance-wise? Are there lots of bugs?	/10
	/100

Judgement: 70%
Poll: 30%

FinalScore = (30*Reached_Votes/POSSIBLE_VOTES) + (70*Average_Judge_Score/POSSIBLE_SCORE)

The contest shall begin on Sep 22, 2022 and conclude on Jan 20, 2023 (day is included).

(Last updated 27-01-2023)

Contestant	Work in Progress	Entry
WolfFarkas	WIP 1 \| WIP 2	Tale of Crowley Tale Of Crowley Introduction Tale of Crowley is a single player, single hero adventure based to follow a Metroidvania theme ( Metroid + Castlevania). Metroidvania Metroidvanias games usually feature non linear game play, clear/ unlock new areas by defeating bosses, claustrophobic... www.hiveworkshop.com
ThompZon	WIP 1 \| WIP 2	Mecha Protectors Entry for the 20th Mini-Mapping Contest Mecha CL has attacked the installation. Zombie virus has escaped. In a desperate move, the marines manages to push through to the control room for the experimental Mecha Protectors and power them on... You are a Mecha Protector, defeat zombies, gain... www.hiveworkshop.com
PROXY	WIP 1 \| WIP 2
The_Silent	WIP 1
ColourWolfe	WIP 1 WIP 2
EternalOne	WIP 1

Assigned Staff: @Archian

Previous Contest | Poll | Results

The_Silent · Sep 22, 2022

Very likley partisipating, if real life dosen't get in the way.

The Nightmare Book · Sep 22, 2022

Well, good luck to everyone!
Althought I wouldn't participate, but I wish to you good mood, inspirtaion and peace, which we all need in those times.
Will be interested to complete every submission

FlameofChange · Sep 22, 2022

I'm in.
Prepare yourselves !

Achille · Sep 22, 2022

The_Silent said:
Very likley partisipating, if real life dosen't get in the way.

I would really love to see you participate! I’m super excited to try my hand at using your dungeoneers pack to make something for this so I’d be hyped to see whatever you’d come up with as someone who has made assets perfect for this kind of contest!

SunLord · Sep 22, 2022

yeah, i love this genre, i think it needs someone who can design games well !

Halithor · Sep 22, 2022

I'm going to try to come up with something for this contest.

Just to be clear though, can I make this a multiplayer experience? I'm thinking 3 players like Sunken City's experience.

Achille · Sep 22, 2022

Halithor said:
I'm going to try to come up with something for this contest.

Just to be clear though, can I make this a multiplayer experience? I'm thinking 3 players like Sunken City's experience.

Nothing that’s says you can’t friend! I say go for it

ThompZon · Sep 22, 2022

I'm in too!
I'm thinking of making a 1-4 player map in a futuristic setting.

Daffa · Sep 23, 2022

I'm not very familiar with the genre to be honest. Is it akin to RPG in a sense?

Not sure if I can boil anything decent for this particular one.

Archian · Sep 23, 2022

Daffa said:
Is it akin to RPG in a sense?

You read more about the genre here: Metroidvania - Wikipedia

"Metroidvania[a] is a genre of action-adventure video games focused on guided non-linearity and utility-gated exploration and progression. The term is a portmanteau of the names of the video game series Metroid and Castlevania, with games in the genre borrowing from both series. Typically based on two-dimensional, sidescrolling platform gameplay, Metroidvania games feature a large interconnected world map the player can explore, although parts of the world will be inaccessible to the player until they acquire special items, tools, weapons, abilities, or knowledge within the game. Acquiring such improvements can also aid the player in defeating more difficult enemies and locating shortcuts and secret areas, and often includes retracing one's steps across the map. Through this, Metroidvania games include tighter integration of story and level design, careful design of levels and character controls to encourage exploration and experimentation, and a means for the player to become more invested in their player character through role-playing game elements."

