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CTC-UT-Mappack-Vol1 (UT)
Map Author: The CTC Team
Download Here! (32.89 MB)
Date Reviewed: 6 December 2004
Reviewer: Homeslice
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At long last, a new UT mappack! This large pack of Unreal Tournament maps has been created just to prove to the world that good ol' fashioned Unreal Tournament has not died yet (and believe me, I know there's many of you who want to believe it has. Keep on thinking that because you're missing out). This pack is the Community Tribute Classic (or CTC for short), which is by a team of various authors assembled within the depths of the Unreal Playground community, and it contains 4 Deathmatch maps, 1 Capture the Flag map, and 1 Jailbreak map (for those of you without Jailbreak, go here to find the mod). This is only Volume 1, as you see, and there will be a Volume 2 sometime in the future (and hopefully - or not? - yours truly may be in that future pack, along with some more various authors).
CTF-CTC-HeliMania
Author: Francis "Fritz-X" De Block
(seen in screenshot #1)
In the Helimania, it's a fast and frenzied Capture the Flag match taking place on a small cargo bay hooked by a helicopter which hovers above a sea of lava in a volcano. All told, WATCH YOUR STEP! Fritz-X recommends 4-8 players here, which seems about right, given that the map ain't that big (don't overload it or else it could be easy to meet your doom below). Architecture is pretty unique, seeing how small the actual helicopter is. Unique shapes and nothing boxy there. As for the cargo hold, it's mostly a flat layout with plenty of nice pillar and ramp construction, as well as crate placement for shelter purposes (and wooden planks lying on top of the crates, acting as bridges). The layout is flat but nothing looked simple. Throw in some good terrain-based cliffs in the skybox, and overall, architecture is pretty nice. Focusing next on the lighting, the surfaces of the top of cargo bay look well-lit by the sky above, and as for the lower level, some nice light fixtures mounted on the walls give off respectable radii, and nothing is horribly overdone. The skybox is awesome-looking - looks like a darkening sky there, but it's made special by an eclipsing planet! Nice natural terrain as well (though maybe a bit on the jagged side of things), and looking down, there's the lava (but fall off the helicopter and you just die instead of getting incinerated. What for?). The skybox, I'd say, is almost UT2k3/2k4-like, and it fits the theme nicely. The flow is pretty decent here, considering the fact that you're staring at terrain as well as the rapidly-spinning blades at the top of the 'copter. I think most machines should be able to handle it.
As for the items, to name a few, you'll just be dealin' with the usual mixed bunches of ammo lying in the cargo corners, weapons scattered along floors or hiding inside the boxes, and go just a bit higher to grab some health vials. Placement's rather good, I'd say. As for bots, they played a good battle, both offensively and defensively. They were adept at keeping a guy from grabbing their flag (or if he did grab it, they'd pick him off pretty quick). Whenever they get the flag, they also make their share of successful capture, but I'd say their defense is stronger. Great job overall by them. This is good to try online too. Now, the texturing: it's a helicopter and a cargo unit, and steel makes pretty much all of the construction - the floors, the pillars and ramps, the wings, etc. Different textures, obviously, but same artifact. Good-looking light fixtures, too. Then of course, I said that there were some wooden planks lying around serving as bridges from one crate to another, as well as ramps going from a low crate to a higher one. The ramps have some good steel trim too, and this map might even have a bit of concrete in it. All in all, some hard work was put into choosing and aligning these textures, and it paid off handsomely. Nicely done! The only notable sound effect around was the loud rotation of the helicopter blades above. But its volume makes it worth-while. Good job there. Music track here was the default favorite (?) Razor-ub. Decent for the atmosphere, but a custom one could've helped a bit also. In terms of the map strategy, keep a couple of your best bots at the flag base, but again, keep the overall player load light. And need I say it again - don't fall off! Great map overall, with quite a creative theme. Alone, this map scores a 7.
