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DM-BrickDust (UT)
Map Author: firefly
Download Here! (4.30 MB)
Date Reviewed: 25 March 2002
Reviewer: D6e6v6ils_Dancer
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Well howdy folks, it seems I have been given another supa-dupa kick ass map to review, lets just hope they keep coming eh? I have never heard of this guy before, but this map is certainly IMO, a very good quality, professional looking map....I would recommend you start your downloads now whilst reading this...
I cant quite place my finger on the theme of this map. I guess its kind of industrial, but not, if you follow me. Either way it looks nice. Its one of those kind of maps that has the most wonderful flow and connectivity to it, that'll just keep you coming back for more, as I cannot stop playing it!! Layout is excellent, with connecting narrow tight corridors, ramps and a couple of reasonably open spaces for a good melee. Everything just joins up nicely with no dead ends which is always nice. There are lots of blind corners going up the ramps, which can give the spammers amongst you the opportunity to frag approaching bots before they see you. The open areas are fantastic for a good old fight, but I found I always had to watch where I was stepping, as sometimes you end up backed against a wall with nowhere to escape that pesky splash damage. Firefly has also used a very well implemented trap, which has been used in other maps such as DM-Smackdown and DM-Anubis, but I find it has been pulled off much better here, as if the bots are around (they always are) they will not hesitate to trigger off the trap and crush you while you run for the Shieldbelt, but dont fret, you can have revenge!!
Architecture is fairly simple, (keeps framerates respectable) but it is certainly not boring. S'cuse me while I just go and play it again...:) Hehe I am back after more fragging fun. Where was I? Oh yeah. After further inspection of the map, I took a closer look at the architecture and I really like the shapes going around the top of the walls, with nice curves on the corners. And the masked deco on the roof so you can see the nice skybox which seems to fit in the map perfectly. Theres machinery dotted around which certainly gives it an industrial feel and crates laid around here and there to break up some of the space and in some cases to make fighting more interesting - I find it fun to play around with the bots at the Pulse Rifle and hide behind the crates - which you can also hide behind while you are waiting for the vertical sliding door to open which gives you access to the UDamage, but like the trap, you need to trigger this to open it. But be aware, if you get stuck in there whilst a bot is outside, said bot will open the door for you and kill you!! This mover and the lift mover, are the only movers in the map, but I really do not think that in this map, there is a need for any more than one lift anyhoo. But, both movers have been made again, to a good standard, especially the trap. I also liked the open roof structure above the Flak Cannon and Sniper Rifle - seems to be a design that a lot of mappers use, but thats because it looks nice.
Bot support is very good in here too. They will give you a really good run for your money. Watching one run around, it had no problems picking any inventory up and ran everywhere and used shortcuts when necessary (hate spelling that word - go to our Forums if you want to read something amusing about the English Language) to reach other items. They were even clever enough to run for the Pulse Rifle, whilst waiting for the door to the UDamage to open...ns. Adding another they really came into their own and using the trap on each other and outsmarting each other often was amusing to watch. When I played it (with 3 bots to start), they worked extremely hard in an attempt to frag you and the action was furious. Playing with 5 bots on this map is even more fun - you will respawn a lot, unless you are very good at dodging their ruthless attempts to put you six feet (or foot) under. I had to turn them down to Inhuman to win a game...besides playing Godlike's a pain in the anus sometimes!!
Whilst running around to get items, I realised how well they were all arranged in the map. Nothing is too close together, but at least you don't have to run far to get that extra ammo or health, of which there tends to be more in the way of vials placed down the tight corridors - so useful when you are in CQB (thats Close Quarter Battle btw) to fill up. Shieldbelt placed in the trap (which will scare the bejesus out of you when a bot triggers it), UDamage behind the mover (with a nice rusty texture on it instead of the default one) and I will let YOU find the Megahealth, as it aint obvious like the other two;)
Firefly has used a very nice looking texture pack by Gareth Spring (Ulukai) and a sky box texture set and coronas provided by Maud Dib, combining a little Richrig also. The textures work very well together in this map, and add nicely to the feel of it. There was only one small misalignment that I noticed, but thats just nitpicking, otherwise alignment is good. Although I hated the "Strength and Honour" banner thing on the wall (sorry).
Lighting is used well also, and I loved the colour he managed to get around the open area where you can see the skybox - fits very well. Maud Dib' s coronas were used to good effect also and suited the maps lighting, and they were set to the right size for the light emitting it (I hate huge coronas - some in DM-Gothic are just too big). The inset red lights were flooding the correct area relative to their size and pretty subtle too. He has also used lightboxes in some areas, but not in areas where they could obstruct your view of an approaching bot.
All ambient sounds are used very well, with a lot of whirring sounds and watery sounds for the pipes, with machine sounds where applicable, again, all relative to their size and not set to too large a radius. Music track is great and fits this map just fine - I wasn't so sure at first, but it grows on you (not literally mind). Apparently, its from Deus Ex, but I aint played it (shock horror - sorry folks, but I am devoted to all things Unreal).
Bottom Line: I think this map is extremely good and very playable, that'll deffo keep you coming back for more. Couldn't find a lot wrong with it either (one small HOM). Them bots are very clever too..
Score: 9.0
Average User Score: 8.2 (2 scores)
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firefly
Score: 9.0
Never got round to saying thanks for the review.
Bit late :)
EDIT: just noticed the DL link is dead.
try this
http://utunlimited.beyondunreal.com/?page_id=2680#awp::?page_id=2680
2009-03-15 05:55:07
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SkaarjMaster
Score: 7.5
Good urban/industrial theme and I liked the wooden floors and brick buildings. Bots are good and don't even try to go outside. Nice custom music! Even though you can see outlines, nice mountains.
EDIT (2009-07-09 13:41:30): just add ut between insite and dm in the URL and the BU download should work. I believe a lot of old map links are like this.:)
2003-06-10 13:15:57
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