Operation Black Lotus Map Review

cabledawg1 · 10-02-2005, 04:39 PM

This is a review of the map Operation Black Lotus by WhiteShadow.

MAP Details
-----------

Setting: Jungle/Bushland, Villages and Industrial/Factory Locations
Multiplayer: YES
Singleplayer: NO (not until Single Player plugin is released for the BF2 Editor)
Map Size: 512x512 (1024x1024km in game)
Player Size(s): 16/32/64
Total # of SPawns: 10 (5 for 16 player, 8 for 32 Player & 10 for 64 Player)
Sides: USMC vs China
Commander Assets: UAV (All), Scan (All) & Artillery (32 & 64 ONLY)

Mission Outline
---------------

During the recent battles between the US Marine Corp and Chinese forces it has come to the attention of the US that China was working on a biological agent called "Black Lotus" which is a non-lethal nerve agent which incapacitates people for a 24 hour period. This agent was developed in a facility, located in Guangxi Province 75 km's South from the town of Yanshuo, which has been abandoned due to the re-allocation of military resources to confront the US threat.

USMC is tasked with the temporary capture of the abondoned facility and holding this facility till the necessary information is gathered on this biological agent. The initial incursion will be via paradrop within the area of the facility. Re-inforcements will come via additional paradrops if required to recapture the facility.

China has a small military contingent in the area, they have been informed by local farmers of "soliders falling from the sky". Chinese forces are being deployed to remove the threat of a possible invasion from their southern coast line.

Review
------

Let me say right off that I couldnt find a server to play this online and because I couldnt cap any flags, I could not tell what vehicles spawn where. Im not even sure if AA emplacements spawn when you cap a flag. Maybe TG can allow Turbo or Steel Penquin to somehow try reviewed maps on the private server in the future. Ive emailed the author and hopefully he may respond in this thread about our concerns.
At first I thought that it may be unbalanced because China starts with a main base including an attack Helo while the USMC Paradrops in at the spot shown below.

I did some experimenting with this and found that if the USMC deploys their chutes as soon as they spawn, they can get to the factory to the east and the first flag north within 25 seconds of spawning. There is a construction site that is north of the factory and they can get to that within 45 seconds of spawning. So 3 squads could get 3 bases within a minute. Those bases are shown in purple lines on the map above. I tested how long it would take the China attack helo to get to the factory and not even counting waiting for your gunner....its 25 seconds at the fastest, and even then, the chopper cant stop the USMC from capping that flag because its the inside of a building just like the center flag on Daquing. Once the USMC gets the factory, Im pretty sure they spawn a helo, but I cant confirm this. So after that lil bit of research, I would say that the map is balanced. The author must have put some time into that.

I personally like the 32 map over the 64. 10 CP are alot in my opinion. The description shows 8 spawns on the 32 which includes the China UCB so there are 7 CP on the 32 player map. I kinda like the look of the map overall and how it might play out. There is a climbable mountain that is in the center of the map and will provide for some nice sniper duels, sniper pot shots on different flags and squad battles.

One of the flags that I liked was in a forrest of trees that would make for great defense. Vehicles cannot get to this flag.

Another similiar flag has one way in. You cant get to this flag from the backside but it is one of the flags that the USMC can paradrop in and take quickly.

This is a pic showing the Factory, the crane and the construction site CP.

Overall, I would like to play this map to see how it could work for TG. I Would say its not any better than the stock maps, but definately a worthwhile change. I give it a 7 outta 10. You can download the map at
http://battlefield2.filefront.com/fi...ck_Lotus;47863 and post your comments here.

After every review, I will post the next map Ill be reviewing so you guys can look at them too. My next one will be Omaha Beach. Get it here... http://battlefield2.filefront.com/fi...ha_Beach;48142

[thR_WhiteShadow] · 10-03-2005, 12:46 AM

Hi, im WhiteShadow, the author of the Operation Black Lotus map. The total time spent on the map would of been around 150+ hours, and due to my systems limitations the screenshots i packaged with the map doesnt show it off all that well. I have generated lightmaps for the terrain and also the objects, using the 700MB object lightmap samples file from EA.

I will try to answer some of the questions which cabledawg1 would like answered.

First off, AA (stingers) Spawn at most of the control points along with ground defence TOWS when the flags are captured. USMC gets a Attack Chopper at the factory when it is captured along with armour including tank and apc and other light and heavy jeeps. the AA has been placed in a position to defend against hover capping by choppers and the TOW is away from the AA to make it harder for the chopper to watch both the AA and TOW locations.

All spawns will atleast give one jeep or other vehicles, and some also yeild light armour in the form of APC's.

I placed 10 control points on the 64 player version of the map to try a keep the flow of the game moving and make it harder to take and defend most of the positions. This is to keep the flow of the game going with people having to constantly move back and forward to re-capture spawns.

