From the creator of Saint Floretes 2 comes the originally named sequel. This large SH map is home to many crazy scripting creations - although maybe it was based a little too much around them... want to know more? Read on!
Presentation / Technical
As always, I shall start with the textures. Some nice texture use for facades, and some of the great posters (and new ones) like the ones found in Saint Floretes 2. Also, shop windows were filled with produce - which was a nice touch, if a little 2D looking. The crates of oranges were cool too. Some mistakes in the texturing though, including horizontally aligned textures on vertical posts and vice versa, which was a pity to see. The water in the 'swimming pool' kept flashing at me (as that water texture tends to do), and in retrospect I believe it was the wrong water texture for the job. The street texture was a little too bright, and clashed with the buildings and the pavement - and for something that runs through the entire map, this is a big thing.
Square. It was very, very, very square... Right angles dominated the map - even the river ran dead straight. The streets were rectangular around rectangular blocks of buildings - although this can look OK, with this map with its wide streets, it ends up looking very false and unreal. The church was the only building I really liked, as this was more natural
looking, with parts jutting out and such. The roofs were done reasonably well, although the bright blue of some made me run for cover... One building has a great lift - but also with the lift comes the feeling that
the building was made exclusively for the lift, as the top floor has no real relation to the rest of the map, and the second floors impact is also very limited. The bridge - Pegasus Bridge of CoD, I believe, was very cool; When the button was pressed, the whole thing rose up - very impressive. One slightly random addition to the scripting side of things was a springboard for the aforementioned swimming pool, which felt a little out
of place, and I felt it had a bit of a derogatory effect - another thing put in that has no relation at all to the maps playing. Some good attempts at patch mesh tracks, even if it looked a little 'flat'. Height variation in the level was good, which was nice to see.
I can't really say much on the subject of lighting, except to mention an OK but a little misguided attempt at making a projector and its beam of light - although the beam made it a bit silly as the FX used was too thick, and when one went inside the projector beam one was surrounded by the beam. A good try though - for next time; use a less visually obstructive texture.
Lots of fog helped keep the FPS at a good level, but it didn't really fit in so well with this urban setting.
As for audio, apart from the ambientsound and the crazy driving truck at the beginning, the map was very quiet. No water sounds, no positional ambiences, not even a sound for the bridge. A bit dissapointing, really.
As was Saint Floretes 2, this one was rather generically based, not having any particular achitectural style used, or anything to give the location away. My roommate said even 'Is this more of that map you were looking at earlier? I think I prefered the other bit'. And I must say; I agree.
Playability / Game Flaws
Definateley not as well thought out as Saint Floretes 2, as there is really only one route to the Flak 88 the Allies must destroy (originality...), and that is across the bridge which can be lifted up. Way too easy to defend. I'm not sure how this would play, but there doesn't seem to be too much cover littered around, or many good hiding spots, so I don't think it would play too well. But - as I cannot test this theory, I shall have to assume. And as assumption is the mother of all f*ck ups, dont take my word too heavily on that! Also a bit of a scripting error - the allies must 'destory'
the Flak 88, and all the write parts on the score board seeem to be falling out of it, which is a little odd, and lets the scripting side down heavily.
Conclusion
A big, flat map. Build a little too heavily around the idea of just accomodating those scripted bits and pieces. Not too well thought out either, I believe. With a bit of work, it could become a reasonable map, but for now? I'd just stick with Saint Floretes 2. 'Should I download?' Maybe...
