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Overview

If you're looking for other versions of the map, you might want to check Recurring maps#Facing Worlds.

The subject of this article appeared in Unreal Tournament.

CTF-Face (whose full name is Facing Worlds) is a map appearing in Unreal Tournament.

Arguably the most well-known map in the series, it has received acclaim from fans and critics alike for its gameplay and design, and is widely considered as one of the greatest multiplayer maps of all time.

Map description[]

The map consists of an asteroid and two towers, each belonging to each team. The central part of the asteroid holds a Big Keg o' Health. There are three named areas in the map: Red Base, Blue Base, and Asteroid.

Each base has one front entrance to the lowest floor, which holds the flag, a Shock Rifle, a Rocket Launcher, and some Health Packs. At the entrance, there is a platform near the ceiling that holds a Damage Amplifier and some rocket packs.

The lowest floor contains three teleporters guiding to three different parts of the tower. The teleporter to the left of the Shock Rifle leads to a small opening in the middle of the tower that holds a Redeemer, while the teleporter on the right leads to a higher sniping area, which holds a Sniper Rifle and has three different sniping spots, each separated by pillars. The third teleporter is located right in the center of the lowest floor near the Rocket Launcher, and leads to the very top of the tower, where players can find another Sniper Rifle and some Body Armor.

On the rear left side of each tower in the spawn area, there is a Ripper (red) or a Sniper Rifle (blue), and vice versa for the opposite rear right side.

Weapons and pickups[]

Weapons[]

Weapon Count Location
W : 2
A : 4
Weapon: 1x Red Base, between the Redeemer and Middle Nest teleporters. 1x Blue Base, between the Redeemer and Middle Nest teleporters.
Ammo: 2x Near the Red Base weapon. 2x Near the Blue Base weapon.
W : 2
Weapon: 1x Red Base, Northeast spawn. 1x Blue Base, Southwest spawn.
W : 2
A : 8
Weapon: 1x Red Base, near the flag. 1x Blue Base, near the flag.
Ammo: 2x Red Base, near the weapon. 2x Red Base, near the Damage Amplifier. 2x Blue Base, near the weapon. 2x Blue Base, near the Damage Amplifier.
W : 6
A : 17
Weapon: 1x Red Base, Southeast spawn. 1x Red Base, Middle Nest. 1x Red Base, top of the tower. 1x Blue Base, Northwest spawn. 1x Blue Base, Middle Nest. 1x Blue Base, top of the tower.
Ammo: 4x Near the Red Middle Nest weapon. 3x Near the Red top of the tower weapon. 5x Near the Blue Middle Nest weapon. 3x Near the Blue top of the tower weapon. 2x Near the Red Redeemer.
W : 2
Weapon: 1x Red Base, chamber above the Damage Amplifier. 1x Blue Base, chamber above the Damage Amplifier.


Pickups[]

Pickup Count Location
Health
8
2x Red Base, near the Redeemer teleporter. 2x Red Base, near the flag. 2x Blue Base, near the Redeemer teleporter. 2x Blue Base, near the flag.
1
Middle of the Asteroid.
Armor
2
1x Red Base, top of the tower. 1x Blue Base, top of the tower.
Powerups
2
1x Red Base, small chamber above the entrance. 1x Blue Base, small chamber above the entrance.


Walkthrough[]

PC (Retail/GOTY)[]

"This ancient asteroid has been converted to an Arena for the Tournament. It is highly dangerous due to aberrant gravitational properties and, of course, the snipers from the other team."
Mission description

This is simply a case of running over the hill and into the enemy base to grab the flag. There's not much variation here—it's more down to how good you are at fighting than how clever you can be. You can use your Translocator to slowly climb up the outside of the enemy base and then attack the flag through one of their teleporters, but this takes time and you can be vulnerable to respawning enemies below. Likewise, you can make your escape through the teleporters, picking up the Armor and ammo on your way out, but you're going to have to fall off the tower at some point to reach the ground, so you'd better be able to afford the health loss.

This is one level where multiple consecutive waves of attackers can really do some damage, even if they aren't coordinated. As an attacker, you're always within sight of your own base and your respawning teammates will never be too far away. If you order your team to Hold Position halfway down the hill toward the enemy base, and then you run in and grab the flag on your own, your teammates provide a very useful barrier for you to run through and for your chasing enemies to run up against. This also works if you escape via one of the teleporters—you can actually leap into the crowd of your teammates and die, dropping the flag. One of them will pick it up and head for home, while you respawn and back him up.

It is also worth remembering the advantages of a rocket-launch. If one of your teammates is carrying the flag homeward and you're running behind him, try firing some rockets at his feet to give him a boost. Try not to send him off the edge, however.

