DM-12_Perseverance-2004-SE
Map Info
	File Name dm-12_perseverance-2004-se.zip Author Stormblade Gametype UT2k4 Deathmatch Date Added 01-23-2005 File Version 1.00 File Size 12.43 mb Player Count 6 - 12 Map Description This is an "updated and optimized" version of "Perseverance-2004". A bunch of changes were made from the original 2004 release. My goal was to improve the FPS on low & mid-end rigs. Description : This is an all outdoor level, set within a forested valley. It's a gloomy day, rain & thunder, you're being shot at from all angles... RUN! Grab a gun and show those bastards the meaning of pain. Enjoy! Review Rating 6.5 User Rating 5.5 Overall Rating 5.5
Review
Reviewer ArcadiaVincennes Awe Score:  2.0/3 Date 01-28-2005 Build Score:  2.5/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  2.0/3 User Point:  -1 Overall Score:  5.5/10 DM-12-Perseverence-2004-SE (UT2004) A largish DM map that harkens back to the masses of UT2003 all-terrain maps that came out after the UT2003 release. On one hand, Perseverence does more things right than most of those generic hill maps from UT2003. But it also has room for improvement. AWE: 2.0 The first thing that strikes you as the map opens is the custom music. Extremely hard-core it has a good energy and aggressiveness for Deathmatch, but it doesn’t really fit in with the nature and cloudy day theme. It’s a bit too over the top for this map. As for lighting, the opposite is true. The lighting is quite drab and bare with 2 dim sunlight actors. The only other lights in the map are ‘hotspot’ lights hovering above the customized pickup bases. This leaves the map looking a bit washed-out and grey. Despite the fact that the theme is a rainy, cloudy day, the map could have been dressed up a little more with ‘pools’ of light dotted around the map. As it is, it matches the theme a bit too well. Since there’s only 1 BSP brush, the texturing is all about the terrain and, actually, the pickupbases. The author reskinned meshes from the Arborea Hardware package with other, animated, textures from elsewhere in the game. They are well-applied but quite bright and flashy – almost neon-like - when contrasted against the terrain and fog. Bright purple, blue, green, and orange/red swirling over the surface of the meshes create an interesting yet too contrasting effect. They’re well-chosen and well-applied but don’t really fit with the theme. The terrain textures are well-chosen and well-applied as well but they help bring the theme together much better. Various grass, moss, dirt, and rock textures flow across the terrain in well-conceived application. However, they’re all quite similar in terms of color scheme and therefore blend together so that only upon close examination does one notice the difference between them. In addition, the textures running up the steep areas of the hillsides are stretched sometimes slightly, sometimes dramatically. The author needs to learn about the XYZ settings in the terraininfo Layer settings. Since there’s no architecture one must consider the meshes and terrain the architecture. In terms of terrain, the map makes one reminisce about the flood of all-terrain maps that came out after the release of UT2003. Cursed with layouts of steep hills with deep crevasses between them or rolling gentle hills that all look the same, this map transcends those failed efforts and really does convey the sense that it’s a hilly valley. There are some gentle, some steep slopes and varying cap heights that help the map rise above standard terrain maps. Unlike the UT2003 terrain maps, the author added in rock meshes and rock bridge meshes and the hills become more interconnected thereby improving flow and providing more z-axis. There are a few points where the smoothing was neglected a touch but overall the author put a lot of effort into detailing the terrain’s contours. Overall the lighting could use more definition. The cloudy day theme is hit dead on but it’s too drab to really wow you. The texturing was odd in terms of the pickupbases and didn’t really fit the theme and the terrain texturing was well applied but a little too consistent in color and stretched badly at times. The terrain/mesh architecture is very well constructed and assembled and the terrain design is a step above the all-terrain maps that have come before. BUILD: 2.0 The map is well-constructed overall. The terrain and mesh assembly is very good. Also decently done is collision simplification with blocking volumes. As map such as this could have been quite sticky. However, the blocking volume usage prevent this nicely. The mover in the map is surprisingly slow. No liftjumping in these hills. Still, it worked fine, the bots used it and a decent sound was attached to it. Due to the nature of the map Zoning was impossible. So optimization was dealt with with antiportals. Although they do their job, there didn’t seem to be as many as there could be. As for sound, the author used custom sounds in addition to the regular UT2K4 fare. The ambient sound was present throughout the map with occasional locational sounds and timed sounds. The ambient sound volume seemed to be too low as I could not hear them well compared to the thunder and bird sound which were of a reasonable volume. Either the thunder and bird were too loud or the other sounds were too soft. A little more volume balance between the two would have helped. Also, some more locational sounds would have been appreciated to really flesh out the soundscape more. One curious volume use was the placement of Ion Cannon target volumes throughout the higher areas to prevent/discourage camping. Although this worked well, I think a few volumes could have been raised a