IotW: Winner's List! Updated Weekly - (READ ONLY)

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ophilwrighte

[Artica]

IotW 1 - 6/9/05

Great set of entries for our inaugral contest, and due to the sheer number of entries I cannot unfortunately comment all of them. However, here's some standout images.

Tzer: Nice POV, lovely terrain and surface map too. I'm loving the water and the foam effect, highly realistic Good job.

Itz_un: Simply stunning POV and terrain here, really realistic. The surface map is good but could use work, but again the water really makes this piece. Great job.

Wholehog: Another good piece, lovely surface map A bit flat though.

Insquall: Lovely theme here . I'm not loving the reflection of the sun, but that's just one of my quirks. Great terrain in the background, really helps make the piece.

Terrabill: As usual, a very unique image. Great POV, I'm liking the upward slant here. Nice sky and lovely surface map, very nice job overall


This week's winner...

GioMez!

Wonderful image here, there's very little I can fault. The atmosphere is stunning, understated but very powerful, brilliant water and SRF too. GioMez really has set a standard here

Congratulations

[Artica]

IotW #2 - 12/9/05

Another set of great pieces, thanks to all who submitted

Wholehog: Nice piece this, looks very imposing and sets a dark, powerful tone. Nice unique image.

Daniil: Very nice piece here, I'm liking the atmosphere and how the sun plays on the terrain - very close to winning this one was


This week's winner...

Insquall!

Wonderful image here, there's very little I can fault. Briliant POV and surface map, lovely work with the shadows too. Very unique take on the theme, good job.

Congratulations

[JavaJones]

IotW #3 - 19/9/05

As usual a lot of great entries this time around. It aint easy bein' a judge!

Mark-S: I liked the water, shore, and rays a lot. I strongly considered this one because it was the only one that chose to focus on the shoreline, which I thought was a unique take on the theme.

Terrabill: Beautiful reflections and lighting. The water patterns are really accented nicely by the sun and camera angles you've chosen here. I also like the sun hiding behind the clouds.

Tzer: Yours was probably the most balanced scene overall with terrific texturing, a nice terrain, and really nice water too. But I didn't feel that the water was as much a focus as some of the others. It was also a bit dark. But a really close call, as it's a fantastic image.

I could say great things about all the images this week. It was a really good crop, so good work everyone.

This week's winner...

GioMez!

Once again GioMez takes home the gold. Congratulations! He's edging closer to that custom User Rank.

Although the sky is the biggest stand-out feature in GioMez's image, it was the way he used both sky and underwater features to create a beautiful waterscape that impressed me. It is creative because much of the beauty of water comes from its reflective and refactive qualities, and GioMez has made good use of both. Really a beautiful water-focused image.

Thanks to everyone for their entries and good luck for this week's contest - the theme is "smooth".

- Oshyan

[JavaJones]

IotW #4 - 25/9/05

Not so many entries this week, but I thought quality was quite high! The advantage to fewer entrants of course is I can comment on them all.

Jayhawker: Really nice lighting and atmosphere. The smooth transition of sky to land with the haze is nicely done. Great PoV on a smooth terrain too.

Terrabill: Great smooth terrain. I like the 3 major layers of depth. Lovely colors too, especially the atmosphere.

Mandrake: I really like the smooth erosion idea (you inspired the next topic, of course ). The texturing is also really well done here. I have to admit the feeling of "smooth" didn't come across quite as well as I hoped, but the scene is fantastic.

Wholehog: Really excellent, original terrain idea! The bumpiness was a bit unfortunate, but you were really close to winning with this one. I really liked your take on the theme.

This week's winner...

Tzer!

The water is really what does it here. It's just gorgeous. Smooth is an understatement. It's not flat and boring either though. A wonderful balance of subtle waves and reflections.

Lovely terrain and sky as well. I think this one really captures the theme for me. Although the contest rules have a max size of 800x600, I'd really love to see this one in higher resolution. Great work!

Thanks to all for entering. I hope our next theme of "erosion" will be easier and inspire more to enter. And as I said I'm open to theme suggestiosn.

- Oshyan

[JavaJones]

IotW #5 - 5/10/05

You guys did good on a potentially tough theme. Nice work all around.

Terrabill: Super interesting terrain! I'm wondering how you came up with that one. Nice sky too.

