The Duels Zone

Description
I like meta concepts like this, where many different things are mashed into a map with one purpose in mind. I like them even better when a fine-tooth comb has been run over the project as a whole. Unfortunately, the comb that was run over this map wasn't nearly fine enough.

Let's get down to the grit. This map is an FFA map that has been divided up into a series of duel maps. Seven different areas are available, but it's hard to put a name on each of them. They vary from a maze to a roman fighting arena to a tomb on korriban. Players seem to spawn in random places, and each one has a teleporter to a "master" room of sorts. From this "master" room, you can go to any of the other rooms. It would seem that there are NPCs in most of the rooms, and if I'm not mistaken, some of them respawn when they are killed.

The idea behind this is great, but it needs a lot of work. The visuals in each area are okay for the most part, but other areas really need some work. Two such places are the hallway with the destroyable walls. They can be destroyed in such a way that other parts of the wall are left floating. This is fixable (and quite easily), and really needs to be. The whole room is also quite bare triangle-wise, though...there isn't much stuff in it. It needs some variation as well.

A few other areas were plagued by problems. The "master" room has a couple of very repetitive textures on it. And I mean *very* repetitive textures. Also, the pictures that represented each dueling area were very low-res. They definitely needed enhancement - I'd say quadruple the resolution on each texture. Grainy rooms don't look very appealing, especially when you have to walk into them to move from area to area.

One last area that I had issues with. I think it's the one the author referred to as the "Rome Duel". By far, this had the most issues. First off, get ready for some FPS drop if you have a lower end machine, because the outer walls are made of patch meshes (and I still can't figure out why). This is a big waste of triangles - you could save a [i]few hundred[/i] triangles by changing those to brushes. If you're using patches because you need a one-way-wall effect, you can use nonsolid brushwork for the visuals and patches for the physics. Either way, it's a big waste of triangles and really has to go. Second, the archways that teleport you back to the "master" room...they need tops on them. How on earth can you have an arch with an invisible top but a visible bottom? My last gripe, although minor, is that the water doesn't meet the walls. This isn't really a problem, but it gives the room a sloppy feel.

The other areas seemed all right to me. The visuals aren't the most enticing things on earth, but they do their job. FPS was good overall, but that's more because of a lack of detail than anything else. Great for low-end computers. My favorite area was the one with the water and sparks under the platform. Those poor reborn never stood a chance... :p

Overall, the whole thing screams new mapper. I don't want to discourage you, especially with a useful idea like this - but this comes off as sloppy in many ways. You need to give things some more time and branch out some more. You've got the basics of Radiant down - now it's time to straighten up and treat your creations with care.

New sounds: [b]No[/b]
New models: [b]No[/b]
New textures: [b]Yes[/b]
New music: [b]Yes[/b]

~Dretzel