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Afterlife Realms
Participants are to portray their interpretation of an Afterlife realm, i.e. the life after death
APproject
Creativity 10/15
I'm not really sure about this one, it doesn't seem very creative or hard to execute.
Yet it does have some steps of creative interpretation to it like that portal. It was on theme but still needs more elements.
Detail 12/15
The details were fairly attended for but there are still some rough edges like the gorge area and the vines.
Technique 11/15
There are some techniques I really appreciated. Some though seem common while others like that orb seem rather eye-catching and pleasant.
Aesthetics 13/15
The color scheme seems a bit off, especially all that white.
Overall I'd say that it was greatly interpreted but nothing out of the ordinary.
Great improvement over the previous terrain I might add.
Total: 46
Arad MNK
Creativity 5/15
I really had to double check this to see if there's any creativity involved in it. I was quite disappointed by this.
Although the well thing below the character seemed to bring some good stuff to it.
Detail 3/15
The centerpiece while eye killing is somewhat fine but again the texture choice and placement is plain bad.
There is too much stuff going on and not enough thinking put in it which gives it that chaotic appearance.
Technique 2/15
Nothing new technique-wise, everything seems thrashed together for the sake of having something.
The lighting is really messed up, literally.
Aesthetics 2/15
Now the composition seems really hard to admire, it gave me a headache while looking at it.
You sir, should really look at some tutorials.
I appreciate the effort though even if it didn't yield good results.
Total: 12
Bernkastel
Creativity 9/15
Hello there Bern, you surprised me with your presence, Yes, I did loved your terrain though not awfully creative I must say.
Gates of Hell have been done before though not with this good result.
Detail 7/15
You have a whole load of impurities, like those pillars in midground for example. Not to mention those thrown up cubes in foreground, not really smart is it?
Technique 12/15
Now at technique you do score higher. I did appreciate the feel of having the gates of Hell emanate energy and the impending doom feeling.
Stretched up clouds are a no-go miss.
Aesthetics 10/15
Generally speaking this composition is okay, to a certain extent as always.
You seem to have rushed your entry like hell, no pun intended.
There's not much going on in background but hey, at least you tried.
Total: 38
Edge45
Creativity 6/15
This one gives me mixed feelings. I think that it turned alright in terms of creativity. Not by miles but still fine.
Detail 7/15
The midground part was the most pleasant to look at for details. It was done finely though it could've used more.
The foreground part looks really barren and forgotten by time while the background seems rough and has the end of the world feeling.
You have the habit of leaving certain parts empty while others loaded with stuff to the brink.
Technique 7/15
The techniques used were fine but some seemed rather outdated and need some upgrades to keep up with time.
Aesthetics 7/15
Aesthetically speaking the whole entry seemed barren, almost off beat for this theme.
You started out well with it but then somewhere in the middle you decided to jump off the boat and leave it naked.
That move cost you serious points mister Edge.
Total: 27
Keiji
Creativity 14/15
This one really got my attention. It's not your usual daily cup of tea.
Really creative, a bit off beat at some parts but nonetheless good.
Combining futuristic with after life is greatly appreciated since I've grown accustomed to seeing people take the hell or heaven approach for this one.
Detail 11/15
You did have some impurities like lantern lights, glows and trees clipping through like hell but generally the details were fairly looked up for.
Technique 13/15
Once again this doesn't seem like the ordinary slice of bread. Really good tricks like upside down trees, buildings and afterlife portals.
Just lovely I'd say, well done bastard.
Aesthetics 11/15
The lighting seems rather bright even if it's supposed to be depicting afterlife.
Overall it seems to get the job done even with some clouds screaming 'stretched' at me.
Good job.
Total: 49
Majkowski
Creativity 4/15
This seems really off beat. A single gravestone with nothing else to it.
Detail 2/15
Really now, you could've made so much more even with vanilla models. It’s just empty, no interesting things to appreciate.
Technique 0/15
Sadly I couldn't give this a score since it seemed that no things were tried here. It's just mashed up together.
Aesthetics 3/15
This was one of the entries that seemed like eye-sores.
The combined mix of low-res with high-res textures and nothing else to it brings it down like the Titanic.
One again I highly recommend to check up some tutorials.
