RavenGames News Archives

January 2004

If you wanted more blood and gore in SoF2 you would download a gore mod, right? What if that gore mod was a simple file and there was actually little to cheer for? You wanted more gore, more blood, more death animations and only got more splatters.

Well for you there is now NeroFix 3.0 final !

NX3.0, the amazing compilation of all good mods and works for your sof2, its like a new update, taste it, smells good, this baby contains much more than previously stated, so you REALLY need to download this mod. It even contains a working minimizer which is very handy.

Most popular mods are in this package so it saves you a LOT of time downloading separate mods. For the low-violence (german) version download this file here.
Both files contain the standard NeroFix mod and these mods as well :

GoldRush
ICS
Jeel
Jihad
KTMWTB
ManDown
OSP
Psycho
Rocmod
UNF104
3RD

All updated to the latest version, go get it at SoF II Files or pay a visit to Nerofix's homepage here!

Back to top

Here we have a great infiltration map for Soldier of Fortune II, which will hold 34 people at a max. The map is big and has lots to explore and a good map for close and far combat.

"A cool map with a cool music on the background..Just check it out!..A great inf. map we think..:)"

Developed by Nickster & Twanos, it can be found at SoF II Files.

Back to top

My first impression of this skin was not the greatest, but then I found something in the readme that did impress me. The author, SirMaroc, claims that he drew all of the artwork featured on this skin. While I would describe the dragon on the front of this skin, called Dragon Dueler, cute - it's still great that SirMaroc put time and effort into this skin. So yeah, it's not a ferocious dragon, but it doesn't have to be. The claws on back look great too.

There are team skins included here also, with only a few little things that differ from the default skin. Like the eyes. Okay, refresh my memory here ... did this model always look like he was wearing shades? I'm referring to the default skin there. In the red team skin, the eyes have a more ... um, dragon quality to them. In any case, it's an interesting concept. I'm suprised the author didn't include at least a custom taunt, but there is bot support. This isn't the greatest skin I've seen made, but it certainly is a far cry from the worst. Good job, SirMaroc, for your first skin. I look forward to seeing more from you.

Bot Support: Yes
Team Colors: Yes
New Sounds: No

News comments by AmosMagee.

You can find it at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

This is version 2.0 of the VJ Stadium by Sofa King, all that's missing is the crowd! The map is a medium/large football stadium supporting DM, TDM, ELIM, CTF and DEMO game types and will host 4-6 players as per the author, however this map, I think, will hold more, much more players! There are plenty of places to explore and even more vantage points for all you budding snipers out there:

"Now that the boxes have been put away, games won & lost, and the Stadium now out living its use... the NFL gave up trying to save the original VaJayJay Stadium and just handed it over to the SOF community. Even with its new paint scheme, different game types and several hiding spots... the NFL just couldn't swallow the bitter taste the original Stadium had left on many fans. A contractor was finally hired to fixed the stadium lighting problems and was quoted to say "... let the darkness be your friend..."

"T-Bone The Killer" has been honored in the Hall of Champions where his Jersey is displayed - unless destroyed by the DEMOLITION crew..."

This map is a must download and should do extremely well on custom servers. So what you waiting for go get it now and see for yourself at SoF II Files!

Back to top

CyberX got a decent rating for his Brotherhood of Steel skinpack for JK2, though I didn't quite agree with the masses (er, 11 people who voted). This version is for Jedi Academy and though the author calls it a skin pack, it is just one skin with team support. Nothing has changed about the default skin that I can tell. It's still the Exar Kun model and CyberX sticks with the Fallout theme.

Thankfully, the creator did include bot support and team support for his Jedi Academy version. Though the team skins are nothing more than red and blue versions of the default. There are new sounds with this skin, but I don't recall them working in-game. Y'know, that's happening a lot with JA skins for me ... I wonder if the problem is on my side. Hmm. Well, if you guys download this skin, let me know if the taunts work for you.

Bot Support: Yes
Team Colors: Yes
New Sounds: Yes

News comments by AmosMagee!

Go get it at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

Most of the world loves Lord of the Rings since the release of the movies, those who never read the books found themselves considering reading them, those who can't be bothered reading them (me ) just watched the movies over and over!...yeah I got pretty hooked on LotR.

So this map for Jedi Outcast is from the Mines of Moria where Gandalf the Grey falls to his...well ascension for lack of a better word, he falls to rise! Yeah, anyway, this map does remind me of it, there is no denying that; the movies don't show much of this area at all so the map even reflects the fact you don't see much, it's dark, gloomy, has torches that use light styles to make the lighting fade and glow, a nice touch. The lighting however suffers from lack of detail, although the author knew about light styles he missed out on _lightmapscale which allows for more detailed shadows - this would have made the torch holders cast clear shadows on the floor instead of the patchy effect this map has. The lighting is, to be honest, too dark, I know the Mines of Moria are gloomy but this is still a map and in a map you need to be able to see what you're doing.

There was only one texture fault in the entire map however and the choice of textures was good to say he stuck with the default game textures...there are no custom textures whatsoever in this map.

It's not a bad map all in all and certainly beats some of the LotR maps this site has had the ... pleasure ... of receiving. Seen as there are no other Moria maps out there, this is the best one there is!

News comments by WadeV1589

You can find it at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

Take a gander at the review of the first version of this JKE skinpack:

"It seems that the Quinlan Vos model is, like, the model to be skinning right now. And so, Jimmy Hawkin went a little crazy and skinned 7 different ones. These are all clan skins, but I could see a few of you using them yourselves.

Let's get the negative part outta the way first. Most of these skins are just recolored. There are a few details added here and there to make it somewhat unique, but don't expect a big change from the neck down with these skins. All of the faces are definitely unique. The first guy there has like, a weird shaped scar on one side of his face. The second guy has a fresh-faced look to him. The third one there, looks just like the last guy, but with no facial hair and his whole appearance is light in color. Mmkay, fourth guy has blue hair, blue goatee and blue eyebrows. Love the idea, but it looks like it was painted on with a blue marker. My favorite skin of this pack has to be the fifth one. He's older, with gray hair, some cuts on his face and a white goatee. The last two skins are a little freaky. The purple one has some very cool face paint stuff goin' on. While the eyes make him look evil, the look just reminds me of KISS. And the very last one keeps the same design on the face, but it's red. Which gives him that Darth Maul look - which is kinda odd on this model, in my opinion.

Overall, I'd say this is a good clan skin pack. There's bot support and team support. There are also some new sounds, though not all of the skins get the new sounds. I probably wouldn't have even mentioned the lack of change to the skin's body if this hadn't been a pack and just seeing them all lined up like that, the fact that they all still look alike just sorta stood out, y'know? Anyway, good job(...)"

Well, it looks like the author had a bit more time on his hands and created, ohhh ... five or six more skins to add to his skin pack here. All but one skin includes a regular, cloaked and cloaked and hooded version and most of the skins, if not all, have team support as well. They're all based (except one) on the Quinlan Vos model and they each kinda have their own flavor about them. There isn't much difference between the dark side and light side version of the author's personal skin here, just that the Sith one has a darker presence about him, and red eyes. The Oblivion skin sorta has an Errol Flynn look to him, with that facial hair. And then there's Black Fox, who seems to like to show off his cleav ... er, his chest. A big hit with the ladies?

This skin pack weighs in at a whopping 49MB, so you're gonna have to really be impressed with these skins to want to download them. Some have new taunts, others don't. And once again the author has submitted this skin pack as an installer, which has been scanned for viruses, of course and it's clean. I did notice this little comment in the readme:

"When I made thees new Characters i was thinking about what the guy that reviewd my old skin pack on JK3files.com said. The characters look very alike on the 1.0 skinpack. So I hope these New skins will stand out a bit."

Well, they don't all look alike now at all. The faces do seem to be a bit more varied now, but still, it's the same model! That was my only real complaint. Oh, and my video card is crap, I make no qualms about that. But maybe it isn't my video card that's the problem here? No, I'm kidding. The skins are fine. Good work here, but next time, try mixing it up a bit - play with a few different models. Or, stick with this one. *shrugs* Whatever blows your skirt up.

