[map] A New Cry

This is a a discussion topic for the map "A New Cry" by unknown which can be found here

Map description:

no description available

Map screenshots:

(Note: This map originally reviewed on 17/5/01)

This map, unfortunately, suffers from a number of problems which make it somewhat unplayable, which is a pity, as without it could be... well, average. First of all, there's no readme- maybe not essential to gaming, but it means I can't tell anything about what the author has done before or how much work he put into it. But after running around it briefly (reason why later), I've come to a few, more important conclusions.

First of all, he's obviously put a lot of effort into it. The author describes it as an "Ultra cool!! Post war environment. Underground communications base and military hanger," which is close enough to the truth (although it's a bit weirder than you may imagine) although there's a large outdoors section too. It's not the best looking/made map around; there's dodgy lighting and architecture throughout, but most of it won't get in the way. The map is set around a network of blue-lit bunkers, computer rooms and a large outdoors area. The "objective" to the map is to set off a nuke (in the same way as that's the point in crossfire), flee to the underground areas, and escape via some small pods which fire themselves away at the last moment. It's all done quite nicely- there's a large platform which slowly descends about 100 stories into a room with a stargate-style portal, and 5 escape pods on the other end which you can jump into and escape. However,

The r_speeds aren't too great either. Topside they often reach the 1000 w_poly mark, which usually isn't too much of a problem (still undesirable though), but it slows down my PC quite heavily. The same is also true in the main underground room, possibly due to all the computer panels on the walls and open layout.

But something that makes it even more unplayable than the r_speeds- the dreaded no free edicts problem, basically meaning the map is too large and there's too many entities for the Half-Life engine to handle. The last map to have this same problem was xevious; playing in single player mode (or even via normal deathmatch 1 in the console) would result in this error message whilst the map is still loading, and it would chuck you back to the desktop. It can be bypassed by starting up a LAN game; however, unlike xevious, the same problem returns in game and boots you out (possibly due to the game loading up all the weapon models that people pick up.) It will often happen when you have more than 4 people playing, which is well below the recommended minimum for this map. I tried playing this several times against people/bots, and if it didn't crash mid-game, then it would when the nuke goes off... so you're left with an average, buggy big-map, where, like in crossfire, people will get pissed off if anyone sets off the nuke.

From what few precious moments of playing it I had, if you can ignore the r_speeds and crashing problems, then you're faced with a huge map, which means plenty of wide open areas- and hiding places. To get the most out of this map you're going to need at least 8 players, which will crash the game quicker than a blind man in a Formula 1 car. But the main room underground does make for a fun experience- you can snipe from the roof, or rain fiery death from the platforms running around the sides. There's plenty of scope to do whatever you want from numerous platforms, and lots of detail to keep your attention whilst you're sitting bored waiting for someone to turn up (point and laugh at the scientist who got crushed under the caved-in roof! haha!). Weapon placement seemed fine, with more destructive items hidden away, but there is a bit of skimping on health/armour. Just as well, as it would have put more strain on the game! But the connectivity of the map isn't great; there's far too many aimless corridors leading to nowhere, and there's all sorts of weird errors- like doorways with odd clipping problems, or trigger_hurts in odd positions that will kill you (go within about 10ft of the laser fences, or try to jump over the gate...)

I feel sorry for the author- some of what he's got here seems to be well made; maybe he could cut out some of the unnecessary sections of the map so to get rid of the edicts problem and make it more fun to play. It's too ambitious (or you could say he's gone completely over the top!), and I'm afraid there are repercussions. I still don't understand how the edicts problem was overlooked, unless he only ever tested it against himself... but I'm afraid it's going to get a low score, simply because it's less playable than a dead animal/killbox level. Kudos to him for making a technically fairly impressive map, though.

Verdict

Far too ambitious- and pays the price.

