Theme Design Contest Pack
Map Info
	File Name tdcpack.zip Author Theme Design Contest Gametype UT Other Date Added 04-06-2006 File Version 2.00 File Size 38.22 mb Player Count n/a Map Description Theme Design Contest mappack. The purpose of this challenge was to let mappers develop their own theme around a pre-made BSP layout (included in the download, in case someone wants to check). More info in the README. Maps & authors included: - TDC-18th Unit by Nix - TDC-Amisa (DOM & CTF maps) by Amisa - TDC-Aquilla by Reciprocity - TDC-Castle by Madmerse - TDC-Derdak by Derdak2Rot - TDC-Dnahan by HortonsWho - TDC-Filter by Glider Of Chaos - TDC-Nali Forge by Red_Fist - TDC-Synthetic Kiss by Nahand - TDC-Watery Fowls by SabbathCat More information regarding the challenge, and maps, in the README files included. Enjoy! :) Review Rating 6 User Rating 7 Overall Rating 7.0
Review
Reviewer Mister_Prophet Awe Score:  2.0/3 Date 04-22-2006 Build Score:  2.0/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  2.0/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  7.0/10 The Theme Design Pack was put together by a group of community regulars at Nali City and Unreal Playground. Spearheaded by Nahand, this medium sized pack was aimed at, you guessed it, theme development. Some of you might read this and think, “well what about the gameplay?â€� A few of the members are no strangers to fun gameplay. For example Horton’s Who, who made the kick-ass RavenCross, my personal favorite from the CTC3 pack. But in a pack whose self-proclaimed aim was at theme design, do these mappers really focus on both sides of the mapping spectrum? Let’s take a journey together, shall we? DM-18thunit Truth be told, if you want your map to show up first in a map pack ensemble then you should begin the map name with the letter A or just give it a numerical title. Nix put together a tight little urban map for his TDP contribution. He didn’t include a player load on the map selection screen so I guessed and played the map for the first time with 3 bots. Turns out that my guess load was alright, though you could go lower or slightly higher. The map could even handle a nice one on one game. It’s easy to navigate and the layout keeps you involved in the thick of combat every step of the way, so you’ll have fun. The map holds a limited stock of projectile weapons and pickups; rocket, ripper, shock, and pulse, and two well placed armor power-ups. But the key to surviving this map is to know the health pack locations. A good player can shark his way through every stage of this map, racking up kills along the way, and make the rounds pack to the health packs as they respawn. A map like this where players will walk right into each other in every area will make its health locations precious. There is a spot with some health vials, and it’s a little out of place if you ask me. IMO, the map works better with just the health packs. The pulse gun is located in a sort of dead end, which most players and mappers would say is layout suicide. Usually a dead end is reserved for high end power-ups to add to the risk factor, but you might say “a freaking pulse gun?â€� In all fairness, the dead end isn’t as disconnected as it sounds and it even has a hideaway nearby. I recall getting ambushed going for it, and a quick dodge into the hideaway spot gave me moment of cover so I could counter with projectiles of my own. Since the weapons are important in this map and the fact that the dead end is brief with a quick response location nearby, I actually think it adds to the map’s complexity. If done correctly, dead ends can work. I appreciated the small weapon load and respect mappers who don’t feel compelled to add every freaking gun in a map simply because they can. It’s all about scale boys and girls, and this map works well with these weapons. Downsides to the map are minor. There are some frequent BSP errors in the distance when you look out at the buildings at a certain angle, plus there’s one support in the main area that you can see through. The layout is solid, if a bit unremarkable, but Nix does include some potential snags. You have to go out of your way to get caught, but it can happen. The pillars by the health vial ramp can catch your sleeve if you run along the wall (hey, I check these sort of things) and the short stair-way with the big freaking tank or whatever it is doesn’t have any blocks around the crawlspace, and you can actually hide in there. Otherwise, playability is good and the map is fast and fluid without being overly heart pumping. The theme was implemented in a commendable way, though a bit standard. He includes the expected urban fare; we have graffiti, smoke stacks, generic boxes, and lots of light bulbs. But otherwise the theme in this one is