DM-CTC-Croon
Author: Lucas "L.J.Paranoid" Hassen
(seen in screenshot #2)
Time to do a bit of Crooning at the setting sun! The ever-present Aussie thunder (not to take anything away from lophead or Thunderstrike) Lucas "L.J.Paranoid" Hassen brings his latest map to the UT table, and boy, is it a good one! It's set for 2-4 players, which supposedly will fit the tourney style of battles. I think it might be a notch big for 2 players, but 4 will do fine. You can squeeze or even 8 into this map with no hassle (but I don't think you should go beyond that).
Let me start on a positive note with, what else, the architecture. Very-well planned here, I can tell. Lots of curvy decoration about inside and outside, and these abandoned castles themselves are built really well, when you put together factors such as ramps, wall cracks and holes, curved walls and platforms, arched windows, and good rooftop design. Among more, that is. Nothing overlapping each other, and outside you'll see lots of good stuff too, especially with crates and woodboards and such. I wasn't too fond of the terrain in an otherwise nice-looking skybox (it fits the lighting like a glove, but I'll get to the lighting in a second), as you can see how sorta jagged it looks. But at least it's terrain, right? (Still better than the jagged crap I see n00bs make in UT2004.) Great job with the architecture overall! Now, the lighting, as promised. Really, really, splendid work! Plenty of shadows and colored detail everywhere you look. The architecture casts some terrific shadows both inside the castles and outside on the courtyards. The orange-yellow colors really sit well with the setting sun in the sky. The lens flares look as good as they are effective on the lanterns and wall lights. Nice usage of blue lighting on the walls, too. Not much more to say here, but why should I? To sum it up, the lighting flat-out RULES! Speaking of flat-out ruling, you gotta love what was done with the items here - check out how each of the weapons here use very cool pickup bases that can really attract an unarmed schmo who can't be bothered looking for weapons on mundane floor spots. Great concept, and that's reminiscent of the other UT that we've been playing so much of today (2k3/2k4 anyone?). As for the rest of the items, you'll typically find health vials along ramps or health boxes near walls, and the ammo? Of course, right with their own weapon or in mixed bags. Good stuff there. Bots did nice here too, as they seemed to explore most areas and not get lost or stuck anywhere. That, and they're good warriors too, as they should be! This should be fun online, provided that a server can handle this map's flow....
Yes, I said flow. That's the major issue of the map but first, let me touch base with the texturing and get that outta the way. Very much touching base with the ancient temple kind of theme, as you have brick castles with old tiled floors and wooden boards trim everywhere, plus some nice golden trim around many of the outside castle platforms. Lots of old steel to speak of as it creates some nice-looking shapes for the purpose of casting shadows, as well as some decent-looking light fixtures, wooden boxes, a few crystal-clear waterfalls and pools about, and grassy grounds outside (as well as in the skybox terrain). Lots of moss and spiderwebs here too, and you gotta enjoy how the webs float back and forth to show the power of the wind here. I also liked the addition of wondrous custom trees on the rooftops and the usage of butterflies too! (They're basically Slick Willy's firefly meshes modified to look like butterflies which is a nice touch.) All in all, the texturing: great choices, no misalignments, 'tis all good. Although maybe I'd choose another ceiling texture inside the castles instead of the bricks because that looks a tad inconsistent IMO. Moving on, NOW I shall speak of the flow. Lots to see in this map, and boy, do the polys add up or what! Game playability is dramatically dragged down a lot with all the detail of this map. You'll really want a fast machine if you intend to play this one, so however good it looks, if you own a slow machine, you may not wanna try this one for that very reason. Ouch. But back to basics here, 'cause now we have sounds to discuss. Few of 'em here - outdoor-type (such as crickets and wind), water falling, bells chiming, that sorta thing, all consistent with the atmosphere. Music here is Fifth (included in the ZIP file), which, of course, comes from the old Unreal 1. Great fit for the environment here and as always, a nice departure from the ol' stock. And as for the map strategy, first, keep the player load light as that'll help the flow some. Otherwise, do what you normally gotta do in a DM map - that is, get yourself a good weapon (and with the cool bases you can't miss 'em!) and hunt down your victims. This map has the environment and you gotta love it, but of course, the flow is the weak factor, and if not for that, the map score would be higher. Still, the score won't go down much; IMO this is easily the best map of the pack, and alone, it shall score itself a cool 8.
