DM-Bygone
Map Info
	File Name dm-bygone.zip Author sinnical Gametype UT Deathmatch Date Added 04-20-2004 File Version 1.00 File Size 1016 kb Player Count 2-4 Map Description A weird little map, lots of lift jumps, hope it plays well. ty for trying it out :P Review Rating 3.5 User Rating 7 Overall Rating 4.5
Review
Reviewer Ironblayde Awe Score:  1.0/3 Date 04-25-2004 Build Score:  1.0/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  1.5/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  4.5/10 AWE: 1.0 My first impression upon loading this map was that it looks very repetitive. The majority of the map uses only three textures -- one for floors and ceilings, one for walls, and one for trim -- and all three are base textures, so everything looks very dull. The map's few decorative surfaces are either lift floors, weapon bases, or strange transparent sheets; I'm not sure what these last are supposed to be. The sky has clouds panning quickly in two different directions, a rather odd sight. There are lots of alignment misses too, but the fact is that the textures are so unadorned that you probably won't notice. Lighting, again, is poorly done. There are no visible light sources in the map except for the sky and those odd decorations; the rest of the map features lights strewn about that produce splotches of oversaturated color on the walls and some unsightly greening effects where too much brightness was applied. On the other hand, the architecture redeems the awe score somewhat. In that respect the map does look interesting, with curved surfaces everywhere, and an overall look that's different from what we're all used to seeing in UT maps. BUILD: 1.0 First, the good: It's clear that the author went to some trouble to make sure that most of his angled and curved brushes still keep on the grid for the most part, and so there are few BSP problems. There are a couple in there -- one of the elevator shafts has a BSP hole in its rear wall, and part of a wall texture elsewhere disappears partially when viewed from the right angle -- but they are minor, and not as numerous as they could have been given the number of curved surfaces used. The map runs smoothly for the most part; the poly count tops out at around 400, and is usually only a fraction of that. I did notice some dips in my framerate, however. There are some oversights in the build that may account for this, as well as the few BSP problems I noted. Judicious use of semisolids might have helped a little; there's not one in the whole map. There are also some instances of unmerged polygons on a complex brush, and the entire map is one big zone, with one exception which I'll discuss later. There are eight lifts in the map, and they have some problems. Because the textures are so monotonous, there was at least one place I thought would be a lift that wasn't, and another place that was a lift when I thought it wouldn't be. They stay open too long -- four seconds in most cases. They also look rather odd, because most of them have shafts protruding from the sides that only become visible when the lift rises. This would be fine if the shafts traveled along grooves in the wall designed to brace the lift to the wall, but instead they simply come up out of the floor and don't look like they're attached to anything. Very strange. Botplay is average. They get around acceptably, except on the lifts. Sometimes a bot would get on a lift only to exit it before it had risen to its final destination, or ride one up only to stand still until it came back down. Bots also got stuck underneath the lifts several times while I was spectating a game. This may very well be because the lift states are all set to BumpOpenTimed, which if I recall correctly, causes bots to interpret them as doors. Note to the author: use StandOpenTimed instead next time. Three of the lifts aren't even pathed at all. (In two of those three cases it may be because the author intended them only for lift-jumps, but it is just barely possible to get somewhere on those lifts without any trickery.) CAST: 1.5 The gameplay is decent, but again, not without its failings. For one, there are too many weapons. It's a small map, which the author recommends for 2-4 players, but the only weapons missing are the Ripper and the Redeemer, and there are multiple copies of most of the other weapons, including two Rocket Launchers and two Flak Cannons. There are plenty of opportunities for z-axis fighting, which is good. In many cases you can use ramp-dodges and lift-jumps to climb up to the higher levels of the map. Still, I would have liked to see the bots get around a little more, and there are a few places where the author could have set up camping spots to make botplay a bit more interesting. This also leads into one thing I found very annoying about the map. As I mentioned earlier, the map is mostly one big zone, but for one exception. There's a very poorly-placed Nitrogen Zone at the top of the map. It sits just 48 UUs above the floor on one of the maps highest levels, which means that you can actually get up to that level and run around (say, using your translocator), but if you ever jump while on that level, you'll suddenly take 190 damage and be informed that you "killed your own dumb self." Talk about a nasty surprise. This is especially disappointing first because there's no visual indication that the zone exists while in-game, and second because it's in a map where the author deliberately encouraged trick jumping and such to climb to progressively higher areas of the map. FINAL SCORE: 3.5 In summary, while this map does show some promise, I think it needs a serious overhaul. There are enough technical, aesthetic, and gameplay-related mistakes here that it may be worth downloading, but it's probably not worth keeping. I do hope the author releases a second version that addresses some of these issues; it has potential, but sadly falls short in this release.
