Weekend of Zeux 2001 Judging Sheets:wizdom

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Judging Form - DigitalMZX Weekend Of Zeux -- March,
2001
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Game Name       Big Fast Electric Ballz
Game ID		25944 (distributed as `25944.zip').
Judge		Alistair Strachan (handle `wizdom').

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Graphics	1/5

Quality lacks in this MegaZeux catastrophe.  No effort
has been made to heavily edit the default character
set,the colo(u)r scheme is poor, there are too few
boards to play on, poor level design is apparent...
urgh.. it's almost as though this game was thrown in as
a demonstration of what NOT to make for a WEoZ.  The
info screens use default characters and the black
background highlighted an extremely unbothered attitude
on the creator's part.

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Gameplay	5/15

Clearly shocking. Utterly poor gameplay. The fact that
the "engine" for selecting various player elements
requires speed 1/2 whereas the rest of the game does
not, is yet another problematic issue.  This game is
evidently too hard or, perhaps, impossible to master.
The control elements are poor and sluggish. On the
other hand, I've credited here because the game is
clearly innovative in it's game "playability"..

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Creativity	6/10

As the game doesn't really work properly, I'll have to
deduct marks.  Sound /idea/, nifty concept. At least
it's semi-original and the various engines in place
are _technically_ good.  Since an effort has been made
to create something new and, possibly, exciting, I'll
award more in this category.

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Presentation	5/15

Appalling presentation.  No sound effects, no music.
The game engines weren't actually /buggy/, just awfully
slow and a pain to play with.  Evidently this entry
focuses on function and physical/technical correctness.
However, it's hard to use and features an ugly
interface.  There was no title screen, nor real
game-over screen to speak of.  Hardly top notch.

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Completeness 	3/5

OK, it's completed, but it's hardly a masterpiece. One
board plus three others with a few strings and a half
baked interface doesn't really qualify as complete.

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Overall score	20/50

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Comments

I've probably been too nice.  I have to say the idea
was attractive; I liked the element selector engine too.
However, this game lacks just about everything it should
include.  Appalling entry for a WEoZ, really.

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Judging Form - DigitalMZX Weekend Of Zeux -- March,
2001
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Game Name       Komplot
Game ID		55975 (distributed as `55975.zip').
Judge		Alistair Strachan (handle `wizdom').

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Graphics	4/5

High quality graphics.  Nice textures/colour-gradients.
Wonderful player etc. fades.  The real problem was
repetition.

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Gameplay	10/15

Hmm, I probably should give this a lower score.  The
game is the same throughout.  There's isn't any ammo.
Nice fast bullets engine. No bugs that disrupt the
general "feel".

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Creativity	6/10

OK, not particularly original, but an excellent effort
for a game of this type. New fonts and character edits
are fun.

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Presentation	12/15

Nice menu. `Tips and help' was an added bonus. Nice
music, interestingly ambient, generally well placed.
The sound effects are crackled but do the job they're
supposed to with notable efficiency.  More-or-less
bug-less.  The only real problem was that the enemies
too were too difficult: even on the default, for me.

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Completeness 	4/5

Complete game, few bugs, but not exactly huge
comparitively speaking.  This game would have benefitted
from more interactive elements and different level
design. More levels, too?

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Overall score	36/50

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Comments

Good game, interesting use of good engines.  Excellent
graphics.  Good job well done!

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Judging Form - DigitalMZX Weekend Of Zeux -- March,
2001
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Game Name       Fourth Power
Game ID		82896 (distributed as `82896.zip').
Judge		Alistair Strachan (handle `wizdom').

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Graphics	5/5

Excellent animations, larger player engine, larger
enemies, everything multi-character.  The level design
in this game is virtually flawless.  I especialy liked
the Blue Screen O' Death copy at the end of the game.
The multichar bosses (both of them) were drawn to a
high standard.  Texures used throughout the game were
excellent.

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Gameplay	13/15

Wonderfully playable.  Extremely fun and mostly working
throughout.  The only problem was the enemy respawn rate
which despite being a bug, actually detrimentally
effected the gameplay.  As a result of this spawn bug,
the game was too difficult in some places.

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Creativity	8/10

Excellent implementation, but still rather reminiscent
of other MegaZeux titles I've played.  This game
particularly reminds me of early 90's shareware games,
classics like "Jill Of The Jungle" and "Commander
Keen", primarily because of the level design and feel.
This game features an excellent plot, strong throughout.
The engines used throughout are new, but I've seen a few
of them (or similar) implemented into upcoming games..

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Presentation	13/15

Excellent presentation.  The cenematics were a
definite plus point.  Though sound effects lacked, the
music was ample and well chosen for the various
differing levels.

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Completeness 	4/5

Almost polished.  There were a few bugs such as the
enemy respawn rate, black screens/inability to replay
certain missions after failing.  In the final boss
character you had to press space before up to shoot
upwards. Everything else was excellent.

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Overall score	43/50

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Comments

Wonderful game, probably one of the best I've seen as
a result of any *ofZ.  Good all round.