DM-CTC-EBD-HammerV1.4
Author: evil_blue_dude
This map was actually released before this pack was, back in June of this year. To read the full review of it (complete with screenshots), as reviewed by our own Thunderstrike, go here. The stand-alone map score was a 6.
DM-CTC-Scios
Author: Nils "Flying_Killer" Croes
(seen in screenshot #3)
It's ALIVE! But chances are, once you're in here....you won't be for long. Scios, a very well-named research lab of sorts, is a 2-5 player Deathmatch map which marks Flying_Killer's CTC map contribution. 2-5 seems about right, and you know this map will suit tourneys very well, but I think you could have a free-for-all ball (sorry, poetic moment there) with 6 or 8 as well. Lighting is very nicely done in this level, with gracefully-executed lens flares supporting the light fixtures which all do their job here nicely (short radii all around), and beautiful shadows in the halls and those cast by the moonlight coming from the outside (good nighttime skybox to support them too although I wonder why stars would be on the ground). Good usage of colors here, and overall, lighting is well done. The bots seemed to know their stuff here - they never got stuck anywhere and they seemed to get most of their items (well, except for maybe the Keg O Health inside a small pool in a central room). But this should be fun online as well. Items seemed well-laid out, with small pick-up bases for some weapons and Health Vials in lines as you'd come to expect (I think?). Like I said, the Keg rests inside a pool, and as long as the bots don't get to it....you should. Also, be very careful when you aim to get the rocket launcher, because you'll be next to a machine and two containers, each holding an angry Skaarj! Careful you don't press that button too many times, or one or both of those bad boys will go medieval on your ass....and chop you down to size (ouch). Keeping that tip in mind, you'll still see that the item placement was well planned. The flow here is not all that bad, and I think any machine should be able to take it.
Moving on, we have the texturing. Mostly industrial here, of course, with steel (of different sorts) just about everywhere - on the ceilings in a tile pattern, another good design on ramps and platforms, and rusted types on the walls and floors (with some squares taken out of the floors to reveal dirt and plant life). I like the water texture used here, and you'll be seeing the outdoors through clean glass windows (and Skaarj through frosted glass). Good usage of wires to display destruction and moss to display age as well. Good choices overall and I found nothing wrong with alignment either. As for architecture, FK didn't disappoint there either. Good ramp and doorway construction, tile displacement, wall and ceiling curvature, trimwork, you name it - it's all there. Nothing messy to see, not even on the staircases. Keepin' it brief, but to the point, the architecture was quite good. Nearly flawless, really. Nice sound usage - on what I heard anyway. I heard water trickling in one of the hallways, and the squealing of bats in another hall that is close to the experimental room itself. I can't recall hearing any wind but I think there's some there. Good job on those particular sounds. Music here is firebr (which of course is a stock UT track), and it does fit this atmosphere pretty nicely. But yes, I will say a custom track could've worked as well. And as for map strategy, be sure to get the Keg O Health when you can (as the bots are good fighters here, not to mention the Skaarj should they unfortunately be released), and take major caution near the Skaarj, because they'll be real nuisances to you (I know, and I hate 'em too!). But you do wanna have a weapon better than that pistol in every case. Despite some slightly hindered gameplay (on the bot end), this map alone was good enough to score a 7.5.