Bot Support: Yes
Team Colors: Yes
New Sounds: Yes

News comments and skin pack review by AmosMagee.

Check it out at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

If you aren't already a skinner, this tutorial is definitely for you. Or if you've tried reading Raven's tutorial on skinning and you just kinda sat there, scratching your head when you finished reading it - you might want to check this skinning guide out. The best part about this tutorial is that it's in plain English. The only thing the author assumes is that you know how to use Windows and you can quickly learn a new program. That is, if WinRAR is new to you. It works pretty much the same way WinZip does. Very easy program to grasp. So if you can use those programs and some photo editing software of some kind, then you too, can skin!

My only issues with this tutorial were the spelling, capitalization and punctuation errors. They were everywhere. Now, I make mistakes here and there, I know I do. And sometimes I don't really care about grammar and I make up my own words! But seriously, the author did this tutorial in Word - it's not that hard to just run it through the spellchecker real quick, y'know? Anyway, decent tutorial - not that I read through the whole thing, but if you can get people skinning in just 10 steps, I'll be impressed.

News comments by AmosMagee.

Take a look at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

This is a medium-sized map of the place where all the Federation's shuttles are built. The shuttles in the main construction bay are actually prototypes of the shuttle that is probably going to be used in Star Trek: Elite Force III!

This is an interesting little level, that has some fast gameplay. It's based in a star fleet construction yard for shuttles, a small/medium size map for anything like 2-6 players! The doors seem slightly slow at times, especialy as the rest of the map is fast. The only thing I found slightly anoying is the lack of weapons, there aren't a lot of em around...All in all a fun map, with bot support, that will keep you occupied for a while.

Developed by Dr.Bob it can be found at Elite Force Files.

Back to top

You thought High Wire was high? You have just got to try this map out! The map is a small/medium sized DM map with the sniper very much in mind. There are plenty of places to hide and explore, you have access to all the roof tops and loads of small corridors for you to gain access to very good sniper points.

Vertigo 2 is primarily a sniper map but all weapons types are supported in DM and its still a long, long, long way down !! The map supports dm, tdm, elim,inf, ctf, dem.

A good all round map and well worth a download, go get it now and see for yourself, will do very well on custom servers, go get it at SoF II Files!

Back to top

Okay, seriously ... this is a decent clan map. Hidden Valley of the [EJK]: Academy Training Grounds ... gah ... that's a long title. Let's just refer to it as Hidden Valley. I'm not sure if this is [EJK]Viper-=HC=-'s first map or not, but I didn't find his name on the site - so I'll assume it is. And if that's the case, this is a darn good first map.

The first screenshot there shows the requisite bar, with a very colorful dance floor and some very square billiards balls (is there another name for those?). And all of the cue sticks are the same size! I'm too short to use those! Well, it's not like you can really play pool on that table anyway. Okay, so the bar. Looks a bit plain, but here's the coolest part about it: go behind the bar and you'll find a few buttons across the back of it. Press one and a bacta spawns on the bar! Very cool - love that.

So then I explored another room and found one that reminds me so much of the room in Griffinclaw's Jedi Council map for JK2. I suppose it's nice to see that the author here got some inspiration from that great map. It's not exactly the same, so I'm still smiling here.

The next room I ventured into was a training area - appropriate, considering that this is a training map. There are several guns to choose from, but limited ammo. I don't quite understand why some of the guns that he chose are there - some aren't made for target practice, in my opinion. The targets on the far side of the room move back and forth, up and down and even in circles, I think. If only the shots were to leave a black mark so you'd know if you hit the target or not. They didn't leave marks for me at all. Or maybe my aim so bad that I didn't even hit the wall! *gasp*

There's this one room that's just a big curved pit thing. That's about all I can say about that. Mmkay, so then I found a dojo-like room that almost reminded me again of the Jedi Council map, but this one has a very different element to it - you can spawn NPC's to fight here. One little detail I noticed is that the door to this room doesn't just open - you have to hit your use button to open it. I assume that's to keep the NPC's from escaping. Very cool. There are four buttons on the side wall for you to choose a single saber, dual sabers or staff duelist to fight. Then there was this other room and I know I've seen something like this before - but it wasn't done as well (I mean in the other map). There are several rotating, um, things in this room with a grate platform at top.

At the top of the staircase is a lovely clock with hands that move - nice touch. Down below are several thrones and some ornamentation here and there that suit the map's theme. One thing that seemed out of place here was the group of trees with a little campfire in the middle ... inside a building ... on a stone floor. *scratches head* Yeah, just seems a little odd. But I still like it. Across from that is a wading pool surrounded by more trees and benches.

And then there's outside. Out here you'll find swoops and ships to fly around a vast field that has a very cool edge to it. If you often lose control of your vehicle and go smashing into a wall, no worries here - you fly into a border, and you're simply transported high above the field and you just float back down. Your land might be a bit jarring, but you won't crash into anything. This is also a clever way of keeping the swoops and ships in the place they're supposed to be - outside. There's also a dueling pad high up, some spectating areas and lower there's another duel pad that has a spinning center. The design is nice. I like it.

Holy crap this is a long review. Well, it is a big map. There are many areas for FFA's and duels and even just hang out and RP if that's your thing. I enjoyed exploring this map and I think it might become a favorite among many. Unfortunately, my FPS averaged at about 20-30 most of the map. :/ *kicks video card* Yes, I will upgrade soon. Though I think it's more about my proces- never mind. So, overall, great clan map. I don't recall seeing one clan tag anywhere in this map! Yay for that! I think I've said enough. I'm going to bed now. G'night.

Bot Support: No
New Textures: Yes
New Music: Yes
Game Types: FFA, TFFA

Map review (and what a review!) and comments by AmosMagee!

You just can't miss this one, go get it at Jedi Knight Files!

Back to top

Finally a JKR map that is more like a racetrack! Sith-J-Cull calls it a Coruscant Speedway. It's just what you'd expect of a racetrack in Coruscant. It's a dark map with a lot of twists and turns and arrows that keep you headed in the right direction.

Jump on a swoop at the Start line and wait for the announcer to start you off. Then you'll race against others through many different tunnels on the track, all the while having a view of the city through windows on the side or above you. You'll also pass spectator areas where people will cheer on the leader of the race. There are obstacles like big, moving blocks that will try to crush you and knock you out of the lead and buttons that you'll need to slow down and press with the nose of your swoop to open up the next path you'll need to race down. At the end of the race, you'll be greeted by more spectators and the applause of the crowd.

If you're not in the mood to race and plan to just watch, there's a room where you can choose which area you want to watch the race from. It'll transport you to one of three areas and each area has a teleporter to take you back to the start line. If you're announcing the race and starting off the contestents, there is a place for you to stand and press the button to get them started. All of the new sounds are perfect and the map is a lot of fun to play. I suppose if you wanted to duel or start a small FFA, it's feasible, but really this is a JKR map. This is definitely my favorite JKR map to date. Great work, Sith-J-Cull. I can't wait to see more JKR maps from you. That is, if you plan to do more Speedways.

Bot Support: Yes
New Textures: No
New Music: Yes
Game Types: FFA, JKR

Map review and news comments by AmosMagee!

Check it out at Jedi Knight Files!

Back to top

This is version two of Hellbder House, a great map for Soldier of Fortune II that was released in the begining of this month:

"Here we have a massive multiplayer map for Soldier of Fortune II, which is based in a "big strange house"! The map is great fun to play on and supports DM, TDM, CTF and INF:

All gametypes are great on this map due to the places to hide and the many routes to take! Developed by HELLBDER!"

The author doesn't say what was changed and what were the improvements, the map seems much more stable now and I couldn't find any major problems. Overall is a damn good map for SoF II.
So if you're tired of all the same ole maps, go try this one at SoF II Files!

Back to top

Plasma has always been known for his sexy JK2 Jan skins. Now he wants to be known for his sexy JA Jan skins! This pack is a few of his most popular skins for JK2 converted for JA.

