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DDOM-UCMP2-1on1-Smelter - "2 Domination Points. 2 Steam Chambers. 1 Winner. Your mind is your greatest weapon. Use your head, dominate with good fortune and singular vision, and emerge victorious!"

Author: Michael

Dark Pulse: DDOM isn't, and never should be, a 1on1 gametype. Pure and simple. In theory, two good players could create an endless stalemate on this map. You'll spawn next to an assault rifle pickup - a really bad sign. Fortunately, once you go forward through the doors, you're not too far from both control points - a straight drop will usually land you right on top of one of them. There's a catch, however - at random times, the grates underneath the point will open and gush a very high spout of flame, that will kill you instantly. Fortunately, bots understand this and don't rush into the flames. Once you master that little quirk, the trick is in outhinking your opponent - thus the name Cerebral. Sadly for the person rushing to touch that point before the timer ticks down to 0, this will usually result in the Flame coming up at the worst possible time, or getting comboed by a sharp-eyed opponent who merely has to look skyward, for his foe is sure to drop down. As if that weren't enough, under the control points is a little niche with some health vials and a Damage Amp. Simply put, the better fragger will win here nearly every time. Great concept, but sadly, it fails in execution.
4/10

Hal: I didn't even know there was a 1on1 DDOM following... Anyhow, the map looks pretty nice and the idea is certainly novel as have been many of the authors maps. The theme is executed pretty well too. I'm not certain that the spawn points are far enough from the actual gameplay though.
6/10

Raffi B: This is about as good as 1on1 DOM can get, but that’s not saying much. Nonetheless, the architecture is nice and the flow is generally good.
7/10

DDOM-UCMP2-Meskhenet - "Meskhenet is a goddess of birth and her divine grace will grant you tons of it in the form of respawning."

Author: Mitja "Morpheus" Uranjek

Dark Pulse: A little in-your-face perhaps. The map has some flaws, however. The build is pretty solid and clean, and Morpheus uses Angel Mapper's "Walkway Construction" technique as seen in CBP2's DM-Reconstruct. Gimmicks, however, do not make an okay map great - and this is how Meskhenet stays. It's far too easy to potentially spawnrape the spawn areas, especially since a combo whore has his favorite weapon right there. Send one guy to tap the points, send the rest to cover the spawns... it's seemingly too easy in this map. If you DO get out of the spawn areas, you do get several points of attack, but they're mostly wide open and any eagle-eyed Hitscanner can probably send you right back to the spawns. If maybe the shock was in a place where you could get it only at spawn, that would have balanced it a bit more, but as it stands right now, it's too easy to win on cheapness.
5/10

Hal: The layout is somewhat reminiscent of DDOM-ScorchedEarth... spawn in the middle and race to either end for the control point. The theme is Egyptian, which is certainly not an unexplored look in the UT2004 map catalogue, but it's done well, and the map looks great. The addition of Angel_Mappers "construction" stones is a nice touch. All in all, I think the author has succeeded in creating a quality DDOM map for small numbers.
6/10

Raffi B: Upon first playing this map I thoroughly enjoyed it, but after a few games I realized that the layout is not very conducive to fun gameplay. The control points are very easy to defend since the rooms are very open, and much of the item placement could be improved to alleviate this and other chokepoint issues with the map. Other than that, though, the visuals look great, the architecture is clean, and there are few meshes to get caught on.
7/10

DDOM Overview: The DDOM stuff is a mixed bag. On one hand, you've got a map with some great ideas and even a trick to learn regarding the points, but it's too easy to control the points. On the other hand, there's a large, wide open map, using the tried-and-true Egyptian theme, but it's too easy for someone good with the Shock Rifle to simply hold you here. There's probably better offerings for you.