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3/2 - TNM Seeking Mappers
3/2 - Deus Ex Online Is Back, Baby!
3/1 - Power & Love Mod
2/23 - Thief: Deadly Shadows Editor Released!
2/12 - Unatco Born Update
12/24 - DXMP_Duality
12/24 - DXMP_Onslaught
12/23 - DXMP_Yokatami
12/23 - DXMP_HedgeFields
9/25 - Latest DX SDK
BattleZone
Date Created: 5/26/2002

Filename: DXMP_BattleZone
Author: DerianX
Reviewers: CoMpUdOc slicer OldGrandad Trystero


CoMpUdOc: Ready all?
OldGrandad: heh, I have another 13 hr day tomorrow!!!
* slicer sleeps ZzZz
slicer: :-/
Trystero: I'm ready.
slicer: Let's go
CoMpUdOc: ok.

Textures
slicer: Some good use of textures...HOWEVER, there are texture misalignments
Trystero: Agreed.
slicer: Textures are sometimes overused
CoMpUdOc: Yeah, some...oddly placed
slicer: There are several misalignments which do stick out when looked at more closely
OldGrandad: Well it all seemed to be a bit of a mish-mash of textures with no real theme.
slicer: heh
Trystero: Some of them seemed okay...in the "computer terminal rooms" they seemed fitting. In other areas...they made no sense.
CoMpUdOc: Yeah.
slicer: 5 here, rather general
CoMpUdOc: I'll agree. 5
Trystero: 6 for much.
OldGrandad: Bright yellows and reds, no wonder JC wears shades. 5
slicer: 5.25 average
OldGrandad: calculator man!
CoMpUdOc: Thank you, calculator man.
slicer: o_O
CoMpUdOc: right..

Architecture
slicer: Hmm
OldGrandad: @@
CoMpUdOc: Hmm...
OldGrandad: yes
slicer: Some are rather creative
CoMpUdOc: There is some that was very well done.
Trystero: The statues on the lawn might as well have been pink flamingos. On the other hand...several rooms seem to have good potential.
slicer: Efforts are used to carve out some details
OldGrandad: You can see a lot of effort has gone in to the construction of the map
slicer: yes
OldGrandad: But not a lot of thought
slicer: ya
CoMpUdOc: yep
Trystero: The rooms are too small. It's like trying to play tennis in a Tylenol bottle.
OldGrandad: I kept banging my head on the ceilings. And I am short!!
CoMpUdOc: Oh yes, I forgot about that
slicer: lol
CoMpUdOc: The whole map was made for little people
slicer: hehe. 6.5 here
Trystero: The design is symmetrical....more like a UT map.
CoMpUdOc: I'll give it 7...for effort
slicer: yeah
CoMpUdOc: Yeah, UT-like
Trystero: I give it a 5.
slicer: OG?
...
OldGrandad: err, 5 again
slicer: bah
slicer: 5.875 average
OldGrandad: humbug
CoMpUdOc: ..
slicer: Gimme better numbers next time :p
CoMpUdOc: alright...
OldGrandad: 3.56773893
slicer: o_O
CoMpUdOc: Sigh
* slicer slaps CoMpUdOc around a bit with a large hairy & slimy trout

Lighting
slicer: Poor
OldGrandad: @_@
slicer: Some lighting is overused...Some areas are too dark
Trystero: It seemed to change in some places......
CoMpUdOc: yeah...
slicer: Admittingly, the central area with the rotating light effect is cool
CoMpUdOc: It had a strobe effect in the courtyard area...err...like slicer said
Trystero: Several areas...including the tunnels were far too dark.
OldGrandad: In places it was just OK, but many places it was either overlit or just plain too dark
slicer: yep
CoMpUdOc: Indeed.
OldGrandad: and also with the zone lighting, it made cloaking useless
slicer: yes. 3
CoMpUdOc: quite
Trystero: Placing burning barrels around the area didn't make much sense to me.
CoMpUdOc: hmmm...4 here
OldGrandad: 4 too
Trystero: 4.5 here.
slicer: ARGH! GIMME EASY NUMBERS!
Trystero: lol
CoMpUdOc: NO!
slicer: 3.875 average
CoMpUdOc: ugh
* slicer points at CoMpUdOc and laughs
Trystero: Great.
CoMpUdOc: right...ONWARD!

