This map, CTF-TFC, may have an almost symmetrical name, but it's not a symmetrical game. The place looks very nice and the framerates are great, but the game is one-sided.

The map has sort of a military base look to it. The author, The Unknown Mapper, did a great job of keeping the polys down while giving you some nice visuals. There are several paths along the way, including an outdoor spot that is very dark. Automatic cannons are positioned near each base, and they do a lot to hurt your chances of a successful flag return. Most of the time, you'll be fighting on one level with around 10 players, but there are a few spots for some z-axis attacks.

A custom texture package came with the zip, and virtually the entire level was comprised of these new textures. One thing that seemed to really help out the textures were good lighting techniques. There are some visual clues to keep you from getting lost, but in other places, you're on your own.

The bots worked okay, but here's the thing: I played in spectator mode for the first two games and red won. So then I played a game on the red team and I returned the flag three times in extremely short order. So then I tried out the blue team; they stink. I played 7 more games on the blue team and never won a single game. So for ten games played, the red team won every game. I was even getting monster and ultra-kills on the blue team, but we still weren't able to pull it off. There are also a couple of ramps that the bots avoid, because of pathing problems. If you play this game online against breathing opponents, it would be much better.

The lighting was excellent. The author did a super job with the lighting, I thought. Every light on the map was appropriate to its source. The author gave us some music and some ambient sounds for a more complete map.

~End of Review~

For the author: I would encourage you to move some defense points around. The bots are ruining this map. The red team have several places were they are firing through doorways with rocket launchers. Many times they are working together, and the blue team seems to do their own thing. If you get the bots' play balanced out better, let me know and I'll review it again, because it's a really nice map if it wasn't for the bots taking all the fun out of it. You also need to work on your ramps so the bots can navigate them. I would see them try to climb a ramp, then hop right off. I noticed this happening several times.