pretty…well…safe. It looks fine though and the architecture is thankfully efficient without being frustrating over-poly like a lot of guys tend to do. Nix keeps it simple and ordinary and it thrives. But having said that, the map doesn’t really try to grab your attention and has moments were it doesn’t seem as polished as it could be. My favorite part of it was the lighting, Nix at least knows the kind of lighting scheme that works best for an urban themed map. It’s all about smart use of dim colors and effective shadows. AWE:2 BUILD:2.5 CAST:2 SCORE: 6.5 out of 9 DM-Aquilla Reciprocity’s map is plagued by problems that dilute its appeal and staying power. Boasting a layout that seems constructed entirely out of the 2d shaper (a mapper’s best friend, along with vertex editing if they are working with BSP), the map falters when it comes to layout, structure, and general application of brushwork. Given that it is evident that Recp knows how to generate decent structural integrity, I cannot fathom how the errors I see in this map were allowed to occur. Take for instance a pile of rubble that blocks a hallway at a dead end right before a doorway. A player can continue walking toward this pile of rubble and walk right through it as if it were a static mesh with no collision setting. At first I thought maybe there was a secret item hidden behind it, but alas…just a dead end. BSP flaws like this exist in other areas. There is a hole in the side of an up-ramp that bleeds into the wall of the larger room adjacent to it. Also, there are a lot of masked sheets blocking windows and ceilings and the collisions on them seem off as well. As far as gameplay is concerned, flow really has issues here. Aside from a questionable item placement scheme, there are areas where architecture and terrain are placed in odd spots. Consider the pillars of a particular ramp area that jut out into the chamber and a player can actually walk behind them in the space between them and the wall because they stick so far into the playing field. Any spot with terrain is rough here because not only is the terrain construction angular and snag ridden, but badly place pillar design make such areas movement traps. That and the lighting is poor with big dark spots…the map has unfortunate problems in just about every area. Plus the theme pretty generic as well. And the list goes on. At the end of it all there could very well be a decent map here, if it wasn’t buried by all the problems that limit any chance of fun factor. My Verdict, it’s unfinished. AWE:1.5 BUILD:1.5 CAST:1 SCORE: 4 out of 9 DM-Castle This map doesn’t exactly have the most original name or theme, but the gameplay is swift. It’s got an extremely Epic feel to it and looks like an extension of Curse or Codex. I’m not sure why this map is in a set called ‘Theme Designâ€� but in any case, the layout is at least solid and this is one of the stronger playing maps in the set. Like I said, it’s similar to Codex or Curse where players run amok in an interconnected series of routes to get the drop on each other. The guns are dispersed according to the style, as are the pickups. Though, the placement could be better. There’s plenty of escape routes and, surprisingly, lots of room for cover. Bots navigate the map as sharply as they did in the oldskool maps and they even go for secrets, something often overlooked by community mappage. There were a few questionable architectural design choices that may cause some movement blockage, but I didn’t get caught despite the fact I felt I should have. Overall the map plays extremely well and has a huge fun factor appeal. As far as the appearance goes, it may have a thick sense of oldskool flavor but it is structurally sound and looks like it could have been shipped with the game. There’s little more I can say about it besides that, it’s generally a perfectly tuned stock map with gameplay above the grade. Any strategy will work here. AWE: 1.5 BUILD 2.5 CAST:2.5 SCORE: 6.5 out of 9 DM-Derdak Skaarj! Derdak nails this theme right in the balls, few maps using the famed Unreal alien set truly make it seem just that: Alien. This manages to feel really inhuman without forcing me to suck on 1000 polys of architectural awe. Even the glass seems made of…well not really glass. As with his CTC map, Derdak uses a few choice Xidia decorations to enhance his map and he uses them well. The green lighting, the hive-like atmosphere, it all works beautifully. This is hands down the most distinct theme in the pack. Derdak’s mastery of his architecture also pays off for the flow charts and fluid movement is what it’s all about. The gameplay is engaging and bots really know their stuff. The weapon count and pickup dispersion we’re sourced well enough. Still, the layout is a bit ordinary considering