Total: 9
PublishedShadow
Creativity 6/15
Nice one, the skull seems creative even with those impediments like the teeth and nose.
It could've brought you higher scores if it would've been more complete.
Detail 3/15
This is like: Details were started but funding was cut for the sake of old times. Yeah, there's not much to appreciate.
Next time be sure to put up at least a sky on the horizon since right now it's awfully empty.
Technique 2/15
Not much but there's something. Try to ease up on glow usage for eyes and make an effort to finish up things.
Once again tutorials are needed.
Aesthetics 4/15
Even though this reeks of a WIP rather than a complete entry, this part got you some scores.
It's remotely pleasant even with the whole 'end of the world' feeling to it.
Total: 15
Creativity 10/15
I'm not really sure about this one, it doesn't seem very creative or hard to execute.
Yet it does have some steps of creative interpretation to it like that portal. It was on theme but still needs more elements.
Detail 12/15
The details were fairly attended for but there are still some rough edges like the gorge area and the vines.
Technique 11/15
There are some techniques I really appreciated. Some though seem common while others like that orb seem rather eye-catching and pleasant.
Aesthetics 13/15
The color scheme seems a bit off, especially all that white.
Overall I'd say that it was greatly interpreted but nothing out of the ordinary.
Great improvement over the previous terrain I might add.
Total: 46
Arad MNK
Creativity 5/15
I really had to double check this to see if there's any creativity involved in it. I was quite disappointed by this.
Although the well thing below the character seemed to bring some good stuff to it.
Detail 3/15
The centerpiece while eye killing is somewhat fine but again the texture choice and placement is plain bad.
There is too much stuff going on and not enough thinking put in it which gives it that chaotic appearance.
Technique 2/15
Nothing new technique-wise, everything seems thrashed together for the sake of having something.
The lighting is really messed up, literally.
Aesthetics 2/15
Now the composition seems really hard to admire, it gave me a headache while looking at it.
You sir, should really look at some tutorials.
I appreciate the effort though even if it didn't yield good results.
Total: 12
Bernkastel
Creativity 9/15
Hello there Bern, you surprised me with your presence, Yes, I did loved your terrain though not awfully creative I must say.
Gates of Hell have been done before though not with this good result.
Detail 7/15
You have a whole load of impurities, like those pillars in midground for example. Not to mention those thrown up cubes in foreground, not really smart is it?
Technique 12/15
Now at technique you do score higher. I did appreciate the feel of having the gates of Hell emanate energy and the impending doom feeling.
Stretched up clouds are a no-go miss.
Aesthetics 10/15
Generally speaking this composition is okay, to a certain extent as always.
You seem to have rushed your entry like hell, no pun intended.
There's not much going on in background but hey, at least you tried.
Total: 38
Edge45
Creativity 6/15
This one gives me mixed feelings. I think that it turned alright in terms of creativity. Not by miles but still fine.
Detail 7/15
The midground part was the most pleasant to look at for details. It was done finely though it could've used more.
The foreground part looks really barren and forgotten by time while the background seems rough and has the end of the world feeling.
You have the habit of leaving certain parts empty while others loaded with stuff to the brink.
Technique 7/15
The techniques used were fine but some seemed rather outdated and need some upgrades to keep up with time.
Aesthetics 7/15
Aesthetically speaking the whole entry seemed barren, almost off beat for this theme.
You started out well with it but then somewhere in the middle you decided to jump off the boat and leave it naked.
That move cost you serious points mister Edge.
Total: 27
Keiji
Creativity 14/15
This one really got my attention. It's not your usual daily cup of tea.
Really creative, a bit off beat at some parts but nonetheless good.
Combining futuristic with after life is greatly appreciated since I've grown accustomed to seeing people take the hell or heaven approach for this one.
Detail 11/15
You did have some impurities like lantern lights, glows and trees clipping through like hell but generally the details were fairly looked up for.
Technique 13/15
Once again this doesn't seem like the ordinary slice of bread. Really good tricks like upside down trees, buildings and afterlife portals.
Just lovely I'd say, well done bastard.
Aesthetics 11/15
The lighting seems rather bright even if it's supposed to be depicting afterlife.
Overall it seems to get the job done even with some clouds screaming 'stretched' at me.
