Snap to Grid: Maridia Beta 2
October 30, 2008
Here’s another installment of Snap to Grid, our regular look at up-and-coming user-created content for Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars. In this latest edition, ETQW Mapping‘s Managing Director and professional gorilla impersonator Terry ‘Salteh’ Seidler takes a look at beta 2 of Maridia, another effort by well-known brush-building machine Chris. Read on for a full walkthrough of the map, several screenshots and the obligatory download link. Connoisseurs of user-made maps should also keep an eye out for the Custom Map Nirvana events every Sunday featuring the latest and greatest maps made by the community.
Over to you, Salteh:
Maridia is the second ETQW map released by Chris, who already brought us Meltdown earlier this year. If you missed it, you can read all about his first map in April 28’s Snap to Grid. As for Maridia, the story premise is that the GDF have discovered a Strogg Stroyent production and distribution facility located in the North Sea. Naturally, GDF Command has decided this facility has to disappear as soon as possible – they’re sending multiple battleships, filled with soldiers, to the area.
After arriving at the facility, there are three objectives for the GDF to accomplish. In order to gain access to the facility, the security controls have to be hacked. There are multiple routes available, so both GDF and Strogg will have to carefully think about how they want to attack or defend this map. GDF may concentrate all their efforts on one route, or split up their attack. Will the Strogg meet the GDF attack head on, or will they group up inside the Security Controls room? GDF soldiers can destroy a security hatch, which opens up another attack route on the second floor of the security building, allowing them to attack the Strogg from above.
Once the Security Controls have been hacked, GDF troops gain access to the more important parts of the facility. They will have to venture inside to stop the facility’s Stroyent production and distribution. Destroying the Stroyent Distribution Module is their first task. It’s a big machine with lots of pipes and tiny, expensive parts – nothing a heavy explosive charge can’t handle!
Finally, the Stroyent purification slave has to be stopped. The purification slave is essentially a giant organic machine, and in the finest tradition of giant monsters in games, the GDF team has to attack its weak point for massive damage. The only way to do this is by taking a Chemical Injection Unit and using it to inject a deadly poison into the purification slave’s belly/stomach. Similar to Island or Outskirts, this is a cleverly disguised delivery objective – you pick up the CIU, fight your way to the purification slave and spend a few seconds to inject the poison.
As we have come to expect from Chris since Meltdown, the Strogg facility looks convincingly Strogg-like/Stroggy/Strogg-esque. There are spare parts for Strogg machinery lying about, torn up human torsos all over the place, the usual Strogg colours, logos, textures… and of course the big Strogg transporter that can be spotted flying over the facility at the start of the game.
As for bot support, bots do spawn on the map, but don’t actually do anything at the moment. If you want to play Maridia, I highly recommend joining the Custom Map Nirvana on Sunday evening – Maridia will definitely be played a couple of times during this weekly event.
Chris isn’t the only releasing new maps, however – scrupus recently released a new test version of his map Arctic Assault, and Violator’s Estate hasn’t featured on Snap to Grid yet, either, so look for both maps to make an appearance in a future edition. In the meantime, give Maridia a go:
Terry “Salteh” Seidler serves as Splash Damage’s Mascot and regularly feeds the tapirs over at ETQW Mapping.