Some of you may remember the VIA mapping contest that was held in order to provide Quake IV players with some new maps to duel on, since the default maps aren’t that interesting and weren’t created for competitive play. With a respectable second place finish in this competition, Mash-Up Streets may be just what the Quake IV community was looking for.



Aesthetics & Visual Appearance

The map was created as an advertisement for Mash-Up Radio because Method, the map’s creator, was listening to the station as he brainstormed for his next mapping project. He has given a nice little tribute to the station by putting their logo on a billboard, but fortunately he refrained from putting in any more ads that may have cluttered up the map.

Mash-Up Streets has a dark mood and environment which perfectly fits its architecture. Method has managed to hit two birds with one stone here by satisfying both the players who are interested in a map’s visual appearance as well as those out there who are more concerned with a map’s competitive playability. Mash-Up Streets is done up in a style reminiscent of Quake III maps, something many players will find refreshing since most Quake IV maps thus far have incorporated futuristic textures similar to those used in Unreal Tournament 2004.

Layout

The most prominent feature of this map is the Tower which can be found in the very center. The many entrances into this area seem to invite players to spam rockets or nades at one another as they fight for the Mega Health, which can be found on the Tower’s upper level. Method’s mapping genius shines through in the steel beams and pipes that are used as ramps, adding to both the aesthetics of the map as well as its strategy. Another thing that caught my eye are the staircases – finally, steps that don’t impede jumping, and these can even be used to gain speed! These ramps and staircases bring the map together by allowing players to increase and sustain their speed, making Mash-Up Streets a perfect dueling map despite its large size.

Item & Weapon Placement

Now we can delve into one of the most important aspects of mapping – item and weapon placement, which can make or break a map. Method seems to have gotten this right. Most maps tend to include a Yellow Armor, a Red Armor, and a Mega Health, and Mash-Up Streets is no different. The Yellow Armor is in the upper right corner on the map layout, the Red Armor can be found beside the Mash-Up billboard, and the Mega Health is at the top of the Tower. This setup is much like that of dm6, where all of the items are in a straight line with the Mega Health in the middle and the two Armors at either end.

Due to this positioning, both players have the same chance of getting the items, though a player picking up the Mega Health will have an easier time getting to the Yellow Armor than the Red one. The three most powerful weapons (Shaft, Railgun, and Rocket Launcher) are also positioned well, with lots of distance between them, which means that neither player should be able to get two of the best weapons right at the beginning of a match.

Another good point about the positioning is that all of the weapons are close to a powerup – the Shaft is beside the Yellow Armor, the Railgun is next to the Red Armor, and the Rocket Launcher is near the Mega Health.

Final Thoughts

Mash-Up Streets is a great dueling map and it certainly seems to have the potential for being used in competitive play, especially since maps like Galang and bliptourney managed to get accepted by leagues all around the globe despite their poor competitive playability. Method is also open to any suggestions for improvement, so give this map a chance and the community can only benefit from it.

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