The first one you see in the screenshot there is also known as Jan Red. It's lovely skin of Jan in a suit that seems to have had a run-in with a sharp pair of scissors. But the cutouts are tasteful.

Jan Roses is the second skin included here, which is a lovely two-piece that has a floral-like design on it. I'm guessing this was one of Plasma's first skins, because the other skins improved so much compared to this one.

The third skin is Jan Pink, which features Jan in corset type lingerie. It doesn't just come in pink though. You can get the yellow, red, blue or lavender version. They're all very pretty.

My favorite in this pack has to be Jan Silver. Once again, Plasma sticks with lingerie, but this skin has a more delicate look to it. A thin, lacy skirt covers the bottom half of the piece.

And the final skin from Plasma is Jan X. It's a nice skin, but not one I'd use myself. It was made in honor of JK2 being released on X-Box. So she has the X-Box logo on her back.

All of the skins are great, and each one has at least the blue and red team skins, but not as team support. They're selectable in the menu seperately. It's nice to see Plasma bringing his skins to Jedi Academy, but I'd be more excited to see Plasma create some feminine skins fresh for JA!

News comments by AmosMagee

Take a look at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

This is a clan map...uh oh....but not uh oh! Although it was designed for a clan it isn't covered with clan logos nor clan names, it is by all accounts a standard FFA map (of course it has a bar in it tho!)

Texture-wise it is all well chosen and flows perfectly...texture-mapping wise it has its faults, meshes aren't always textured how they should be but it's merely a missed thing not that the mapper does not know how. Also the floor texture (the red one in particular) is over tiled, it needs stretching a bit more next time.

The corridors are nicely done in this map, large so you can battle in them, skylights which are ovular and fires in the corners which I really liked as an extra nice touch. There are several rooms for dueling/fighting in that are open and well suited to battling out.

I also spotted something rather worrying with the layout which may make this map go slower than it should for some players, there is no vis data in this map whatsoever, at any one time you can (vis-ually) see the rest of the map which can knock your FPS down to 30-40 even on a Geforce FX!

Oh and the music is quite suited too, I didn't have to turn it off for a change!

Bot Support:Yes
New Sounds:Yes
New Textures:Yes

News comments by WadeV1589

You can find it at Jedi Knight II Files
.

Back to top

-{LOF}- Dannifilth Brings us Mighella's (The Sith Witch) Lair. This is a pretty cool duel map. The lighting sets the mood of the map very well and was done perfectly. I like the logo glass at one end, I thought the skybox he made was awesome, I loved that skybox. The music is good, it's taken from "The Shadows Of The Empire Soundtrack By Joel McNeely" and plays a good part in setting the overall evil effect for the map.

I did however find one thing wrong with it. The FPS. The FPS in this level was rather low in the 30's. That's really all I can critize with this map. All the custom textures are nice, the skybox is great, the music, and lighting are fantastic...

Plus Cradle of Filth rocks, so Danni get's extra points! heheh

Nice job -{LOF}- Dannifilth, keep up the nice work!

Bot Support: Yes
New Music: Yes
New Textures: Yes
Gametypes: Duel, Powerduel

Map review and comments by SanosuKe

Go get it at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

Thanks to Tas on the Ravengames X-Men Legends Forums, he has alerted us of Gamespot releasing four new X-men Legends screenshots whoch show off the game's new semi-cell shaded exterior, as well as the new ingame character select layout! Read more here.

Also according to Mr t, Kenn Hoekstra and the Raven team will be releasing alot more information on X-Men Legends sometime in February! Read more here.

Back to top

Snowgim brings us a new type of Bloodmod called Blood+. It is just brutal watching your man get slaughtered. It sprays blood all over the walls if you are close enough to it and the detail of the blood is very good. Some people fall in love with gore stuff like this then this mod might be that one mod that will make you die. When you strike a player it squirts some blood, but when its a true battle it's a bloodbath isn't that delightful! One thing I wish they could do is put new sounds on these things like every 5 kills have it say Monster Kill or something similar. I liked the quality, but when you have the blood mod for both mp and sp it can mess up the quality of graphics so watch out there, but nothing to worry about!

Overall this is great for gore people now if you pass out at the sight of blood then this is NOT for you . If you love blood like some people that I know then this is perfect for you and when I say perfect I mean perfect! It just splatters all 8 pints (I believe) worth of blood splatters everywhere even on your shoes! The blood stays on the ground and gets all over the walls if you are close enough. Great job Snowgim this is great for anyone that likes blood in their game!

News comments by XgamerX.

Go get it at Jedi Knight Files if you're feeling bloody!

Back to top

This is the latest offering from FLiX to you map hungry freaks out there, Space Pad!

It is a small sized map with pads that rise up and down, it does not sound a good idea but it is a lot of fun trying not to die when jumping from pad to pad, whilst trying to pick your emery’s off from a distance and not falling to your doom!

Bots have no chance on this sort of map and just hang about on one pad acting dumb (As is the norm for bots)! Still do not let this small detail put you off, as this is excellent map from Flix.

(news comments by Pandemonium)

Check it out at Elite Force Files!

Back to top

A very nice small sized map and very colourfull to match, not many places to hide here so its gonna be a free for frag fest in this map. Dotted about are jump pads so you are able to reach the higher levels.

An interesting map with many dungeonlike rooms, good for grenade fraggin! In this map are 5 jumppads and two teleporter to across the map makes lot of fun to use them!

The map supports DM, Elim and CFT game types and will host a max of 32 players.

Want some simple fun? Then grab this map at SoF II Files and have a ball!

Back to top

Hehe, this is a very sneaky mod - I like it! It creates a cloaking shield about your character, as long as you are using the Imperial Saboteur skin. (which makes sense if you read the readme) Now, about actually starting the mod. There are 2 ways, which I found. Firstly, open the console and type exec cloaked , then hit the 'w' and 'q' keys to cloak and decloak.

The immediate and obvious problem with this, is that many players use the 'w' key, to move forward, and its a bit of a drag when it doesn't work anymore However, the other way (and easier for those not familiar with the console) is simply to go into profile, and change to the faded version of the Saboteur skin. However, you can't be going into profile all the time, it's a bit boring. So thats a bad point about this mod. As for the actual gameplay of it - well it does exactly what it's supposed to. It makes your character cloaked. Not completely invisible of course, but hard to spot. It's a very good idea, and well created. Very good work here!

I did find a way to change the bind keys - If anyone doesn't know how, open up the cloaked.cfg file using notepad, and alter these 2 lines.

-bind Q "echo ^7Decloaked ; model saboteur; play sound/chars/shadowtrooper/decloak"
-bind W "echo ^7Cloaked ; model CloakedSaboteur; play sound/chars/shadowtrooper/cloak"

Now simply change the 'Q' and 'W' keys to your preference, and save it!

Mod features:

New Textures- No
New Sounds- No
Bot Support- Yes
Team Support- Yes

Comments and review by Szico VII.

You can find it at Jedi Knight Files!

Back to top

As a gift for the NFOR clan, Gigon created this map, called NFOR Club. It may just look like another duel map, at first glance, but I assure you, there's a lot more going on with this map than first meets the eye. The main area is a dueling pad with the letters NFOR in the center. When I first saw the raised letters, I thought they might inhibit movement in a duel, but they don't really interfere at all. All around the pad, are boxes and crates - some are open and house taun-tauns! So I jumped on one and rode through a door and down a ramp to the second level where I found a dance floor and a bar. I have to say, this is probably one of my favorite bars ever made for a map. The bar is small with only a few "bar" textures. And thankfully, it's not that overused bar bottle on the back wall texture thing. The props used were used sparingly and there's a birthday cake on one table. Be sure to take a closer look at that. High above the map is a ship "flying" overhead. It doesn't actually move, and doesn't serve much of a purpose. It's just kinda there. Down below is a bunch of boxes and ramps in water. That area would make for some great duels! I only wish there was something more down there ... like a secret area underwater, y'know? I half-expected it for some reason.

