DM-Oxide
Map Info
	File Name dm-oxide1.02.zip Author [FDN]-NEO-[nl] Gametype UT2k3 Deathmatch Date Added 05-13-2003 File Version 1.02 File Size 7.86 mb Player Count 4-12 Map Description Authors 4th map Level info: The "Oxide" industrial plant started out as one of NEO incorporated's Testing facilities. It was used for testing how plain old rust would act on different kinds of metals under various sircomstances and in multiple different constructions. The obtained data from the tests was used to make constructions in their Tournament arenas last longer and making them able of taking large amounts of force (from e.g. missile impact etc.). After a few years of doing it's job, the plant got forgotten and decayed (due to the immence increase in usage of stainless steel it got useless). Until the Tournaments got so popular and more and more warriors signed in. At that moment there was a shortage of arenas for the Tournament wars. So NEO inc. decided to give the plant a whole new life and purpose than before: A Tournament Arena! At that moment DM-Oxide was born!!! Authors comment:Not much to say about this map, it started out with a drawing I made while my system was running defrag and when it was done I started building immediately :D you've gotta see it for yourself to get the feeling of it. This is version 1.02, 1st version unfortunatly had a minor well hidden bug in it, but it's fixed in this version!! Review Rating 5.5 User Rating 7.5 Overall Rating 6.5
Review
Reviewer ArcadiaVincennes Awe Score:  1.5/3 Date 12-30-2004 Build Score:  2.0/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  2.0/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  6.5/10 DM-Oxide (UT2003) Take DM-Asbestos, strip off most of the visuals and gameplay like one would strip off rust, and this is the map you’re left with. This is a map that had a lot of potential but didn’t seem to do anything with it. Let’s find out what went awry. AWE: 1.5 The overall theme is explained in the readme/map description and doesn’t make much sense - well, not to me at any rate. Suffice it to say, this is supposed to be a purposely rusted arena that was closed for awhile and now re-opened. Well, it’s decidedly rusted, but there isn’t much of an indication that it was closed and reopened. The texturing is the same everywhere. And it’s not a pretty one, due to the rusty theme. Taken straight from Asbestos, the wall and floor textures do not vary at all throughout the map. The same wall textures at the top of the map are the same at the bottom. Extremely uninteresting and dull, this is consistency of design taken through the sweet spot and out the other side. I must say the textures look pretty well aligned overall, although this would not be difficult considering the limited palette. Finally, there’s a green texture that moves back and forth on some walls and this just doesn’t work with the theme of the map. It just doesn’t belong. The lighting is also too consistant. It’s all mostly white/off-white with a pretty even distribution throughout the map. This lends a somewhat ambient lighting through the map with not a lot of shadow work. There are one or two places that shadows have been projected through the floor grates onto the BSP beneath and these look good. But pretty much everything else is lit evenly. As for architecture, there’s a little variation, but what you see in any part of the map is what you’ll see in any other part of the map. You have the Asbestos stairs, the Asbestos hexagonal platforms, the Asbestos lifts, the Asbestos static meshes inhibiting your movement through the narrow corridors. It’s all too repetitive. There were some custom meshes added to the map but they were letters that just didn’t really fit with the map. The music was custom and extremely short and repetitive. So much so it quickly became quite annoying. Overall, the entire map is too consistent, too repetitive. From the lighting, to the textures, to the layout, to the music, it is just too much of the same everywhere. BUILD: 2.0 The map is constructed well with good BSP work. The author obviously put a good solid effort into the BSP. However, despite some zoning, the author could have zoned the map more. The lifts work well and do have appropriate sounds attached to them. Unfortunately, the only other sounds in the map were near the turbines. Despite the amount of steam prevalent through the map, there are no steam sounds, nor other ambient sounds. More zoning and better sound work would have rounded out the map but it’s just not there. CAST: 2.0 The gameplay is not too bad overall. There is, unfortunately, limited z-axis despite the amount of