 |
 |
|
|
| |
|
This map won CliffyB’s 0wnage award and deserves it. I don’t normally like castle type themes much, but I have to make an exception here. The map is an incredible visual art gallery designed for atmosphere and flow. Nice custom statics are everywhere and the map extracts out to 62MB showing just how much custom content there is. It runs fine on a top of the line system and looks great on max settings. A middle-end system can run it ok with lower settings, but those with older computers or video cards may have some serious trouble with the map. The author did a great job of pushing the detail while keeping the map small enough and segmented such that it is still playable. Anything bigger or using a higher load would probably have given a frame rate like a webcam. This is a tough balance for mappers, especially in these early days of UT2003 mapping where people are still trying to push the envelope.
The back story of the map is of a forgotten castle recently rediscovered in Siberia and taken over for the tournaments. The map’s atmosphere perfectly supports this and is a shining example of designing a map to be a specific place rather than just “somewhere”. The whole place is made of stone with intricate detail that hints of the mystical like statues holding glowing spheres, and torches with hands around them. There are areas open to the sky where snow covers the ground reminding one that this building was left alone for a long time. This also helps bring the snowy environment outside the windows into the play area and giving a nice break to what might have otherwise become a monotonous stone look. This is done is so well that it raises the map’s visual appeal by a full category itself. Other mappers should take note that no matter how good your theme is, skilled use of contrast within that theme can do wonders for the map. On that note there are wooden floor covers with green gas coming out of them on the bottom level. A sort of cavern appearance can be seen through the gaps. This could have been a disaster and yet was done well enough to not look out of place while adding more contrast. Had this been a CTF map I would have expected to be able to go down there in the caverns, but it would not have helped this deathmatch map at all and so the author did well by merely presenting the idea that there is something below.
The map’s lighting is good and helps promote the atmosphere. There are several forms of lighting in the map including torches, lanterns, tech lights, sky shafts, and open sky. They all seem to blend well, and I only have one complaint. It is that the floor tile textures are red and white stone in a way that gives a splotchy look to the floor. This makes it hard to see how the actual lights hit the floor and is about the only thing that hurts the atmosphere for me. I think a single tone texture whether grey or reddish would have been more suitable, and helped bring out the light patterns better.
Weapon placement, one of the most difficult aspects of mapping, is done well. The locations help with the flow of the map and were chosen well, but what is in each placement could be argued. There are two notable weapon focal points (light streaming onto them or on a platform, etc.), and I was disappointed that these were given to the bio-rifle and minigun. I would prefer to see the flak swapped with the minigun and the shock rifle swapped with the bio-rifle. A lot of combat takes place in the bio-rifle area, and that justifies a better weapon.
The rocket launcher’s position is in the middle of the map in an open area on the bottom floor and it would have been nice to have some light streaming onto it or something special to highlight it. While it may at first seem that it is too accessible it doesn’t take long before it becomes obvious it’s very dangerous to run through where the rocket launcher sits since this is the center of the map and has access from every direction. You are almost guaranteed to be attacked while getting it. The damage amp is placed nicely on a semi-open raised area not far from the rocket launcher and facing it, promoting more carnage and adding to the risk of getting both . One can expect to see the double damage pretty much always used in play because of how accessible it is, but camping it is almost impossible because of the dangerous position. There are also shields easy to get but out of the main traffic areas. As part of the easy weapon access layout there is ammo in various areas to keep you going. While this would seem to promote spamming, the map’s recommended load is 2-4 players keeping that from becoming a serious problem. Playing with higher numbers is possible since there are additional player starts, but that quickly turns the map into a spam fest, so my advice is to stay close to the recommended load as the map is balanced specifically for it. I enjoyed it most with 4 players.
Bot play is pretty good. The map’s flow makes their paths somewhat predictable (probably so with humans too), but this is the type of map where bot AI does it’s best. I am ashamed to say that I could not beat the bots on higher settings in a 4 player deathmatch. With the rocket launcher and flak being easily accessible the flow of the map means lots of close and medium range encounters around the center area where you are rarely alone and often taking a pounding from multiple directions. The bots naturally gravitate to this center while still using the rest of the map and getting all of the pickups including the shields. They have no problem getting the double damage and if you want it you’ll have to fight them for it. The bots also make good use of the x-loc in this map making them move around it very fast. The author has placed all the correct ceiling and window boundaries, and I was unable to find any problems or places I shouldn’t be with the x-loc, nor did I see the bots getting stuck anywhere.
Sound is done well and is another area where the author took the time to enhance the map with little details. There are lots of different sounds throughout the map that all blend with the theme and provide atmosphere like wind blowing, chimes lightly sounding, torches crackling, water dripping (from melting ice perhaps?), and so on. There are few areas of the map where you will not hear some type of sound, and this adds to the overall experience. I found only one noticeable sound flaw and that was an overly excited water running sound that seemed like it was meant for a stream rather than the barely noticeable shallow water it was placed with. There is custom music that really works with the fantasy theme of the map, and is very good quality. It’s almost strange not to hear techno or metal while playing, and instead this music is very soothing while conveying an urgency to the match as if something important were riding on the outcome. With this sound, music, and the atmosphere the map would have fit beautifully into an RPG setting.
