MH-Kittara
Map Info
	File Name mh-kittara.zip Author Rob Gametype UT Monster Hunt Date Added 02-20-2003 File Version 1.00 File Size 1.24 mb Player Count 6-8 Map Description None Review Rating 7 User Rating 9 Overall Rating 8.0
Review
Reviewer Nahand Awe Score:  2.0/3 Date 02-10-2004 Build Score:  2.5/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  2.5/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  8.0/10 Monster Hunt. Is there anything better than killing some ass-looking beasts with your friends as you travel through scenic vistas? (not counting sex and cars ;) For the people wondering what is this all about, i'll let you know that Monster Hunt (MH for short) is a small MOD for UT that adds co-op-like gameplay (and maps) for people and/or BOTs to play side-by-side against the Unreal monsters (and fortunately, some great variations of the same). The goal of each MH map is to kill monsters as you try and reach the end of the map, wich might be guarded by a Boss (or several :). In a way, it's Assault, with a different flavor. You peeps can get the MOD with some easy search on the net, but for those lazy among you, here's the link to the official site: http://www.unreal2.co.za/mh/ This is correct and working as of the time of this review (though not updated). You'll also need to install the latest version of Screen Component for this map, a tiny MOD for scripted textures. Check the README coming with the map for extra directions. I'll also tell you that MH suffered IMO, from a bad start. The maps coming with the MOD are few and most are almost anti-BOT. The community eventually got at work and made custom MH maps (and MA), some good, some awfull. We are here to check one of those rare MH maps... a good one. [LOAD] AWE: 2.5 Now, FYI i´m a sucker for anything that has that Unreal-feeling, with nature abound, trees, waterfalls and gargantuan rock passages that top in great, beautiful skies. That is what you'll get with Kittara, and fortunately, more. There's even a reason for you to go on killing spree: some mercenaries have taken control of the outpost you're supposed to stay in. This and the rest of the briefing is told by that Screen Component-thingy at beggining of your ride. Part of the map consists in getting into the refered outpost, and so, you'll travel by other places like a village of sorts with closed iron grate constructions that must be open, caves and lost tombs. Texture work is good - you'll find everything (or almost everything) appropriatelly textured - but some places seemed to overuse them, like some canyon walls, or some parts of the tombs (especially noticeable on one area because lack of architectural highlights). Apart from that, things just plain look good (texturing). The one point in awe i can easily mumble about (and that helped those "less good" things about textures) is lighting. The first exterior part of the map seems almost like if lights were taken from it (apart of some weird coronas). It could have used extra coloring at canyon walls to "desguise" the same texture... The whole map is simply lit, remembering its functional nature, and there were no kind of "lighting-art" (that i was aware, that is). The other great aspect of this map is the "natural" feeling (also on gameplay, but we'll get to that part later). The thing is big, and you'll see most of the time that the author made a great job in "placing you there". Rocky canyons, caves, tombs and the outpost are depicted nicely (though sometimes simple). The tomb area and outpost were the two most interesting sites (IMO), because they had some more detail than the rest (maybe because they're also the most used areas in terms of gameplay?), as well as the dropship. 1337! BUILD: 2.5 The AI in MH is well known for being one of the finnest examples of what chicken-brained BOTs can do (or... not do...). Surprisingly enough, they worked quite well in Kittara. I even suicide myself the whole 5 lives just to check the BOT's progress. They fulfilled every objective they could and fought the monsters bravely. The build of the canyons, caves and outpost corridors can be very limiting in terms of player's movement. They will make you smell the breath of your closest pal' - specially true with big player numbers. The map recommendation is 6-8, but with 5 total i had to ask politely (read: shoot some Flakkie) to some BOTs to step away. Other than that, the map seemed well done, and i did find just one little HOM at far, despite what the author states in the