Good job.
Total: 49
Majkowski
Creativity 4/15
This seems really off beat. A single gravestone with nothing else to it.
Detail 2/15
Really now, you could've made so much more even with vanilla models. It’s just empty, no interesting things to appreciate.
Technique 0/15
Sadly I couldn't give this a score since it seemed that no things were tried here. It's just mashed up together.
Aesthetics 3/15
This was one of the entries that seemed like eye-sores.
The combined mix of low-res with high-res textures and nothing else to it brings it down like the Titanic.
One again I highly recommend to check up some tutorials.
Total: 9
PublishedShadow
Creativity 6/15
Nice one, the skull seems creative even with those impediments like the teeth and nose.
It could've brought you higher scores if it would've been more complete.
Detail 3/15
This is like: Details were started but funding was cut for the sake of old times. Yeah, there's not much to appreciate.
Next time be sure to put up at least a sky on the horizon since right now it's awfully empty.
Technique 2/15
Not much but there's something. Try to ease up on glow usage for eyes and make an effort to finish up things.
Once again tutorials are needed.
Aesthetics 4/15
Even though this reeks of a WIP rather than a complete entry, this part got you some scores.
It's remotely pleasant even with the whole 'end of the world' feeling to it.
Total: 15
APproject
Creativity 13/15
It doesn't take the cake in creativity, but it's a close call. If we're splitting hairs, it's pretty much classic romanticism, really. But with a nice, more morbid, twist. Portraying the afterlife as a magical spin-off to our own world is an archaic concept, but works really well for the purpose of this contest. To split two realities (earth from sky) is also pretty effective, albeit not very clearly portrayed.
Detail 10/15
The attention to detail where the main theme is concerned, i.e. positioning of the skeletal remains ect, is really good. It really paints the picture. The level of detail is okay. I say okay because, where it's denoted, it's fantastic. But where it's not, it's pretty bland and the thick fog takes the place of background details a little too often. Normally I would be on about the edgy rocks, but for a surreal setting like this it actually works pretty well. Except for the arch. I really don't like the arch; both the placing of it and the construction itself.
-- Overall good work on the detail front though.
Technique 10/15
The constructions and formations (except the arch) look solid and coherent. I guess the most noteworthy would be the lighting. The transitioning could be better, i.e. purple to white and white to purple is too sharp. Gradient would've been much nicer. Overall good work though, and really well done in the foreground. The use of purple omnilights(?) is bold and works well as intended, too.
Aesthetics 11/15
It is a beautiful piece. No way around it. My only redeeming complaint on the aesthetic side is the transitioning between colours. Not much complaints other than that, except the arch.
Total: 44
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Arad MNK
Creativity 3/15
This has all the makings of a cliché burger. Blood red fog, skull and corpse spam, Medivh, excess use of fire. Did anyone say hell theme? You called it. I'm sorry, but there's nothing particularly unique or interesting about this terrain that sets it apart from any of the other thousand hell-themed terrains.
Detail 3/15
On first glance it looks pretty detailed, but in reality it's just that a lot of doodads have been placed. A whole lot. And a lot of them have been repeatedly placed, e.g. the skulls and skeletal remains, while others don't work at all with the rest of the picture, e.g. the gold brown orc rugs in the foreground. This leaves a lot to be desired on the detail front.
Technique 4/15
The rays are the only notable show of technique I can see, and they actually work against you. In that they have no clear origin (why would there be windowsi n hell and where are they?), and are too bright and contrasting to the rest of the scheme. I guess the cloud bridge is an alright construction, even though it doesn't work too well with the surroundings.
Aesthetics 2/10
I can't give it a decent score here either. Nothing works. The textures don't mix and are poorly highlighted/obscured, the lighting doesn't fit, ect. Sorry, I think it's back to the drawing board for you.
Total: 10
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Bernkastel
Creativity 11/15
This is plenty creative, actually. Not the theme itself, which has been done to death (no pun intended), but the execution of it. Never thought of using those platforms for a gate, but man, they fit like they were made for it. The fade into black on the sides works really well too, albeit it's a bit too sharp like APproject's.
