Droid Ball

I’m always glad when we get a new siege map in the inbox, now I’ve probably said this loads of times before, but when I first started playing JKA I practically played siege non stop! I absolutely love that gametype and I still play when I get some spare time. :D

Here we have a siege map, but a somewhat unconventional one. This isn’t your average siege map, with multiple objectives that one team must capture whilst the other tries to defend them. Like one of P!ngs previous siege maps Battle of Geonosis Siege(http://jediknight2.filefront.com/file/Battle_of_Geonosis_Siege;53603), this map only has one objective! Not only that but the objective itself is unconventional…

Basically the idea of the game is that a C-3PO head drops down from the dispenser and both teams have to try and grab it and then jump through a hoop carrying the head. Whilst the team that didn’t get the head, tries to stop them and get the head back so they can score themselves. I spose its kinda a bit like Basketball…maybe that’s why its called Droidball! ;)

To get to the hoops you use the jump pads (there are two either side of the arena) which throw you up to the walkways up in the air in the middle of the arena. From there you go to the end of one of the walkways and jump into the hoop, thus scoring. Careful though! It looks like parts of the walkways are destructible…I’m sure it would make for an exhilarating game to try and get to the end of the walkway and jump into the hoop, before the other team blasts you out of the sky!

After you score, the scoreboard changes (which I thought was really cool) to show the current score, and a new C-3PO head drops down from the dispenser.

Obviously its not always practical to test a siege map out by putting it on a server and asking 20 people you know to come play, so I tested it out with a couple of bots. I tell you…if you wanna be creeped out, (and have a pretty good game too!) try this map out with a few bots using the /addbot command in the console. ;) Simply type that and then put the name bot you wish to add to the game, I used Desann.

The bots kept running and jumping at me really fast, and then punched me till I died! :eek: I tried running and jumping away, but they were on me before I had got far, it was quite fun! And a bit creepy too to be honest… o.O

Anyway, I’ve been talking about the gameplay for ages, but what about the map? Well like I said it’s basically an arena with the droid head dispenser and many walkways in the middle in the air, goals on either side and spectator seating all around. Being a stadium, the concept it pretty simple, seating around the sides, and an arena in the middle. But there have been some nice touches here. All the walkways and droid head dispensers have been well made and look nice architecturally. As well as that there are some cool glass panels in the ceiling on either side of the arena. All in all this is a nice map architecturally and gameplay-wise.

But what about bugs? Well to be honest there were hardly any that I could see in this map, so well done to the author there! There were only a couple or so that I could see, one being a few places where textures seemed to be a bit over-stretched or looked a bit out of place. The only other thing though was that the jump pads tended to throw you too far and so you missed the walkway you wanted to land on! You just have to press the back key to slow yourself down so you don’t fly past the walkway. Mind you, I suppose that adds to the skill needed to win!

All in all a very nice and clever siege map here, I would definitely recommend it!

Bot Support: Yes New Textures: Yes New Sounds: Yes New Music: Yes Game Types: Siege

~Nozyspy~