README. Audio. As important as what you see, it's what you hear. The place lives with little nature sounds everywhere and inside the tomb eerie screams make you look back. The soundtrack fits... both of them. You start with one music, then it switches to another when entering the tomb, then, again back to the first when leaving. Nice. There are zones, and they have location strings, plus the objective messages common in MH are well used, keeping you informed of what's going on. CAST: 3 Gameplay is great! The whole structure of the map keeps you moving like a SP map (only better), sometimes making you revisit old areas from a different place (nice re-use of areas), and action non-stop. The combats with the monsters are absolutely challenging, and the enemies in variety. When you think you did it, you look back and there's more to kill! Item placement gives you and your party always something to shoot with, but not so that you're walking tanks. Flow is overall great, but there's some "traffic jams" in some places. It is a lesser detail that i believe it doesn't hurt the game. There's that computer detail inside the outpost. I was somewhat unsure where in the review i should talk about it, but since its related to flow more or less, i think this is the right place. Thing is: in the outpost there's a computer you have to destroy to proceed. It is immediatly guarded by a few Skaarj and Mercenaries. After you clean the room, you have to shoot for some while to the computer for it to break. It is annoying, especially because there's no more enemies to endanger you or your team, and so you stay there "for ages" wasting flak. The funny thing is, and like the author states in the README, the BOTs just need to jump onto it to blow the damn thing. Weird but usefull. I tried to be a smart monkey and did the same... it didn't work. (just imagine the faces of the BOTs looking at the poor retarded human jumping on top of a computer o_0). The ending part kept me on the toes, as we would fight hordes of incoming enemies, and tried to escape by a corridor that would eventually lead to the final. The darn enemies just kept coming after, and truly was an end in climax as i rushed into the dropship and the end screen popped, freezing in time the reckless fighting moment: my fellow hunters defending the dropship area, blood, bodies and minigun brass on the floor, last communication screams... and a Mercenary right behind me. Ownage. Last words: Like it was said in some user comments (and rightfully so), this is an awesome map for Monster Hunt MOD, and if you ever tried MH and ended disappointed (like me), this is TEH M4P that´ll make you install the MOD again. This map should had been released with Monster Hunt from the very beggining. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED DOWNLOAD.
Map Comments
minionofdestruction 06-08-2003 07:44 PM MDT Rating: 10   Monster hunt maps are all fun, because the concept of combining Unreal's single player with the cooperative team play aspect of Unreal Tournament is a cool concept. I've played many custom monster hunt maps from many users but this one is the best. This map amazes me. If it could have shipped with Unreal, it would have. This monster hunt map actually has a mission to carry out, whereas in most other monster hunt maps the goal is to kill the monsters, with some other stuff thrown in. This map also uses the Screen Component which allows you to make many cool affects with scripted client textures. In this particular map, it's used to deliver your mission briefing. Your mission is to battle your way into a mercenary station, through several obstacles and monsters, destroy their central computer, then haul ass back to your escape pod. SUMMARY: Easily the best, longest, and most interesting monster hunt map I've ever played. Download it and add it to your collection! NOTE: As well as the Monster Hunt mod and the Screen Component, this map also requires the SGTech1.utx package included in bonus pack 4. Sp4mM4st3r 06-16-2003 07:40 PM MDT Rating: 10   Yeah, MH is better than most of UT's regular game types. Love it! :) blazerunner 06-17-2003 01:42 PM MDT Rating: 5   I bet this map would be really cool if i could play it. How do you guys play this map anyway? Help would be nice. Amisa 06-17-2003 05:45 PM MDT Rating: 8   You have to download the MOD at http://www.unreal2.co.za/mh/ Well, the first time I play it.. Very fun Unreal1 mood. Sometimes narrow places and I get stuck in the main lift. Though very pleasant