Metal Bar - Dunkelschwamm
Metal Bar is a reference to a genre of music and a drinking establishment, not a material and an object. This map features two bars with speakers blasting some heavy metal with very low quality audio.
Author: Robootto and RNG
Date of final release: 2006
Maps in package: 1
Map review of Metal Bar
(originally posted on SCMapDB)
by dunkelschwamm | February 19, 2022 | 3757 characters
Metal Bar is a map by Robootto and RNG. The map is intended to be a fun map for people to chill out on in a server. I feel like the environment of a metal bar is evoked shockingly well in both Robootto's and RNG's bars. I really like these Robootto maps with RNG coauthoring. I feel like RNG really brought the best out of Robootto.
The map takes place in a sort of outdoor strip mall type of location with lots of palm trees. To the left is Ixa's metal bar. I presume this metal bar is the one which Robootto mostly made, based on part of the description describing the secret bar (which I haven't mentioned yet) being essentially "RNG's" bar, thereby differentiating it from what would be "Robootto's bar" since he is the other author. To the right is a guitar shop, which is opened via a hidden button in the back kitchen of the metal bar. Be careful if you go into that guitar shop, as if it closes with you inside you'll need somebody else to open it from outside as far as I know. The bar has all of the trappings, with a floor and a stage, plenty of booze, and a ticket counter. It's really pretty functional. There's a little greenroom on the stage even. If this was indeed Robootto's creation, I think Robootto did a pretty decent job here. There's plenty of signs of his weird decisions, like thick posters which protrude from the walls, and poor lighting in some of the backstage rooms. But overall, I think it's a really good effort and it really evokes the feeling of a metal bar. I bet that in a server full of people, if you had somebody streaming instruments, I bet it'd work out great. Barring that, the bar features a radio which can play a horribly bitcrushed edition of Megadeth's 99 Ways to Die. Overall, I think this bar and the guitar shop are cute and work just fine.
At the end of the plaza there's a wall which can be shot open to reveal the way to RNG's bar. While the first bar has more of a thrash metal and rock n roll metal vibe, RNG's bar is definitely more of a death metal bar. It has an outdoor deck and a more casual feel, eschewing the stage for a large speaker system and console for controlling the music. The music here is also highly compressed, but in a way which blows out the bass and almost feels appropriate. This feels like an equally fun location to hang out in in a server. By breaking a wall at the back of this area you can find another secret: a scientist shooting gallery which endlessly respawns scientists. Blowing up these scientists was the most fun my friend and I may have ever had on a map with Robootto credited to it.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I recommend this Robootto map. If you're looking for a fun, chill hangout map and like the metalhead scene, this map will work great for you. It has just enough secret stuff to keep it interesting, and it has plenty of places to hang out. I really like that it plays music, and I really think this can work great as a location for digital chatrooming.
Pros:
- Fun environments which evoke multifaceted metal bar ideas
- Some fun secrets
- Scientist shooting gallery is great
- Supplies music for the server
- I think this would work great for a chatroom server
Cons:
- The brushwork and textures are kind of blunt and sometimes surreal in how wonky their scale is
- I don't think hiding things behind a destructible which takes a ton of damage to destroy or a large block which will entomb you in the secret are great methods
- The music that is supplied is horribly crunched
- The lighting in the first bar is a bit off
Score: 6.5 / 10
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