 |
 |
|
|
| |
|
How do you begin a review of a map by someone as important in the Unreal mapping community as Rachel “Angel Mapper” Cordone? I suppose some might argue as to Rachel’s importance, but make no mistake, Rachel is a key member of Unreal Playground, which in my opinion is the current hotbed for Unreal community maps. You can argue for several big sites, but a lot of maps pass through UP. Rachel’s technical knowledge of Unreal mapping is very high. She helped me out with an issue on a currently shelved UT level and often provides technical assistance in the UP forums. She also has several tutorials on her website which are clear, concise and informative. Her last released map, to my admittedly limited knowledge, was CTF-Catherine, which received predominantly positive comments. I say predominantly because as we all know, you can please some of the people some of the time but… :)
Intro completed. Let’s take a look at Garden, shall we? Just to let you know that this IS version101 that fixes the problem with the skybox not appearing in online matches. This is a very small CTF map, and with a suggested load of four to eight, I would advise against anything much more. Without wanting to diminish the design, it effectively amounts to a central courtyard and the two flag rooms linked to it by two corridors, an upper and lower. This might sound boring beyond belief, but it is what a mapper can do with these simple design concepts that establish their credentials. The corridors from the flag rooms are offset so it’s not entirely a straight run from end to end. There is a bridge and central platform in the centre of the courtyard that links the two upper paths from the flag rooms providing some z-axis. The map contains only stock static meshes, and certainly the vast majority are recognisable, but they are pleasingly combined to provide a sense of architectural thematic unique to this map. Most interestingly, perhaps, the vast majority of meshes are from what could be considered the “Egyptian” types, but due to the lighting and orientation the map seems more Greco-roman in style than Egyptian. I didn’t pick any misaligned textures, but then I wouldn’t expect any from Miss Cordone [said with arms folded looking over rims of glasses] ;). There are two nice fountains at each end of the map that are very well done, the ones in the flag rooms being coloured blue and red, although the use of red in the colouring of the fountain in the red base detracted from its aesthetic appeal, I felt.
The lighting has been a bone of contention over on the forums at UP. Some think it’s too dark, others, unsurprisingly, don’t. To my mind… there’s nothing wrong with the lighting in this respect. There are never any points at which you cannot see where you are going which is basically the key to use of darkness and shadow in lighting. Now then, having said that, I feel there are still issues with the lighting. My first gripe is purely subjective and your opinion on the matter will vary. I’m one of those boring old farts that hate gaudy hues of blue and red to denote base ownership. I prefer a much more subtle style. I’ve got nothing against the practise, indeed it aids in navigation and orientation, and perhaps in the thick of an online match such blunt styles are necessary or even beneficial. Rachel has, to my mind, never shied away from strong use of colour in her lighting and it’s important to recognise this as a stylistic choice, I’m just not a fan of the strong red and blue in CTF full stop. However, that aside, in each base off to the side behind the pillars, there is a reddish pink light. Now, my first impression was that it was a continuation of the red base lighting theme, however that was disproved when I found it in the blue base as well. More than this, though, I could not discern any possible source for the light. There are several oblongs cut into the floor that have a flat blue colour for a texture, but these in no way appear to correspond to the actual light. Elsewhere lighting was excellent.
Thus we find ourselves now looking at the bots. Those crafty little bastards! Courtesy of some A-grade pathing they provide a few surprises. Perhaps the most notable feature is their use of the translocators to launch themselves on top of the enemy base to drop down and grab the flag. Perhaps even more impressive is their use of the roof to lay down supporting fire whilst a ground-based teammate takes the flag. I saw the bots do this on several occasions, so it wasn’t a one off fluke of various AI routines. However, the grumpy old man isn’t done. There are defence points placed inside each base and just outside the base. This set-up is fine ordinarily, however two things are wrong with this in Garden. Firstly, the bots had a regular tendency to use the defence points outside, only occasionally using the defence points inside the base. This, combined with the bots never defending along the top route leads to a serious hole in defence. Now, you might think that from there it would be all “beer and skittles”, but no. You see, if you defend the base and send a few handpicked team-mates off to capture, they invariably come to blows with those chaps guaranteed to be stationed outside the base and captures are more difficult. Alternatively, if you head off to cap the flag, leaving those trusty souls on your team to defend, they’ll eventually all mill out through the tunnel to outside the base, leaving the flag room itself undefended and open to “the cap from above”. You might get their flag, but chances are they’ll get yours.
Now, the truth of the matter is that all these things combine to create the “botscape”, and the botscape is actually balanced nicely. I don’t believe, in all deference to Rachel, that this was completely planned. There is a defence point atop each base near a lightning rifle, but these points are never used. Likewise, there are no specific defence points along the upper path, with teams relying on a defender being in the flag room to cover the upper approach. The defence remains adequate, but most players of note will find the real challenge online, as they always do. I also noticed that flag carriers were alarmingly predictable in returning a captured flag through the second half of the map. This means that the choke point of the lower level tunnel entrance, which is well defended, works both ways, with the shock being particularly useful in taking out a flag carrier. I would really liked to have seen the bots using the upper path all the way when in possession of the enemy flag. One final note on the pathing. One each side of the map there is a shield, which can only be collected by translocator. Unfortunately, there is no pathing to the shields, so the bots never get them. There are paths from the shields but not to them. Now, we all know my gripes about this type of omission and Rachel is thoroughly undeserving of a soapbox rant, so I’ll refrain here, but know that it is never far away. Well you may tremble! ;) At the end of the day, the botscape works, and works well, and Rachel should be commended for her studious work here.
