Contest Pokémon Card Contest [Contest is Over]

FINAL SCORES OF THE COMPETITORS - 7th place through to 1st place
As judged by Volund and Eryp

7th (open) 7th (close)

Concorde by SilentFinger
https://www.freeriderhd.com/t/931016-concorde

Score by Volund: 28/40
Score by Eryp: 31/40
Total: 59/40

Volund CC:
Excellent work! As a Free Rider track, this is really, really good. The ride is surprisingly great; at first look, I would’ve assumed the ride would suffer due to the density of detail, but you incorporate it incredibly well! It’s fun, has challenging sections, and plays reliably; can’t ask for much more than that. The detail is generally of a high quality, though I do need to touch on the perspective - it is undeniably off, which is why I’ve taken off 2.5 points. I think Eryp and Zycerak would both be better equipped to discuss this in greater detail, but the perspective aside, I’m very impressed!
However, I do think you missed the mark in the Creativity/Pokemon Implementation. Cubone is the Pokemon you’ve chosen, but it gets lost amongst all the dominating architecture, and the addition of the Chikorita - although cute - further takes attention away from your primary Pokemon. Like I stressed at the beginning, this is an excellent FRHD track, but along the way I think you lost sight of prioritising the Pokemon part of the contest. Nonetheless, great work!

5th (open) 5th (close)

Pokejoust by dantexpress *Equal 5th Place Award Winner*
https://www.freeriderhd.com/t/930308-pokejoust

Score by Volund: 33.5/40
Score by Eryp: 26/40
Total: 59.5/80

Volund CC:
I can’t believe how much you’ve leveled up your detail; this is an incredible job, and you did it in the shortest time out of all of the other entries which were featured. This track is just oozing with character; fletchlings flying about, Ash and Oak watching the joust, a little Diglett in the foreground, the Steel and Bug type symbols as motifs… They all add so much to the track! Your choice of where and when to shade/use heavier detail is also very smart, like in using double black lines to make Escavalier pop, in the clouds to differentiate them from the other grey detail at the top of the card, in the patterns of the tiles and bricks. Just great stuff! Where I thought you missed the mark with your detail, was with the knight, horse and foreground; I think the shape of the knight’s lower half needs some more work, the horse’s head is positioned oddly in comparison to its body, and the foreground is very bare and of a slightly lower quality than the rest of the card.
The ride was fun as fudge, with excellent track recycling and utilising all of the space that the card code has afforded you. There’s not much for me to say here, as the ride was done that well! All in all, this is an entry you should be immensely proud of - fantastic work!

5th (open) 5th (close)

Green Version by deadrising2/EliBloodThirst *Equal 5th Place Award Winner*
https://www.freeriderhd.com/t/930490-green-version

Score by Volund: 31.5/40
Score by Eryp: 28/40
Total: 59.5/80

Volund CC:
I love this so much, for a multitude of reasons. First, you’ve nailed the rainy downtown Japan look; I’m a huge fan of Liam Wong, and your art here is very reminiscent of his photography. Seeing people and Pokemon go about their night upon zooming in is a really neat touch, adding a lot of character to a track that is already brimming with it! The road having puddles which reflect the surroundings is an awesome touch, and your architecture - as per usual - is stunning. The only things I docked points for, were the kanji, the messiness of the road and the wonky perspective in some places; otherwise, excellent work! The three Porygon’s are well drawn, and I really love the Porygon sprite. I did score you lower for this category though, as the Porygon-Z is sharing as much space and attention as its predecessors and I think you could’ve implemented them better into the rainy Japan night scene you made, but I think the beam coming from Porygon-Z was a good addition to bring it more attention.
The ride was generally well done, with no glaring issues; the last part with all the teleporters did feel redundant, and I did die once before hitting the final star, but otherwise it’s a fun ride! I especially enjoyed riding across the tops of the buildings, power lines and advertisement boards at the start. All in all, a fantastic entry and a great addition to the Colour Version series!

