The Sunday N
by Alex Kurcharski,
featuring Tanner Rogalsky
and Matt Blaylock
Archive:
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#41
The
Daily
Rundown
July 15th to July 21st
July 15th
A simple puzzle, but a cool puzzle. Can be found right here.
July 18th
Very mondo cool. I know I put a lot of his maps in, but I really think they kick ass.
Six to go from this one. He's almost there now.
In a non-hip-hop context, his flow is drivin'!
July 19th
Again with the dang flow. He's got it down.
Kooky to the max bong style. Y'all know what I'm talkin' 'bout.
July 20th
Homie's on fire this week.
There was supposed to be another map here, but it's non-existent. Can't remember who it was, so you can thank them hardcore.
July 21st
Definitely the most badass 999th map I've ever seen.
Maps of the Week
- AMomentLikeThis - Interlude 9 - 999 Damage (The Final Interlude)
- yahoozy_Guacamole - The Upside-Down Tree
- Green_Ghost - If I Submit A Map Right Now
- yahoozy_Guacamole - Mirror Interior
- yahoozy_Guacamole - A Divide
- Green_Ghost - Half a Word
- AMomentLikeThis - Interlude 4 - Me, You And My Medication
- mintnut - Bumper
News
Level Packs
The Songs I Listened To, As I Wrote This
Transatlantic - All of the Above, from the 2001 album Live in America
Transatlantic - Mystery Train / Beatles Medley, from the 2001 album
Live in America
Artist Commentary of the Third Kind
Barbed Wire: After sort of a puzzle spree, this one really felt
like I banged out something solid - plus, it was the first time I
really got any recognition as a newer author, and thus holds a special
place in my heart.
Sinous: I really enjoyed making and playing this map. The
mechanic is enjoyable, the tiles are nice, and the gold and mines are
well placed. I believe this map marks a point in my carreer where I
believe I began to grow as a map maker.
Stone Strewn: After browsing through a Mr. Sept's maps, I was
instantly infatuated with the stone - like tiles and just had to make a
map like it. The tiles and gameplay are at peak, the presentation is
good, and the level of difficulty is far more adequate in comparison to
many of my earlier maps.
Under the Influence: This map is actually one of my more
interesting ones, mostly because the concept came to me in a dream in
which I was sky diving. It was so fresh and exciting to me, I decided
that I would have to try to recreate the experience with NED. This is
what I came up with, and I really enjoy it.
Top Hats: As much as I love the tiles in this level, they're not
the reason I chose to comment on it. The idea behind this map was to
attempt to use excellent presentation - to give the level as much depth
as possible without slopping on as many switches as possible. I thought
I was reasonably successful ^.^.
Dracula's Igloo: Another conceptual map, my latest map feels
like another threshold for me in map making; an evolution of my style,
per se. I'd like to focus on giving my maps even better presentation
and atmosphere, and this one was modeled after a sea scape. Whie I
don't feel like it had the tightest game play, I felt like it had a
much stronger ambience than many of my other maps.
04-1 - dotCom: I must say, if I had to pick a favorite level
from my little known level pack, Radical, this would probably
be it. I love the style of the level, the drone paths some are of my
best, and the difficulty properly balances challenge with fun.
04-4 - Riverboat: Another level coming from my radical pack, I
wanted to give the idea of slinking through weedy river darkness in a
boat. Fun, good drone paths, etc.
Machina Pulse: Whaddya know, this one looks like an elephant! It
also plays smoothly, quickly, and has what I believe to be a rockin'
tileset. While I felt unrestricted both making and playing this level,
the reason I enjoy it so much is it's sense of rhythm.
Ruff in the Jungle!: Last, but certainly not least, we have my
dearly held collaboration with krusch! One night, I decided to approach
krusch to collab, and this is what came of it - an organic, free
flowing level.
Man, you will probably have someone new up here next week. I half-guarantee it!
Nterviewed
By Tanner Rogalsky
Man, when I joined (which wasn't really that long ago in the grand scheme of things), astheoceansblue was the mapmaker. At least, he was to my NUMA-ignorant brain-head. He was like a minor deity. It was wild. The atob article is one of the first things I remember reading on the N Wiki. Good times, good times. Pagoder Ass-mylum.
Hyphens are pretty neat.
Tanner: Who do you make maps for?
atob: Mechtradevil
<3
Tanner: Where do you draw inspiration from?
atob: Everything I experience. My map 'Sleepy
Hollow' was based on a dream I had of spider webs that tripped
memories of the Tim Burton movie, while 'Harold Weathervein' was a NED
translation of the lyrics for the song of the same name by the band
Cursive. Other times I glean inspiration directly from other maps or
author styles. It depends what my head's doing at the time.
Tanner: Episodic or Standalone? Why?
atob: Standalone gives you more room to breath, I
find, you don't have to think about the flow of the episode or the
worth of the gold to such a degree: you can experiment more freely.
Episodic is more rigid, and much more of a challenge to get right as
there's a great deal of stipulation involved. Whereas an episode
working as a standalone is a very subjective thing, I find a standalone
working as an episode to be much more objective. I'm rambling a little,
aren't I? The answer is: I couldn't possibly decide and I think it
would weaken me as a map maker if I tried to.
Tanner: Do you feel like you've stayed relevant to the
map making and playing scene?
atob: I find the tone of this question is fitting to
the current feel of NUMA: it feels more like a contest rather than a
collective at times. Saying that, I've not failed to notice the impact
of my presence here: I see people emulating things I create often
enough to realize my worth to the community as a designer. I guess I'll
stay relevant in that respect as long as such things remain apparent.
Tanner: What do you do with constructive criticism
when you're one of the most experienced mappers on NUMA?
atob: I lash out at the smallest person/animal near
me with the heaviest/sharpest thing to hand, then I take a deep breath
try to take the comments on-board and make my maps more than they are.
Tanner: What did you think of that "Everyone loves
atob, but I want him to die" topic ?
atob: Firstly, I would like to say the reaction to
that thread was massively unexpected and absolutely lovely. It was an
inevitable reaction - given the temperament of the aggressor - to the
way I handle myself on NUMA; I try my best to give worthwhile and
constructive criticism and that tends to go against the standard 'back
patting' mentality that seems to be rife on NUMA. I can see how it
could be construed as aloof and elitist, but that's neither the intent
nor truth of it. Some people just don't like the way I operate, which
is fine and fair. Those people are idiots, though ;)
Tanner: What's on the horizon for atob?
atob: A couple of cool sounding projects. One of
which is very exciting indeed, but there's nothing I can give away
without ruining it. *winks at the conspirators*
Other than that, I hope progression, evolution, innovation and as close
to fresh design as I can get.
Editor's Note: I'll give you very good odds that Kablizzy is somehow involved. I'm so turning TSN into a gossip rag.