DM-Anukhet
Map Info
	File Name dm-anukhet.zip Author Alexandre Gametype UT2k4 Deathmatch Date Added 09-03-2005 File Version 1.00 File Size 12.9 mb Player Count 2 - 4 Map Description None Review Rating 6 User Rating 7.5 Overall Rating 7.0
Review
Reviewer ArcadiaVincennes Awe Score:  1.5/3 Date 11-01-2005 Build Score:  2.5/3 Review Schema Cast Score:  2.0/3 User Point:  +1 Overall Score:  7.0/10 DM-Anukhet (UT2004) Anyone up for Some Egyptian action? Now that I’ve said that, if you’re still here, then you might want to stick around for the rest of the review too. Although the theme is far from fresh, and may turn off some people, the map has some good gameplay nestled within its sandy bottom and stone walls. Awe: 1.5 We’ve all seen the Egyptian theme before. Overexposed in UT2003 custom maps, there has been enough of a break that some people are now willing to both map with the Egyptian theme – and others willing to play it. The lighting here is a bit on the bright side overall. Despite the ‘sunset’-like skybox, the arena is a little overlit with unsourced lighting and a corridor or two that are overbright. There’s a little bit of greeneing but you have to look hard to spot it. The torches dotted around the map don’t really look like they’re casting light. They’re washed out fue to the overall exterior light, and inside, the effect just isn’t convincing. There is a little shadow work, but much of the lighting in general better suits a daytime theme rather than dusk. The texture work is basic, but good. A little more creativity in choice and placement I think would have been nice. As it is, aside from ‘focal points’ like the hieroglyphic panels, the primary wall textures all seem to be the same no matter where you go. The alignment is pretty good overall, however. The architecture here is pretty nice overall. Nothing really ‘screams’ Egyptian, but it is all composed rather nicely of subtle angles. In general, it feels a little boxy/squared off, but a closer look reveals that much of the architecture is accentuated by slight angles. In general, not a bad execution of the Egyptian theme. The lighting could use a fair amount of work, and more texture variation would be appreciated, but the architectural accents help raise the score back up even if more massive forms are missing. Unfortunately, it very much feels like a ‘bucket map’ where all the walls are high and you’re playing in a depression in the earth. By far, not the worst execution of the Egyptian theme I’ve seen, but not the best either. Build 2.5 Despite the angularity the author has aligned the BSP well and I couldn’t find any HOMs. The static meshes are integrated well into the BSP, they’re used sparingly, and trim off the edges nicely. The terrain work was fairly good with my only complaint being that four terrain layers were used but it really only looks like two. A little more variation please. The movers worked well, but had no sounds attached to them while the jumppads did have sound. Ambient sounds in general were somewhat lackluster. The torches sounded appropriate but I had to get VERY close to them to hear them. There were a few nice triggered sounds but a few more could have been spread around the map. Finally, there was only one obvious general ambient sound and that was of wind at the very top of the map. A little more imagination with soundscaping the map would be nice. Edges and other meshes were blocked off well to keep the flow smooth and pain volumes were appropriately applied to the larger torches. Finally, the map was zoned adequately and FPS was no problem anywhere. In general a pretty good build. The only complaint I have is with the sounds in general, and the missing lift sounds. Cast 2.0 The gameplay here is pretty good – unless you can’t get along with hitscan weapons. The main areas of the map provide clear views straight across large sections of the map so if you have any ‘aimbot’ friends who prefer the LG, then you’re in trouble. There are very few areas in the map where hitscan will no pwn you and even in the narrower, covered corridors in the middle and down below, there’s enough room and distance for hitscan players to keep their advantage despite the tighter corridors. The only location where RLs and Flak will dominate is in the middle center next to the RL. The junction there is spam-tastic as the bots love to congregate there and having the RL so close at hand is just egging them on. The liftjumps, jumppads, and dodgeramps help changing Z quickly easy and fun and add a lot to the flow of the map. No area of the map goes unexplored and, despite the hitscan dominance and RL spam area, the flow is nice throughout the map. The Supershield location is good, accessible from a long gap jump or by lift jump, but the damage amp location is a bit suspect. One always wants a little risk/reward for the more special items, which is why the supershield placement is good. The damage amp is lower, easier to get, and very open. At first, I’d say that there’s no risk to get it, but then because of the hitscan in the map, perhaps the openness is the risk that’s meant to offset the reward of getting it. Personally, I would switch the supershield and damage amp locations but it doesn’t work badly where they are now. And I think the 50 shield could have been placed in a more challenging location as well. If you’re a hitscan whore, this is the map for you. Almost no space for flak-monkies to excel, the players with the best aim will certainly overrun this map. Despite a little wonkiness with the powerup locations, the map plays well and should be an enjoyable run for most people. If you have abandonded your horror of the Egyptian theme, and you like hitscan weapons, this might be the map for you. The flow is pretty good, the theme fairly well executed, and it’s built well. Not one for players that require hard-core gameplay, but for the rest, it’ll do just fine.
