DM-Vroon
Map Info
	File Name dm-vroon_fixed.zip Author Vertigo Gametype UT Deathmatch Date Added 07-02-2004 File Version 2.00 File Size 2.48 mb Player Count 4 Map Description "An abandoned storage building losing itself to vegetation" thats what Paranoid said of this map and thats the most accurate description I think Review Rating 8 User Rating 7.5 Overall Rating 8
Review
Reviewer ArcadiaVincennes Awe Score:  2.5/3 Date 01-15-2005 Build Score:  2.5/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  3.0/3 User Point:  0 Overall Score:  8/10 DM-Vroon (UT) Vroon could be described as such: Vroon is to UT99 as Rankin is to UT2004. I’m not saying they’re equal – but they do share many facets of design and both accomplish their purpose quite well. AWE: 2.5 If Rankin had been made of wood, stone, and vegetation, I expect Vroon is what it would look like. The texture usage is well chosen – some are custom - and used consistently around the map. There were very few misalignments and edges were trimmed off very well. The lighting is probably the map’s weakest spot. It alternates between nice shadows and appearing ambient lit. The lighting colors throughout the map are all a little too similar. It gives the map a very consistent feel, but a bit more variation and/or deeper saturation in some areas would have deepened the ambience considerably. The lighting overall is far from bad, but it could have been better. The architecture is simplistic in individual shape, but nicely complicated when looked at as a whole. This is fairly difficult to balance out and the author has done this very well. Complementing the architecture are the ‘skyboxes’ which the author has put some effort into populating and making them feel ‘alive’. Overall, the ambience and gestalt of the map is consist and creative throughout with many subtle touches that bring the map alive. If the lighting had been a bit better, this would have been a 3. BUILD: 2.5 The BSP construction is solid with simplistic shapes that give the impression of something more complicated when put together as a whole. I did spot 1 BSP error but it was a relatively insignificant one and does not affect gameplay. The mover works well, has a good sound attached to it, and will give you a boost up to the armour. The ambient sound usage in this map, however, is excellent. The author has placed varying general ambient sounds around the map so the different portions of the map produce ambient sound related to that specific portion. Good radii and decent volume. But then the author also fleshed out the map with more specific ambient sounds at specific locations. For example wood creaking as you walk over a few wooden planks bridging a gap. It’s touches like this, scattered around the map, that, in addition to the ‘area’ ambient sounds, that really flesh out the soundscape, provide aural clues to other players, and really round out the ambience. Put all together the map is very competently built with only a BSP error to drag down the score. Turn up your volume if you give this one a try. CAST: 3.0 The gameplay is really quite good on this one. The bots were up and down and all over the place. Unlike most maps, there was no 1 place that I tended to encounter them. They usually grabbed the shield belt before I could get to it and always had at least two weapons in their arsenal ready to use against me. The player size – up to 4 – is very well suited to the map. I played with two bots and the map was a great size for the three of us. The map has excellent flow with a good weapon layout. There’s z-axis a-plenty and it’s not simply the ‘I’m on the second story and you’re on the first story’ kind. The z-axis is multi-layered with main levels of play and sub-levels. There’s not a whole lot of room to do a lot of dodging but the map keeps you going so well that you won’t really care. The gameplay here is some of the best I’ve seen in a UT99 DM map in a long time. The bots will harass you but you’ll love the varied opportunities to get the drop on them in return. From the textures, to the architecture, to the gameplay, the map shines out as one of the best abandoned warehouse themed maps. If the BSP error was fixed and the lighting revamped, this would be right up there with the best, IMO. Similar to Rankin in look, gameplay, and feel, it’s a must-have DM map for UT99.