Here is a very effective way of scoring points in Face, at least versus the computer:

  1. Pick up your base's Redeemer, go to the roof, grab the armor, and hammer-launch your Translocator disc from the roof teleporter ramp to one of the teleporter ledges on the front of the blue base.
  2. Go through the teleporter and grab their flag, go through their roof teleporter, stand on the Sniper Rifle, right on the edge of the roof, and turn to face the blue roof teleporter. Shoot the Redeemer into the floor at the top of the teleporter ramp, which will cause you to die.
  3. If you were facing directly away from your own base, the blue flag should go flying through the air and land right next to the Big Keg O' Health's spawn point in the middle of the neutral zone, from where your nearest teammate can pick it up for an easy capture. As a side note, this also works if you rocket-launch yourself from the same spot on the roof—make sure you pick up the armor so that you die not when you release the rockets, but when you splat just beside the keg.

If you're not a sniper, there are two excellent places to defend from. One is just outside your base entrance, running back inside for health and ammo when you need it. The other is at one of the enemy spawn points. They will respawn with only an Enforcer, giving you an easy ride firing shock combos at them. It may be cheap, but it works wonders.

Flag camping isn't a great idea here—it's too hard to see enemies coming for it. Hang around outside the base for a better recon.

If you are a sniper, get up to the roof and camp at the armor. Your ammo will last a long time and you can control the whole map from here. If you're good enough, your enemies will never get out of their spawn areas, and your teammates can saunter in and out with little trouble. This position also lets you spend a long time trying to take down any intrepid enemy flag carriers, though you're admittedly in no position to return the flag yourself if they drop it. You can reach the ground easily by tossing your Translocator disc off the roof.

You might wonder why the Ripper is at the spawn area. Sniper rifles are great, but when it comes to knocking an enemy off a cliff, you can't beat a secondary-fire ripper blade. These same blades are also useful for launching flag carrying teammates more quickly back to base.

This is one of two CTF maps perfect for Translocator-launching. You can get decent results from anywhere around your base, so experiment all you please.

There are a few invisible ledges you might land on if you fall off the edge—try experimenting, though not in the middle of a match. These can be useful places to put a safety-net Translocator for when you need to quickly reach the center of the map.

There are virtual staircases of ledges on the sides of both the towers—use them if you're escaping via the roof.

You can take the flag from the roof of the enemy base to the ground without losing health or bothering to jump from ledge to ledge. Grab the flag, take it through the top teleporter, and fire your Translocator down to the ground far below. Jump or dodge off the edge with the flag, but activate your Translocator as soon as your feet leave the floor. You will reappear on the ground and the flag will be falling down after you.

Learn how to run backwards without looking. Or, use the behindview console command when you're trying to escape with the flag so you can see the edge without having to turn around (though this will make it almost impossible for you to hit the chasers).[1]

PlayStation 2[]

"This asteroid has been converted to an Arena for the Tournament. It is highly dangerous due to aberrant gravitational properties and, of course, the snipers from the other team."
Mission description

Just set your team to defense, they will usually do a fine job; but if you want to be more specific than that, put someone at the end of the large entrance to the base, opposite the flag, so that they can shoot enemy players when they turn their back to grab the flag. Put someone on sniper detail at the top or middle of the tower so they can pick some enemies off as they head towards your base. If you need additional defense, go on top of the large tower in the middle of your base and you will have a clear shot of all the people who come in, and you won't have to worry about opposing snipers since their view is blocked. You can also grab the Damage Amplifier from atop here.

When going on offense, you can grab the Redeemer from the second level and then charge their base; have your team follow you if you are a less experienced player, otherwise, you can just do this by yourself. Run to the top of the ramp and when you get to the middle, whip out the nuke and fire it, unguided, into their base to clear out all enemies that can attack you when you enter. Run into their base and grab the Rocket Launcher and the rocket packs next to the flag. If anyone approaches you, just blast them and run out; there is a miniscule chance that their sniper will get you, but that chance is multiplied a hundred-fold if you stop moving. So, don't stop until you have captured it. If the Big Keg O' Health is in the middle of the ramps, then grab it while you are on your way to provide a little insurance.[2]

Dreamcast[]

Tips and tricks[]

Offense[]

