Date: 12-10-99 Teams: 2 File: quadgod.zip Players: 10-20 Game: TFC Size: Large Briefing: Strange...and confusing too...

QuadGod

Biiiiig.

The hill, and the cap point....

A long way down...

Author: Rize | Reviewer: Borg

Objective:

CTF. Only one capture point exists in the map. It is on the hill in the center.

Scoring:

If the red or blue flag is captured, all players respawn in a new area and the capturing team gets 10 points. There is only one flag in the new area for both teams. Before it can be taken, the crystal in the enemy camp must be touched. This turns of the lasers that kill your team giving them safe passage to the new flag. Take it to the capture point for 15 team points and 20 seconds of Quad Damage God mode (invincibility) for the the player who captured the flag (not the whole team, just the player). All players are then respawned in the normal bases except the capturing player. The player that captured the alien flag stays on the hill putting him within striking distance of the enemy base. Use those 20 seconds of Quad and God wisely...

Evaluation:

First impressions on the map were pretty clear: "what the heck is this?". People were pretty confused as to where to go, and how to get there. Again, there are no real indicators to where anything is in the bases, until you're practically on top of them. Overall construction wasn't too bad, and there were some interesting uses of textures. r_speeds were acceptable, even in the open areas, so no real problems were had while trying to get around. The theme was very simple, but not fully executed, and more could have definitely been done to reinforce this aspect. The alien themed area that you were taken to upon capture of the first flag was very confusing, but done in better taste than the main area of the map. This dual-level aspect only added to the confusion though, and a mandatory perusal of the readme is expected (I guess).

Layout was symmetrical, and once you DID learn some of the layout, it was easily transferred to the other base. As I mentioned above, due to the lack of signs, and a very complex design, people were constantly searching for where they should be. As a result, this map suffers a bit in acceptance. Getting around this thing was ok, but the ladders, as well as a myriad of alternate passageways and pipes, made the confusing aspect even worse. The upside of this is that defense capability of the bases is pretty solid. Solid to the point of being crazy. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that the author seemed to go to extremes on this one, instead of trying to evenly balance out the different aspects of this map. Connectivity was ok, but again, you really needed to learn the lay of the land to feel comfortable moving around. A training period before actually running this map would contribute greatly to the usage of it.

Teamwork on this map helps, but due to the sheer size of it, and the complexity of it, the teamplay aspect didn't get any use. I found myself thinking that this would be a great Death Match map, because of the amount of one on one firefights that continuously took place. Very rarely did I see teams making assaults, or even defending for that matter. There are uses for every class on this map, but unfortunately, organization is really lacking. This is of no fault of the maps design, but rather how it's complexity influences the class choices players make. I have to agree with some, that this would be an ok clan match map, but for general consumption, it's not compelling enough to have people make a variety of class choices. I found that, again, the alien area of this map enforced the teamplay and strategy aspects of the game, more than the main area. Good strategies just didn't get implemented on this map, which was too bad. Maybe the addition of closer resupply points, and more ways to access points on the map would have contributed more to the deployment of strategies.

Verdict:

Give it a look, but be sure to take a close look at the readme file the author has included. This could save a LOT of confusion, and make your learning curve on this thing a bit shorter. A good effort, with a neat twist on things.

Delta Bravo Final Score: 
- 15/50 -