Strangest

WARNING: This map does contain some strobing and flashing lights.

Its not often that we get maps sent in that are based largely around the authors artistic expression rather than lots of fancy bells and whistles, super fine detail and zillions of features! But here is exactly one of those maps! X3no here brings us one very incredible looking map, like his previous Stranger and Stranger Lights maps, this map features dazzling use of strong colours, flashing lights, and unique architecture.

I will start on the main feature of this map, which is of course, the incredible colour scheme. :D

There are only two colours in this map, blue and red (while you do see a bit of purple here and there where they combine) and there is a very limited selection of textures to go along with that. That is of course the whole point of the map! However, that does not show any lack of skill on the part of the author, in fact it shows quite the opposite! Working with such a small palette of textures and coloured lights, X3no has done a fantastic job here in making such a large and interesting map. The contrast between the red and blue is a shock at first, but after a few minutes wandering around the map you begin to appreciate the time and effort that has gone into the precise placing of each of the lights in order to create the desired effect.

The author puts it very well in his readme when he says;

The overall purpose of this map is an experimentation in light, and its impact on the map itself. In Strangest, only three textures are used for a majority of the map. I instead defined areas of interest by using contrast between blue and red, which makes an interesting effect to behold.

As you walk around, you notice that the faces of the walls and other architecture change abruptly from blue to red and vice versa, and all this is done using coloured lights, not coloured textures! Occasionally you will come across an area where the two colours merge into one another creating a nice hue of purple.

The architecture in this map has been very carefully designed to make full use of the coloured lights, with many unusual shapes and features. The main area contains some interestingly positioned walkways and unusually shaped pillars. Then down below surrounding the map is an area full of upright pillars, forming a sort of maze, all the while producing interesting effects with the light. As well as that, there are various pits in which there are red lights that flash slowly to counteract the blue lights that surround them. These produce a flash of red that illuminates the blue wall behind them, creating a great looking reddish-purple colour.

Of course this is all in the large area at the bottom of the map, you actually start right at the top in a much smaller area. The way down? Jump right through the hole in the middle! A series of teleporters slow your descent, though the bottom one has been broken and looks like it is about to fall out of the air at any minute! You land with quite a thud, though thankfully there is a health pack there to take your health bar back up, a clever little design feature by the author there! ;) He explains this in a most amusing way in his readme;

It's also worth mentioning that the last teleportation ring below the initial spawn was hit by a flying jawa, and is thus... broken. Please take care to use one of the provided medpacks(tm) before continuing in your FFA.

At each side of the bottom area there is a walkway that extends off ending with a teleporter. This takes you to the duel room, which features a brain-bending array of flashing and strobing blue and red lights! I’m sure it would be most interesting to have a duel in there! Lastly, the music choice for this map is very appropriate, it is a kind of techno-electronic type of music, and I personally quite like it and think it fits perfectly with this map.

Now, things to be improved upon…well, I honestly don’t know what to say here. Since this map is more about artistic expression and experimentation, rather than a straight out FFA you cant apply the same rules to it. There are no weapon spawns, and also no bot-routs. They both have a good reason for their absence though, for the weapon spawns…well they would just mess up the look of the map! As for the bot routs, as the author explains in his readme;

I DID NOT include bot routing on purpose, since the initial teleport won't allow me to bring the bots down to the main level.

All in all an absolutely incredible map here, it defies comparison with any other map due to its sheer uniqueness. This is a rare gem I think, because it concentrates more on the art of the map, rather than the gameplay. The whole map feels like one giant sculpture or art display! :)

Good work here X3no! I do hope you continue making more maps, these kind of very artistic maps are a type of map I feel aren’t appreciated as much as they should be by the community!

Bot Support: No New Textures: No New Sounds: No New Music: Yes Game Types: FFA

~Nozyspy~

***NOTE*** The author has also included the source .map file for this map in the .zip, but please respect his wishes as explained in the readme;

I give permission for derivatives to be made with the source from this map, but credit must be given to me for the original creation, and I would appreciate it if you emailed me about it! (I just like to know these sort of things)