#1

I thought I'd starte a little subcategory to keep you nigs entertained. As I'm very much into mapping and map testing, I thought I'd tell you a little about maps that do not get the respect and the public attention they should get (ranging from few to no servers at all) which is very sad because all the effort that went into them is wasted by an ignorant community of idiots who somehow all seem to enjoy dust... I'll here review beta maps, custom maps and even official maps that go less played than they should.

The Map I will review today is de_fang by Jo Bieg aka Meeedic, the German Mapper who is also responsible for nuke.
As a quick note here, I'd like to embed images but NG disallows it, I have to go with links. I should get a real blogging site for this, any reccomendations?

De_fang, as said before, was made by Jo Bieg, the same mapper who is responsible for nuke. The Map appeared in beta 6.0 and was already gone in beta 6.5 again, most likely caused by the fact that its complex layout with a lot of different floors and a shitload of roofs and passages you can go to by using your teammates as stepladders. The first time I wandered through the map, I couldn't even find the bombspots before the time ran out. Apart from the overall complexity of the map, this is caused by two facts:
1.The bombspots aren't at very central positions; There is one central Spot, and the bombspots lay aside in some crammed indoor spaces where you wouldn't except the bombspot to be.
2.There is absolutely no signage in that map. With previously mentioned crammed indoor spaces, there are also entrances where you wouldn't except bombspots to be on the other side.
[ http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/549 /33162908zj9.png | The T side of the central Point. BS A to the left, BS B to the right ]
[ http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/44/
16674552to2.png | And the CT side of the Central Point ]
[ http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/3452/
59008956dp5.png | Would you believe there's a bombspot on the other side? ]
[ http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/914 7/35837819ta8.png | Crammed Indoor Spot I. Also Notice that big red steel door. I smell Déjá Vu ]
[ http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/991 8/10dd2.png | Bombspot B is even easier to find! ]

Of course, fewest of persons that just want to play a quick round of shooting the opposing team won't take their time exploring the whole map. You can simply change to a de_dust server. It is sad, because with its little twists and turns, for its time it looks very good. Of course, it can't compete to modern day awesome CS 1.6 maps (such as de_volare, cs_rio, cs_highsociety or cs_bikini, all will be covered eventually too) but, it is still an impressive look compared to the (almost left unchanged) dust. That brings me to the next subject:

APPEARANCE:
De_fang's setting is not entirely clear. It's most likely a russian military base where nukes are stored, at least you have to blow a rocket up. For a military base, it has nice and very fitting custom (YEP. no hl.wad) Textures that go together with eachother very well. The indoor spaces look kind of empty though, there could be a little more in them. It's dark and it has a very nice gloomy atmosphere. It has got some sounds, although I'm sure there could be more. (cs_bunker (that will get a review too) does a very nice Job there) On the flipside, it's dark and silent, but some crickets may do a nice job there.
In terms of performance, even though the partially long sightlines, it has got good r_speeds, with only one spot being over the top. The hardware got better today so this shouldn't be the problem.

GAMEPLAY:
The layout appears to be thought up very well with as mentioned before: Many Routes, Many Roofs [ http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/498 /42545971ix8.png | One of the many roofs you can go on using an alternative route ], Many Places accesible by teammates as stepladders. [ http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/353 0/94097790na0.png | using your Teammates as Stepladders will get you up to another path to Bombspot A ] At the T-spawn there is anoter route which leads into a dead end but lets you harras, kill or scout out some CTs. (To be more exact, a fence. Remember that Rifle Ammo goes through thin walls) [ http://img395.imageshack.us/my.php?ima ge=29639362if6.png | Usually, you will meet some CTs there ]
With the overall size of the map, coupled with so many routes a large number of players is essential. I could imagine this map working very well in 10vs10 or so Clanwars as it leaves you a shitload of tactical options. (Use the Main Route/Use the Tunnels/Assist my team by killing CTs through that fence/Using one of the many Alternate Routes)
Once you learn the map, it becomes very nice.

Overall I'd reccomend paying it a visit:

http://www.fpsbanana.com/maps/1426

If you lack some wads or so, google them.

Also, I hope further installments of this Blog Series will take less effort :D
Comment this shit, it took me long time.