bit as seemingly innocuous perches at a reasonable heights quickly became deathtraps. The author built the map well. A few more antiportals and a bit of tweaking and added sounds would have completed the build CAST: 2.0 The gameplay here is, like the terrain design, better than the UT2003 all-terrain maps. The sometimes narrow paths between hills provided some tight gameplay and wall-dodge opportunities. The mulit-level terrain useage was not limited to a dual-planer gameplay where one player is looking up and the other down. The slopes, bridges, and multiple height variations made this terrain more interesting to play on than others. The bots use the map well and tend to grab the superweapons as fast as they spawn. One gripe is that the map has two superweapons which, although it does make sense for a map of this size, it’s not balanced by being difficult to get to. They’re quite easy to grab and use. A little more risk/reward would have helped this factor. One downside is the weapon placement. Although the weapons are scattered through the map well, it’s hard to get one soon after spawning. A lot of the time I tended to spawn near the bottom of the hills and had to find an appropriate place to get up because most of the weapons are elevated. This takes time away from fragging and leads to quick deaths due to death from above with better weapons than what you have. The other downside is the FPS. Despite the antiportals, the map runs at less than retail values. Not badly, but if you’re high up looking over the hilltops, the framerate drops a fair amount. On the other hand, the framerate is slightly above retail in the trenches so the antiportals did pay off a little. Overall the terrain layout and z-axis opportunities make the map fun to play. But if you’re on an older coputer you’ll experience drag and the weapon layout could have used some vertical tweaking. In general Perseverance is a worthy addition to your all-terrain map collection. It may be a little drab visually, but you do feel like you’re playing in the rainy, grey NorthWest woods. The gameplay generally makes up for its visual deficiencies and the bots will give you a bit of a challenge. Download it to see what all those UT2003 all-terrain maps should have been like.
Map Comments
souldividersjosz 01-23-2005 01:01 PM MST Rating: 6.5   okayish, terrain could've used some more smoothing, more layers, even more deco, overall nice. No no on the 2 super weps EDIT: wow man, a 0.0? That's a really harsh penalty for 2 superweapons and for the fact that your rig somehow can't cope with the map.... It ran fine on mine, 1280x800 res with highest detail settings. Get a grip man, a 0.0 is uncalled for. Fuzzy Logic 01-23-2005 05:03 AM MST Rating: 0   What bit of it I got to play was monotonous - having such powerful weapons out in the open is bad news. What is more bad news is the reason I never got to complete a game... it kept bombing out with a 'general protection fault'. Something not right here... MichaelM 01-24-2005 11:19 AM MST Rating: 7   This level is quite good... in fact it is one of the better strictly outdoor maps I have seen. While some things could have been more detailish. the gameplay rocks and who cares if there are some powerful weapons in the open, it makes it more interesting... though they could have been a little bit harder to get. The triggered sounds on the weapon bases are interesting, and the shield pickup base looks neat. Of course this is all just my opinion. This is an above average level, so give it a try. Edit: Nobody should give a map a 0 just because you can not play it properly... If your going to rate a map please be sure that you can truley play a full match... besides this is not like those first maps you see with one cube, one weapon, and one light. Sicko Teddy 01-23-2005 01:07 PM MST Rating: 9   Fuzzy Logic- If you have your PROTECTION FAULT error happening, it might mean you don't have SE pack or you got some WIERD MUTATOR OR MOD installed that makes a mess. Realy unreasonable to put suc a score just about SUPER WEAPON dislike. WIERDO! The mapper tried hard making an atmospheare, the general look of the map. "monotonous"!! YOUR lifestyle is monotonous! it is an OUTSIDE map with terrain, in the cloudy day! you want a RAINBOW-land or what!?!? It is a nice map! PEACE! JuggaloKyle 01-24-2005 02:09 AM MST Rating: 7.5   this map is very good for an outdoor area map. to me, the feel of the rainy forest theme was abit overdone, but this one stands out. i mean it ranges from custom weapon bases to the custom music. its all very good. and now this one is optimized and plays about 30+ fps (well on my machine) and it is awesome. deffinenely a good job on this one StormBlade :) edit: just realized i said only at 30 fps +, i ment i have a 30 fps boost from what i had in the release before. DWS|Caboose 01-25-2005 01:28 AM MST Rating: 7   This map is teh shiznorz. Kantham 01-25-2005 12:54 PM MST   ho yea , i remember this map , it was LOw as fps , i just hop it is better for now ... ]mos_hazard[ 01-29-2005 06:40 PM MST Rating: 7   nice theme, good gameplay, ok textures. The great outdoors... yeah I also run mine on 1280X800 with max graphics, and didn't see anything wrong in terms of bugs. a 0 is dealt too harshly, especially if it could be just a game engine bug or more likely, a problem on the side of the player. if you're level is screwed up and no one else is compaining, then its your problem and not the level's. cUnNiNg_StUnTs 01-29-2005 10:54 PM MST Rating: 5.5   weapon placement? Draco 02-05-2005 02:56 PM MST Rating: 7   Good map. Should be a little larger. MR-Jinxs 02-15-2005 01:11 PM MST Rating: 0.5   Boring boxy and Awful misic choose.