4th (open) 4th (close)

Gurkinn's Alakazam by Holystone/Rayb25 *4th Place Award Winner*
https://www.freeriderhd.com/t/931539-gurkinns-alakazam

Score by Volund: 32.25/40
Score by Eryp: 31.25/40
Total: 63.5/40 (Including -.75 x2 late penalty)

Volund CC:
God damn, this is a gorgeous track. Your grey shading in particular is sexy, especially in the windows, on Gurkinn’s robe, and the stone ball pillar things. The Abra’s are such a cool addition, and really lean into Alakazam’s Pokedex entry, which is a neat touch. The boulders, architecture, Gurkinn… All perfectly drawn. The only thing stopping you from getting perfect marks in the detailing department, is the tree and awkward clouds; I think the tree would’ve benefited greatly from more leaves or no leaves at all, and clouds needed to fill all of the space behind Alakazam to look right, imo. Otherwise, amazing stuff.
The Alakazam is really well implemented, an epic figure that clearly is as advanced as what its Pokedex entry implies. Ultimately what separated you from full marks is the head of the Alakazam… Mf looks like it’s had half its face sheared off!
The ride works, until it doesn’t. And when it doesn’t, it blows balls and batty. More checkpoints would have solved this issue, or a more concerted effort on the ride. However, it was enjoyable when it worked, so there’s that. Ultimately, this is an awesome entry that does Alakazam justice - I can’t wait to see future tracks by you, your detail gets better with every track you make.

3rd (open) 3rd (close)

Lucario V - churro/mudkip *3rd Place Award Winner*
https://www.freeriderhd.com/t/931408-lucario-v

Score by Volund: 30/40
Score by Eryp: 34/40
Total: 64/40

Volund's CC:
The crunch queen returns with an absolute banger! There’s no debate that the Lucario is the best-drawn Pokemon in the competition; this card looks like it’s come straight out of a Sword and Shield set. The shading, the dynamic-ness of the Lucario, the perfect shaping and proportions… *chefs kiss* The only thing which stops this from winning the whole competition with ease, is the emptiness of the background, which I’m sure you’re aware of. What is there is really neat, it just needed to be expanded upon! But, otherwise, this is great!
The ride is a lot of fun, but is in need of refinement; sections of the track can be unreliable to beat due to building up too much speed, which really sours what is otherwise a really cool and creative ride. The loops, recycling, gravities are all used to such great effect! All in all, a fantastic entry, that is just missing a bit more detail to push it into 1st place.

2nd (open) 2nd (close)

Eclipse - G-raffe *2nd Place Award Winner*
https://www.freeriderhd.com/t/931233-eclipse

Score by Volund: 36/40
Score by Eryp: 29/40
Total: 65/80

Volund's CC:
You were the only contestant to choose to theme your card around a region as well as the Pokemon, and not only did you choose one of my favourite regions, but you nailed it as well! The detail, as per usual for you, is beautiful; you have such a gorgeous style that works so well with the Alola region. I also loved all the little details and Pokemon I could see when zoomed in! Soodowoodo, Bellsprout, Oddish and Rowlet in the jungle, Pyukumuku, Wishiwashi, Wailmer in the spring, and the Litten and Fire Trial elsewhere… Just so adorable, and that you have all these Pokemon but don’t take attention away from the battle between Solgaleo and Lunala is expertly done. The only thing I would do to improve the art, is to add a starry background, or something to fill in the space behind the two legendary Pokemon. Otherwise, just an immensely good job. This looks like it could be legitimate art by TPCI, what with all the minor details and leading you up to the epic battle; very impressive stuff!
Your ride is a lot of fun, but I think the balloon section can be a bit unreliable and would’ve benefited from more playtesting, but that’s my only major complaint with what is otherwise a creative ride and track!

