essential UT3 maps

[Cubit]

I've downloaded the community map pack and love the set of maps that Tom posted about on Fidgit awhile back. Checking out Krodan too. Now that its coming up on a year that this game was released for PC, what are the essential maps to have? I'm talking both about graphics and gameplay.

[Wobbo]

DM-Garden of Dreams, VCTF-Megastructure, VCTF-Suspense (Necris), VCTF-Kargo (Necris), WAR-BeachFront, DM-NecrisIsland, WAR-Spambox, and and VCTF-OffTheRails are the best original maps I can remember playing off the top of my head; all of them can be found on the official forums: http://utforums.epicgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=341

You simply MUST see Garden of Dreams, it plays and looks easily as good as anything that came with the game. Megastructure is also one of the most visually impressive things I've ever seen on my computer.

However, as with previous UT's the best maps aren't the original ones or the official maps- they're the remakes, mostly the ones from Quake.

Campgrounds, Longest Yard, and a whole bunch of Q2 and Q3 classics have been resurrected in UT3 and not only do they look good, but they still play well. In the DM servers they are all popular.

Also, many of the official maps have been converted to other gametypes, including domination and double domination. It's easy to find servers hosting Torlan as a VCTF map for example.

Finally, you don't need to actually download anything on my recommendation- UT does it for you if you connect to a server with a map you don't have. I strongly recommend playing on Hedsteem's Custom Maps server if you live on the east coast for good maps and games, especially if you like VCTF. If you see something you like, save time by using this application to keep the maps you've cached: http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=607256

[Wobbo]

Here are some of the most highly regarded and popular maps. I'm home for Labor Day weekend so I don't have access to my full collection but later this week I'll post some of the more obscure ones that I personally love. For now:

http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=607209
http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=619485
http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=613835
http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=604552
http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=606917
http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=615535
http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=615754
http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=619085
http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=615075
http://utforums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=614281

[Cubit]

thanks for the links wobbo, i'll check those out. i like the look of garden of dreams, as its a nice change from the usual dark maps. let me know if you have more

[Wobbo]

OK now that I'm home, here are some more:

Judith - fast paced and good looking 1on1 map, one of the first custom made maps for UT3 that was actually decent.
Rising Sun XL - Basically the mapper takes the original Rising Sun (1st map in the SP campaign) and expands it by removing all the invisible and visible barriers, and then adds items to the new areas. Plays as well as any of the stock maps
CBP3 - get all of these maps, like, NOW. But ESPECIALLY make sure you pick up "Salvation" a really well made and really good looking DM map (might be a remake of something from 2004, I can't tell). All of the maps in this collection are fantastic though.
Sanctum - Another good one
Tempest (both versions) - Also an early map, Tempest and Tempest X2 are both worth finding.
Aggressive Alleys - Small VCTF map, clearly inspired by the early alpha screenshots from "UT2007". Plays well.
Atlas City - You find this on all the VCTF servers with custom maps, very popular and very large.

You can find all of these on Epic's official forums, that's where I found all of them.