  • This is a good map to show how the Translocator can nullify excessive sniping, as well as opening new "routes" regarding reaching the enemy flag. For example, good use of the Translocator can allow you to enter through the Redeemer hole or the Amplifier platform (with a chance to deny the Amplifier to your enemy), effectively avoiding frontal combat.
  • Use the Redeemer to get rid of pesky snipers if you're on offense.
  • After nabbing the enemy flag, escaping can be a real problem. Heading out the front entrance will make you fodder for enemy snipers. Instead, head into the base's teleporters and either surprise a sniper with your Rocket Launcher or visit the area with the base's Redeemer. Jump off down onto the asteroid below (you'll suffer about 50 damage, however) and fire the Redeemer back at the sniper areas of the base.[3]
  • Fire the Redeemer from your own base to clear out enemy snipers and clear the way for your attackers. You'll be vulnerable to enemy snipers yourself, though, from the Redeemer room, so consider taking it around the side of the base and use the alternate fire mode to guide the missile into the sniper-heavy rooms.[3]
  • Escaping across the wide open asteroid with the flag isn't easy, particularly with enemy snipers still alive and kicking. Communicate with your teammates and listen for their "go" signal when the snipers are cleared out. Have one player waiting with the Redeemer and fire it once the player escaping with the flag is nearly half way back to the friendly base. Defending snipers should assist the flag carrier's return by eliminating pursuers and enemy snipers.[3]
  • While escaping with the flag, go to the top of the tower, pick up the Armor (effectively denying it to your opponent), and start down-climbing down the tower, slowly, as to take as little damage as possible, while your teammates are busy dealing with the enemy team.

Defense[]

  • This arena requires a great deal of offensive and teamplay skills to make it to the enemy base and to get out of there in one piece. Every sniper can hone his skills by striking off enemy heads one-by-one. If you are good at delivering quick headshots, and of course without getting one in return, you can win this map flawlessly, regardless of how hard the game difficulty is.
  • Snipers! Like LavaGiant, Facing Worlds is one of the best maps for sniper lovers. Though there are obvious sniper positions in the upper levels of the base, you can also hide along the sides of the base (in dark areas) or use the Translocator to reach the ledges on the side of the base. Most players expect to see snipers on the upper rooms of the base, but won't notice them positioned in the dark on the sides of the base.[3]
  • Guard the front entrances of the base, but don't stick your head out too far, or you'll become bait for enemy snipers. Peek out occasionally to get recon on how many attackers are on the way, but position yourself either near the Shock Rifle or Rocket Launcher and fire at the entrance ground when the enemy player enters.[3]

Trivia[]

  • The original retail version of the game features Black Legion as the rival team.
  • This is one of only two maps to appear in UT and every game after it. The other is the Deck 16 series of levels.
  • The map was inspired by a community map for Unreal, which consisted of two bases (with small towers) linked by a bridge. Inoxx, however, chose to make the towers taller to make sniping a major element in the map.[4][5]
  • The original design for the map had lifts, and no middle sniping area nor Redeemer area. The bots were confused by the lifts, so they were replaced by teleporters.
  • The asteroid was shaped in 3D Studio Max and imported into the Unreal Editor.
  • The skybox was reused from the Ending sequence of Unreal and improved with moons and galaxies.
  • Some remakes for tournament and league play removed the Sniper Rifle and replaced it with other weapons, but effectively ruined the need for sniper towers.
  • A screenshot of the map can be found in Fortnite: Battle Royale, in some areas, as an Easter egg.
  • According to Inoxx, the map was developed in November 1998.[6]
  • The beta version had a player count of 6 players.
  • Epic's own Jim Brown described the map as "a masterpiece of simplicity… representative of a generation of design techniques that we are starting to stray from" at GDC 2014.[7][8]
  • After hearing it the first time, Fiorentino chose Michiel van den Bos's song "Foregone Destruction" without hesitation, and both Fiorentino and van den Bos agree that the track is part of what made the map extremely popular and beloved.[7]
"I heard the track and loved it right away. It was such a natural fit for the level."
Cedric Fiorentino
"I think the combination of the map and the music was pretty much perfect and that's what stuck with people. I was basically just making songs without knowing much. I didn't have the hardware to run the betas so I relied mostly on text explanations. We knew it was an online shooter so we just went with that with regard to the tempo and intensity of the tracks. I was, and still am, very fond of Drum 'n' Bass, and since I hadn't heard it utilised in games before, I thought I'd give it a shot."
Michiel van den Bos

Author's notes[]

"I had this idea after playing a great Unreal level.
I don't remember the Level name but it was a really popular DM level with 2 bases and a big bridge, and a tower on the side with a Sniper Rifle. I wanted this Sniping Tower concept with a different gameplay (Capture the Flag), the atmosphere also had to be completely different. So I did this weird asteroid shape in 3DSMAX and imported it in the Unreal Editor, making the towers was easy, but making the bots working right was by far the hardest and longest part of the work. The original design had lifts but the bots were really confused so I used teleporters.