I suppose my biggest complaint I have about this map is that taun-tauns just look really out of place where there is no snow. I mean, they belong on Hoth, y'know? But having them in the crates like that, kinda explains it. Like, there was a crash landing or something. *shrug* That's how I explain it anyway. Gigon makes so many small maps, I'd really love to see him try a big FFA. Something vast (but with good FPS!) and involved. Though this map's textures are a bit boring in some areas, I like the way flow of the map. FFA's and duels work equally well on this map. Nice job.

Bot Support: Yes
New Textures: Yes
New Music: No
Game Types: FFA, TFFA, Duel, Powerduel

Map review and comments by AmosMagee!

Take a look at Jedi Knight Files!

Back to top

This is, by far, my most favoritest (yes, I know that's not a real word) maps by Orbitius. The main room in Hidden Dragon is just beautiful. Old wood with lovely stains on them can be found all over in this room. The open area is perfect for a good duel, and there's plenty of space for people to watch from the sidelines without getting in the way. It's also great for a small FFA. Once again, Orb doesn't miss a single detail. The chairs are perfect, the small plants, the weapons on the side walls, the shadows and lighting - it's all just wonderful.

And I thought that was all there was to this map. I was ready to write a review after just taking a look at this one room, but then I discovered a door. I entered the next room and it just stole my breath. I remember being so captivated with the windows and the sun pouring through in the Chapel of the Ysalamiri map from JK2 and it's done in this room as well. The windows themselves are gorgeous and the mix of the woods are just beautiful.

Once again, I thought that's all there was, so I went back to the main room to start to get screenshots, when I noticed another door. Yay! I followed a small path of stepping stones to the most magnificant waterfall I've ever seen in an MP map. Oh wait, before I get to that, I did turn around and noticed the details of the building, like the curved roof thing. Very nice. And there was a small wooden spa/pond thing. Also lovely, but I wanted to get to the waterfall. The screenshots really don't do this map jusitice. The water softly laps the edges of the rocks all around. But eye-candy aside, duels on these rocks would be fun.

Now after all of that gushing I did, let me get to some of the things that did kinda bug me. I didn't quite understand the stepping stones ... over a stone ground. It probably should've been dirt or grass or something. Also, while I enjoyed the music selection, it just didn't seem to fit the mood of this map. I suppose I expected something a bit more exotic. But it is a peaceful piece. As Orb says, guns were not appropriate for this map inspired by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. So this would be a perfect map for duels or just small FFA's. Wonderful job, Orb. Definitely my favorite. Now I see why you were eager for me to see this one. You hit the nail on the head. I love this map.

Bot Support: Yes
New Textures: Yes
New Music: Yes
Game Types: FFA, Duel, Powerduel

Map review and comments by AmosMagee!

Check it out at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

This map is also featured in the NX3.0 mod for Soldier of Fortune II, but in case you want just this map, get-a-downloading! Most of the NX maps are pretty good and this map is no exception. This is what Gynec had to say about it:

"Nerofix 3 Mod contains this map.But the Nerofix 3 users have to wait for the NX3 patch if they wanna play CTF and nc (chat) in this map!"

It was developed by -=NX3=- gynec and you can find it at SoF II Files!

Back to top

Patrick C. Wagstaff brings us Skyron. This skin is pretty cool. I like it because it's not to flashy and doesn't have all those weird moving things and such that you see on some skins, but it's not boring or plain. The black vest with white, red, or blue t-shirt is pretty cool lookin...for a jedi...heh. Anyway, the skin has all the fundamentals, such as team support, bot support, and sounds, so that's all cool! First, the team support.

The team support isn't that complicated or different from the default, but does it have to be? For the red, it's red sleeves rather than white, and a red symbol on the front. The blue skin has blue sleeves rather than white, and a blue symbol on the front. =) Now...I suppose the sounds are next.

The sounds. I have heard them before so they're not custom, I think it's from the han solo model or something...I can't quite put my finger on it. There's bot support, but I already mentioned that...play with the bot, he's not half bad.

Bot Support: Yes
Team SUpport: Yes
New Sounds: No...sorta.

Comments by SanosuKe.

You can find it at Jedi Knight II Files.

Back to top

Anybody here seen Matrix Revolutions? Unsurprisingly, It seems to be a popular film for mappers to design their levels on. This particular rendition is of the Train Station fro the beginning of the 3rd Movie. I found it rather bright at first, which was a little distracting - However, nothing a little fiddle with the brightness settings couldn't fix The mapping itself is of high standard, but the map is just boring. Most of the textures make it look the part, but there's also a few really awful bits, where the wall is bright green. What were you thinking!

The station is nearly identical to the movie, but being so makes it a very bad in terms of design. There isn't very much jumping area, and nothing to make this map stand out. I was kinda hoping for a train to come and crush me. Or I could get on it and it would take me to a new area Unfortunately, I found no such thing.

As you would expect, the trainstation is endless, try and escape and you will get teleported back to the other side. The music included is the famous piece from the first movie, played in the bank-typed-place. Its okay, but not amazing. If you want a Matrix duel map and don't mind about its quality for a duel, then you've found your map. If you're one of those who tends to want more professional duels, this is probably not your cup of tea.

New Textures: Yes
New Sounds: Yes
Bot Support: Yes

Map review and comments by Szico VII.

Get it in Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

I was just informed by our fellow team member EuT that our Clan Index reached the incredible mark of 900 clans with the arrival of The Captain Clan for Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix! Their mot seems to be "The Greatest Commanders in all the world united to destroy anyone who isnt them!"

Any challengers out there? You can contact them through this adress!

Back to top

Now here's an interesting map. Yes, it's a clan map. Orb says it's based on a map that he made for his clan in JK2 so the leaders of the clan could have meetings without interruptions. The map features one main hall with large flags hanging on either side, and one door. Getting to the main area is at least, not boring. Orb makes use of some nice textures and colors and makes the lights in some of the hallways seem almost like works of art. So yeah, then you get to the main room which happens to be a bathroom. Yup. A bathroom. I have no idea what the center thing is. I guess I should've explored that a bit more, but I was curious about the stalls. I didn't quite expect a toilet to be a transporter. But yup. The toilet took me to the ... um ... what do you call it? Like, the secret senate meeting place thingy. And in the center of this huge room was this enormous clan tag symbol thing spinning. Naturally, I tried to jump on it. Why do I do that every time?? So yeah, I fell. I always fall. It was a long fall and I expected to hear my scream at anytime, but it didn't come. In fact, when I landed, my fall was cushioned. Yay! I was gonna live! Yeah, not so much. Waiting for me down below were three very large, very scary-looking Wampas. And, yeah, they looked hungry. Luckily, they're not all that bright and they started attacking each other. But I didn't find a way back up. *shrug* Oh well.

Is this a map I'd add to my rotation? No. It's a clan map that doesn't have a whole lot going on. I'm not complaining, it's just not a map for me. It does have some fun little features, and I probably didn't discover everything the map had to offer, but I just didn't see enough in this map that would keep me or my regulars interested for long, y'know? It's a small map made for a specific purpose. And it serves that purpose just fine.

Bot Support: No
New Textures: Yes
New Music: Yes
Game Types: FFA, Duel, Powerduel

Map review and comments by AmosMagee!

This seems to be an Orbitius day, today at Jedi Knight Files and here at RavenGames! Not a bad thing, though, he's a great mapper!
Go get The Senate of the ORb here at Jedi Knight Files!

Back to top

Here we have a cool map for Soldier of Fortune II just made with snipers in mind, there are plenty of places to hide and explore, the map supports DM, Team DM game types and will host up-to 20 players.

Developed by [BLACKHAND]Heads-UK and [BLACKHAND]GeordieUK for the Blackhand Clan it is mainly a small town based map with houses and lots of high points! Suited to both sniping and fragfest gamers!

Go get it at SoF II Files.

Back to top

It's probably not a secret that I wasn't fond of Battle of LA by Orbitius. I won't explain why here. If you're curious, just check out the review of that map for JK2 here! Now, Battle of LA 2 is made for JA and I think I like it a bit better than JK2. Let's just go over the map here, first.

