DM-Hyrule Castle
Map Info
	File Name dm-hyrulecastle.zip Author Melaneus Gametype UT2k3 Deathmatch Date Added 01-11-2003 File Version 1.00 File Size 4.59 mb Player Count 8-16 Map Description None Review Rating 2.5 User Rating 5 Overall Rating 3.5	No level screenshot available.
Review
Reviewer Mister_Prophet Awe Score:  0.5/3 Date 01-13-2003 Build Score:  1.0/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  1.0/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  3.5/10 Im a huge Zelda fan, I grew up Playing the original NES installments and have played all the super nintendo, gameboy, and n64 sequels. I even watched the show. A Link to the Past for SNES remains my most favorite and is easily the best in the series. The n64 made the series trendy, which pissed me off. But anyway, onto this map. DM-HyruleCastle is based on the Hyrule castle from Link To The Past. The author did a good job in recreating the layout, the outside even has rain like in the game. But not all is well here. This maybe be a neat little idea here...especially if you are a Zelda fan, but the map is rather lacking as a UT2003 Deathmatch. Firstly, the map is UBER basic. There are custom meshes yes, but they arent great looking and only fans of the game will recognize them. Everything looks painted on and the textures lack no detail enhancements (mappers please, if you are gonna make custom textures then add the detail to them. It is easy and it is worth it). Lighting is rather bleak, there is colored lighting but you can barely even notice. ALL of the lighting is overlit, like any basic SNES game. People who have never played Zelda are gonna see this and say "ewe", people who love Zelda, like myself, are gonna say, " Oh cool its the castle...but ewe". If the appearance was meant to look retro, then the author succeded, but I can tell by the lighting and other clues that this wasnt intended look as detailess as it is. The map would have been much cooler if the same theme was kept but if the author made a better attempt to take advantage of UT2K3s visual power. Youll feel like your playing old UT by the looks of this one. And even by THOSE standards it doesnt look all that good. What I did like was how the author included all the rooms from the game, even the prison where you save Zelda. Gameplay suffers also since the layout of Hyrule Castle was never meant to serve as a UT2K3 deathmatch arena. The author does an ok job changing a few things to make the map more tournament friendly, but it still has issues. For instance, this map very room corridor room since Zelda was ONLY room corridor room, and the little z-axis in the map isnt very entertaining. Bots can navigate the whole map but they do it sluggishly and after 5 games they couldnt kill me (and I suck). The author wisely avoided making the doors open and close and replaced them with tele-touch technology (you touch a door and BAM you port to the other side). There are other teleporters in the map too, but they are just floating energy balls. There is a dead end in the maps dungeon and the map is rather big and boring after while. I played with 10 bots and I still had to alot of running to find a decent kill. It tries, but Gameplay just isnt up to par. The Prophets Verdict: I applaud the author for attempting to convert the castle from the single best game in the entire Zelda series. But the map isnt an effective DM. I would kill to see a professional mapper do what this guy tried to and actually convert Hyrule Castle, or any Zelda environment, into a fully functional and beautiful DM arena.
Map Comments
SealClubber 01-11-2003 12:45 PM MST Rating: 5   Alright, I got this level when it came out - this is an awesome conversion of hyrule castle from zelda:link to the past for the SNES. I have the res @ 1600 x 1200, 32 bit color, all settings and details on highest - and I STILL get 100 fps! I have a geforec4 ti 4600 asus vid card and a athlon 1800xp processor with 768 mb of ddr ram fyi- fun map - brings back memories 1/2LuNaTiC 01-11-2003 08:34 PM MST Rating: 2   ok ok ok....U still get 100 fps because there isnt hardly any detail. I'll admit this is a pretty damn good connversion of a 2d level to 3d and I remember most of the rooms from the good SNES. My question is why build something from SNES? Why not convert Clock Town (whatever the town was in the main area) from Majora's Mask or Hyrule Catle from OoT? Anyway map is very bright thanks to the textures and run very smooth. Thanks to the new Spectate Botmatch mutator I noticed bots getting stuck in the dungeon with the RL. Not the greates map but if you love Zelda a lot then I guess you'll want this. koopa 01-12-2003 04:27 PM MST Rating: 5   Fun, in a retro kind of way. The author has done a pretty clever conversion job on it, and it's certainly worth a few games. I'd love to see something from one of the N64 Zelda incarnations too. Melaneus 01-16-2003 01:57 AM MST   I made this map mostly to develop my building skills. It was the first map I made for UT and the first I upgraded to UT2003. I wanted to make it better, but I got tired of working on someone else's map. What I originally planned for the map was an assault mission that followed the path taken by the opening of the game. (Get to the dungeon, get to the throne room, get through the secret passage and sewers, and reach the Sanctuary.) I have started to work on this map again. This time I'm going to deviate from the regular floorplan to better utilize 3d for the map. I want to keep as much of the style of Hyrule Castle intact. For starters, I made the outside even bigger, and am putting towers and stuff on the roof. Fierce 01-14-2003 03:10 AM MST Rating: 5   I love the Zelda-Games... but the Map ist too Comic. I'm thinking about a remake of Ocarina of Time's Forest Temple, but in this time I have a lot of work with other ut2-projects anyway. SirTahngarth 01-15-2003 12:28 AM MST Rating: 5   feirce, thats actually a good idea, although a problem would lie in the twisting corridors, but you wouldnt need to include those other rooms. anyways, this map plays pretty good, but it ijust looks blah. The walls should have a more bricky look to themm rather than just lines. A good effort, but it needs more work. Mel, an assault mod is being worked on, go to http://www.roar.fahadkhan.org and post on their forum. they need more maps, ask them for help and maybe that can happen. Bot40 01-14-2003 01:21 PM MST Rating: 2   My eyes are...burning...ahhhhhh...... -=Gemmeni=- 02-01-2003 06:27 AM MST Rating: 7   I really like this map.Make more Zelda maps!!! nugget 08-17-2003 03:08 PM MDT Rating: 7   looks good, and i wuz woundring if it was the one on the atari fourms?