Winter 2007 Dualstream Day of Zeux Judging Sheet:CJA

[[Category:Winter 2007 Dualstream Day of Zeux Judging Sheets] link to original html

GAY COWBOY and his adventures in the Wild West with MECHA ZOMBIE HITLER (in the Wild West because that is the topic)

• Topic: Wild West (Specific)
• Penalty: No Penalty
• Team #33938

Overall Score

270/400

In GAY COWBOY and his adventures in the Wild West with MECHA ZOMBIE HITLER (in the Wild West because that is the topic), you play as a gay cowboy, Gay Cowboy. He is gay; that is to say, he is homosexual. You go around a charmingly drawn Western town doing “questy things,” as some stereotype of Malwyn might say. Striking similarity to Darkness, and it's just as overrated (perhaps because it's first in the list?). It's a good game, like Darkness. Toxwyn sure let his style shine through in this one.

Theme

20/20

It's in the Wild West and that's all you need for a specific topic. Every facet says “Wild West.”

Gameplay

80/120

OK! This is, again, Darkness, where the gameplay consists of interacting with everything you can and not much else. There's variety caused by the fact that there are multiple endings. There's plenty to do and see; this is a do-and-see game. However, you're given no intimation of WHAT to do. A hint in the right direction would make people feel smart about proceeding to the next step in the game, not feel slightly lucky that they finally touched something and it said something different, finally. I, personally, had to edit the game and ask for help to find the endings.

Graphics

80/90

Pretty good! Use of the ASCII set did help because of the limits imposed and nostalgia and all that good stuff. Maltox is an artist by nature. Bold artwork (cacti, the mine) stood out.

Technique

30/80

Doesn't use a lot of robot prowess in itself. The coolest things done with Robotic here are cool because of what showed up, not what happened (take, for instance, the mech). But, Malxik did do things right and there were no bugs...

Story

35/80

Because there really was no story, I'd give it half points, but the multiple branch thing was pretty cool, so there's a bonus here.

Sound

25/40

What was here fit the style, but there was only one track for the main gameplay. Also, the sound effects were sparing. PCSFX isn't too hard to make and probably would have won you more points here!

The Tranquil Journey

• Topic: Tranquility (General)
• Penalty: No Penalty
• Team #48198

Overall Score

315/400

This game takes puzzles you've seen before and gives them a twist. Although tedious at times, the style of the gameplay, graphics and design is unique. You're a monk and you have to get through five trials. This game focuses on first, the monkey section, full of puzzles.

Theme

80/100

The goal of the game is to gain tranquility, and much of the game is puzzles. The overhead areas also give you a sense of tranquility because of the slow pace.

Gameplay

60/90

The game consisted of going around and solving puzzles. Some of the puzzles were fun, but others just seemed boring, like the final number slider one (I always hated those, though). The main intro was rather tedious too, because the scroll speed alone was slow enough, let alone having to wait for the text to disappear off the screen entirely.

Graphics

70/70

The character is fully animated and the puzzle graphics are great, as are the overworld graphics. Colors are chosen well and everything looks good.

Technique

50/60 They've scrapped one tile per cycle movement and implemented a walking engine, which is approximately half the speed of the usual player. However, the board size is small, so this doesn't get in the way and has an additive effect. Icons and sprite text boxes (they are painfully slow-moving, but they are sprite text boxes), are abound and not much is built in. A lot of gameplay is in the form of a puzzle, controlled entirely by Robotic.

Story

25/80

Basically, the story is that you're a monk and you have to train at the temple to gain tranquility. The story isn't developed, and there are no supporting characters, but that doesn't detriment the game much because of the constant message which slowly develop it.

Sound

30/30

The music contributed to the theme, and was good. The footstep sounds also added a wonderful effect. I can't take any points off here.

LuminesMZX

• Topic: Tranquility (General)
• Penalty: No Penalty
• Team #48631

Overall Score

300/400

This is the port of a popular PSP falling-block-puzzle game, Lumines, to MZX. I, myself, have never played Lumines and like this version. You're given a rotatable 2x2 cluster of random blocks. The point is to make 2x2 clusters of the same color blocks, and make chains and stuff for more points.

Theme

70/100

The play is pretty tranquil, the music chosen and the graphics are tranquil... but past the feeling conveyed by the game, there's no strong tie to tranquility.

Gameplay

70/90

It is pretty fun! Leveling up is cool, too, and gives you an objective. A couple of gimmicks wouldn't hurt but other than that this game is fun and easy to play.

