DM-BedBathSnipHunt
Map Info
	File Name dm-bedbathsniphunt.zip Author MrGatarax Gametype UT Deathmatch Date Added 11-25-2003 File Version 1.00 File Size 7.84 mb Player Count 6-12 Map Description None Review Rating 3.5 User Rating 9 Overall Rating 4.5
Review
Reviewer ArcadiaVincennes Awe Score:  1.0/3 Date 11-19-2004 Build Score:  2.0/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  0.5/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  4.5/10 DM-BedBathSniperHunt (UT) Preface: This is a ‘mini-me’ map and I think I should be honest with you at the beginning. I don’t like ‘mini-me’ maps. The reason? No matter what it looks like, or how well it’s assembled, the gameplay almost never varies. It’s always the same – the only useful weapons are the hitscan long-distance weapons and the sniper-pros rule the arena. Now, I have nothing against ‘mini-me’ maps being created and loved by a segment of the community and I respect the creativity that goes into making Unreal look like one’s bedroom/kitchen/living room, etc… But I personally prefer the traditional DM gameplay so I am always disappointed by these maps. However, if I loved sniping, I would love the maps. This being said, I’m going to review this two ways: I’m going to review score, and post the scores as if it was a traditional DM. Why? Because there’s no official ‘mini-me’ gametype. But I will provide an alternate score in the review body in terms of ‘mini-me’ maps for all you snipers out there. Now that that’s out of the way… We again visit the land of the Unreal Mundane. Here we have a bedroom and bathroom combo that is probably one of the largest ‘mini-me’ maps I’ve ever played. The decorations are few and far-between in the form of pictures of the author and cars he either owns or aspires to own. The nicest touch is the two mirrors in each room that reflect the actual room. For snipers there are lots of shadowy areas and places to hide but for the rest of us there’s not much here. AWE: 1.0 Despite the inclusion of custom textures, mostly in the form of photographs I believe, the texturing is predicable and somewhat bland. The wood textures look a little washed out with little grain definition. The wallpaper/paint is off-white with no pictures/paintings, etc to break it up. The floor texture is forgettable, except in the bathroom where the linoleum tile is actually not bad. The bathroom fixtures could have had a little bit of shine to them and the texture chosen for the bathtub just didn’t seem ‘right’ and it seemed like one big piece instead of having some variation in shape as it does. The only items used to break up the floor’s monotony are some boxes, shoeboxes perhaps? Finally, the pipe network remains to be judged because it was so dark I couldn’t see whatever texture was applied. The one custom texture that didn’t work well was the book/video collection on two of the bookshelves. They looked grainy and low-rex and all of them had the titles blacked out with a sharpie or marker. Overall they’re aligned just fine and things are textured appropriately - even the spare rolls of toilet paper (this guy is well-stocked). The geometry is actually constructed very well. I particularly liked the ceiling fixture with the lightbulbs in. There were a few places where I think the author could have been more imaginative, for example the plain white shaft of ramps next to the closet in the wall. But as for the furniture and associated bathroom features I really can’t complain. Lighting is not as good as the geometry. There’s almost no variation in color – mostly everything is just plain white light of varying brightnesses. The interplay between light and shadow here is quite nice however, the shadows are too dark. Particularly in the shower and in the pipes underneath. The author did include a custom music track and I think it’s an AC/DC song. But for some reason my UT played the opening theme instead. I’m going to have to find out what’s wrong. Overall, yeah – it’s definitely a bedroom and bathroom. But the overly dark shadows, the blandness of the walls and wood, and some mystery construction, and the lack of interest in the overall bedroom and bath just leave this setting lacking. BUILD: 2.0 With ‘mini-me’ maps comes a lot of brushwork. The author really put a lot of time into assembling the place and he did a decent job. I didn’t find any HOMs nor did I find inexplicable collisions or walk-throughs. The various furniture, trim, doors, light fixtures, plumbing, and vents all looked the part. The mirrors opposite the bed and opposite the tub reflect A LOT of the level and really look pretty good. The teleporters used worked well and most of the time emptied out into plenty of space. The teleporter leading to the ceiling fixture was a little tight coming out. Unfortunately there was no ambient sound so if you’ve got your music turned off, you’ll be playing in silence - until someone headshots you. My big complaint with the build is the pipes that travel between bathroom fixtures and grates set into the bathroom and bedroom floor. As far as I can tell, there’s no way out. They are too dark, when one gets to a junction, it’s difficult to tell where the pipe openings are, there’s no exit, and sometimes the angle of entry is such that you have to approach them from a perfect angle to enter. CAST: 0.5 Here’s where we get the different sniper score: Traditional DM: 0.5 SniperLand: 2.0 Applies to both Traditional and SniperLand: The bots work just fine and the use the teleporters. I never saw one get the damage amp, but neither could I. I took the teleporter to the ceiling fixture and I jumped around trying to jump onto something to jump up to the cross beams to get to the damage amp but I couldn’t find anything to get me high enough. So I used my impact hammer, got on the cross piece, got the damage amp, and then promptly fell of the fixture – an awfully long way down. The other items placements were bizarre. There’s a keg of health on top of the lamp on the desk, in the toilet drain, in the sink drain, and in the tub drain. The invisibility is in the shower drain and I couldn’t get back out because it led to the neverending pipes. There’s a shield belt on the desk, in the toilet’s water tank, in the tub, and