AQ2 Review: Winter by Pacman

Winter by Eric ‘Pacman’ Dubhorn
| Winter.zip | 2.1 Mb | Eric Dubhorn | Score: 4.8 | By Ellusion |

When you first stumble into Winter, you’re not quite sure if this is another failed attempt at creating a natural environment. It all feels a little awkward and stale, but after a while the surroundings grow on you and you feel more or less stuck out in a barren wasteland in the middle of winter. Which is good. A new and exciting style of environment can help a map a long way, and this is exactly what Winter has going for it.

Texturing [4.4]
There is no real surprises in Winter when it comes to the graphical execution, other than with the limited palette, the snow looks natural indeed. Snow covers every inch of ground which makes it a little repetitive in contrast to the lack of snow on the trees or other apparent places in which some clinging snow could have helped. Another issue is the brightness that all this snow creates in accordance with the bright winter sky. It has a blinding effect when playing that can easily play tricks on your eyes – Something like running headlong into and enemy with the sun in your eyes. I can’t decide if I feel this is good aspect or not; sometimes I can curse the bright shine on everything as it somewhat obscures the vision, but then again it does unconsciously add a lot to the whole winter impression. Snowblind is an effect that comes to mind and it does add to the overall, no doubt. One thing I noticed was the imaginative use of the standard Quake2 crystal mountain texture – it did add a sense of icy cold while still not carrying the “Stroggish” influence on it’s surroundings. All in all, a sufficient textured map, but could easily have been enhanced by more detail and diversity.

Ambience: [4.8]
Although the use of sound is limited, the modesty does well in adding to the overall feel rather than distract from it. The trickling water from the rivers does well in creating an ambient sound and won’t distract you from hearing the other important sounds like footsteps and sniper scope shifts. The howling wind heard around the map is also done in the same fashion where it adds to the feel rather than annoy, a fine balance difficult to get right. Lighting is done simple and crude, with a bright overall level adding to the “snowblind” effect described above. It still leaves room for some shadows here and there, but not to a level where it can be used in any strategic play. The inside light in the few caves could maybe have been darker to complement this, but all in all the lighting of the map neither adds or detracts from the ambiance.

Creative Spark: [5.0]
The originality in this map rests solely on the well executed winter-scene which encompasses all but doesn’t add much of anything else. The crevice and cracks, outlying boulders and change in terrain is done in a uninspired way that serves the purpose of being there, but not much else. There is some distinguishable areas where more work has gone into the making, but it still could have been enhanced more in terms of the polycount the author has to go on. I’m not saying it carries a streak of boredom, but some elements have that simple feel to it like it was thrown in without much thought. The plus here is that Eric has shown that different times of year add something valuable to a map, and that a winter-scene like this can be done with success. I’m looking forward to other maps catching up to this and I expect Eric will be credited for showing just how it can be done.

Construction: [4.0]
Winter is a fast map with few areas of irritation that comes of poor map design. Polycount is more than well within acceptable counts, and the few spots that peek is out of the areas heavy on action. More often that not, this is a good aspect, but I feel the author was somewhat too restrictive in his quest to keep polycounts down, and that the overall design suffers from a somewhat simplicity that could have been greatly improved by “spending” more polys on making things look more detailed. Other aspects of the map construction however adds greatly to the fun of the map. The slippery ice on the river, and the various slopes makes moving around while fighting very fun, as you get a lot of “air-time” and speedy action. A grave error in the construction is the almost ever-present visibility blockouts in AQ maps that happen for 3DFX/GL users. This happens in large areas where the far side just disappears from view. Hugely irritating and one of the simplest errors in a map to fix. In my personal opinion this should never occur in maps, and authors who still insist on releasing maps with this present are just plain lazy. This was also the only point to really bring down the score for construction in this map.

Playability: [5.2]
Happy, happy, joy joy! Winter is a blast once you get to know it. Multiple routes and large areas with plenty of play-enhancing functions make this a furious piece of hot action to be enjoyed. I would guess it works better on public servers than in clan matches due to the openness, but well-functioning clans would just as easily adapt. Camper spots are near to non-existent which keeps the action at a steady flow, and although large, the map is nicely routed to bring the last two players together fairly quick. It’s also a joy to see that the different startc positions are well placed and never offers one team an advantage over the other. There’s also difficult to gain an immediate advantage here as both sides have full access the map from start. A somewhat rare aspect that does wonders for the playability in Winter. As to the DM aspect, it progresses in much the same style with fast furious action, though dominated by the usual mk23 fire.

6th Sense: [5.6]
Outright, this map is tons of fun! The constant fights taking place in the air is a real adrenaline kick. Often you can see players continuously jumping back and forth on the slopes like wacked out skateheads, firing at each other in the air, just for the great fun of it. The winner of the outcome is usually the first one to stop and take aim. The super fast way you can move around this map also adds a lot and the whole map just comes together with a kind of completeness I miss in the bulk of maps. Weapon balance is great, with no weapon dominating over the others. The sniper shots are harder to get in as things move so fast here, and spray bursts have more difficulty hitting as targets move as much up and down as sideways.

Final Score: [4.8]
[Ellusion] Clearly a map rising above most of the pile, a fine balance between playability, speed and construction. Nice looking and with a new ambiance and atmosphere that will hopefully inspire others. The downside is that it could have been so much more. Big kudos to Eric Dubhorn for putting honourable work into making a map stand out from the rest, and giving us another outlet for our adrenaline kicks.

[Oswald] Out of a raging blizzard rises Pacman’s map, Winter. It rises above the steel, concrete and cookie cutter maps we are so used to playing. This map is different from all the rest, as it combines design, lighting, ambiance and playabilty to create a well balanced feel. As you step into the icy setting, feel the chill run up your spine as you are ready to take on this fast, furious and fun map. Considering the difficult task at hand, trying to balance the map for game play was accomplished quite well in Winter. You get the sense of being in the cold and icy mountain setting. the jagged cliffs, towering arches and the slick, iced over river all create a realism which is difficult to simulate. What else is there to say? Except, where is the ferocious scream of the Tibetan Yeti?