RanchBurner · Sep 23, 2022

Daffa said:
I'm not very familiar with the genre to be honest. Is it akin to RPG in a sense?

Not sure if I can boil anything decent for this particular one.

To me, it almost sounds similar to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

ThompZon · Sep 23, 2022

RanchBurner said:
To me, it almost sounds similar to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

The genre name Metroidvania is literally name-combination of Metroid and Castlevania, so you are correct

ColourWolfe · Sep 23, 2022

Never heard of the term beforehand - will have to research a bit about it

ThompZon · Sep 24, 2022

Daffa said:
I'm not very familiar with the genre to be honest. Is it akin to RPG in a sense?

Not sure if I can boil anything decent for this particular one.

It's kind of "action dungeon crawler" with lots of branching paths, and some paths requires something to progress through.
The "something" that you need can be everything from new weapons, armors, abilities, utilities, etc.

In the cast of Super Metroid, you unlock being able to become a small ball, enabling you to path through tiny holes. There are often several different routes available, so your are not necessarily forced to for example beat bosses in order 1,2,3,4,5. It might be possible to go 1,3,5 or 2,4,5. Of course you will gain more "power" beating them all.

My idea of "how to do this":

Colored blobs are unlockable, colored lines requires said unlockable to go through.

You start at Green, have options to go yellow or red blob.
Yellow unlocks orange, red unlocks blue.
Orange unlocks dark-green, blue unlocks purple.
Dark-green unlocks blue and light blue, purple unlocks orange and light blue.
Light Blue unlocks final boss, pink.
This is represented by the color-graph in the right side of the image.
Transparent lines are non-key-unlockable-blockers.
It should be possible to skip "one side" entirely if I keep this design.
Traveled distance between sides are roughly equal.

What each color represent is so far undecided but current ideas are:
Yellow could for example be a flame-attack, able to melt ice that is blocking the way. I.E. it's a combat ability and unlocks paths.
Red could be a bomb dropped at your feet, exploding after a short duration.
Light-blue ("final unlock") might be a short range blink or something.

I'll sketch things out in editor soon~ish and see if this feels decent enough and if the scope feels manageable.

SunLord · Sep 25, 2022

ColourWolfe said:
Never heard of the term beforehand - will have to research a bit about it

u need know hollow knight or ori and the blind forest it's metroidvania

deepstrasz · Sep 25, 2022

The problem with this is that you expect people to have played one game of each series or research it, meaning time from the contest which others would not waste if they already know what the theme is.

SunLord · Sep 25, 2022

deepstrasz said:
The problem with this is that you expect people to have played one game of each series or research it, meaning time from the contest which others would not waste if they already know what the theme is.

What sets this genre apart is the non-linearity and discoverability of key skill mechanics. Yeah, building a map like this requires you to have good game design skills

deepstrasz · Sep 25, 2022

SunLord said:
What sets this genre apart is the non-linearity and discoverability of key skill mechanics

I'd argue that the first games in the series are pretty linear like most if not all on Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo.

SunLord · Sep 25, 2022

yeah, it is combine of Metroid + Castlevania type game first game is Supper Metroid 1994 + Castlevania symphony of the night 1997, Game plots will normally be told in a linear manner, that is, in a straight line from start to finish, from the moment the protagonist begins the story the player will go through one challenge after another, and to the end. conclude. Meanwhile, non-linear developers will create a story in which players will freely explore the storyline, and decide for themselves the sequence of events in the story, instead of forcing players to follow a path go only.
The maps will take the form of a tightly interconnected network, internal connections between adjacent areas are often referred to as the term "interconnected", the feature of the metroid gives players the skill to open. lock the map area, there are areas you can go to but can't go through because something is missing, that makes you have to solve puzzles, go back and forth the maps to find the answer

The_Silent · Sep 25, 2022

Simply put. It is usually a dungeon/map with branching paths unlocked by item/power/ability unlocks.

