Note: This was a review I wrote for application to become a Nali City reviewer - although I've included the total score here (hope I did my math right).
Any comments on the review, my style, or my mother are encouraged and welcome.
---
Name: DM-Suddendeath
http://nalicity.beyondunreal.com/dl.php/nalicity/utdm/dm-suddendeath.zip
Author: Christian Hoegemann (general_motors@web.de)
Nali City Score (1-10): 7.395
Reviewer: John "Freakin'_Bastard" Dailey (freakinbastard@mac.com)
-[ Summary ]-----------------------------
Sudden death. Named appropriately. On the bottom floor of the map you can expect, at any moment, someone rocketing down on you from the high tops of the central pillar, 8-ball locked, loaded and launched.
Damn, I love z-axis.
This symmetrical gem consists of a wide, pillar-like structure in the middle of a large room, connected to the outer walls and floor by a series of ramps in the style of an abbreviated DM-Liandri. Large box structures scattered almost at random in the outlying areas of the room add even more opportunities for dodging and jumping.
What's so cool? Besides solid construction and z-axis opportunities, this map is extremely well pathed for offline play with bots. An unfortunate design decision on the other hand, is the overall slime-colored lighting.
-[ Game Play ]-----------------------------
No question, this map is fun. It's the type of map that you load up and play offline with one or two godlike bots for hours on end. It's one you've added to your list of favorites for practicing fancy-pants moves with the slime gun and flak cannon. It's one that you and your buddies at work have in regular rotation on your UT server.
The unusual part about all this is that it's the author's first map.
The recommended player count of 4-12 will suite most tastes, with 12 being a non-stop frag-fest. I had the most fun with 6 players total (myself, plus 5 godlike bots) giving me just barely enough time to recoup and reload between each bout.
Node and polycounts stay fairly low (N<500,P<200) throughout game play making this map playable on a wide range of computing setups. Only when I increased the number of bots to twelve and beyond did I really begin to feel any sort of lag.
Speaking of bots; we've all talked about the lack of bot support in many recently released maps, but Christian has done a good job of placing pathing points throughout the map. The robots find every single item without any difficulty, and I was surprised to find that they even make it to the top of the large pillar structure (probably from spawning though) and snipe from the defined defense points at times.
One side of the map is more heavily noded than the other though, so you may find that a lot of bot action goes down in one particular spot.
There's no question that flow is superb throughout the level. There are multiple paths to take from every point of the map without fear of getting lost. From nearly every high point you have an opportunity to jump down to multiple levels. And from every low point there is easy access to the higher areas of the map - by ramp, lift or boots.
There are a number of places where flow can get completely interrupted, specifically around the areas where the boxes are placed near the walls and other boxes. Step into one of these traps and you're bound to become rocket or flak fodder.
Another flow problem lies with the lifts employed in the inner workings of the center pillar. They're thin, having just enough depth for your body, but worse is that they will crush you if you get caught hanging off the edge or underneath one. In a case of such small lifts, getting killed by one while in the middle of a battle is simply not cool.
These problem areas however, aren't enough to detract from the overall enjoyment of the map. There's a perfect balance of weapons and ammo. Armor is readily available, and the three special items (heath, damage amp and invisibility) all have some risk associated with getting them. Thankfully, the redeemer has been left out, as its presence would have surely unbalanced the game.
-[ Environment ]-----------------------------
Although the game play of this map is top-notch, I must admit that its theme, architecture, texture, lighting and sound do leave a little to be desired and signify an area of opportunity for the author to explore.
The theming and architecture appear to mostly facilitate the flow of the game rather than the look and feel of it - it is an arena made specifically for battling players and nothing more.
If there is one thing that I would change about this map, it is the lighting. With all green lighting effects used throughout, you spend your game quite literally in a can of pea soup. It does however, almost hide the fact that the map uses a standard texture package.
A custom sound track is included with the archive, and it feels right at home with sudden death, almost heightening your skills while you shock-rifle players off the pillar top to their death.
With an above average score for an author's first map, this is a definite on the list of maps to check out.
-[ To The Author ]-----------------------------
An excellent piece of work, but as you've probably read in my review above, you do have some areas in which you can improve - specifically with theming, texturing and lighting. The basics of architecture you've demonstrated are fairly solid and your understanding of laying out a map for smooth, fun game play appears to be sound. I was impressed by the bot support you added to your map, but enhancing it further so that bots jump up through the map could push it even further. Again, an excellent first map, and I cannot wait to see what comes next. Thank you for sharing your work.
-[ Rating ]-----------------------------
7 (7.395)
Fun 9
Playability 9
Bot Support 8
General Flow 8
Item Placement 8
Thematic Execution 4
Architecture 5
Texturing 5
Lighting 4
Sound 6
Any comments on the review, my style, or my mother are encouraged and welcome.
