CTF-Susurrous
Map Info
	File Name ctf-susurrous.zip Author Ironblayde Gametype UT Capture the Flag Date Added 07-05-2004 File Version 1.00 File Size 8.49 mb Player Count 12-20 Map Description Though not my first release, this is actually my first map. I started it several months ago, but towards the end, I ran into a block and wasn't sure how to finish it. Thus it sat collecting dust until I finally decided to add the last few details and release it. This is a very large CTF map, good for 16 players, give or take a few. Its overall layout is somewhat similar to that of CTF-Noxion16, but considerably larger. It may take some time to learn the layout. You're definitely going to want your translocator handy; aside from letting you traverse the map quickly, it will get you to some pickups that would be difficult or impossible to reach otherwise. There are some BSP issues I couldn't resolve, partly due to my inexperience when I constructed the vast majority of the geometry, and partly due to the simple fact that it's a very complex map -- more than 4,000 brushes. Also, the poly count gets into the 400-500 range in a couple of places, so older hardware is going to complain a bit. All in all, I think it's decent for what it is -- a first effort -- but it's nothing too special, so don't get your hopes up too high. :) Review Rating 6.5 User Rating 8 Overall Rating 7.5
Review
Reviewer Frieza Awe Score:  2.0/3 Date 09-10-2004 Build Score:  2.5/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  2.0/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  7.5/10 After thoroughly enjoying my vacation, the harsh routine of school, homework and ofcourse reviewing for Nali City is starting yet again. I can only hope that everyone here had an equally nice holiday :) CTF-Susurrous is one big-ass 23 megabyte giant of a map made by none other than the guy that writes the most incredibly long reviews. Don't know who I'm talking about? Well, IronBlayde ofcourse! Susurrous seems to be a sort of facility processing water (?) set in a cold mountainous region. After checking the name on dictionary.com it turns out that Susurrous means 'A soft, whispering or rustling sound'. It's a good match for this map actually because about 80% of the sounds used in this level resemble it. Oh yeah, before I forget to say it, this map is worthy of wasting your harddisk space, though it does have it's share of problems. Let's begin with the architecture (As always ;) ) and work our way down from there. The architecture in this map is pulled off quite well, albeit it's a bit plane here and there. I felt that some of the corridors could really need some detailing, I felt like walking in a beginners map from time to time. A great deal of the smaller corridors in the map only exist out of cubes with the occasional lightsource. However, some trim running along the side or some beams breaking up the plain walls could've really enhanced the map visually. Some of the elevators missed that extra bit of trim aswell. Luckily in the other rooms and also outside we get to see some nicer stuff so all in all it's still well above average. Technically it isn't all that great. There are a bunch of very noticeable BSP bugs (Mainly in the outside area when standing in the sniper tower) and the brushwork is messy sometimes. IronBlayde did apoligize for it in the readme. Lighting in this map is nice. The blue's aren't too saturated which enhances the cold feeling of the place. And the oranges contrast nicely with the blue's aswell. In some places like the small cuby corridors I talked about earlier, the lighting is pretty darn repetitive and could've used more contrast. Sometimes it's rather dark aswell. One big plus though is an elevator to the side of the map that has light that switches on when you step on the elevator, and will switch off a couple of seconds after the the elevator has returned to it's original position. This also enhances gameplay as you can see if an opponent has just used it. The ligthboxes used could've done with a lower scaleglow, they're too yellow for my taste. The lensflares were floating too far from the lamps aswell. (A common mistake) Something I'd just like to mention, when checking this map out in the editor I discovered it uses a whopping 2610 lights! I mean 2610 o_O! Slightly overdone if you ask me :P The textures used in this map are partially taken from UT2K3 which gives a fresh look to the map while also enhancing the filesize ;) There are some misalignments in both floor and wall textures. The texture usage was sligthly repetitive and the textures were mostly grey/blue aswell. This in combination with the sometimes boring lighting wasn't too great, though all in all IronBlayde did a pretty good job. Ok, this map is just HUUUGE, and when I say huge I really do mean HUUUGE! After 15 minutes into the game I was still discovering new places I hadn't been to before. Which immediatly brings me to the first minor point in gameplay. The lay-out of this map is simply confusing. For example, while playtesting the map I stumbled across some obviously visible rocketpacks, but all my time during my 1-hour testing session I never actually found the rocketlauncher. Only after checking whether the map actually had a rocketlauncher at all inside the editor, I found out that it actually was in an easily reachable place. For some reason I just never went past it. That just indicates how incredibly complex the floorplan is. Sometimes it would take me 3 minutes to find my way out of the base, as I was constantly running in circles searching for the exits. Luckily after a while I kindof got to know the lay-out and it was starting to get more enjoyable. I'm not all that happy about the flow of this map. The Z-Axis is rather limited and there are some designchoices made my IronBlayde that I didn't understand. To sum up the things that surpised/annoyed me: 1. There are a couple of rooms with 2 floors, but no way to switch from ground floor to first floor? It obviously enhances the flow to make the lower and upper routes switchable, but IronBlayde didn't do so. 2. There are quite a few spots where you have to jump from one platform to another. Now, this wouldn't be a problem if there wasn't a RAILING blocking you, on which you have to jump first and then over the railing on the next platform. This got me quite frustrated at times, especially when walking backwards under attack of a bot. 3. There also are a couple of spots where the stepheight between to platforms is too high, which results in having to jump aswell. 