DM-Zed
Map Info
	File Name dm-zed.zip Author azmodai Gametype UT2k4 Deathmatch Date Added 07-16-2004 File Version 1.00 File Size 2.54 mb Player Count 2 - 4 Map Description Its new, its pretty, its Z.E.D, or something like that... A simple dueling map based on the albatross packages, but not the albatross level design. This map has a focus on vertical gameplay, and i'm tries to have a flowing design that lets the players move around fairly freely. One hidden bonus in the form of a random item spawner on the roof of one of the buildings. This map was made simply because I needed to get back into my groove of mapping, and I hope you guys like it. Review Rating 5.5 User Rating 6.5 Overall Rating 6.5
Review
Reviewer Vertigo Awe Score:  2.0/3 Date 12-26-2004 Build Score:  1.5/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  2.0/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  6.5/10 Do you remember DM-Albatross? That map that came with the retail UT2K4 set on what appeared to be some kind of ruins in the middle of the mountains. OK then, if you liked the theme but it wasn’t enough for you, then you must play this one. Apart of some things I’ll tell you later, this map is just as good (or even a little better) as Albatross was. Retail quality assured. AWE: 2 The looks of this map are, as I said before, like Albatross so expect to see those greyish rock textures all over the mountains and some brick walls with a similar colour. Besides, the distance fog colour is also blue (I’m not sure if it can be changed) looking to the distance makes the place look washed out. There’s not much to say about the lighting. There are to big sunlight actors doing most of the job, and I say “mostâ€� because although the author placed some blue lights here and there to simulate ambient light, both sun and ambient lights have a similar colour so that’s why the whole place has no contrasts between light and shadows. This is for the outdoor lighting. On the other side we’ve got the indoor lighting that makes a good change from the boring cold light of the outside. The textures are not to varied either but they’re all well aligned except for the wooden steps near the minigun and some places where bruhes put together with the terrain. Build: 1.5 This is IMO the weakest point of this map. There are some things that are ridiculously obvious and still the author seemed to miss them. I mean, I can ignore bad bot support, incorrect item placement and so on but who would miss things like semi-buried crates. Yes ladies and gentlemen some crates are poorly placed and I'm sure you won’t miss them. Also in the link gun room the red/orange lighting has no source, well there are some stands where the light source is supposed to be but they’re empty. The worst thing is without doubt a spot where you can fall and the walk under the map but it can be worse as if you don’t fall under the map there is no way out other than suicide. Anyway it’s easy to fix that. You’ll hear ambient sounds all over the map (mostly birds) but there are some nice additions like beeps near the weapon stands. Bots navigate the map as they should taking everything and going everywhere. And no matter if you are on the other end of the map, they will fire at you if you give them the chance. Cast: 2 It’s a fun map, I like this one more that Albatross even if is not as pretty. Why you say? The first time I played I felt the map was too little. But after some games I realized that the layout was a bit tricky because it seems worse than it really is. Of course it’s not brilliant but it works well. Item placement and flow were good for the most part. There are some items that are not worth getting if you’re in hurry but others like the big armor are perfectly placed. The flow was sometimes interrupted by the usual stuck-ness (is that a word?) of the terrain itself like in the flak cannon spot. If you try to get to the flak from below you wont reach it as you'll get stuck. But nothing to serious I guess. You won’t suffer any slowdowns and that’s always good. To conclude I’ll say that be a “retail quality mapâ€� not always is bad thing. I’m no fan of Albatross style maps but I’ve had good time playing this one on lan with a friend. I guess I’m gonna keep it for some time. NOTE: That spot where you fall through the terrain can be easily fixed placing a blockall actor (I guess that’s the name)
Map Comments
