Posted by tnkqwe on Mon Apr 9th 2007 at 8:38am

Nise map,but it isnt large

Posted by Leperous on Wed Sep 1st 2004 at 9:23pm

You know those strange, purple and green plastic enclosures that kids these days keep their Hamsters in? Playing this level must be a similar experience to what the furry little hell-spawn live through every day, with a bit more abstraction added in. It's not quite Cubism either, but it's getting there. Three rooms- with an upper level to each- are connected by a number of square tunnels lined with coloured magenta or cyan windows, and black framing. And there's a simple layout to go with, with tunnels leading from each room into ground and upper levels of the others. Throw in the odd shotgun and 9mmAR and bit of ammo, and that's the level for you. <br> <br>Now, Half-Life doesn't really do transparency very well, and it's a shame that you can't see through more than a couple of walls due to this and their high opacity. As you can probably guess, it's quite fun to play this 1-on-1, as you know where the other person is almost constantly and each fight is a duel rather than an ambush. It's not suited to many more players due to the lack of explosives and open spaces, and I for one would have liked to see more satchel charges. And with all the corners, the hornet gun, as ever, is a pain, though it is placed in a corridor intersection so you're unlikely to pick it up without being shot at. <br> <br>It is a good start to an idea, but you can't help feeling there could and should be more to this map- the odd prop to make it feel like a Rats! map, more vertical combat and perhaps some open air areas, more colours to make it look more vivid and artsy, etc.. The other main problem are the very high r_speeds- w_polys on average over 1000, reaching 2400- so watch out when there are more than a few players blowing things up! But for a simple, small map it doesn't do too badly. Now I just wish the original killbox author made this instead...<br /><br /><b>Verdict</b><br /><br />Know how Picasso's hamster felt.

Posted by Leperous on Wed Sep 1st 2004 at 9:23pm

You know those strange, purple and green plastic enclosures that kids these days keep their Hamsters in? Playing this level must be a similar experience to what the furry little hell-spawn live through every day, with a bit more abstraction added in. It's not quite Cubism either, but it's getting there. Three rooms- with an upper level to each- are connected by a number of square tunnels lined with coloured magenta or cyan windows, and black framing. And there's a simple layout to go with, with tunnels leading from each room into ground and upper levels of the others. Throw in the odd shotgun and 9mmAR and bit of ammo, and that's the level for you. <br> <br>Now, Half-Life doesn't really do transparency very well, and it's a shame that you can't see through more than a couple of walls due to this and their high opacity. As you can probably guess, it's quite fun to play this 1-on-1, as you know where the other person is almost constantly and each fight is a duel rather than an ambush. It's not suited to many more players due to the lack of explosives and open spaces, and I for one would have liked to see more satchel charges. And with all the corners, the hornet gun, as ever, is a pain, though it is placed in a corridor intersection so you're unlikely to pick it up without being shot at. <br> <br>It is a good start to an idea, but you can't help feeling there could and should be more to this map- the odd prop to make it feel like a Rats! map, more vertical combat and perhaps some open air areas, more colours to make it look more vivid and artsy, etc.. The other main problem are the very high r_speeds- w_polys on average over 1000, reaching 2400- so watch out when there are more than a few players blowing things up! But for a simple, small map it doesn't do too badly. Now I just wish the original killbox author made this instead...

Design
Square, coloured corridors linking several square rooms... Fairly blocky, but that's the idea.

Gameplay
Small, 1vs1 battles are the best, mainly due to the transparent walls.

Verdict
Know how Picasso's hamster felt.

Pros
Transparent walls

Design
Very high r_speeds