Sounds & Music
slicer: Hmm
Trystero: I liked the music choice.
slicer: I only hear wind effects
CoMpUdOc: Music was good
OldGrandad: too many ambient sounds
CoMpUdOc: Party-like
slicer: Yeah
Trystero: The sounds didn't bother me.
* slicer notes skyline
Trystero: One of my biggest complaints about DXMP maps is the underuse of soundFX.
OldGrandad: night-club as mentioned during the game
slicer: The music is okayish...NOTE: If you die, the music is still the same... not ideal... no death music or anything of that sort
Trystero: That's fine. It gives a festive air to your demise....
CoMpUdOc: yeah!
OldGrandad: well I thought it was out of place for a MP map
CoMpUdOc: As far as ambient, I hardly heard any.
slicer: Hmm, for soundFx, it suits the right area
OldGrandad: pphharrtt
slicer: Music, just doesn't work out, reminds me of Skyline
Trystero: The sound didn't really contribute to the setting...but it did not detract from it.
CoMpUdOc: yeah
slicer: 5 here
CoMpUdOc: I'll give it a 6
Trystero: I give it a solid 8.
slicer: !
* slicer faints
* CoMpUdOc uses smelling salts on Slicer
...
slicer: OldG?
...
OldGrandad: Well, what I meant about ambient sounds was all the buzzing going on as well as the music....sound overload. 5.5
slicer: 6.125 average
CoMpUdOc: ugh
Trystero: heh
slicer: :p

Layout & Design
Trystero: Oh boy.
OldGrandad: *cough*
CoMpUdOc: erm...
slicer: The map suits SP more than MP :p
CoMpUdOc: The layout was...UT-esk
slicer: hmm
OldGrandad: too many dead ends or tight spaces meant that it was a LAM map
Trystero: I disagree with slicer. No sane SP mapper would find a use for a map like this.
slicer: yep :P
OldGrandad: no room for moving
CoMpUdOc: heh...yeah
slicer: doorways are too small
Trystero: It's the perfect map for a compulsive camper....
slicer: True. Hard to move about
CoMpUdOc: Small doors...oy
Trystero: Broken Elevator.
CoMpUdOc: Yeah, it broke down once.
OldGrandad: overuse of movers and scripted pawns
slicer: Did it use the carone mod for elevator?
CoMpUdOc: yes slicer
Trystero: Ladders were placed at inconvenient areas.
OldGrandad: as in barrels etc..statues
CoMpUdOc: yes.
slicer: agreed
CoMpUdOc: Hmmm...I'll give it a 5 slicer: 5 here too
OldGrandad: 4.5...hehe
slicer: o_O
Trystero: I can't give anything higher than a 4. Not fun to navigate.
OldGrandad: sorry Slice
slicer: ugh, lol
...
slicer: 4.625 average
* Trystero laughs wildly.
CoMpUdOc: O_o @ OldG
* slicer jumps madly up and down on Trystero's head.
CoMpUdOc: Okie Dokie

Item Placement
slicer: Hmm
Trystero: Ouch.
slicer: BAD...very bad. overuse of LAMs
Trystero: LAWs
CoMpUdOc: EVIL
slicer: The central area is crazy
CoMpUdOc: That one room...oy
slicer: Stocked with everything
Trystero: Is that room supposed to be...."secret"?
CoMpUdOc: Plus 4 LAMs in that weird spawn room...
slicer: A group of campers can stay there and own the map
OldGrandad: LAM overkill
slicer: Hmm
Trystero: Free repairbot.
slicer: One thing I do need to point out
CoMpUdOc: 2 free repair bots!
OldGrandad: and LAW overkill
* Trystero waits for Slicer's profound declaration.
slicer: When mappers use Sword, Pepper Spray, Baton, etc... I think these weapons should be adjusted to balance out weapon strength.
CoMpUdOc: I disagree.
slicer: o_O
Trystero: ....
OldGrandad: Once at the top it would be nigh on impossible to dislodge anybody
CoMpUdOc: I like simple weapons...Pepper, baton, ect...just as they are.
OldGrandad: pointy sticks
slicer: You can hardly kill anyone with the Sword. Compare that to the Combat Knife, the combat knife can kill fast
CoMpUdOc: but killin' with a crowbar is sure fun!
Trystero: The fact that so many heavy explosives are extremely easy to get at nullifies the point of having ANY melee weapons.
slicer: *sigh*
OldGrandad: nuff said
CoMpUdOc: Indeed tryst. 2 here.
slicer: 1...Overuse, definitely
OldGrandad: generous 3
Trystero: 2.5 :)
slicer: Grrr
...
slicer: 2.125 average

