If you never played Ziki before, I think you'll enjoy that one more than the others. The map actually has a really nice layout, but the author simply didn't have the skills to make it look visually appealing on the outside.

Just don't play the god aweful monstrosity that is the MH conversion (Probably by Mr. X)

Aah yes, that does ring a bell. Thanks.

wait... you can end skyfalls earlier than you should? Details please I might have missed something when i played i. Oh what am I saying *goes and plays for myself*

I always wondered how they died, I figured they all got poisoned by the fish or something, after all they mention how the fish taste "kind of funny".


How do you figure that? I recall a portion of the messages mentioning "taking liberties" but I was never really able to figure out what they meant exactly with that. The others did make sense for me though.


OMG! I get that exact same feeling! And it's always on this map too. Some of the other ones give me a similar feeling but never to this degree. It's like "awwww do I really gotta move on to the next map? I wanna chill out on this one forever!"


Hmmm no mention of the one bubbling pool hidden behind a door that won't open. heh heh heh

Of course I guess it is only really reachable from falling in the moat and entering a tunnel off to side, it just made me go nuts when I found it like a week ago after deciding to see what was in the moat. I keep thinking I know every secret on all of these maps yet I keep finding more everywhere I look even years later,

Regarding CMS stuff, yesterday one of the two authors (Kyle) popped up at BUF after a niche review of Apoc by Leo. Kyle is working at Gearbox (Borderland games, DNF, etc...) and David is with 2K (BioShock, new XCOM, etc...).
Very nice guys by the way.

Entrance to Cherokee Base by Josh Stern
Site score 34%

Mega-bump!

Every so often I come back to my faltering marathon through UnrealSP's reviewed custom maps, which I have been doing in increasing order of score. At last count I was at The Skyfalls, which scored 34%, so now I'm continuing with another single map that achieved the same score on the site. This one, however, I've never played before. Please forgive the lack of original screenshots, but I no longer have any Unreal-related web hosting and I don't have a photobucket or imageshack account.

So, to the map. My main impression is that, with a bit more time, care and attention, this could really have been something special. You wouldn't have thought it, from the cramped, primitive tunnels and caves that open the level, but even then there are signs that this is more than just any newbie map - although the caves are constructed from editor primitives, they are rotated in interesting ways, and different areas are linked together by a lava stream that creates a few interesting layered views, giving the sense that there is more to these caves than you can see.



Then, suddenly, you break out into a truly massive outdoor area. The fact that it is basically one big subtracted cube is compensated for by the introduction of some large artificial structures of an interesting shape and great scale. If only it wasn't zonelit, it could be so much more impressive than it already is.



The mapper creates interesting gameplay by making the player climb down a series of broken structures into a large pit outside the base full of broken pipes and pools. After that, a trip through the sewage system takes the player to the map's most interesting area, a series of plant rooms. Again, editor primitives are used, but they are configured in interesting ways, with interesting angles, and have a good sense of scale. The plant rooms allow the player to access a generator that is keeping the base doors locked. Returning to the outdoor area, the player can now use the security tower to activate a lift that provides access to a road system leading to the main entrance to the base, at which the map ends.

This is all good stuff, done with a degree of imaginative flair and conceptual grandness unusual in a first time map. However, to me the job feels unfinished. I like my maps to have ambient sounds, for starters, and lighting should be used to create highlights and shadows and generally add atmosphere. Here, it is mostly uniform white lighting that serves only to illuminate the area. The combat is sparse and the supplies of ammo and health are over-generous. There is very little in the way of story.

It's a shame, as in the hands of a more experienced mapper the concept here could have been used to develop a map that would rival Hexephet at the very least. Even now, it's not too much of a reach to imagine this map being reduxxed into the introductory map to a great pack set in and around the Cherokee base. But, some 13 years after the event, that's obviously never going to happen!

Next time: The Tower of Zi' Ki'

I'm still in my own little world posting stuff that nobody is interested in, lol. :p

The Tower of Zi' Ki' by Matt "Razman" Rasmussen
Site score: 35%

I really should have re-read MMAN's insightful review by tackling this map - I would have been more prepared for its length, and would have got a lot less stuck during its most oblique puzzles.

