Once I got into editing, I was pretty entrenched in the Unreal community. I ran a skinning site in PlanetUnreal called House of Style (I took it over from the original founder if I recall... I'm sure I would've named it something different). I made several maps, some even with, you guessed it... colored lighting. This also gave me a chance to experiment with a lot of different concepts. I'll run down some of the maps I've made and add blurbs for each one. I'll add a screenshot if I have any handy plus any reviews I might have saved. It's funny looking back at some of these now... so basic!
Faithless isn't a great one to list first since it was never intended as a public map; it was instead a portfolio piece for a company that I applied to (because of this it looked like I would've been hired at Looking Glass but then they closed their doors! Ugh...) This map was an experiment for triggered sequences. They wanted me to make a few locations and give a few scripted sequences just to show I could do the basics. The map itself is a stone chapel, with passages to a bedroom and some secret caverns beyond. Funny how much more complex everything is nowadays. This never got reviewed since I never released it publically.
DM-Chessboard (and DOM-Chessboard) is the simplest of the levels I've made, being a Morbias-style arena. It's multi-level, a single large room with a couple wings and a large chessboard in the center, complete with moving pieces and trap doors. The idea was to make a simple, elegant environment, and the addition of a classical soundtrack helped this immensely. A review from Atticbat (Frags in the Attic:) Though far from mammoth in size, Chessboard makes up for it in quality. Based around the huge chessboard namesake, the map is basically an arena for the eight-ball of deathmatch domination. While attempting to avoid being crushed by the larger than normal chess pieces as they 'move' along their paths as if some larger unseen beings were in the middle of a weekend game, one must also beware the ample shaodws above and surrounding the board. A second level encircles the chessboard, along with multiple lifts giving access. Weapons are no problem to find, hiding places are. Again, I played with six bots, and they thrashed me!! All the time, I felt as if I had played this map before, possibly on-line, has it been out for that long? Regardless, I found myself returning, repeatedly, and that's what it is all about! Check this map out! Get it? 'Check'?? Nevermind, just play the map!!!Graphics- 8.5, Variety-8.0, Gameplay- 8.0, Freshness- 7.0
DM-Ether was another early level of mine, an experiment in open space and bizarre atmosphere. A real sniper-heavy map. This kind of level wouldn't go over well nowadays- well I suppose it could but it would have to be a lot fancier visually and vertex counts would have to be put in check. The map used a silly amount of what these days are called "emitters"... effects that are rendered on the fly (such as lightning, smoke, fire, etc.) It was a new technology then! This was also probably the first map I put easter eggs in. If you fell off any of the platforms anywhere, instead of dying you would get teleported to a different part of the map. But if you did it in a few certain places, you'd end up in secret areas (one of them is the picture I chose to the left). Various reviews...Frags in the attic: Gooooo, NarkyBark!! The play area is limited to levels of ramps (careful around the edges, there, boyeee!!) giving multiple angles of fire. The lightning backgrounds are awesome, I kept waiting for a strike on one of the ramps, that would have been rad! The ramps lead to a few different areas. There are 'rooms', with some interesting areas to play around in, and secrets... shhhh! ;) My bots played reaaly well, keeping me hopping, but the true gameplay here is with other humans, and it rocks!! Definately a desirable addition to the 'maps' folder, fraggers!!Graphics- 8.0, Variety-7.0, Gameplay- 8.0, Freshness- 7.0
Nali City: NarkyBark is the curator of The House of Style here on Planet Unreal but who knew he could make maps? DmEther is definitely original - it's a system of platforms and catwalks floating over a swirling ether storm. Lightning flashes in the distance make this map all about atmospshere. But does it make a good Deathmatch? Hell yes! Even with the huge open area frame rates are still good. It's got some of the best sniping you'll see anywhere. Best of all, if you've got 2 health and someone's chasing you then just leap into the ether. You'll get teleported back to a different location on the platforms. Score 8 out of 10
DM-TheMatrix.... ok, so just like everyone else, when this movie came out I was crazy about it. (Still am, actually. But those sequels...) I wanted to try to replicate some of the physical effects in the movie- want to walk on walls? No problem. Want to stop those rockets that were fired at you? Make 'em stop in mid-air. Want to be totally confused? No problem! Seriously though, you can do all of the above. Prepare to be confused! You can walk on almost any wall or ceiling- there IS no right side up. And with the special powerup (it appears as boots) you can stop projectiles fired at you in their tracks.
Plus a few other little items that you'll remember. It'll take some getting used to- the view shifting due to the player orientation as he jumps around on the walls is a little disorientating at first, but you learn how to get around quickly.
The Darkside Collection- a series of maps with minimal lighting. Lighting comes from only natural sources such as lava, and the skies are twilight. Provides for lots of hiding and stealth and makes for a different style of deathmatch. I believe there were a dozen or so maps in the pack.There are a couple more maps to be had, but that brings us to Unreal Tournament...
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