bloodsport - virgil the doom poet

Filename: ctf_blod.zip

File size: 4.78MB

Author: Virgil the Doom Poet

Homepage: www.geocities.com/virgil_32_0

Other work: Dark Castle, Ash to Ash, ADSPP

I seem to be completely inundated with work other than reviews these days,
but I've made a special effort to review this fantastic level set.
This is a Capture the Flag level set made for Skull Tag
as made by that detail and scale master, Virgil (whose previous WADs
have featured here on this very site). As far as construction goes,
these levels are very well done, with no spots where you can get
stuck or any oversights such as this.

I've not had a chance to play this in proper CTF mode, but I've had
a bit of a knockabout with bots instead (which BTW may slow down your
machine incredibly if it's not like a 700MHz Athlon, which mine is.)
I've come to the conclusion that these levels are better suited to
human players, who are not as dumb-arsed as those bots. (grins)
Especially as there are a number of obstacles and such that bots
may not be able to navigate. Another oddity is that on map05, "Forlorn
CTF" and map06, "Beelzebub Stadium", the CTF sides are non-identical.
This may seem insignificant to those who don't play CTF, but identical
sides are needed for balanced gameplay. And balanced gameplay is
essential for those who wish to actually have a fair game. I've
not actually tested it in CTF, but that is a niggling suspicion
I have about it.



No bugs. What do you expect? It's Virgil, for heaven's sake!

Well, yes, aesthetics! Another aspect of these maps that is very
strong. There's a lot of new textures here, the sheer volume
of which can account for the large file size. (Perhaps Virgil should
have checked the texures being used in the maps and then used only those
ones? Easily done, just use DEUTEX -usedtex xxx.wad > file and it gives you
a full report on the textures used. Marvellous! :) Aaanyway, back to
the aesthetics. These are really good, as you can see from the pictures,
with the schemes in the six levels ranging from deathbase, to space station,
to the ultimate in hell's games -- Beelzebub Stadium!!!!!
Sorry about that, just got carried away there. :)

Yep, thing placement well done too. Note the use of specialised CTF powerups.

verdict