game. Good job. Stalin 06-18-2003 09:29 AM MDT Rating: 9   I'm givvin' it nine cos i dunno what else to give it. Does anyone know where to get MH from? Shao 06-18-2003 03:10 PM MDT Rating: 9   Not All MH Maps are fun. Well I got The whole collection of MH-TGES and The bots staying in their place and let me going to kill. But The Whole maps collection of MH-TGES is Crazy!! I found this maps is really fun. But I Recommended 10 players or More. If Someone Got a maps MH-TGES tell me!!!! Sexmachine 08-01-2003 08:43 AM MDT Rating: 10   minionofdestruction is right, this is by far the best custom made monsterhunt map available. You can see that the author has spent many hours in planning the layout and designing the mission of this map. The use of the screen component adds to this and the result is simply awesome. This map is a must have for all those who enjoyed Unreal and it's a good reason to have a second look at the MonsterHunt mod in general. You got point, Rob! Rob 04-04-2004 07:14 AM MDT   Thanks for the review Nahand, and good idea to introduce the mod. Damn, this map is already a year old ? It was my first try at an outdoor map, that's why cliff texturing and lighting are crappy. Sorry too for the narrowness of caves. As for the computer, well, destroying objectives is a feature of Assault ;) Again thank you Nahand, and thank you to the commenters. EDIT : kapdbebazz, sorry but both links work. Slim 04-02-2004 07:38 AM MST Rating: 7   I'd never even heard of Monster Hunt until a few montyhs back. It's quite an interesting modification. As has already been mentioned it brings the feel of Unreal to UT. Which is nice. This map is a fantastic additon to the gametype, and was the only map I played upto the point where I got rid of MH to go back to basics. There simply aren't enough maps that equal or surpass this one in terms of bot support and level design. None of the maps that came with the v5 release of MH were particularly good with bots come to think of it. So in reality the gametype's really only good to play online. I expect a lot of the maps are probably like that, though I haven't tried any more than this one and the bundled maps. It lagged my framerate incidentally, in the larger areas (such as the outdoor parts and one or two of the larger rooms), that's because I have a crappy graphics card though, and it was probably because I didn't force team colours. I suspect MH for UT is dead now. Especially online since I think I only ever saw 5 servers available, and I've ot a feeling one or two of the decent ones were private servers at that. It doens't even have the same sort of following Assault does, so judging by the amount of people that think Assault is dead, that cannot be good. Warhead_Launcher 02-11-2004 04:14 PM MST Rating: 9   Fun like hell hahaha! Buu 03-16-2004 02:03 PM MST Rating: 9   I'm working on my first map now. first i didn't know what to make, but when i saw this map, it's going to be MH. this mod is the best mod for UT ever. one of the things i like is that you can't change your enemy's skills (without UED) but only your bots's skills. idd a must have! well, you must see it yourself, if you aren't lazy kapdbebazz 04-05-2004 06:18 AM MDT   Hi all! Where is a normal (downloadable) Screen Component? The two link in the readme file is wrong... ----- Delicon! I have downloaded the file from this server, but its just a 29 KB file... Its not the real 286 KB file, and it is wrong... :( Delicon 04-04-2004 06:55 PM MDT   You can get the screen component at: www.planetunreal.com/screen/download.html craze 04-25-2004 09:34 PM MDT Rating: 10   I like this map, but I am wondering if anyone here at all has a map called MH-ATAA0 because i have it and dont know where it came from and it has custom weapons, also I saw a screenshot of it on Planet Unreal today, dose anyone have this map??? or dose anyone have a .u file called BPak? VindicatorEX 08-11-2004 03:57 AM MDT Rating: 9.5   Great MH map, even though it would be laggy on older systems. n00bkillin 10-28-2004 11:03 AM MDT Rating: 9   This is good aesthetically and gameplay wise. Up Rob! Mr. UT 06-06-2005 02:34 PM MDT   Do you need a mod for monstr hunt??? If you do let me know how to get it. thanks, but my computer's internet can not acsess the web page. Do you know of eney other web sites that you can downlode from??? GTD-Carthage 06-06-2005 01:13 AM MDT   Monster Hunt official site - http://www.unreal2.co.za/mh/ If you wanna get Monster Hunt, there's some files available at ModWorks.