CTF-Magma

For other versions of this map, see Recurring maps#LavaGiant.

Magma is one of the most dangerous and dreaded arenas in the Tournament. Precarious walkways over a lake of fire offer little room for error; watch your step!

Screenshot of Magma

Map Description

In the same vein as CTF-LavaGiant, this map is an open-air arena of rock, surrounded by a sea of molten lava. It features two castles (this time, ruined) separated by a huge volcano with holes in it acting as connections between bases, and plenty of walkways connecting them.

The flag base in each side is a ruined castle with many entrances: one at the south, one at the west, one at the east, and two windows in the north. The castles also have no ceilings, so it's also possible to come from the top. As such, the translocator plays a big role in both offense and defense, since many areas of the map can only be reached by using it. There're also two towers, one at the north-center of the base, and another at the northeast of the base, housing weapons and items. The top level can be accessed via a lift in the northwest corner, or via translocator.

The roads which connect the base are very diverse, with a lot of options for offense. At the upper level there's the central road, straightforwardly connected to the volcano and nothing else. These roads house three Adrenaline pills, with an additional five pills more in the volcano's interior. The west road starts at the flag base and bifurcates into two additional roads ending in the east and west entrances to the volcano. The west bifurcation's end is also united at the west entrance point by another west road uniting the lower and upper levels. The east road serves as the more visible connection between the lower and upper levels.

In the lower level, aside of both roads connecting it with the upper level, there are some islands housing some adrenaline pills, health vials and even a shield charge. At the base end of the lower area, there's a spiral road connecting the lower and upper entrances, but also ending at the upper end behind the flag base. Careful teams might want to leave a defender in this end in the event of a surprise attack.

And, finally, there's the Volcano itself. The very top of the volcano can be accessed, giving as a reward the Ion Painter. This is the only external connection between bases, as every other connection is done inside of the volcano. In the volcano's interior, there are three roads, connecting one base's west entrance with the other's east and viceversa, the central bridge connecting the two central roads, and two "islands" or stone pillars housing the Super Shield (west) and a Rocket ammo (east). The lateral roads also have caves housing items, a Health charge in the west side, and ammo for Minigun, Lightning Gun and Shock Rifle on the east.

Weapons & Pickups

Weapons

Pickups

Tips & tricks

• On offense, this is a map where the longest road ends in a bigger chance to get the enemy flag. In this regard, the lower level is the safest route to take. It's possible to stay out of snipers' view range, and there's even the chance to do a surprise attack by entering from behind.
• On defense, your team might benefit from having a pair of defenders in the lower level, and also one guarding the rear of the base. Enemies will attack from every possible direction, so keep your eyes open.

Single-Player tips

• Winning this match unlocks the Bombing Run ladder.

Trivia

• This map shares a lot in common with classic UT map CTF-LavaGiant, right now to the setting taking place in an island surrounded by magma.
• There are two Ion Satellites, one per base.
• According to Tim Sweeney, Shane Caudle designed the map entirely from scratch.

On one extreme like CTF-Magma, Shane Caudle created the entire map from scratch, with almost everything being custom. The benefit of this approach is that you can get the absolute best visual quality possible, but the drawback is that it's very time-consuming and doesn't result in many prefabs that other level designers can reuse.^[1]

References