1st (open) 1st (close)

The Last Tale of Yggdrasil - Drndemi *2023 Pokemon Card Contest Champion*
https://www.freeriderhd.com/t/930500-the-last-tale-of-yggdrasil

Score by Volund: 37/40
Score by Eryp: 36/40
Total: 73/80

Volund's CC:
This is just phenomenal; I love almost everything about this track. Your detail has leveled up here; it’s significantly cleaner than your previous works, which really shows in the Yggdrasil Tree. And that tree… Wow. A gorgeous backdrop to an epic fight scene you’ve concocted between Yveltal and Xerneas. Yveltal really pops too, making it clear which of the three Pokemon you’ve drawn is the focus of the card. The only slight complaint I had with your detail, comes in the form of the hut at the bottom of the track and some of the mountains in the background; the hut’s perspective is off, and some of the mountains are messier than their counterparts. But really, these are nitpicks - I can’t stress enough how much I’m loving how you’re developing your style! Your ride is also quite impressive, and you utilise the space of the card very well with the teleporter and track recycling. Some parts are a bit unreliable, but you generally cover for this well with liberal amounts of checkpoints, so again nothing major. Eryp touted this as the winner of the competition since you first uploaded this, and by the time all other entries had been uploaded, I could only agree wholeheartedly; you’ve smashed it man. Incredible stuff! Congratulations, you are fully deserving of the title CHAMPION OF FRHD.

 

I legitimately didn't expect those results at all. At all. It's bewildering.

Congratulations DRNDEMI and Graffe. Brilliant entries.

 

deadrising2 our love for eachother is so strong it went across borders

 

the difference between first and second is astounding, and while drndemi's might have been my favorite it was not at all what I was expecting to win the judges over!

talk about a plot twist! Grats to everyone, but especially the top 7. You guys are amazing

I'd also like to thank Volund for hosting this (and eryp for helping judge) because without you guys and people like you this game would be a lot worse off. Thanks for all this! (even though i am now failing classes cause of the grind I did for this track).

Now this is out im going to bed i sleepy

 

I love you bro

 

thanks volund for hosting, lotta people came out of the woodwork for this contest, i dont think anybody expected this turnout. now that i have ea, i am never going to make a track again!!!

 

Congratulations to Drndemi for winning FRHD's Pokemon Card Contest!

I am just waiting on the mods to confirm sizing etc for the Medals, but I can confirm that:
Drndemi will be receiving the Master Ball Medal
G-raffe will be receiving the Ultra Ball Medal
mudkip will be receiving the Great Ball Medal
Rayb25 will be receiving the Premier Ball Medal
dantexpress and Elibloodthirst will be receiving the Pokeball Medal
And of course, Innominate will be receiving the Minior Medal
(along with the aforementioned prize money/FRHD coins, which will be given out during next week)

Thank you to everyone who participated in this contest, whether through making an entry or by posting on this thread. It has been a great experience hosting my first contest, and that it has been received so well and had so many amazing tracks result from it is really cool to see. Winners will be dm'ed in the next week to confirm payment options, if they want Steam keys, etc.

Now, to make sure this thread is locked once everyone receives their prizes, so no jokers post "in" in 7 years time...

 

endy and zwinxz mvp for not posting no cap fr fr

 

unironically, because otherwise i wouldve lost my sanity trying to squeeze them into the already stacked top 7

as you can see, me and Eryp had the most variance in our scores with the top 7 (barring Drndemi - clear winner - and Rayb25), because of how good they all were and for different reasons. i wouldnt be mad if people hated or loved the final rankings, as each track in the top 7 is superb for different reasons. it hurt not to be able to give out more medals tbh, yall spoilt me for choice !

 

did it hurt you enough to make a new "lucky number 7 pokeball" medal to give a certain person in 7th place

 

such an amazing contest all around, it has fully revived the game in terms of track quality in my opinion, congrats cod for hosting such a successful contest and congrats to all the winners!

 

congrats Drndemi

amazing contest guys, and i really appreciate Volund for hosting. i hope we have more successful themed contests in the future.

also feature l7nx, braw and innominate and give badger his feat back

 

Wow.. Thank you so much ! Didn't expect to win, so many incredible arts..
And thank you so much Volund for hosting ( and Eryp for judging ), it was really motivating and heartwarming to see many trackmackers invest time and imagination on this contest.

