DM-Ariza2k4
Map Info
	File Name dm-ariza2k4.zip Author bStrange Gametype UT2k3 Deathmatch Date Added 09-30-2003 File Version 1.00 File Size 3.8 mb Player Count 2-6 Map Description This map is a beautiful remake of Myscha the Sled Dog's DM-Ariza for Unreal. It plays well and has very good FPS and botpathing. If you liked playing the original, you will love this map and yes, you can get on the cliffs even without the translocator...jumpboots included Review Rating -- User Rating 6 Overall Rating --
Review
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Map Comments
altan 10-02-2003 03:09 PM MDT Rating: 4   Gameplay: It's good old Ariza. Strangely enough, I've always had a soft spot for that map. I think some gameplay improvements would have been a great idea though - the original design is rather lacking. It's an okay conversion, not a copy+paste job and it still feels like Ariza. Graphics: Here's where most of the problems are. It's obvious that the author is a beginning mapper, and practice+reading is really the only thing to solve that. The terrain, while done well geometrically (could use some tweaking with the polygon resolution) is pretty lacking in terms of decoration. It would be greatly improved with alternating textures, grass, rocks etc. The cliffs certainly need improvement. It looks like a direct copy+paste from the U1 map, and as a result is not only low-poly but lacks any form of X or Y axis activity to entertain the eye. Some cliffs and caves would have been a nice touch as well, and perhaps some iron supports to make sure the "crater" doesn't cave in. Making a static mesh of the cliffs wouldn't be that hard, it's really basic modelling :) Oh man, the textures and meshes. Uuuuugh. Stick to one theme please, space mixed with nightmare theme is too much to handle. Also, a lot of the textures seem to be really repetitive and bland. Especially the floor texture leading to the slime room. The walkways are long and boring, both aesthetically and gameplay. Lighting really needs to be improved - it's all bland and no interesting colors. Too dark in some areas and too bright in some. A little bit of fog might not be such a bad idea too, seeing as it's a "crater" in a mountain. The sounds need a lot more work, both ambient and triggered. Also, no music was specified with the map so I was forced to listen to the oh-so-wonderful MENU MUSIC! Not so bad if you're looking for a conversion of Ariza that still feels like Ariza, but it offers little more. {DvT}JonahHex 10-06-2003 02:21 PM MDT Rating: 9   It is Ariza from Unreal. That's what we asked for, that's what we got. The author moved a few things around, at the request of the Beta testers, to make the map a little more playable in UT2K3: the sniper rifle (lightning gun) on the upper platform was switched with the flak cannon in the fan room, the shield just off of the fan room was moved to a different box, and the lightning gun on the beam above the entrance to the hall to the shock rifle was removed; otherwise the map is remarkably true to the original...as it should be. The original Ariza was not a particularly pretty map, but it was a very playable one; likewise Ariza2K4. Only a beginning reviewer wants music (which everyone turns off anyway), eyecandy (which everyone turns down or off) and the resulting low framerates and meshes to get snagged on, in a remake...an old-skooler who would be interested in a redux of Ariza want to play it, not sightsee. Ariza2K4 does not have any "Stop and Gawk here" signs. It has plenty of "Stop here and you'll Die." Why have there been so many ports and remakes of Unreal and UT maps for 2K3? Nostalgia? Not entirely. Unreal was unreal. UT2K3 is pretty. Why not both? Pretty attracts the tourists; substance keeps them. Ariza was fun to play; Ariza2K4 is too. bStrange 10-06-2003 05:22 PM MDT   I wanted to stick pretty much to the looks and feel of the original. Textures were picked based off their similarity to the original textures and the sounds are the original sounds from Unreal's. I made this for the old schoolers who like to play and play well and to doing so means infatically turning off such frivilous things as : shadows, dynamic lighting, music, and also means that the true DM'ers will have all tex and detail set to low or lowest. With this in mind I felt it would be senseless to go overboard on the eycandy. Same goes for the meshes. Take Curse3 for example, I don't know how many times I have wanted to reach through the monitor and pull out the artist's heart for adding the mesh walls to get hung up on...yeah it looks nice and is more 3-d, but who wants to put their back to the wall while backing out of a room and get hung up on a mesh. I have been killed more times in 2k3 due to hardware meshes than anything else. As for decorating the canyon walls with cliff outpeaks and caves my answer is a definite "NO" as inevitably someone would be running it on a server that allowed translocators and someone would find a way to crawl up in a cave and snipe. There was no fighting from the cliffsides in Unreal's Ariza (on top yes, but sides...NO) so I wanted to be sure it stayed that way. If you want a map that looks remarkably good and plays even better, then you will want to add this one to your DM server. It features NO running around wondering when you might find someone to kill again, NO sub 50 frames per sec (average on my system is around 79 even with all details set to highest and over 100fps with details at their lowest), NO redeemer, ion painter, or U-Damage amps. It does feature one of the best tactical DeathMatch stages ever made and is a great place to showcase true skill. avatar 10-07-2003 11:34 AM MDT Rating: 4   i love ariza from the original unreal - this is a very faithful port (despite a few flaws) and i commend the author for that. however, i'm the kind of guy that likes to also see new things, and thus my lower rating. this is just a direct port and not much more. this is not to say this isn't a fun map (it is a lot of fun) - but i cannot rate direct ports much higher than 5. i would've liked to see a "re-interpretation" of ariza with the graphics enhanced by UT2k3's capabilities and some innovation on the author's part.