CTF-Amoude-2004
Map Info
	File Name ctf-amoude-2004.zip Author BIG-MICK Gametype UT2k4 Capture The Flag Date Added 04-16-2004 File Version 1.00 File Size 18.83 mb Player Count 10-16 Map Description This is the promised symmetrical follow up to Egyptian Harbors and by far the best of the two..enjoy! AMOUDE.....The harbor temple of Anubis basks in the early light of a new day......20 long years have past since the death of the Great king Ihotep who's passing was the catalyst for the civil war that raged across the upper Nile between prince Imnet his son and natural successor and his brother Amatte the one time admiral of the mighty Egyptian fleet...Amatte whose mindless cruelty towards his own men led to his assassination and the succession of prince Imnet as king of all Egypt.....Under King Imnet...... peace has brought great prosperity to the upper Nile...But at a cost.....for jealous eyes now covet.....The great wealth of Egypt and only death destruction and sorrow will follow! Review Rating 6 User Rating 7.5 Overall Rating 7.0
Review
Reviewer Shadowlurker Awe Score:  2.5/3 Date 04-26-2004 Build Score:  1.5/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  2.0/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  7.0/10 In Short: A huge, highly detailed new take on the Egyptian theme. The map’s gameplay relies heavily on jumpads and teleporters and is the map’s weak point. Be warned, it also has slightly iffy frame rates and a long loading time to boot. I’ll try not to write aimlessly about the many minor details of this map – instead, I’ll merely say that the map is vastly detailed for the most part, with good use of textures, static meshes and decent lighting. Indeed, it’s one of the more realistic Egyptian maps out there, using less of the horrible star-gate style stuff and more of the good old Egyptian style. This does help to set its style a little differently from most maps using similar static meshes and textures. Theme wise, we have a busy Egyptian dock, the sun blazing and the water calm. The author has made several boats, and whilst rather simplistic they all look good enough for the job. There is nice variation too, with boats carrying different objects, ships having different structures and one feature I particularly like which is the ship with the sails down. I have but a few negatives. Inside, some of the walls seem bland. More detail could have been added, or perhaps some slight differences or added trim. The water inside looks great, yet outside it is very hard to actually see and as such the scene can get confusing. I really like the theme-warranted additions that help add realism to the map – like the entrance to the docks. Sometimes you can play a map and suddenly you’ll think, “How the heck are you actually meant to get in hereâ€� or, “How is that possible?â€� - There is little of that here; if you don’t dwell on the teleporters, that is. Then again, their implication is realistic. They appear as doorways partially covered by curtains or some kind of cloth, and you are taken after passing through the fabric. Whilst the looks are solid, the actual map in general could have used some more optimisation. It is a very large map and as such good optimisation cannot be left out. Whilst the author has done his best, I can’t help but feel that more could be done to help this area. Also, although unavoidable, the map has got a higher than average loading time. You have been warned. Sounds have been added well – you have the sound of water…. errr… being water, fires crackling etc. Perhaps a little more flair in this department could have helped the build score, though it is solid at the very least. Bots… I feel this let the map down greatly. In the three matches I played, many bots had scores in the negative where they had fallen into the water. I know there are several jumpads and that there is no easy way out of the water without resorting to translocation, but still the bot pathing could have been helped perhaps a little better. Gameplay is not my cup of tea, but it is solid for it’s style. It is a symmetric map (not in the centre, but the bases, at least) and it is your standard “large bases with a no mans land in betweenâ€� layout. It caters for all; the bases have a little z-axis and typically house close to medium range battles, whilst the outside is very open. However there is also much cover, so don’t fear the snipers that much. It would be nice enough if it were not for the countless jumpads in the harbour area and the teleporters in the bases. It can get quite confusing whilst jumping around over the ships and wooden platforms. The jumpads are signified by arrows, which I think have some colour reference to them. There is significant use of team-orientated indicators though the base layout can be quite confusing partly due to the teleporters. While they help the speed and size of the map somewhat, it also makes sneaking in and out a lot easier because it takes from the time a defender can spot and chase and enemy. Combining with the jumpads, someone who learns this map would easily be able to own anyone who was a first timer, and can lead to some quite frantic battles while trying to defend the flag. You need large teams to play this well; though I think a good player attacking by himself could get the flag and return if the defence was not formed well. It is vital to have people stationed on all three main entrance/exits to the main base. I’d recommend this map for download, though primarily for visual and atmospheric reasons. I don’t think the gameplay is enough to warrant this a must-play map, but it does offer an interesting game.
Map Comments
Manticore 04-16-2004 10:26 PM MDT Rating: 8   Incredible attention to detail.... again. BIG-MICK 04-17-2004 10:26 AM MDT   I really appreciate the fact that you take the time to download and comment on my maps Manticore thanks! As for the detail I just love adding little bits here and there! .Like I said above I really appreciate all the comments I get over here on Nali city as You are rightly a tough audience when it comes to level design so every comment is worth it's weight in gold to me cheers! Just to answer Toothpick in runs better ....looks much better and plays better and oh! it's symmetrical ps the new music fits the theme better ..well thats what I think anyway sandorski 04-18-2004 11:05 PM MDT Rating: 10   Freakin awesome, just like the first! Must download!! edit: Toothpick, read above! :D xanadu: stuff, lots of stuff Toothpick 04-17-2004 09:51 AM MDT   What's the difference with EgyptianHarbors? (dind't downloaded it yet) Amisa 04-18-2004 12:33 PM MDT Rating: 10   Really a fantastic map for my taste. It's an improved version of Egyptian Harbor and I have no problem to play it smoothly. Great Egyptologist work !! xanadu 04-18-2004 10:27 PM MDT   why is the file so damn big? is the map really huge? or just alot of detail? huge CTF maps dont really jive with me, but if someone can answer my questions i would give it a shot Shadowlurker 04-26-2004 01:52 PM MDT Rating: 7   Deserves the extra user-given point for effort. GRAF1K 04-27-2004 02:28 PM MDT   @ xanadu: Huge and tons of detail. =) rustyblade 05-04-2004 01:32 AM MDT Rating: 10   I found a balance with my detail settings to enjoy this map very much against bots. Yet this map will be the benchmark for the improvement I am expecting with my 2.4 Athalon upgrade this week (from 1.2). Although this map plays VERY well, you have to stop and smell the roses too. This thing has been a labor of love and it shows. My neighbor, big into the period had a ball just flying around inside it for about 40 minutes. And I had some additional fun useing the Rope Mutator inside and outside. Not to mention a chance to let loose all those eqyption models against my team of, Max Payne, Bruce Willis, Angel_Intercepter and Myself. Past versus present you might say. I love this map, and will return to it often, The author is moving on to the joys of a Far Cry sandbox and I will be bringing my bucket and shovel to play in whatever sand castles he builds. kaosdotrox 09-02-2005 05:09 PM MDT Rating: 1   Perhaps one of the least liked maps ever played on the .rox "inhouse" server. Just too laggy was the general sentiment. I'll agree with that.