CTF-Deathmetal
Map Info
	File Name ctf-deathmetal.zip Author TheAchilles Gametype UT Capture the Flag Date Added 08-28-2003 File Version 1.00 File Size 2.93 mb Player Count 10-16 Map Description None Review Rating 7 User Rating 6.5 Overall Rating 7
Review
Reviewer Hourences Awe Score:  2.0/3 Date 11-23-2003 Build Score:  2.5/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  2.5/3 User Point:  0 Overall Score:  7/10 A solid CTF map, medium sized, and set in an industrial type of building once again. The author states in the readme that this is his first released map, and if that is so, then it really is a nice effort. The architecture and geometry look solid and decently constructed. There are barely any boring and empty areas around, and most of the places have been filled up with nicely beveled shapes and vertex edited cubes. Even the middle area, which is a quite big area and thus much harder to fill in looks OK. And it even has some angled corridors with decent architecture in. Only near the rocketlauncher it felled more empty then in other parts for me, it was too much like "big empty wall with too many doors in it", and also the platform on it could use some trimming. Texturing is done with Unreal/UT tex, all rusty metallic type of textures. Their alignment and everything else is just fine. One thing I have a problem with is the lighting. It's almost completely white everywhere you look except those few team colored lights. And even though they all have nice highlights and create decent dark spots, it's boring, let alone that the lighting would add something to the theme and feeling of the map. It's very nice to see someone who made his first real map already creating highlights and such, but some more color really wouldn't be bad. Also the map was too dark for me, maybe a tiny bit of zonelighting in combination with larger ambient light radiuses and stronger highlights could help that. The actual highlights were Ok, but there were a lot of spots,and corners and everything else that wasn't directly next to a lamp that are excessively dark. I had to increased the pictures with 250 percent brightness.. A few more and cooler ambient sounds wouldn't have hurt anyone either. In general the visuals look solid, and well made, but nothing special or awesome, they still lack a type of special style and a unique feeling. It feels kind of dead too, no real atmosphere or feeling around, but I guess you can't really expect an authors first released map to have all that as well. Gameplay is cool as well. There are 2 main routes around, and various rooms are made out of 2 floors. In the middle there's a big room with some bridges and slime, and sniperspots. The general floorplan also brings enough variation and possibilities to play the map, for as well the attackers, as the defenders. Another cool thing is that the few 100 doors throughout the map give enough audio warnings for the gameplay to get interesting, though, if there were some more type of audio warnings it could have brought some variation. Such as water splashes and metal that creeps when you walk over it for instance. That all sounds cool, but there is one major thing I don't like. And that is the underwater route trough the sewers. It is waaaaay to long and boring, and doesn't offer enough connections to the other parts of the map again, and also the teleporter in it make it kind of lame design wise. It's kind of "my floorplan didn't match anymore so I'll just fix it with a teleporter". The map runs decent as well, on most places polycount stays on a more then reasonable 150, and in the large middle room it still doesn't reach the 300. I can see this map working great online, but the sewer route can seriously frustrate at times. Once you're in it you just keep on seeing pipes and water for a few hours non stop. I can understand you want to execute a theme, and offer more depth in the map, but this is too much IMO. 'Map kind of reminds me of the feeling I had when I just started with UT1 mapping a few years ago. It's certainly not a bad map, and really a nice effort for a first public map, but the sewer route and also the lack of a unique style and feeling make it getting stuck at the current score. I type too much today apperantly :)
Map Comments
Mr.Bojangles 08-30-2003 01:48 AM MDT Rating: 8   This is one decent CTf map, and i love my CTF. Multiple paths and well designed bases are key to good CTF and you see them here. It was kinda dark in areas, but nothing that totally obscures your vision. The underwater tunnels take some getting use to and are difficult to navigate but you dont really have to go down there.The bots worked well and varied their flag routes (havent played online yet). Overall a great map and a definite download if you like CTF. theBAMNman 09-05-2003 11:49 PM MDT Rating: 6   Fairly good visuals and gameplay. The bases are too long for my taste and they're also pretty boring. The items are pretty spread out and the visuals are pretty bland and dark. The battles are also a too spread out, and it's very lonesome running the flag back to my base, since the enemy can't catch up and my guys are staying behind to make sure they can't catch up. I know that's what they do in every ctf, but usually there's still some guys on the other team that come out of nowhere and stay on your heel and kill you. Not so with this map. It's worth a try, though; it just depends on your preferences. DiFool 09-28-2003 11:53 AM MDT Rating: 7   I disagree with BAM above: because all routes meet in the middle area, the enemy often will ambush you there if you have the flag. I like large semi-open maps, and this one has given me a number of exciting matches so far. Some points off for build/awe, and the underground sewer route is a waste of space (takes about 2 minutes to traverse, and bots are always going down there and drowning). TheAchilles 11-23-2003 12:12 PM MST   Thanks for all these good analyzing comments. So I can concentrate on what I have got to do better in my next map. I know about the problem with the underground passage, but it would have taken too much time to remodel it. I will release one more map soon. I would be really happy if someone could write a review about it. ----- thnx for the review Hortons Who 11-26-2003 08:38 AM MST Rating: 5   Looks are to homogenous across the entire map/needs more visual variety. Also- not enough indication of base direction in some of the longest routes. As others mentioned. too many long corridors and not enough interconnectivity- Little annoyances included very limited ways to get out of the water route if you have the flag, and health boxes up on ledges where the FC can't get at them. For the size of the map, I also think the health and ammo and weapons pickups are too few. In a relics match, a player with speed could hide forever in this thing. KingDuctTape 11-26-2003 07:42 PM MST Rating: 7   good map overall, but due to the lighting i couldn't see an obvious way out of the sewers! best played with 14 players in my opinion. _GMotha 12-02-2003 01:15 PM MST Rating: 7   "appearantly" homophobe 12-13-2003 02:40 PM MST Rating: 5   its average lighting sux item placement aint brilliant layout booring it has some good points plz dont overate this map its a 5 in my books u just have no fun Raulo 12-18-2003 07:41 PM MST Rating: 9   Beatiful map !!! Excellent work !!! Brilliant !! Manticore 09-15-2004 03:42 AM MDT Rating: 6   I can't agree that this map has great gameplay. Mainly that's because the map is so bloody dark that it's impossible to see where your going. The end result is, in a map of this scale, you'll get lost. It probably would be a good map if the lighting was amped up......