Interesting! I didn't know about that string in the bsp - thanks for clarifying things. We just take the name from the Arena and use that for our db.

@sedawkgrep : Yes, you are correct the that the .arena file has Twice The Tentacles as the long name or title for this map. That .arena file was also made 14 days before the map was compiled.

The .bsp and the readme both have Meatball Grinder as the title. To confirm you can also run: strings ik3dm2.bsp | grep message

My guess is there was a last minute title change by Fingers and the .arena was missed.

Pure, simple, distilled perfection.

This map, like jul16, is an absolute marvel. Small with perfect weapon placement and powerups, you're never totally out of it or totally in control. The RA is perfectly placed and high-risk, high-reward if you managed to grab it unscathed. There's a decent amount of vertical play here although it lends itself to action on the same level or immediate area.

The areas interconnect seamlessly with multiple paths everwhere except at the rail.

All-in-all a superb map. Oh and it looks fantastic too.

The rail is useful but only sparingly; it's run-and-gun here from start to finish.

@Tig - the arena file calls this map "Twice the Tentacles". I don't see a reference anywhere to Meatball Grinder. ?
Edited 1.2 minutes after the original posting.

Brilliant Textures. 8/10.

I didn't know this map before it was featured here at LvL and it's great. I love the curves, the tightness, the item placement. A new favorite of mine, thanks to Tig & Fingers! 9/10

VERY GOOD map, not by being eye-candy or by using complex architecture, but this map really have the Q3A spirit. It's a must-have.

Hello,

I've played this map since its release, and I still play it today. Simple, not too large, fast, it has everything for it.

If you don't have it on your HDD, then grab it, NOW ! :)

W.
Edited: 25 Oct 2010 AEST

i hate claustrophobic maps but i always play really well on fingers maps. He is the master of the tightly wound deathmatch. bloody excellent!

I checked this map out because of the mapper, and I must admit I thought it looked a bit plain at first compared to what I was expecting. But it is really smooth and the layout is so well-crafted and fastpaced. I found the layout nicely challenging because you have to pay attention to where you are going, but it is not so bad that you are distracted. In fact once you learn the map, which is not so big really, you are able to remember where you are and use your knowledge to surprise your less canny opponenets! Some maps just play bettter than others, and this one was a delight. We ran it over and over. And it is not a bad looking map. I was just comparing it to IKZDM1 which is so architectually stunning I think. Tthis map is a keeper for me, and I might not have downloaded it if not for who made it, but I will keep it because I enjoyed playing it, several times over. :)

Having played this map in Q2 I was over the moon that Fingers had ported this little puppy over to Q3. Another map that I've played to death and still find myself returning for more. A real cat and mouse map. :)

Hm. I thought the Q3 physics were well-taken into account myself. I strafejump everywhere, and most of the passages were a perfect 2 or 3 sj's... the upper RL is right where you land after one, so you can pick it up at full speed... etc. The result is I fly around this map like a rabbit on fire, and with the tight confines it feels breakneck, frantic and VERY intense.

IMO it looks like a Q1 as it would have been realized with the Q3 engine... the low ceilings and overall tightness remind me a LOT of certain Q1 maps. I like the grimy, minimal look a lot more than some of the overdone shader-fests that, say, Charon does.

Oh yeah, and what Johnny Law said.

Certain aspects of it are certainly tight... but tight isnt necessarily a bad thing (take my Aerowalk Remix for example). I actually like the tightness of this map, as I did with ik3dm1 (ROCKING little map that one). But the low height of the ceilings in this one just really cram you down.

The layout of the map is certainly cool. Perhaps we look at maps in a little TOO much detail? I know I do, but thats just me. Perhaps Fingers just "whacked" this one together? Is that the type of feeling we're supposed to get? Some maps do have that feeling, and while they dont make "serious" duel stages, for fun factors they really do rock.

Perhaps that is the aim for this one?

Well that wouldn't leave much weapon selection "not entered" (last post). I certainly agree about not having a railgun, and in principle a plasmagun, but maybe adding a lg and a gl would work?

-Octovus

i kinda agree with HUB,i love the way the map looks,very old school,but i would take the ra,pg and rg out,and add a lg.i would also love to see how this map works in Quake

too tight for me

In my opinion, Tig's review is right on. Fingers, I like your style. You skip the eye-candy and focus on what's really important...the gameplay.

Great map!

I do feel that the fact this mapper is well known is why the review has been so positive.

While the level is no weak effort, impressions after playing certainly do not justify the "amazing" comments of the reviewer.

A very nice piece of work? Yes, it is. Aesthetically, it's a solid piece. The brown stairs are somewhat "out", but nevertheless, there are small touches everywhere which add to the map's high quality construction. I especially like the arch @ RA. Nicely done.

The gameplay is where I feel the map needed more concentration. The gameplay is far from weak, but it's overshadowed by the level's good looks, and, to be blunt, isn't very strategic. Ceilings are too low, which creates a very squashed feeling in several areas. Armours could have been repositioned for hard control of the map. I personally feel that the layout of the map doesn't warrant the inclusion of the PG. LG would've been a better choice imho.

Replacement of RA with YA would have also been a good idea. I (personally) do feel that the armours are a little close together. The RL placement on the walkway above is pretty neat though:-)

6.5/10 for me. A good map, just needed a little more attention to gameplay.