DM-CTC-The_Spinner
Author: Tex "TexasGtar" Brown
(seen in screenshot #4)
If the heat of battle doesn't make you dizzy, then the Spinner may do you in instead! TexasGtar's CTC submission has been built to fit a maximum of 8, which seems about right since the place ain't all that big; tourneys can't be wrong here. The architecture is pretty unique here - it's in dome style, with nicely-curved scaffoldings above you, and a cylindrical floor arena with a center point below you. That's about all but you gotta love how the dome was constructed, and it was in good fashion too. Texturing here is pretty much all industrial, with much of it coming from the famed richrig set. Lots of steel and concrete everywhere, and a few eye-catching surfaces to boot, which make the Spinner, basically. And the jumppads too....'aren't kickers great??' Good choices here and they all look well aligned to boot. Lighting here seems mostly done by the surrounding arena lights, and in the corridors behind the arena, you'll find some illustrious shadow work going. The skybox (which is a nice, picturesque - oh, me and my big words - type) didn't do much in the lighting department, however. Still, lighting was decent.
Bots pretty much knew their way here, at least in terms of the battle here. They seemed to use the kickers often too, but I didn't see them on the Spinner itself all that often. Still, they were good enough without gettin' lost; this map oughtta be a fun one to play on a server online as well. As for items, pretty basic layouts here with weapons and some ammo found in small shelters where you'll usually spawn, plus a bunch of Redeemers in a very high secluded area (good luck gettin' up there), a Shield Belt on the Spinner itself (don't get dizzy when you step on it because it's FAST!), and a Keg O Health on top of the dome....again, good luck making it up there. Among other things of course; nice ideas to place weapons and items away overall. As for this map's flow, I think it'll run pretty smoothly in the main battleground that is the arena, and I think it'll be decent overall unless you're playing near or on the scaffoldings. In terms of sounds, I hear maybe some wind and jumppad sounds (always essential here), and that's probably it. Kind of a catchy tune used for the music track here - Spinner Music, that is, and it's included in this monstrous ZIP file. Decent departure from the usual stuff, I'd say. And as for the map's strategy, hey, what else? Do your usual 'getting the good weapon and stalking your prey' deal, though you'll definitely wanna get the Shield Belt and Keg O Health as often as possible. Good map overall for tourneys or small free-for-all's alike. Check out Tex's website here. By itself, this map gets a score of 6.5.
JB-CTC-EBD-Theomachy
Author: evil_blue_dude
(Not pictured in this review - for a screenshot of the map, go here.)
This is our first - and probably the only? - Jailbreak review, but seeing as it's in the pack, it's gotta have one, ya know. The full name of the map is 'The war against the gods' (why not stick with the map name? Just my 2 cents). It's a small arena, and as you can see, it's really....green. That's pretty much the name of the game when it comes to texturing in the main sector of this map. Lots of green stone walls and green stone-tiled floors here, as well as trim with some green growing on it, and other textures such as ancient masks and murky water at the low-lying area (with a couple of warriors that hath been shot dead before). The skybox contains some natural rocky terrain with some steel towers in the distance (and they compliment the clouds and stuff very nicely here). In the arena (that is, if you're in jail and you get called in to do battle in an attempt to gain freedom), there's more stone around on surfaces, as well as some liquid that looks like it's invisible as you float on it while doing battle. So maybe the overall map is a bit too green, but I like the originality of the idea (seeing as it kinda shows age throughout this decaying temple) and it suits the theme well. As per architecture, the overall layout (i.e. the surrounding walls) looks a bit squarish, but within these walls, there's some good usage of ramps and shapely walls, and there's more ramp usage inside the JB arena. In fact, the ramps and the few arched mask walls might be the only stronger artifacts with the construction (in addition to the terrain and towers inside the skybox), but at least everything looks neat and not sloppy, which is good. evil_blue_dude wants a load of 4-10 players put in here, which seems about right. Call me crazy but I think you could play a good fight with only 2 in here (but who plays JB with only 2 players? I'm curious). I wouldn't go past 8 or 10, probably, because the map is not large. As per bot behavior, they know the map well too. They're strong on defending the jail release switches, and they're also adept in releasing their prisoner teammates. They get any weapon they need to, and they're not too shabby during the JB arena battles either. They are quite good overall. Online servers (especially the JB Mothership server where I play) should carry this map because, while it ain't big, it's sure fun.
