================================================================
Title                   : DmAwol (Absinthe.With.Out.Love.)
Version                 : 1
Release Date            : 17 April, 1999
Filename                : DmAwol.unr
Author                  : ynohtnA / Anthony Bowyer-Lowe
Email Address           : anthony@amudarya.demon.co.uk
Web Page                : http://www.amudarya.demon.co.uk/
Description             : Small violent base.
Where to get this map   : http://www.amudarya.demon.co.uk/ and
                          elsewhere.
Other levels by author  : Lots of unfinished, unreleased ones, heh.
Additional Credits to   : Epic for a great engine.
                          The Unreal community for inspiration.
                          My job for supplying me with money and
                          food.
================================================================

-<- Play Information ->-

Game                    : Unreal.
Level Name              : DmAwol.
Single Player           : Botmatch.
Cooperative             : Has support for two teams.
Deathmatch              : 2-8 players suggested, up to 16 supported.
Dark Match              : Not unless you turn the brightness down.
Difficulty Settings     : No.
New Sounds              : No.
New Graphics            : No.
New UnrealScript        : No.
External DLLs           : No.
Known bugs              : No bugs. See notes below for unsatisfactory
                          features.


-<- Construction ->-

Editor(s) used          : UnrealED.
Base                    : From scratch.
Construction Time       : Somewhere between 8 and 16 hours.


-<- Installation ->-

    Copy DmAwol.unr into your unreal/maps/ directory.
    Either select DmAwol from the BotMatch menu, or type
    'open dmawol' into the Unreal console.


-<- Designer's Notes ->-

    I was getting sick of all the unfinished levels I was creating
    with UnrealEd, so I set myself the challenge of creating a new,
    _releasable_ level in under one day. Minimum texture usage,
    simple (yet aesthetic, of course, darling) architecture, no
    unnecessary eye candy, no custom UnrealScript ('cos I didn't want
    to have to either wait for, or recompile the code when patch 224
    comes out); just a pure, fun deathmatch level...
    
    DmAwol is what resulted, and I consider it a personal success...
    
    The texture usage is minimal to the point of brutality, yet lends
    the level a certain cohesiveness in it's look. The geometry is
    simple, yes, but beguiling, offering many routes to run, lots of
    3d action, and the option of treating the map as a small area
    with large scope, or a medium sized map with fast connectivity.
    
    Despite my 'no eye candy' resolution, the lighting came out damn
    nice - check out the illuminated 'U' on one of the walls, and the
    other pretty shadow patterns cast. Mmmmm, it makes me want to
    lick the monitor...
    
    Bots are fully pathnoded and run around like little hungry
    piranha fish on menstruation day. I love it when they leap from
    the upper levels into the main quads, raining mid-air death on me
    like a particularly misanthropic storm. As always, I recommend
    the female bots for the best experience - their screams are so
    much more... stimulating.
    
    Skaarj players can fit everywhere without problem.
    
    The level supports up to 16 players, but any number over 8 begins
    to get a little, uh, chaotic. One on one deathmatches are quite
    satisfying indeed, with the level size being perfect for stalking
    the other player by ears. Voiceboxes are provided for audio
    camouflage purposes in these circumstances. The player starts are
    also allocated between two teams, thus allowing teamplay games
    (capturing ammunition bunkers could be a good objective).
    
    All Unreal weapons are placed in the level. Some would think my
    design decision over the ammunition placement (clustered in two
    seperate ammunition rooms) a little odd, but I consider my
    decision justified in the resulting gameplay - it forces the
    players to keep on moving to stock up on ammo, rather than simply
    camping in, say, the eightball room. And if some lamer did try to
    camp in an ammo room (pointless 'cos once they've loaded up
    they'll have almost maximum ammo anyway, and they'll have to wait
    for the ammo to respawn, and there's another ammo room so their
    opposition will be stocked up as well), well they'll be easily
    flushed out, I'm sure (eightball grenades, flak cannon, blob gun,
    razorjack).
    
    
    Unsatisfactory features:
    
    I couldn't be bothered to zone off all sky areas and make them
    CloudZones, so projectiles _will_ bounce off the sky. CloudZones
    not only eat projectiles, but also kill any players entering them
    which I feel is unfair to those either equipped with JumpBoots,
    or those brave reckless rocket jumpers. I could've coded my own
    CloudZone class which only ate projectiles, but I didn't want to
    put out a level which would have to be recompiled (and downloaded
    again) once the 224 patch came out.
    
    If you run along the very top of the level (or end up inside one
    of the 'windows') you'll see weird glitches from where the sky
    box is faked alongside the proper geometry. Hell, serves you
    right for being clever and going somewhere stupid...
    
    The sky box could be nicer, especially along the horizon where
    you just get a dark stripe, but I did want to finish this level
    within one day (no, it wasn't rushed, I just wanted to finish
    something before I got bored with it and lost my focus). What're
    you doing staring at the sky in a DeathMatch game for, anyway?
    Oh, and artists can paint the sky pink and purple 'cos they know
    what colour it really is - when I do it, people think I'm stupid,
    go figure...
    
    -<->-
    
    All comments to anthony@amudarya.demon.co.uk will be appreciated,
    nurtured, and cherished.
    
    If you run this map on a server, please let me know and I'll come
    and give you a nice mild spank for your trouble.
    
    
-<- Copyright ->-

    This level is copyright Anthony Bowyer-Lowe 1999.

    Authors may not NOT use this level as a base to build additional
    levels on.

    You are NOT allowed to commercially exploit this level, i.e. put
    it on a CD or any other electronic medium that is sold for money
    without my explicit permission!

    You MAY distribute this level through any electronic network
    (internet, FIDO, local BBS, etc.), provided you include this file
    and leave the archive intact.

    At all times, this work remains the property of Anthony
    Bowyer-Lowe. If you are unsure whether you may use this level in
    any way, failure to contact Anthony Bowyer-Lowe for relevant
    authorisation will be viewed as an admission of illegal intent.