As you can see from the screenshots, this map has the same look as the first Battle of LA map. The streets are a little smaller, the streetlights seem bigger and the whole thing seems less serious. I'm not sure how to explain that. Um, it looks more cartoony, I guess. Anyway, the textures used are perfect. The walls look like they're crumbling, the windows are either broken or boarded up and the buildings look as though they'll fall over any moment. The file cabinets in that one room look amazing. There's a stack of money on one area and a stack of something else - not sure what, but I'm not gonna speculate. Outside is this dirt patch with something next to it, but I don't know what they're supposed to be. They're untextured. And then there's the subway. I don't know if those cardboard boxes have been used on other maps or not, but I'm impressed with the detail on them. There are movie posters everywhere and it looks like only one of them is backwards. But it's like, the most important one! Oh well. The subway cars look great, and of course, at the end you'll see that it's been derailed. Even the tracks look great. Orbitius is great with details!

Another thing you'll find plastered all over the map are posters and signs that make either LA's or Orbitius' political stance quite clear. I really wish that part had been left out. When I play JK2 or JA, I don't want to talk politics, or be reminded of them. I'm trying to escape from those things when I play! Y'know? Anyway, it's a decent map, but not my taste. The FPS was fine, so I have no real complaints about this map at all. Like I said, there was so much detail everywhere, so the map looks great. It's just not a map that I would enjoy playing. Regardless, good work.

Bot Support: Yes
New Textures: Yes
New Music: Yes
Game Types: FFA, TFFA, CTF, Duel, Powerduel

Map review and comments by AmosMagee.

You can find it at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

AAAHHHHH!!! *gasps for breath* Mmkay, so, I'm sure many of you have longed for a map like this. Indiana Jedi and the Temple of Chewbacca. This is just what you would expect of a map named that. The locale is exotic and beautiful outside, there are traps and sticky situations to get into. It's a wonderful map. When you first enter the temple, you have a few different ways to go. There's the Worship Center, or the Battle Dome, and other places that I don't remember the names of. There are many obstacles that are hard to get by, but once you do, you're certainly not done. There are some places in the map that are obviously inspired by the movies, and some are just from Orb's mind, I think. You'll hear familiar sound clips in some key places. There are some beautiful and ornate textures all around. Ooooh ... and there's a mine shaft thing, with a mine car thingy (I have no idea what they're called). Unfortunately, it doesn't move, but if you follow the path around the corner, you'll find that it's probably best that the car didn't work anyway. If you fall, make sure you have good aim, because there is a bridge that can save you. You'll have the option of entering The Evil Lair or start over by taking the Emergancy Exit route. The Evil Lair is so amusing. I love how Orb has combined so many movies together in this map.

I did notice that in some area, I actually fell through like, the wall. Not sure what happened there. But I ended up in that area that you see in the last two screenshots there. I don't recall what I did or how I got there. But I did press the big red button. There are probably a dozen more things I missed in this map. The music is ... oh c'mon, do I really have to tell you? This map is wonderful. I had a great time playing it. But it's not enough! Nope. I'm not satified. You need to make another one, Orb! But like, with more. Like, a map that could be played in SP or MP with all the scripting and stuff so you can play it alone or like, with others. Oooh. I'd love that. But anyway ... this map is great.

There's a bonus with this map, too. A bunch of new skins created just for this map. There are several Wookiees, a new Lando, a Noghri and an "evil anthropologist". The Lando is fairly plain in appearance and I haven't much to say about him. The Wookiees definitely add some variety to those who prefer to play as the furry kind. The reskin of Rax only makes him look even more icky - and I didn't think that was possible. The new skins are courtesy of ENmiTy. Don't expect new sounds for the skin or team support, but these were just made for the map, so no complaints here. Nice work.

Bot Support: Yes
New Textures: Yes
New Music: Yes
Game Types: FFA

Map review and comments by AmosMagee.

You can get it at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

I was amazed at this map because of the good FPS I got on it. It has a huge mirrored floor, and hardly ANY drop in speed, and no slowdown. I was amazed,because I'd always thought mirrors were a bad thing to have in maps, but not here. Even if you did have slowdown problems, you can simply remove a file and everything will become 'un-shiny.'

I spawned into the entrance room, (with the mirrored floor) and grimaced at the music. Its kinda like a creepy church organ piece, sounds like something from Silent Hill. Not a great start. Now , theres a desk and 2 ways to go. One said visitors, and the other said Clan Members. Well, I wanted to go and see what the clan room was like first, and went in. Now, it became obvious by the size of the beer bottles behind the bar that the clan like their alcahol and every member of the clan (at least i think it is all of em) has their own special poster displayed on the wall. Now, the visitors area is absically the same, except it doesn't have the posters. Both sides look onto another large room, which is probably the main duel area. It has two 'Shyboxes' for people to watch from, as well as the clan and visitor rooms.

I also noticed that the walkways extending to this duel room (from the entrances) worked by the lifts that take you there. The idea is nice, but you can just jump it if you really want to That's about it. One last point. In the readme I have read that there is a secret room, with 'adult' material in it. I didn't find the room, but I'm giving you the warning anyway. Overall, the map is of basic design for a clan map, and there's nothing too special or wonderous, but it does its purpose well enough. And I did like the shaders used on the pillars of the duel area.
Finally, can't compliment enough on the mirrors. How do you do it ?

New Textures: Yes
New Sounds: Yes
Bot Support: Yes

Map review and comments by Szico VII.

Yes, as usual, it can be found at Jedi Knight Files!

Back to top

This is a medium sized city scape map for Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, including an underground tube station! The play area is massive with plenty of buildings and ally ways for you to hide and explore in, good news for the snipers out there too with plenty of vantage points for you to hide and snipe your next victim. The map supports dm, tdm, ctf, elim, inf, dem, ctf3, selim3, tdm3, dmc, tduel and dinf3 game types and will host 2 - 32 players, the more the better!

The map requires SoF2 Full Version 1.00 or higher, and GT3 mod for other gametypes. So go get it now and see what you think, will do well on custom servers so add it to your mapcycles now!

Go get it at SoF II Files!

Back to top

And here it is, the fourth version of the GeoThermal Series for the original Elite Force! This time it's more open at the base sides, only the bridges to the bases are a bit to narrow in my opinion but this could mean more action in game, lots of jumping from bridges to evade shots. I like the theme of the map, it fits geothermal perfectly but only the skybox mountains seem a bit to flat for me (terragen n00b!!).

But that's just a nitpick from a terragen user like me. I also noticed a little FPS lag on top of the base, but that could just be my pc.

Developed by {SFEF} Johan & Red-rum, you can find the map at Elite Force Files!

Back to top

Y'know what really bugs me? How indecisive I am! There are some points to this map that I really like, and some things about this map I dislike. So I can't really give you a thumbs up or down on this one.

There's not a screenshot of the area that you spawn into, but it's just this low FPS room with lots of transporters and there's nothing all that interesting about the room anyway. No room for dueling or FFA's or anything. It's just a room to get you to one of the other places in the map. The castle only resembles a castle from the top. There's a weird blinking pink/purple disc thing on it that just doesn't fit. And then there's a very colorful flag that also serves as an eye sore. I assume that the overuse of the textures (bland textures, at that) was to keep FPS high, but I dunno. Usually I don't mind when people use textures over and over. I'm probably more tolerant of that than most - but not in this case. This map has very little appeal to me visually. The area outside in the snow is quite vast. There are swoops and tauntauns all over to help you cover the ground to a tower in the distance. Before you even enter the tower, you'll hear the roar of a Wampa. The other transports in the main room will take you just to other parts of the castle. There are some decent areas for dueling and FFAing. And since there aren't many transporters, it's easy to remember which one goes where. Especially one. Yeah, I have a bone to pick with you, Reflex! Usually when you approach a big monster that wants you for a snack and your bones to pick his teeth, you'll hear him around a corner. Like the Wampa. I knew what I was gonna encounter there. But not with the Rancor. Nope. I just go through a transporter and suddenly, there's a Rancor grabbing for me. What is it with mappers and Rancors now? Sheesh. The novelty has definitely worn off for me.