The 16 player version of the map has no Artillery as i see artillery in 16 player maps as un-necessary and detracts from what should be purely infantry based combat without the hinderance of having an entire spawn wiped out by artillery.

The factory location has ladders and people are able to get on to any roof top which aids in defending this point which is vital if the USMC are to win the map.

Well I hope people like this map when it finally gets an appearance on custom map servers and I look forward to hearing peoples responses.

Thanks for your time and good gaming to all,

WhiteShadow - Clan thR - Australia

Santa · 10-03-2005, 01:15 AM

Wow, that map looks really good. Attacking through the forests would be so much fun, and the paradrop at the beginning is a cool, new idea. I think TG should really look into it. Maybe put it on one of the passworded nights and see how people like it?

Curious, on the 64 player map how big is it compared to, say dragon valley? or any other map? its hard to tell how big or small it is.

munchkin · 10-03-2005, 01:42 AM

Wow, I never knew a thR guy made it. I applied to join thR a while back..but then I found TG

=Sarc= · 10-03-2005, 02:14 AM

It looks good. I want to try it out!

perry · 10-03-2005, 02:28 AM

Yea, that map looks fun, I wanna play!

munchkin · 10-03-2005, 02:31 AM

It looks like one of the best maps out there, and from what I've seen, rivals the DICE-made maps.

[thR_WhiteShadow] · 10-03-2005, 02:31 AM

Comparing it to say Dragon Valley it would be around half the size of the 64 version. In the editor the map is 512x512, which is the middle of the range size. Dragon Valley is, i think, 1024x1024 size.

3 of us in thR make maps, only 2 of us are still at it. The maps done so far by thR clan members are:

Serivana_Desert_Map by Scunner
http://battlefield2.filefront.com/fi...a_Desert;47239

Assault_At_Singalese by MacktheKnife
http://battlefield2.filefront.com/fi...ingalese;46014

Im thinking about doing an Urban map next, but with new games time is a little thin

munchkin · 10-03-2005, 02:35 AM

If we put this up on Server 2, you and the thR boys should jump on and have a playthrough with us.

[thR_WhiteShadow] · 10-03-2005, 02:50 AM

That would be fun.. just have to prod the other thR guys (and girl

) to get the map if they dont have it already

munchkin · 10-03-2005, 06:55 AM

The second flag pictured could use some extra trees IMO. I'd love to have a large stretch of dense jungle, leading up to a construction site. It'd be different, at least. This map seems to offer many tactical possibilities, and fighting for control of the factory would be intense. Mentally, it seems to me that the Chinese UCB is just begging for someone to have the audacity to try and take it - it's great. Also, props on getting that huge shipping container hanging from the crane. Can you say sniper platform?

**TG_Bubba** · 10-03-2005, 09:31 AM

Yea, let's some custom maps on server 2. I wanna play....

**Tempus** · 10-03-2005, 10:27 AM

Alright guys, with the patch out this week, we'll upload some maps after that.

Bodofooko · 10-03-2005, 12:14 PM

yippie!

Turbo · 10-03-2005, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tempus

Alright guys, with the patch out this week, we'll upload some maps after that.

Awesome, thanks Tempus. Maybe the creator can answer this but how comes on the minimap you can see the roads but when i was driving around I could not see where the road was. That seemed a little confusing but overall I agree with Cable the map seems worth a try.

