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The results are in! With the exception of a tie in "Best Aesthetics," all other maps had a single winner that stood out above the rest. Some races, though, were close, so I've decided to include "honorable mentions" in some of the categories. Thanks for your votes, fellow ForgeHubbers! I proudly present...your winners!
Best Racetrack Map of 2007
Blowing away the competition (all of one nomination), Glimflicker's "Bungie 500" easily takes the cake for this one. Combining intelligent track layout, clean and professional aesthetics, and the distinct lack of honor rules, "Bungie 500" is now nearly unanimously the "Best Racetrack Map of 2007!"
Best Slayer Map of 2007
Handily showing off AZN FTW's skill in slayer maps, this was a close call. However, due to some last-minute votes, "Training Ground" barely beat out "The Labyrinth." With its tactical, strategy-oriented feel, "Training Ground" brought back the old SWAT-styled map. Perfectly balanced and very replayable, "Training Ground" by AZN FTW is your new "Best Slayer Map of 2007!"
Honorable mention: "The Labyrinth" by AZN FTW and Co.
Best CTF Map of 2007
Where else are flames grenades, bubble shields, Capture the Flag, manic games and balance combined? None other than xAoTx diffuse's crazed CTF map, "Tunnel Raid 2.0." The single tight corridor between the two bases made for thrilling flag runs, blazing tunnels, and bubble shield chains. Congratulations, xAoTx diffuse, on creating "Tunnel Raid 2.0," the "Best CTF Map of 2007!"
Honorable mentions: "Cell Block 71" by TrueDarkFusion and TheYavimayan and "Citadel" by Shock Theta.
Best Assault Map of 2007
With only minor competition from other assorted maps that wield bombs (Quidditch is hardly a real Assault...), "Depot" by TrueDarkFusion and TheYavimayan stood out as the greatest Assault map. With its three levels of aesthetics and balanced geometry, "Depot" quickly became a favorite among the few that desired to play Assault games. Well done, men, on making "Depot," the "Best Assault Map of 2007!"
Best Infection Map of 2007
Barely edging out the zany "Crate Frenzy" by rusty eagle, "Cat 'N Mouse" by TrueDarkFusion and TheYavimayan earned this award. Quickly separating itself from the typical "humans get millions of rockets and impenetrable bases" Infection maps, "Cat 'N Mouse" utilized vehicles to create a new, fresh zombies map. Infinitely replayable, "Cat 'N Mouse" is the official "Best Infection Map of 2007!"
Honorable mentions: Coming in second and third, respectively, are "Crate Frenzy" by rusty eagle and "Compound 42B" by TrueDarkFusion and TheYavimayan.
Best Territories Map of 2007
An almost nonexistent category before the creation of this brilliantly fun map, Territories was officially brought into the limelight with BTSP's inspiring work of art, "The Cellars." A combined effort by talented Forgers, this map utilizes the less-respected Rat's Nest rather than forum-favorite Foundry. By reducing the damage to 75% and limiting the power weapons, BTSP created a classic Territories map in which each territory became in itself and epic battle. I give you "The Cellars," "Best Territories Map of 2007!"
Best King of the Hill Map of 2007
Although it appeared that Shock Theta's "Control Room" would win by a landslide earlier in the voting process, "The Platform" by AZN FTW made a late comeback to clinch the victory. Using invincibility, fusion coils, and an floating anti-gravity platform, AZN FTW created an extremely original map. Kings in the hill found themselves invincible to Battle Rifle fire...only to find themselves hurled across the map moments later by a very unhappy flipping hill. Brilliant, simple, and zany yet competitive fun, AZN FTW's "The Platform" rises above the competition as "Best KOTH Map of 2007!"
Honorable mentions: "Control Room" by Shock Theta and "Sumo" by TrueDarkFusion and TheYavimayan.
Best Aesthetic Map of 2007
Followed closely by AZN and Co.'s "The Labyrinth," TrueDarkFusion and TheYavimayan's "Depot" tied with Coolant's amazing recreation of "The Pelican." I allowed a tie here because "Depot" is a beautiful playable map, while "The Pelican" is sheerly for visual enjoyment. I am proud to announce "Depot" by TrueDarkFusion and TheYavimayan and "The Pelican" by Coolant as the "Best Aesthetic Maps of 2007!"
Honorable mention: "The Labyrinth" by AZN and Co.
Best Map Gameplay Map of 2007
There is only one map in which your worst enemy is not a blood-thirsty zombie or a strategic team but a rapidly accelerating dumpster. Only in rusty eagle's "Crate Frenzy" do you hear the horrific shrieks of "OH MY GOSH I GOT NAILED BY A SPOOL!" and "I would have won if it weren't for those meddling crates." Possibly the most original and most certainly the most replayable, rusty eagle's "Crate Frenzy" wins "Best Map Gameplay of 2007!"