Zi' Ki' is an odd beast. Plenty of interesting concepts, but overall implemented so badly that the map really doesn't make for that enjoyable a game. The build, to start with, is very primitive - not unusual in a first-time release, of course, but here the lighting - which, when done well, can conceal a multitude of sins - does it no favours at all. Behold the outdoor area, for example, all harsh glare with actors in darkness. Even a bit more care and attention could have seen this improved.



This wouldn't matter so much if the gameplay was well designed, but the map doesn't flow well... the "hub" layout is interesting, but each sector includes a puzzle or series of puzzles for which there are often no obvious clues. This results in significant interruptions in the combat as the player runs around aimlessly, and there's no story or auditory ambience to keep the player interested during this downtime. In fact, I had to resort to UnrealEd to crack the troublesome "lift maze" puzzle.

Combat isn't very special either, having no particular logic or progression and a surfeit of ammo. There is an attempt at scripted action to liven up the gameplay, including the curious collapsing floor sequence, which unfortunately left me with an intermittent, throbbing earthquake sound running on loop for the rest of the map. I can still hear it in my head now, and I'm far from convinced that I won't dream about that sound after I go to sleep tonight! The scripting, though, isn't enough to make up for the lack of story progression or subplots elsewhere in the map.

I'm just not convinced about this one, and I don't think I'll ever return to it. It's The Abandoned Colony next, which I am looking forward to as it looks to have a more credible build, although its gameplay comes in for some criticism in LH's review.

I enjoy reading this travelogue.
I can't comment on this map as it isn't one that I've played, but I agree fully with your opinions on Entrance to Cherokee Base.

At some stage it changed from describing the journey to mini-reviews! I think the journey aspect will resurface when and if I get to higher scoring maps / packs or maps / packs with more story.

The Abandoned Colony by Edd 'EddX' McRobbie
Site score: 35%

After playing a few fairly primitive efforts, it was good to get back to something a bit more sophisticated. I think this map has the best build I have encountered on this journey other than The Skyfalls. Granted, looking at LH's review, it's mostly made out of basic shapes, but it is detailed well and the lighting is used to add atmosphere rather than just illuminate the area as seen in the last two maps.

The Abandoned Colony is also a lot more story-driven than many of the packs I have played to date while working on this travelogue. The protagonist returns from a survey mission to find that his colony has been overrun by aliens born from a clutch of eggs found by the colonists who have killed the crew. As he progresses through the many areas of the damaged base, all of which have an appropriate sense of purpose as per the mapper's concept, he learns of how the aliens came to take over the base. There may be a slight case of translator overload here, and the tragedy of the colony may be well-worn territory for Unreal, but the story gives the map a hook and a feeling of purpose and reality absent from some of the lower-rated releases.



If only the gameplay were more involving! As indicated by LH's review, The Abandoned Colony is a rather plodding affair, consisting only of Skaarj Scouts and Pupae for pretty much its entire length. The oddest thing was that none of the Skaarj seemed to be capable a ranged attack. I don't know whether this was intentional on the part of the author or whether it was a bug, but it made the map very easy. (Has anyone else experienced this? It isn't mentioned in the review.)

Before I played the map, I thought 35% seemed like a very harsh score based on the screenies, but having played it I can see why the scores for gameplay were so low. Maybe I'd take slight issue with the scores for the build, as I thought the design was simple but carried the concept well, but overall it wasn't that memorable an experienced.

Something more familiar, next, at least for me: 3 Crystals, which I have played a few times before.

Aah 3 Crystals, 13 mutants' lesser brother

I did my own travelouge of 3 crystals one time, just to see what it would be like to do a scrag style travelouge It went into so much detail that I cbf uploading all the pics and making a thread

I remember the abandoned colony being pretty sick, and the atmosphere being a lot like the colony from Aliens

I may not post when you you update but I certainly always am delighted to see when you have a new entry added

Do you still have the text? You should post it on here when I do mine!