Bottom Line: Awesome demonstration of art and craft that plays almost as good as it looks, if you have the system...
Score: 8.5
Average User Score: 8.7 (17 scores)
(marking schema)
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Icarus
This really is a great map. I just wish my machine was fast enough to see the thing more than one frame a second.
2004-04-19 13:03:43
|
|
flakmasterJ
Score: 9.5
This map brings out the best of UT2003 :D
2003-07-29 22:23:35
|
|
lophead
Score: 8.5
This is a top quality creation. It is extremely polished. The details are marvellous. Lighting is brilliant. I think now that Im almost harsh not giving this one a 9.
2003-05-27 01:41:44
|
|
Jeromofoon
Score: 9.0
Yeh, this map is ownage, that's for sure. However, I do not play this map often because my Intel Pentium 3 (I don't think my GeForce Ti 4200 can ruin the framerate) can't handle all this detail. But even so, the author has got a lot of competence. If you have a high-end system, download this one for sure.
2003-05-26 13:01:09
|
|
David Spalinski
Score: 9.5
Will anyone be able to top this map? I doubt it. Maybe only Desp. I am trying, but this map raises the bar so high, that I think I will need stilts... and I don't own stilts... DAMN. Great job!
2003-05-23 21:53:57
|
|
MpDay
Score: 9.5
This is what I call ownage!
Wow, looks incredible!
When I entered this map for the first time, I was thinking of a voice that said:
"Welcome to the real world." ;)
The FPS in this map is like: ((Usual FPS)/2), heh.
Thumbs up Desperado#2... 2 thumbs that is :)
2003-04-14 13:41:45
|
|
Chrysaor
Score: 8.5
Great map, a bit slow.
2003-04-06 22:13:07
|
|
Heish
Score: 9.0
Great visuals, brilliant theme, good layout. It runs slow, but hell, it's worth it in my opinion.
Oh, Saru, I think heh was joking :)
2003-04-03 07:03:52
|
|
Storm
Score: 9.5
This map is excellent. The bots do well on masterful or higher. It looks beautiful even with low or medium world details and textures. ( I hope the next patch will add individual bot configuration like UT had.)
2003-03-27 11:45:47
|
|
SpiderMan
Score: 9.0
wow is all i can say about this map. the visuals are absolutely stunning and on my system it runs alright. the bots also put up a good fight on the higher difficulties. excellent stuff here.
2003-03-24 20:04:47
|
|
TOB1AS
Score: 9.0
Very nice map! Both the gameplay and the visuals!
2003-03-23 03:35:52
|
|
MoxNix
Score: 7.0
Ok, but overdone. gfx != gameplay.
2003-03-16 19:49:30
|
|
Saru
Well, I havn't finished downloading it yet, but it sounds cool. I just wanted to flame 'heh'. We were all n00b's once. And who's to say Desperado#2 is a n00b anyway? Should we respect you just because you can do the same in five minutes?
2003-03-16 11:51:43
|
|
SINNER~KILLJOY
Score: 8.0
Plays nice looks great,high system demands though.Still a keeper for sure.Fun to play Mutant in.
2003-03-15 10:22:28
|
|
Desperado#2
Thanks for the review :)
Time to update my site again :)
2003-03-15 08:12:33
|
|
Gui
Score: 7.0
Looks very good, plays so-so: lovers of unique atmopsheres will very probably worship this one
2003-03-15 07:24:54
|
|
heh
Score: 10.0
noob map i do the same in 5 minutes! ;)
2003-03-14 13:57:05
|
|
ExiT
Score: 8.0
The visuals on this map are incredible - one of the best lighting jobs I've seen on a map. Sure, you could say the meshing in some places is over-elaborate, but unless you have an ATI Rage 128 card[heh], it's worth the FPS drop for the visuals. BTW, flow, placement, etc is really good. Download if you have a good vid card or don't mind turning down your visuals.
2003-03-14 10:05:46
|
|
SkaarjMaster
Score: 8.5
No problems with this one and the score is right on! This is definitely one of the best maps out for UT2003 right now! The review pretty much says it all, so I won't add anything else.
2003-03-13 19:43:34
|
|
SlayerDragon
Score: 8.5
Nice map, I got this a while ago and I definitely enjoy it. I don't seem to have all the problems with FPS that other people have (but then again I also don't have the complex about not changing my detail levels either, lol). Great map overall, give us more!
2003-03-13 17:50:28
|
|
Virax
I have a 1.5 ghz P4, 256 megs PC800 Rambus, and an ATI Radeon 8500 (Blech @ ATI). However, I still don't have the system for it. Textures must be at 'lower' for me to get a steady 50 fps on this map, while on most others I stay around 90-130, with them on Normal. However, it still looks damn good with textures at lower, for some reason. Very good map, deserving of ownage!
2003-03-13 13:17:58
| |
To add a comment, you need to login.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
