Pirates CTF

Description
Well well! I was very pleasantly surprised to see this map in the waiting list. A couple of months ago I reviewed the previous, JK2 version of this map; [file=89369]Cjs Pirates[/file]. Personally I liked that map, it was a very interesting and new idea for a CTF map.

Now MageC brings us a new version of the map, this time for JKA. So lets have a look around!

As last time, this is a pirate themed CTF map and takes the form of a large lake with the buildings housing the flags at each end. Once again each team has its own pirate ship to board, subtly colour co-ordinated so each team knows which is its ship, a feature I thought was well done here.

[b]Now, let’s move onto the pro’s:[/b]

This map has been [i]hugely[/i] improved over the last version. MageC’s skills have improved a lot! For example; the pirate ships themselves now look absolutely fantastic. They are much more accurate to what a real pirate galley would look like. They have new rigging and sails, a new area for the ‘captain’ so sit, a poop deck complete with ships wheel and a large under deck area where you can hide once you have captured the other teams flag! ;)

Perhaps the part of the ships I was most impressed with was the bow (front end). There is some fantastic patch-work here, the bow now looks flowing and smooth, and has been very well shaped. Overall the ships look fantastic, and very realistic in their shape. Like I said, I was also impressed with the colour co-ordination of the ships to each team. The red and blue colours don’t hit you in the face, they are subtly done, which looks very good.

The buildings at each end of the lake have also been given a makeover, the architecture now looks better on the main buildings, and the small courtyards infront along with the walls and piers also look much better now.

There is only one door into the buildings, but from there you have a choice of 3 routs to the room where the flag is kept. You can either try the full frontal assault, or you can go through either of the two side passages, if you want to try something a little sneakier. However, before you get into the flag room, both of the side passages first lead to a large room on each side with what looks like a grandstand and some kind of battle area in the middle. This could lead to some interesting battles on your way to the flag room, but I suspect the main purpose behind these rooms is for clans to use them because of their construction.

Another big plus over the last version, is that the ships are now controllable. By pressing the use button on the ships wheel, or the small mast right at the rear of the poop deck, you can move the ship backwards or forwards. And no, that isn’t what you might think it is, :P the poop deck is basically the top deck of the ship, on top of the captains cabin, where the ships wheel is.

Last time around the ships were on a set course, so if you missed your ship when it departed, you would have to stand your ground at the enemy’s base till it came back. Now however you can hop onto your teams ship and sail off whenever you need to!

[b]As with all maps, there are some things to be improved upon here, so lets move onto the con’s:[/b]

Personally I still feel that the architecture of the main buildings at either end of the map could be improved. Some more pillars, or like I said last time, making the windows 3D instead of 2D textures would help improve the look and feel of the buildings. At the moment they look ok, but there just isn’t enough detail on them I feel.

The main thing I think could be improved upon though is the size of the lake dividing the two flag bases. It seems to be a lot smaller than it was in the previous JK2 version, and considering that the ships are bigger in this new version, I feel the lake here should have been much bigger. Also, like last time, there doesn’t seem to be any way of climbing out of the water back onto dry land, if you fall overboard (or are forced to walk the plank! :P). This could be a problem since unless the players used the /kill command in the console and respawn, they wouldn’t be able to get back to dry land.

Lastly, I must say that I am rather disappointed that the author didn’t include the same Pirates of the Caribbean music that was on the previous JK2 version, since that fitted the theme of the map so well!

This map is still a Beta however, so im sure it will improve even further when it comes to its full release!

All in all though an excellent CTF map here which should provide many interesting battles! MageC’s skills have improved much since he released the previous JK2 version of this map, so I look forward to seeing more work from him! :)

[b]Bot Support:[/b] No
[b]New Textures:[/b] Yes
[b]New Sounds:[/b] No
[b]New Music:[/b] No
[b]Game Types:[/b] FFA, CTF

~Nozyspy~