Map Comments
enyajiream 04-21-2004 12:59 AM MDT Rating: 7   Decent map. Manticore 04-21-2004 04:01 AM MDT Rating: 9   The screenshot doesn't do this map any justice. Interesting architectural style. Clever gameplay. Worth it... ThaKillaTwinz 04-21-2004 11:04 AM MDT Rating: 7   Weird lookin' map. Cool though. FraGnBraG 04-21-2004 11:51 AM MDT Rating: 8   gotta hand it to u sinnical, you are talented ;) this is a great dm, and different, someone else said "weird", maybe a bit surreal - i agree it works, played it over and over and it didn't get old ... good work dude (now get sum more maps finished) i think its an easy 7, so u get an 8 for stepping outside the box and pulling it off... Nafla Radue 04-21-2004 04:29 PM MDT Rating: 8   I disagree. The simpleness adds to the effect of the map. I think its very well done, and doesn't get old. Even when I'm aware I'm going in a circle, I still like it. One of my problems though is that, indeed, I'll be walking along, and then all of a sudden I'll fly up an elevator... Or maybe I'm just stupid. Shadowlurker 04-25-2004 07:27 PM MDT Rating: 3   I agree with the review - whilst quite an interesting map, it does have a multitude of glaring flaws both visually and gameplay wise. The map does show some promise, though, and perhaps by dwelling on the shortcomings (sloppyness concerning brushwork in some areas, texturing) the author can improve. sinnical 04-26-2004 12:02 AM MDT   ty for the review ironblayde. i figured a map like this would recieve a very mediocre reception since its so weird. it was sitting on my hd unfinished and i knew it would never get done so i kinda just pulled stuff together at the end just to get it out on the net. prolly won't see another version unfortunately but its nice to know there's some salvagable material in there. glad to see some ppl liked it well enough despite its flaws. thx again slaskan 04-27-2004 11:05 AM MDT Rating: 7   anyone of u who have read the review probably think that the map sux but thats really not fair i mean sure the map felt repetetiver at some places but thats only the texturing thhe architecture was exxcellent but u know ev4ry reviewer can have a bad day or maybe it was his first review. however the review is unfair therefore im gonna make my own little review based on my own thaughts about the map! this wont be like a regular review! lets start with the design, the author have used a green theme wich is kinda unusual for maps nowadays thats probably bcuz its so hard to make but this is not the kinda green u first think of when i say the wort this was dfferent but still great. he have made loads of details like the small balcony with the strange panning texture wich was a little minus but. another minus was that on some places u can jump on to the ceiling by the elevatorz and the roof is not kinda beautiful. the lifts look beautiful one of them has got a nice little light on with a pleasant lil glow wich goes with it up and down. i say nice. one other minus was the textures that is grhey broun like, the were unaligned at some places the autor could have made some places in some other texture. enuff bout minuses it was after all a great map most of the map was made out of beautiful green brown catwalks wich you, if u wernt carfull could fall trought small holes (really annoying) he had put lots of details and stuff in the map such as green pillars going everywhere, very pretty. the map had loads of great z action io think it was about 5 floors in the map. i think that the connectivity could have been better because sometimes u feel a little squeezed in tight corridors but there is some nice big areas for dodging to. the item placement was good but not great the weapons and ammo was ok placed but when it comes to the health, now that was not as good, far to little healt it was like 2 health packs trhough the whole map and not many vials either. more health man! the design gets 78% by me in my own rating system I did not experience any lag playing this, even though all those beautiful details it had great flow Bots, well the bots navigate through almost the whole map but att some places they intend to just stand and waitso they get killed very easy from behind the botpath could be better The botpath gets 70% in my owl lil rating system oh i havent said anything about the lighting well nothing special there regular whit lights to the most but one darn nice thing was the nice light on one of the lifts that went up and down with it gj sinnical lighting gets 75% THis map was a masterpiece and worth far more than 3.5 ennd of review this was a very nice but different map that really succedeed on the green theme gj sinnical one thing ui did good and looks to have spent much time on is the roof on the building with all those white lines and stuff dang i wish i was as good as u r sinnical good luck!!! weird, odd , strange call it w-ever u wanna i would just call it K3wL ------------------------------------------------------- well thats all for me folks i hope u think like me about the map :) this map is a clear 7 (or 70 percent if u want to) :) STORM [PE 06-20-2004 08:15 PM MDT Rating: 9   This map is definitely one of the more interesting and not to mention better maps that occupy my playlist. Great for 1 on 1 frag fests especially if you enjoy witty and strategic battles. The architecture of this map makes for a great battle. Keep up the good work!!!