Map Comments
Yoni 07-03-2004 04:06 AM MDT Rating: 8   Well, this map is great, except for some unaligned textures, some brushes which were copy/pasted/duplicated arent on the right place anymore. :p U forgot to drag em a bit. And some pillars are just black, bcoz the light doesn't get in there, u could use speciallit for that maybe. But for the rest, I think this is a great map, another map with Z-axis which I can't do. lol, An 8 for this map. GTD-Carthage 07-09-2004 07:31 AM MDT Rating: 8   Nice map. The textures are great, followed by the ambient-sound. The lay-out makes a good example for a deathmatch map. Although the sky-box... the sky-box's color is green making it almost unnoticable in some spots... like the holes on the cieling. redfist 02-09-2005 10:48 PM MST Rating: 7.5   Well done map ,really well Lit level,mabye should be a little bigger,but i like it. Vertigo is one of the better mappers here. I need to bump up the score from 6,it's a great example of how a mapper can get a feel for an environment through a 3d game-editing mappage. I 100% disagree with the reviewer on the lighting,especialy on this map. It is probably only one of very few maps that really looks right. Maaaaaaan I hope you don't FIX the lighting...... GRed (V)èg@ 07-09-2004 07:58 PM MDT   nice map u got there lots of nice details and a fast to learn layout good job. theBAMNman 02-09-2005 07:27 PM MST Rating: 8.5   Hey Vert! I remember this one being under construction... ;) Anyway, I think it ended up very nicely. Connectivity and flow are solid, visuals are nice and detailed, item placement is pretty good and you've got z-axis to boot! I have tiny gripes, like the skybox and a few other things, but overall it's a great map to play and we can tell you put a lot of time and detail into it. Props for the special sounds when you walk across boards, btw. I haven't seen that effect anywhere else. This map is definitely staying in my rotation. Jez 11-09-2004 01:25 PM MST   Is this any relation to DM-Croon? lol RayZidane 01-15-2005 09:39 PM MST Rating: 8   nice.... Vertigo 01-18-2005 04:16 PM MST   OMG thx for the review :) I went for a good atmosphere with this one. BTW I agree with you, the lights are a bit ... bleh sometimes but i like the sunlight. Still i dont remember any bsp cuts. Where is it? i guess im gonna make an update. EDIT:yeah you can get out to the trees but well, wtf you did? this is a map and you should be fraggin not trying to escape... ;) oh this maps was meant to be played with the xloc, bots do better that way EvilSwanky 01-16-2005 02:11 PM MST Rating: 7   here and there a bit of the r-c-r syndrome, bots like the lower corridor, this map features nice lighting and architecture, though. Pomperi 01-18-2005 01:51 PM MST Rating: 8   This map is really awesome. Good atmosphere, great architecture and a lot of nice sounds. However, I still found some bugs; # The trees outdoor wasn't set to masked, so they got some evil black stuff around the leaves. # I somehow managed to escape through one of the windows. FraGnBraG 01-18-2005 07:16 PM MST Rating: 7.5   well i like it - i remember this from beta testing (teh nasty bsp hole) nice to see the map done, vert, great fast track with good killing spots ;) the bots are good, all good stuff in it but minor niggle on the lighting - good, but could be more realistic in places (like those blue lights), but maybe that's just me. good work dude :) tgm79 01-21-2005 07:47 AM MST Rating: 8.5   Vroon. Vertigo Ran Out Of Names – Ha ha, I had to play DM-Roon to understand what he had in mind. I initially thought the name comes from the sound that little kids make when they pretend to drive a car – Vroon! Vroon! (or was it Vroom? Hm.) Anyway, it’s pretty descent map but nothing we haven’t seen already. The one thing that makes it stand above the crowd a little is the greens and the green sky. I love ceiling openings hidden in foliage. And messy mossy mossness. Okay – it’s not messy but the pun is fun. I noticed an ugly HOM effect – it appears when looking from the ledge above at a certain angle down at the place, where the shock core and the three sniper bullets are, just under the “Vertigo’s mapsâ€� sign (it‘s the sloped polygon) Thought you may want to know. Good atmospherics – tense and morose – although that constant “Clank – clank – clankâ€� when passing on the wooden planks may hit on your nerves after a few minutes. I have to agree with Pomperi(:K256:) – It’s too easy to get outside, especially for a translocator enthusiast like me. I just like go around and