Okay, so there's plenty to do on this map, there are many places to duel and FFA, or you can kill a Wampa or Rancor. Or just run around on tauntauns. This is supposed to be a castle, but it barely looks like a castle to me. I'm happy with the FPS, and the several places to play and the variety of things to do - but I don't like the map itself. But I do look forward to seeing your next work.

Bot Support: No
New Textures: Yes
New Music: Yes
Game Types: FFA

Map review and comments by AmosMagee!

Take a look at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

One of the coolest things about JA is being able to add another dimension to games like CTF - at least compared to JK2. Like in this map, Total Jedi War. The author, Darth Doughnut, has included swoops and mini Ties. YES! Mini Ties. AAHHH! They're so cute.

Ahem. Okay, now that I have that out of my system ... on with the review!

I know you can't see it from the screenshot there, but down that ramp are swoops waiting to be ridden to the other side of the map. The map is huge. So you'll be thankful for the swoops to get you to the other base. Also, on top of the building are the mini Ties. They can be flown to the other side as well. But, like, I'll stick with the swoops. Cause I just can't fly. Well, yes I can, I just can't land. Nor can I avoid hitting other objects. So yeah. In that building is where you'll find the flag. You'll also find a ton of bactas and weapons. All lined up and ready to go. There is nothing more in this map than city streets, buildings and streetlights. Unfortunately, it seems I'm missing some textures here and there. :/ I don't know if it was just an interference with another map in my base folder or if the map really was missing textures. Besides just swoops and Ties, there are some AT-ST's and gun turrets on towers here and there.

There's no denying that this is a simple map with almost no detail in it. The weapon placement does seem like an afterthought. And in spite of all of that, I like this map as a CTF map. As an FFA map ... I dunno. OH! And I just now got the streetlight thing. I was gonna mention how it was weird that like, sometimes the lights were red and sometimes they were blue. *slaps forehead* Obviously to indicate which base you're in or headed towards! Anyway, good job and I look forward to your next map.

Bot Support: No
New Textures: Yes
New Music: No
Game Types: FFA, TFFA and CTF!

Map review and comments by AmosMagee.

You can find it at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

Take a look at the screenshot down there. Isn't that breathtaking? I only wish there was a real place just like that near me. The rock bridges, the dark sky, the rain, the mass amounts of foliage and the music. *sigh* This map is so peaceful. I'm quite familiar with Wraith's work and it surprised me that this was made by him. I'm used to all of his really, really, really shiny stuff!

DKS Forest is a lovely map with many areas for dueling and FFAing. There are pools of water surrounded by rocks and trees and open grassy areas, and rain everywhere. You can't exactly jump from each area to the next, so there are portals you can find in some places. I really like the stone textures used on and around the portals. And the grass coming up through the stones is a nice detail. There's a waterfall in one area, but you can't really get to it. It's just there as a nice little effect ... ambience, y'know? Thankfully, there are some points of interest for duels. An area with statues and a fallen tree, a platform that isn't exactly ruins, but kinda is. Does that make sense? I only wish there were more ruins in other places. The grassy fields are nice, but it gets to be a bit too repetitive after a while.

Okay, yay for good FPS! With many of Wraith's maps, I get horrible FPS, but not on this map! The only error I noticed was something about weather zones. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that it was raining under a rock. The other thing this map needs is more ambient sounds. Like, animals or wind or both or something, y'know? Even without those added things, this is a great map. No, I take that back. This is a spiffimatic map. New word brought to you by LordWraith himself. Though I've adopted that new word and it is now and forever will be ... my word. And here's an exact definition of that word from Wraith:

"Spiffimatic = having the qualities of spiffiness, or so spiffy that spiffiness is automatically a trait. ie: SAY! that cheese burger was spiffimatic, or MY GOODNESS that map pwns so much it was spiffimatic!"

So yeah, spiffimatic map, Wraith!!!

Bot Support: No
New Textures: Yes
New Music: Yes
Game Types: FFA, TFFA

Map review and comments by AmosMagee!

Take a look at Jedi Knight Files!

Back to top

Today we have a massive map for Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix which is located on a building site. Within the map there are three teleports, a crane to climb and plenty of roofs and indoor space to explore:

The map supports DM - TDM - ELIM and CTF and each gametype is real fun and a great fragfest with loads of people on.

You can get it at SoF II Files.

Back to top

I just got word that both Hexen and Heretic soundtracks are available for download at Sycraft website and in his own words:

"Though I was never as big a fan of Hexen as I am of Doom, it is still a great game in its own right, with some really cool music. Up to this point, I have been unable to find any soundtracks for Hexen like there are for Doom and Heretic. So, with a little encouragement, I went ahead and made one. Like with the Doom soundtracks, it is made to work with the Doomsday engine.

A good deal of time has passed since I did the Doom soundtracks, and the equipment I own and have access to has changed significantly, therefore this soundtrack is version 3.0. It sounds quite different from the Doom soundtracks since it was made primarily with Roland hardware, whereas the Doom soundtracks were done exclusively with Creative Labs (Emu) hardware. I will be redoing the Doom soundtracks to version 3.0 in time.

Also there are three different versions of the soundtrack available, a normal, high and low quality version. The only difference between these versions is the bit rate they were encoded at and hence the size. The normal quality version is encoded at 128kbps (quality 4) nominal and is what I highly recommend to most users. The high quality version is encoded at 256kbps (quality 8) nominal and is good if you own high grade sound equipment and want the most from the soundtrack. The low quality version is encoded at 45kbps nominal (quality -1) and should only be downloaded if space or bandwidth is at a premium.

I finally got around to finishing off a Heretic soundtrack, which now caps off my collection of Doomsday soundtracks. I left Heretic for last since, as a whole, the quality of the Heretic soundtracks out there is better than the Doom ones. It is much smaller than the other soundtracks, because Heretic has fewer and shorter songs than the other games."

You can find the Hexen soundtrack available in low, normal or high quality here and the Heretic one here!

Back to top

Orbitius' maps are always hit-and-miss with me. I really liked Outcast Palace II, Temple of the Damned and even the Clocktower one (in spite of the FPS issues) - but I dislike the other half of the maps he's made. So, let's see which way I'll go on this map.

World Domination is a map that was made to prove to you that Orbitius owns you. Yup. He and his Jawa army. I love a mapper with a sense of humor ... hehe. Okay, so in the first screenshot, you'll see a big building with a
revolving door. That is Orb Global HQ. Everywhere are posters that advertise for [MODSECT], which normally would annoy me, but considering the theme for the map, it does make sense. And the posters look great! Outside are ramps that will take you up to turret cannons that will detect you quickly and will fire continously. Orbitius thinks this makes for a great CTF. I didn't test CTF on this map, but I think it does an add a fun challenge. If you take an elevator up inside the building, you'll just find a control room, but turn a few corners and ... gah! Again, with the Rancors. Seriously, what is it with you guys and the Rancors!? I didn't even hear this one and he was just like, there. After fleeing from the beast, I found myself in like, a nuclear warhead kinda room. Not surprisingly, there is a big red button. Curiousity killed the cat ... but not this kitty. I didn't press the button. You guys can. I don't recall how I found my way to the basement, but there are these Jawas just, standing there. It's eerie, really. Then I found the factory where Orbitius apparently has Chemical X produced and Jawa Juice. I'd heard rumors about what Jawa Juice was made of, but I never believed it - 'til now.

Okay, so add this map to the list of maps by Orbitius that I like. Except for his pet Rancor, Fluffy, I like everything about this map. Like I said, I didn't test CTF on this map, but I imagine it's a lot of fun. Part of the
reason the file is so big is because of the music. It makes up for almost 10MB of this map. But it's worth it. The music included is not what I expected for a map like this. It's a very calm and peaceful classical piece - at first. But it builds up, and has this military feel in the background. Maybe it's just me, I dunno. Then the music
falls again to a wistful sound - almost innocent. Then it sounds a bit proud or patriotic, maybe both. And then the track gets darker, more frantic and intense. I think this is the most I've ever said about music in a map. It really is an interesting choice, though I'm not sure who it's by. The only other map to have such great music added to it was the TMBJ clan map for JK2. Great work, Orbitius! What's next?