Graphics

45/70

The game benefits from SMZX mode, and uses a mode other than 1, in which 4 colors are supported. However, each block is made of 3 shades of the same color, which is kinda odd, considering more could have been done there. The colors are all primary, too, and other than lines and blocks, there's nothing to judge graphics on. More color changes, perhaps, would have helped. Either way, the game is minimal, and what is here is executed correctly.

Technique

60/60 The very foundation of the game is Robotic and nothing is built in. Movement is as smooth as possible and there are no bugs. Considering the game's high level of involvement with Robotic, this makes a good score.

Story

25/80

No story; instead, an explanation of why one doesn't exist. A story could have been implemented, however, during the DoZ. It just Didn't Get Done, like a vital engine or bugfix. I'll take the point between 0 for “no story” and 50 for “doesn't need a story” and give you a 25.

Sound

30/30

The FM synth soundtrack with little chip popping noises fits this game well, and music changes on levelup. ===Sound=== effects also fit well and vary delightfully. There is no way I can take off points, man.

No Reason

• Topic: Wild West (Specific)
• Penalty: No Penalty
• Team #49946

Overall Score

86/400

This game is a puzzle-action game where you clear blocks to shoot zombies. Unfortunately, it is terribly broken and just very unpolished in general.

Theme

20/20

Hey, it takes place in the Wild West. That's good enough for me.

Gameplay

15/120

This game's fun was broken, too. In addition to the puzzles being broken, the puzzles you play can almost be cleared just by slamming blocks down repeatedly, and that's no fun.

Graphics

20/90

I'll give you points here for the sprite stuff. Char 32 gaps in the textbox and plain, flat, square puzzle pieces brought this down dramatically. The font also left a bad impression on me (maybe just the capitalization?) What's here is mediocre and there's not much.

Technique

20/80

Again, the sprite player was a good start but the main engine in the game is just broken.

Story

10/80

What story was here seemed winding and dull to sit through as whoever was saying it said it.

Sound

1/40

What was here wasn't good at all. There was one or two mods, but they were pretty screeching.

Gold CRUSH

• Topic: Wild West (Specific)
• Penalty: No Penalty
• Team #50121

Overall Score

38/400

So, basically, you're a guy that needs a new roof, so you go out to pan for gold. To get a ticket you rob a bank. Then, in California, you stumble upon a demon who stole your gold.

Theme

20/20

The theme was used correctly. You go out to the West to search for gold. Horay

Gameplay

3/120

This game was not fun whatsoever. There was truly no gameplay except for when you're dumped into the big California board and you ping-pong back and forth before going all the way down into the middle of nowhere to some cave. There was no action or thinking to do.

Graphics

2/90

The graphics were not good at all. Default palette, default charset except for the player's character. There aren't even dark green trees in deserts. You get a point for having correct grass and road coloring and another one for the cool logo.

Technique

1/80

The Robotic that was used here scrolled the screen, moved robots randomly, basic interaction, and, that's it. There was no room for technique to show, because the code was so basic. A point for logo.

Story

7/80

There was some story...? It was so winding, patchy and crazy that if you were to summarize it, and publish that book, it would be more fun than playing the game.

Sound

5/40

Well, some themes were on topic at least, but some are copyrighted, aren't they? Either way, it's just two songs, one ends abruptly, and neither are pleasurable to hear. You get 2 points each for the songs being related, and one point for SFX.

A FIST FULL OF ENTRAILS

• Topic: Wild West (Specific)
• Penalty: No Penalty
• Team #50482

Overall Score

290/400

To sum it up in four words: Smash TV goes west. This charming and nostalgic game focuses solely on kicking their asses and clenching their entrails with your entrail fist. Shooting and moving are totally seperate from each other, making this game very reminiscent of some old favorites.

Theme

20/20

It's in the Wild West. You are beating up Western-dressed people and roaming around cacti to avenge your family and everyone on the frontier.

Gameplay

90/120

The gameplay is solid and fun at its core and is designed to go on for hours, which it seems to do. This game is long and I never really was good at this kind of action; the infinite continues were good, as you are never forced to game over but instead you can restart. You can collect score and weapons upgrades, which generate randomly. After beating up 3 metric universefuls of enemies, you can move on to the next level. Fun, but can get a little tiring.

Graphics

50/90

Maxim took a minimalistic approach to graphics here. He used a lot of bold colors, too, like bright chartruese and hot pink. In general, the characters just flip all the time and don't face directions. Some of the colors are a little odd, too, such as the cacti; where shading should be, they just get... more blue. However, this is a pretty unique style and accounts for something.

