Imperial Base Beta (Second Release)

Description
Those of you familiar with earlier maps will certainly remember Delinquent's [url=http://starwarsbattlefront.filefront.com/file/Imperial_Base_Beta_Version;79418x#1245077]Imperial Base Beta[/url], which is (as the name suggests) a map set inside an Imperial base. This is an update to that (albeit a small update) which fixes a couple minor things.

Even though the changes are minor, since the first version didn't get a proper review (and since I like reviewing polished maps because I don't have to be all "change the sky hurr hurr"), I'll go ahead and write up a full review.

The good (of which there is a lot) starts and is dominated by the object placement. One of the things Delinquent does well is use stock assets to great effect - here they are melded together (and retextured, which is important) to create the feel of the inside of a large Imperial base. While most of the battle takes place in the large, open hangar areas, the best work is probably done in the large corridor(s) that run between the two halves of the hangar. It's not easy to mix-and-match tunnel or corridor pieces from different maps, but it's done well here and it should be a great example of "how to do it right."

The sides were also well-done, aside from the missing localization on some of the new weapons. They look pretty nice and, more importantly, were set-up well with different sounds to match the new weapons (even if they were recycled stock sounds).

The bad (which consists mostly of minor quibbles) were these: the view distance and the darkness. The first issue I had was with the fact that, when in the hangar, I could see the sky through the hangar. Yes, I do usually play at my default settings (LOD 50 instead of 99), but I think it's important to have the map set up to work ok on all settings (especially the default). This might have been averted if the sky were a darker sky, or if the view distance had been increased (in the sky file), or if the distance fog were darker. The second issue was the lighting in the map. On most of the map, it worked well, but in some places (notably the corridors) it was hard to tell where I should be going.

In any case, it's a great map, and if you haven't played the first version you should definitely try it out. If you have the first version, you won't really find a lot different here, but I suppose you can download it anyway as a refresher.

-Mav