Island

Island is a Booty map released in the first public release of Pirates, Vikings and Knights II, in January 2007. To the present day it's the most popular map in the mod, with full-time dedicated servers. As the only original Booty map, very few gameplay changes were made, although the map got several visual and layout improvements throughout the years. It is also one of the few maps of the original Pirates, Vikings and Knights mod to be remade in its sequel.

Stats

• Map file: bt_island (formerly pvk_island)
• Mode: Booty
• Author: Gaz
• Release Date: Beta 1.0 (January 2007)
• Theme: Caribbean, with partial Viking and Medieval-themed assets
• Number of Chests: 6
• Timer per Team: | Pirates 240 | Vikings 240 | Knights 450 |
• Pick-ups: Food (x5), Armor (x5), and Ammo (x5)
• Stage Hazards: death pit (secret room, only)

Overview

Island is thus far the only Booty map with all chests initially stored at a specific team's base, specifically, The Knight's. Because of this, the Knights start with almost double the tickets of the Pirates' and Vikings' timers, although they can tick away rapidly if the Knights successfully defend the castle and all six of the chests.

Both the Pirates and Vikings have a selection of paths that lead to the castle. Aside from their regular path with the bridge, the Pirates can go through a cave at the back of the castle to reach a dungeon. The dungeon has a staircase which gives direct access to the chest room, and many players use the staircase to throw kegs and explosive specials for surprise attacks. There's also a small tunnel under the bridge leading to the same dungeon.

The Vikings can access an underwater cave near the castle's gates to reach a staircase similar to the Pirates', and a cave near the entrance to the Vikings' base leading to the same staircase. A structure built on top of and around the entrance can be accessed for a couple of pick-ups, and to enter the Vikings' base from a slightly different angle.

Both the Pirates and Vikings have paths to reach each other. The main path between the two bases passes over a bridge across a stream of deep salt water, followed by the Hubb Jubb Café's esplanade before finally ending after a long cave tunnel. There are two alternate paths: an underground path inside the tower of the Vikings' base which leads to the esplanade, and the Hubb Jubb Café that players can enter to by-pass the cramped tunnel, instead approaching with a clear view of, and direct access to, the Pirates' base.

Throughout the map there are interactive objects scattered around, like the gates and the dungeon's lever, the DJ's table at the Hubb Jubb Café, and a seemingly endless supply of boxes and barrels.

Presentation

The whole level takes place in a deserted island with a medieval castle built in the middle of the rocky cliffs and a small Viking harbour. The map can be divided in three main areas, plus a bonus one.

The Knights' Castle

The castle has three floors: from the top to the bottom, the spawn rooms, the treasure room (indoors) the terrace (outdoors) and the dungeon and storage; all of these floors can be accessed through the staircases from both sides. The spawn room also has access to the crenelations which are helpful for Archers. Outside the stone walls, the paths are uniquely decorated with luxuriant palm trees on the Pirates' path, and rocks and straw targets on the Vikings' path.

The Pirate Bay

Despite how open it looks, the Pirates are safe on their massive pirate ship, however their small shoal is in constant peril, because it's there that the chests are collected. The crystalline water hosts schools of fish swimming around, and the rocks can serve both as cover and sniping platforms. A small path hidden behind the rocks on the Knight's side of their base contains pick-ups for those who run out of ammo. Across the water and up a small ramp on the Viking's side, there are more pick-ups, and direct access to the Hubb Jubb Café.

The Viking Town

With a more urban setting, the Vikings make use of their drakkar to stow the gold while they're hidden inside a building that only they have access to. The harbor tower and thatched roof on either side of their base are good places to shoot from.

The Hubb Jubb Café

More than just a shortcut, this shack is a place where enemies can rest after long periods of looting, stabbing and obliterating. The calm ambient and the nice selection of music makes this break worth doing. Not only that, but it also has a secret place; by looking at the X somewhere in the shack and jumping to the nearby hammock, a small room located at the World's End can be visited by anyone, but players must be aware that the trick doesn't work 100% of the time.

History

Island's Beta 2.2 Loading Screen

Island's original release was similar to the GoldSrc mod version in terms of layout, where the Pirates spawned at the shoal, the Knights at the terrace and the Vikings at the drakkar; both the shoal and the drakkar were still used as chest areas. Compared to the PVK1 version, the map itself is much tighter to avoid pacing issues and the shortcuts were created for less linear gameplay. The Pirate ship does not exist in this version, and the Viking Town had several differences, including the ability to swim in the harbor, cannons that can be used by players, and a hut set on fire with a lower floor with no way to escape. The hut got removed in following updates because chests could easily be thrown there.

On the Beta 2.0 update many changes were made: the Pirates' Schooner was added, the Knights' spawn rooms were located in the upper floor of the castle, new geometry got placed for a more polished look and the Viking Town got major changes, including a new building layout and improved balance, although the vikings respawned outdoors. Their current respawn base would become updated in Beta 2.3.

Despite the map's popularity, Island was highly criticized because of spawn camping on the Knights' side, since they weren't protected by incoming attacks from Vikings or Pirates that went to the upper floor to grab the health pickup, which itself was placed in front of knight players. Despite the demand, Gaz didn't have the time to fix the problem due to his hard work in Pinegrove, being only able to fix glitches like an invisible block which let pirate players reaching the Vikings' spawn room. The Knights' spawn room was updated on the Beta 3.0 update, fixing most if not all of it's issues, as well introducing a new asset: signs, taken from Pinegrove, mostly for a decorative purpose.

The Beta 3.1 version brought new updates, including a more defined path for the underwater cave at the Vikings/Knights path, bringing more advantages to the norsemen. The secret room was also updated and it no longer accepts teleporting chests.

Trivia

• Despite the pit in the secret room, it's one of the very few maps with no actual hazards in the level, with the closest possible way to die in the level is to drown in deep water, either intentionally or unintentionally.
• For some time players believed that palm trees were climbable, however the devs deconfirmed the rumour by "updating" the trees.

Gallery

The Pirates' base (Beta 1.0)

The path between the Vikings and Knights. (Beta 1.0)

The Vikings' Base. (Beta 1.0)

The Hubb Jubb Café's balcony near the Pirates' base. (Beta 2.2)

The path between the Vikings and Knights. (Beta 2.2)

The Vikings' Base. (Beta 2.2)

The entrance to the alternate path between the Vikings and Pirates inside the tower of the Vikings' Town. (Beta 2.2)

The bridge and the cave's exit on the path between the Vikings and Pirates (Beta 2.2). Only in later updates that the alternate path's exit would lead to the Hubb Jubb Stash.