I spent a very long time on these maps making a point to really think about who was getting my vote.
My top 3 are
1. TFFA Brutal
2. Ractory
3. Duel Rishi2
Castellaris:
Layout/Construction: Great patch and brush work with what is done so far. Its far too large for a duel map, with 2 hallways and 3 rooms it does not offer a lot of flow for TFFA or FFA as well in my opinion. The door to the tunnels is well hidden I assume by intention both leading to both sides of both rooms. neat idea just more flow to the layout would be needed if you want to turn this into a solid TFFA or FFA map. Personally i would love if you completed the building and removed the clips so I could jump all over the roofs but I am a fan of jumping around lol. some construction elements where the balconey and windows are don't make much sense from the inside of the building. also in that same room you see the sky in the ceiling but outside its covered up by the large building so more of a continuity issue there. There are also 2 models that are in the map that look amazing but seem off since they have such a high poly count in comparison to the rest of the map.
Player Interaction: Water around the map kills the player and 2 doors to uses. lout side the building lots of places to jump around on There are places players using Jump 1 can reach, not a huge deal if person your dueling has some honor lol. again flow would be an issue with such a large space.
Textures/Thematic & Artistic Direction: love the castle and has a magical feel to it. Textures you did well in terms of contrast and visual variety but the scale of the marble seems too large. and the amount of marble work for a fantasy setting just not a practical one. the choice of wood has the grain direction off in some spots and where some of the wood is would be bad for construction, like on the roof and under the balconies. Skybox is nice matches a fantasy setting I just wish you added some moving clouds to it. the sand and grass, then sky, then water room. I def see what you are trying to pull off with all these and all great ideas. I would just play around a bit more with textures to really hash the map out.
Lighting: Lighting seems fine nothing stands out as jarring and easy to see who you are fighting.
Music: Not a fan of the music for a duel map does not match the fantasy vibe i think you are going for.
Performance/Bugs : if using rend 2 sky box in middle room and pond room doors breaks. On my system: i9-14900KF, 64gb ram, 4090 GPU, uncapped FPS I get average of 600 fps lowest spot is 450 while highest spot is 1000.
TLDR: this map has a lot of potential and I really like what was put into it so far. Def can tell it was a lot of hard work and I think could be made into a goof TFFA or FFA map. Main think is some texture choices and adding more flow to the map.
TFFA Brutal:
Layout/Construction: One room with with 2 levels of play area. Construction is top notch to where I tried to find spots i should not get to but you where able to stop my antics. also could not find any hidden face that should have been caulked out. Great size for a duel layout and the extra floor ads to the flow with the map. I also appreciate how you have two clear "hero asset" as in the art works you made as a center pieces to the map. Consistent design of all parts around the map
Player Interaction: Nothing to really interact with, could role play sitting in the chairs I guess.
Textures/Thematic & Artistic Direction: Theme is 100% on point to the Brutalist art style with the concrete. Again the hero asset center pieces tie it all together. the simple repeating patterns and shapes are all consistent to your theme. I am now in the mood to play the game Control thanks to this lol. I can't complain about lack of texture variety because it all just works to the theme and is easy on the eyes with I noticed most players want their duel area to be that way.
Lighting: Lighting is on point where everything seems to come from a source and really adds to the theme.
Music: I really with you added some different music, tho very hard to find something that truly matches the theme. some music from the game Control might be a good example.
Performance/Bugs : no bugs, uncapped i get average of 950 fps. lowest is 900 high is maxed out at 1000. Very well optimized map
All in all I love the artistic stye of this map and how cleanly you constructed it. only nit pick would be music but this is a map I actually want to duel on.
swgl_jt_dojo:
Layout/Construction: Simple layout perfect for duel size, very clean construction only a few spots where I found hidden faces not caulked out properly. wall mounted brackets for cabers can be jumped on. id recommend be clipped off.
Player Interaction: two open when near them, that's about it.
Textures/Thematic & Artistic Direction: Theme is a classic dojo super popular with Jedi academy over the years. Textures super simple but work well only a few spots where texture scaled incorrectly. Not a fan of the rock texture on the ceiling but I like the idea its a hidden dojo in a cave or something. The sabers on the wall are a nice touch but seems unfinished with the empty rack on the wall on the left while the wall on the right is left empty. Still very successful with getting the theme just right.
Lighting: Nice a bright easy to see. matches the dojo aesthetic.
Music: Basic music
Performance/Bugs: no bugs uncapped FPS 1000 that's it... cant get much better than that performance wise.
All in all a solid duel map that I think would work great to play on.