platforms. The problem is that the platforms take up most of the area above limiting one to z-axis around their edges. At the edges there really isn’t opportunity for z-axis because there’s no incentive for players below to travel along the edges underneath the platforms. Most z-axis fighting takes place on or around the many stairs and sloped corridors, which I personally do not consider very intriguing in terms of z-axis. Another problem is that there are a lot of tight areas. These can be interesting for gameplay when used sparingly, but in this map, there are either large open areas or tight narrow passages. There’s no in-between. The map actually does flow well enough and the weapon placement is decent. My only big complaint is that the author placed the shock rifle in a tight narrow stairway/corridor which doesn’t really lend itself to good shock play. If you’ve picked up the shock rifle, and someone’s breathing down your neck with a flak cannon, in the tight corridor, you don’t have much of a chance. It almost seemed like the author had used up all the other good placements and just stuck it there to get it in the map. As for the FPS, it was good overall. At some points there were dips below retail. Additional zoning could have corrected some of this. Nothing that will cause your graphics card to overheat, though. Overall, the gameplay was decent but a little limiting. Decent flow and some z-axis helped it but there could have been more. This is a very well constructed but monotonous map. The author took consistency of design to a whole new level – but it’s level it should not have gone to. The repetitive design, from texturing, lighting, architecture, and music really hinder enjoyment of the map. Fortunately there is some good gameplay here to balance it out. Download it if you’re interested in what an extremely stripped down DM-Asbestos would have looked like or if you’re itching for a new DM. Otherwise, don’t bother.
Map Comments
Ma$teR of PuPPetS 05-14-2003 02:31 AM MDT Rating: 7   I found this was a good map, it had all the right structure.. but its a damn industrial level again with no new SMs or Textures >. [FDN]-NEO-[nl] 05-14-2003 06:45 AM MDT   you're wrong there master, it does have a few new SMs, but those are just detail ;-). As you can see it's my 4th map ever and I'm still going through a learning curve (I am proud of this one though!) But beware!!! I've been studying 3dsmax lately and defenately wanna create my next map with custom sm I'm working on!! Thx for the comment, and don't worry next one won't be an industrial one :D K6599 05-15-2003 07:50 PM MDT Rating: 7   The brown-monochromatic look is working with the theme, but some different individual rusted pieces here and there could help ones bearing. The redeemer, (though, not needed IMO), has a really cool hidden location!...and the HOM effect was fixed ;-] The custom meshes fit nicely. The polycount on the letters could be dropped, but since your learning more 3ds Max I'm sure you'll figure that out. The lighting is perfect. All in all a really fun, fast paced map! A keeper! Doriz 05-13-2004 04:37 AM MDT Rating: 8   Nice map. Visuals are ok and lay-out is very nice. btw cool place for the redeemer indeed Keep up the good work ;) The Brazilian Novice 05-13-2004 12:11 PM MDT   Masterofpuppets ..................................???????????????? Manticore 05-14-2004 11:17 PM MDT Rating: 7   Yet another UT2K3 map that, when converted to 2K4, has the music playing and it won't turn off. The only way to turn the music off is to open the map in Ued and set the level properties value for the music to a default of -1 and then do a rebuild. I wonder if this is just my setup or whether there is some bug in the software re: converted maps. The music is pretty good but since I never play with music running..... The look is pretty ok, industrial with that hint of rust. The gameplay is a bit average. There is the promise here of better things from this mapper in the future....... grimm039 05-16-2004 05:56 PM MDT Rating: 8   I like what you've done with the map, especially since I wasn't expecting there to be as many levels as there were, so good job. You could probably turn it into a fun CTF map as well.. Only downside -- the music. It has nothing to do with the music being good or bad, but it repeats itself after 15 seconds, so you're hearing a very noticable loop throughout the whole thing. Not very pleasing to the ears. Keep up the good work though :) PapaBear 01-13-2005 12:21 PM MST Rating: 8   I liked it, had a blast playing and did not notice anything negative to distract from game play. It's in my rotation for sure.