and the frantic nature just isn’t there like some of other maps. Having said that, it remains above average and the fun factor is well entrenched in the layout that is available. I dunno, I guess I just feel that the map should have been a bit larger. Like Castle, there really isn’t a direct strategy that works the whole way through and basically it’s random combat. The layout does provide plenty of escape routes though what the map lacks is direct ambush spots. Overall, Derdak continues to be a strong mapper and each endeavor promises quality. I just wish he was a bit more original when naming his maps. AWE:2.5 BUILD:2.5 CAST:2 SCORE: 7 out of 9 DM-Dnahan Horton Who’s contribution presented a theme that both interested me and left me desiring more. Like his urban monster RavenCross for the CTC3, his maps utilize godlike lighting schemes that make simple hallways seem as if they are covered in baked textures. The layout is really wide open and for the most part much of the map just seems really empty to me. The weapon choices and item use is fine, but the open spots seem a bit too bland as far as movement is concerned. I found myself freshly spawned near a big open chamber below a stairwell and some well stocked bot with a big gun was pelting me as I jumped around like a freak looking for cover. I said earlier that the theme was interesting, and I found it so because the theme seemed as if it was “over thereâ€�. In the distance there is some sort of monastery or church blocked by a big fence and the rest of the map is set in these bricked passages with big steps and high architecture. I felt like I was walking inside a series of passageways and staircases leading to the real locations. The entire combat field takes place in this environment. It’s not a grand castle, it’s the hallways built around the inner wall. It’s hard to explain, you’ll see when you play it. It’s not a bad thing, I just felt like the map lacked a sense of identity or a signature. Maybe that was the point? In any case, it’s not an ugly map by a longshot. Aside from a kick-ass lighting scheme and a tight texture set, the place just seems untouched by any cultural presence. Horton utilizes great lift-jumping strategies here and people who can navigate this map quickly will rule the day. My biggest gripe about the gameplay is that items are way too spread out for my tastes. Spawning and having to run around for a while to get a gun can be really aggravating when other players have rocket launchers. I got way more enforcer kills than I should have. As I said, the map lacks serious cover and you’ll be jumping and dodging most of the time. It’s a map built for people who know how to dance as well as shoot. Keep an eye out for that Armor. Playability is fine here and there is plenty of fun to go around. An above average map from the guy who made RavenCross. AWE:2 BUILD:2.5 CAST:2 SCORE: 6.5 out of 9 DM-Filter Rock out in a sterile technical facility that appears to be focusing on some kind of water power research. Lots of panels and flowing water ports decorate this tight-knit combat zone consisting of balconies and ramps. Clean texture sets are used to portray this environment but the architecture accommodates them with standard issue design choices. Nothing remarkable in the looks department but hardly fugly. The gameplay is sharp and bots really move around in here. The weapon choices are pretty mixed up and they work. The locations are questionable at spots, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the choice of storage for the Sniper rifle. It’s inside this crate with an open side blocking the way in slightly. Since it’s in the corner of a big combat area, a player has to sneak in the small side gap leading into it, grab it, and pray that there isn’t a player on the outside waiting with a loaded payload of RL grenades, a flak shell, or another huge splash making attack. The weapon isn’t really that relevant to this particular layout, so I’m not sure on why the author felt the huge risk factor was necessary. I found the minigun extremely useful here, thanx to the moments of long progression between certain chambers. Also, like Nix’s map, the location of health packs really help you out considering the crossfires this map is prone to. The map doesn’t exactly move very fast and most of the fighting tends to occur in one major area. For some reason bots tend to congregate there and you can rack up plenty of multi-kills with little effort. The use of lifts are…bleh, not really helpful to the game speed IMO. The theme is one of the weaker ones of the pack but overall it’s a decent map with fun gameplay despite some questionable placement and flow planning decisions. Playability is sexular. AWE:1.5 BUILD:2.5 CAST:1.5 SCORE: 5.5 out of 9 DM-NaliForge