Good, good...the discussion has resolved itself. Great post Johnny Law, and yours made me lol too pjw :-p

This map isn't amazing, and I didn't know who the hell Fingers was till I downloaded it (well I'd heard/read/whatever the name in passing), and it's good fun. That's all there is to it. It is still a game after all ;-)

-Octovus

Terrific map! Simple layout, not too big, no gimmicks - it's a winner all around. Ditto eveythinng Johnny Law said for me too. I love the minimalism of this. Less is more more often than not. Remember that next time you see green lighting and an unplayable map that looks "pretty." Clean fast and fun can't be overrated. Best maps I've seen in a while.

as tig said, there's a huge difference between smart minimalism and plain simplicity... from the moment you've got the eyes and the brain which can make the difference... ;>

Nimrod: I'm hardly a community idol nowadays... There's many people who release more and very likely better levels, and thus receive much publicity.. I haven't been active in any of this community stuff in years.

Regardless, when I do occasionally map, I spend enough time to polish everything as good as I can... I can't stand texture seams / misalignments between curves and brushes, or curves "trimmed" by placing a flat-coloured box around them like too many people do, so I go in and tweak things until they blend together smoothly... Perhaps this is what Tig means by "beautiful" curve usage.

I'm quite sure a layperson couldn't care less about all this... But as with all my hobbies, I do this stuff to exercise my own mind on my own time, so developing a clever technique or making a few nice textures is its own reward. Releasing a level to the public is only incidental.

Thanks J.L., that's actually what I meant to say.

:)

Some people may not be familiar with this type of duel map. You won't find a representative of this style in id's Q3 maps, and partly because of that you also won't see it in many custom Q3 maps either. The emphasis here is firmly on knowing the current "balance of power" between you and your opponent -- and if you're more buff, being able to trap your opponent; if you're not, being able to run away successfully until you are. When engagement is actually forced, it's likely to be short and ugly.

I'm not sure if this style of map really caters to Q3's player movement and weapon characteristics quite as well as a larger, "looser" map would. Like StormShadow I think it's a bit small. However that doesn't make it a bad style; and given that we don't see much of it in Q3 I'm quite happy to see it in this map. If it feels odd at first, give it an extended try and see if the hunt-or-flee style of gameplay opened up by the intricate 3D connectivity clicks for you. If not, cool, but keep in mind that there are people who like it, and for reasons other than mapper idol worship.

As for the architectural design, the lighting, and the creation and use of textures -- all quite good, and some tricky construction is pulled off flawlessly. This isn't a magnum opus of detail and shader work, but a very nicely balanced and unique creation that is tasty on first sight, and not tiring to look at after you've played it a dozen times either. It would have been nice if this map actually had been "made by an unknown mapper"; we could always use another author this capable.

I thought this map was damn good... i had alot of fun playing it 1v1. A little small for my taste, and certainly not as good as the review would have you believe, but the layout is good for the size of this map, and i thought the texturing was great. Instead of using gimmicky shaders and 50 different textures per square foot to make the map look 'fancy' fingers relies on the basic architecture of the map to make it look good. Gave it an 8.

P.S. - Nimrod, dont be so bitter :P

Nimrod, each to their own.

Maybe after a few more years of mapping you will be able to tell the difference from 'effortless work' and 'making work look effortless'.

anyway i give it 10/10 cuz it's refreshing to have a map that doesn't count solely on rail accuracy. even though rail can actually be quite effective. and thank god someone decided to go un-pure-gothic for once.

"Accuse me of being bitter, jealous, ignorant, or all of the above."

Okay. You are bitter, jealous, ignorant, or all of the above.

Some more random vitriol.

Funny how being an accomplished author automatically makes everything in your map a conscious and ingenius 'design decision', while the exact same brush arrangements would be considered asinine had they come from anyone else. For example had this been the first map of an unknown author, there is no way in hell the texturing in this map would have been labeled sweet.

I love this site, and all the effort you guys pour into. However you really are doing the community a disservice when you post a review that is comprised of nothing but unwarranted gushing.

Please review more responsibly in the future.

Had this map been made by an unknown mapper it would have been deemed slightly better then average. Since Fingers made it, words like beautiful and perfect become prime vocabulary for kissing ass. A must have map? Come on now I'm sick and tired of seeing 400 brush maps that have perhaps 8 textures used monotonously, get heavenly reviews because the map author is some community idol.

"The texturing is sweet..."

What a joke.

This map is fairly decent.

6/10

Accuse me of being bitter, jealous, ignorant, or all of the above. However this review is so far off the mark it even makes Alcatraz look objective.

Oooh! Interesting...

I think the looks are actually quite nice. I mean they're not anything special per se, but the blue walls and the studded metal made for a change. Perhaps the only really odd bit was the rusted stairs in one section, the texture was very flat looking for that sort of architecture. Anyways, my aging system didn't have any complaints :-)

It played pretty well. Having the rocketlauncher up top created one large problem: you could be bounced into the wonderful pits of doom fairly easily by a well-placed rocket.

Now I don't doubt that was intentional, but it just adds to the value of the rl in a map like this. It's already fairly small and closed in (except on the top level), so placing it on a ledge where you can stop others from getting it is sort of iffy. However, grabbing a plasmagun or a shotgun can also help you out a great deal :-)

The railgun was basically unneccessary; I might have preferred to see the plasmagun get a twin over there than the seldom-used rail.

Played nicely in tourney and dm, 9 from me :-)

-Octovus

yeah great little layout. very fun. however i did think the looks could have been much improved upon. it just goes to show, looks don't count. particularly the texturing - having that same panel tiled up the wall didn't do much for it. and there isn't much detail in there either. certainly not a classic for looks, although it is refreshingly different. but great gameplay.

stylish and fast to play :)

Fast-playing, intense map!

Kudos Fingers!!

Evil little map. :)

This one's a keeper.

Very nice Fingers. I was a little reluctant at first, given the death fog. But after awhile, I see the charm of the death fog here. An intense, well-crafted board.

Charming little blood soaker!

wow, this map has helluva good gameflow and will definately stay on my hd. :D