DM-CTC-Croon
Map Info
	File Name dm-ctc-croon.zip Author paranoid Gametype UT Deathmatch Date Added 09-01-2004 File Version 1.00 File Size 4.17 mb Player Count 2-4 Map Description It's the same map from the CTC pack. . .a few people suggested I release it by itself, so I did. I was tempted to make a few changes, but they would be very minor and wouldn't warrant having two versions of the map around. Review Rating 7.5 User Rating 8.5 Overall Rating 8.5
Review
Reviewer Mister_Prophet Awe Score:  3.0/3 Date 09-05-2004 Build Score:  2.5/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  2.0/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  8.5/10 I beta tested Paranoid's DM-Croon awhile back and remembered a nicely themed map with a slick layout, yet marred by playability problems and flow snagging situations. Now, the final release sits before me and I see the Playability problem has been very smoothly cleaned up. Croon is set in an enclosed environment with a killer layout. Your axis gameplay will be rocked hard here, this place has all the ups and downs you could want plus smart geometry that keeps each area connected to the next and everywhere in between. Ramps and lifts keep the elevation juiced as players will find themselves running through locations that seem to evolve on each other. I love the way this place was put together in that loose, thin-walled kinda way so repetition is impossible. Every inch of here has its own identity and once you get the landmarks down you'll own the map. The item placement really takes advatage of this and your never far from any pick-ups or weapons. All the power-ups have smart locations. Take for instance the Shieldbelt, placed in a relatively small water alcove near a waterfall. Water is used perfectly here to create a state of risk, something that always should be handy to mappers when putting the stronger items down. The weapons have markers, very similar to the style used in UT2K4 but here they compliment the theme instead of just looking like generic place mats, something I always despised about UT2K4's weapon bases. The beacons ensure players they'll always have an eye on their available guns and it's just a nice touch here add to the theme as well. What lacks in terms of gameplay, is the flow. Don't get me wrong, the playabilty, as I mentioned before, is great, but there is an awful lot of potential snaggings going on here. This often happens to maps that look as nice as this one, the author tends to either forget trim or adds decoration where it isn't needed. Here, the lanterns get in the way a little too often. The ones placed on the lower level alcoves could have very easily been set up on trim to prevent the player from getting sandwiched behind them. There is also some ramp trap action, many times a wooden plank is used as a staircase and the space underneath can trap players who are shot into them. There is one spot of the map where you can actually walk up the trim decoration of one of the walls and even the bots get hung up on this bit of architecture. This really makes me a sad panda since the layout really is great and the item placement works so well here. I wish Paranoid would make a version 2 of this map and fix these easily cured flow problems. They really damage the sweetness of an otherwise sexilicious map. Visually impressive, Croon takes on a nameless environment set in subtle buildings with ornate design. Alot of UT2K4 influence went into this map and Paranoid really makes it feel welcome here. The lighting is warm and the texture choices are fresh, though some minor alignment lines were noticible. Custom plants have been added to the level as well as little details like a swarm of butterflies and cobwebs that move in the breeze. The atmosphere really is here and it's alive. The place just has a whole aura of magic around. Forget tech, the basic temple theme or whatever new Village map that seems to be the latest craze, Paranoid goes with a very gentle theme here to complement all the bullets and bloodshed. What's so satisfiying about a map like this is how great the layout fleshes out such a well implemented theme. Croon provides a great arena to kill your buddies in. The Prophet's Verdict: Even with the snagging I mentioned you can still get a great game out of this map, the frenzy is there and so is the fun. If anyone complains about playabilty speed problems, saying the map is too slow, needs to get a real computer. This map runs as good for me as any stock UT map so if you can't handle it, the problem is your rig, not the map. With the Snags fixed, this map would get a higher rating. The snags are the only problem I had with this map, outstanding work otherwise. Playabilty Note: I played this map with a 1ghrz, 380 Ram, Geforce 4 computer. And it runs fine for me. If you have problems and your specs are better than me, than it is you, not Croon.
