Capture The Flag Maps:

CTF-CBP-Betrayal

Betrayal is a rather small map, but at the same time allows enough elbowroom for a great match. The map contains multiple routes to and from the flag, and essentially packs them all into a rather historic castle based theme. Located outside within the bases are icy mounds, which give a great opportunity to show off those dodge-jumps. To be honest you’d be crazy not to use them against your foes. The lower route contains a super shield, which is located directly in the middle, this in turn proves interesting seeing which team can make the distance first off spawn.

The overall theme was executed flawlessly, some really nice touches throughout the map. One highlight was the crows which circle the castles towers, I truly stopped and looked at that for a good 5 minutes as I was in awe. Some lanterns also feature moving light-casts, rather cool too although I’m not sure how that effects performance.

The only bug I managed to find concerning the whole map were the weapon bases mostly located in the interior bases. They were too low and thus sunk into the floors (no biggie, but it’s noticeable).

Comments:

hal: The bases have plenty of exits. Three direct exits, and a fourth that you can reach with a lift-jump. The center couryards are filled with snow-capped mounds and are positioned perfectly to allow a flag carrier great mobility.

The powerups and weapons are placed well, with the dominant weapons well away from the bases. The RL and large shield sit in the middle at varying levels; nice prizes for the team that manages to hold the center. The map doesn't seem to be overloaded with ammo either, but there is an odd liberal sprinkling of Plasma Rifles throughout the map.

It's small and relatively tight in places, though not claustrophobic. Probably a great 6-8 player map, but not ideal for many more. There are plenty of opportunities for creative jumps and movement and the theme is dynamite. The author has gone out of his way to give this map an authentic feel. There are structures placed beyond the playable level, and other small touches such as the swarm of bats around the tower, that give this map atmosphere. The atmospheric sounds are nice, if a bit loud. That damned crow must have followed me everywhere I went!

My favorite of the bunch.

QAPete: Author suggests 6-10 players, plays better on the 6 side of things. Fairly easy to defend, nice job with the multiple routes to/from flag. This is a simple, effective CTF level.


CTF-CBP-Concentrate

Concentrate, is the smallest CTF map featured in the pack. The only way I’d be able to sum up the layout is to simply state it’s a rather cramped V shape with only one route to and from the flag. The flags are situated deep within the floating industrial facility and also feature a rather neat spiked pit which proves to be rather deadly (I’ve lost count as to the number of times I’ve fallen to my death).

Since the map’s so small, it’s hard to say it plays well. Maybe it’d be good for a quick and rather messy match, but I can’t see it supporting any more than 4 players, it just gets too tight and you find yourself trying to translocate over the roof structure (Which is of course blocked).

The map’s theme is rather unique. Lots of industrial elements featured, nice use of glass for overhead windows and a rather green sky, which I’d like to add, looks rather acidic.

Comments:

hal: Wow, what a looker. But it's small! When I say small, what I really mean is that it's tiny. A match with many more than 4 to 6 total players is going to be messy.

The map layout is essentially a macaroni elbow with a flag pit at either end. All paths away from the flagstand will have to pass the center area to cap. It doesn't get much more basic than that. Think of it as a tribute to Unreal Tournament's CTF-Niven. If that's your thing, then you'll love this map.

But back to the looks! Again, the CBP delivers MORE than you expect. Having structures beyond the play area really adds to the authenticity of the map. It reminds me of the Water Planet in Star Wars: Episode Two, complete with ship and landing dock. A tower looms overhead. The custom meshes are superb and don't interfere with the gameplay much.

QAPete: Very fast-paced, compact CTF level. Spike pit under the flag bases are a nice touch. Makes very good use of layout w/multiple z-axis levels of travel.


CTF-CBP-Ferris

Ferris would have to be the highlight of the pack for me. This is what I’m talking about. Lots of room, basically it’s one huge outdoor environment with some hills and two castles for the bases. I can see some extremely long and drawn out matches being played on this map, and from personal experience that’s only a good thing. There’s plenty of ammo situated around the bases, and there’s also a couple of cliffs that you can translocate up to for some snipage, not to forget the towers within the bases. This brings me to the big why! Why is the Ion Painter included when I couldn’t manage to get it to work? There seems to be no satellite floating around in the sky… one might say that’s a rather large bug!

The U-damage is located in the middle of the map, nice combo with the mini proves to be rather fun since on exit of you’re base you’re on higher ground. I don’t know why, but I always find it easier being on higher ground especially in team games.

The theme is where this map shines. Slap some vehicles in and you’ve got yourself UT2004. It’s just that big and not to mention beautiful, quite simply it kicks anything Epic were able to do with the maps that shipped with UT2003. The rather large arches featured on the higher cliffs surrounding the map add a nice touch, not to forget the custom light fittings within the bases (Really nice particle effects used here folks).

Comments:

hal: This map borrows heavily from CTF-Magma, using a large portion of the bases, surrounding them with an outer wall and more towers. The large arches on top of the hillside, while adding a nice graphical hook, are immediately identifiable with BR-TwinTombs. So right off, you get the feeling that you've been here before.

The layout itself is not so bad, though. There are interesting pathways from the flag, though the z-axis play is somewhat limited requiring the flag carrier to rely on team mates and the trusty Shield Gun. Once you leave the confines of the enemy base, you're out in the open like a deer on opening day of hunting season.

Some people will enjoy this map simply because it will accomodate a larger player load much better than the other maps in the CBP. Others will view it as a nicely crafted, if simple, two-forts map. I think you could have a great time on the map - you won't constantly bump into static meshes, you have a little room to move around, you'll probably find an ammo pack or shield to pick up, and you'll get to use your MiniGun and LightningGun plenty.

QAPete: Terrific flag base locations, quite hard to effectively defend (this is a good thing). One of my favorite designs in the CBP. Good 5v5 level too, so clans should enjoy this one. Some bot problems that should be fixed (not everyone plays online).


CTF-CBP-TechDream

This map is DiamondSword all over again with a few alterations. Personally, I’m going to have to go out on the limb and disagree with hal and QAPete on this one. I was not impressed, the layout and not to mention theme was rather sub par, although I did like the skybox. There’s no doubt about it that it has some nice Z-axis play thanks to the ramps, but there’s just too many ramps for my liking, not to mention they’re on rather odd and ugly angles design wise. Textures chosen were also a disappointment, although on the theme I did happen to enjoy the effect used on the top of the towers.

Redeemer proved fun, one of the few maps in UT2003 where you actually have the room to use it effectively. I can see this map being extremely effective for Lowgrav Instagib players, unfortunately I’m not one of them.

Comments:

hal: If you've played CTF-FacingWorlds, you'll be familiar with this map immediately. If you've played CTF-DiamondSword you'll be even more familiar with it. It borrows heavily from both maps, wraps it up in a highly polished package, and delivers a medium sized CTF map with a boat load of routes to and from each base.

It's hard to criticize it for being too small. It isn't really tiny and I certainly wasn't wishing for something as obnoxiously large as CTF-Face3, but I couldn't help from wishing that there were more room within the bases and distance between the flags. This type of map just begs for more room. Despite my longing for space I found myself really enjoying finding yet another route back to my base with the enemy flag. There is a lot of gameplay. Especially with no more than 8 players.

QAPete: At first glance, it's a Face redux on the outside, but just wait until you get inside. Well balanced level for attacking/defending, and yes, it's another one that's well-suited for clans. Awfully good looking, too.


That concludes part one of the Community Bonus Pack review. Stay tuned as we'll be hitting the Double Domination maps next!