A Friendly Competition

[U are a noob]

So my friend Pyrogasm and I we're talking on AIM and he said to me "Let's have a spell contest between you and me", and I thought that was just a lovely idea so this friendly competition was born.

We decided we would have 48 hours to create a spell which had to conform to two rules, one which we each would determine. The two constraints were as follows:

• The spell must involve a percentage in some form (e.g. Critical Strike)
• The spell must affect at least two units, not including the caster (e.g. Mass Teleport)

We also decided we could use one custom model if we so chose.



And then we ended up with two spells: Geyser Field and Sparkling Sword. (I'd post descriptions, but I don't want to sound biased toward one spell or the other.)

So we figured it would be interesting to post them on Wc3Campaigns and TheHelper and do a blind test to see which spell was preferred more without knowing anything about how the spell was made or whom it was made by. That's the reason for this post and poll. Now, if you must do something, please at least pick your vote in the poll, but Pyrogasm and I would both appreciate it more if you could post at least a little feedback (a sentence or two) regarding your choice.

And that, with the exception of the disclaimer, is all.
Disclaimer

This is intended to be a blind test/vote/poll, and for that reason the map is protected. 
There are obviously ways to undo this, and if you simply [i]must[/i] look at the code, then go ahead, but it will most likely ruin the anonymity.

If you do look at the code, please do say so when/if posting feedback.

 

[Pyrogasm]

Sweet. If you feel like checking in on the other poll on Wc3c, go here.

 

[TheDamien]

The distinction between GUI and Jass isn't some arbitrary invention of elitist mapmakers, it actually shows in the map.

Geyser looked nicer, had a more advanced effect and was (as far as can be seen) bug free.

 

[Trithilon-V2]

The sword was better in concept and eye candy i wud say......but had a few bugs.

 

[Daskunk]

Sparkling Sword gets my vote. The other one was a neat idea in terms of the model effect it used, but in total I like Sparkling Sword better. Pretty bugged, though, I wouldn't use it. (Doesnt go to were you target it, and can get you stuck off the map..)

 

[FroznYoghurt]

The effects of the spells are pretty much as cool for both of em, maybe the geiser field is just one nudge better.

Eyecandywise there are some flaws for both of em imo.

The red particle emitter from the earthequake effect kinda ruins the "water" feel of it, also the water explosions seems a little mellow. (I picture geysers as "PSCHOOOOOO" these were kinda "pfffft". Cool model though, it looks sweet.)

The teleport and the spin in sparkling sword seems kinda unmotivated, otherwise it looks all cool. Although I personally would have apreciated something to indicate a "drain" from the units.

The tooltip for sparkle sword is somewhat f-ed up, geyser field tooltip way clearer.

To sum it up... both are cool clean spells, but in pure feeling the Geyser Field scores higher when it comes to awesomeness.

My Vote: Geyser Field

 

[Kazuga]

Love the sword ability, it has awsome eye candy and are well balanced. Altough the tooltip is a little messed up.

Good job both of you:thup:

 

[U are a noob]

Thanks for the comments guys. Please keep voting.

 

[Xenoche]

That Sparkling sword is nice, apart from the fact that you cant seem to control the distance. Geyser Field seemed to just be an over complicated flame strike, where the Sparkling Sword serves a multitude of purposes and looks good to boot.

 

[Baltazhar]

I think it's easy to see what is Jass and what is GUI. And since I can only do GUI, I have a habit of liking Jass abilities more (grass is always greener on the other side).

Sparkling Sword
I like the eyecandy a lot, really sweet. As to the functionality of it, I would say it misses a bit. As before mentioned, the tooltip is pretty confusing, and the draining part does show up at all. It would also have been nice with a little custom Lightning Shield buff to show that he had the shield on, besides the swirling balls around him. I like the Bladestorm animation, but couldn't figure out why he did it. Thought that start blast area was the life-sucking thing.
All in all, a nice eyecandy ability indeed.

Geyser Field
The pumping water should have been a bit larger scale, to make it look more powerful. The Earthquake underneath it kinda ruined the eyecandy in my oppinion. However, since I believe this is GUI made, I really like the math behind it - If it does, as I imagined, scald units near the pumping geyser, and not just in the entire AoE of the spell.

Really good job on the spells both of you guys, and how I admire having a friendly spellcontest. Boosts creativity and you get to know eachother a bit more

I voted for Sparkling Sword - And that was absolutely based on the eyecandy bit. For efficiency I believe that Geyser Field would be superior.

- Baltazhar

 

[thewrongvine]

That Sparkling sword is nice, apart from the fact that you cant seem to control the distance. Geyser Field seemed to just be an over complicated flame strike, where the Sparkling Sword serves a multitude of purposes and looks good to boot.

HEY HEY! XENOCHE IS THAT YOU? ARE YOU SLACKING FROM YOUR MAP? WHILE LOOKING AT OTHER POSTS? or are you his girlfried?

Ehem... I'll respond when I get the DL and stuff...

 

[Burningicce9]

I voted for Geyser

-Sparking sword doesn't go to where you wanted it to
-Had to read the tooltip a lot, and I still don't know what it did exactly
-Sparking sword had better graphics imo, ground thingies looked out of place on geyser
-Geyser had a better mechanic imo

 

[Squishy]

I voted for Sparkling Sword. IMO the idea was more original and creative. Both had good SFX, but Geyser Field looked a bit wierd with the spikes.

 

[131ackout]

The geyser ability got my vote.

it's cool

 

[U are a noob]

Bump

 

[averes]

Honestly, I think the sparkling sword is the far superior concept. But it's bugged out like crazy. The geyser may be a bit boring in comparison, but its a far cleaner spell. A few issues with the spells I noticed.

Geyser:
- Damage occasionally takes some time to come through

Sparkling Sword:
- Targeting areas nearby often send you off flying much further than intended.
- Targetting areas with large amounts of mobs can create a large amount of lag.
- The lightning shield effect seems only to work on the mobs that it was 'created' based on. Yet the effect stays far longer than it normally takes for mobs to die.

Long story short, Geyser is less bugged, but not nearly as creative ect. But Sparkling sword needs far more work before it could be considered the better spell.

 

[Zaraf]

I think the sparkling sword was a cooler looking spell, but it had issues with the distance it would travel. The geyser one wasn't as impressive in terms of visual effects as I was expecting. I was thinking you were going to use that tiny volcano/crater model, which I think would have been a lot better than those spikes.