Say you get too the end of one path, get a pair of water-walking boots, and you can now go back and take paths previously blocked by water.

ColourWolfe · Sep 25, 2022

Ye, I grew up on different games, mostly platformers like Spyro, Donkey Kong, Tomb Raider etc. And strategies, of course.

I get it now, it sounds interesting.

deepstrasz · Sep 25, 2022

The_Silent said:
Simply put. It is usually a dungeon/map with branching paths unlocked by item/power/ability unlocks.

Say you get too the end of one path, get a pair of water-walking boots, and you can now go back and take paths previously blocked by water.

That could have been the theme of the contest without any confusing made up words that don't stand up for themselves as I mentioned. First games of the Castlevania and Metroid series were linear and not really like what the contest description mentions.

ColourWolfe · Sep 25, 2022

Simply put, it's Multiple choice adventure RPG.

This is right up my alley, I might try this out

PROXY · Sep 25, 2022

deepstrasz said:
That could have been the theme of the contest without any confusing made up words that don't stand up for themselves as I mentioned. First games of the Castlevania and Metroid series were linear and not really like what the contest description mentions.

Lol Metroidvania is not a made up word but a Genre that's ages old.

deepstrasz · Sep 25, 2022

PROXY said:
a Genre that's ages old

"While the word "Metroidvania" is commonly used presently to describe games in this genre, or games that have elements of this genre, the origins of the term are unclear; Igarashi notes that he did not coin the phrase, though is grateful for the invention of the term. Igarashi noted that with Symphony of the Night the goal was to have exploration closer to the top-down Zelda approach, but with the side-scrolling nature, it was compared more to Metroid, and believes this is how the portmanteau came about."

Metroidvania - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

However, this video is more clarifying.

Anyways, thanks for the in depth reply.

PROXY · Sep 26, 2022

deepstrasz said:
"While the word "Metroidvania" is commonly used presently to describe games in this genre, or games that have elements of this genre, the origins of the term are unclear; Igarashi notes that he did not coin the phrase, though is grateful for the invention of the term. Igarashi noted that with Symphony of the Night the goal was to have exploration closer to the top-down Zelda approach, but with the side-scrolling nature, it was compared more to Metroid, and believes this is how the portmanteau came about."

Metroidvania - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

However, this video is more clarifying.

Anyways, thanks for the in depth reply.

I apologise if my comment sounded rude, it was not intended like that at all.

Anyhow, count me in.

Goffterdom · Sep 27, 2022

Hey there!

I have a question regarding one of the point of the contest's theme:

Why would the map need to be replayable?

When I'm finishing Metroid, I'm not playing it again.

I'm curious, not criticizing.

Thanks in advance for any answer

Archian · Sep 27, 2022

It's not a requirement but a basic map contest judging criteria.

Let's see some WIPs people!

Goffterdom · Sep 27, 2022

Archian said:
It's not a requirement but a basic map contest judging criteria.

I'm sorry but, why would it need to be a criteria on this very contest?

Replayable or not changes almost the entirety of the design.

Archian · Sep 27, 2022

Archian said:
It's a basic map contest judging criteria.

For Gameplay. Is the map fun to play multiple times etc.

ThompZon · Sep 27, 2022

My official WIP 1.

First up: My previous post describing direction/overview.

ThompZon said:
Colored blobs are unlockable, colored lines requires said unlockable to go through.

You start at Green, have options to go yellow or red blob.
Yellow unlocks orange, red unlocks blue.
Orange unlocks dark-green, blue unlocks purple.
Dark-green unlocks blue and light blue, purple unlocks orange and light blue.
Light Blue unlocks final boss, pink.
This is represented by the color-graph in the right side of the image.
Transparent lines are non-key-unlockable-blockers.
It should be possible to skip "one side" entirely if I keep this design.
Traveled distance between sides are roughly equal.