Map Comments
Shao 09-01-2004 07:28 PM MDT Rating: 9.5   ok Nahand , But I prefer a Map Pack instant of single map Edit : This map looks like UT2k4 , how did you people make the map oh and by the way i like the weapon placement is looks prettey cool , is like UT2K4's weapon pick up . Anyway Very good and very nice! the entire CTC mappack is awesome!! To the Author : Very awesome keep it up with your team! Lok 09-01-2004 07:24 PM MDT Rating: 9.5   The best of the MapPack... Damn this map is AWESOME , it seems like an ut2k4's map ... All the mesh and the brush gives to this map an very original universe. I give it 9.5 the layout, architecture, gameplay, and other... That all very good. congratulation, this is awesome Koveras 09-02-2004 10:45 AM MDT Rating: 8   the best part about this map are the terrain pieces :P nice work L.J. paranoid 10-27-2005 11:18 AM MDT   heh. . .yeh I did do a good job with the terrain didn't I :P heh, thanks for the comments (and for the terrain sarevok!) EDIT: Thanks heaps for the review proph!! But just a Q, that trim you mentioned, where you can walk. Was that the wooden trim under the waterfall inside? Leading to the udamage? If so, it's just there to purposely break up the monotony of that huge wall. . .if not. . .I'm stumped! Again, huge thanks! RJGexplode 09-02-2004 03:44 AM MDT Rating: 9   nice work :) Manticore 09-02-2004 05:34 AM MDT Rating: 9   Great map from a great collection. MartinW 09-02-2004 10:56 AM MDT Rating: 9   wow. You had lots of good ideas to make this place feel real to the player. For example: the moving cobwebs The layout and visuals are great too. But there are also a few flaws: - textures that were not properly aligned, - one can "leave" the map through some windows due to missing blockingActors, - some textures of one waterfall flow in the wrong direction. Maybe they belong to the things you wanted to fix but because they do not affect the gameplay there is no justification for a 2nd version. FraGnBraG 09-03-2004 01:05 PM MDT Rating: 8.5   of course it's great :D it's the work of a master mapper! personally, i love the sky, the terrain, the sahdow work is simply superb -- and all the nice details... another great map paranoid, keep 'em comin' EvilSwanky 09-03-2004 07:00 PM MDT   I doubt it runs on my nearly ancient rig.^^ But, yeah, it looks cool, and I hope paranoid corrected the 45° degrees ramps. (No rating because I can't check playability) Sergeant Todd 09-03-2004 10:56 PM MDT Rating: 9.5   Very nicely done.....textures, lighting, architecture..hats off, Paranoid..I just wish my humble PC could do the framerate justice.Oh, and the butterflies near the waterfall are a very nice touch. Paranoid's map, in fact the entire CTC series, and the UNLD series maps also (ex. DM-UNLD-Epitaph and Gothic Rooftop) are excellent maps, and will keep me playing UT for awhile longer(My daughter wants me to buy UT2004!} Fellas, if more maps of this quality are headed our way, I may NEVER take UT off the drive. Sergeant Todd out Nahand 09-04-2004 03:43 PM MDT Rating: 7.5   ... hey Sargeant what about Venom, the best map in UNLD mappack? ;p ... Revelation 09-04-2004 07:19 PM MDT Rating: 6.5   Graphics are excellent, but the performance is extremely bad... Even on a 2.6 GHz machine, it doesn't always run well. And, by the way, gameplay is also not the best you could imagine. Nytehawk 09-05-2004 05:59 AM MDT Rating: 8   The map is beautiful to behold but suffers form a slight lack of flow. To all those who make comments like 'it looks like UT2K3/4', I disagree. There aren't loads of pointless static meshes everywhere. :P Hourences 09-05-2004 07:04 PM MDT   great map, ideas and custom things are great, cool sound and nice shadows tho the thing in general felt a little generic and random sometimes, too many of those roof spikes at time redfist 09-05-2004 10:01 PM MDT   Hard to rate level,seems like its hard to see,to bright,,too dark,or mabye the color combo,i dunno. hard to zone off map too.fps were taking a hit,but as good as the map is,seems like it should run slower. Nice job.add a tadd more to ground light (global) I prolly would post an 8. Uncle_Bob 09-28-2004 04:33 PM MDT Rating: 8.5   Absalutely brilliant map. some of the best architecture I have seen in a UT99 map in ages. I really like the way some