CTF-Xizlor
Map Info
	File Name ctf-xizlor.zip Author Yoni Gametype UT Capture the Flag Date Added 02-16-2004 File Version 1.00 File Size 1.1 mb Player Count 4-4 Map Description None Review Rating 5 User Rating 7 Overall Rating 6.0
Review
Reviewer ArcadiaVincennes Awe Score:  2.0/3 Date 05-31-2005 Build Score:  1.5/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  1.5/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  6.0/10 CTF-Xizlor (UT99) A fairly tight elongated CTF that uses the richrig package to create an industrial facility. Again. AWE: 2.0 The texture work is competant here: there are few misalignments and fairly good choices as to choice and application. The texture pallete is actually fairly balanced between the grys of the walls and browns of the supports which is a nice change from the industrial maps where the supports, walls, floors, and whatnot all share the same color despite being textured differently. Some of the stairs blended a little too well into their surroundings however this is only partially due to the textureing and partially due to the lighting. The lighting is both good and bad. There's good hotspot work, a little nice shadow work, and the vast quantities of coronas were surprisingly not overdone except on one pair of stairs. The hotspots, although good, could benefit from the addition of one more light actor with a large radius and low brightness. This would eliminate some of the rather stark light/dark contrasts in the spaces between the lights and would help blend them together more. The architecture ranges from the bad to the good. The central hall is formed nicely and, as noted in the comments below, was inspired from Bot_40's tutorial. It's a shame that the author didn't carry this inspiration into any of the other rooms in the map. I could understand not using this inspiration in some of the corridors, but the flag rooms scream for a modified design of the middle area. the joining corridors and hallways are quite boxy in nature and leave a lot to be desired in terms of overall form, however there are a few details that are nice running through them. In general, the texture's pretty good, the lighting is, perhaps I could say 'unfinished', but it is a solid start, and the architecture is full of unrealized potential. It's not the prettiest industrial map out there but does a lot of things right - even though they're only half-way there. BUILD: 1.5 The basic BSP work is satisfactory - no HOMs in sight. The pieces seem to fit relatively well together and the architectural details are pretty well made. The lifts function appropriately but they lack sound. The two big problems with the map are the bot pathing and the ambient sound. According to the comments, it would seem as if a first release took place without pathing and then a follow-up release added it. Well, it would seem as if it didn't add enough of it. The bots on the opposite team made absolutely no effort to capture my flag. Also, they seemed to like to stare at a wall near the lift as if in defiance of the lift's existence. They were able to follow me around the map - both being chased with the flag, and as having a back-up man on my team. However, if I made any complicated navigation changes, I quickly lost both. I'll address this furthur in the cast section. Finally, there was absolutely no ambient sound throughout the map. Not even near lava. Dissappointed. Overall the construction basics are there but none of the necessary accessories. CAST: 1.5 The gameplay here is pretty straightforward - literally. The paths in and out of the flagbases are almost purely straight. The rooms they open into have an upper and lower path with a small flight of stairs and a lift between them. Otherwise, it's a straight-shot through the room on either the upper or lower path. One then enters the main room with the lava underneath and arches and second level above. Go straight across. Now, since the bases are symmetrical, you're back again facing an almost straight shot to the flag room. The connections between the upper area that crosses the lava and the lower areas are sloped looping corridors in the flag bases. All of the corridors are quite narrow and the flag room is surprisingly cramped. As a result of all of this, capping the flag will be difficult because of the straight routes across the map which leaves plenty of opportunity to frag the capper. Because the corridors to the upper area are so tight and occur only in the flag bases, there's almost no reason to use these when escaping. It's a dangerous, almost out-of-the-way route. The item layout is, like the overall layout is suspect as well. The keg is in the very back of the flag room - very UT99, this - and the damage amp and shield belt are placed one right over the other in the central room. Their proximity to each other is not very good placement just as the ease of grabbing them is not either. The weapons are laid out satisfactorily with the exception of the Rocket Launcher which is placed in one of the winding tight corridors leading up to the upper level. Finally, as mentioned before, the bot pathing seems incomplete with much confusion going on. Particularly in front of one corner. I would reccomend researching bot pathing a little more before attempting it again. The gameplay overall is fairly dissappointing. Straight-shot cap runs, too-tight corridors, wonky item placement and sub-par bot support mar this map. If playing against humans, it would work a little better but that center room would be one hot zone. In general the map looks nice enough although there's nothing special. The author has the basics down in terms of builing the map, but the bot pathing and sound work needs research. Finally, the gameplay is fairly suspect because of layout, item placement, and bad bot support. A map for CTF-addicts only who are trying to collect every CTF map ever made, it's a miss for the rest of us.
Map Comments
wazaaa 02-17-2004 10:22 AM MST Rating: 10   w00tage map !!! Its a nice map !! keep up the good work Reciprocity 02-22-2004 01:27 PM MST Rating: 5   Well, this is a step up from the crap Yoni used to make. 1. No bot-pathing 2. Awful washed out lighting. 3. Sloppy brushwork 4. Really not that much fun to play 5. Do we really need another richrig map...? EDIT: Okay, he pathed the thing, I'll give you that. But the latter still holds true so the score stays. EDIT2: I was just on Bot_40s site looking at the tutorials and this is almost an exact rip of the architecture Bot demonstrated in them. Coincidence? I think not. Now I know why the central room looks so much btter than the rest of the map. milb 02-19-2004 02:14 PM MST Rating: 7   The Botpathing isn't corect, please try to make it right. In some ways isn't a pathnode or any other navigationpiont. And the next problem is, none of the Bots does really work, they're only standing around watching. Edit: Have a look at the pathsystem! ( Show Paths ) Homeslice 02-19-2004 01:20 PM MST Rating: 6   Yeah, the bots are really bad. Too bad too, because this map looks actually really good for a change! Nice effort, y0ni. Yoni 02-25-2004 07:43 AM MST   Hehe, thanks for your comments. I don't know yet how to work good with bothpaths. I will try to do better in my next map. ;) EDIT: Emm, Reciprocity ? I didn't copy the map. I just tried to make a "look-a-like" of it. and the pillars are not in BOT_40's tutorial! O_o I made everything myself, except i stole the idea for the round things where the bridge is hanging on. But I looked at David M's tutorial and he said: "People always complain when you rip off other maps, but I have no idea why. That was the way I and many others I know learned some architecture stuff. My first maps were just some cubes stuck together, then I built a map in the style of dig and dug (the mine maps in Unreal), I looked at Cliffy's architecture in these maps and just built the same. That stuff helps a lot, because you'll understand why he did do it like that..." and this: "Once you've "ripped" several styles you'll start developing your own architectural ideas." So my time will come ;) (i hope) niX 06-05-2005 07:46 PM MDT   Horrible bot-pathing... or no bot pathing at all. which makes the map _not fun_ already. Hmm where have I seen those pillars? Oh yeah Bot_40's tutorial, but they look much better in there.