I'm not good at making speechs, so once again, thank you guys for keeping this game alive, hope to see more contest and community events

 

I had nothing to do with this contest whatsoever, but, I think we can all agree Volund did an absolutely amazing job in hosting this contest, which was not only organised well but very fun and unique to other "Box" Contests. Good job Eryp for judging as well . Everyone should praise this man for putting together this, this contest was one of my favourites in recent memory even though I didn't participate. Just seeing so many great tracks get featured in a short time is very encouraging for this game, we may have entered a new era of FRHD as people come and go and things change.

Huge congratulations to our Champion Drndemi for coming 1st! It seemed like yesterday you got your first feature, but now you're Elite Author! Amazing stuff, your track was my favourite from the very beginning, a lot of people slept on your track in the early stages but it got the dub that it rightfully deserved. Scintillating stuff!

Shoutout to G-raffe for a banger track and second place , loved every part of it, dantexpress for uploading the first feature of many and producing a great track, SilentFinger for an absolutely beautiful track that would win over many people regardless of the contest, mudkip for arguably the best pokemon , Rayb25 for rather exceptional shading and symmetry, Coated_Badger for making the most creative pokemon, Elibloodthirst for producing an amazingly dense track, and Ness and Ishu for incredible tracks that were very simplistic.

Who could forget AfterImage AfterThoughts Innominate whatever you like to be called, The Rising Star Award rightfully goes to you! I know what I said was harsh or downright wrong, and I am very sorry for that , but we should embrace the Rising Star's track, I now think this got robbed of a feature . This was your first really aspiring track but although it was "unfinished", I really love the style. I made this clear from the very start even if my comments came out the wrong way. Regardless, congrats, well deserved.

Would also like to mention L7NX for a truly great track, can definitely tell you're going to produce great tracks in the future (like me too lol). Although this track was unfinished and rightfully didn't deserve the feature due to the ride and poor execution of aspects, the detail was well and truly there. If this track was cleaned, finished and fixed up nicely, this could have been a huge contender for Rising Star Award . Still, amazing stuff man, you surprised as all!

Oh, and my man braw 3000k track and no feature? Honestly, I'm incredibly saddened your track didn't get featured . Although the density is questionable and certain aspects could have been done better, I still think this is an exceptional track, it deserves a feature no matter the criticism and comments. In the future, if you fix your density, your tracks would be amazing I imagine, keep shooting for the stars!

Quick shoutout to my good friend Wayward too , who although produced a largely unfinished track, demonstrated HUGE potential for the future. I really do hope you finish your track as the finished product would look amazing!

Now, the rest of you lot, or the minority (I'm very sorry if I couldn't mention you in any other way), Egona robbieraysfan and dzemas. dzemas and Egona showed great potential for things to come, but for xshaade's brother, what a waste of potential sadly . Ngl though, the goofy ahh lines came together to make a surprisingly vivid track. But you're at the bottom of the tree so idk, time to get climbing mate.

Well that is everything, I'm kinda that guy that just sits around doing nothing and observes everyone else's work, but soon I will release my first actual decent track and I hope you guys really enjoy it . Once again, huge thanks to Volund for being a legend, our winner Drndemi, Rising Star Innominate, and to all participants of this truly amazing Pokemon Contest!

Good stuff Free Riders!!!

 

I got praised by the TPLACELLA

 

Volund man you did an awesome job hosting and organizing this contest. also congrats Drndemi your track was fckn sick. I came into this contest with a goal of winning it all, but in the end was restrained by my lack of time. I think it was great for frhd to see so many great tracks come out of one contest, and it ultimately renewed my motivation in drawing more tracks.

 

ggs

 

no offence but Ness being higher than the likes of braw Innominate and even dzemas is utterly shocking
mudkip over SilentFinger ??

wasn't my decision..
just putting my opinion out there..

 

Wow, what a thrilling contest! It's great to see such a turnout, and it really motivated me to work harder on my track. The theme was amazing; incorporating all those pokemon felt so natural and I can't imagine my track without all them. Props to Volund for hosting such an epic contest.

Great entries all around, I have no clue how I'd judge them so I'm very glad that I got second. Congrats to top 5 but especially Drndemi, great stuff.

I can't stress how fun this was to compete in, looking forward to more in the future

 

ah ggs im gonna do the remix and gonna be gone for a while.