Gravedanger

Gravedanger
Last Team Standing/Duel
Map File			lts_gravedanger (formerly pvk_gravedanger), duel_gravedanger
Author(s)			Miggog
Introduction Date			Beta 2.5 (October 2012) (originally released in 2008)
Theme			Graveyard, Catacombs
Pickups
Health: X4		Armor: X3		Ammo: X0
Stage Hazards
poisonous gas, falling bell, pit and spirit beams (Sudden Death only)

Gravedanger is a LTS/Duel map perfect for those who are in the mood for Halloween. It is known for being so far the only official Pirates, Vikings and Knights II to be originally released as a community-made map.

Overview

Gravedanger's basic layout bears similarities to Arena, which serves as the basic layout for Last Team Standing. Players spawn outside the graveyard; the graveyard itself can be described by having two levels: a level where tombs are installed and another one which consists of a small chapel with a bell on the top.

Similar to Arena, there's a lower floor, only it has one single entrance. The gate can only be opened with a leaver, like the gates in Island and inside there's a room filled with pick-ups, one of each. If a player grabs any of the pick-ups a fountain at the top releases a green toxic haze and there's has a very short period of time for the player to run away from the room until the gates close permanently à lá Indiana Jones. If the player reaches the exit too late, it starts a slow painful death due to the toxic gas.

In Sudden Death mode, souls emerge from the ground and surround the graveyard and sometimes form a comet-like shape and hit a place inside it. Meanwhile the bell falls down and crashes into the center of the chapel, creating a big hole in the middle. Players suffer a lot of damage if they decide to adventure outside the graveyard.

Setting

A screenshot showing the zombies in action (via Gamebanana)

As one of the few maps which theme isn't directed to any of the teams, Gravedanger's dark and moody atmosphere isn't for the faint of heart; as soon the souls emerge, a dense spine-chilling fog covers the entire area and it causes the level to become more claustrophobic. The bell swings like there's no tomorrow and the souls whisper to your ear an accient chant with an unknown language. What makes this map even scarier are the pumpkins staring at you, secretly laughing at your misery.

History

Gravedanger's custom version's overall appearance (via Gamebanana)

Gravedanger started out as a community-made map by Miggog, then a newcomer to mapping. It was Miggog's first map to ever be published. The original version was much more broad and had less props, and in Sudden Death mode zombies from Half-Life 2 emergeed from the ground as NPCs and attacked players. Although the map was stated as "finished", after he joined the PVK Team Miggog decided to rebuild the map from scratch to give it an updated look, with a new Sudden Death mode and other content made specifically for it. Later updates included the inclusion of new props and visual enhancements, such as better lighting, new effects and a better-looking 3D skybox.

Duel Version

Similarly to Arena, Gravedanger would have its center turned into a Duel map, with the simple round layout playing well with one-on-one duels. Unlike Arena however the differences made to the map are very minor, with the gates to the center being shut and the fences being raised to prevent players from leaving the dueling area.

Trivia

• The poisoned gas and the gate of the lower floor make Gravedanger the only Last Team Standing map with triggered traps, as well one of the very few maps, excluding Temple, to have this type of stage hazard.
• A Halloween-themed version of Gravedanger was planned to be released in the Beta 3.0 update, adding pumpkins and updating the lightning and several other aspects of the level. Miggog and the rest of the PVK Team realized how the Halloween version's visuals felt like a straight update rather than a skin, said improvements were moved to Gravedanger and the Halloween level was scrapped.

External Links

• Miggog's Gravedanger page in Gamebanana.

Official Maps

Booty	Forgotten - Island - Pinegrove - Townsquare - Glacier
Last Team Standing	Arena - Cathedral - Gravedanger - Town
Trinket Wars	Desertruin - Fort - Frostbite - Temple - Tortuga
Territory	Cara - Sandstorm - Tortuga - Mine
Team Deathmatch	Fort
Competitive	Jade - Cara - Forgotten
Duel	Arena - Gravedanger - Sacrilege - Sola Scriptura - Beach