Date: 29-12-99 Teams: 2 File: mulch_2fort.zip Players: 20 Game: TFC Size: Huge Briefing: Refreshingly different...

Mulchman's 2 Forts

The blue base.

A funny thing happened on the way to the flag...

Vertigo!

Author: ][-Mulchman | Reviewer: nimrod.

Objective:

Run allll the way to the enemy base, get their flag, and run allll the way back to capture it.

Scoring:

10 points for capturing the flag.

Evaluation:

A refreshing break from the standard 2fort, Mulchman's stands out as one of the few asymmetrical CTF maps currently released. But there are a few obvious problems that hurt this map. Realize, however, that it's still fun!

This map looks good. Very good. Beautiful, even. Unfortunately, this can't be the only good feature if you want a good overall map. Mulch is also very large. In fact, it's overly large. The trek from base to base can actually takes minutes. Add in encounters with enemies throughout, and by the time you get there you've got a dispersed, disorganized, and weakened offense.

Yet another major problem is the lighting. The problem is inside the caves, where it is very dark. So dark that you can't see the color of the clothes of the person right in front of you, causing you to attacking members of your own team while sometimes ignoring actual enemies. And with the length of the caves, getting turned around and going back towards the wrong base can also happen pretty easily.

The layout of the base is more complex than most 2forts. The red base is large, multi-layered, and has multiple entrances. The blue base has a single entrance from the front, and consists of a small square courtyard with a raised flag room. The red flag is held high up in the red base.

The problem of balance comes from both directions, team v. team and offense v. defense. The greatness of the offense v. defense unbalance cloaks the team v. team unbalance because both teams should be able to set up very strong defenses easily, and neither team has the ability to organize an offense that will strike that far without becoming disbanded. The result is a scoreless game on the behalf of both teams, making the teams appear balanced.

Strategy for the blue defense consisted completely of sentry guns. About 3 did the job pretty well, due to the close quarters for the blue flag. Any spies who wanted to destroy the sentry that we had at the flag would have to get OUT of the flag room after throwing his grenades, opening himself to fire from the disgruntled Engineer whom he had been violating. Overall the map's layout called for strong defenses, and small offenses, leaving the game scoreless, like I mentioned before.

Verdict:

Carefully consider getting this one just to look at, but don't look for, or expect to see it often.  It's just way too open to easy tactics to be playable on pubs.

Delta Bravo Final Score: 
- 22/50 -