probably some other places. Next to the shield belt in the toilet tank (which is only accessible by swimming through pipes) is a redeemer. Scattered around the map are the various weapons along with too much ammo for each of them. Four flak ammo pickups next to the flak cannon?! When grabbing a keg of health from one of the three drains, it’s possible to access the pipes. However, the water ends just below the keg and you’re dropped, complete with damage, down into the pipe network. I couldn’t get back up to the floating water level to get out. As for generally getting around, if you’re on the floor, you’ll be there a long time. There are very few places to teleport up or to find a ramp up. I didn’t find any jumppads, but then I didn’t spend hours exploring the map. The default player count is 6 – 12. This is sadly inadequate. I played with the average of the two numbers, 8, and It was few and far between that I saw a bot. Perhaps a full 16+ would have yielded a higher body count. Traditional DM: It’s hard to find someone to fight unless one camps with the sniper rifle and there’s very little variance in gameplay. The z-axis is extremely steep with a jump off of almost everything leading to death from falling or a lot of damage. There are not many close-quarters areas for the non-hitscan weapons like the flak cannon to take advantage of. The map is completely lacking in any sort of traditional ‘flow’. There are way too many super-pickups and the weapons are spaced far apart. Getting the super-pickups, other than those on the desk, will either lead to death from drowning, falling, or suiciding in order to get out of the pipes. SniperLand: It’s still hard to find people to tag, but the extensive spaces and vast array of shadows lend to a ‘cat and mouse’ sniping game. With adequate hiding spots and enough talented players, this could be a good play. You’ll still have trouble with the pickups and you’ll still be out of luck on the floor but if you can find your way to a high spot, you’ll be in good shape. And you’ll probably be there for a while if you snipe from near a sniper rifle ammo spawn point, because it is plentiful. To sum it all up, the author made a believable, yet bland, bedroom and bathroom. Uninspiring textures but competent brushwork and intense shadowing make the setting a good place to play if you like sniping. However, if you’re more inspired by traditional dm gameplay this map is a definite miss. Extreme z-axis, extreme flat planes, a section of the map that’s inescapable, and bizarre pickup placement hurt the gameplay so much it’s painful playing at the default bot count. A good construction for ‘mini-me’ lovers, the map is a skip for the rest of us.
Map Comments
LiquidSteel 12-03-2003 08:47 PM MST Rating: 9   If you don't like "I'm small" maps, MOVE ON and save your opinions for maps that YOU DO LIKE. sheesh! This is one of the best "I'm small" maps I've ever played. There are lots of places to hide, snipe, and blast. Weapon placement is very good. There are some spots where the lighting could have been better, but I think MrGatarax wanted it this way. And the music ROCKS. Finally someone tied some rockin' tunes in with a great map. I never ran out of ammo, unless I was cornered. If I could change anything about the map, I would make it so that you could have 20+ bots. You kind of get lonely in some of the passages. By the way, I love the "sewer pipes". I got lost in there for a long time. This is a definite keeper in my rotation, and again, if you like "I'm small" maps, this is definitley worth the download. grim reaper 11-28-2003 05:18 AM MST Rating: 8   Wow,this is 1 of the better large maps.... superkag 11-28-2003 07:05 PM MST Rating: 10   Great job! Could've used a little more detail. I snipe from the bed. gyokusai 12-04-2003 04:28 PM MST Rating: 8   Wow. From all rat maps I've played--with the exception of XmasNightClub, my personal favorite in terms of weirdness and atmosphere--the best I've ever seen! -=[Z|R0n]=- 12-04-2003 02:09 PM MST Rating: 8   Yes definitly one of the best DM maps i've ever played... there's a lot to do... some places could be brightier but that's cool anyway.. keep it up... Nice Job tgm79 12-05-2003 06:25 PM MST Rating: 10   "For those about to frag, we salute you, Darko" A "me-small" map with few unique characteristics and convincing design. First of all it's very well illuminated for such a big level. Some of the shadows are rather realistic. No any glitches, HOM or BSP holes. Everything is very well planned and executed. Little more detail couldn't harm though. And it has a picture of the author and his son, I think – which is kind of innovation (for a "me-small" map). There is no computer with screen showing the level itself in the Unreal editor – strange, I really expected that. The music – ACDCREMIX is worth mentioning and more. It keeps the level alive and breathing. Very, very well chosen. And, the end result is that now I'm an official fan of AC/DC. Woohoo, I'm on a highway to hell, baby! Without the music this map would be an 8. The mere fact that Mr. Gatara has managed somehow to put a hi-quality song in umx file (only 4,38 megabytes uncompressed!) is worth the two additional points. More people should witness this marvel of Mother Nature. Respect. I really would like to know how this was achieved. Please, Darko, share with us this ultimate extreme knowledge. We will listen very carefully. MrGatarax 12-06-2003 07:45 AM MST   THANKS ALL!!!...WOW...I'm really glad you guys like it and I would give it 6-7, not 10. There is no perfect map... I'm player 1st then a mapper and this map is exactly what I would like to see in DM and you have to play map, came back to editor, modify it and then all over again...With "Gold Wave" and "ModPlug Tracker" you can do anything.The song is resized and mixed in those two...All those dark places hide something... Did anyone camp behind pictures? Thanks again!!! P.S. I'm looking for good rocking song for my next level.The same stile but more details. Shao 12-07-2003 01:08 PM MST Rating: 8   I love Snipe over head of someone , I love this map really , lots of Fun , Head Shot..... This Map is really Great. doublepenetration 12-07-2003 02:15 PM MST Rating: 8   Nice work :-)