Jedis School

Description
Sometimes I have to ask why an author bothers to release their work at it's current level of progress. This is one of those times. Apparently, the reason is because, and I quote, "I want the name, thats all". But, of all the reasons to release a map before it's ready... well, let's just say that's the most "unique" reason I've ever heard, and I don't mean "unique" in a particularly positive way, but more in a "Er... OK..." way.

Now, reserving names is all well and good - if you're playing an MMORPG, that is. With a map, there's really no such thing as "name reservation", so really this release is pretty much pointless. It really shouldn't have been released until it was ready. That's just the way it is.

Anyway, what does this map consist of, you ask?

A room containing a glass box, with two goals inside and a bunch of seats. Two buttons are also near the glass box, however they do nothing.

There's a few hallways, one leading outside and another leading to a room which is for... something. Outside, there's just some flat green that drops off into the Bespin skybox.

That's it.

Now, I'm not going to bother giving any judgement, because due to the unfinished nature of this map it would be a pretty dirty tactic. However, I will offer the author some advice:

- Ditch the skybox. The Bespin skybox is good for nothing but Bespin, and therefore no one should be using it in any custom map, unless it's Bespin-themed. Even then, they shouldn't use it and should opt for custom, because Raven's Bespin skybox is utterly [i]terrible[/i].

- Disguise the edge of the map. Just having land mysteriously end is never a good thing, and it detracts from your map's appeal. Cover it up with walls, terrain, trees, whatever - but your map will look a lot better if you disguise it.

- Architecture. Use some. Boxes are all well and good, but they don't really give your map any edge over.... well.... anything. If people wanted to run around a box, then I daresay they'd play DooM. Learning how to create architecture will improve your map by endless bounds - the Quake 3 engine, as primitive and outdated as it is, is still capable of rendering more than just boxes - utilise the engine's capabilities, and you'll find that not only do the results of your modding improve drastically, but you'll also have a lot more fun in the process.

- Gameplay. As pretty as you want your map to look, [i]never[/i] compromise gameplay. A map that isn't much good for actual gameplay is a bad map. Yeah, sure, it can probably be used by RP groups, but they shouldn't even be on an FPS if they want to roleplay since it's an entirely different platform and they're just depriving themselves of a satisfying game experience. Jedi Academy is a first-person shooter/platformer hybrid, and even when not played as those types of games, it still follows similar gameflow dynamic. If you want to get anywhere in the mapping world, learn to not only make your maps look good but also play good. People don't play games to walk around a 3D art gallery, after all.

Well, my judgement is reserved. My biggest piece of advice to the author is to finish something before you release it. This doesn't even qualify as a BETA version.

I'll be happy to pass some fair judgement on your map once it's finished, but until then... keep at it.

~ Kouen