DM-Dominis
Map Info
	File Name dm-dominis.zip Author Nathillien Gametype UT Deathmatch Date Added 02-22-2003 File Version 1.00 File Size 3.15 mb Player Count Idealf Map Description None Review Rating 5 User Rating 8 Overall Rating 6.0
Review
Reviewer AMmayhem Awe Score:  1.5/3 Date 11-30-2003 Build Score:  2.0/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  1.5/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  6.0/10 AWE: 1.5 Man, this map has quite a change in highs and lows for the awe score. I'll start with the lows, which even then are mixed. Texturing for the most part really needs work. The textures chosen aren't bad, just the alignments and repetitiveness of them don't look good. Texturing on cylindrical brushes are all spirally aligned, others are cut off and looks real sloppy. Lighting has it's hits and misses. The torches emit white light because of over saturating, none have an orange fire color. The high point in lighting is the outdoor reddish lighting from the sky, it looks outstanding. It's too bad the author didn't better utilize outside lighting. Architecture is the best part here. Some nice round columns, towers, and halls, with good supports. The torch sconces look great as well. The outside screenie really shows the great architectural work. BUILD: 2 Sounds aren't too bad, but it does well with the story of the map. Which includes a Skaarj Queen in a pit below, so I wouldn't fall down there if I were you. The Queen also resurrects herself when you kill her, so you'll eventually die. Most of the sections of the map is zoned off, which helps, due to some of it's openness. The lifts are a bit strange, and look more like a ring of energy that lifts you up. CAST: 1.5 Gameplay isn't what it could be, the bots tend to hang around in certain areas, almost like there aren't any pathnodes, which the map does have. The energy lifts take you up, but there's no real way down other than jumping or translocating, which really affects the flow. Plus some bots fall into the Skaarj Queen pit, and are down there for a while, which can take away the number of enemies for a short time. SCORE: 5 I'm still somewhat undecided on this map, too many positives and negatives. Go ahead and take a look for yourself.
Map Comments
Rattler 02-23-2003 10:50 AM MST Rating: 7   Great map, The architecture is good, game[play is good too, lots of room for fighting. Rob 02-25-2003 07:00 AM MST Rating: 10   This is PERFECTION. darthnili 02-26-2003 04:26 AM MST Rating: 5   too big, no gameplay. Nice architecture in spots, ugly skybox. Not a bad one, impressing me at first, then dissapoing PapaBear 03-06-2003 06:01 PM MST Rating: 8   Wonderful map, the architecture, the textures, very impressive. I wish I had a faster computer, it lagged on the outer sections, so i am not able to get the full effect of the bots - but that is no fault of the map, I will be holding onto this map until I get a newer computer because it is a definite keeper - well done! storm 03-27-2003 11:28 PM MST Rating: 7   as alpachino would say hooha Biomech Deluxe 04-21-2003 02:17 PM MDT Rating: 9   This one hits harder than a garden rake to the nuts. Bot40 04-21-2003 04:21 PM MDT Rating: 7   Nice and original, and some nice architecture in places. Unfortunatly, the layout is a bit poor and the lighting was very boring : Sauron 04-21-2003 07:32 PM MDT Rating: 10   one of the best maps i ever seen Mxtrmntr 08-20-2003 05:56 PM MDT Rating: 7   This one definitely manages to impress on first impact. Now if the gameplay was better... Nahand 08-21-2003 07:44 AM MDT Rating: 7   Yes... I got this map a while ago and by then it definitly impressed me. It IS outstanding on the architecture (spelling?) side. Plus, i was playing Clive Barker's Undying at the time, so, to anyone familiar with that great SP game you can imagine how AWE i as... Looking at it more coldly now (and AWE apart), the map suffers from a GAMEPLAY shortcoming that is more than enough for some people to dump it. Regretally, because the map do have gameplay, only not the STRONG gameplay we're used to. I think this map was (like DM-Leviathan, check author), an effort to... build something really eye-pleasing, more than gameplay-focused. It would be great to see this in a singleplayer mod for UT, or even in Undying (hint to author)... Claw 11-30-2003 09:00 PM MST Rating: 8   Wow AMayhem, that's a pretty