Detail 11/15
Take note Arad MNK. This is how you use the same details repeatedly without making it look spammed and boring. With a simple tint that fits the overall scheme, the skulls don't look half bad. With a few different variations in pitch and roll values, the blocks don't look repeated at all. The background is well constructed too, and has good detail balance. It does leave out a lot of potential details, which I'm guessing you'll blame on not enough time to finish it. It's too bad, with a little work this could really be an awesome piece of work.
Technique 12/15
Plenty of lighting techniques at display here. I think I like the gate crack the most. The shine is so damn right! The only mismatch is the jaundice-level intensity of the lava falls. It's basically a yellow curtain, and could do well with some contrasting details e.g. rocks or debris. The constructions are also well done and proportionate in scaling.
Aesthetics 13/15
It looks really good. It has an overall good composition and the colours work well with each other. Although, yellow!
Total: 47
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Edge45
Creativity 5/15
Your pretty straightforward run-of-the-mill hel scene. Pits of lava, hellish stalagmites, blood red sky, the whole package. Can't score this many points in the crativity margin, I'm afraid.
Detail 6/15
Beyond the variations in the lava, which I'm thinking is just texture variations, there's not a whole lot of stuff going on. There are some details in the background, but they are so obscured by the terrain fog that you get virtually no visual candy out of it.
Technique 5/15
The cave entrance kind of failed. The few indications you get that it's a cave is a few stalactites upper left/right but no clear emphasis is put on it. The foreground in general suffers from texture clash between ground tiles and rock/bridge texture. And I wish I could say the background/lighting saved it, but no luck there I'm afraid. It looks like someone just went nuts with a red marker.
Aesthetics 5/15
It's weird, Edge. Sometimes you do stuff that really shows potential, and sometimes you revert back to this.
You should put more thought and time into your next one. You can do good stuff if you want.
Total: 21
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Keiji
Creativity 14/15
This is exactly what I wanted out of this contest: a good surreal scene! By removing something we think of as a physical invariant, i.e. direction (no up/down) in this case, you make it more foreign and alien straight away. Which really sells the concept in a nice way.
Detail 12/15
In my book, the details that sell it are the ghostly trees and the waterfalls. Other than that it's a bit detail-less, but on the other hand it leaves nothing to be desired. Adding more to it would probably take stuff away rather than add to the whole. Ergo, good balance!
Technqiue 12/15
Structurally, this is really nice. All the constructions are solid and cool, and the walking platforms are fucking genius! The lighting works well, but is a bit off in some places. Mostly I feel that intense light, e.g. from the beacons, would reflect more in the clouds than they do now. There is also a slight end of the map feeling, which always happens with darker backgrounds. You did alright covering it up, at least.
Aesthetics 12/15
Remember how I mentioned the waterfalls? Yeah. I love them for the idea of it, but I don't love the colour of them! In fact, it looks more like dark pastel smudge than falling water. And with a lit up scene like this, it doesn't make any sense for them to be dark in the first place. Yeah, I realize that it's a strange place, but looking good should be a golden rule in any art realm! Other than that it really comes together beautifully.
Total: 50
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Majkowski
Creativity 1/15
If I didn't read the fine print, I could never fígure out that this had an afterlife theme. I mean sure there's a gravestone, like a classic placemarker to force the idea that it has to do with death, but why would they even need gravestones in the afterlife? This grim reaper ain't buying it!
Detail 1/15
There's a few obvious ground details, e.g. debris and stalagmites, but then there's crystals. And more crystals. And crystals on top of those other crystals. And...
Technqiue 3/15
You need more practice with the height tool. This is really chaotic. Did you use the noise tool? You at least tried to cover up the background a bit with cloud models; which, I guess, is nice in its own way even though it didn't really work as intended.
Aesthetics 1/15
In general, I think what you need is practice and lots of it. This is barely passable for a playable melee, and definitely not for terrain art. Probably consult a few tutorials and look at other people's work to get a feel for what you want to do. Better luck next time!
Total: 6
________________________________________________________________
PublishedShadow
Creativity 6/15
While it is a hell theme, once more, it has a little more thought to it than your standard bench material at least. It's even a bit refreshing in some way. It looks like something Chaos. would do in his early days.
Detail 8/15
An all around "alright" performance. No real boo or baa. The skull has a solid shape, the spires do their business and the lava works well with it.