One thing you have to admire about mappers like Red Fist, they make the most out of their mapping abilities. I played seven games straight of Nali Forge before it dawned on me how freakishly simple the building design was. It’s set in some sort of enclosed environment that could exist at any time, anywhere, during any moment of history. Yet the game info suggest that it is a sort of ancient site used by Nali to…well nail monsters to the ceiling I guess. The place reminds me of those oldskool shooter DMs with color coded areas and sinister hazard spots. The lower level of the map is mapped by a network of shallow cut water canals that make movement very noticeable to nearby players. The annoying thing about this is that the moment you walk out of the water canals into dry land, there’s a slight delay in step. It doesn’t inhibit your movement and smart players will avoid alerting enemy players anyway. What’s the real kicker about this lower area are the water pits at certain dead-ends where power-ups are held. The brief dive and nab can cost you but luckily I managed to grab these power-ups with little interruption. Bots aren’t as sly as a good player when it comes to water movement. The main gameplay element goes to the design nature of the many ramps and catwalks that make up the level’s upper areas. Instead of normal flat floors, Fist made them up of rows of wooden beams that allow for well placed shots between them. This makes the ambush factor extremely high and it gets you on edge to know that you could be running around with full armor and health with a RL only to get pegged in the crotch by an unseen sniper trailing you from below. The map has a crap load of items laying around, including nail healing plants from Unreal. There’s also a chainsaw laying around and obscene amounts of ammo laying near certain weapons. The upside to this is that it makes people run around the place on all levels, bots especially. The downside is that strategy is erratic and after a few games you’ll be repeating the same steps based on what works best for you. My major gripe with this map, and Red Fist should know better based on his well renowned hatred of static meshes, are the use of decorations. I’m not referring to the things like shiny caps on the beams, those were actually interesting. I am referring directly to big Nali statues and rows of pottery lined up against the walls of combat areas. What!? Why? This is a pattern repeated by many mappers who tend to rely on basic design. It’s as if adding a crap-load of plants will make up for a flat wall. It’s better off just leaving them out. Projectiles with splash blow up instantly when they touch them and the lame collision system of Unreal and UT pales in comparison to the newer engine. I already said that the theme was pretty much non-existent, but the gameplay is generally good and contains plenty of fun moments so most people won’t care. The texture choices are hack in some spots (why the hell are SG Tech bird deco panel textures used for walls along with Nali Brick?) but the lighting hides a lot of the problems. Runs smooth playability wise. AWE:1.5 BUILD:2.5 CAST:2 SCORE: 6 out of 9 DM-Synthetic Kiss Nahand’s map is interesting to say the least. It’s no surprise to me that the founder of a Theme Design Pack would wager the most amount of balls and take on a totally go-for-broke environment. And what a pair of balls they are. Brass. Usually, when a mapper risks a totally batshit theme, they easily fall prey to gimmick map syndrome. But that didn’t happen here, Nahand retains a functional layout. In all honesty, this sort of theme would be normal for say, UT2004 (What’s that one stock map entirely made of gray static meshes floating in a void?). Nahand, however, carries the theme well. There really isn’t a way to describe the location accurately, but I’ll give it a shot. Remember in X-men the movie when Magneto is walking over open air using those metal fragments that rise up and form structure under his feet? This map is kinda like that. Patches of architecture compiled together to form a combat environment. The design of these structures is pretty contemporary and don’t really have a distinct style. It’s kind of art-house architecture actually. But mostly it’s all in fragments that seem drawn together, with glowy energy catwalks and walkways set in place around the map to make up for other architecture. The energy idea is interesting because it directly affects gameplay, where players can see other players moving around above them and plan an ambush or retreat strategy. The weapon choices are a bit indirect and I tended to rely mostly on the Pulsegun. The open nature of the level includes some intense combat and you’ll deal with attack constantly. The furious nature keeps