What each color represent is so far undecided but current ideas are:
Yellow could for example be a flame-attack, able to melt ice that is blocking the way. I.E. it's a combat ability and unlocks paths.
Red could be a bomb dropped at your feet, exploding after a short duration.
Light-blue ("final unlock") might be a short range blink or something.

I'll sketch things out in editor soon~ish and see if this feels decent enough and if the scope feels manageable.

I have sketched things out in the editor and currently have:

With the starting room:

PROXY · Sep 27, 2022

Finishing up the UI. Intro sequence is also nearly done. Then it goes on to actual gameplay.

Kakerate · Sep 28, 2022

Looks like a fun contest! Don't have the extra time to grind out a contest for XP, but am excited to play whatever comes from this.
Contest started on 'me birthday too!

Chaosy · Sep 29, 2022

Wont be joining but I think the theme is good, can get very interesting.

The_Silent · Oct 1, 2022

Aiming for a classic dungeon-crawler feel. Trying not to stray too far away from the wc3 style.
Just doing small things. Importing the things I KNOW I want in there, creating pathing textures, tweaking stuff, etc.

Haven't decided how far down the rabbit hole I'm going with custom systems yet.

Will probably be 3 or 4 player, with a number of heroes equal to max players +1 (So 4 - 5).

ThompZon · Oct 2, 2022

WIP2:

First time seeing the UI in-game. There is room for improvement on that part

The_Silent · Oct 3, 2022

ThompZon said:
WIP2: View attachment 409799
First time seeing the UI in-game. There is room for improvement on that part

Looks great, except that I really dislike ported sc1's 'wrong perspective' tiles. I think you can get ai tools that can change image perspectives.

Might look into it myself, I'm kinda curious if it is possible.

ThompZon · Oct 3, 2022

The_Silent said:
Looks great, except that I really dislike ported sc1's 'wrong perspective' tiles. I think you can get ai tools that can change image perspectives.

Might look into it myself, I'm kinda curious if it is possible.

Yeah, I'm unsure if I will actually use those tiles.
I've been looking for good "futuristic tilesets" with different feels and it's imo supprisingly hard to find. I have like 4 atm (excluding SC1).
I fixed the edges of the "floor" tiles Starcraft 1 Installation Floor non-faded edges but it takes a while mess with assets and I'd like to get the main gameplay loop up soon.

The Nightmare Book · Oct 4, 2022

PROXY said:
View attachment 409419

Finishing up the UI. Intro sequence is also nearly done. Then it goes on to actual gameplay.

The_Silent said:
Aiming for a classic dungeon-crawler feel. Trying not to stray too far away from the wc3 style.
Just doing small things. Importing the things I KNOW I want in there, creating pathing textures, tweaking stuff, etc.

Haven't decided how far down the rabbit hole I'm going with custom systems yet.

Will probably be 3 or 4 player, with a number of heroes equal to max players +1 (So 4 - 5).

View attachment 409616

ThompZon said:
WIP2: View attachment 409799
First time seeing the UI in-game. There is room for improvement on that part

...Looks pretty good for everyone. As I understood, @PROXY want to create something with special snowfall/snow weather mechanic and it's looks already interesting, @The_Silent want's an classic dungeon crawler, which would be nice to complete and @ThompZon want's to recreate some sort of Metroidvania (in theme) with syntesis of cancelled Starcraft:Nova?

Just my humble opinion, I could be wrong on all 3 WIP

WolfFarkas · Oct 5, 2022

Hi, mmm, well
I am metroid fan, particulary metroid fusion and zero mission for gba
didnt played castlevania, but is pretty much like mmm prince of persia sands of time, the gba version, or even zelda ocarina of time.

I got this idea

There are 7 elements. Fire, Water, Nature, Earth, Light, Darkness, Ether (violet stuff), a the begining, all chambers are closed, exept fire.
first you clear the fire chamber, the beginner chamber, then you unlock 2
water and nature, there you are free to pick the order. with nature you unlock light and with water you unlock earth.
there are optional areas that are unlocked after clearing other element chamber, ergo backtracking. I will put cool stuff there.

