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This level represents, as far as I am able to ascertain, this author’s first foray into the exciting world of level design for UT2k4. However, the author does have an existing and not insubstantial back catalogue of levels for UT and even a few DM levels for the original Unreal, and the UT levels were, by and large, quite well received, although perhaps not really achieving wide-spread recognition. The author’s website hasn’t been updated for around two years, and is host to a series of broken download links, so I had to visit fellow review site NaliCity and plumb the depths of their database to unearth three of the author’s former works. Going through both the author’s website and the levels still available at NC, certain trends or trademarks became apparent. The author describes this level as a “re-imagining” of BR-TwinTombs. Such an amorphous description may well prove enticing as the key term is particularly non-specific and therefore may well mean many things to many people. In looking at the actual meaning of the word as the author has applied it to this level, it could be said that the author has embarked on such projects of “re-imagining” previously with levels such as CTF-RevengeOfCoret and CTF-CargoProcessing (both with a strong CTF-Coret theme) and CTF-PnultimateCommand (being a “re-imagining” of CTF-Command), although the latter I haven’t been able to locate on the web. Therefore, the author’s strong adaption of the TwinTombs theme is not uncharacteristic. I’m not making any judgement in regards to this tendency, and there are other maps in the author’s catalogue that do not apply such noticeable themes, I’m merely noting trends in the author’s previous works. So, for the curious, what exactly does a “re-imagining” entail in regards to this level? For all intents and purposes, this is a new level strongly utilising the BR-TwinTombs theme. Beyond theme utilisation, there is little relation between the two levels, except in one or two minor points.
The level sports goal rooms which are reminiscent of TwinTombs, with two side paths which dip and then rise back up to the goal, however it adds a third, straight path directly across the centre of the room, and in many respects this makes the side paths nigh on redundant. The base structures are far more simplistic than the commercial level, with only a few straight, sloping corridors and the goal room. There are three entrances to the actual base structures, however, the flow bottlenecks around a large building in front and on top of the bases, through which only one route really exists, ignoring for the moment the jump pads which allow players to traverse the roof of the structure. In front of this building is a large courtyard with little cover and from this courtyard stem the three paths for running the ball. Each path has a building along it at some point, and the central route has two buildings. Whilst these structures might at first glance seem to provide some form of cover, as each structure only has a single, straight corridor through it, the reverse ends up being true as it results in a concentration of fire. At the end of these three routes, each totally separate with no connectivity between them once players have left the courtyard, we return to the opposing team’s courtyard, and layout duplicates through to the goal room. This lack of connectivity between the routes really hurts tactics, especially when playing offline, as there is no way the bots will pass the ball across the wide gaps between the three routes. I’m not even sure if the targeting mode of the ball launcher will actually lock over the distance. Given that a straight, unassisted run along these paths would take at least ten to fifteen seconds, defenders have plenty of time to judge which path the ball carrier is using and prepare a warm welcome for them as they emerge in the courtyard. This kind of readability makes the defence strong and disadvantages the ball carrier. The architecture of the level is a lot simpler and less attractive than its inspiration, with large, plain surfaces abundant and most nearly all corridors long, straight and with very little to no decoration or embellishment. There are also visual aberrations. The author has employed a pretty heavy handed distance fog, presumably to compensate for the long view distances the new layout produces. However, whilst the fog exists externally, the buildings have been zoned off, again presumably to improve performance. The problem exists in that although the buildings are zoned, there are no zoneinfo actors inside the buildings, and therefore no distance fog exists or is visible whilst players are inside the buildings. This causes the sudden appearance of distance fog as players exit a building, and this is true of all buildings. Similarly, distance fog disappears as a player enters a building. This looks incredibly odd and is something the author should have picked up on. The author is obviously also still coming to grips with fluidsurfaces. The surfaces are skinned with quite an unseemly texture, and the settings of the three fluidsurfaces leave them almost completely motionless. Given the extra strain a fluidsurface puts on the engine, for the end result the author could have used a plain BSP sheet and it would appear the same.
For the most part, the lighting is alright, but not spectacular. The author has used the two sunlight actors trick to brighten overly dark shadows, but personally these days I prefer a single sunlight actor and a subtle ambient zone light, especially for a wide open outdoor environment. Furthermore, the use of a sunlight actor produces strong shadows, which would be pleasant were it not for the oppressive fog which leaves the shadows looking rather erroneous. Some of the lighting, like the down lights in the recesses around the top of the rocket launcher building, is nice. Elsewhere, quite often the radius of a light seemed too big for its source. The ambient sounds were, in the end, rather poor. The level contains twenty four ambient sound actors, which on face value might have been almost enough to scrape by if deployed properly. Unfortunately all twenty four are fire sounds associated with the many torches through the level. That’s your lot. No wind, water, wildlife, hums, whispers or anything else. The author’s previous works have also demonstrated a scarcity of ambient sounds and this aspect should be being addressed, especially as the author is no longer a freshman in level design for UT. Even this might not have been so noticeable had it not been for the lack of a music track. Again, of the three levels I collected by the author, two had no music track set. If the author had an abundance of ambient sounds I would be less concerned, particularly as it may well have been a conscious decision to have no music and allow the soundscape the opportunity to develop better. As it stands, the level is practically barren in terms of sound.