4. A couple of dead ends. 5. Nasty crates that block you when backtracking. So is there anything positive to say about the flow? Yep, other than these points this map flows pretty darn well. The doors move at a quick speed so they're always open when you need to pass through. Same goes for the elevators. Now what this map really shines in is botplay. They are really awesome. These bots use translocators incredibly well. e.g. to grab the redeemer they need to pull off some very difficult tricks. Let me explain: The redeemer is situated in a sort of gap that is only excessible by translocating (Or jumpboots for that matter) over the front of the main base, then jump into the gap, translocate out of the base again and ultimately from the wall of the base to the main playing area again. Not only they're use of translocators is good, they also don't have any problems with jumping on that darn railing I mentioned earlier. And atop of that they are incredibly good snipers. Sometimes the bots do actually get stuck. When checking one bot out for example, I saw poor Malakai get stuck near an elevator, bobbing back and forth. He must be tired by now. But I suppose the rest just makes up to it. Wow this is getting pretty long already eh? We're not there yet, take a deep breath and then let us plunge into the depths of item placement. Not a lot to say about it really. Sometimes I felt the weapons were too far apart from eachother, but the ammo was sufficient. The goodies were placed in risk/time involving situations. Health was ok yada yada yada. Before we get to the sound department I just wanted to mention that during the play I found this secret corrirdor with some ammo. Inside the corridor there was a big glass sliderthing that could be opened/closed with a button (Situated in a dead end room). I really wonder what the point of it is? First of all you rarely ever visit the corridor, and secondly I see no use of a trap in that position. Yet another one of those weird deisgn choices. Then there's the sound department. This map features lots of sounds but is flawed. To sum those flaws up: 1. There are wind sounds in places where it isn't logical to have them (ie. rooms without windows etc.) 2. The DynamicAmbientSound is copied all over the place (We want variation!) 3. Sometimes you obviously leave one 'soundzone' and enter another. Apart from that the wind sounds are cool in logical places and make the name of the map fit. In the end it could've done with more variation and in some spots it's totally quiet(!). The song used for the level is good old QueenSong from Unreal 1. Concerning the style of the song it fits the level, but it got repetitive and annoying quickly and didn't get my adrenaline pumping. I would've really liked some more upbeat music. (Songsection 1 from QueenSong would've been a much better fit if you ask me.) Conclusion: Holy shit now that's a lot of information. Just remember, I'm critical and mostly only tell about the bad points of a map. But this map is still nice and could've been much better with more attention to flow and a little more detail in the architecture. All in all it's well above average! Dang I'm going to dethrone IronBlayde's position as longest-review-writing person if I keep this up! Awe: 2 Build: 2.5 (Mainly due to botpathing :P ) Cast: 2
Map Comments
quillion 09-11-2004 09:23 AM MDT Rating: 8.5   freakin' lovely map this, it looks so nice and plays well, once you learn your way around that is. two things tho, 1; on your doors that look unlit, well one of them isn't so it looks wierd. 2; and in the glass tubes with lifts they at the top this might be the way you did it tho;D awesome map!! Err Frieza, do you have to swear in a review? Im sure you could of found a more useful word than F***ING. Nice 1 Frieza, thanks. Ironblayde 07-05-2004 09:24 PM MDT   Thanks for the comments. For those glass elevator shafts, if you approach the opening at the bottom, the lift will come down to pick you up, so you can ride it in both directions. Also, I think I know what you mean about the lighting on the doors. It seemed to occur unpredictably, only from time to time, and I never could figure out what was causing that. If anyone has seen something similar and has any advice, I'd appreciate it. :) Hotsauce193 07-05-2004 10:45 PM MDT Rating: 9   Being the huge CTF, DOM, and AS fan that i am, it's definately hard to not look at the new ctf maps and try them out.. I have and i'm very impressed with your work. It's certainly nice to see that people still see life in the original UT too. Manticore 07-06-2004 06:57 AM MDT Rating: 8.5   8.49 megabytes and over 4k brushes of CTF goodness for UT99...... XepptizZ 07-30-2004 05:54 PM MDT Rating: 8.5   This is one of the reasons I keep downloading. Didn't like the doors texture, flipped like that. EDIT TO IRONBLAYDE; I sure know what you mean, I've just found a way to get around it. 1. Set the doors textures to special-lit ( due note the weaponlighteffects will no longer be visible ). 2. Place a central light in front and as well as the back of the doors. These lights should be at equal distance from both movers. 