Map Comments
cUnNiNg_StUnTs 09-04-2005 09:54 AM MDT Rating: 8   Nice map, good long BETA what more could you want! CursedSoul1 09-04-2005 01:15 PM MDT Rating: 6.5   layout is nice, lighting is decent. You forgot to set the karma collision of you movers, shouldve fixed that. furthermore its about the same as every other egyptian map out there. its not really refreshing. But the atmosphere is about right. but, if you play this map online against a few others it will be quite some intense fun :) @ redfist: DUDE FFS dont give a comment on screenies only, especially since this map is small. so that big, too big comment is... well.. you know the word man. redfist 09-04-2005 11:37 AM MDT   I dunno, the screenies ,seems map is really bigmtoo big. Turns2Ashes 09-04-2005 02:21 PM MDT Rating: 7.5   That's why you should actually *play* a map before commenting on it. The map is anything but big. Nice layout and flow all in a "small but not too small" package. I remember the beta of this map being posted on BuF a long time ago, and I'd thought the author had forgotten about it. Good to see that wasn't the case. :) nELs0n 09-04-2005 06:19 PM MDT Rating: 7   i must admit i'm not a fan of the egyptian theme. it was original when the first custom maps came out for ut2k3 but was getting old and boring fast making me avoid egypt-style maps. this one looked nice and i decided to ignore the egypt fact and downloaded it. the lighting is a bit boring in places (too white, little contrast) and i got stuck in some places on staticmeshes. the layout is kinda quake-ish but that doesn't necessarily mean bad even for someone who prefers ut over quake :) nice job Helper 09-05-2005 02:30 PM MDT Rating: 8.5   tested it and i love the gameplay. Alkazex 11-02-2005 07:31 AM MST   Thx for comments ^^ edit: and thx for review :P G.Lecter 09-16-2005 05:39 PM MDT Rating: 7.5   I like the layout; lifts, liftjumps and jumpads give you a lot of z-movement, and the item placement is well done, too. Maybe that's just me, but I spawned always near the same weapons (RocketLauncher and LightingGun were my starting weapons during most of the match, but I never spawned near Flak, ShockRifle, Linkgun, Bio...). The lifts a bit too small IMO... About the eyecandy, the egyptian theme is a bit unoriginal, but there are a few twists in this one that keep it cool. The bots play preety well, though they can't do tricky dodgejumps to move through the map faster (well, they are just bots...). And I don't like the music. PHa-Q 11-02-2005 08:15 PM MST Rating: 8.5   I really like this map as a 1on1 or at maximum, a 2 on 2. Nice layout and well executed modeling. A few next textures, if I'm not mistaken and a few new statics. The egyptian theme is a bit long on the tooth, but then again, which theme isn't? :) There's not much I can say against this one, except for that you sometimes get caught in the long jump pad, but that seems to be the case with virtually each long jump pad in UT 2004 :/ Personally I don't find it too hit-scan orientated. There are a fair few areas that a pretty open, but you can avoid those. Some nice lift jumps to be done, especially in the area with the large jumppad, you can end up having some fantastic aerial battles off the lift and the jump pad. Great little one on one map this and has been on our server for a while. Really worth your download.