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Description
Since this is more an extension than a complete new version, I\'ll quote the prior review.

[quote]Clan maps, something few reviewers like having to work with, simply because they\'re usually built to specific personal standards as opposed to general-purpose standards. For instance, while I\'m sure this map fits the clan\'s purposes quite well, I\'m not judging by a \"good enough to use\" standard and thus see flaws which may or may not bother the clan.

Biggest problem I tweaked to is visual styling. A lot of things could have been done much better, architecturally and in the way of decals. You\'ll notice much of the map consists of hollow cuboids for buildings/rooms with no specific features for variation, and that cuboids are almost exclusively used to build the map. The brush count thus is likely to be extremely low, which means the author has a lot of room to add extra detail, which I\'d advise doing. It\'s one thing to work well, but if it looks good, that\'s just double the fun. Kinda like double choc chip cookies. wink

The texture usage overall is basic, but effective. The Bespin theme is used, and for all it\'s elegance, there\'s little that can really be done with said theme. What isn\'t used, it appears, is the Surface Inspector. When applying textures to surfaces that aren\'t the same size and/or angle as the texture, this tool is a mapper\'s best friend; it would have certainly fixed those doors up right. Also, the stretching on the beds in the hotel, to me it looks like the surface inspector has been used, but it\'s set the textures to incorrect proportions, resulting in a \"warp\" pattern. Lighting is mostly fine, usually rather obvious that entity lights have been used but at least they\'re sourced, but I\'m going to have to gripe at the bar - Austin Powers would probably feel right at home in there. Little too psychedelic Sixties, if ya catch my drift. embarrasment

Visual stylings aside, the layout works rather well. It\'s smooth, fluid, and while it may be linear there\'s no puzzles on getting from A to B. I did like the hovertrain - func_train entities are under-used if you ask me. One thing stopping this map from being used in normal gameplay is the armory. All the pickups are located in there, which cancels out the map\'s usage for general purpose FFA gameplay, so it really is just a hangout map rather than a serious FFA map. Admittedly I chuckled at seeing a building site in the location of a not-yet-constructed area.[/quote]

Now, what\'s new, you ask?

Well, for starters there\'s a new building next to the construction site. Included is a swimming pool, which aside from using that horrid baseJK2 water shader, is straightforward enough. Several button-activated doors have been added on the upper level. The lighting in the bar isn\'t as psychedelic now, although it\'s still very very blue (da ba dee). The DDDR (Dance Dance Duel Room - I kid you not!) has rainbow colored disco lights, and there\'s a suicide button added in the freezer duel room. The missing texture troubles have been fixed, the cable car now has a second counterpart going on a parallel course, and various minor details have been changed. Everything else is mostly as it was before.

There\'s a new secret room, too - a rather psychedelic battlefield-style area. Don\'t know if y\'all found the trampoline secret room in the last version, but there\'s now a diner there too. The private jet now has a bathroom and a minibar, as well as the Raven\'s Claw hovering nearby (you can\'t see it, though, due to the angle). The beds in the hotel rooms have been changed, and while they\'re still not perfect, they\'re much improved over the last version. Each room also now has a desk and computer.

All in all a relatively decent improvement over the prior release, although there are still some issues. First and foremost are scaling issues - you can\'t fail to notice that some elements have been constructed with no thoughts given to scale. [i]HINT: Use info_player_deathmatch entities as a scaling guide, as they are roughly the same size as the player.[/i]

Other than that is the lighting, it\'s all rather strong, and unsourced. Try and create sources for your light rather than just plopping entities in there; your map will look more seamless and immersive. Shader lights are also very good friends if used properly.

Generally, just don\'t be afraid to experiment with your architecture and texture usage, Ruki. Experimentation breeds innovation, so breaking the mould is something we should all aim to do.

If anyone has been using the prior version, upgrade. Totally. Bug fixes and added content, who can find fault?

By the way, Inyri, we\'re still waiting on that Gulfstream!

~Kouen


[b]Bot Routing:[/b] No
[b]Custom Textures:[/b] No
[b]Custom Meshes:[/b] No
[b]Custom Music:[/b] No