I’ve already discussed some of the flow issues with the level. The two courtyards are bottlenecks, particularly as to progress forwards from the courtyards involves passing through a single, reasonably narrow entrance. Granted, there is the option to go “over the top”, however such a course for the ball carrier means either releasing control of the ball or taking fall damage when dropping down from the rooftop. Given the intensity of fire around this area, a ball carrier needs all the health they can garner. Discussion of health brings me to another point. The author has tried to incorporate the rooftops of all the buildings in game play. For the two side paths, atop the building is a tower through which runs a short corridor with a pair of health chargers. Higher still, atop these towers is either a redeemer or an ion painter. The z-axis differential to access these rooftops is substantial, and I really can’t see a ball carrier taking the time to lob the ball onto the rooftop, wait for the translocator to charge up and then translocate up there for the sake of +50 health. It simply isn’t worth the effort. The super weapons are even more effort, and whilst I’m always in favour of such weapons requiring effort to obtain, the effort to benefit ratio should be fairly even. Furthermore, I’m not as convinced that either weapon has a useful place in the Bombing Run game type. For offline players, the entire discussion is almost academic. Despite pathnodes placed with the intention of giving bots access to the rooftops, their implementation is flawed. Having placed jumpspots on the rooftops to entice bots to translocate up, the author has then used forced paths to make the bots jump down. The problem, then, is that a bot who intends to translocate up sees that they then have to go straight back down, likely to the pathnode they’re already at, and so they continue on. Effectively the author has given the bots ways to get down from the rooftops without successfully giving them a way up. Even worse, the pathing to the superweapons is completely broken, so don’t concern yourself with an incoming tactical warhead during offline play. Another pathing issue is that, whilst the author’s UT efforts included sometimes overly limited use of alternate paths, it would seem that the author is unaware of their replacement for the new engine; the assault path. The new actor is far more versatile than the alternate path for UT, and I strongly recommend the author take the time to read blitz' excellent and in-depth tutorial on pathing for the new engine which covers this actor in particular in great detail along with heaps of other great tips for use with pathing the bots of the new engine. Without the assault paths, just as without the alternate paths in UT, the bots are highly predictable in their route choice. Yes, you guessed it, right up the middle. There is the odd occasion when the ball might spill far enough over towards one of the side routes that the bots then perceive the side route as more direct, but this is far too infrequently, and a matter of chance rather than good level design. All in all, the bots do plenty of killing, and they run with the ball, but they could have been much better. Also, a final note on game play. The level plays exceptionally flat. There is no real z-axis to speak of. I don’t count the brief spikes in height offered by the rooftops. I won’t score the author too heavily for this, however, as this has been an issue with many BR maps since the original Anubis in the UT2k3 demo. Still, I always like to see people trying something different.
Let’s wrap up with a few minor, niggly points. With the translation to the new engine, the author doesn’t appear to have done their homework. The level screenshot is just that, a static single image, rather than the more pleasant slideshow most levels now include. There is also no level description, indicating either a lack of creativity by the author, apathy by the author or the absence of knowledge in regards to incorporating a level description. There is also no default bot load set in the level properties, which means you’ll be playing with teams of four if you play with default bot loads as many people do. Granted, this falls well within the author’s recommended player load, which incidentally is pretty accurate, although six is most probably too light on, but again it comes back to deliberate design versus happy happenstance. Sooner or later, your luck runs out and your level suffers. Having tried out the author’s previous works for UT, I believe the author is capable of a lot more and I would like to see him further his UT2k4 portfolio after he’s done a bit more homework on some of the finer points of the new engine. Things like using antiportals, assault paths and other desiderata that are important inclusions for the new engine. This level is a reasonable introduction for the author to the new engine, but I’d like to see better use of available resources for the next level. It’s not a bad level as such, but lacking or poorly executed in too many areas to maintain a lasting appeal. Online play against humans might prove the level’s worth better, but I doubt it would be enough.
Before I finish off, I'd like to say that I would be interested in getting a look at the following levels should the author provide some working links: DMCaerDarrow, DMGuty, DMHidden-Castle, CTF-PnultimateCommand and CTF-LavaRiverSupplyStation. I liked the three I found on NC, you see! ;)
Bottom Line: Not without merit but not without flaw.
Score: 5.5
Average User Score: 6.5 (2 scores)
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SkaarjMaster
Score: 7.0
OK so the score's a little high, but I liked the larger layout and different approach to TwinTombs.
2004-10-09 11:34:34
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T2A`
Score: 6.0
I wouldn't even call this a "reimagining." More like a whole new map using the same theme. People do that all the time. I figured, based on what I thought a reimagining was, that it'd be barely different. I figured the author would just change one or two things they didn't like and call it their map. Totally not the case here. It's actually decent.
Weird things happen with the fog depending on which rooms you're entering/leaving. Side passages don't get used, at least I didn't use them.
2004-09-28 19:45:32
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