E1M2

E1M2 - "Castle of the Damned"
Author:	American McGee
Gametypes:	2on2, 4on4, FFA

An introduction to the map

Items

Some comments about the map items.

Powerups					Armor				Weapons
Quad	Ring	Pent	MH		RA	YA	GA		LG	RL	GL	SNG	NG	SSG
{{{quad}}}	{{{ring}}}	{{{pent}}}	{{{hp100}}}		{{{ra}}}	{{{ya}}}	{{{ga}}}		{{{lg}}}	{{{rl}}}	{{{gl}}}	{{{sng}}}	{{{ng}}}	{{{ssg}}}

Popularity

How likely you are to run into this map. Is this map more popular in certian parts of the world?

Appeal

What's awesome about the map?

Critisism

Why wouldn't someone want to play the map?

Areas

An overhead view of E1M2

What is the general shape of the map?

How to Play

4 on 4

[1]: ui

The key to e1m2 lies in a combination of defending the area spanning from ya to quad, and saving packs and ammo for your mates. There are even fewer weapons on this map than on dm3 (a single rl, gl, two sng and one ssg), and there is no ra. 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 rl 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 ya and rl can fend off multiple attackers coming through these passages without breaking a sweat. This leads to fierce sg battles, often in the gl and/or quad rooms. If things are going bad it can be a good idea to assign two players to simply roam the map together and try to spot and kill rl enemies. When constantly outnumbered, they will wear down quickly, and they are also more likely to make mistakes. Meanwhile, make sure the other two teammates are attempting to gain control of ya and quad and manage to keep stacked.

The ya room is the most essential part of e1m2. It's easy to defend - enemies coming from spikes will make lots of noise, anyone coming via gl-stairs is easily spammed to death with rl. A bigger threat then is people coming from under the catwalk from spikes - they can be hard to see and can sometimes get sneak shots at you, and also people dropping down to sng can surprise you from beneath. Most often it's good to stand top of the ya, but far out close to the ledge. This way you won't automatically pick up the ya 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 ya if one guy already has it and defends ya properly.

The quadrunner must strive to have ya when he takes quad. If he doesn't, he should backtrack to ya and clear out gl on the way, and then move back towards cross and try to clear it out. If he has ya and rl, and teammates are holding ya, he should clear out cross and mega (can be tricky if the enemy camps mega-above with rl and/or gl) and then move through bridge room and finally go to ya and pick it up. If the team is not in control of ya this is the highest priority, and an attempt should be made to flood it from several directions if possible. It's likely that one enemy will stand on top of ya and wait for people to come from spikes and/or gl-stairs - if one of your mates run via spikes, you can quickly jump down gl-stairs and shoot a quad rocket at the guy standing at ya, effectively ripping him a new one. Alternatively, spam grenades down the gl-stairs and have a mate go via sng and try to attack from beneath.

Getting the RL 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 mate 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 rl 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 in vain for that rl). Be mindful that the enemy will be thinking the same thing; *sometimes* it can be a good idea to camp out here for awhile (but only if you are not needed elsewhere, like at ya!) and smash any enemies trying to get the rl. If you do this for awhile the enemies are sure to send an rl guy your way (if they have one), in which case you will be focusing their attention away from ya and quad. But again, this is not very common - more often so than not you will find yourself standing into the wall for 25 seconds, while your team gets killed because you're not there, and they will spawn next to you (or telefrag you if you're careless).

When you're going for the rl, try to stack up on other stuff like armor (at least make sure you grab the ga), sng or ssg, and some rockets. This way you'll have a greater chance of survival in case there are enemies at rl. Also, 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, either at start or mega. Defending start is quite easy since there are a lot of places one can stand and have an advantage at 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 rl (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-above 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 an sng, a few shells and 30 health; try to avoid this unless there's 20 seconds left of the game).

Handy moves on e1m2:

- 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 in 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, however this will expose you to fire from cross.
- Make sneak attacks on ya from beneath. Walk silently in the water from water-spikes (don't bunnyjump). Either try to kill off any enemy attempting to get the ya, or simply rocketjump up and snatch it directly.
- Stand behind the tele exit by the ga. You will not get telefragged, and you get a free shot at anyone going through the tele beneath ya.
- If you fall down into the water at gl-sng and miss picking up the sng, 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 tele 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 rl room and fill it up with grenades.
- When you have quad, roam the ya-gl-quad-cross area (if you're not needed on a specific place); this way you'll cover a lot of spawn points and will most likely rack up on 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 and the enemies will cry.

DMM4

Why would someone want to play this map in DMM4?

Free for All

Just for fun. :)

External Links

• Link to other strategy guide, if one exists
• Link to demos of this map on chtv