every player scrambling for the guns and the power-ups. I can recall how, on every game, at least eight times where a bot (or myself) was shot down running desperately for armor or a gun. My complaints are minor. Nahand informs us that we can play with 2 to 6 people. What he doesn’t tell us is that he doesn’t put enough playerstarts to deal with 6 people, or even 4 for that matter…which was how many I loaded my first time throough. What this means is that the start of the map leaves somebody spawn-fragged. Also, I really really would have liked a skybox instead of pitch darkness outside of the playing field. Since I wasn’t sure if I was staring into a dark corner, I moved forward slightly only to fall to my death. A cool skybox would have been nice since it would be easier to see where the map limits are. The map doesn’t play as good as some of the others but it seems Nahand was one of the few mappers in this pack who actually tried to make a real unique “themeâ€� map. Despite rumors of playability problems, this one ran smooth for me. AWE:2 BUILD:2.5 CAST:1.5 SCORE: 6 out of 9 DM-Watery Fowls Possibly the best structured DM in the entire pack, Sabbath Cat’s Watery Fowls is a nicely put together open-tech map that makes refreshing use of the SG_Tech set. Usually when I see this set used it’s the standard tech shit with crates and predictable factory paraphernalia. Cat avoids all that nonsense and just sticks to the actual facility instead of the crap thrown in. We have interesting walls and high-rising support structures. My only gripe is that he didn’t make use of hardcore shadow detail like Horton and the skybox is pretty crappy. There’s a nice texture by a slanted wall that dares players to go wall dodging. It’s little features like that which make me warm inside, when mappers think outside the standard routine. The ASMD and Rocket Launcher own this map. The Ripper is also highly effective in knocking players off the many edges on the outer section. But the real strategy is with the Shock and RL. The map is ripe with windows and open portals that peer into other sections, which is a perfect invitation for combo attacks and rocket spamming. The layout supports a nice cat-and-mouse 1on1 scheme but more up the frantic factor. The shield-belt is the map’s major power-up and is well placed. Of all the maps in TDP, this one has my favorite layout and IMO, it carries the best balance between theme and combat. Playability is great too. The map is so solid that there’s not much else I can say about it. I’d love to see a version with a better skybox and lighting scheme. AWE:2 BUILD:2.5 CAST:3 SCORE: 7.5 out of 9 CTF-Amisa A small CTF map set in some sort of facility during a rainstorm. The highlights of this theme is the ceilings in each flag room, where lights waver in the wind and raindrops fall into the flooded chamber below. Everything else is pretty generic. The theme even reverts back into itself using a combination of ancient temple textures for walls and jump-pads and tech brick stuff. So really, theme integrity isn’t here. Instead we have a tight CTF romp that can hold a small group of players that can tug it out in a standard symmetrical environment. There isn’t a whole lot of strategy here and flag runs are generally quick given the size of the map. You’ll get spawn fragged because there aren’t enough spawnpoints. Awesome. Up side is that the playability is great and the map flows well. Gameplay, like the theme, is pretty ordinary and doesn’t break any grounds. Still, fun map. AWE:1.5 BUILD:2 CAST:1.5 Score: 5 out of 9 DOM-Amisa The spawn killing problem from the CTF is also present here and the similarities with the unspecific theme exist as well. However, the gameplay here, even though it’s simple, is pretty brutal and fast paced. I played nine games straight. Basically you have three points, each on a different floor and accessible easily by movement between each sector. This means that points get taken and lost rapidly and go through color waves every five seconds. It’s all about which team can mobilize faster and keep each floor covered that many seconds longer. Monster kills can occur often here, true ant hive combat mentality is in effect (legions going against each other and dropping easily only to be replaced instantly). Weapon placement is a joke since you’ll most likely be grabbing whatever gun falls near you upon someone’s demise, and you’ll use each weapon often. The bio rifle is especially useful in this map since each control point gets so much traffic and a well placed glob of green exploding shit can hold the spot as well as than any team member. Plus the environment is so close-knit (without being tight) that it is hard for players to traverse bio globlets given all the fury. I also found myself