Playability
slicer: hmm...My FPS seems to be killed in this map
CoMpUdOc: Mine too.
Trystero: Same.
slicer: I assume the texture memory is being overloaded
CoMpUdOc: yeah...I find it hard to play
slicer: Playability...It seems pointless due to the weapon aspect
CoMpUdOc: SP damage....
slicer: Yes
OldGrandad: I stuttered along for most of the time
slicer: Cloak bug o_O
OldGrandad: caused by wrong Zone lighting
Trystero: When I wasn't lodged on some strange bit of furniture while being shot to death with a turret I was getting blasted to bits by Slicer's cache of 3,465 lams.
slicer: lol
CoMpUdOc: lol
slicer: Too many LAMs simply killed off the game
CoMpUdOc: Indeed.
slicer: I could have sufficient time to plant a LAM in every corner with such a high distribution
OldGrandad: That caused me to GPF!!!
Trystero: !!!!
slicer: hehe
CoMpUdOc: Hmm...2
slicer: HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
OldGrandad: 2 for playability
Trystero: A map like Silo has good room to navigate...you can avoid thrown LAMs....good distribution of explosives....Battlezone is too tight and the weapons are overly concentrated....
slicer: yep. 1.5
Trystero: 1
slicer: Great number
...
slicer: *cough*
...
slicer: 1.625 average
* slicer thinks his brain is starting to hurt

Fun Factor
slicer: o_O
CoMpUdOc: HHHHHMMMMMMMMmmm
slicer: Getting killed by LAMs all the time != Fun
...
OldGrandad: not a lot
Trystero: Playing it was like pulling teeth.
CoMpUdOc: I have to say...I had little fun
OldGrandad: too claustrophobic
slicer: little, yes. On first sight, it looks cool. But that gradually fades away.
Trystero: BUT....with some improvements and modifications it could have been a more playable map.
slicer: Making the place bigger is the key factor :p
CoMpUdOc: yes :P
slicer: hmm...1.5
CoMpUdOc: 2 here...Not fun...
Trystero: 2
slicer: carone is more fun
OldGrandad: hehe
CoMpUdOc: Jim is more fun!
slicer: o_O
Trystero: chi!
OldGrandad: 2.5
slicer: Trystero is much more fun
Trystero: :)
slicer: 2 AVERAGE

Fianl Thoughts
slicer: Hmm... Derian, sorry to say this but Trystero is by far more fun this time
OldGrandad: stubby fingers on keyboard
CoMpUdOc: We love ya Derian...but not this map
slicer: Credits goes into the thought behind the map
Trystero: Is that because you can kill me more easily, Slicer? :P
slicer: Like the cabinet abuse removal
CoMpUdOc: yeah
OldGrandad: Very well made as in construction. But its execution fails it.
slicer: ya
CoMpUdOc: Indeed.
* slicer : RAR@#!
CoMpUdOc: right
Trystero: A lot of effort went into this map...and there were several mistakes made. Clearly more playtesting and revision was needed before it's final release.
Trystero: That was my final thought.
OldGrandad: are you sure?
CoMpUdOc: ...
slicer: ;p
OldGrandad: waits for cogs to start moving...


CoMpUdOc slicer OldGrandad Trystero
Textures
Architecture
Lighting
Sounds & Music
Layout & Design
Item Placement
Playability
Fun Factor
Total 37 31.5 35 34

Final Score: 34.5%




Copyright 2001 | Design by AsylumX | Coded by Jim