Mandrake: Great story accompanying your entry! I really liked that, and I encourage other people to do the same. I definitely considered the back story in my judging.

Tzer: This one was really close to winning for sheer quality. The sky has some of the most realistic clouds I've seen in quite a while. All other elements are also very well done. But I didn't think it showed erosion quite as well as the winner.

This week's winner...

Wholehog!

It was all about the terrain on this one. With the theme of erosion, the terrain is of course critical (although some creative scene designer no doubt could have gotten around that ). Wholehog's terrain exemplified erosion to a 'T', and the quality texturing (nice use of strata) just cemented the deal. Nice work.

Congrats Wholehog! And good work everyone!

I'm very interested to see what you all make of this week's theme "Simply Terragen". Working within the confines of TG's built-in functionality is a challenge, but it's certainly possible to create some really great scenes with no outside help. I promise this will be the last difficult theme for a while though.

- Oshyan

[JavaJones]

IotW #6 - 16/10/05

Wow, what a turnout! And every one was very high quality, too. It'll be tough to top this one. And needless to say I won't be able to comment every single one, but I can safely say you all did a great job, especially with a potentially tough theme.

Wholehog: Really excellent texturing! The terrain is pretty standard TG fare, but the texturing almost won me over on its own. Really nice sky, too. Luck, or persistence, I don't care which.

Tzer: You're really becoming the "darling" of the IotW contest, consistently called as the winner long before it's over. But it's with good reason, I must say. Your scenes consistently have very high quality, with great texturing, lighting and skies. All that is evident here, and this probably would have been my 2nd choice. I only found the overall yellow lighting a bit monotone and the terrain a bit smooth and boring.

Hillbilly: It's a shame your image was an older one as I really liked the rays. I hope you enter in the future with some new images, you've got nice work!

Sukaduk: Good first entry. This image has a nice feel to it - can't quite put my finger on it, but I like it.  I'd reduce the sun's size and reflection spread a bit, but that's just a personal preference.

Redsquare: That's some sweet texturing! Pretty good terrain too, and a nice sky in the background, although a bit dark. The clouds also look like they're dropping down too fast over the horizon. The texturing really makes this stand out though, and it was high in the ranks due to that.

This week's winner...

Ragashingo!

Some of you may think the choice this week odd. Not that there's anything wrong with Ragashingo's image, I think it's great. But there were definitely flashier images in the running! I picked his largely due to the terrain, showing subtlety and realism that I personally see quite rarely from TG generated terrains. Impressive! And the texturing, although not quite perfect, really complements the terrain nicely. I also liked the water transparency and nice 3D clouds. Overall this is a subtle, understated scene, but nicely realistic IMO. Great feel and nice use of "Simply Terragen".

Congrats Ragashingo!

Now I expect you all to ante up for our currently running IotW with the subject "Storm". You've all set a high standard this past week and you don't want to disappoint me, do you?

- Oshyan

[JavaJones]

IotW #7 - 23/10/05

Sorry about the delay everyone! It's been a busy week. I'll cut right to the chase as I'm still juggling several things.

On the whole you guys had some pretty "hopeful"-looking storms. Lots of suns visible, which I found interesting. I got the consistent impression of an approaching or receding storm, though admittedly a storm in progress (rain, lightning, etc.) is not so easy to simulate in TG without post processing. But regardless I felt all the entries were very high quality. Some really fantastic skies.

I'll have to make the comments quick. Ragashingo, Wholehog and Mandrake all had great colors in their skies. Ragashingo, the little story accompanying yours was very cool. The additional descriptions are definitely welcome! Bill, there's a really interesting stark look to your scene - the landscape texturing lets it down a bit, but it's really nice nonetheless.

Ultimately it was a *very* close call between Tzer and Mark's images. Tzer's scene is just beautiful, but it doesn't feel quite as threatening as I thought it should. Mark's had slightly more "edge" to it, but...

This week's winner...

Tzer!

...ultimately I was swayed by Tzer's beautiful scene. The clouds and lighting are really wonderful. The water is almost more beautiful to me though. Really amazing reflections. Overall just a stunning scene. This one deserves to be shown at higher resolution IMO.

So congrats Tzer on his 2nd win!

I hope you're all enjoying the Halloween theme already in progress.