---
Name: DM-Suddendeath
http://nalicity.beyondunreal.com/dl.php/nalicity/utdm/dm-suddendeath.zip
Author: Christian Hoegemann (general_motors@web.de)
Nali City Score (1-10): 7.395
Reviewer: John "Freakin'_Bastard" Dailey (freakinbastard@mac.com)
-[ Summary ]-----------------------------
Sudden death. Named appropriately. On the bottom floor of the map you can expect, at any moment, someone rocketing down on you from the high tops of the central pillar, 8-ball locked, loaded and launched.
Damn, I love z-axis.
This symmetrical gem consists of a wide, pillar-like structure in the middle of a large room, connected to the outer walls and floor by a series of ramps in the style of an abbreviated DM-Liandri. Large box structures scattered almost at random in the outlying areas of the room add even more opportunities for dodging and jumping.
What's so cool? Besides solid construction and z-axis opportunities, this map is extremely well pathed for offline play with bots. An unfortunate design decision on the other hand, is the overall slime-colored lighting.
-[ Game Play ]-----------------------------
No question, this map is fun. It's the type of map that you load up and play offline with one or two godlike bots for hours on end. It's one you've added to your list of favorites for practicing fancy-pants moves with the slime gun and flak cannon. It's one that you and your buddies at work have in regular rotation on your UT server.
The unusual part about all this is that it's the author's first map.
The recommended player count of 4-12 will suite most tastes, with 12 being a non-stop frag-fest. I had the most fun with 6 players total (myself, plus 5 godlike bots) giving me just barely enough time to recoup and reload between each bout.
Node and polycounts stay fairly low (N<500,P<200) throughout game play making this map playable on a wide range of computing setups. Only when I increased the number of bots to twelve and beyond did I really begin to feel any sort of lag.
Speaking of bots; we've all talked about the lack of bot support in many recently released maps, but Christian has done a good job of placing pathing points throughout the map. The robots find every single item without any difficulty, and I was surprised to find that they even make it to the top of the large pillar structure (probably from spawning though) and snipe from the defined defense points at times.
One side of the map is more heavily noded than the other though, so you may find that a lot of bot action goes down in one particular spot.
There's no question that flow is superb throughout the level. There are multiple paths to take from every point of the map without fear of getting lost. From nearly every high point you have an opportunity to jump down to multiple levels. And from every low point there is easy access to the higher areas of the map - by ramp, lift or boots.
There are a number of places where flow can get completely interrupted, specifically around the areas where the boxes are placed near the walls and other boxes. Step into one of these traps and you're bound to become rocket or flak fodder.
Another flow problem lies with the lifts employed in the inner workings of the center pillar. They're thin, having just enough depth for your body, but worse is that they will crush you if you get caught hanging off the edge or underneath one. In a case of such small lifts, getting killed by one while in the middle of a battle is simply not cool.
These problem areas however, aren't enough to detract from the overall enjoyment of the map. There's a perfect balance of weapons and ammo. Armor is readily available, and the three special items (heath, damage amp and invisibility) all have some risk associated with getting them. Thankfully, the redeemer has been left out, as its presence would have surely unbalanced the game.
-[ Environment ]-----------------------------
Although the game play of this map is top-notch, I must admit that its theme, architecture, texture, lighting and sound do leave a little to be desired and signify an area of opportunity for the author to explore.
The theming and architecture appear to mostly facilitate the flow of the game rather than the look and feel of it - it is an arena made specifically for battling players and nothing more.
If there is one thing that I would change about this map, it is the lighting. With all green lighting effects used throughout, you spend your game quite literally in a can of pea soup. It does however, almost hide the fact that the map uses a standard texture package.
A custom sound track is included with the archive, and it feels right at home with sudden death, almost heightening your skills while you shock-rifle players off the pillar top to their death.
With an above average score for an author's first map, this is a definite on the list of maps to check out.
-[ To The Author ]-----------------------------
An excellent piece of work, but as you've probably read in my review above, you do have some areas in which you can improve - specifically with theming, texturing and lighting. The basics of architecture you've demonstrated are fairly solid and your understanding of laying out a map for smooth, fun game play appears to be sound. I was impressed by the bot support you added to your map, but enhancing it further so that bots jump up through the map could push it even further. Again, an excellent first map, and I cannot wait to see what comes next. Thank you for sharing your work.
-[ Rating ]-----------------------------
7 (7.395)
Fun 9
Playability 9
Bot Support 8
General Flow 8
Item Placement 8
Thematic Execution 4
Architecture 5
Texturing 5
Lighting 4
Sound 6
but thanks.
