UnrealSP.orgUSP-13, "Nuk'Ratha Pass" by Willis
Story
You find yourself on ground level again, face to face with mercenaries planning to attack the Triskaden station. Skaarj and Mercenaries have turned the peaceful valley into a battlefield. Unfortunatly for you, there is only one way out, so load your guns and get ready...
Creatures and Items
Weapons acquired: Automag, Stinger, ASMD, Rifle, Razorjack.
Enemies encountered: Tentacle, Devilfish, Skaarj, Mercenary, Mercenary Boss.
Architecture
This map would be a good example of an avarage Deja Vu 2.0 map. It’s convincingly built, and does provide the Unreal feeling, but looks a bit dated compared to the best built maps in the pack. This is mainly due to the very rough edged terrain and some very basic design, i.e the torch holders in the first half of the map. There have been some minor changes to this map, and we are especially glad that someone finally raised the first fence a bit, so that it’s no longer possible to get stuck in the waterfall.
Score: 6½
Texturing
A variety of textures have been used, and it all looks very familiar. Willis has used different rock textures to create contrast in the outdoor areas. It is a matter of taste if you find it appealing or not, but it does catch your attention. There are many deco sheets both in the canyon and inside the mining facility. Usually these add to the atmosphere, but there were so many badly placed vines, that it just got annoying. They were inside solide structures, floating in the air, not alligned proparly and so on. There were not many missaligned textures, but the horrible error with the inside of the door in the last control room, should have been spotted during testing!
All in all, good choice of textures, and for the most part well done, but not among the best maps.
Score: 7
Lighting
While lighting is done in a believable fashion. There are areas that do not seem to be sourced properly. Willis has relied heavily on lensflares, but not all of them are placed correctly, and a few seem to hang in loose air. These “errors” are hardly noticable for the average player, but again, compared to the rest of the maps it makes Nuk’ratha pass look avarage. Having played the map at least 15 times now, the first thing one seems to remember about the map, is the extensive use of red lights.Again, this is a matter of taste, but they do seem a bit over the top in rooms with yellow light from beam/floor structures, and cold blue light from beam/roof. In the outdoor areas they work splendidly as beacons, and helps create a semi-tech atmosphere in an orcanic valley.
Score: 7½
Sound
252 ambient sound actors provide a believable setting. Having studied the map in the editor, we sometimes wonder if all 252 would have been needed. Willis has set up most of with sounds with a very small radius, so at times it feels like you are walking into one sound after the other instead of having the blended togheter in a more integral fashion. There is no question that Willis has spent a lot of time trying to bring the map to life, and in most areas he has been succesfull, but it comes a bit short compared to other outdoor/indoor maps like for instance Usp-05 Shia’dorle valley.
Score: 6
Technical Execution
Willis seem to be experienced with technical sollutions, and breaths life into the map using triggers, counters, music events and so on. The Skaarj vs Mercenary fights are well done, and so are doors, lifts, and the neat trap right at the end, were you can get the Skaarj watching the bridge to fall into the lava.
Score: 8
Gameplay
This is an area where Willis has it all under control. A very smooth and entartaining journey that has great replay value. The story is a bit weak, since there are too many “comedy” translator messages, but when it comes to balanced fights and exiting gameplay, it’s a winner.
Some might find Noork, the mercenary leader a bit to hard, but if you remember to save often he shouldn’t be a problem.
Score: 8½
Overall Effect
We believe that this map can be summed up in one word : avarage.
But considering the quality of the pack as a whole, avarage is not a bad verdict at all!
Map Score: 7¼