- Oshyan

[JavaJones]

IotW #8 - 30/10/05

Just about to leave for my vacation, so this will be another short one I'm afraid.

These images were lots of fun overall. Some very inventive concepts! Jayhawker and Ragashingo definitely get kudos for originality and creativity. Bill, I like your base scene a lot, and some of the added elements are cool, but the integration is a bit uneven and stands out too much in several cases. Phantasize, you've got a really nice scene there, with subtle but well-integrated post work. It doesn't necessarily say "Halloween" to me as much as maybe it could. But admittedly it's tough to communicate that with just a landscape.

It came down to Tzer and Wholehog's images this week. Both have really excellent post work and a good "Halloween" feeling. Both are good Terragen scenes too, although it's harder to tell in Wholehog's image since much of the TG work is covered up. It was really a tough decision here, and basically came down to what I gave priority to. I think Wholehog's image is more cohesive and a bit more obviously representative of the theme, but Tzer's definitely showcases more pure Terragen. In the end I decided I should go with which one I like best, largely ignoring other criteria since they were so close anyway. And since post work was allowed it's alright for the winning image to be heavily post worked.

This week's winner...

Wholehog!

The whole image here is just really well put together. It all fits together, there's a wonderful overall mood, and the concept is just great - a very good interpretation of the theme. Perhaps it's a bit cliched, but then what isn't about Halloween? So, very nice work Wholehog.

Wholehog is now on his 2nd win as well. Congrats! It's looking like pretty soon someobody's going to get their custom status.

Don't forget about this week's "Fall" (Autumn) theme, currently open for submissions.

Artica will be stepping back in to judge this one as I'll be gone on vacation. I'll be back in about a week. Have fun guys!

- Oshyan

[Artica]

IotW #9 5/11/05

Great submissions this week, really nice imagery here. However, I'm going to award this one to Wholehog. It's a stunning piece, very crisp and clear surface mapping and it definitely feels like a brisk autumn morning.

Sorry about the sparseness of this post, I'll make the next one more interesting

[Artica]

IotW #6 - 20/11/05

Lovely turnout this time around, guys . As this was quite a hard contest I extended it a week and as I expected the number of submissions increased - something to consider, I think.

And now, without further ado, onto the comments.

Jawhawker A very close runner-up, this one All that let it down is the sky really, looks a bit overdone to be honest. Very nice image on the whole however, lovely mist.

Terrabill Great concept, nicely executed too. I love the water and the lighting, and the clouds are very nice; I think the SRF's a bit too green though.

h00nta I love this piece, it reminds me of the Lord of the Rings for some reason. Very nicely done, great night-sky effect.

This week's winner...

Wholehog

...Again. I swear we're not rigging this

On the whole this one comes out as a clear winner, perfect POV with great clouds and a wonderful atmosphere. Lovely job, masterfully executed too.

[Artica]

IotW #11 4/12/05

Lovely set of submissions this week


Terrabill

Lovely lighting, good POV too


Mark-S

Lovely crisp surfacing and great rays.


Jawhawker

I just love the point of view here, shame the lighting kept the mountain in shadow really.


Tzer

Great point of view, let down a bit by the foreground surfacing, just not 'realistic' in my view.



This week's winner...

Giomez!


I just love the low angled POV in this one, lovely water effects in the foreground and lovely smooth terrain in the background with great surface mapping! Great job!

[Artica]

IotW #12 - 12/12/05

Though we didn't get many submissions this week, the quality was very high, a veeery hard one to judge, this.

Terrabill - Great surface mapping, lovely point of view too. Mountain looks a tad spiky though, but I'm sure it was intentional good job, and lovely sky!

Ragashingo - I love this piece, lovely atmosphere and a great point of view. Wonderful lighting as well, let down however by the unrealistic terrain, just doesn't look very mountainous to me.

Wholehog - Brilliant stuff as usual! Great, placid atmosphere here and solid surfacing. I love it!

And this week's winnder is...

Nuku!

Close one, this week This one stands out because of the unique lighting and POV, interesting surfacing too.



Good job this week guys! You made up for the lack of submissions by producing some very high quality stuff.