The final objetive is to clear the 7 chambers.

hero skills, the hero can pick one of the 7 elements wich gives 6 skills.
to change the element either you level up or buy the unlearn potion.
later I will enhance the skills the best I can (depending on the time, 50 days remain, but lot of work to be honest, not aiming to win the contest, just having fun, I am confident I will be able to create a fun experience, if I have time I will try to add all the cool concepts that may come in my mind.
I will have a creep that you cannot kill, you have to sneak with the invisibility potion hehehe. meme boss.

PROXY · Oct 5, 2022

The Nightmare Book said:
...Looks pretty good for everyone. As I understood, @PROXY want to create something with special snowfall/snow weather mechanic and it's looks already interesting, @The_Silent want's an classic dungeon crawler, which would be nice to complete and @ThompZon want's to recreate some sort of Metroidvania (in theme) with syntesis of cancelled Starcraft:Nova?

Just my humble opinion, I could be wrong on all 3 WIP

Not quite

Testing sound and special effects. Ignore funky UI

The Nightmare Book · Oct 6, 2022

PROXY said:
Not quite

Testing sound and special effects. Ignore funky UI

View attachment 410081

Music and SFX sounds neat, and vision of ancient ruins in sands only completes whole image.
Sounds are self-made or from some game? If you don't want to answer - I'll undestand

ThompZon · Oct 6, 2022

WIP 2½
Finally got that part of the UI fixed. It's been busy 2 weeks irl for me, but have have managed to take small steps forward. Learned a ton while fixing UI issues, so now I'm sure I'm going full custom-ui, instead of hoping that it should be possible

Space above is for attacks, abilities and possibly more. Of course I need to trigger the UI updates etc.

WolfFarkas · Oct 8, 2022

Wip 2
yeah also lot of work here, but making progress everyday.
I already have more or less defined the first 4 areas
fire area has some secondary paths.
forest area has the boss you have to sneak
water area has levers to acivate a waygate
earth area has some ground spikes tha kills you.
Pending the dark, ether and light areas.
I like how the minimap looks.

ColourWolfe · Oct 10, 2022

Small preview of the starting area. I've decided to go on a little unconventional road and split the gameplay in two:

For the main part, you will be exploring the world, progressing the story and your character. This plays out as an exploration/adventure quester game.
The second part of gameplay are battles. This map will play out like a Little Healer - you control a singular unit with healing abilities that must support their AI controlled party against enemies. As you progress, you unlock new spells, items and characters to add to your party.

The design is still pretty crude, but I'm pretty confident in the style direction I want to take this.

EternalOne · Oct 17, 2022

I know I'm late to the party, but I'm going to try to get a map done in time anyway. My entry will be called Resurfaced, and it will have base defense elements mixed in with the metroidvania exploration. I'm designing the mechanics before the map, so here's my first WIP:

WolfFarkas · Oct 19, 2022

wip 3, well, seems like this is going to happen somehow.
a portal islandish laberynth on the dark chamber,
a find a key on the white chamber
and ah guess, wich path pick in the violet.

ColourWolfe · Oct 23, 2022

Did plenty of work on terrain. Still thinking about how I want the combat outside of world exploring and questing to play out.

Freddyk · Oct 25, 2022

ColourWolfe said:
Did plenty of work on terrain. Still thinking about how I want the combat outside of world exploring and questing to play out.

That terrain looks very good !
Could you please tell me what models/texture did you use for rocks ?

Mini-Mapping Contest #20 - Metroidvania

Contestant​

WolfFarkas​

ThompZon​

PROXY​

The_Silent​

ColourWolfe​

EternalOne​

Attachments

Contestant

WolfFarkas

ThompZon

PROXY

The_Silent

ColourWolfe

EternalOne