UnrealSP.orgUSP-09, "Palace of Chizra" by Waffnuffly
Story
The player enters a small cave-tunnel emerging to an open outside area, a very big outside area. It’s not apparent at first, but you’ve got a lot of room to cover in this level. Hmmm…best proceed slowly and cautiously…no telling how many enemies here, and it’s hard to see far amid the lush foliage. Good thing you brushed up on your rocket jumps as there might be something of use on one of those higher islands. After proceeding a while, having run into some unfortunate crash victims and a few baddies, a magnificent palace comes into view. Perhaps best to circle around the periphery of the palace proper first and see if there is anything of use…yeah, sounds like a good idea. In any event, when you finally make it to the palace, you find that it’s heavily infested by the bad guys and you’re going to need all the skills, tact and supplies you can muster to survive. You learn that the physically inaccessible third level holds the key to opening the pass to the north. The Skaarj are trying to coerce the Nali into revealing the secret portal that would enable access to the level and in turn open the pass. The Skaarj are determined to meet their brethren at Triskadan and must get thru by any means. The Nali have been valiantly holding out against them... time to get to work soldier!
Creatures and Items
Weapons acquired: Weapons acquired: Stinger, ASMD, Flak Cannon.
Enemies encountered: Tentacle, Manta, Gasbag, Krall, Skaarj, Titan.
Architecture
This is one impressive and imposing level. A couple of simple facts; over 3000 brushes, 500 plants and 81 trees…start to get the picture? The build quality here is magnificent. Waffnuffly has put together a level that would take many a lifetime to approximate at best. The outlying watery region, outbuildings, palace and final cavern area are most impressive. Construction down to the smallest detail is the rule here folks, just walk up and look through those beautiful palace windows! Sure, cubes are used here, but so many shapes are interspersed and melded so as to create an environment that should impress both player and experienced mapper alike. There is really nothing bad to say about the build in and of itself. The effect however of all this opulence will be discussed later.
Score: 9
Texturing
Lots and lots of textures here – Ancient, DecayedS, GenEarth, GenFluid,Liquids, GenIn, GenFX, NaliCast, SkyCity and more. Darn level is so imposing in scope and intense in play that I didn’t really get a chance to notice any texturing faux-pas…and they probably are few if any. Textures are well chosen and well used – period.
Score: 8
Lighting
Over 1000 light actors populate this map. No zone lighting. Waffnuffly has again aced this category through savvy lighting know-how. He has used standard light types along with specialized ones (e.g. non-incidence, cylinder) in conjunction with brightness/radius tweaking so as to “wow” one with the amount of work expended here.
Score: 8½
Sound
Emerging from the starting cave the player is engulfed in ambient sounds everywhere. Over 500 Ambient Sound actors alone have been used and the effect is incredible. The entire level is alive, as if the map itself was a living breathing entity. UTemple.umx is the icing on the cake. At the very end upon finally accessing the exit cave the music is gone and one is impressed even more by the surrounding ambient sounds.
Score: 9
Technical Execution
Remember all the glowing accolades above regarding the architecture? All that good stuff comes at a price folks….the framerates really tank in some parts of this map. If you’ve got an older machine you’re not going to make it through here. The new version has been optimized to some extent, but all that opulence still comes at a price. Aside from this the sp mappers normal bag of tricks, Pathnodes, Patrol Points, Spawn Points, Special Events, Music Event, Creature Factory, Teleporters etc., are all used well throughout the level.
Score: 7
Gameplay
This is one tough experience. The sheer numbers and placement of enemies can make for a very frustrating experience for some. Extreme tact and caution are required or you’re not going to last very long. Saving often is highly recommended. Beyond this aspect, gameplay is good, and goal oriented as it should be. Translator messages are many and ultimately spur you on to access the portal to that third level and finally (whew!) make it to the next map after one last rumble.
Score: 8
Overall Effect
A map you’ll either love or hate…and maybe a little of both! Spectacular build, lousy framerates at times, tough combat and engrossing storyline are the main reasons. Despite some technical shortcomings, this is truly a winner.
Map Score: 8¼