(Note: This map originally reviewed on 17/5/01)

This map, unfortunately, suffers from a number of problems which make it somewhat unplayable, which is a pity, as without it could be... well, average. First of all, there's no readme- maybe not essential to gaming, but it means I can't tell anything about what the author has done before or how much work he put into it. But after running around it briefly (reason why later), I've come to a few, more important conclusions.

First of all, he's obviously put a lot of effort into it. The author describes it as an "Ultra cool!! Post war environment. Underground communications base and military hanger," which is close enough to the truth (although it's a bit weirder than you may imagine) although there's a large outdoors section too. It's not the best looking/made map around; there's dodgy lighting and architecture throughout, but most of it won't get in the way. The map is set around a network of blue-lit bunkers, computer rooms and a large outdoors area. The "objective" to the map is to set off a nuke (in the same way as that's the point in crossfire), flee to the underground areas, and escape via some small pods which fire themselves away at the last moment. It's all done quite nicely- there's a large platform which slowly descends about 100 stories into a room with a stargate-style portal, and 5 escape pods on the other end which you can jump into and escape. However,

The r_speeds aren't too great either. Topside they often reach the 1000 w_poly mark, which usually isn't too much of a problem (still undesirable though), but it slows down my PC quite heavily. The same is also true in the main underground room, possibly due to all the computer panels on the walls and open layout.

But something that makes it even more unplayable than the r_speeds- the dreaded no free edicts problem, basically meaning the map is too large and there's too many entities for the Half-Life engine to handle. The last map to have this same problem was xevious; playing in single player mode (or even via normal deathmatch 1 in the console) would result in this error message whilst the map is still loading, and it would chuck you back to the desktop. It can be bypassed by starting up a LAN game; however, unlike xevious, the same problem returns in game and boots you out (possibly due to the game loading up all the weapon models that people pick up.) It will often happen when you have more than 4 people playing, which is well below the recommended minimum for this map. I tried playing this several times against people/bots, and if it didn't crash mid-game, then it would when the nuke goes off... so you're left with an average, buggy big-map, where, like in crossfire, people will get pissed off if anyone sets off the nuke.

From what few precious moments of playing it I had, if you can ignore the r_speeds and crashing problems, then you're faced with a huge map, which means plenty of wide open areas- and hiding places. To get the most out of this map you're going to need at least 8 players, which will crash the game quicker than a blind man in a Formula 1 car. But the main room underground does make for a fun experience- you can snipe from the roof, or rain fiery death from the platforms running around the sides. There's plenty of scope to do whatever you want from numerous platforms, and lots of detail to keep your attention whilst you're sitting bored waiting for someone to turn up (point and laugh at the scientist who got crushed under the caved-in roof! haha!). Weapon placement seemed fine, with more destructive items hidden away, but there is a bit of skimping on health/armour. Just as well, as it would have put more strain on the game! But the connectivity of the map isn't great; there's far too many aimless corridors leading to nowhere, and there's all sorts of weird errors- like doorways with odd clipping problems, or trigger_hurts in odd positions that will kill you (go within about 10ft of the laser fences, or try to jump over the gate...)

I feel sorry for the author- some of what he's got here seems to be well made; maybe he could cut out some of the unnecessary sections of the map so to get rid of the edicts problem and make it more fun to play. It's too ambitious (or you could say he's gone completely over the top!), and I'm afraid there are repercussions. I still don't understand how the edicts problem was overlooked, unless he only ever tested it against himself... but I'm afraid it's going to get a low score, simply because it's less playable than a dead animal/killbox level. Kudos to him for making a technically fairly impressive map, though.

Design
Technically impressive, but I'm not sure about some of the lighting... there's also that edicts problem...

Gameplay
If you get a good fight going, then the game has a nasty tendency to crash. Pity, that.

Verdict
Far too ambitious- and pays the price.

Pros
Technically impressive

Design
Lighting, Too big for HL-engine

I suppose the idea is obvious of were it came from......

Anyone fancy giving a download link..it looks like he took the download down