shoot with it at every possible location to see if I can get there. And I like to telefrag also :) Lok 02-03-2005 05:10 PM MST Rating: 7   good map , well i like the gameplay , good lightning effect , the outdoor is almost boring , at my opinion it could be have more architectural effect but the map itself is really cool ... the theme here is very original i like it too , i think thats we cant described it like rankin in ut2004 ... vrey original after all and the gameplay is awesome IN_tr_der5 02-08-2005 09:45 AM MST Rating: 5   ....boxi,.................. but is fun to play Derdak2rot 02-08-2005 04:08 PM MST Rating: 7   Well ! like some guys said before , the gampeplay in this map rocks !! nice z-axis fighting everywhere ! good point for that . My only complaint is some architectures executed at many places of the map : some exemples : arches could be better worked and walls are empty at some places . i saw some little misalignements with textures but its forgivable . I think at final , it a pretty atmospheric map with good lighning , layout and gameplay . but could be better with more detailed architecture . Anyway , good job Vertigo !! ~kr0n~ 04-04-2005 06:51 PM MDT Rating: 9   wow spanish map! really GOOD map! only low fps in some zones milb 02-14-2005 06:58 AM MST Rating: 7.5   Nice map, but only for play! The Archi looks good, but's its so undetailed in some parts of the map. I miss trims and the lighting could be stronger. Maksym 02-14-2005 04:50 PM MST Rating: 9   Map is very good. But why is performance so bad, it shouldn't be so when looking at it's layout. On my computer (P3 733, Gf2 GtsPro32Mb, 256mb ram) there was 20 fps in certain places within the map. That't why my rating isn't 10. Monday 02-15-2005 08:20 AM MST Rating: 7.5   well Maksym, 2ghz+(with mebbe 64m g/card) are out there for nearly nothing nowdays so get yourself a good 1. Nice map by the way Petrus 02-18-2005 07:39 PM MST Rating: 6.5   I'm not sure why I bothered downloading this, since I've been here long enough that in most cases with a featured map I know exactly what I'm getting, and the screenshots confirmed this as well. For anyone who hasn't downloaded it yet, this is exactly the type of map (read: "industrial" clone of DM-Grinder and friends) that has traditionally been considered the holy grail on Nali City, at least as far as UT99 is concerned. The question I've been trying to answer for the last six years though is why this type of map (and very few others, generally speaking) is so highly venerated. It isn't that technically speaking there's anything wrong with this particular one at all, and I suppose that's why it's got an 8. My problem with it however is that while playing it I had to exert willpower in order to avoid yawning. My own perspective is that I'd rather play something like CTF-CivilWar2 as one example, and actually have fun, rather than play something which in terms of technical execution might be flawless but conceptually/gameplay wise is also deadly boring. Some of you might play this game purely for its aesthetic merits...I on the other hand as I said play it because I want to have fun. Occasionally you get situations like CTF-Warrior where both come together and it's almost perfect, but for the most part I notice aesthetics and gameplay tend to be at least somewhat mutually exclusive. Nothing against Vertigo whatsoever, and I acknowledge that it does require quite a high level of skill to put together something this technically solid...I just wish the gameplay didn't feel so completely generic. UnrealED skillz are fine...but I'll take something *enjoyable* put together by a newb any day over something which might have been put together by someone who's a wizard with the editor, but which would be better appreciated as three dimensional still art, rather than a game map. There is a big difference between the two. Defeat 02-24-2005 12:45 AM MST Rating: 7   I like the atmosphere in the map, the bird, the music, the new sounds when walking over things. I agree with the others about the going outside, my translocator bounced outside and I didn't notice until I used it. The air ducts are way cool. I did find a sheet that didn't have the 2-sided thing turned on but thats minor. Good job:) Yragael 03-04-2005 09:21 AM MST Rating: 8   Nice atmosphere, nice layout, bots kicked my ass more than once... Cool! Really cool... 8 points from my side. kingmango 12-31-2005 10:01 PM MST Rating: 9   This map is top notch. Layout is phenomanal and looks are great. And the lift jumping bots own. ;)