using the minigun a lot too, more so than the expected flak and RL. The way to win is to grab a point, spend a moment to kill any on-comers, and then move to the next. Make your sweeps quickly and never stay on one floor or near one point too long. Not a pretty map, but the gameplay is killer. Playability is solid too. AWE:1.5 BUILD:2 CAST:3 SCORE: 6.5 out of 9 The Prophet’s Verdict: Overall the pack is a good attempt with two or three real nice maps. Some just aren’t up to snuff in the long run and when it comes to theme design, which should have been the map’s focus, only about 3 maps truly win innovative design mentions here. The best theme is clearly Derdak2rot’s Skaarj map for obvious reasons. As far as gameplay goes, the Domination map and Watery Fowls satisfied me the most, with Castle trailing close behind for oldskool mastery. The best overall rating went to Watery Fowls for hitting the mark in all categories better than the others, followed closely by Derdak2rot’s map. Sadly, some maps just didn’t deliver and a few of the fun maps lacked serious theme development. I’d like very much to see another theme map pack, only this time they should call it “Theme and Gameplay Design Packâ€�. Overall Grade Average is: 6 out of 9
Map Comments
Derdak2rot 04-22-2006 09:44 AM MDT   All the maps have a strong theme and each are different , its also funny to see that each maps were made with the original layout in mind , but they looks differently implemented in many ways . good job guys :) edit : Hey nice review Proph ;) Corey(:K256:) 05-07-2006 05:09 AM MDT Rating: 7   looks nice. Good I didn't enter... I wouldnt have made a change XD. Anyway I'll think I'll download it and comment it. =) EDIT: overall a nice map pack. It was nice to see what everone made of it. GenMoKai 04-04-2006 01:28 PM MDT   looks interesting Vatcilli zeitchef 04-23-2006 03:13 PM MDT Rating: 7   Looks Very good :) Downloading Tried some of the maps and enjoyed most of them. They all have some good atmosphere but still some really don't make it. The item placement stands in my records as "could have been much better" But most of the other stuff make up for it. my rating is the overall rating for the pack, Some maps I would have given an 8.5 or even 9 if released alone but others are more like a 6. Derdar2rot's skill was nothing new to me and he still keeps amazing me, His map is the one I enjoyed the most of the pack ;) All in all these maps are very worth the time it took me to download them :) Keep it up -ThumbUp- Larkin 04-06-2006 03:11 PM MDT Rating: 6.5   My Opinion of each: TDC-18th Unit by Nix (not a huge fan of Nix's maps but I like these one alot. TDC-Amisa (DOM & CTF maps) by Amisa (not that may details in these maps.) TDC-Aquilla by Reciprocity (nice, although the skybox is bad) TDC-Castle by Madmerse (this is nice, but lighting is oldschool.) TDC-Derdak by Derdak2Rot (one of the best in the pack.) TDC-Dnahan by HortonsWho (the best hortonswho's map I've played.) TDC-Filter by Glider Of Chaos (bad, but has potential.) TDC-Nali Forge by Red_Fist (to basic) TDC-Synthetic Kiss by Nahand (sorry, Nahand but I feel this is the worst in the pack.) TDC-Watery Fowls by SabbathCat (skybox is weird, but other then that it NICE.) cooloola 04-06-2006 04:24 PM MDT   the best ones in theme are prbably Derdak and Synthetic Kiss (i just love how the archi is consistent throughout the map) kaiser 04-06-2006 04:41 PM MDT   Since v2 is about 8 mb smaller, glad I waited 3 days. Am downloading now. Only 13 hours left to go. Manticore 04-07-2006 07:38 PM MDT Rating: 8.5   Great work all around. All the themes bring the geometry to life in different ways and result in some good gameplay as well as stunning visuals. The DOM map has great gameplay thanks to the thoughtful positioning of the CP's. All in all; worth downloading. Arch-E-Tech 04-08-2006 01:46 AM MDT Rating: 7   This is very cool guys, there should be another one, cause i wanna sign up :P. All maps are good and that is mainly because the layout was decent (good work nahand). My fav is Watery Fowls, but all are good. EvilSwanky 04-08-2006 01:47 PM MDT Rating: 6.5   I found two maps really good: Castle an Dnahan. They really show a cool theme, pulled of quite well and with no big time faults (okay that big bland wall at the flaks position in hortons map should be fixed). They both make use of the castle theme, but with different tex packs. Nice work. After that, I place niX' and Derdak's maps. Both have a definite style, but are lacking in one or two things. In Derdak's map it's the coronas which are waaaaay off. Way too big. They hurt gameplay and graphics. The music could have been a bit more upbeat in a map like this. niX' map lacks music. Bad. It also contains one or two dead ends (the Pulse Gun...) and