[OpenArena] Too much lava: the LavaArena saga.

This series started life as an unreleased map for Unreal Tournament, called DM-LavaArena. I'm not sure if I should release this at all, considering its ugliness, the imbalances and all that which comes with the earlier maps. Maybe I'll update this post with some pics of it, if I can find the map in a backup.

Before continuing, you may have heard this piece of advice somewhere else, but it needs to be repeated, I fell into this mistake, and if you're taking a look at this article wanting to learn something, I would like it to be this: Never release your first 6 maps. No matter how good they are, chances are that only you and a small handful of other people may find them fun, and that doesn't mean they're truly fun. I have learnt this lesson the hard way, and it took me a lot of years before I've finally learned it.

Anyway, when I've learned how to map in OpenArena, back in 2008, recreating this map was one of the first things I did. The first version, just called am_lavaarena, shared the same layout as above. Eventually the map had a CTF version, called am_lavaarenactf (later shortened to am_lavactf for technical reasons) which was this map in a mirrored form.

Eventually, Sharpflame/PsiScythe, the creator of the popular ps37ctf maps, suggested the idea to add a bigger middle area, as the shorter version made the map like a race track more than a CTF map. I'm not one to turn down good ideas, and I like that middle area idea so much that not only I've made an extended version called am_lavaarenactfxl (later reduced to am_lavactfxl due to the game not recognizing longer names) but I've also incorporated that middle area into the original am_lavaarena.

Up to these points, the lava maps found their way into 0.8.8, though their origins can be spotted between the disgraced 0.8.0 version and 0.8.1, but there's still a lot of work to be done. Here are some shots of am_lavactf2, a redesigned, slightly bigger version of am_lavactf retaining the same idea but with some extras and a boost in performance and visuals.

Tied to these maps by theme and structure is a small Deathmatch map called t1-minilava, a small map for 1on1 based on half of lavactf2 with the same idea behind am_lavaarena. It's meant for no more than 4 players; there's a reason why it starts with t1 (tier 1). I'm still not happy with these maps, so once I can find enough time to recreate the next iteration of the series, I'll redo them.

There's still a LOT to be done with these maps, but enough chit-chat for now, here are the ways you can find the different versions of the lava series:

• am_lavaarena: 0.8.8
• Supports: Free for all,  Last Man Standing, Tournament, Domination.
• am_lavactf: 0.8.8
• Supports: Capture the Flag, One Flag CTF, Harvester, Overload, Elimination, CTF Elimination, Double Domination.
• am_lavactfxl: 0.8.8
• Supports: Capture the Flag, One Flag CTF, Harvester, Overload, Elimination, CTF Elimination, Double Domination.
• am_lavactf2 (Alpha 2)
• Supports: Capture the Flag, One Flag CTF, Harvester, Overload, Elimination, CTF Elimination, Double Domination.
• t1-minilava (Alpha 2)
•  Supports: Free for all, Last Man Standing, Tournament.

Have fun!