IMPORTANT - Review of Maps for 2.5 release

[maul]

Okay people, I've heard the chatter amongst members and the general consensus is that crap custom maps should get the boot.
I say stop thinking and start acting.
I vote we construct an official sort of map reviewing process where only the best get put into map packs for download.
Alex can be the final judge of what gets in and what doesn't of course. But we should think about what we as the community can do to ensure the mod is as solid as possible...
So I hereby declare that any nominations for maps that need to be cut from map packs and maps that should stay (and maps that could be added) be discussed here. And I think this suits being here rather than the maps section because this refers to players preference rather than mapping as such.

Alrighty then... firstly is my review of the only custom maps so far that I believe should be included in a map pack.

KF-Swamp - 9.5/10
The terrain placement and statics are well paced without too much clutter so that its not impossible to navigate through the trees. The lighting provides the perfect spooky atmosphere, which combined with the fog effects makes seeing the shadowy figures stalking through the trees even more frightening.
If outside is too much you can hole up in the shanty, sealing the doors and holding them back using the gaps in the wood beside the doors. The trader is never too far away, as her own shack is in plain sight, however this does not seem to remove much from the gameplay as you are still too busy considering weapon choices for this open environment to notice. item placement is just right, not too many and definately not too little.
In short I'd say it was one of the greater of the custom maps.
Texturing is almost perfect, with only one small off-texture inside the shanty that is largely masked by the lighting anyway.

More reviews to come....

[kyben]

Nice review. ;D
Makes me wish I applied what people liked, into my later maps.

I like this reviewing idea, hopefully people sort out the good from the bad.

[maul]

Celotex Admin - 1/10
This level seemed like a practice with the editor more than anything else and it is a mystery why it is in the map-pack.
Very poor lighting, no ambient sounds, the scaling was extremely poor even though it is difficult to pull this off in Killing Floor. Also very poor texture choice. Tiny map.

Bunker - 5/10
This is an interesting sandbox themed war. Ambiance and atmosphere needs working on, as the textures and statics alone do not make it suitably involving. The terrain needs more smoothing, however is mostly well done.
There was also very limited places to explore, and the mapper saw fit to include some bug ridden versions of the UT2k4 weapons in one spare room.

City - 8/10
A very large map that takes a considerable amount of time to make it from one end to the other, and for this reason I would not recommend anything under the maximum players, to ensure that the proportion of specimens seems right for the level. Overall this was put together nicely. Perhaps some fog would have made it more complete, and the static placement seems excelent in some areas and rather sparse in others.
Also the zombie spawns needed to be worked on, an entire street just ends in an invisible wall and the same with a tunnel.

Crash - 5/10
The idea is certainly a nice one, and the set-up must be commended as it is a nicely intertwined one, however that is where the good things end.
The snow terrain looks terrible, is patchy and jagged. There is a serious lack of texture scaling and alignment within the main building and also a poor selection of textures at that.
The trader is not sealed off, which means weapons can be bought at any time. While this may sound cool it is in fact extremely awkward and dodgy. Nice ambient sounds, but definately not a top class level.

CityWide (all versions) - 4/10
This map is far too large for a Killing Floor map, and slows the game down considerably so that it seems that minutes pass between each specimen attack. The statics and texturing all seems basic, the atmosphere is there...but of course it feels very empty due to the waiting time between attacks. Lighting is very poor.

Colleseum - 0/10
This is what happens when people don't tell other people that they really aren't all that great at mapping. No offense meant to the mapper personally, however this is a poor quality product.

Desert - 3/10
This is a difficult theme to make a Killing Floor map in, especially considering the pace that is needed to make this game fun. Overall the textures were poorly aligned, the lighting was basic and minimal (even to the extent that you cannot see in some areas unless the gamma is screamingly high) and the layout was sparse and boring.

More review to follow

[guedes]

Yep KF swamp rules.
I havent tried all the new maps but i know some off them suck.
we must keep in mind it aint that easy to make maps.
The one i love is definatly THE HIVE but theres a bug (i think) when you try to get back to the train the only way out is closed.
lol maybe thats why its beta.
I love it becouse its the map from the movie AND it has the same Objective mode has the towers.
Its a great map lol and some of them are cool tooo i hope 2.5 has more of this and ppl play it more often lol.

[guedes]

Realy nice review . yha Colleseum sucked alot o.o (no desrespect for the mapper)
I saw you in my server WOOT
lol jk

[maul]

I just want to add that it may seem like I am a harsh reviewer, but in some cases I am being fairly generous. In my opinion a single really good quality map out-does a hundred dodgy ones, as if the atmosphere is just right the level can be so involving that it always is a pleasure to revisit it. Hence why the default four maps created by Alex have such long-lives, because they feel like hostile environments.

[manhunt0r]

my swamp opinion:

3/10 absolute noob map
way to small.
the gameplay doesnt use any of the objects on the map.
3 weapon/6 ammo pickups only - way to thin for 6 ppl.
u could remove all the statics except trees and it would still play the same as basically u just run on the flat terrain and shoot stuff, trying not to maneuver urself into a corner.
the house is completely useless to no small part due to the karma beds fucking players over.
the overall theme isnt bad but a bit ugly but athmospheric plus im always feeling like im in a box due to the map size

[kyben]

Is that the 2.11 Crash?
If your talking about the older one, its not even suppose to be played in 2.0. Someone made a mistake in adding it to the custom map list.

[guedes]

WOOT.
I think swamp is preety cool.
THe atmosfere makes the game Realistic.
A BOX ? i think its a good size and shape. the house COULD be bigger but its good anyways makes ppl out int he open and helps them not to stay inside and die -,- when FP come lol
And weapons pickup are perfect having more than 5 and less than 3 weapons pickups is bad 3 4 ot 5 is good depending how big the map is. you say itys a box ? then you got 3 weapons pickup =D.

[maul]

kyben said:

Is that the 2.11 Crash?
If your talking about the older one, its not even suppose to be played in 2.0. Someone made a mistake in adding it to the custom map list.

haha, in my opinion someone made a mistake by creating this map-pack by not actually taking a look at the maps before adding them.

[Protector]

why do we need this? If you dont like the map..then dont play it.

[RoBoT]

protector said:

why do we need this? If you dont like the map..then dont play it.

agreed

[manhunt0r]

yep fully agree

[Antigod]

One mans trash is another mans treasure. Although I admit I detest many of the custom maps, some ppl love em, the only way for a map pack creator to win is to include em all really!

[Alex]

antigod said:

One mans trash is another mans treasure. Although I admit I detest many of the custom maps, some ppl love em, the only way for a map pack creator to win is to include em all really!

Though that may be, it is kind of nice to think that there are maps that are superior to others.

Because , you know...there are.

If the reviews remain logical and unbiased, then they could be helpful to people trying to decide which maps to try first.