harsh score. I feel this map deserves more than a 5... I was totally impressed when I played it back in the days. AMmayhem 11-30-2003 10:11 PM MST Rating: 6   The inner room with those weird lifts really hurt the score, especially for flow. Plus there were other areas that just didn't connect fluidly enough. The towers for sniping were pretty much pointless too. M@estro 12-01-2003 11:18 AM MST Rating: 9   lovely high great map cause pillairs etc. it's it worth UArchitect 12-01-2003 02:18 PM MST Rating: 9   this is one of my fave maps, i like all of Nathillien's maps, hes got great architecture at the most...i just love the architecture in all of hes maps, he goes beyond most with the polycount making things look amazing, and he uses custom meshes too so thats a plus i give it a 9 coz no map is ever perfect, damn i love the architecture..the towers with the spikes are crazy good :D outdoors area is really good too its a shame he hasnt made that many maps... :( Nathillien 12-01-2003 07:15 PM MST   Thanx for the review Mayhem. I admit that my maps look better than play. Lighting could be better but not much, sounds also but bots do almost everything. They move right and always, they jump in places where they need to, they use triggered lifts right, they fight the Queen or escape the dungeon (yes - escape), they pick all pickups including the Redeemer and superhealth (except invisibility - but i guess its because its hard to find and reach :) ). Ah, you stuck on the sniper tower :) - but you should boot-jump (boots are wayting just infront the light-lift) to the second tower where you get supershield (for reward) and teleport in the middle of the level. (Everything is in the readme). True - Dominis has a fair learning curve, you need to play the level qute a few times to master it. If someone is interested in a real elaborate review of DM-Dominis try at UP. http://www.unrealplayground.com/review.php?id=110 Best regards and again, thanx. tgm79 12-12-2003 05:24 PM MST Rating: 9   Alarik (in a threatening voice) to the Queen: "Get away from me, you BITCH!" This map reminded me somehow of "Heretic 2". Maybe the main reason for this is the skybox – original, in tone with the map and giving much to the atmosphere. Whenever a mapper makes his own skybox for his map – this is a plus. I have no complaints about the architecture – original, very open but a little bit too Quake-ish for my taste. Good and proper usage of textures. The only texture that wasn't in place was this cheery blue glow on the elevator pods. The thing that Nathillien hasn't mastered yet is lighting. Although he made the outer lighting red according to the red sky, the inner lighting contains only of pure white lights. The truth is – plain white light never looks good. Tweaking the hue/saturation properties of the light is always a good idea. The music doesn't fit the level. Something more intense and dark would be better. The gameplay is good. Not fast and furious, but good. The map is too big even for sixteen players. Domination would suit it better. Dominis has a short story in the Readme file, describing the history of the place and explaining the Queen in the dungeon. Personally I always hated when mappers put a free roaming Queen in their map. This one here is trapped really, but still…I just hate this stupid animal. It is annoyingly tough. But this won't influence the score. I liked the nice little details in the cell of the Queen like the broken chain, the nest with eggs and the glowing stone with hieroglyphic symbols. It' is a good touch that Nathillien has made a floating mist-texture little above the floor, like the one in "Alien". I guess he is a fan of that movie. Well, summarizing all that and having in mind the time Nathillien spent on this map the final score would be 9. Vertigo 12-17-2003 04:56 PM MST Rating: 6   DOM should fit the map better than DM IMO Shao 12-18-2003 10:12 PM MST Rating: 8   ah shut up Vertigo , this map is great! i just don't know how to say about it. But why the heck is too much like UT2K3's map??? kingmango 04-25-2004 12:47 PM MDT Rating: 9   Whenever I play UT DM, I play this map Suspension of disbelief carried to the extreme with this one. Manticore 04-25-2004 09:11 PM MDT Rating: 9   Maps like this are the reason UT stays loaded up on my machine and played regularly. K-Switch 12-17-2004 07:22 AM MST Rating: 8   Nice work dude.