04/08/2007 @19:30:31 ^23:14:49

I downloaded a bunch of maps (I was looking for something, didn't find it) Here are some of them:

Waste Site

All right we start off with a base/canyon style map. No new textures except the episode 4 sky is used, which goes fairly well with the theme, which is mostly tan.

There's no particular flow to the map's theme, it randomly alternates between indoor and outdoor; I don't know if it's supposed to be a partially destroyed base that's open to the air. It doesn't really matter.

As you play through the map you will be struck by its homogeneity. It's very linear, and repeats the same constructions all the way through. In particular it has a bizarre line in floating lights over outdoor areas, and also putting monsters in corridors on top of single-use teleporters that put the thing behind you. Oh and hellknights. There are an abundance of hellknights.

The gameplay is rather frustrating. Ammunition is very low throughout, and if you don't find the berserk secret I think you'd have a very hard time getting through this at all. Even with the berserk I barely finished. Health is also low. On a couple of occasions I had to backtrack nearly the entire length of the level just for a couple of stimpaks, which took ages.

To sum up this is a decent if somewhat odd map. It looks good, but it's too linear, low on resources, and can be frustrating. A great map would look like this but be more compact and cohesive, and less repetitive with the monsters.

Links: Waste Site

Option: Denied

Two maps that are actually by the same author as Waste Site but are fortunately very different in their gameplay. Similar level of detail, although as it's all indoors there's no weird floating lights this time.

The first map is very symmetrical, but the second is a decent layout with just the right amount of backtracking and interconnection. The difficulty level is low, both maps can be completed easily, and if you do them as a mission run you'll end up with more shells than you'll know what to do with.

Detail level is high, although I'd prefer a better layout to detail. There's a new sky texture, a black night with a few stars, but it appears to be riddled with compression artifacts. Fortunately you don't notice it much. There's 5 monsters on map 2 in a teleporter that are deaf and so they never come out. Apart from that these are a decent set of maps and I can recommend them.

Links: Option: Denied

Tien

A tiny map which I admittedly only played as its author also made CC2 map 11 and NDCP map 8, both of which have a certain indefinable quality that makes them great. This one must be an earlier construction, as it's pretty rubbish really. Just a few brightly lit tunnels and demon faces. Also it's riddled with ZDoomisms (nothing rboom can't handle, in fact I almost didn't notice the error reports)

Oh I just re-read the text file and apparently it's supposed to be an attempt at a "10 sectors" map; that explains the size (or does it, I mean, 10 sectors maps can be huge, look at the results of the contest) but doesn't explain the bugs.

Links: Tien

Phobos Orbital

Another small map on a space station; offers many views of a starry sky, and very little in the way of resistance. Decent minimal architecture, a dark grey metal and silver theme texture theme for the most part. There was this one corridor that seemed a bit featureless; for some reason that stood out. Never mind though.

You have to backtrack rather a lot, you go up one side to get the blue key, then come back and up the other side, then back round again. The best bit is when you teleport to some kind of other station and there's the hell anomaly, and you have to rescue a key from it and come back. I like that kind of map.

It's not hard, the monster density is very low, and even the increased resistance at the anomaly is easily managable. There is a tendency to have accidents with revenants in a couple of other places though so be careful. In summary, pretty good for 5-10 minutes play.

Links: Phobos Orbital

Twisted Tower of Death

This is a bricks and metal style map that is reminiscent of maps from Requiem, especially as it centres around a triple-layer 3d bridge. You travel round the rooms surrounding the central courtyard, gradually ascending. Monsters teleport in as you go, yadda yadda.

The architecture and texturing is pretty much perfect, no problems there, but the gameplay is quite annoying, as you are often fighting lots of monsters in a very cramped amount of space. This is mostly evident in the final room with blue key; the volume of monsters that teleport in is just too much for the room, and you can't avoid taking so much damage that you're basically screwed. On the other hand there was a blue armour earlier in the level that I missed, so perhaps going in there with 150+ health and armour would have allowed me to survive whereas only 150+ health was not enough. However I might not bother because it's annoying!

Links: Twisted Tower of Death