DM-EyeOftheStorm
Map Info
	File Name dm-eyeofthestorm.zip Author El chicoverde Gametype UT Deathmatch Date Added 10-05-2001 File Version 1.00 File Size 4.6 mb Player Count 2-6 Map Description None Review Rating 6 User Rating 8 Overall Rating 7.0	NC2 map imported without screenshot.
Review
Reviewer Mister_Prophet Awe Score:  1.5/3 Date 01-08-2003 Build Score:  2.0/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  2.5/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  7.0/10 This map was made quite some time ago. Eye of the Storm by Chicoverde is a very Quake 3 type map based on the upper part of a tower that stands above the clouds of a stormy atmoshpere. Visually, the age of the map is obvious, but not in a ugly way. The textures are from Quake, which means like Quake...everything is brown with skulls here and there. Chico was even cool enough to add custom deocrations to the map, including large spike horns for roof tops and a long fleshy pillar thing which resembles similiar decorations from Quake 3 maps. Lighting seems mostly orange and there is even a lava pitt to complete that whole evilness theme. The architecture isnt very detailed, but few UT maps are anyway. Overall, the theme looks like it came right out of Quake 3 and got a Unreal make-over. The skybox looked kind of boxy, but no more than DM-Galleon. While I personally despise Quake 3 and all of its cheesiness, this map is possibly the best Quake/UT Hybrid Ive ever played, and It is more fun to play than Quake 3 AND most UT maps. The Map imploys standard Quake-like jump pads throughout most of the map. I usually hate jump pads, but in this map they fit in with the theme so I didnt mind so much. In my opinion there are 3 kinds of maps that use jump pads: 1. Those maps that put like 1 or maybe a few jump pads around to do retarded stuff like bounce people onto a catwalk or bounce people onto a ledge. This is a mortal sin according to the Prophets Book of UT Principles. Putting these jump pads here is a sign that you are a lazy mapper, you may get away with it in Q3A quaker boy, but not in Unreal. Use a lift...or better yet...a ramp/stairs...at least that way the player can go up and down easily instead of being pushed up into a direction they cannot control and then having no choice to either go the way they jumped to or if they have second thoughts, jump off that ledge. In some maps, this pointless contribution usually pissed people off, take for instance the waste of space jump pads in CTF-Coret (stairs would have been perfect, that room was pretty basic anyway). 2. Maps that try to base gameplay on the use of multiple jumpads scattered around the map but fail. These are the maps who might look clever far away, but once you realize you can bounce around the map in a mere 3 seconds, you realize that ramps would have been better. Other maps who use this method improperly have plenty of bouncing around, but to a point where it just seems too cheesy to be a UT map. Recent offenders of this crime are DM-LightFalls and DM-Plunge. 3. Those rare maps who actually manage to use jump pads in ways that are good for gameplay. DM-EyeOfTheStorm is one of these maps. Bots use this map remarkable well, I may add. This is the first map I reviewed here at NC where the bots did good enough of a performance to be noted for their skill. They use the pads rather well, or so i noticed. I got fragged more often in this map then any of the jump pad based maps (where in Light Falls, I didnt die at all after a few rounds). While the bots did play well, they were vulnerable when being bounced, but so was I to an extent. Human players will have a jump pad blast here, if you like that sort of thing. The Prophets Verdict: This map is old but still remains a slightly above average map. Quake fans will love this map more than most, and this is one of the few maps who use jump pads in a tolerable fashion. Chico may have moved on to bigger and better things after making this map, but this one still has a pulse.
Map Comments
Vertigo 11-25-2002 01:42 PM MST Rating: 9   this map is great. good thmeme, good geometry, flow, but the polycount kills the result. however it rulz!!!! horned demon 12-05-2002 09:04 AM MST Rating: 9   i couldent of said it better! iv had this map for the past mounth and im still playing on it Mxtrmntr 01-09-2003 10:21 AM MST Rating: 8   decent map, quake-ish or not :P actually probably the best quake-ish map for UT. i was stuck between 7 and 8 here... hmm, i'll leave it with 8 :) EDIT: btw Hellscrag, i didn't notice any fps problems on my p2 400, if i remember correctly o_O FDaniel 12-14-2002 03:06 PM MST Rating: 9   The architecture of this map is completely awesome, its worth the download just to walk through it and look around. deathbringer 01-08-2003 09:04 PM MST Rating: 7   This is a cool looking map, but a little bad on the frame rate and needs a lot of people to play well due to the large scale. And for the snipers to have any fun... For a GOOD Quake map, get Q1DM7 for UT. That's a FUN map. Hellscrag2002 04-05-2003 04:30 PM MST Rating: 6   I agree with Prophet on this one. Strong Quake III Arena "Hell" theme, but muddy lighting and let down by the dreadful framerate even on an above-spec UT machine. I've held onto this one for a long time but it's never really got played. Good custom decorations and addictive custom music in the form of "Synapse". {DS}~2nd-B07: This is a Q3-themed map, not a conversion. There's no way that it's a 1. [morpheus] 01-09-2003 11:48 AM MST Rating: 8   This map ain't all that bad. Of course if you don't like Quake III, you won't like it, at least not visually. What can I say? The architecture is simply glorious, lightning good, jump pads do their duty and the wind gives the map something out-of-UT. The music is good, but it has a few unpleasant sounds. Some time ago I was making a map after this one but a single computer crash destroyed everything. SolarImplosion 01-09-2003 03:01 PM MST Rating: 9   i liked this map alot.. well havent played it in a bout a year BUT i liked it when i first got it alot... on the other websites it got negative comments cause it was.. uhh..................... satanic?? no it wasnt but that is what they said. o well get this map! :O Krull 01-09-2003 11:33 PM MST Rating: 7   nice level!! very creepy. I like the architecture. very cool! Ulukai 01-11-2003 09:22 AM MST Rating: 8   Chico owns you all. Well, except for Graves and Eastwood, that is :P Fuzzy Logic 01-12-2003 06:08 AM MST Rating: 8   This is one of the best looking maps I've seen. Gameplay isn't bad either but needs a high bot count to make things lively. This is one I keep going back to. {DS}~2nd-B07 03-26-2003 08:40 AM MST Rating: 1   Q3 Maps on UT? WHATEVER NEXT ;( lunarfluke 04-04-2003 07:57 PM MST Rating: 10   Chico verde is the bomb! ilove this map i have always loved it and i always will. Altimartin 04-05-2003 04:10 PM MST Rating: 9   Nice interesting map indeed Stakhanov 04-06-2003 10:42 AM MDT Rating: 7   Cool map , though not very original. Smart gravity change (preventing cratering , higher than standard lowgrav though) enhancing the gameplay. Nice use of the meshes here (as Chico always does) Bots fall in a few places (lava mostly) but use jumpads quite well most of the time. This is mostly a Z-Axis map , cool in 1on1 matches , and definitely owns with the Matrix Moves ! Chrysaor 04-06-2003 10:58 PM MDT Rating: 6   the bomb? That's like 8 years old. This map is A bomb. A freakin dud. Aggressor 04-07-2003 02:57 AM MDT Rating: 7   Still ownz me... Astral 04-07-2003 01:06 PM MDT Rating: 9   Excellent map. Good work man. Sauron 04-07-2003 01:06 PM MDT Rating: 10   owned