Dead Simple

Damn Good

As the name suggests, this map pays homage to Map07 from Doom2. Dr. Sin hasn't changed the basic layout of the level much and yet it still plays just as great now as it did years ago. The major changes to the design are a semi-enclosed loop around the inner ring and a level on top of it forming a walkway around the circumference of the level. In the middle courtyard area, ther are still four platforms with weapons on them, but in the middle, the authro has placed the UT trophy with spotlights all around. Hrm... somehow I would have preferred a Mancubus... but that's just me :)

Playability is absolutely no problem in this level. I don't see how anyone could possibly mess up this design with bad bots, as it is the bots work very well. They know how to get around, they use the weapons very effectively. I had my ass trounced thoroughly several times by Experienced bots. The addition of teleporters in the the lower halls didn't seem to affect playability at all.

The real highlights of this level though are the theme and texturing. I don't know how Sin did it, but the texturing in this level looks absolutely perfect. I saw no hint of any misalignments whatsoever. Even better, the texturing created a very consistent theme among the level which seemed to me like an amalgomation of Doom2 and Quake 3. I definitely like it.

What could possibly be wrong with this map then?

1. Too dark.

Unless you like turning your gamma up to 10, this map will be pretty dark on most systems.

2. No music.

Actually I didn't notice this at first. The sound of plasma rifles sort of subdued it I guess. :) But nevertheless, WTF? No music? Unfortunately, the lack of music and any ambient sound effects scores this map a 0 in the sound category. Sorry, nothing I can do about it.

3. Slowdown in courtyard.

This surprised me most. In the middle open courtyard area where the majority of action takes place, things tend to slowdown quite a bit. I guess it could be the combination of decoration meshes, weapon effects, and so many players. You most likely won't notice this on a faster system (i.e. PIII or Athalon).

DM-Homageto-7 is a classic layout combined with the new technology of Unreal Tournament, to make a simplistic, but damn good map.