Honorable mention: "The Swings" by I Cottage I.
Note: rusty eagle has just finished a sequel to "Crate Frenzy" called "Barrel Blaster." Check it out!
Best Minigame of 2007
Blowing away what little competition existed, I Cottage I's "The Swings" outshone all other minigame maps. Cleverly combing zombies, weapon holders, open containers, and terrified nauseous humans, "The Swings" by I Cottage I is hailed as the "Best Minigame of 2007!"
Best Overall Map of 2007
This is the big one! "Best Overall" means that the map must be balanced, original, fun, replayable, clean, professional, pretty, and, apparently, horribly confusing. Sneaking in just days before the new year, this map was enjoyed by all (despite initial confusion as to how to actually find one's way around). Never to be seen in TGIFD, always to be praised as 2007's greatest map, I give you Shock Theta's "Citadel," the "Best Overall Map of 2007!"
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That's everything, everybody. I want to give a huge shout-out to the members who voted for these maps...all 36 of them. Out of our 1350 members, 36 voted. That's 2.66%. I realize that writing in was a bit more work, but still. We'll be working on a better way to do it next time. Hopefully we'll get a lot more input next time! Thanks everybody, I'm out! (who knows how many hours of work later...)
P.S. For map links, please scroll down to the votes. I'm in school right now, and I don't have the time to put in all the links (Which are right below this). I spent almost three hours on this edit alone, with a combined total of just under 24 hours of work on this thread. I hope y'all enjoy it!
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Disclaimer: Everything below this is the original post, and, thus, does not reflect the chosen winners; nor is the info up to date. It is being kept for security's sake. Everything above this line is the official results of this contest. Thanks! -Lance
Greetings, fellow Forge Hubbers, Guilders, Staff, and Spammers! In its mere months of life, ForgeHub.com has grown to epic proportions, both in size and content. We've had maps out the wazoo, with many more submitted daily. Some of these maps were amazing, with beautiful aesthetics and brilliant gameplay. Others...others were only good as examples on what not to do.
Today we're looking for the absolute best, the excellent and praiseworthy maps. Which map brought you to your knees in awe? On which map did you play game after game of CTF, Infection, or Slayer? If you had to play Assault, which map would you choose, based on its perfected spawns and balanced gameplay? God forbid, you have to play a Territories map...which one would you choose?
You get the point. We're asking you, the community, for your opinion on the "best of the best." What we need are shout-outs to what you think deserves the award. The categories are as follows:
Best Slayer Map (Team or FFA)
Best CTF Map (All types)
Best Assault Map (All types)
Best Infection Map
Best Territories Map (All types)
Best KOTH Map)
There will also be a few miscellaneous categories:
Best Map Aesthetics (The Prettiest)
Best Map Gameplay (Funnest/Most Replayable)
Best Racetack
Best Minigame
Best Overall Map
You can vote on any map, whether it was from Forgers, Guilders, or whatever. The only key is that it had to have been submitted as a map at ForgeHub.com. If you haven't done so yet, and want to try and nominate your map for "Best of 2007," you've got like one day, but you're pretty much screwed.
Anyways, here's how the votes work: the first time a map is submitted as an entry, it doesn't count...it only activates that map's participation. In order for that map to get a vote as "Best of...," it's got to be voted on by other members of the board. This is to prevent people from spamming their own maps. So, if you, for instance, think that Tunnel Raid was the best CTF map of 2007, you would put: "Tunnel Raid 2.0 by XAoTDiffuseX (or whatever his name is), Best CTF Map." You need the name, author, and category, and a link to the thread posted here on ForgeHub. Here's the tricky part: Tunnel Raid is activated but has not been given a vote. If JorgiBob over here suddenly goes, "ZOMGZ TUNNEL RAID WAS THE BEST!" and then he submits the same type post as the first person, Tunnel Raid 2.0 now has one vote in the CTF category.
Secondly, when posting about a map the second time (and third, fourth, etc.), you must include a reason for why the map deserves the award. Any map that you vote on will not receive your vote if a good reason is not included. A sample of a good reason: "Tunnel Raid, Best CTF. Its lightning-fast fun was mixed with balanced yet explosive gameplay." That's a decent reason, so the vote would be counted.
This will be open for a couple of weeks. At the end of that time, we'll tally the votes (not including the original entry submisison) and place the top five into a poll, at which time everyone will be allowed to vote for the Best.
This post will be continually updated, so check back often for the edits in blue.
EDIT: Oddball category removed (what the heck is Oddball?). Minigame category added. -12/29/07
EDIT: NEW RULE! Due to many people asking, the answer is "no," you may neither nominate or vote for your own map(s). This is to keep the forums from flooding this poll with nominations of terrible maps. Thank! -12/31/07
Voting ends on January 10th! Please cast your votes as soon as possible!