Greetings and welcome to Week in Review!  I'd just like to take a second to thank PMC, the judges, and the community for handing me the win for the Cave Hanger Contest!  I feel very honored to be recognized amongst such a strong group of entries.  But, as you all know, when one contest ends, another begins.  Which is why I'm going to be doing a review of my favorite entry for the Crazy Halloween Costume Contest this week as well.  Let's get started.

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Topping this week’s best structures is an incredibly lush jungle village called La Cite Feerique, created by Team NewRise.



This project is the best of all worlds.  It’s a collection of lavish castles, huts, and townhouses, situated atop a vast, rolling terrain.  And, of course, how could La Cite Feerique be complete without some stellar organic work as well?



As far as structure goes, this map has some beautiful and very unique architectural elements.  The curved roofing and bulbous towers are complimented with hanging foliage and chimney chutes.  There are also some boats and supporting infrastructure built along the riverside, just to give the map a more lively feel.



And speaking of rivers, the terraforming here is just as refined as the structural elements.  Tons of water features, natural arches, and rigid cliffs are a great foundation for this jungle-themed map.



As previously mentioned, La Cite Feerique is topped off with some lovely organic work.  Giant trees, blooming flowers of all types, and a massive earth golem (I’m guessing) flank the city which, in conjunction with the amazing renders, creates a truly stunning overview.



La Cite Feerique is an example of architecture that makes maximal use of its surrounding environment.  Team NewRise took great care to make sure that this city was well suited to the ground below it, and vice versa.

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The best terraforming of the week was The Infernos Island, created by Week in Review veteran _Killerack_.  In a week dominated by fiery, volcanic maps aplenty, The Infernos Island stood apart.



Infernos Island appears to be around a dozen active volcanoes, all in close proximity and all filled to the brim with bubbling lava.  It’s like the perfect volcanic storm; a cluster of explosive, magmatic portals to the center of the Earth, pouring the mantle’s contents into the seas.



What’s most striking (at least to me) about this terrain is the realistic quality of the volcanic rock.  It looks jagged and brittle, with glowing veinous lava patterns here and there.



I’m also impressed by the ripple patterns emanating around the individual bluffs.  It looks exactly like one would expect the hardened impressions of flowing lava to look like.  It’s an uncanny patterning effect that makes the island all the more striking.



To me, this is my favorite type of terraforming.  It’s a piece of land designed to dazzle and amaze the audience.  It’s not a particularly promising site to build a city, but it looks damn cool nonetheless.

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In keeping with the Halloween theme, the best organic work of the week sports a spooky, autumn feel.  That build is Scarecrow’s Revenge, created by Aerios.



This build features (big surprise) a scarecrow, flanked by a flock of crows, standing watch over a vast cornfield.  The scarecrow’s limbs are all mangled and frayed with stray sticks and straw. It’s like a conglomeration of jagged branches, taking a vague human form, with bright red eyes.



The crows are well-built, and positioned at a variety of angles.  And, of course, the cornfield and the stray pumpkin are effective environmental features that compliment the scarecrow quite nicely.



What I love most about this is the dark, ominous, Halloween vibe it imparts upon the viewer.  This looks damn creepy, and though it’s a fairly simple assortment of organic components, it still provides the viewer with plenty to digest and think about.



Who is the scarecrow seeking to inflict vengeance upon?  Perhaps he’s trying to strike down those annoying birds that spend the days and nights harassing him.  Maybe a group of human traffickers kidnapped his daughter, and he now has to go to France to rescue her by any means necessary.  Okay, fine, that’s not an incredibly original concept, but it would still make for a good action flick.



All that matters is that the tenacious scarecrow will not stop until his vengeance is fulfilled.  And that is an idea that this project demonstrates quite well.

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Of all the entries in the Crazy Halloween Costumes Skin Contest, there was one that stood out in terms of creativity, while embracing the challenge in a way that few others did.  That skin would be Princess Zelda, created by Snowy.



Not only is this skin well textured and well executed, but there’s something deeply humorous about an old dude dressed up as Princess Peach, whilst mistakenly thinking he’s dressed up as Zelda.  Of course, that humorous atmosphere is put to the test when you consider the backstory for this costume.


Leave it to Snowy to add such depth to a costume-themed skin contest.  With this backstory, Princess Zelda transcends the Halloween theme and becomes something more.  It’s one of the most brilliant and unique ideas one could possibly think of.  And since I’ve correctly predicted the winners of the past 3 contests here on PMC, I’m going to cast my prediction once more.  This will win the Crazy Halloween Costumes Skin Contest.

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Thanks for stopping by!  Due to personal issues, there is no video this week (and by that I mean I was too busy sitting on my couch watching football and the world series to be bothered; deal with it).  :P

See you guys next week!