CTF-Unikey
Map Info
	File Name ctf-unikey.zip Author Alexandre Gametype UT Capture the Flag Date Added 04-04-2004 File Version 1.00 File Size 690 kb Player Count 4-6 Map Description None Review Rating 5.5 User Rating 7 Overall Rating 6.5
Review
Reviewer Ironblayde Awe Score:  1.5/3 Date 04-27-2004 Build Score:  1.5/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  2.5/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  6.5/10 AWE: 1.5 CTF-Unikey is a small, U-shaped map done in the familiar industrial style. Although the theme may not be original, it’s been executed well here. There are curved walls, subtle angles, beveled edges, and appropriate decorations everywhere to keep the map from looking boxy or boring. Even the crates have nice trim on them. The textures, mostly from SGTech1 (you’ll need Bonus Pack 4), are consistent and very well chosen, with one exception: the textures used for the large lights on the walls of the lower floor don’t look like they were intended to make up the entire face of a light fixture, certainly not with how brightly lit they are in this map. Texture alignment was done inconsistently, with some parts of the map done well, and others done only approximately if at all, though in most cases it’s not too noticeable. Unfortunately, while the architecture and texturing show some good work, the lighting is sub-par at best. For starters, this map contains a number of textbook examples of how not to use cylinder lights. This is especially obvious with the team-colored lights on the outer walls. Even if you don’t know what a cylinder light is, you’ll see exactly what I mean the first time you load the map. The lights in question don’t light anything around them except the walls on which they appear, and they produce bright circles of color on those walls that fade out much too rapidly at the edges. They’re oversaturated as well, which makes them even more unattractive. Virtually every team-colored light in the map serves as little more than an eyesore. The rest of the lights on the lower level are all completely white. Pure white lights are better than Las Vegas-style colored ones, but they’re still not pretty. In addition to the lack of at least some subtle coloring, these light fixtures once again contain poorly used cylinder lights that produce large splotches on the walls around them. Finally, many of them use LightBox deco meshes that are overlarge. BUILD: 1.5 The author has employed a number of complex, revolved brushes to craft his map. This can easily lead to misaligned brushes and BSP holes, but not here. I didn’t find a single instance of either. Kudos to the author for deftly avoiding those pitfalls. That said, the downside of the author’s brushwork is that his brushes are either too complex or too numerous in several cases. This, along with the occasional use of BSP geometry where deco meshes would have been more appropriate, results in a poly count that usually seems too high for the level of detail you’re seeing. A little more care could have decreased the poly count significantly in all parts of the map without sacrificing detail. Still, the node:poly ratio is very good, and so this isn’t too serious an issue. Performance problems will probably not occur except on old machines. Botplay is functional, yet flawed. The map has a strategically placed pair of AntiGrav Boots, but there are no jump paths included, so the bots won’t use them (or their translocators) effectively. This significantly hampers their ability to access all parts of the map as quickly as they otherwise could have. The lack of these paths also means that the bots will never go for the Body Armor. The author has set regular pathnodes in an attempt to get them to do so, but pathnodes just don’t work that way. Pathing on the lifts is questionable too, since the lift states aren’t set to what they should be, but because of their speed and positioning, the bots generally use them without difficulty. Additionally, when bots approach the enemy flag via the top route, they are often hesitant to come down and grab the flag. This may be partially due to the aforementioned lack of jump paths, but I think it’s mostly due to a pair of AmbushPoints (instead of DefensePoints) the author set above the flags. Had this been done with DefensePoints, bots would have interpreted the point above their flag to be a good place to defend their respective bases. As it is, all bots interpret both points as good places to camp. Thus a bot will often reach the enemy flag with a good opportunity to take it, but instead of doing so, he’ll sit up top and have fun with the sniper rifle. Those problems aside, the author did a pretty decent job of putting this map together. Zoning is all right aside from one large portal that serves no purpose, and appropriate ambient sounds are included in all the places you’d expect to find them. CAST: 2.5 Intended for just four to six players, this map is quite small as CTF arenas go, and CTF maps of this size can be tricky to get right. On one hand, they need to be kept small enough not to feel empty with four players in them, and on the other hand, they need enough flexibility in layout to rise above the countless incarnations of Thorns and BarnBurner that are out there. Alexandre has struck the balance admirably. While it may not please people looking for a larger or more intricate map, players looking for a 2v2 or 3v3 CTF arena that makes for games that manage to be fast-paced without being mindless will find that CTF-Unikey fulfills its intended purpose wonderfully. It’s great fun in multiplayer games, and although the botplay is a bit lacking as I outlined above, it should still make for some decent single-player games as well. The map flows well, and item placement is done very tastefully, without scarcity or overkill. I don’t think there’s a single thing I would have changed in that respect. The map is great for InstaGib games as well, if you’re into that. FINAL SCORE: 5.5 Anyone looking for a fun CTF map intended for small teams should definitely give CTF-Unikey a try. Most maps of this sort that I’ve seen tend to fall more into the "deathmatch with flags" category, and it’s very nice to see an exception. It does have its problems -- notably, substandard lighting and somewhat faulty botplay -- but I’ll be keeping it nonetheless.
Map Comments
Alkazex 04-05-2004 06:26 AM MDT   Not my best one but it' s still a good one for 2vs2 ictf matchs. good in NW too. try it Manticore 05-05-2004 02:57 AM MDT Rating: 7   Visually uninteresting but an intelligent layout. This mapper puts a lot of thought into his designs.