E1m2

[e][h]Castle of the Damned

Creator:

 American McGee

Released:

1996

Gametype:

4on4, FFA

Size:

Large

Family:

TB3

Download:

bsp

Castle of the Damned is the second level of the Dimension of the Doomed. A relatively small castle with several water canals running through it, the player is introduced to the medieval style they will generally be spending their time in.

Although intended as a Single Player level, this map is also considered one of the most popular multiplayer Deathmatch maps, beating some maps specifically designed for deathmatch.

Often considered the more odd of the three main 4on4 maps, with a very different gameplay. Light armors and the lack of Lightning Gun makes for more Shotgun centric flooding games.

Items

Powerups					Armor				Weapons
Quad	Ring	Pent	MH		RA	YA	GA		LG	RL	GL	SNG	NG	SSG
1	0	0	1		0	1	1		0	1	1	2	1	1

Gallery

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How to Play

4on4

(Credits: ui)

The key to E1m2 lies in a combination of defending the area spanning from the Yellow Armor to the Quad, and saving packs and ammo for your teammates. There are even fewer weapons on this map than on Dm3, (a single Rocket Launcher, Grenade Launcher, two Super Nailguns and one Super Shotgun), and there is no Red Armor. The lack of armors make this a very lethal map, and because there are so few weapons, it's imperative that you save packs. The Rocket Launcher room is also very vulnerable to attacks, which makes it a dangerous place to linger, so it's important to keep an eye on the gameclock. Being a map with a lot of narrow passages, such as gl-stairs, quad-stairs and spikes, it's not uncommon to suddenly find 5-6 players killed within a few seconds of an attack. A single player with Yellow Armor and Rocket Launcher can fend off multiple attackers coming through these passages without breaking a sweat. This leads to fierce Shotgun battles, often in the Grenade Launcher and Quad rooms. If things are going badly it can be a good idea to assign two players to simply roam the map together and try to spot and kill enemies that have a Rocket Launcher. When constantly outnumbered, players will wear down quickly, and are also more likely to make mistakes. Meanwhile, make sure the other two teammates are attempting to gain control of the Yellow Armor and Quad, and that they manage to remain stacked.

The Yellow Armor room is the most essential part of E1m2. It's easy to defend - enemies coming from spikes will make lots of noise, and anyone coming from gl-stairs is easily spammed to death with rockets. A bigger threat is people coming from under the catwalk from spikes - they can be hard to see and can sometimes sneak shots on you. Also, people dropping down to sng can surprise you from beneath. Most often it's good to stand on top of the Yellow Armor, but far out close to the ledge. This way you won't automatically pick up the Yellow Armor when it spawns, but you will be able to pick it up quickly if an enemy approaches. Passing armors on to your mates is essential - within 60 seconds (one Quad cycle) the whole team can be stacked with Yellow Armor if one guy already has it and defends properly.

An overhead view of E1M2

The quadrunner must strive to have Yellow Armor before he takes Quad. If he doesn't, he should backtrack to Yellow Armor while clearing out gl on the way, and then move back towards cross and try to clear it out. If he has Yellow Armor and Rocket Launcher, and teammates are holding the Yellow Armor room, he should clear out cross and Mega room, (this can be tricky if the enemy camps mega-high with Rocket Launcher and/or Grenade Launcher) and then move through bridge room before finally going to Yellow Armor to pick it up. If the team is not in control this is the highest priority, and an attempt should be made to flood it from several directions. It's likely that one enemy will stand on top of the Yellow Armor spawn and wait for people to come from spikes and gl-stairs. If one of your mates runs via spikes, you can quickly jump down gl-stairs and shoot a quad rocket at the defending player. Alternatively, spam grenades down the gl-stairs and have a teammate go via sng and try to attack from beneath.

Getting the Rocket Launcher can be tricky. While the room is small and accessible from three different ways, (it's actually possible to come up from cross-water, either by jumping on a teammate or by rocket/grenadejumping), it also has a spawn point between the two water entrances. In addition to this, it's quite easy to shoot into the room from different angles. Most often, it's not worth hanging around in the Rocket Launcher room. Instead, try to time it and go there a few seconds before the next spawn (coming early means you'll have time to assess the situation and take out the poor enemy who just spawned there and is waiting). Be mindful that the enemy will be thinking the same thing: *sometimes* it can be a good idea to camp out here for a while (but only if you are not needed elsewhere) and kill any enemies trying to get the Rocket Launcher. If you do this for a while the enemies are sure to send a stacked teammate your way (if they have one), in which case you will be focusing their attention away from Yellow Armor and Quad. This is not very common - more often than not you will find yourself standing by the wall for 25 seconds, while your team gets killed without your help.

When you're going for the Rocket Launcher, try to stack up on other stuff like armor (at least make sure you grab the green), Super Nailgun or Super Shotgun, and rockets. This way you'll have a greater chance of survival in case there are enemies at the Rocket Launcher. If you don't get there right on time, you can afford to wait and can hold your ground somewhat against enemies.

Should the game turn out to be very even and the time is nearing the end, and your team has a slight lead, it's possible to withdraw into a defensive position (sometimes called 'turtling'), either at start or Mega. Defending start is quite easy since there are a lot of places one can stand and have an advantage over anyone coming from either bridge (try standing among the boxes in the far side of the room, or on the arch over the door) or from Rocket Launcher (stand on the arch or in the window; reach it by jumping on the angled part of the pillar). The Mega also has its advantages; it's possible to stand on mega-high and spam grenades and rockets towards cross. Also, it's possible to rocketjump up to even higher levels in this room, although it's almost never used in games because it often does more damage than good. If and when the entrance to Mega is breached, the team can retreat to mega-exit and try to defend it (although this means you will be left with only a Super Nailgun, a few shells and 30 health; try to avoid this unless there's 20 seconds left of the game).

Handy moves

• Kill enemies leaving rl by standing in the quad room, in the arch that is closest to quad-stairs, and shoot grenades at the far wall of the stairs at such an angle that they bounce down into cross-water. If you can't make the shot, stand on the top of quad-stairs and shoot directly, this will expose you however to fire from cross.
• Make sneak attacks on Yellow Armor from beneath. Walk silently in the water from water-spikes (don't bunnyhop). Either try to kill off any enemy attempting to get the Armor, or simply rocketjump up and snatch it directly.
• Stand behind the teleporter exit by the Green Armor. You will not get telefragged, and you get a free shot at anyone going through the teleporter beneath Yellow Armor.
• If you fall down into the water at gl-sng and miss picking up the Super Nailgun, you can run from ya-water and jump right when you go through the arch. There's a small ramp in the floor that will make you jump just high enough to reach the sng ledge.
• Predictive shots: When you're chasing an enemy into the Mega room and he goes for one of the teleports, shoot a rocket at the Mega. He'll probably try to go there and the rocket has a good chance of hitting him. If you're feeling brave, shoot closer to the teleport exit (there is one on each side; the teleporter on the left side of the room leads to the exit at the right, and vice versa) and you might get a direct hit.
• Float around in the cross-water right under the ledge of the Rocket Launcher room and fill it with grenades.
• When you have Quad, roam the ya-gl-quad-cross area (if you're not needed in a specific place); this way you'll cover a lot of spawn points and will most likely rack up frags.
• When you are alone at Quad and the enemies are closing in, consider hiding in the Quad-box. It's a place frequently overlooked, and with a bit of luck you'll be able to snatch Quad from under the noses of the enemy team.

Spawns / Openers

Free for All

This is a good map for FFA.