Technique

75/80

This game is entirely sprite-based and uses sprite everything. It is pretty much made of pure technique.

Story

25/80

The story is fully explained and needs little more development; this game is a “mindless arcade shoot-em-up”. Mindless, as in independent of plot? Or mindless, because you're undead and probably don't have a mind? BOTH.

Sound

30/40

The music was made by Maxim during the DoZ and is pretty good considering that, and it gives the game an old-school feel, along with the sound effects. The spoken voices you hear also pull the game together. It feels like you're in some crazy arcade.

Ataraxia

• Topic: Tranquility (General)
• Penalty: No Penalty
• Team #71046

Overall Score

365/400

You play as Renin, a dude who is infested with something called “trauma”—a spirit that causes the host to have the ability to use prana, which are magic spells, in return for horrifying imagery every time the eyes are closed. Renin has tracked down the dormant grounds, where play takes place, and believes them to be the place where the trauma can be dispelled forever; the grounds look just like the setting of the images that haunt him.

Theme

100/100

The theme of tranquility is heavy in this game, and is conveyed through the music, graphics and plotline, as well. The names also have significance; for example, the main character's name coincides with an enzyme that prevents hypertension. In addition, Ataraxia is a greek word that means tranquility.

<Wervyn> oh shi their game was called Tranquility BUT IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE! 100/100

Gameplay

70/90

The gameplay is Quasophase Plan A: Swords & 2x2 Sprites. ===Gameplay=== flow is kind of like a linear Mega Man; you get abilities which you use to progress to the next area. The game works pretty well, although can be a bit unfair in tight corridors. The prana system adds a pretty nice touch but should do more damage to enemies. It's a bit frustrating that the enemies get stronger but you yourself don't level up; more prana-power could have worked. The game feels like an uphill battle, but the constant prana spell acquisition cancels this feeling out. I'd say gameplay was the game's weakest link, which was pretty dang strong nonetheless.

Graphics

65/70

The graphics were pretty cool; Quasar's work, I assume. Although I'm more of a fan of bright colors, the palettes here did work. The player walking animation was sort of weird, and the enemy graphics looked a little strange too. I couldn't tell you what half of them were supposed to resemble.

Technique

55/60 ===Technique===; this game was full of it. Everything was sprites, there was a great HUD system and spellcasting engine, enemies, swords, dialogue, everywhere you look is Robotic in action. I don't think anyone could give less than perfect here.

There was a fatal bug, however, that stopped the game; a fix was provided. I'll deduct 5 points for the fix. Also, there are a couple glitches; I got stuck a couple times, I skipped a world ahead once, and enemies can also walk over you and just spam you with shots and kill you if they so wish. That also factors into this deduction.

Story

50/80

Probably the most detailed story in the DoZ; however, this is appropriate, since this game required a good story to be effective. The protagonist faces a battle not only against tranquility but within himself, debating whether tranquility is good or bad. Several interludes of dialogue occur between the action, as well. However, the conclusion was not as solid as it could have been. Either way, the best story should get full points, right?

Sound

25/30

The sounds all fit and so did the music; however, the music did tend to get tedious and you'd hear the same thing a few times. This really only gets annoying with the first track, however.

Tranquility

• Topic: Tranquility (General)
• Penalty: No Penalty
• Team #78046

Overall Score

250/400

You go around in a stupor, shooting mushrooms and springs which are actually mental patients changed by your psychedelia. Shoot them all to win, and the scientist in charge won't use his DoomMachine on you...

Theme

100/100

Well, geez, this is the only real spin on the topic I've seen where the game is about tranquilizers, which, according to language rules, induce tranquility.

Gameplay

50/90

It was fun... for a bit. The game used 2x2 sprite enemies and players and was a sidescroller. You shoot tranquilizer darts at enemies to kill them. It got kind of old. Also, a lot of deaths were caused by not knowing that a bottomless pit was there; “X” signs or something similar could have helped. A lot of the platforming was hard and enemies knocked you off very easily. Unfortunately, many enemies are also precariously placed. Rapid saving was induced.

Graphics

35/70

They pale in comparison to those of some other entries, but they did work. Animations weren't as smooth and some things just looked weird. However, the design of the levels and background stuff helped the crazy psycho mood a lot.

Technique

35/60 Hey, it used sprites. But what was here was rather basic, and there wasn't much Robotic used outside of control of those sprites.

Story

15/80

The story for this game is rather weak. Basically, you have to tranquilize patients for a scientist, or he will kill you. Nothing more develops within the game. Points for a little bit of backplot and objective, I suppose.

