Transfiguration Courtyard

Description
Harry Potter fans should recognize this map as a location seen in several of the Harry Potter films (and of course read about in the books), but also featured in several of the games. I personally visualize it best from the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix game (geez, is Hogwarts big or what??). Various things have taken place here (although my favorite was when Malfoy got turned into a ferret) and as far as I remember this is a very good recreation of the courtyard.

Mind you it\'s [i]only[/i] the courtyard, not a larger section of Hogwarts, so don\'t go expecting miracles. Actually you [i]can[/i] expect a miracle, because this map is more like a teaser of Smoke\'s work to come (featuring, supposedly, that much larger section of Hogwarts that I just mentioned).

Anyway, let\'s get into the nitty gritty. My overall thoughts on this map is that the architecture is all great (there\'s even a great use of caulking to keep surfaces from rendering if they won\'t be seen). I loved the windows, which look like the sky is reflecting off of them when you move, and there\'s even one of the famous moving paintings. As far as gameplay is concerned the courtyard is basically empty, save for the benches and statue in the center, so it should be a fairly playable map. There is a semi-open corridor circling the courtyard, so if you like a bit more cramped gameplay and/or some obstacles to deal with you can go hide over there.

The only real complaint I have about this map brings us back to those corridors. The lighting inside... I was a bit shocked, actually. It\'s clear that each corridor is lined with light entities that have no source. If the tell-tale round blobs of light weren\'t present I could have been convinced it was meant to be sunlight flooding in from the open archways, but... That needs some fixing, I feel. Maybe Smoke will take the opportunity to look at that when he\'s working on his bigger project. The lighting in the actual courtyard is fantastic, though, so it\'s probably a bit of a moot point in the field of \'enjoyability.\'

In short, this is a must-have for Harry Potter aficionados. It\'s a solid map all around so even folks who aren\'t into the book/film series might find themselves able to enjoy it.

[b]Bot Support[/b]: Yes
[b]New Models[/b]: No
[b]New Textures[/b]: Yes
[b]New Music[/b]: Yes

~Inyri