Oasis mesa
Layout/Construction: General layout and design works well for a duel map i think the bridge over water that kills you is a great idea. Since experimental I could write a book on some of the construction issues so I wont do that here. its mostly made out of models which can be done just hard to pull off and be optimized.
Player Interaction: Water kills you, sky big enough where if ya spawned a some ships in you could fly around and have space battles. I wish you were able to walk on the thick cables would add extra height to the map for a duel.
Textures/Thematic & Artistic Direction: Them seems to work for island but the lack of horizon blending, better water shader and contrast from the sand texture to the rock seems jarring. Skybox seems like its stretched in a weird way
Lighting: lighting seems to not have a source in 2 different directions.
Music: I think the music matches well with the theme pretty well just has a harsh cut in it when ending.
Performance/Bugs: Water with current taystjk does not kill you, z fighting in a lot of areas. performance uncapped average is about 300FPS, high is 400FPS low is 240FPS. For the size of this map that's quite a big performance hit but too be expected with how the models are used.
Visually great map if not looking too close to it. I appreciate being experimental with it as I love science and can't have progress with out experimenting. Would be fun for casual play but not competitive.
Hand_of_Thrawn
Layout/Construction: Large open area only a few spots with hidden geometry not caulked properly. its a bit too wide open for a 1v1. Very simple in design I like the computers decorating the edge and tunnels.
Player Interaction: Some force holocrons to collect.
Textures/Thematic & Artistic Direction: Rock texture stretches unnaturally that stands out to me. also the tile texture is covering a lot of area id recommend needs more variety. still the them of an underground facility works well.
Lighting: a bit too dark with the size of the overhead lights in my opinion.
Music: Normal music for JKA.
Performance/Bugs: No bugs, performance takes a hit due to the patch mesh construction average is 800 fps low is 500 looking up and high is 1000 looking down.
All in all its a good map just needs some optimization and maybe add some variety to the open area floor and scale down the size for a duel.
Echani duel
Layout/Construction: Good clean construction, no hidden faces and consistent layout. only weird spots are benches are floating above the ground. Just a simple room for dueling in.
Player Interaction: No interactable stuff in the map.
Textures/Thematic & Artistic Direction: Dark moody Star Wars themed room all blend in well together.
Lighting: A bit too dark to see very well but seems interesting for dueling another person in with.
Music: Normal Star Wars music.
Performance/Bugs: No bugs FPS 1000 so maxed out.
Very simple duel room and a good size for dueling. Just a bit dark for my liking.
Ractory
Layout/Construction: Clean construction with only a few hidden spots that should be caulked. Lots of effort was placed in the with the models. Interesting multi levels to work with but some spot jump 1 can not reach. like tops of pillars and in outside area. Though I do love I can jump over to that area and run around.
Player Interaction: Lava, droid belt, lava scooper, death pit, can break the droid belt if ya try to block it though. Still great to see.
Textures/Thematic & Artistic Direction: Super consistent them with story telling in the map design with excellent texture choices. really can tell a lot of effort was done to get this done right with a lot of attention to detail. I like all the light up textures that really highlight the area and also the neon signs outside.
Lighting: Great lighting matches theme perfectly.
Music: Normal Star Wars music.
Performance/Bugs: Droid belt can be stopped that's about it average FPS is 300FPS Low is 145FPS High is 800FPS.
Amazing map, just some performance issues I think could be fixed by reducing the amount of droid parts being rendered. Since with r_showtris you can see them in the brushwork being rendered. This was my number 2 choice of a map, would have been 1 if better performance since hard to get people to wanna duel ya on it if their comp cant handle it.
Duel rishi
Layout/Construction: Very clean construction, only thing that stands out would be the three boxes in the center that don't seem to match imp design. the stairs are also impressive and I like the window showing the landing platform outside. I like the dip in the floor that adds extra to dueling a person in this type of area.
Player Interaction: Lots of buttons but noting to interact with.
Textures/Thematic & Artistic Direction: Amazing clean texture work with clear them. the consoles I think could use more screen graphics or lights but still otherwise great in detail. Def feels like a imp station. very clean modern style.
Lighting: Great lighting nothing out of place.
Music: Normal star Wars Music.
Performance/Bugs: No bugs Fps average is 700, Lowest is 600 while high is 800. well optimized map.
Amazing map this would be my number 3 choice out of the bunch. Makes me wish it was a much bigger map to explore.
Took me like 5 hours to write this.... eyes hurt now lol
FYI all the maps are good, so dont take what I said bashing ya, just pointing out what I personally noticed.