The Skybox is interesting I think, I saw Pancho working on Koos Galleon and he was trying all kinds of tricks to make the skybox follow the motion of the waves. I realized a really cool effect could be done by just rotating the Skybox with a regular motion so I used the Skybox I made for the Ending Sequence of Unreal, since this one was really under-used (you could see it for 1 second and a half in the original game) so I imported it in Unreal Tournament and I improved it with new galaxies and Moon textures from Mike and Shane. The original Level was turning 4 times faster, but Cliff complained he wanted to puke so I had to change it to prevent players to be too distracted during the game. The effect could really make your head spinning and give you vertigo, making you wondering 'is the screen really moving or what ???'.
Making the Earth texture was a bit tricky as well, especially working around the 256*256 texture limitation. I wish I could just use the original texture I had, which was in 1024*1024, but if I did that it would appear very blurred for the 3DFX users and I wanted to give them the best visual experience possible. So I had to split the texture in 4 small 256*256 textures, which give a final result of 512*512. This is annoying to do because the bilinear filtering is blending the edges together. In the end the line between the different polygons is almost completely hidden but it's a painful process, I'm glad I didn't have to do this too much.
If you have a Savage2000, you'll have a very good Earth texture thanks to S3TC.

At this time I was really into Ambient/Techno like Future Sound of London excellent album: LifeForms. I chose the music to give the same feeling to the Level.
In the end, this Level is the most original work I did so far, with its unique gameplay and atmosphere. This Level was also very well received by the public since I had countless E-mails of people telling me how much they like it. I'm really proud of achieving such a result with this level."
Inoxx's Website[6]
"There was a map done by someone in the community, for the original Unreal, I don't remember the name or who did it, but it had a nice theme with 2 bases linked by a short bridge, each base had a small tower. I decided to do something similar but I wanted sniping to be a major element of the gameplay so I used tall towers instead. (...) I didn't know the map was popular until maybe 18 months later when I watched the stats for the first time. I was really surprised to see that the map was so popular, it was played more than all the DM maps together. I'm really happy to provide maps that people enjoy. (...) I never play CTF for fun, only when I have to, to test the game. I like to be on my own, I don't like to depend on teammates."
Interview with Unreal Playground[5]
"CTF-Face started as a test. For Unreal Tournament, we had a limit of 160 polygons visible at the same time. You’d typically spend half of your polygon budget on the landscape and have 80 or 70 left for your structures. I wanted to see what kind of landmark architecture could be built if I allocated all my 160 polygons for the buildings, and worried about the landscape later. [I started with something] that looked vaguely Mayan but not too recognisable. (...) You couldn’t do many steps anyways with 160 polys in view. After several iterations on the various angles, windows, platform elevations, lift and teleporter placement, it settled to its final form. I duplicated the towers, linked them by a bridge and tried the gameplay. (...) Every game had this escalation of incursion > defense > take out defenders > take out attacker’s support, and so on, creating an almost chess-like succession of moves and counter moves. People discovered counter-intuitive moves like taking a flag and teleporting up the enemy tower, then jumping down on trims, or getting to the flag room by translocating up to the various levels and teleporting down. It was surprising that such a simple playing field could generate so many strategies. (...) I made [the backdrop] spin, creating the impression that the whole level was spinning on a chaotic orbit above the Earth. [After slowing its spin, it created] this chill, slow movement in the skybox contrasting with the ferocious combat on the ground, and that contrast was also present in the music with slow, long strings matching the pace of the drifting world and the fast jungle/dnb beats matching the action. (...) It’s always great to see that something I did so long ago still has some appeal and relevance over time. It’s also interesting to see a piece of virtual “real-estate” work with various game mechanics. It’s heart-warming to see people remember fondly something as trivial as a game level made 20 years ago, but that’s why I and many game designers do this job every day, to get a chance to touch people’s lives and bring them somewhere they didn’t think was possible."
Interview with Rock Paper Shotgun[7]


External links and references[]

  1. Orgulo (May 2, 2017). "Unreal Tournament (PC) FAQ/Walkthrough". GameFAQs. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  2. El Greco (May 11, 2005). "Unreal Tournament (PS2) FAQ". GameFAQs. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 David Perkins, Doug Radcliffe. "Capture-the-Flag Map Strategies: CTF-Face". PlanetUnreal. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  4. hal (August 07, 2002). "Map Review Roundup: Face Edition". BeyondUnreal. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  5. 5.0 5.1 IHopeToGod, HortonsWho (August 6, 2002). "CTF-Face". Unreal Playground. Archived from the original on November 29, 2002. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Fiorentino, Cedric. "Facing Worlds". Inoxx Industries. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Hoekstra, Kyle (November 28, 2019). "The making of Facing Worlds, Unreal Tournament's most popular map". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  8. Brown, Jim (July 31, 2016). "The Importance of Nothing: Using Negative Space in Level Design". GDC 2014. Game Design Conference. Retrieved December 1, 2019.

See also[]

Capture the Flag maps for Unreal Tournament
Epic Bonus Pack maps: 
DE Bonus Pack maps: 
Inoxx Pack maps: 
Bonus Pack 4 maps: 
Chaos UT maps: 
Console maps: 
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