10-02-2005, 04:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
cabledawg1 Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Chesapeake, VA Age: 42 Posts: 67	Operation Black Lotus Map Review This is a review of the map Operation Black Lotus by WhiteShadow. MAP Details ----------- Setting: Jungle/Bushland, Villages and Industrial/Factory Locations Multiplayer: YES Singleplayer: NO (not until Single Player plugin is released for the BF2 Editor) Map Size: 512x512 (1024x1024km in game) Player Size(s): 16/32/64 Total # of SPawns: 10 (5 for 16 player, 8 for 32 Player & 10 for 64 Player) Sides: USMC vs China Commander Assets: UAV (All), Scan (All) & Artillery (32 & 64 ONLY) Mission Outline --------------- During the recent battles between the US Marine Corp and Chinese forces it has come to the attention of the US that China was working on a biological agent called "Black Lotus" which is a non-lethal nerve agent which incapacitates people for a 24 hour period. This agent was developed in a facility, located in Guangxi Province 75 km's South from the town of Yanshuo, which has been abandoned due to the re-allocation of military resources to confront the US threat. USMC is tasked with the temporary capture of the abondoned facility and holding this facility till the necessary information is gathered on this biological agent. The initial incursion will be via paradrop within the area of the facility. Re-inforcements will come via additional paradrops if required to recapture the facility. China has a small military contingent in the area, they have been informed by local farmers of "soliders falling from the sky". Chinese forces are being deployed to remove the threat of a possible invasion from their southern coast line. Review ------ Let me say right off that I couldnt find a server to play this online and because I couldnt cap any flags, I could not tell what vehicles spawn where. Im not even sure if AA emplacements spawn when you cap a flag. Maybe TG can allow Turbo or Steel Penquin to somehow try reviewed maps on the private server in the future. Ive emailed the author and hopefully he may respond in this thread about our concerns. At first I thought that it may be unbalanced because China starts with a main base including an attack Helo while the USMC Paradrops in at the spot shown below. I did some experimenting with this and found that if the USMC deploys their chutes as soon as they spawn, they can get to the factory to the east and the first flag north within 25 seconds of spawning. There is a construction site that is north of the factory and they can get to that within 45 seconds of spawning. So 3 squads could get 3 bases within a minute. Those bases are shown in purple lines on the map above. I tested how long it would take the China attack helo to get to the factory and not even counting waiting for your gunner....its 25 seconds at the fastest, and even then, the chopper cant stop the USMC from capping that flag because its the inside of a building just like the center flag on Daquing. Once the USMC gets the factory, Im pretty sure they spawn a helo, but I cant confirm this. So after that lil bit of research, I would say that the map is balanced. The author must have put some time into that. I personally like the 32 map over the 64. 10 CP are alot in my opinion. The description shows 8 spawns on the 32 which includes the China UCB so there are 7 CP on the 32 player map. I kinda like the look of the map overall and how it might play out. There is a climbable mountain that is in the center of the map and will provide for some nice sniper duels, sniper pot shots on different flags and squad battles. One of the flags that I liked was in a forrest of trees that would make for great defense. Vehicles cannot get to this flag. Another similiar flag has one way in. You cant get to this flag from the backside but it is one of the flags that the USMC can paradrop in and take quickly. This is a pic showing the Factory, the crane and the construction site CP. Overall, I would like to play this map to see how it could work for TG. I Would say its not any better than the stock maps, but definately a worthwhile change. I give it a 7 outta 10. You can download the map at http://battlefield2.filefront.com/fi...ck_Lotus;47863 and post your comments here. After every review, I will post the next map Ill be reviewing so you guys can look at them too. My next one will be Omaha Beach. Get it here... http://battlefield2.filefront.com/fi...ha_Beach;48142

10-03-2005, 12:46 AM	#2 (permalink)
[thR_WhiteShadow] Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: NSW, Australia Age: 32 Posts: 5	Re: Operation Black Lotus Map Review Hi, im WhiteShadow, the author of the Operation Black Lotus map. The total time spent on the map would of been around 150+ hours, and due to my systems limitations the screenshots i packaged with the map doesnt show it off all that well. I have generated lightmaps for the terrain and also the objects, using the 700MB object lightmap samples file from EA. I will try to answer some of the questions which cabledawg1 would like answered. First off, AA (stingers) Spawn at most of the control points along with ground defence TOWS when the flags are captured. USMC gets a Attack Chopper at the factory when it is captured along with armour including tank and apc and other light and heavy jeeps. the AA has been placed in a position to defend against hover capping by choppers and the TOW is away from the AA to make it harder for the chopper to watch both the AA and TOW locations. All spawns will atleast give one jeep or other vehicles, and some also yeild light armour in the form of APC's. I placed 10 control points on the 64 player version of the map to try a keep the flow of the game moving and make it harder to take and defend most of the positions. This is to keep the flow of the game going with people having to constantly move back and forward to re-capture spawns. The 16 player version of the map has no Artillery as i see artillery in 16 player maps as un-necessary and detracts from what should be purely infantry based combat without the hinderance of having an entire spawn wiped out by artillery. The factory location has ladders and people are able to get on to any roof top which aids in defending this point which is vital if the USMC are to win the map. Well I hope people like this map when it finally gets an appearance on custom map servers and I look forward to hearing peoples responses. Thanks for your time and good gaming to all, WhiteShadow - Clan thR - Australia

10-03-2005, 01:15 AM	#3 (permalink)
Santa Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Age: 18 Posts: 3,355	Re: Operation Black Lotus Map Review Wow, that map looks really good. Attacking through the forests would be so much fun, and the paradrop at the beginning is a cool, new idea. I think TG should really look into it. Maybe put it on one of the passworded nights and see how people like it? Curious, on the 64 player map how big is it compared to, say dragon valley? or any other map? its hard to tell how big or small it is.

10-03-2005, 01:42 AM	#4 (permalink)
munchkin Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Sydney, Australia Age: 17 Posts: 2,271	Re: Operation Black Lotus Map Review Wow, I never knew a thR guy made it. I applied to join thR a while back..but then I found TG __________________ [conduct][volun][drill][sg-c1][tpf-c1] \|TG-2nd\|munchkin Nec aspera terrent.

