DM-InTheRain3
Map Info
	File Name intherain3.zip Author I-Iybr1d Gametype UT Deathmatch Date Added 07-16-2004 File Version 1.00 File Size 209 kb Player Count 2 - 4 Map Description None Review Rating 4 User Rating 4 Overall Rating 4
Review
Reviewer Ice-Dancer Awe Score:  2.0/3 Date 02-19-2005 Build Score:  1.5/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  0.5/3 User Point:  0 Overall Score:  4/10 DM-InTheRain3 by I-Iybr1d Well, what we have here is basically a small arena style map, the author suggests 2-4 players for this, which is about right for this size map. The weapon placement is pretty basic, nothing special, we have your average, shock, pulse, flak and rocket, each with 4 ammo. The weapons have been placed in the corners of the map, 1 weapon in each corner. The player starts (4 of them) are placed at the sides of the map, equal distance from the 2 closest weapons, this, makes it pretty easy for one player to dominate the arena, with there being so few playerstarts, its not hard to stand in the middle of the map and spawncamp. The invisibility which was included in this map, is frankly, not needed in such a small map, something like shin pads would have worked better. Bot pathing is minimal here, but for such a small map, it works. Map follows a basic pattern of respawning, trying to get a gun, and trying to get a few frags before inevitably respawning again. Pretty much your standard arena type map flow here, no running around looking for an opponent, or places to camp. This map managed to knock my normally brilliant framerate of 100, down to a humble 60, even lower if I looked to the sky. On old PC’s this map may suck, badly, mine managed to cope, just though, I’m not sure what this would be like to play online with framerate there. The problem causing the framerate drop, is the rain, while it may look pretty nice, and make the map a little different to others, framerate droppage, is something that no player wants. The author may have been better off using Precipgen (check the Wiki for more info on this) rather than lots of sheets, as precipgen gives the same effect, and from what I have seen, without such a big impact upon the framerate. The map did contain sound, the choice of the sound to use for the rain was a good one, and worked well to create an atmosphere. Brushwork was basic, but effective, most of it was cube brushes, in various size and angles. Some of the brushes for the turret type things you see on the rooftop had obviously had a bit more thought put into them. No movers are fancy trigger tricks here, just hardcore fragging. Apart from the skybox, and the rooftop, which you cannot get to, the map was one whole zone. No HOMs or BSP holes here, the rain manages to eat framerate well enough to make up for any BSP holes anyway. The map has a gothic theme, textures and architecture reflect this. Lighting is average, nothing special, the map does have light sources though, the burning torches which where placed around the walls. However, although the skybox is obviously a night scene, the map gets lighter as you step into the middle area where there is an open air ceiling, yet not in the corners where there is an open air ceiling too. Something for the author to think about there. The turrets, which where lit green, have no lightsource nearby, and the green light makes them look ugly also. The way they have been lit also makes it harder to see the nice architecture they have, and they look more like cubes. Texture use was good, and makes the theme apparent. The textures all seem to be aligned as well. As I said earlier on in the review, the rain looks nice, well, not all the time, as in the middle area of the map, the rain passes through the stone, raised area where the invisibility is, this makes the placement of the rain seem careless. The skybox is basic, stars, with a planet up there somewhere, and the skull in the skybox looks stupid, however, the use of the blue cloud/aurora is very good, and redeems the skybox slightly. The map does have a level screenshot applied, although, the screenshot looks more like an older version of this map, as the lighting seems different than this one. So basically, if you have an old computer, then this map is definitely not for you. If you like small maps, then you might want to check this out. It looks good, not brilliantly, but better than some maps I have seen. The framerate is the major bad thing with this map. It would also have been nice to see something a little bigger, as the map looks as though it is the centre of a bigger map, but then you realise there is no more, this is all of it.
Map Comments
Innominate 07-17-2004 01:07 AM MDT   Wow, nice screenshot dude if you drew it by hand then high praise but if you just took that pic and edit it then that's nothing. Too bad I don't have UT install or else I would have probably DL the map but the file size seems too small. quillion 07-17-2004 02:43 AM MDT Rating: 4.5   the screenshot is basically the map. it all looks nice and stuff but its just one arena. good for a few rounds then it gets boring. something i dont understand tho, how come the rain floods the centre and not the outside ones? GTD-Carthage 07-18-2004 04:02 AM MDT Rating: 3   Well the map is a bit too small. It's basically just one big open-air room. What you see in the screenshot is basically everything the map has. The sheets making the hard-rainy effect slows down my machine too. The textures are as usuall the same all over since it's a one-room-map. It's a good 1on1 map... unless I failed to see some extra areas. I swear that was the whole map itself. And also, some effects lack tweaking. The author could have at least placed puddles on some areas to really make it look like it's wet from hard rain. D.J Cat 08-20-2004 04:13 AM MDT   Nice fun map for a frantic sort of match. Defeat 02-21-2005 01:19 AM MST Rating: 4   I liked the rain, the foutain sound goes good with it. A fast map fraggin' wise especially if 4 players. The invisibility is ok but like Ice-Dancer said it could of been different. A water zone could have been put in the water in the middle so splashing would be heard if one stepped in the water. Overall I guess its an ok map. I-Iybr1d 03-20-2005 09:53 PM MST   I must say i really tough you guys gonna beat the sh** out of me for this map but i had better replys than i was hope to... Still, i learn from mistakes and i will try to correct them in the future... By the way Ice, thx for that good review i sure help me find some things i never notice.. and youre right...that skull in the skybox looks pretty stupid... PS: Im working in another project called CTF-AnubisWaterGarden and i have a showoff of another map as well in the forum: http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=140248