Although kitted out in a very up to date Quake 3 style, Moonstone's layout is based on the first level of Doom II; Entryway. It has been mirrored for CTF use, and it is also compatible with all Team Arena modes. The theme is a combination of natural cave tunnels, and rocky indoor/outdoor areas with some tech touches and mystical marble structures. Despite that sounding pretty random, it works well! More on that later.

Sadly the map has no bot support, apparently due to the bots finding it too complex to navigate. I can imagine them struggling with the intricate cave tunnels, but do wonder if some well placed bot clip brushes and bot_roam entities could have fixed it. To be fair bots have never been good at playing the team games.

The layout is set in a pretty generic CTF format, with the 2 bases in opposite corners, each having 3 entrance/exit points which lead to interconnecting tunnels that meet in the all important central room. The flow is nice, and zooming around the map is made simple and fun. Unfortunately I felt the map limited itself (albeit due to being a Doom II remake) by being too flat. In particular the bases seem unnecessarily dull with just a simple bump in the middle of the floor, and 2 symmetrical jump pads that launch you diagonally to a high exit point. It feels like it is missing some ledges, and walkways.

Without any shadow of a doubt, the strength of the map is its stunning visuals. The natural terrain sections make use of Socks gorgeous blending terrain textures, with plenty of plant life to accompany it. Orfi has done a great job of making realistic looking caves too, which benefit from some nice sounds. There should not be any performance problems unless your PC is ancient.

It is worth the 20 Meg download (level shots never need to be 2.25 Mb!) if you like exploring good looking maps, or if you have enough mates to play team games with.

Reviewed by Myth

Tigs notes: The map can be also be played in standard Q3A CTF. Team Arena will add to the experience.