Technqiue 10/15
Mostly construction of the skull, which is an alright piece of work. The light that beams out from the hot lava actually blends well with the red crystals too. Nice touch!
Aesthetics 8/15
All in all, it works well together and there's no remarkable flaw in the design. It's no big fish, though!
Total: 32
Creativity 13/15
It doesn't take the cake in creativity, but it's a close call. If we're splitting hairs, it's pretty much classic romanticism, really. But with a nice, more morbid, twist. Portraying the afterlife as a magical spin-off to our own world is an archaic concept, but works really well for the purpose of this contest. To split two realities (earth from sky) is also pretty effective, albeit not very clearly portrayed.
Detail 10/15
The attention to detail where the main theme is concerned, i.e. positioning of the skeletal remains ect, is really good. It really paints the picture. The level of detail is okay. I say okay because, where it's denoted, it's fantastic. But where it's not, it's pretty bland and the thick fog takes the place of background details a little too often. Normally I would be on about the edgy rocks, but for a surreal setting like this it actually works pretty well. Except for the arch. I really don't like the arch; both the placing of it and the construction itself.
-- Overall good work on the detail front though.Technique 10/15
The constructions and formations (except the arch) look solid and coherent. I guess the most noteworthy would be the lighting. The transitioning could be better, i.e. purple to white and white to purple is too sharp. Gradient would've been much nicer. Overall good work though, and really well done in the foreground. The use of purple omnilights(?) is bold and works well as intended, too.
Aesthetics 11/15
It is a beautiful piece. No way around it. My only redeeming complaint on the aesthetic side is the transitioning between colours. Not much complaints other than that, except the arch.
Total: 44
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Arad MNK
Creativity 3/15
This has all the makings of a cliché burger. Blood red fog, skull and corpse spam, Medivh, excess use of fire. Did anyone say hell theme? You called it. I'm sorry, but there's nothing particularly unique or interesting about this terrain that sets it apart from any of the other thousand hell-themed terrains.
Detail 3/15
On first glance it looks pretty detailed, but in reality it's just that a lot of doodads have been placed. A whole lot. And a lot of them have been repeatedly placed, e.g. the skulls and skeletal remains, while others don't work at all with the rest of the picture, e.g. the gold brown orc rugs in the foreground. This leaves a lot to be desired on the detail front.
Technique 4/15
The rays are the only notable show of technique I can see, and they actually work against you. In that they have no clear origin (why would there be windowsi n hell and where are they?), and are too bright and contrasting to the rest of the scheme. I guess the cloud bridge is an alright construction, even though it doesn't work too well with the surroundings.
Aesthetics 2/10
I can't give it a decent score here either. Nothing works. The textures don't mix and are poorly highlighted/obscured, the lighting doesn't fit, ect. Sorry, I think it's back to the drawing board for you.
Total: 10
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Bernkastel
Creativity 11/15
This is plenty creative, actually. Not the theme itself, which has been done to death (no pun intended), but the execution of it. Never thought of using those platforms for a gate, but man, they fit like they were made for it. The fade into black on the sides works really well too, albeit it's a bit too sharp like APproject's.
Detail 11/15
Take note Arad MNK. This is how you use the same details repeatedly without making it look spammed and boring. With a simple tint that fits the overall scheme, the skulls don't look half bad. With a few different variations in pitch and roll values, the blocks don't look repeated at all. The background is well constructed too, and has good detail balance. It does leave out a lot of potential details, which I'm guessing you'll blame on not enough time to finish it. It's too bad, with a little work this could really be an awesome piece of work.
Technique 12/15
Plenty of lighting techniques at display here. I think I like the gate crack the most. The shine is so damn right! The only mismatch is the jaundice-level intensity of the lava falls. It's basically a yellow curtain, and could do well with some contrasting details e.g. rocks or debris. The constructions are also well done and proportionate in scaling.
Aesthetics 13/15
It looks really good. It has an overall good composition and the colours work well with each other. Although, yellow!
Total: 47
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Edge45
Creativity 5/15
Your pretty straightforward run-of-the-mill hel scene. Pits of lava, hellish stalagmites, blood red sky, the whole package. Can't score this many points in the crativity margin, I'm afraid.