[Artica]

IotW #13 - 19/12/05

Firstly I'd like to apologise for my complete absence this week, I've been working on the launch of a new Gamespy site, and that's eaten into my time a lot. All done though! I was very, very impressed with the quality of the submissions this week, there's an amazingly talented crew here! And without further ado, on with the comments

Jayhawker

I love this piece, it has a very epic feel to it that's very hard to achieve with pure sky peice. The sky around the central 'burst' of light is a bit sharp and jagged, but I understand there's not much you're able to do about it. Good use of colour, and good epic feel as I said before.


Terrabill

I like the softness of this atmosphere, good use of 2D clouds. I love the haze colours, very nice fade from deep pink to sort of purple there, and I love the orange in the clouds. My only suggestion would be to maybe shrink the sun diameter a bit, as it interferes with the image somewhat. Good job.


Nuku

A very epic feel here as well, good use of perspective and depth with the camera angle and the use of terrain, too. It's sort of let down a bit by the small size of the sun though, as it's comparatively tiny compared to the brightness. Another nice piece


Charon

Another nice one, let down here by the (IMO) poor use of terrain. It's a lovely sky effect, and I love the contrast between the dark sky behind the clouds and the brilliant orange of the sunlight. I also love the how light plays on the terrain in the background. Nice job.


Redsquare

I like this image, but it's sort of pulled back a bit by the lack of focus in the composition. There's nothing that really draws you into a particular point like some of the other images (through their use of rays) and as such it seems a bit aimless. Technically though it's very accomplished and I'm loving the colour.


And this week's winner is...

Wholehog!

Yep! He's done it again

This really was the most original and visually stunning piece I've come across in a long time. It manages to achieve both rays and a bliss effect, as well as having crisp, well used terrain and fantastic use of colour. A highly atmospheric piece and one of the best I have seen in a very long while. Superb.

As our first 5 time IotW champion Wholehog also wins entry to a special "IotW Champion" user level, along with his custom title! Let me know via PM when you've come up with what you would like for your title. You'll be promoted to the custom user level just as soon as we figure out the privileges you should have.

[Artica]

IotW #14 - 4/1/06

Great set of entries this week, and due to the sheer volume of submissions I'm just going to comment on the top three-four.

Wholehog

Interesting, subtle piece, with a brilliant terrain and well thought out lighting. However, in terms of a sunset - what we are, after all, judging, this one just doesn't work really, with rather flat and soft clouds that don't really resemble clouds at all, and an ugly line underneath a sun that looks far too small to create that level of light. However, all 'round it's a nice piece, just not at that level.

Korrektor

A great (if I'm not mistaken) inaugral entry from Korrektor here. Unfortunately it has a couple of the same issues as Wholehog's, with brilliant lighting playing over a lovely point of view, with a brilliant surface map in the foreground to boot. However as a sunset it just doesn't cut it really, not enough actual 'sunset', you know? It looks more like early evening.

old_blaggard

This is a nice piece, and another inaugral entry. I love the perspective you've used, and great use of rays, almost a 'burst' effect, and quite realistic in that regard. However, it just doesn't look like a sunset, more like a mid-afternoon desert sun to tell you the truth good effort, and I look forward to seeing what else you come up with.

And the winner is...

Redsquare!

Great piece this, very epic. The terrain and surfacing leaves a bit to be desired but the stunning atmosphere makes up for it tenfold. I love the colourisation here, and the understated rays are stunning. Stunning cloud work, with a brilliant perspective great job.

[Artica]

IotW #15 - 15/1/06

Another good contest here, albeit short on entries. It was a hard theme and you guys did very well

Terrabill
You've got a lovely ethereal, twilight sort of feeling happening here, and this is probably the best sky I've seen from you - I love how it progressively darkens towards the top of the piece, with a great sort of orange glow towards the bottom. I love the water settings as well, really compliments the image.

Jayhawker
You and Wholehog had very similar images this week and yours was let down really by jaggy, aliased terrain and water settings that are far too rough and strong. Good sky, though I feel it could probably benefit from 3D clouds. I like the colouring in it and all in all you've done a good job.

And the winner is...

Wholehog

Lovely piece here. Great water settings (how do you do it?), lovely crisp blue sky with nice terrain that manages to avoid being jagged. One letdown here is that the clouds don't look like they have much shape or structure; though I LOVE how they curve in towards the sun. Brilliant piece.