yournan 07-16-2004 10:59 AM MDT Rating: 7.5   looks way cool. I'ii alter my score accordingly when i download this thing of beauty. MsM redfist 07-16-2004 11:23 AM MDT Rating: 3.5   Well unfortunatly for me I dont really like the ut04 (DM-1on1-Albatross)this level might as well be that. Both run slow here,and again it's hard to differentiate between the bots and the map (hard to see) I have a slow system but it's a good test for slowness on maps in general. MichaelM 07-17-2004 07:58 AM MDT Rating: 8   This map is great! I have my graphics set on holy shit mode and my computer doesn't even flinch. The music goes along great with the gameplay and layout of the map. My framerates never drop in this level. yeah this level is based on 1 on 1 - Albatross (a lot of others base there levels on standard game maps), but it is not exact in fact I like the layout just a little bit more. The tree shadows add a great effect to the level and the lighting is nice. The only thing I would have the autnhor change would be an area in the terrain by the tunnel where you get hung up a little bit, other than that great job. :) recomend people try this. nightshadow 07-16-2004 11:04 PM MDT Rating: 10   WOW!! This map beats the SH*T out of Albatross! It flows great, it looks great, it sounds great! Weapon placement is excellent. Perfect for Invasion, 1 on 1, 2 on 2, or 3 on 3. I can't think of a single thing that's wrong with it. It's...perfect... *adds to his collection of regularly played maps* If you havn't already, you MUST download this map! Manticore 07-17-2004 02:59 AM MDT Rating: 7.5   Decent DM. Runs well, looks and sounds fine..... Fuzzy Logic 07-28-2005 04:50 PM MDT Rating: 5.5   Edit: I've changed my view of this map having fallen through the floor once too many times, grrr! mangan }swe{ 07-17-2004 02:40 PM MDT   uhm ihate dm-albatross but maybe this is good, screens look good LIM 07-18-2004 02:17 AM MDT Rating: 5.5   I love the Albatross theme, meshes etc,... BUT this map feels unfinished. There's lots of little mistakes here and there. There's actually a few BIG no no's too. One area players can fall in and not be able to jump out near the edge of map, where onje can jump up on the edge of a walkway, leads to a small, deep ditch like area. Another area along the edge one can peer through the meshes into a narrow, but bright umm,.. almost HOM area it looks like. Last thing I remember at the moment, you may want to repaint your terrain layers, lots of the brick layer looks very fake due to it being too rough/rounded to be believable. Like on stairs and such, those areas of the terrain, if they are "piling up" on the stairs should look like dirt, etc. Not look like bricks. A very solid effort though all around, please don't take my criticism as dissing you either. Just wanted to point out some areas that stuck out and kind of messed up the believability. sandorski 07-19-2004 12:22 AM MDT Rating: 6.5   Looks real nice and the author used the correct spelling of the letter( :P ), but it doesn't stand out from many other maps of similar to better calibre. Draco 08-28-2004 04:42 PM MDT Rating: 7.5   Nice map ... PHa-Q 12-27-2004 04:03 AM MST   Way to go 'yourman' - rate a map you have'nt even played yet... That's real usefull. n00bkillin 12-27-2004 05:20 AM MST Rating: 7.5   This rocks as a 1 on 1! With three it's not as good, but it's still pretty good. Vipermx 12-27-2004 01:34 PM MST Rating: 5   Hm...but I don't like it... Albotros is a god map, but this is the worst remake what I ever sow... the ligh is bad...uncerrect geometry... PS It's just my opinion... Theseus314 12-27-2004 01:40 PM MST Rating: 6.5   Fun, unoriginal level that's got loads to offer a nimble player. darth_weasel 12-27-2004 09:40 PM MST   Would have been nice to see some originality, gameplay wasn't as good as albatross, and a couple of spots the lighting went from poor to horrible. Still it's ok, but 100% of the visuals are from Albatross. nELs0n 12-28-2004 06:54 AM MST   well... the idea behind this one's nice even though not that original anymore. but you could have shown originality by altering the visuals from the albatross look. the lighting on the whole is just too white, i can't find any real contrasts in there and thus this little dark tunnel was welcome - but the mushrooms in there were out of place imo. and the crates: if you want crates that are stuck in the ground you gotta have a dirt or sand ground there - you can't have a crate that sinks right through those bricks ;) ok on the whole Frieza 12-28-2004 05:04 PM MST   Vertigo remove the HUD when making screenshots :p slaskan 12-29-2004 11:12 AM MST   albatross was second worse map in the retail pack next to CTF-1on1-Joust Vertigo 12-30-2004 08:48 AM MST   if i had to choose between albatross and zed one i would play zed Fordy 01-10-2005 03:47 AM MST Rating: 5.5   Probably unfair to compare it to Albatross. This aint a bad map but neither is it a good one, not for me anyway. Kantham 07-28-2005 08:14 PM MDT Rating: 6.5   played it a while ago on a TAM server. The decor is prety well, the flow is different from what we have seen. The map is very anoying against bots. But with humain players i had more fun