a few underlit problems, but nothing that couldn't be changed in few minutes / hours. I think Reciprocities map should be mentioned as the one with the craziest theme IMHO. It looks like a confused / comic castle with those round and long windows. Cool one. But I found it not so well because I don't like the playability of this map. I suppose it's a personal matter with that one (as it is with all other maps as well). Synthetic Kiss is a map that wonders me. It hasn't too much detail in it, but hell, it's one of those maps that run like a LJP map - not at all. I wonder why? The optimization is bad, or even worse to describe. Next time, dude, I want to see some optimisation, even if it's hard to do. Sabby's map is looking nice, like the architecture. If it wasn't like that blue/red/black colorscheme... I'll just wait until your next map (which will most prolly be another w00t map heheh) as I really like your architecture style. The other maps were about average for me, + / - a few nice ideas or faults I give it a 6.5. Rakiayn 04-09-2006 06:19 AM MDT Rating: 7   Reciprocity, horthonswhop and nix maps where my favorite hmm I forgot to check out the dom, is there any ctf btw? ill get back on those later Nahand 04-10-2006 08:53 AM MDT   ... considering some claims that my map is 'slow', i have to say i don't have a clue. I'm that guy who's always saying that certain maps should be less poly in view because it slows down; the guy that points to some SP packs and argues about some performance issues... yet, my map had maybe 1 place where 300polys are in view, else is usually between 110 polys or less, so, i don't have a bloody clue. Specs: Pentium IV 1.700Mhz 512Mb RAM GeForce 4 256Mb AGP 8x WinXP Home ... dunno, but i don't find my map 'slow' as i'd point any of the maps by known UT mappers of now... STORM [PE 04-26-2006 03:18 AM MDT Rating: 7.5   Well... first of all I'd like to address the lagginess of nahands map... I'm running UT on a p3... I had no lag and my video card is onboard. Second, I thought this map pack wasn't the best. There were only 5 maps out of the pack that I even enjoyed playing. However, those maps were so good that I gave the pack a 7.5. WateryFowls is probly my fav out of the pack as it looks amazing and plays great too. Second favorite would probly be Derdak's map, I just love the skaarj theme... You don't see that theme executed well very often, and is a pity. T_T The other 3 maps I really enjoyed were TDC-Castle, TDC-SyntheticKiss and TDC-18thUnit. I found Reciprocity's map to be completely a pain to play and didn't enjoy it at all, I actually didn't even finish the match (to 10 frags). Redfist's map was very ugly and no fun to play. Horton's map looked nice but just didn't have the gameplay to match. TDC-Filter was executed ok but the archi was pretty basic. I guess the pack was just kind of a let down. Aside from the maps I mentioned first. Definately worth a download for the first few.. and even to look at Hort's map... pretty lighting... @ Refist: Don't take this the wrong way Redfist, but your map just isn't very appealing visually. The beamed floor was a neat touch, I'll give you that, but the archi was so basic... The texture choice was poor IMO and the huge HOM's with the water in places were very ugly... I think you can do better. The knowledge is there, you just need to take your time and polish your work. Keep trying, you'll just keep improving your skill. ^_^ redfist 04-22-2006 08:11 PM MDT   STORM"Redfist's map was very ugly and no fun to play." why? IronBlayde. Thanx for looking at them all.I am fully aware of the snaggy water area,am going to do a server version, no water and take out some other things rather than fix it. One thing ,if you play the sample map, then play my map my level it appears much bigger.However ! the UT size units is exactly the same.Only 5 add brushes would make it the exact replica of the sample, the two added bottom areas. As for the lighting, too me it's really cool, I don't understand ANY of lighting troubles.If someone can be very specific on that I don't see the prob at all. I did screw up, the stupid polys for the map is 818, well you see 1/2 of the maps polys from areas looking at the center because I wish I would have looked at the live fps and I would have fixxed it Grrrr. I took out the water and other things deco and now my FPS is slappin good a total of 500 polys Ver2."SE" heh..... .............................................. HEY, a 10 for all the excelent reviews.! Revelation 04-16-2006 06:38 AM MDT Rating: 5   I wonder, why mappacks always get much higher ratings then every single map in them would propably get... To be honest, I was disappointed about this one. Gameplay is about average in each map, not bad, but not brillint, too. But