After all these years the author of the glorious Bern.Stein.Zimmer (acid3dm2) and one of the authors of the well-known map chlorophyl (acid3dm9) (along with blemish and ekse) acid is finally back to ..::LvL with yet another release that is strong from the gameplay perspective!

Rostwind (acid3dm11) will provide you with some more opportunities for qualitative gaming experience! While the -CPMA parameter is mentioned in the "q3 map compile settings" section of the readme file, this small-to-tiny level plays quite well in VQ3, too, with only the Red Armour on a ledge being more challenging to grab, as it requires a rocket jump or some well timed jumps. Without a doubt the layout is the main element that makes this arena memorable and more fun. Even if we do not count the additional ledges, acid3dm11 has a total of 9 (!) different vertical levels with various turns and twists that can compose the player's path. The key geometrical component that the connection is allowed by on this map is the staircase, so together the vertical levels form a spiral-like chain while breaking the arena into two main floors using stairs, with the third (bottom) one containing the precious talisman - the Railgun. The overall number of floors keeps varying depending on where exactly the player is at the specific moment and the angle they are turned at to separate parts of the arena. Spiral nature of vertical levels and the fact that they do not have a lot of walk space mean a need to take care not to fall into a pit.

The intricate architecture in this release is supplemented by three teleporters on the lower floor which bring you to the upper one, and a jump pad that also helps you get higher. The map manages to provide the player with all the regular weapons despite its small size – that is a good point, considering the tortuosity of the layout and the abundance of verticality. Besides the aforementioned Red Armour, the level features a MegaHealth next to a teleporter on the lower ground which means more combat for this item that is brought to the table. The map does not lack health or ammunition either and gives you a Yellow Armour next to the jump pad on the lower level; on the other hand, it does not really need a lot of items because of how compact it is. A Regeneration power-up on the bridge on the topmost floor would have come in handy as well (except perhaps in the Tournament regime).

When it comes to the visual side, while the lighting on Rostwind is executed properly, the same can not be said about the texturing. This release features a very limited number of textures, the colour palette of the main ones of which keeps repeating in just a couple of shades of brown and grey. I would have completely recoloured and re-textured the entire arena with a significantly higher number of components in both my texture stack and colour palette, but the map is rather impressive for the limited number of textures it has. I would have also made other textures dominant compared to the ones that are here.

Bots play fine and do not seem to have any issues. Team Deathmatch, Free For All and Tournament are mentioned as the game types in the readme file, and the only bot that is suggested by default is Gorre. That is why I tried this map in the Tournament mode, and I can confirm that it is suitable for a duel too. The suggested player load is 2-4 players, and I think that is reasonable. It is also possible with 5, but gets a little bit meaty.

If you primarily prefer the gameplay, you might want to play this map on a regular basis. Otherwise, this release is good enough to only be pulled out occasionally.

Reviewed by Geniraul

Tigs notes: Thoroughly enjoyed playing this release. Fast to learn the basics. More enjoyable the more you play.