04/04/2011 - "Skaarj Roulette" by Zora

[Semfry]

Map Title: Skaarj Roulette
Author: Zora
From: Zora's Episode 1
Filename: ZM1Roulette.unr



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StqWCB0qH38

Sypnosis: You find a strange Skaarj facility inside an island.

Discuss!

[integration]

A rather short map. At the beginning some devilfishes waiting for you behind the whirl, some biterfishes, who are hardly to avoid when trying to get the hidden weapons, a cave entrance, a lift, which goes up, but takes you underground, a slide down the funnel, some IceSkaarjs, who always respawn on the same locations, a door, which perhaps crushes you, another hidden door, which opens only, when you stand in its way and prevent it from opening (and from the other side I had to ghost through it), some annoying Skaarj Gunners and last but not least a bouncer, which takes you back to the top, but will do fall damage (independent from hitting or missing your goal).

Without question the climax of this map is the funnel. In contrast to the bouncer and doors, the funnel slide is totally bugfree. I like, how you slide up and down, being hardly able to influence the path of your slide, but knowing where you will be next. Beside the labyrinth, the funnel is my favourite part of the first Zora episode.

[jackrabbit]

Who doesn't like this map? I think everyone can appreciate the idea behind a huge cone and its endless possibilities...

[Frieza]

I smell a hint of sarcasm

[jackrabbit]

I smell a hint of sarcasm

Actually, not really. If you have played the map with a monster spawner you might know what I mean.

[Semfry]

The funnel itself is quite a lot of fun and this level being short means other issues don't make themselves too obnoxious (unlike some other Zora maps). There are issues though; the tunnel at the start can make you lose half your health if you don't know the crouching trick, some of the weirder movers can lead to some physics issues, and fuck that door (which is also pretty easy to miss). I like the starting island bit though as it manages to stand out despite having simple visuals, and the main section is abstract enough to cover up the relatively weak visuals. I wonder if the crazy funnel stuff would have worked better as a pure arena map rather than the attempts at other gameplay that kind of gets in the way of that main concept.

[Legendslayer222]

Not played. I like the looks of the island bit and I love the level name.

[Darkon]

Looks kinda interesting actually. And weird.

[Mister_Prophet]

I said my peace on this in my review, but it's very memorable for sure. I pulled off some pretty impressive (and hilarious) kills in that funnel.