Since I have no idea how to judge how good a map is, and the judging criteria is partly adherence to the challenge itself, and partly... well.. personal taste... I thought I should explain my method of deciding who to vote for, so some nice person could tell me if there is a better way (please!)


So.. most people didn't finish on time.

and:

1) I thought at first that we had three votes, but apparently we have as many as we like, and
2) There are a total of 5 entries...


So I thought, well, I'll just vote for everyone. Then I thought, "that would have no affect on who won, and would be a total cop-out". Then I thought, since I *know* mine is A) Unfinished B ) A rushed-effort and C) Not my best (artistic) work... I could vote for everyone but myself. But that would be silly.

So I decided to stick to the "3 vote" thing mentioned in another post somewhere for a different challenge... but then I realized (if I was not one of my votes) I would just be telling the 1 remaining entrant their map wasn't as good as the rest! (Which is untrue for any entry).

So I decided to do a 10 point scale based on the judging criteria for the other challenge, and (primarily) adherance to the challenge itself.

So:

Quote Originally Posted by ravells View Post
This month's challenge is to map an archetypical fantasy town.

Play it straight or for laughs but try to get in as many fantasy tropes as you can.
and:

Entries will be judged based on the following criteria in no specific order: originality, artistic merit, adherence to challenge guidelines, technical excellence.
I don't know what technical excellence is, but I'm assuming it is a mix of accuracy and completeness.

Using these methods, I found that all the maps had their strong points:

1) MiltonMills Village
Accuracy: 10/10
Completeness: 10/10 (The only fully-finished map WITH a scale of some type..)
Artistic Merit: 9/10 (The water is disturbing me somehow, but the detail in the rest of the map more than makes up for it)
Originality: 8/10 (Bonus points for the waterfall and the ruins... really, how original can a "typical" and trope-filled small town be? )
Adherance to Challenge Guidelines: 10/10 (Archetypical/idyllic small town? Check. Tropes? Not spelled out, but they are all there)
Total score: 47/50

2) Riker's Crossing
Accuracy: 10/10
Completeness: 6/10 (Was higher without the admission that it was incomplete ("ran out of time") in the thread)
Artistic Merit: 8/10. (Largely because it's incomplete, it feels like something is missing. The blurry background actually somehow fits with the sharp relief of the houses, so that's good!)
Originality: 7/10. (Nothing really jumped out at me, but again, it's the nature of the challenge.)
Adherance to Challenge Guidelines: 6/10. (Idyllic Small town? Check. Tropes? I can't see them. I wish it was complete so I could. Still.. the idyllic small town IS a trope, so...)
Total Score: 37/50

3. Small Town in a Valley

Accuracy: 10/10
Completeness: 7/10 (Was higher without the admission that it was incomplete ("ignore this") in the thread)
Artistic Merit: 7/10. (beautifully and skillfully done, but incomplete, and doesn't let you *see* the village)
Originality: 8/10. (Bonus points for bravely entering a different perspective.)
Adherance to Challenge Guidelines: 5/10. (Idyllic Small town? Check. Tropes? none I can see...)
Total Score: 37/50

4) Town in a Valley
Accuracy: 10/10
Completeness: 5/10
Artistic Merit: 9/10 (I wish this was finished. I can see the bones of a beauty)
Originality: 10/10 (I like that you tried to show more than just a zoom of the building. Part of small town life is the land )
Adherance to Challenge Guidelines: 4/10 (Can't see any tropes, and this *feels* bigger than an archetypical small town to me. Would have been so much higher if finished, I'm sure)
Total Score: 38/50

Finally, my own entry:

5) Crescent Lake (I'll try to be completely objective)

Accuracy: 2/10. (Yeah... found out while mapping that NONE of the distances/layouts I had in my head will work at all. To fill the right area, my houses would all be way beyond the size of that in a small town like this)
Completeness: 5/10 (Didn't get a chance to finish, but at least I got my labels in)
Artistic Merit: 3/10 (Even incomplete, this is by far the sloppiest work I've ever done. It isn't even pretty. (I'll fixit someday, though) )
Originality: Uhhhh... how do you judge yourself on that? 4/10. (I gave up my originality to be able to finish on time )
Adherance to Challenge guidelines: 6/10. small town in a valley, but I couldn't fit in 90% of my tropes. Still, there's a few.)
Total Score: 20/50


So... While everyone did very well overall (except me, ironically), there was one clear winner in all this. (Keeping in mind that all scores are just my personal opinions) So.. that's why, although everyone is very talented, and I repped you all, I'm casting only one vote, for Bogie. Congrats.