Moving on, there is the flow of the map. Very smooth on all corners and everywhere else, which is good, so most any machine can handle it (that is, after you suffer through the long download). It will work. As for the items, not a whole mess of stuff to be found here, but it's enough - each base features a shock rifle and flak cannon (and their ammo, of course) with a couple of nicely custom-skinned health boxes, then go to the shallow-watery floors and find a Shield Belt at center. In the arena, you'll see more shock rifles, as well as a Damage Amplifier hidden in a central hole somewhere. Seeing how small this map is, the items here are pretty sufficient though I think more health could've been added. Next up, the lighting. The colored lens flares on each base seem to help the flames out a bit, but they look a tad washed-up and oversized (but believe me, they looked worse during beta-testing!). To be fair, the flames themselves give off some nice short lighting distance. The surfaces of the main temple grounds have a bit of blue and orange glares on them, and that's a sign that the skybox's colors were not ignored. Nicely done there. The lens flares on the flames within the halls (and in the jails) also looked big, but the flames did their job well too. And as for the arena, it's rather dark. A bit more could've been done with the lighting there but at least it makes for a fun battle for freedom (you're never in there for too long anyway). So, despite having washed-out flares and a few dark spots, the lighting was pretty decently done. Not a lot in the sound department here, except maybe the standard outdoor fare, and some torch flickerings (and some odd sound that you'll hear during the pretty cool Jailbreak execution method that occurs once all team members are captured). Music here was CFCsuspence (a custom fare indeed) and it did wonders for this theme. Good departure from the usual stocking stuffer. And in regards to the map strategy, while you wanna keep the player load light, keep everyone freelancing and make sure they're releasing your teammates and making sure that the jailed enemies don't go anywhere but to hell! And as for you, of course, make sure you have a good offensive weapon like the Flak Cannon handy, because you'll need it against the opposition; especially those that guard the jailswitches. That's really about it here. While small, it's got a good theme and the gameplay rocks, so this should prove to be fun for all of you Jailbreak-aholics. Alone, I would say this map scores a 6.5.
Bottom Line: This is definitely something you'll wanna have if you're still lucky enough to have UT installed. It's a pack with all the goods of a strong team of mappers that bring the youth back to UT! Download it now!
Score: 7.0
Average User Score: 6 (2 scores)
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dragon9
Score: 5.0
I'm a bit desapointed cause of some pathing in those maps, some are reall bad. But some are good, whit good maps, but way to small for my taste. The CTF- are tiny, but very good looking, well it is only a matter of taste here. Good job guy's
2005-01-05 21:32:24
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SkaarjMaster
Score: 7.0
CTF-CTC-HeliMania (6.5):
small CTF good for small CTF servers, no custom music, needs more ambient sounds, bots are too easy, good weapon placement, nice layout with some bumps from using jump boots at wrong time, the boots can make up somewhat for the relatively flat layout though.
DM-CTC-Croon (8):
Definitely one of the better recently-released UT maps, great/classic gameplay and good AVA, loved the lighting withe the shadows and weapon placement as well, music is an old Unreal1 song but works for this level. Is it my imagination or is there a pervasive sound in this map that doesn't go away when moving to different areas of the map?
DM-CTC-EBD-HammerV14 (7):
good custom music, impressive and tight DM with some wide-open areas.
DM-CTC-Scios (7):
simple map and fun to play with the skaarj complication, needs music from the original Unreal. Do the bots release them? Do the skaarj go after the bots or just me?
DM-CTC-TheSpinner (6.5):
custom music is a good thing, I liked the gadgets everywhere and it was fun to explore, needs a few more health packs, AVA could be better and gameplay is good.
I'm not playing the JB map as I don't want to install JB.
My total pack score for the five maps only is a 7.
2004-12-07 13:21:27
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