Rise of Nations Download Review Guidelines

Category Scoring continues...

Creativity

This area is probably second in subjectivity behind playability. Creativity is found in all aspects of a scenario, from trigger tricks, to map design, to the story, to what units a player is given, to the objectives, to sounds used, to cinematics and cutscenes, etc... Every aspect of a scenario factors into creativity. One thing to be careful for is not to knock points off of creativity if the designer uses a trick you've seen used in another scenario. There's nothing wrong with using the same trick that someone else used and no reason to deduct points because of that.

Probably the biggest creativity factors are the starting position and the victory conditions. For example, any scenario that starts with a TC and three villagers with a conquest victory condition is simply not very creative. The farther a player gets from a random-style scenario, the better the creativity score.

Map Design

Map design is one of the few categories that's very easy to define and give a rating to. I have pretty clear-cut rules on how map design is scored and this is how it should work. A random map is a 3. All a designer needs to do to score a 3 is to use a generated random map. Random maps look good, they function well and there's nothing wrong with using a random map in a scenario, but it's just average. From that basis, it's easy to figure out where scores of 1, 2, 4 and 5 come from.

A rating of 1 is for a pathetic map... these usually consist of large blank areas with lots of square areas and straight lines. These maps look completely unrealistic and are quite unattractive. A rating of 2 is somewhere between a pathetic map and a random map.

A rating of 5 is for an outstanding map with lots of special details and concentrated effort to make the map much better than a random map could possibly provide. Obviously, a rating of 4 is given for maps that are slightly better than a random.

The style and scenery of any cinematics should be factored in when calculating the score for Map Design. In addition to the scenery used, you should also be critiqueing the 'directing' skills of the designer. For example, does the cinematic flow smoothly? Are the various camera angles and lighting effects put to good use? Do the little extras and special effects add to the overall feel of the cinematic?

One final note on score map design... only the portion of the map that can be seen during play should be scored. If there are large empty areas that a player never sees, that should not affect the map design rating.

Story / Instructions

This is another pretty clear-cut category. If there is no story or instructions, the score is easy... it's a 1. If there are instructions but no story, the max score is a 3. If there is any story at all, the rating goes up to a 4 and if the story is really good, the rating can be a 5. If the instructions are wrong, misleading or confusing, the rating goes down. Also, keep in mind that the instructions and the story goes far beyond the pre-scenario instruction screen. Often the story is continued throughout the scenario by using trigger events to move the story along. Also, since objectives can change in the middle of a scenario, the quality of the instructions must be judged throughout the playing of the scenario.

Some other guidelines on scoring this category: Hints and History can also be judged here... these two areas are not required, but they can also help boost a scenario's score. While an introduction map, hints and history are not required, it would be difficult to give a rating of 5 if all three areas are missing. The rating should not be effected based on whether the story is fictional or historical. It doesn't make a difference as long as there's a story that draws the player into the scenario.

The last item that factors into the rating of the story and instructions is grammar and spelling. A designer should be diligent in this area of his scenario since it's very easy to copy the text into a word processor and spell check the instructions. There's no excuse for having spelling errors in a scenario... it simply shows a lack of effort on the part of the designer. The only exception I make is for designers whose primary language is not english... I am usually quite a bit more lenient with them.

Final Thoughts

The above instructions are specifically for writing scenario and campaign reviews. However, we allow reviews of all file types available for download so you can rate and write reviews on Mods, Random Maps, AI Files, Utilities and Recorded Games! However, these reviews will not use a 5 category system, instead you will give a single rating to the file. When you write your review, simply include enough information to explain why you gave the rating that you did. No matter what download you are reviewing, a basic rule of thumb is as follows:

Make your review long enough to thoroughly explain why you gave the rating you did. There are a few rare cases that a couple sentences may be adequete, but these are the exception rather then the rule. The bottom line is that a good review will always be lengthy enough to thoroughly explain the reviewer's choice of rating(s). A review consisting solely of "This scenario was pretty cool" or "This recorded game sucked" simply won't cut it.

Now that you've made it all the way through this document, you are ready to write reviews! If you have any further questions about what is expected of you, please direct them to Phillistine, our download manager or One_Dead_Angel.

Make sure that you are familiar with all guidelines before writing a review. If you do not adhere to these guidelines, you risk having your review removed or converted to a comment. In the event that your review is removed, there's no need to be discouraged. This is not an insult or derogatory statement about you, simply an indication that you need to go over what you wrote and see what you can improve. No one is asking you to have the style or technique of a professional critic; all that we ask is that you take the time to write a decent review.

We appreciate your reviews!