| THIS complex level requires extensive peekaboo ratting skills, smart use of secondaries, and extreme level mobility. If you like tense mind games and high-powered action, you will thrive in this well-crafted level. |
| THIS complex level requires extensive peekaboo ratting skills, smart use of secondaries, and extreme level mobility. If you like tense mind games and high-powered action, you will thrive in this well-crafted level. |
| "TC and I are old buds. We met when he emailed me requesting a Pro version of my level Laserdeath, which I decided to do. We played an IDL match in Pro Laserdeath once. It's always fun playing with TC, so when he got invited up to the UT, I sought him out and requested a match in his spankin new home level, Dojo. I had to look around the level (even I won't play a new level for an IDL match without making *sure* I have a good sense of orientation in it) and it took me like 5 or 10 minutes! It's a mazy level with a LOT of cutoffs, and it really takes some games in there to get comfy. So I *thought* I was ready, and we started to play. And at first encounter, he fires off a really nicely placed smartie, and I've got a split second to evade, I turn to run... and discover not a hallway, but a wall. Oooops. OK so he's up 1-0. No problemo! So I head out to get some weaponry, and then TC is there (musta used my FRP teleport trick) and I am eating plasma. Hmm. 2-0? I manage to get some missiles... I pick up the remains of my first Pyro... I am hit with flash missiles... I am being shot... I am blind... please somebody help me... please. *sigh* OK, it's 3-0, TC is on some kind of steroids, his new home is a deathtrap from Hell, and I am trying to figure out wtf I can do to stop the hemmoraging. I advance my game setting from Ratting Level 1 to Ratting Level 2 (there are only 3 levels... and level 2 is pretty ruthless). I manage to get a kill finally, and limp away with sad shields. Pretty soon it's 5-2 for TC and I can sense that I'm no longer totally stinkin the joint up. I find some turf where I am comfy... I pinpoint areas where he is comfy and start to assault them. Once I was able to make some of his favorite ground into MY turf, things took a turn, and I outscored him two to one in the rest of the match. He definitely has the home field advantage in this level! If you play him here, be ready for a struggle!" |
-Sirian
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T HE DOJO is another of the many "requested" levels that Nirvana has produced for top players. This level was made to Thundercat's specifications, and the result is impressive. |  |
There is a wide well at the heart of the level that
connects to most of the main fighting areas. The rest of the level could
be divided into an upstairs and a downstairs. The upstairs is a little
larger, and includes the exit and reactor niche, as well as "Thundercat's
Fortress" - a hidden alcove with a see-through wall that looks out onto
the level's most trafficked intersection. TC's Fortress is rather tame, as
secret alcoves go. You cannot get in there without opening a locked door
from the back side, and your opponent is almost sure to hear you; plus you
can't do much in there except hide or maybe fire off a guided or two and
fly them out the side "window", before you have to come out again. The
back corner of the upstairs is a prime missile respawn site and holds an
unmarked energy bay. The downstairs is a little tighter, and with three
openings into the well, in addition to some columns and tiny bits of wall,
the peekaboo fighting can be intense. An area with a vaulted ceiling and an
energy bay is the other main missile respawn zone. However, there are three
or four minor zones also, so it's impossible to control all the zones at
once. There are two energy bay shafts that connect the upstairs to the
downstairs, and a third, larger opening that sits right in front of the
observation bay inside the Fortress.
|
 
The weapon load in Dojo is just slightly off the typical balance. There is
a mega missile on display downstairs, as well as an omega cannon, and each
can be set loose by using the level's guideds to shoot some panels tucked in
a niche above the reactor. Nirvana's famous black fusion is used here, and
Thundercat requested four packs of flash, so technically this level qualifies
as a missile farm even though the non-flash missile count is lightweight.
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Playing in Dojo is reminiscent of a game in Io, except in a level about four
times as large, with two floors instead of just one. There are places where
dogfighting will occur, but this level is about corridor fights and you will
not be successful unless you can move around quickly and quietly. You will
have to be able to withstand being flashed without panicking; and you will be
left in a bad position time and again if you allow your opponent to gather
the Liono's share of the missiles. ;-) Camping is a bad idea in here. With
two guided missiles, the mobile player can safely harass any camper time and
time again. Success demands controlling more ground than your opponent, and
the missile respawn areas are crucial. With SO many cutoffs, predictable
flight paths are an open invitation to be mugged. The layout of this level is
simply masterful, and it feels like a Nirvana level without giving the player
a sense of deja vu. Overall we rate it a 9.
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| Level Name | DF | TR | TM | TP | EB | GM | 3D | WF | CR | LV | ST | Overall | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dojo | 6 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 9 | CL |
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