Detail 6/15
Beyond the variations in the lava, which I'm thinking is just texture variations, there's not a whole lot of stuff going on. There are some details in the background, but they are so obscured by the terrain fog that you get virtually no visual candy out of it.
Technique 5/15
The cave entrance kind of failed. The few indications you get that it's a cave is a few stalactites upper left/right but no clear emphasis is put on it. The foreground in general suffers from texture clash between ground tiles and rock/bridge texture. And I wish I could say the background/lighting saved it, but no luck there I'm afraid. It looks like someone just went nuts with a red marker.
Aesthetics 5/15
It's weird, Edge. Sometimes you do stuff that really shows potential, and sometimes you revert back to this.
You should put more thought and time into your next one. You can do good stuff if you want.
Total: 21
________________________________________________________________
Keiji
Creativity 14/15
This is exactly what I wanted out of this contest: a good surreal scene! By removing something we think of as a physical invariant, i.e. direction (no up/down) in this case, you make it more foreign and alien straight away. Which really sells the concept in a nice way.
Detail 12/15
In my book, the details that sell it are the ghostly trees and the waterfalls. Other than that it's a bit detail-less, but on the other hand it leaves nothing to be desired. Adding more to it would probably take stuff away rather than add to the whole. Ergo, good balance!
Technqiue 12/15
Structurally, this is really nice. All the constructions are solid and cool, and the walking platforms are fucking genius! The lighting works well, but is a bit off in some places. Mostly I feel that intense light, e.g. from the beacons, would reflect more in the clouds than they do now. There is also a slight end of the map feeling, which always happens with darker backgrounds. You did alright covering it up, at least.
Aesthetics 12/15
Remember how I mentioned the waterfalls? Yeah. I love them for the idea of it, but I don't love the colour of them! In fact, it looks more like dark pastel smudge than falling water. And with a lit up scene like this, it doesn't make any sense for them to be dark in the first place. Yeah, I realize that it's a strange place, but looking good should be a golden rule in any art realm! Other than that it really comes together beautifully.
Total: 50
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Majkowski
Creativity 1/15
If I didn't read the fine print, I could never fígure out that this had an afterlife theme. I mean sure there's a gravestone, like a classic placemarker to force the idea that it has to do with death, but why would they even need gravestones in the afterlife? This grim reaper ain't buying it!
Detail 1/15
There's a few obvious ground details, e.g. debris and stalagmites, but then there's crystals. And more crystals. And crystals on top of those other crystals. And...
Technqiue 3/15
You need more practice with the height tool. This is really chaotic. Did you use the noise tool? You at least tried to cover up the background a bit with cloud models; which, I guess, is nice in its own way even though it didn't really work as intended.
Aesthetics 1/15
In general, I think what you need is practice and lots of it. This is barely passable for a playable melee, and definitely not for terrain art. Probably consult a few tutorials and look at other people's work to get a feel for what you want to do. Better luck next time!
Total: 6
________________________________________________________________
PublishedShadow
Creativity 6/15
While it is a hell theme, once more, it has a little more thought to it than your standard bench material at least. It's even a bit refreshing in some way. It looks like something Chaos. would do in his early days.
Detail 8/15
An all around "alright" performance. No real boo or baa. The skull has a solid shape, the spires do their business and the lava works well with it.
Technqiue 10/15
Mostly construction of the skull, which is an alright piece of work. The light that beams out from the hot lava actually blends well with the red crystals too. Nice touch!
Aesthetics 8/15
All in all, it works well together and there's no remarkable flaw in the design. It's no big fish, though!
Total: 32
Score S = 25v/TOTv + 75( j1 + j2 )/TOTp
where v = votes entry received, TOTv = total poll vote count, j1 and j2 = score from judges, and TOTp = total judge score possible.
4. Edge45
5. PublishedShadow
6. AradMNK
7. Majkowski
5. PublishedShadow
6. AradMNK
7. Majkowski
Congratulations, winners! Thank you fladdermasken and Heinvers for judging the contest. Thank you all participants who submitted entries. Meet you again next time. And thank you fladdermasken for taking care of all the mumbo, jumbo contest hosting and calculations and shit. Self-service is my bread and butter!
Contest | Poll (click here to view the entries)
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