10-03-2005, 02:14 AM	#5 (permalink)
=Sarc= Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 4,460	Re: Operation Black Lotus Map Review It looks good. I want to try it out! __________________ JO Guides & Tutorials Team Element - It's who you game with.

10-03-2005, 02:28 AM	#6 (permalink)
perry Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 4,494	Re: Operation Black Lotus Map Review Yea, that map looks fun, I wanna play!

10-03-2005, 02:31 AM	#7 (permalink)
munchkin Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Sydney, Australia Age: 17 Posts: 2,271	Re: Operation Black Lotus Map Review It looks like one of the best maps out there, and from what I've seen, rivals the DICE-made maps. __________________ [conduct][volun][drill][sg-c1][tpf-c1] \|TG-2nd\|munchkin Nec aspera terrent.

10-03-2005, 02:31 AM	#8 (permalink)
[thR_WhiteShadow] Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: NSW, Australia Age: 32 Posts: 5	Re: Operation Black Lotus Map Review Comparing it to say Dragon Valley it would be around half the size of the 64 version. In the editor the map is 512x512, which is the middle of the range size. Dragon Valley is, i think, 1024x1024 size. 3 of us in thR make maps, only 2 of us are still at it. The maps done so far by thR clan members are: Serivana_Desert_Map by Scunner http://battlefield2.filefront.com/fi...a_Desert;47239 Assault_At_Singalese by MacktheKnife http://battlefield2.filefront.com/fi...ingalese;46014 Im thinking about doing an Urban map next, but with new games time is a little thin

10-03-2005, 02:35 AM	#9 (permalink)
munchkin Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Sydney, Australia Age: 17 Posts: 2,271	Re: Operation Black Lotus Map Review If we put this up on Server 2, you and the thR boys should jump on and have a playthrough with us. __________________ [conduct][volun][drill][sg-c1][tpf-c1] \|TG-2nd\|munchkin Nec aspera terrent.

10-03-2005, 02:50 AM	#10 (permalink)
[thR_WhiteShadow] Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: NSW, Australia Age: 32 Posts: 5	Re: Operation Black Lotus Map Review That would be fun.. just have to prod the other thR guys (and girl ) to get the map if they dont have it already

10-03-2005, 06:55 AM	#11 (permalink)
munchkin Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Sydney, Australia Age: 17 Posts: 2,271	Re: Operation Black Lotus Map Review The second flag pictured could use some extra trees IMO. I'd love to have a large stretch of dense jungle, leading up to a construction site. It'd be different, at least. This map seems to offer many tactical possibilities, and fighting for control of the factory would be intense. Mentally, it seems to me that the Chinese UCB is just begging for someone to have the audacity to try and take it - it's great. Also, props on getting that huge shipping container hanging from the crane. Can you say sniper platform? __________________ [conduct][volun][drill][sg-c1][tpf-c1] \|TG-2nd\|munchkin Nec aspera terrent.

10-03-2005, 09:31 AM	#12 (permalink)
TG_Bubba Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: In the cell next to Icky. Age: 54 Posts: 5,849	Re: Operation Black Lotus Map Review Yea, let's some custom maps on server 2. I wanna play.... __________________ Admin Graw 2-- Call of Duty Tactical Game Primer Call of Duty - Official Rules, Announcements & SOPs Have a problem? Need an admin? TG_Mateo: "Forget freedom, democracy, the blues, New York Pizza: our lasting contribution to human society is Bourbon." Sloppy Joe: "Don't play this game like you are on your own, because if you do... it might become a reality." kin3: "I'll try but I have the grandchildren all day today and if I'm not wiped out I'll play."

10-03-2005, 10:27 AM	#13 (permalink)
Tempus Join Date: May 2003 Location: Miami, FL Age: 38 Posts: 8,099	Re: Operation Black Lotus Map Review Alright guys, with the patch out this week, we'll upload some maps after that. __________________ Battlefield 2/2142 Game Officer Contact me with server/player/admin issues. -- Suits are what you wear when doing things you shouldn’t want to do anyway. FROM THE TACTICAL GAMER PRIMER. 3) Support game play in a near-simulation environment. Where the focus of play would not be solely on doing what it takes to win, but doing so utilizing real-world combat strategy and tactics rather than leveraging exploits provided to players by the design of the game engine.

10-03-2005, 12:14 PM	#14 (permalink)
Bodofooko Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Oklahomawherethewindgoes whippingthroughtheplains Age: 25 Posts: 491	Re: Operation Black Lotus Map Review yippie! __________________ I read all of Rick's post, and all I got was this lousy sig.

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