BR-AphelionWharf
Map Info
	File Name br-aphelionwharf.zip Author EpsCylonB Gametype UT2k4 Bombing Run Date Added 11-21-2005 File Version 1.00 File Size 3.9 mb Player Count Unknown Map Description None Review Rating 4 User Rating -- Overall Rating 4
Review
Reviewer Ironblayde Awe Score:  1.5/3 Date 02-23-2006 Build Score:  1.0/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  1.5/3 User Point:  Overall Score:  4/10 AWE: 1.5 Expect to experience a feeling of déjà vu when playing this map for the first time, as this map owes a lot to BR-Skyline. As in that map, this one takes place atop three extremely tall buildings, and it uses a lot of the same meshes and textures. The central recess that houses the bomb spawn point is lifted directly from Skyline, unchanged except that one of the staircases has been positioned improperly. The map isn't totally bereft of originality, though. The buildings have been outfitted quite a bit differently, and for the most part, the author's choices for static meshes and textures work well. Those extremely long pipes holding up the center building look odd indeed, and in many places things seem a bit plain, but for the most part it works. The BSP geometry is solid and well executed, and everything is nicely aligned with no glaring mistakes. The lighting, too, works reasonably well. Aside from a few unsourced lights that seem a little out of place, most of the lighting have corresponding light fixtures that are well placed, if sometimes a little small. The author's color choices are neither too bland nor too garish, and make it easy to tell which side of the map you're on. One part of the map's appearance that bothers me a bit is the bases of the buildings. The author of BR-Skyline used a combination of cloud meshes and white distance fog to obscure the bases of the buildings, thus creating the appearance that the buildings continued into the distance, below the clouds. In BR-AphelionWharf, the author has placed the same clouds the same way, but it doesn't work. White distance fog is out of the question since the backdrop is a night sky, which is fine, but then why use the clouds? They're unlit, so they appear bright white as though it were daytime. The author should have found another way to handle the bases of the buildings –- or just ignored that (since you don't look down there too often anyway) and at least left the clouds out. They look very odd. BUILD: 1.0 The brushwork behind the BSP geometry looks fine, except that the author's zoning didn't work. There's one exit from each goal room that doesn't have a portal, so the whole map is one zone. The odd thing is that there are two ZoneInfo actors, but even if the zoning had worked, they'd both be in the same zone. There aren't any antiportals either, so there's no occlusion at all, and thus a lot of overdraw. Thankfully the map is simple enough that this is usually not an issue, though you may experience slowdown at the far end of either base. Another thing I noted is that there aren't any volumes to indicate location names, so everyone on your team will constantly be reported as being "Near Red Goal." Though again, the simplicity and openness of the map means this isn't as much of an issue as it might be in a more closed environment. The bots' performance, so important in Bombing Run since there aren't that many servers running it out there, is sadly very poor. At a glance, the path network looks like it ought to work well enough, but it doesn't. It's a shame more testing wasn't done to uncover and address the problems, because they hurt the map a lot. The jump paths that show the bots how to leap between buildings and use the various jump pads are all there, but they are problematic. A jump pad on one building will often send you on a trajectory that lands you very near another jump pad that will send you back the same way. That's not a problem for human players who know what to watch out for and will adjust their plans accordingly, but the bots often seem to hit that jump pad on their destination building and end up going right back where they came from, easy prey for enemy Lightning Guns. Also, the map's strongest pickups are placed on platforms below the main action, and when you go down to get them, the only way to get back into the fray is to use your translocator. That's fine, but the bots end up hitting the underside of the building when they fire their translocators, and so they get stuck down on these platforms where they're no use to anyone. Nor is that all. Observe bot matches long enough and you'll see bots running in circles with the ball, or bots standing in place repeatedly firing their translocators, unsure of where to go. There are AssaultPath actors intended to get the bots to use the different entrances to the goal room, but they don't work because the author forgot to link them to the goals. There aren't any defense points set up, nor are there any ShootSpots, so a bot will get either seven points or nothing when attempting to score. The end result of all this is that even on Godlike difficulty, defeating a team of bots is trivial. It's a real shame. One last thing: the map is totally silent. There are no sound effects anywhere, and no music. It seems like a silly oversight. CAST: 1.5 The familiar three-building, low-gravity setup is a little different here than in BR-Skyline, but I don't think the changes are for the better. The central building is much the same, with its three-tiered structure and numerous jump pads. The main difference is that it's considerably more open than its Skyline counterpart, so lots of it is exposed to hitscan fire from the base. Plus you can see right through it, from one base to the other, so snipers should usually have plenty of targets to shoot at. In addition, one of the jump pads on a base building will let you bypass the central building entirely, carrying you right over to it and onto the opposing team's roof. Each team's base has a goal room just below the roof with three exits. The exit furthest from the center of the map leads up a ramp and out to an area that holds most of the team's spawn points; this is easily the longest route to the enemy goal. The other two ways into the goal room are through windows on either side. Your path as you come into the goal room through a window is perpendicular to the line that passes through the center of the goal, so you'll need to circle around a bit before you can score, but this still makes for a much faster attack. In fact, once you've landed one of these window ledges, you're close enough to the goal that a careful double-jump will get you in for seven points. And if you're taking too much damage, you can throw the ball in midair for an easy three. The problem with the windows is that they're not equidistant from the center, as are the two lower access points in Skyline. Thus there's virtually no incentive to go to the far window, or to use the long approach down the ramp either; you almost have to pass the near window to take either of those routes anyway, so you'll find yourself just using the same entry point every time, especially since getting to that window ledge means you've as good as scored, unless there's a defender inside who's very quick and very precise. Play tends to be very linear for this reason, just a constant back-and-forth along the same route. Weapon placement is also very similar to what's in Skyline. You get a Shock Rifle, Link Gun, Minigun, Bio-Rifle, and Flak Cannon at the base, and there are Lightning Guns, rockets, and grenades (!) in the center. One surprise is that ammo is in very short supply. Actually, there are no ammo pickups for the Shock Rifle, Lightning Gun, Bio-Rifle, or Grenade Launcher. So if you're going to snipe, you'll have to throw your weapon away and pick up a new one to reload; make sure to watch your ammo so you don't fire that last shot. Health and adrenaline can be found here and there; their supply seems fine to me. Finally, there's a Big Keg in the center, and a Double Damage at each base, placed on platforms you'll have to use your translocator to access. I don't feel that I can score this section too highly. Aside from the linearity of it all, it seems like most of what's right about the gameplay doesn't come from this map at all, but from BR-Skyline. The author hasn't improved on it in any way; indeed, he's detracted from it. FINAL SCORE: 4.0 Bottom line: BR-Skyline looks better, runs better, and plays better than this map. I'm pretty surprised that the author didn't mention it as his inspiration if not his base; BR-AphelionWharf is very derivative. It's not a bad effort for all that, but the terrible bot play means that this map is no fun to play offline, so you can pass this one by unless you're planning to try running it on a server. Personally, I'll stick to Skyline.
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