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Tronyn reviews: The Tomb of Chak Toh Ich’ak by Trinca

 

This is a large map in a somewhat unusual theme: a Mayan city. Using Rogue textures, the map is centered around a courtyard which contains a sort of hollow ziggurat. The rest of the city is basically split up between rather plain hallways, and nicer looking subterranean temple rooms. There are also a couple of side-courtyards. Unfortunately, detail is generally lacking throughout, so that only a few side areas (the aforementioned temple rooms) look really good. Aside from the “lava-torches” (a cool an inventive idea to be sure), almost all the light comes from minlight, so that the many indoor areas are blandly and uniformly lit. There is not a lot of texture diversity either, the end result of all of this being that much of the map looks the same (with the exception of the central courtyard). The architecture is good in places, with curving walls and some use of angles, but on the whole I’d say more trim, variety of colour and style and lighting was needed.

 

The layout is better than the looks; it is complex and three dimensional, although with many indoor/underground passages you can’t always tell where you are in relation to the rest of the map. More texture diversity, details such as signs or titles for areas (“the tomb of X,” “the fountain of Y,” etc) might have helped this. There is some tough combat with hordes of hell knights and ogres, but the most dangerous parts are generally the fiend ambushes, which are well done. There are even larger mixed hordes in some of the showdown rooms, where vores make it important to keep moving. The finale is fairly dramatic, so that you are getting a constant challenge. Actually, the whole map is in some ways comparable to the Tower of Dal Gurak, another large-scale map with a constant challenge and a similar reliance on scale over detail.

Definitely worth playing, but in some ways quite limited.

Overall Score: 14/20


21 Responses to “Tronyn reviews: The Tomb of Chak Toh Ich’ak by Trinca”

  1. Trinca Says:
    25.05.2009 00:43

    “almost all the light comes from minlight”

    errr you are wrong…

  2. haha Says:
    25.05.2009 15:04

    trinca < madfox :D

  3. Tronyn Says:
    25.05.2009 20:23

    well then how about “much of the architecture that can be seen, can be seen because of minlight,” or more simply, “the lighting is too uniform.”
    Personal taste here as always.

  4. Trinca Says:
    25.05.2009 23:35

    ok then :p

  5. gb Says:
    26.05.2009 22:04

    In my opinion, the looks of this map are an example of tasteful restraint. I am thankful that my eyes aren’t bombarded with colors, details, and several layers of trim, or textures from three different sets, or black splotches sticking in corners (ugh!), or an abundance of light sources. It looks very calm and restrained, and very solemn, very grown up, which I appreciate.

  6. Trinca Says:
    27.05.2009 07:45

    thanks gb, Tronyn i dont think map is that bad in lights :\ the repetitive textures is normal because i wanted to make like this… gameplay yes might be bored… anyway thanks for the review! keep the good work

    big hug tron :)

  7. Tronyn Says:
    28.05.2009 17:36

    yeah kudos on trying a fairly unique theme – now make a sequel with more of those Mayan Hexen II textures, and get Madfox to port you the Werejaguars!

  8. Trinca Says:
    28.05.2009 22:30

    dont worry tronyn u will not review anything more from me…

    peace, you go map!

  9. Tronyn Says:
    28.05.2009 23:29

    dammit read some nietzsche before emo-quitting
    (lol sry)
    and yeah I should have some new stuff out soonish, maps these days (as you know, having increased your own maps in size and complexity) take a lot longer than they used to.
    anyway peace

  10. spy Says:
    29.05.2009 05:44

    >dont worry tronyn u will not review anything more from me…

    trinca, why, don’t you gonna to quit?

  11. Spirit Says:
    29.05.2009 11:18

    Oh Trinca, you wimp! :P

    The lighting of tchak IS rather monotone. Still it is a fun map.

  12. Anonymous Says:
    29.05.2009 17:18

    Spirit no stress, I was promoted in my job i get home later and have no time
    to map :\

    P.s-> and i still hate the pic you put in tchak.xml, bad propaganda :(

  13. Spirit Says:
    29.05.2009 17:59

    Just send me a better one! 1024×768, no hud. I’m just too lazy to make a better one myself. :P

  14. Anonymous Says:
    01.06.2009 14:45

    i had a config for screenshots but i lost it :\ can u sent me?

  15. RickyT23 Says:
    01.06.2009 16:58

    just type “bind p screenshot” then “fov 110″ then “r_drawviewmodel 0″ then leave the console and press + a couple of times. Then type “kill” then “notarget” then “noclip”. Position yourself and press “p”

    See – Easy!!!!

  16. Spirit Says:
    01.06.2009 20:08

    alias screenshot_on “r_drawviewmodel 0;crosshair 0;viewsize 120;fov 100;showtime 0;showdate 0;showfps 0;bind q screenshot_off”
    alias screenshot_off “r_drawviewmodel 1;crosshair 1;viewsize 100;fov 100;showtime 1;showdate 1;showfps 1;bind q screenshot_on”
    bind q screenshot_on

    Then press q and make a shot.

  17. spy Says:
    03.06.2009 15:35

    >[quote]Then type “kill” then “notarget” then “noclip”.[/quote]

    :))))

  18. Trinca Says:
    06.06.2009 01:21

    the name is incorrect!!! dont call name to a old Maya King :)

    “the tomb of chak toh ich´ak”

    Chak not Chat ;)

    Chat go to irc, hehe

  19. Spirit Says:
    06.06.2009 11:06

    Oops, my fault. Fixed!

  20. Trinca Says:
    09.06.2009 14:43

    thanks ;) maby in 2011 i might finish the map that i have in progress… at least I hope ~:\

    Inspiration is comming slow again… but is comming! :)

  21. Trinca Says:
    09.06.2009 23:08

    Inspiration is comming again… slow but is comming! :)

    sentence correction :\

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