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Saturday 3rd July 1999:

Czg01:"Research Facility"
(Size: 1.00 meg. Alternative downloads: Czg01 / Czg01)


As a break from all the more unusual map styles ATM, here is a base map done in a fairly standard Id style. Well, sort of - it blends in heavy metal touches and plenty of outdoor sections and caverns, to produce an interesting and dirverse base map. A bit too diverse in places though, as some styles don't match up that well, often due to the texturing, and look a bit thrown together. This doesn't affect the theme too badly though, as it's all definitely a futuristic base, but a bit more consistency would be nice. Architecture varies throughout, from okay to excellent. Particularly good touches are the arching start teleporter, the collapsed bridges in the caverns, and other "ruined" details. The outdoor sections and general look of the caverns are pretty good too, with good textures. Elsewhere there are some decent rooms and building fronts, but also some dull areas and plain corridors that seem to just be there to connect the better areas. There are also a few nice details such as pipes, curving stairs and fancy lights in places. A couple of niggles I saw were some areas that looked "fullbright" despite obvious lights, and some minor but noticable HOM. The architecture is often good in this map, but the lighting, textures and theme need some work.

Exploration is quite good too - there are some non-linear route choices near the start, and the cavern area gives a great sense of progression as you negotiate the destroyed sections. In particular, one section with a stuck door has an excellent route to progress, though could confuse some people, and there are some very clever secrets in a warehouse section - nice. Gameplay, well the author describes it as "way too easy", but that's not so. It's quite normal difficulty for a base level - and does include the "normal" feature of being hard to start and easier to finish! The general gameplay style is gang attacks: you'll move through some empty areas, then face a gang of Grunts or Enforcers. Quite fun, as you can mow them all down or retreat if needed - though near the start of the map, the lack of health can make it quite tricky. Later on, with better weapons and armour it gets easier, though there still isn't much health, so it's not a walkover. There are some rather empty areas though, where more enemy would be good to keep the combat flowing. At the end there is a good surprise with non-base enemy, but the Thunderbolt makes the very end easy, though it's amusing and the actual exit is a cool feature. A good interesting map, recommended as a more diverse base map.

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