3. Set the lightsettings to your likings, but don't forget to mark 'BspecialLit' to true offcourse. The leftmover now gets the exact same amount of light as the right one. CyMek 07-30-2004 01:01 AM MDT Rating: 8.5   This map has a permanent spot on my hard drove, and it well worth it. It took about 10 minutes to get the hang of this map, but after I did, I could hold my own with the bots and had a thouroughly enjoyable game of CTF, one of the best I have in a while. I liked the texturing, the use of UT2004 textures was a welcome change from the stock 99 textures. The lighting was cool enough to send chills down my spine, and it gave me the distint feeling that I was in the middle of an atomic winter on a dead planet. The bots did really well here, one of them getting an unstoppable on defence, andyet there was still a lot of room for flag running. Definately one of my favorite CTF maps of all time. It now has a permanent spot in my map rotation! cobra6 09-10-2004 03:40 PM MDT Rating: 9   That is a damn good map. Like I said before UT need much more map like that. All has being said above. It is one of my favorite. Great job! Frieza 09-11-2004 02:42 AM MDT   Changed :) John DiFool 09-14-2004 12:48 AM MDT Rating: 7.5   A pretty hellacious map-if you like wandering around and getting lost, this is the map for you (no sarcasm-I myself like such maps!). Only one problem-the bots can survive a fall off the bridges (the bots pretty clearly don't take nearly as much falling damage as a human in UT- dunno why)-just played a match and twice in five minutes a flag-carrier fell down there-needs to have one of those killzone thingies at the bottom... redfist 09-17-2004 02:03 AM MDT Rating: 8   I just had to see the door lighting problem thing,I do believe the reason is,is because you have the textures flipped,if you look at it,the light door is the green line down.If you look at the doors that look equal(accross the bridge),the texture is larger,spreading out the surface. Cause it's not a mover lighting prob,and it isn't a light type or placement prob.Oh and very nice feel to the map,it feels like a place also looked like alot of work to make,to me.triggers,windows etc etc Fordy 09-17-2004 08:53 AM MDT Rating: 5.5   Decent enough map though a somewhat confusing layout. Some of the corridors were too narrow and it might have benefited from a bit more trim. FraGnBraG 09-17-2004 12:56 PM MDT Rating: 7.5   GJ IronBlayde -- well earned 7 imo, pretty decent gameplay and tough bots. scenes are moody and pleasing to the eye, between you and ThunderStrike looks like "giant sized" UT maps are back :) keep em comin' Shao 09-17-2004 11:38 PM MDT Rating: 8   Damn it this map is awesome!! RayZidane 10-31-2004 09:13 PM MST Rating: 8.5   Is Huge It looks awesome It play Smooth >>Red XIII << 11-11-2004 07:06 PM MST Rating: 8   Overall, good job IronBlayde! Though there is the slight problem for me, personally, that it could use a bit more trim, especially in those bland-ish small corridors. But, other than that, nice work! Keep 'em coming. Evil Snack 11-12-2004 11:00 PM MST Rating: 6.5   It wasnt that great for me and it was a little choppy. This score isn't for the lag, thats just my old computer. But I thought the level itself wasn't that great. but it was above average. TexasGtar 12-30-2004 12:54 AM MST   When I tested this map I also found it very confusing. A extremely challenging lay out to say the least. But for me, the excitement of a map is its ability to be new for a long time. With the size and complexity of the layout this map can be fun for a long time. For a first release I thought it was incredible. I really enjoyed this map a lot and believe that every CTF lover will also find that the minor flaws in no way prevent you from really getting a kick out of this map. Download it now and you won't regret it. Put your bots on godlike in single player games and good luck touching the flag before your head rolls down the floor. The bots really know this map and the layout does not seem to confuse them so be on your guard. The bots really make for a hard match and I would be surprised if you were able to get a cap without a lot of heavy artillery in hand. Nice job IB! What can I say but...when is your next one coming out? :) theBAMNman 02-11-2005 02:47 PM MST Rating: 9   Simply amazing. Almost everything in here - music, sounds, textures, lighting, architecture, atmosphere - works together to produce a map with astounding feeling and presence. Yes yes, I do have complaints about gameplay/layout/etc, but frankly this map is beautiful. The atmosphere is especially good, and the central fortresses are the best I've ever seen. I usually don't rate high for not-so-great gameplay, but this is brilliant. GenMoKai 02-12-2005 05:27 AM MST Rating: 8.5   Everything is GOOD in this map only a BIT 2 big i got lost all the time when i got the flag :P Evilmrfrank 01-03-2006 01:46 PM MST Rating: 6.5   I liked this map, reminds me of UT2004 a bit. Cyrss's Female Dog 01-04-2006 01:11 PM MST Rating: 6   I ran around with the flag,wondering... I liked it,as all have said..massive and I needed 15 Bots to play it properly. Some of the corridors were bland but 6/10 of the map was excellent. Waffnuffly 05-10-2006 05:02 PM MDT Rating: 8   Though a bit under-detailed in some places, "outpost" is a fitting part of the title. This place feels lonely and deserted--even creepy, in some of the darker areas. I play with Excessive, which is designed for intense and fast gameplay, but while navigating through the blue base, hunting for their flag, I found myself trying to avoid contact--partially because I was unnerved by the unusually quiet environment. Even with monsterspawn, I didn't run into much until I came across the dark flag room. Once you grab that flag, though, the heat turns up as it should, and escaping the place is a challenge. The choice of music is probably what did the most work on the atmosphere; QueenSong really enhances it. Great job.