Pandemonium by rilkean panther on July 6, 2001

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Capture the Flag Lush Storming Bots Client Side

This is my first mapping effort, and tribute to T1--the champion of vid games challenged only by its predecessor. Some of it's critics have compared it to Stonehenge and Obfuscation, for potential gameplay if not for likeness. "Pandemonium," a coinage from John Milton's 'Paradise Lost' means "All Demons" and is the place where Satan and his angels plotted numerous futile attempts to regain paradise. If I have succeeded in any way, war should be hell in Pandemonium. The readme has full details including information on background and BOT support, among other things. As always, I welcome your criticism and hope that you enjoy my work. Thanks!

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by v5planet on July 6, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Pandemonium is a simple map. But simple is not bad. And in the case of most simple maps, it goes to help the gameplay. For a first map this is very impressive, and Rilke has obviously learned from the mistakes of others. All too many first maps are clutteredin thousands upon thousands of interior objects, as though the creator got overambitious in his/her work (this includes my first map too =P ).

The spread on the interiors really forces teamwork. I like how that's set up. The main base (the only place with inv stations) is far from the flag, and defenders had better hurry to get down there with remote inv stations and the like because the turrets really don't help a whole lot. The turret placement really seemed bad to me..I'm not sure if that was intentional to force people to defend the flags or not, but here's how it works: There's a rocket turret in front of the flag, and a plasma one behind. The rocket turret is easy enough to avoid by not flying, and the plasma turret will never hit you unless you come from behind the flag stand (it's too far back IMO).

The items spread throughout the map are a good idea, especially considering the distance between inv stations and the flag. Anyone that needs more ammo can find the essentials nearby in the event that a remote inv station is not available.

I think the atmosphere needs a litle bit of work though. I loved the particle emitters you used, especially the ones for the burning tree. It was realistically smoldering, without causing too much lag (which is something I find particle emitters in other maps tend to do a lot). Maybe a few more burning trees would really help spice up the atmosphere of the map. As well, maybe you could make the fog have a slightly reddish/burgandy tint to give it a more "hell on earth, firestorm" feel to it. Maybe a couple trees from the Diamond Sword collection would be a nice addition too (they're all crispy and pre-burnt).

The bot suport, which others have raved about, I found not to be too impressive. Granted, it's much better than most custom map bot support, but I still found the bots doing stupid things like standing in one place the whole time, but for the most part it was acceptable quality. Don't mind my ranting on this particular issue - I hate bots, but I wanted to experience the map with more players. And I experienced something very fun. This map is great for anyone that would love a map with the same type of gameplay as Quagmire (minus the water, of course) or Tombstone in a more simplified and exciting atmosphere. I could see this map getting very intense with a lot of people.
Good work; very commendable for a first map.

by ShadowNC on July 7, 2001 · Rating:
Action

This is what we need more of dammit!! Excellent attention to detail and it looks like it will be a blast to play online. Good Job Dude :)

by DarkFame on July 7, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Very simple built up map. Just a few structures and a undefended flagstand.
If you like fastcapping maps, this is a map for you. Trust me! :) The defense has a really hard task in front of them defending the flag, as it's open to cap in any direction. You won't notice the turrets much, except if you jet in the AA might track you down. The burning (or should I say smoking?) tree is a nice feature, but it drops the fps by 10-15 fps when looking at it from the "right" direction. I guess those Voodoo'ers will have a hard time with that one. ;) But I've seen other maps eating much more fps than that, due to overuse of such effects. But it sure helps on the atmosphere on this map. :)

by Drought on July 7, 2001 · Rating:
Action

This map ownz. It provided us with some hardcore battles! I don't particularly like the fog but it clearly fits a purpose. Obviously Rilk had the player fun factor in mind, Great Job! Looking forward to your next effort.

by Phat_man on July 12, 2001 · Rating:
Action

I thought this map was ok, but I found it hard to fully enjoy this map. I have a lower end computer so every time I looked at the tree my game frooze for 5-10 seconds. Because of this it kinda left a sour experiance in my mouth, the turret placement could be better, other than that I wuold recommend this map if you have a higher end computer.

by Swan on July 12, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Simoom and Obfuscation were my favorite maps in T1. This map reminds me a lot of those. And bots make any map infinitely better, imo. gj rilk.

by Chrisaveli on July 12, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Great map, and a great design. Kind of brings you back to the t1 days of the quick caps. Talking to a girl right now so can't really think, just a good map, get it! :)

by Salieri on July 13, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Great fast paced map. I'm not really one to judge the fast paced map! As my own maps show, I like my maps hard fought to the bitter end! But this one has great attention to detail and a great layout for the fast cap, and the prevention of the 'turtle.' I know more than a few people who will love to cap on this map, and play on it. I hope to see it on custom map servers soon!

Keep up the good work..

by KnightWolf on July 13, 2001 · Rating:
Action

This map has THE one thing that's important (to me anyway) -- GAMEPLAY!! I see so many maps (here and from Dynamix) that sacrifice gameplay to look cool or have a gimick.

Well, this map is what the game is all about -- very solid gameplay.

Can't wait for your next one!

by Crunchy on July 22, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Very nice map for a first effort, looks like it will play very fast and furious just like the T1 days :). I especially like the clever use of particle emmiters, the turret covers look awsum. The burning tree does give bad fps unfortunately, looks cool though.

I don't think the turret placements are too bad. The rocket was fireing at me when I was attempting fast runs through. The plasma is perhaps a little too far back, but with an AA turret it will chew players up that are skiing fast past it. You don't always want to place the best turret barrels up as default, you want to give the teams room for tactics.

That strange moan gives me the creeps :). Good stuff.

by animalother on July 24, 2001 · Rating:
Action

This map offers a lot of fun gameplay and the terrain design ain't too shabby as well. the burning tree is a great touch I think though my friends P3 64meg computer lagged a LOT whenever he looked at it. the turrets look awsome and are placed in great spots. Overall a nice map and I would like to see more out of you.

by Sir Lucius on August 7, 2001 · Rating:
Action

I hate this map. I don't think the flag should be outside, it promotes too much cowboy. Also add 10 more turrets and a vehicle station and make the bases 2000m apart and put the flag in a underground bunker protected by 20 sentry turrets. [/sarcasm]

3 you rilk :D

by TseTse on September 8, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Well, when I first looked at this map, I couldn't figure out what all the hooplah was about (never played T1). Very simple, foggy, gloomy, wet map with no major structures. Hmmm. Wow, but that's a really cool lookin burnin tree! This map is really classic in its simplicity. Nothing particularly original, just damn fun CTF. Not many maps THIS simple deserve an A, but the attention to detail, all around the map, and the gameplay all manages to work really well. FPS is great, environment is really nice. I don't get the T1 reference, and assume that explains some of the frenzy about this map a bit. I can respect that, and can easily see this on all major CS rotations.

by Deathrider on October 7, 2001 · Rating:
Action

Awesome map, much fun. Reminds me of the T1 Map "Obfuscation" - one negative aspect tho, maybe one fixed turret too much.