Sound

15/30

The funk jazz track in the background rocked a lot, but the lack of sound effects made the game have less bang to it, so to speak. I'd say about half of the points are for music, so...

western_civ

• Topic: Wild West (Specific)
• Penalty: No Penalty? Patch was submitted...
• Team #79705

Overall Score

240/400

This Western game focuses on gunplay and the like. It has you competing with enemies in quick draws and evading rifle shots. Your journey starts as your friend Deli, who is somehow wanted dead or alive, is injured. You have to go find supplies to help him.

Theme

20/20

Well, geez, the guns and the desert pretty much add up to a big serving of Wild West, I believe.

Gameplay

50/120

What was there was entertaining—most of the points that slipped away here were due to there just not being enough stuff. The quick draw battles were pretty fun and so was evading the rifle, but each only happened two and one times, respectively.

Graphics

70/90

Again—not much, but it worked great. Some full-screen cinematics. General design schemes worked great, and Hideki has a unique way of making interiors. The color scheme was good.

Technique

40/80

I have to keep saying it because it's such a short game. What was here worked. The quick draw engine was pretty neat, and so was the rifle detection. Text boxes also added a nice touch.

Story

20/80

There was probably a good story in the works but it wasn't developed much yet. From what I can fathom, Deli was probably falsely accused of whatever crime he's seeking after. (The players are always good guys, right?)

Sound

40/40

The sounds worked great with the gameplay. The depth of the gun effects and speech helped a lot, and the music was good and fit perfectly. No deductions here.

RAGE CHANNELER

• Topic: Tranquility (General)
• Penalty: No Penalty
• Team #80677

Overall Score

240/400

There are two planes, Rage and Tranquility, that oppose each other. You're pretty much the best channeler of rage there is, and you travel to the Plane of Tranquility. Your objective is to make the entire plane become absorbed in rage. This is accomplished by walking over every square to convert it, but you can't step on your own converted rage!

Theme

100/100

The game involves destroying the Plane of Tranquility, so tranquility is your biggest foe. Also, the game is a puzzle-type, so it's pretty tranquil. So, the theme is applied in both plot and gameplay elements.

Gameplay

20/90

Alright, now to the gameplay. You have to fill the entire board with rage by moving and changing the tile. But moving upon a changed tile is bad and you have to start over. For a puzzle game, it requires little thought. There are relatively few gameplay mechanisms; for the most part it's just converting tiles. However, later in the game, mystery blocks appear. They can be normal squares, MZX transporters, or currents. Although it gives the game variety, it's annoying, and doesn't really make the game more fun.

Graphics

40/70

===Graphics=== consisted of a few tiles and the player, aside from some cinemas. There was little style to show in the game, but what was there was done well. I think there's a problem, though, when the team number is the most well-done art in the game. Also I think the player is about to flap his arms and fly away.

Technique

30/60 Again, what was there was good, but there just wasn't enough. The game was a basic MZX board, but each block was remapped to a 2x2 tile and shown that way. That's basically all I can account for.

Story

35/80

The story, although not the best to begin with, was developed somewhat. Events happened in a sensical order and nothing went unexplained.

Sound

15/30

The majority of the points docked here were for the intro and ending music. I have my volume at a reasonable level (about 3/8 the way up) and I could hear some of the electric guitar wails rather audibly out of my headphones. This was embarrasing when my conservative grandmother accidentally burst into my room. Besides that, the walking sound was good and so was the music for each level.

Disturbin' Tha Peace

• Topic: Tranquility (General)
• Penalty: No Penalty
• Team #84562

Overall Score

223/400

This game was a djtiesto game. That is, it involves going around and talking to people and inventory along with another type of gameplay. Your name is Mikey and you decide to ride your bike, but it's missing! You track down the thief, Tyrone, and confront him. Something's going on behind the scenes, however...

Theme

40/100

Unfortunately, the theme was not used well in this game. It's just “another tranquil day” (but actually, it isn't, really); your quest is to preserve tranquility, and, that's about all the game has to do with tranquility. In addition, the small cinematics between “levels” have nothing to do with tranquility, either, and neither do the levels themselves.

Gameplay

25/90

This game was frustrating. The relation between message cycles and lines of text is ((60 * lines) + 12). The additional 12 cycles is due to the closing and opening of the viewport. So, one object takes 72 cycles to complete. What's the problem? The problem is Speed 5. It is on Speed 5, so those 72 cycles are each a little more tedious. In addition, many of the cinemas were REALLY long with only slight variations in music to listen to, making this game a real frustration. The inventory puzzles were cool, but I was hesitant to touch each thing or use each item, as it renders the game unplayable as the message slowly goes by.