Sounds were well done. There was a pervading sound of wind from the open roofs and courtyard, a subtle tinkling of windchimes (someone on UP said it was too loud, but I think they need to get new drivers for their sound card!) and each fountain has its own running water sound. One small omission with the fountain sound, though, is that the radii of the sounds were just enough that when in the centre of the courtyard you could hear two of them. Not bad as such, however because the pitch wasn’t varied the sound takes on a mechanical quality that reduced the believability of the sound. A small thing, but a simple pitch deviation could have fixed this. The music is a custom track, you’ll be glad to know. The music fits the theme very well, and if I’m not mistaken it’s the same theme from the beta of BR-Lions Gap. The track is a rip of a song in the Ecco game on the Dreamcast, and I’ve never heard exactly how legal this is, but it’s there and it works so grab it while you can.
In summary, Rachel has done a terrific job in displaying her mapping talents without the in-your-face approach some mappers with skillz take. This map has atmosphere, visuals and gameplay. Don’t let the grumblings of an old man put you off this map, it’s a permanent resident on my hard drive because it’s a keeper.
Bottom Line: Beautiful visuals, straight-shootin' CTF gameplay, AT-MOS-PHERE and relaxing music! *sigh* [Thunderstrike with contented look on face]
Score: 7.5
Average User Score: 7.4 (10 scores)
(marking schema)
|
|
|
 |
|
|
ClanLord
ClanLord
Good looking map, but not for my taste. Like Sci-Fi or gothic-fanasy maps.
2008-07-09 18:04:20
|
|
Clark Kent
Score: 8.5
This map ROCKS! Great job Angel..
2003-06-20 10:42:18
|
|
Pluisje het muisje
Score: 8.0
Good gameplay
2003-06-20 06:36:13
|
|
X22887
Score: 8.5
I love this map.
It looks good and plays well.
2003-06-10 22:33:22
|
|
Tynan S.
Score: 5.5
More original meshes!
The lighting is quite gaudy. I'm a stickler for a central lighting theme (usually white) augmented by some VERY subtle complementary colours just to punch it up a notch.
2003-06-10 21:27:18
|
|
SINNER~KILLJOY
Score: 7.0
I like this map........lets me play the way I like to....I can be a sneaky basterd and snipe from the enemy base.HAHAHAHA.There are things on the map that could have been better....but it's very playable and fun.
2003-05-27 10:12:41
|
|
lophead
Score: 7.0
The matches I had on this map seemed to be over in a matter of minutes. Thats not necessarily a bad thing, just how the map plays.
The architecture reminds me a bit of BR-TwoTombs except at night with a few flashy lights.
2003-05-27 02:11:45
|
|
Yggdrazil
Score: 8.0
Great Map! You should enjoy GardenOfHeaven if you like close combat and very fast gameplay. Better play it with some friends because these stupid bots do quite well but don't know the whole map.
2003-03-27 10:11:59
|
|
SkaarjMaster
Look at the top of the review and click on her name in first paragraph. Don't worry, you weren't hallucinating the first time you read it. I just edited the review, hehe.
2003-03-26 16:52:07
|
|
ByteDown[H]ard
Haven't played the map yet but I would be interested in Rachel's website. Is a link provided anywhere??
2003-03-26 14:10:41
|
|
TOB1AS
Score: 8.0
This is a really good CTF map!! Try it!!
2003-03-26 13:24:49
|
|
Storm
Score: 6.0
I liked CTF-Catherine a bit better mainly because it had a different layout for this game type.
Two forts and facing base layouts are okay, but I imagine I am not the only one tired of seeing them.
(How about a CTf map where one base is in orbit above a planet while the other base is on the planet's surface. With four or five space platforms, in orbit, between the bases.)
I usually dislike strong disco colors on maps, but the lighting suits this map. If the bot pathing and a few other problems were fixed I would give this map an 8.
At least it doesn't need a Geforce FX card and a 3.2 gig machine to be able to play it.
2003-03-25 19:54:47
|
|
SkaarjMaster
Score: 7.5
I guess it is a matter of taste. I think it is one of the better maps made for UT2003, but not as good as some of the other UT2003 that I gave an 8 or 8.5 either in a review or in the comments here. The bots are a little limited and, of course, the atmosphere could be better, but what's here is good. I didn't think the colors were too bright (it's a refreshing change actually) and the sounds were great! I also thought the music track was an excellent choice. So, when is BR-LionsGap going to go non-beta?
2003-03-25 17:37:47
|
|
Mister Prophet
As overated as the UP review of this map. It's not a bad map, but it certainly isn't a 7.5. I withhold my score since I already reviewed this at NC.
1. Good bots should access the whole map, bots don't do it here, and this is the version I reviewed.
2. Lighting and sound are basic, standard, but not bad.
3. The map has a typical facing base layout, but doesn't offer a whole lot of diversity, and the roof area is still horriblly incomplete, I can walk along the upper rim and peer into the sky box, as well as see through the walls of the entire map. Clip anyone?
4. Beautiful visuals? I still find the map mediocre with this engine, non complicated subtractions with minimal mesh encasing, and flat...FLAT terrain for the gardens. Music is ok, but a little too surreal for this map. Where is this atmosphere you speak of? The one thing i did like about visuals were the emitter effects, but they don't make a map look good on their own.
5. It's fun for one game, but doesn't offer anything more than the average stock map, and seeing as how those tend to have more diversity in play and variety in look then this map, and since I only play User maps because those stock maps bore quickly....I was not impressed by the gameplay.
The map is closer to an average score, I would say, which is still good. I know alot of people would be quick to disagree with me about this map, as they would plenty of other average maps that have been given much more credit then they deserve. It really is a matter of taste I guess, I'm used to seeing better maps get this kind of score.
Average map, but Rach is getting better at this. When I compare this to Catherine, I do see some evolution.
2003-03-25 17:23:56
| |
To add a comment, you need to login.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
