Judging for our themed map-making contest has finished and the results are in! I would like to congratulate veteran Heroes III but first time Heroes IV map-maker Vlaad as his excellent map, Truth and Justice has taken out the prize. It was an extremely close decision between that map and Veldrynus' post-"retirement" effort Draconic 2, but in the end the numerous bugs in Draconic (which were undoubtedly related to the contest deadline) pushed the judges in favour of Truth and Justice. I have written full reviews for all three maps (the third was Lowlands) but here is a quick summary of the judges' decision:
Lowlands
It's good to see that first-time (on CH anyway) map-maker Thash gave it a go, but unfortunately his map was simply out-classed by the other entries. This map lacked the polish, focus and enjoyment which the much more experienced map-makers were able to deliver in their entries. Also, the map-contest theme was only minimally implemented in this map, and those unfamiliar with Dutch politics (like me - Wimfrits pointed this aspect out) would probably miss the "rot at the top" reference entirely.
Draconic 2
A sequel to the first map I ever gave a perfect 10 to, this was also a great map. The early game was tight and challenging (though a repeated battle got a little tedious), and the end game was interesting and fun. Unfortunately it got bogged down a bit in the middle, with some unfocused quests and exploration, but the landscape was still a joy to explore. This map brought out the contest theme better than any of the other entries, the early game and other aspects created a palpable sense of "mob at the gates" and the protagonist was a well introduced "triumphant individual" with a rags to riches story. Unfortunately, as mentioned, numerous bugs - one of which prevented me from finishing the map - tainted this map a bit.
Truth and Justice
Superheroes is the defining feature of Heroes IV and this map pushes superhero battles to their limits. Sometimes in this game there is a problem with very high level heroes steamrolling all opposition, but not in this map! Vlaad has populated this Diablo-style map with a wide variety of stacks which will give you a lot of fun combat experience. The only bad thing I have to say about this map is that all this high level fighting gets a bit much by the end (the map is XL), but overall it was a blast to play. The contest theme was fairly well implemented, though the story (which references current world events) takes a bit of thinking to figure out. A worthy winner of this map contest!
Keep your eyes on this space, we might have a contest in the works to get the ball rolling on the Heroes V map-making scene. And, finally, I have updated my map picks page with two of these contest maps.