Graphics

65/70

The graphics did work, djtiesto is good at those cityscapes. The style was unique, as well. Everything looked correct, nothing was malformed, the palette was well-designed. A couple points off for static characters in some areas and little picky things.

Technique

35/60 There was quite a lot of Robotic in use here—the main selector was made of Robotic and so were the cinemas and messages that took forever, and the sprite jumpers, too. I'm going to say that Robotic was used well—but for a bad purpose in some spots.

Story

30/80

There is a plausible story going on that involves Mario elements... I've never seen a plausible story with Mario elements outside of Mario games themselves. However, the story contains weak links and is just crazy. The cinemas don't support the story at all, which are usually what cinemas are supposed to do.

Sound

28/30

The game's good point? Not a lot of SFX, but the electronic music was great and enjoyable. I dig that stuff. It calmed me down through its frustrating moments. But, next time, PLEASE make sure that your files do not take up more than a third of the total space of the DoZ. I believe it would be very reasonable to take a couple points off for that—it is an issue that I, an Official Judge of the 2007 Winter Dualstream Day of Zeux, found with the sound files.

STAN DIRTBIKE in SPACE GOLD is where the HEART used to be

• Topic: Wild West (General)
• Penalty: No Penalty
• Team 86709

Overall Score

257/400

This game switched from a slightly effective topdown sprite action game to a crazy space shooter. There was humor abound, but the game ends abruptly, leaving you wondering a couple things.

Theme

10/20

The Wild West manifested in the form of a planet. OK by me, although the purpose of this category for Specific topics is more or less checking whether the contestants did the topic. As the meat of the game was a space shooter with no indication of where it was going at all, you get half the points.

Gameplay

75/120

The first section of gameplay was pretty silly—when enemies swooped over to you, your shots fired right over their heads, making them extremely difficult to shoot. However, getting hit doesn't really matter, since there are about +/- 6 enemies and 100 health, I presume. After a short interlude you aim to conquer a fortress by space. A relatively fun space shooter ensues, and you shoot surprised-looking cats. It was fun! Some points docked for the first area, though, and for a couple kinks of the shooter part (the ship should have sped up gradually; I found myself going out of control as a speed powerup finally kicked in).

Graphics

55/90

The graphics were excellent and tapered off from there, from the title screen to the walking sprite to the ship flying through space. The space shooter's graphics could have been improved quite a bit though. But, cats!

Technique

55/80

Nothing but technique here. The walking, shooting sprites have been seen before, but there are few space shooters in MZX. The shooter was rather precise and used fractions of characters as placement, so that's good. Cinemas and dialog boxes were mostly neatly done. The radar was neato.

Story

30/80

The story is a rather average one, and all the parts are present. However, the majority of points lost here is due to the abrupt ending point. We can assume, as we hear famous cowboy quotes, that the protagonist kicked butt in the fortress... I hope... Come on, Stan Dirtbike...

Sound

32/40

A couple sounds were missing, like some explosions for the shooter and things like that. The music was good and fit well, though. In conclusion: COUNTRY.MOD.

the technicolor adventures of SHERIFF BOB

• Topic: Wild West (General)
• Penalty: None
• Team 95831

Overall Score

260/400

Taitorian is still great at cinemas and minigames. This is what this game is--a string of sub-games, which are good in themselves and pretty great together. I, personally, don't like shootout-style games, and this had a long section of them. The charming cinemas and mini-games make up for this lack of variety, however.

Theme

20/20

This game is western in every aspect, and especially wild. No lost points.

Gameplay

50/120

At its core, the gameplay was not good. The cinematic qualities redeem it a bit, but... during the shootout phase, I couldn't tell if the game was making fun of itself or not as the fifth screen came by. It's unfortunate that this game has to be judged under specific topic guidelines because the gameplay was not its strong point.

Graphics

90/90

Yes, yes and yes. ===Graphics=== were minimalistic but because the movies and animations were so fluent and everything was pretty much where it should be, you get a high mark. A little bit off for a couple details like mostly default palette.

Technique

40/80

Most of the robotic prowess in use here was to make the graphics as charming as they are and, although this probably didn't take a thousand lines, they did work. There was nothing much that I haven't seen before, but you get quite a few points for everything being good and in working order!

Story

20/80

There's very little story here—but enough to make a game work. A few points for the events being somewhat coherent and making sense in a pattern.

Sound

40/40

The sound was cued to the cinematics excellently. Kudos for the music almost always matching the mood. I see no room to dock any points.