Bot Support: Yes
New Textures: Yes
New Music: Yes
Game Types: FFA, CTF

Map review and comments by AmosMagee!

Check it out at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

Amy's review of the last version of this mod:

I happen to know for a fact that JA+ is a very popular mod and it continues to grow in popularity. I'm just going to go over a few features that were added to this version.

Clan Speak: How cool is this? There's a clan password that you set and now clans can chat privately via the console. It's like the /amsay feature, but you don't have to be an admin to chat here.

New Emotes: There are a few new emotes included like amdie, amkneel and amfinishinghim.

Toggle Amthrow: Now admins can control which players can amthrow you.

New Admin Commands: Included are amrename, amlockteam and amforceteam. Very helpful commands.

Also, there is a little issue when your server.cfg has too many sets - apparently, this mod corrects that. All of this is new just for the 1.5 version. The 1.4 version has a lot more too. So take a look at the readme to find out all about what the author included.

Slider is quick with his updates to his JA+ mod. Version 1.6 includes the ability to scale your model, there's are new DFA's, you can allow or disallow the use of black names, several new emotes, and all of the old ones have been recoded. There are a ton of fixes and even more added features. In fact, just read the readme. There's too much to list!

News comments by AmosMagee!

Take a look at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

Mapped by NaThan, this is version 3 of the Matrix Reloaded map pack for Jedi Academy! This pack includes two main FFA maps, Matrix Day FFA Map ( devmap matrixv3_day ) and Matrix Night FFA Map ( devmap matrixv3_night )and several duel maps:

-Matrix Burly Brawl Duel Map Day ( devmap matrixv3_burlybrawl )
-Matrix Burly Brawl Duel Map Night ( devmap matrixv3_burlybrawl_night)
-Matrix Chateau Duel Map ( devmap matrixv3_chateau )
-Matrix PowerStation Duel Map ( devmap matrixv3_powerstation )
-Matrix PowerStation Duel Night Map ( devmap matrixv3_powerstation_night )
-Matrix TeaHouse Duel Map ( devmap matrixv3_teahouse )
-Matrix Code TeaHouse Duel Map ( devmap matrixv3_codeteahouse )

This new map pack version includes new music, new textures, new shaders and new models alongside with an excellent bot support!

Here's a good description of this pack in the author own words:

"You gonna notice this isn't the same map as V1 / V2, thought it was time for a rebuild of all the Arenas, Had high FPS in mind so I redone the whole map from scratch! Removed all the useless stuff from V2, improved the good stuff from V2 and then added a pinch of salt and here is the finished version. There are Day and Night Versions of the FFA maps and the same goes for some of the Duel maps. The PHONE BOXES serve as the main way to other areas of the map along with THE CORRIDORS, The flashing doors are the ways about this area.
A Swoop Track is also Built into the map, the swoops can be accessed from the roof of the powerstation car park when they first spawn it may trigger a slight pause, but this will happen only once... The swoops CAN'T be taken off the race track that goes around the rooftops and around the power station car park bit, sorry but I dont want you interferring with duels! and no, there is no break in the fence this time it is immpossable to get em off the track!(tried for a day and I think I made it secure)...
The Bounce arena is back and so is the Ice Arena both redone. Also there is ONE secret area, don't email me asking where it is, cos it wouldn't be a secret if I told you now would it and remember HAVE FUN!"

It is certainly worth the download, even if it weights more than 30 megs, so go get it at PC Gamemods!

Back to top

[JoR]Legion[JC] brings us Sith Lord, a skin on the quigon model for JK2. This skin isn't that bad. The author uses some good texturing techniques on the robes to make them look authentic and there's no parts on the skin that you can see through. The face of the skin is one of my favorite parts because he looks like he's dead...and we all know that dead things look the coolest! It's kind of hard to see but he has yellow eyes and I thought these went really well with the dead white face. This skin does have team support so that's a plus. The red and blue skins are just as you expected, red and blue versions of the default skins. This skin does not have bot support...I wish it did...as I do with most skins that don't completely suck. The skin had custom sounds, but I wasn't to fond of them...the taunt was to long and drawn out. I suggest keeping this skin but re-doing the the taunt, if not all the sounds.

Overall this is a pretty good skin, and I rate it even higher because there's no huge clan tags on it...So enjoy SithLord by [JoR]Legion[JC], I hope to see some more great work from this author!

(news comments by SanosuKe)

Developed by [JoR]Legion[JC], you can find it at Jedi Knight II Files.

Back to top

In this Elite Force II new mod you play as Alex Munro, the leader of the Hazard Team, which leaves the ship to go help others in the name of the Federation. This mod will create a Hazard Team from the Mirror Universe, first introduced in the TOS Episode, "Mirror, Mirror." The Mirror Universe Hazard Team will leave their ship on away missions to make other races give in to the mighty Imperials.

This is a sneak preview of the skins that are going to be used in the mirror universe hazard team mod. There are five skins in total, all with a different slant on the original. I love the Chang he look’s like he should be in village people singing YMCA!

Developed by The Mirror Mod Team with CTF support. You can find it at Elite Force Files!

Back to top

Sith-J-Cull brings us Artak Cargo Bay, a new Jedi Academy duel and FFA map. This duel map is really cool lookin. As expected it looks just like a cargo bay, but not your oridnary huge cargo bay with no moving things, or glowy lighty deals...It's quite the opposite, and this authors uses them all quite effectively to bring us a nice duel map. There is a hallway thing that takes you around one side of the map full of guns, health, and other goodies that I really enjoyed. The FPS on this map was good, so it's great for fighting. This map could also be used for a small FFA map for a couple people. There is however one thing I did not like about this map.

The music. It's good while it plays, but I think the song is to short, and you can really tell when it ends, I prefer music that's more ambient and you don't hear it start over again. To me that is effective music in a level. This author has some skill and I would like to see an FFA arena so I can throw it on my server and have a blast with it! Keep up Sith-J-Cull! I want to see a lot more from you.

One thing I forgot to mention is that this map is bot routed, which makes it all the better...Enjoy everyone!

New Music: Yes
New Textures: No
Bot Support: Yes
GameTypes: FFA Duel

Map review and comments by SanosuKe.

You can find it at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

This is the first fully made Tomb of the Unknown King map for Jedi Academy, based on the area in Final Fantasy VIII of the same name, the author decided instead of releasing the FF maps as a map pack that he will release them as they are done, but ones that are done will be released one per month. This map series intend to end with a fully mapped City of the Ancients from Final Fantasy VII!

This map is layed out exactly as is in the game, bar one or two adjustments. And dont blame the author if you get lost in the corridors, thats the layout in the FFVIII game so you better start getting a sense of direction!

Developed by Jenova*Rebirth* with new music, which is, of course, the music from the actually area in FFVIII, and bot support!

Take a look at PC Gamemods!

Back to top

Giving honour and worthwhile praise to all the fine work and help that Tempest has given to the community, FLiX has decided to make a map worthy of his name, or look at this way you can walk all over his name instead!

The action takes place on a large piece of space junk and strangely enough, it is shaped like tempest’s name! , I did think that I would fall down the gaps in between the gaps in his name but this not a problem at all!

(news comments by Pandemonium)

Game play is fast paced and is a nice good fun map to play, it can be found at Elite Force Files.

Back to top

Just as you might suspect, this Jedi Academy map, Desert Temple, is in a desert and it does have a temple! So the name is certainly apropos. When I first found the outside of the map, I was a bit wary of the sand drift and the large rocks. I wasn't sure if something was waiting back there to pounce on me or not, so I just kinda, didn't go back there. If you find anything, let me know! So anyway, the grand staircase leads up to a formidable statue. The temple almost seems abandoned to me, yet the torches are lit. Below are two levels of many columns that hold the whole thing up. There are two ways into the blue room. Okay, technically three. If you jump up high on the temple, from the outside, you'll find a door on either side that is dark and leads down into the room. Or you can just go through the two big doors - which I forgot to get a screenshot of, darn it.