the visuals: There are exactly two (!) out of these eleven maps, I would just have downloaded, if they where released alone, those are Derdak (which looks very sweet) and WateryFowls (which looks nice, but not brilliant). The entire rest is somewhere between average and really ugly, just take SyntheticKiss, WTF is that?!? All in all, there are far too many bad maps to say the pack was good, only because there are two good ones included. I think, a 5 is fair here... Ironblayde 04-16-2006 05:22 PM MDT Rating: 5   I finally got around to playing all of these, and I'm afraid I have to agree with Revelation. I was pretty disappointed by the pack as a whole. I was especially surprised by how few of these maps are fun to play. - TDC-18thUnit by Nix: The theme is decently executed, but I didn't like playing it at all. Dead ends, poor item placement, and that really slow lift bothered me. - TDC-Amisa (CTF) by Amisa: Should be made into a tutorial on how NOT to use the LightBox deco mesh. Ugh. Jump pads were pretty annoying, too. - TDC-Amisa (DOM) by Amisa: A little better, though still not great. A collision hull on the floor near the top control point would have been nice to keep players from falling through it, and that invisible kicker was a bad idea. - TDC-Aquilla by Reciprocity: I thought the lighting in this map was terrible, with ugly black patches everywhere, and the skybox was ugly too. A promising theme, but not executed very well. Plus there's some dodgy collision and too much stuff to get stuck on. - TDC-Castle by Madmerse: Pretty nice looking, I think. I like the Nali Castle theme. But the item placement is terrible, as if the author tried to put everything in the most inconvenient places he could find. - TDC-Derdak by Derdak2Rot: Aside from the ludicrously oversized coronas, I liked this one a lot. Nice visuals and fun to play. My second favorite in the pack. - TDC-Dnahan by HortonsWho: There's definitely some really solid architecture here, but after seeing the pre-release screenshots I was expecting something really amazing, and felt a little let down. It's certainly above average, but I got bored with it quickly. - TDC-Filter by Glider Of Chaos: Not bad, but it's a bit plain, and the decorative elements struck me as a little haphazardly placed, as if they're sort of "floating" there instead of really seeming to belong. - TDC-NaliForge by Red_Fist: I kind of like the look of the beamed flooring with the gold connectors, but that's about all I liked. Boring architecture, pretty weak lighting, too many pickups. Those channels cut into the bottom floor are horribly obnoxious, and really ruined the gameplay for me. - TDC-SyntheticKiss by Nahand: Definitely the strangest offering here, Nahand's map earns points for originality no matter what you might think of it otherwise. I still can't decide how I feel about it. It's interesting to say the least. I'm glad Mister_Prophet will be writing the review so I don't have to. :) - TDC-WateryFowls by SabbathCat: Easily the best of the pack in my opinion, and one of the only maps that I really had fun with. Very solid work all around, though again I would have preferred having the coronas scaled down a bit. madmerse 04-23-2006 01:20 PM MDT Rating: 7   I'm rather disappointed that my map got such a low rating, but I have to agree with Mr Prophet: the map doesn't have much personality and I'm not sure if it fits with the whole idea of 'Theme Design'. TBH though it's my first finished map, and I felt that for my first real attempt at mapping it would be better to try something simple and do it well than go off the deep end and screw it up. The other maps were quite good though, so I'll give the pack a 7. :) -edit- Ironblayde just pointed out to me the review's format and I suddenly realized that I read aquila's score as the score for my map. XD Still, I think I could have done better. Hortons Who 04-23-2006 11:35 AM MDT   Thanks for the review Proph! And the comments. About the blandness: I ran out of time... but I got it done on deadline. However, the deadline then got extended and extended. Had I gone long like some of the others I would have done more. I was also trying to keep the poly's low by request. But I agree, it's a bit boring. :p It's a fun idea, having to create a them from the same base map. I'd do another. Nytehawk 04-23-2006 12:24 PM MDT Rating: 7   Another worthy download. Thanks to all involved. :) I think that Filter was the weakest. It just didn't seem to feel very much like a water treatment facility at all. Especially when compared to DM-Filter (a map with the same theme), which, in my opinion, is one of the most successfully themed maps I've played. You can find it here: http://insite.beyondunreal.com/map.php?id=489 Anyway, keep the maps coming, people. :)