of the falling apart and all the little effects like butterflies and the sparkling light from the weapon bases (which were a nice touch). I can see the influences from 2K4 and it all works brilliantly. Maybe some of the gameplay a bit tight but it was fun. Great map with very atmospheric lighting. flying 10-01-2004 11:13 AM MDT   This great map is also part of the CTC Mappack: http://nalicity.beyondunreal.com/map_hub.php?mid=7607 koeckchen 10-02-2004 12:51 PM MDT Rating: 9   This is one of the best designed maps i've ever seen, but it wasn't able to get the 10! Reasons: -with help of the Translocator you can get on top of the map, it doesn't seem to be build for that! -some of the wooden planks are hovering above the ground they should lie on! -the ramps are a little bit too steep! But there are much more good things in this map. For example the weapon bases with this nice yellow sparks! All in all, i gave it a 9! Evil Snack 10-03-2004 09:56 AM MDT Rating: 9.5   GREAT MAP I LOVED IT!!!!!!! Hey, Sargeant Todd get me a copy of UT2004 too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! kingmango 10-06-2004 10:29 AM MDT Rating: 9   this map is too sexy for you don't dl hyperboreer 10-15-2004 02:51 PM MDT   [Admin: Comment removed for stupidity] quillion 10-15-2004 10:06 PM MDT   What a load of bull, if you cant comment properly, then dont comment at all... Jez 10-16-2004 07:08 PM MDT   I have 1.8GHz P4 with 512MB, a GeForce 4 and a clean installation of XP Pro, SP2 and up-to-date drivers. Somewhat higher than the reviewer's spec and yet I still get a very poor frame-rate with this map. I have a 19" monitor and run the game (goty version) at 1024x768 16-bit colour. All of Swanky's maps work like a treat on my rig. Flak 10-17-2004 11:09 AM MDT Rating: 10   People like to say things they wouldn't say when they are anonymous. I absolutely love this map, it really does look like ut2k4, and YOU HAVE RAISED THE BAR! It's fantastic. The playability is great, the layout is great. My only complaint is not being able to get to rooftops, I want to run this on a sniper server. Great work!!! Kantham 10-19-2004 05:47 PM MDT Rating: 7   very good visual for a ut99 map , but i must give this map a real rating GRAF1K 10-20-2004 01:32 AM MDT   Correct, Kantham. If you're still playing UT99, it shouldn't be for the visuals. :P I will say, however, that many mappers throw in superflous detail just for the sake of doing so in UT200X. Thay think that if a map doesn't look good, they should throw in more stuff. Wrong approach; throwing in more bad-looking stuff doesn't make your map look better. Quality being better than quantity and all that. Of course, this is not an engine problem but a mapper's problem. Skilled UT mappers, make something for UT2004! n00bkillin 10-28-2004 11:05 AM MDT Rating: 9.5   This is Ut and it looks like 2k4! I think that is amazing and the gameplay 0wnz too. I will never give a 10 as 10 is perfection and nothing but Lindt chocolate is perfection! Derdak2rot 11-04-2004 09:47 PM MST Rating: 8.5   Amazing map , but i have a question to the author : how did you do this lightning who bright the exterior ? Daeglin 12-26-2004 04:11 AM MST Rating: 9   I like this map alot. The looks are amazing. The level gives exelent positions to take someone down without them even knowing what hit 'em. Alas I have major problems with bots.They seem to get stuck below the elevators or just jump down from the platforms before climbing back up :( But this is the only minus so a 9from me this time. Pix 12-27-2004 03:41 PM MST Rating: 9   This is probably the most visually stunning map for UT that has ever been made. It makes UT almost look like UT2k4 I swear! Oh, and it not only looks great, but plays great too, I prefer a simple DM with 7 bots on this one. I just cannot fault this map, and it is one of my favourite UT maps of all time. Agent X 12-20-2005 06:38 AM MST Rating: 10   I second every good comment made by everyone about this level. Simply stunning. scirmast 01-05-2006 10:08 AM MST Rating: 7.5   OK, great looking map, but I got a 1900mhz comp with GF 3 Ti 500, and yet with all settings turned maximum I get 20fps. Prophet here says that its me, not the map, and that it runs as fine as any stock map. Tell me mister, do you run the game on highest settings?