I do like this map. The author has combined the different textures nicely, in my opinion, though they seem a bit too repetitive in some areas. There is bot support for this map and new music. Though, I have to say, I'm glad I listen to my own music when I play. The music in this map is less than two minutes long and the constant looping of it would drive me insane. Also, I'm not necessarily sure that the track the author chose works that well for this map. The map looks bigger than it is. It might be a good FFA map, I'm not sure. It seems the only place for a good open FFA area is the blue room. But it's a pretty map.

Bot Support: Yes
New Textures: No
New Music: Yes
Game Types: FFA

Map review and comments by Amos Magee.

You can get it at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

Let's just start the review of this map off with the description of it. Then I'll get into the positives and negatives of the map. Created by CrazySketch, Jedi Hangout is a map that supports FFA, TFFA, CTF and JM!

In the screenshot you see a decent-sized dueling pad in the middle. There's something in the center of that pad, but I still can't figure out what it is. I couldn't pick it up, and the object wouldn't show up either. There are catwalks all around, and small platforms levitating around the pad to watch duels taking place. Turn around and you'll find an interesting overhang to the two large doors that open into a hallway with half a dozen screenshots from the game. Watch your step into the next room - the bottom of the door doesn't go all the way down, and so you can't just walk across, you'll need to hop over. Here's another dueling area, with more places to view the duel. But with the press of a button, you and your opponent could drop into the pool hidden below. You should be able to find your way back out easily enough though. There's a large room with a white staircase and a throne that is accessible from below or above. I almost didn't see one small door that led to a library. Take the stairs up and you'll find this quiet little area with a desk and chair. Finally, there's a bar with a ... well, let's just call it a stage for performances. There's a dressing room in back for the ... "performers" and if you take one of the small elevators up, you'll end up above the bar in a very white room. The last two pics are just to show you where the flag bases are for CTF.

Now, going back to the beginning, the small platforms that hover around the dueling pad - most of them have these flames under them. Some of the flames go off and on, some are constant and one platform doesn't even have a flame under it. I still have no idea what's in the center of the dueling pad, nor do I know why I can't pick it up. The frames around the pictures in the hallway use the same texture that's used for a floor and a ceiling. That just ... bugs me. The door at the bottom sticking out would get to be a great annoyance. The pool under the dueling pad in that one room doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose. You fall in, you go through some hallways and more doors and you pop up in the back of the bar (dressing room, rather). The only reason I see the library being used is if people wanted to get away from dueling, or noise or something. So I guess it's a good addition. The bar doesn't really have that bar atmosphere. The textures used for the rest of the place are all used in here, and it's a bit too bright for the type of place you're trying to recreate here. Speaking of textures, some are just overused and don't really work with the areas that you're placing them, in my opinion. Now the great thing about this map is that it does have decent FPS in most areas. And there's a variety of places to duel and have an FFA. Used as a CTF map, it'd be a fast game since the bases are so close to each other. And, please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I found no weapons anywhere. How can you play Jedi Master without guns!? Granted, I didn't test that game type, but I'm assuming since they didn't show up in the FFA or CTF, that there probably aren't any for JM either.

Okay, I guess I was a tad harsh there. CrazySketch did mention that this is Beta 1 version of this map, so I'm glad that he plans on making improvements and soon updating this map. So if you guys have any suggestions, post a comment or email CrazySketch so he can get some good, constructive criticism from us.


Bot Support: No
New Textures: Yes
New Music: Yes
Game Types: FFA, TFFA, CTF, JM

Map review and comments by AmosMagee!

Take a look at Jedi Knight II Files.

Back to top

If you're a fan of chess, this would be a good map to add to your collection. It's a simple concept, this map. A large chess board with pieces on grassy land, with some rocks here and there and a tree in the corner. But it's effective. What makes for an even more interesting duel is that all of the pieces are destructable. Yay! Funny thing happened when I was destroying everything - one piece exploded and I found myself staring at this large symbol, with what appears to be stained glass all over it. Just jump right back in and you're back to the board again. Oh, and if you happen to be taunting someone from the edge of one of the walls and you fall (like I so often do), no worries - you'll reappear on the board again, but it will take 25 HP off.

The music was lovely and I was surprised to find that it's a string tribute to Nine Inch Nails. The insipiration for this map came from the game "American McGee's Alice". I've always loved that game and I would really, really love to see Daku create an FFA map with textures from that game. Like, a big Alice world - that would be amazing. FPS in this duel map isn't an issue at all. Now ready for the best part? This is Daku's first map. Oh, and the levelshot - quite impressive. That was made by Aeris. Wonderful job. I really can't wait to see what else Daku produces.

Bot Support: Yes
New Textures: Yes
New Music: Yes
Game Types: Duel, FFA, TFFA

Map review and news comments by AmosMagee!

Take a look at Jedi Knight Files.

Back to top

Okay, ew... But I say that like, as a compliment. This is a blood mod. But not just any blood mod. It's like, choose your own color of blood kinda blood mod. Which is very cool. Each color comes in a seperate pk3, so you can easily switch between red, yellow, blue, orange, purple, green and then some custom colors like Kooky, Crazy and Wacky. I didn't get screenshots of all of the colors, but the one you see (with me in it - the last one) is of the "Kooky" color. Just looks purple to me...Maybe I'm overlooking some finer points to the gore, I dunno.

This is really bloody, but it doesn't really get an "ew" from me when the colors are so unrealistic. I know a lot of you have issues with blood mods and sabers because the saber would cauterize, etc. I still stand firmly behind my claim that in that one scene where Ben chopped off that guy's arm (or hand?) there was blood. Soooo ... back to the review of the mod. I like it. It's fun and gory - not something I'd use every time I play, but it makes for a nice change of pace!

News comments by AmosMagee!

Go get it at Jedi Knight Files!

Back to top

This is a preview pak of Laz Rojas upcoming Starfleet Tournament mod for Elite Force! Starfleet Tournament is an intramural competition held annually by Starfleet. All participants in the competition are members of Starfleet. Starships wanting to participate in the games send teams to represent them, selecting the most athletic and physically fit members of their crews.
The tournament is divided into two separate competitions. The first competition pits starship crews against each other in a series of events, including 1-on-1 deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture the flag. Losing teams are eliminated and winning teams advance up the ladder, with the top three performing teams winning tournament trophies for first, second, and third places.

The second competition pits teams representing homeworlds against each other. Each homeworld team consists of the top five most valuable players of each race, based on their performance during the first competition. The Earth team consists of the top five Human MVP's, the Vulcan team consists of the five top Vulcan MVP's, the Andor team consists of the top five Andorian MVP's, and so on. As in the first competition, the top three performing teams win tournament trophies.

This preview pak includes three of the new weapons used in the tournament. The full mod includes fifteen new weapons (including Vulcan and Andorian weapons), three teams of gladiators (Human, Vulcan, and Andorian), and makes several changes to holomatch.

You can find this one at Elite Force Files or look for more details at Laz Rojas Elite Farce!

Back to top

It seems that the Quinlan Vos model is, like, the model to be skinning right now. And so, RJW_ca went a little crazy and skinned 7 different ones. These are all clan skins, but I could see a few of you using them yourselves.

Let's get the negative part outta the way first. Most of these skins are just recolored. There are a few details added here and there to make it somewhat unique, but don't expect a big change from the neck down with these skins. All of the faces are definitely unique. The first guy there has like, a weird shaped scar on one side of his face. The second guy has a fresh-faced look to him. The third one there, looks just like the last guy, but with no facial hair and his whole appearance is light in color. Mmkay, fourth guy has blue hair, blue goatee and blue eyebrows. Love the idea, but it looks like it was painted on with a blue marker. My favorite skin of this pack has to be the fifth one. He's older, with gray hair, some cuts on his face and a white goatee. The last two skins are a little freaky. The purple one has some very cool face paint stuff goin' on. While the eyes make him look evil, the look