no this is not my first map. but i built it in order to see if i could do a huge map which don't lag (as many people seem to have this problem even on small maps) Also it is designed for megaevents in mind not general sever play. i have implemented various techniques to make sure the map loads correctly.

For the size of the map and how big each room is you will find some areas more detailed than others, however i wanted the map to be big (without fog culling). That was the objective of my work. i Admit the layout is not tight but i have not designed this with cpma in mind, i would however of changed the layout if i knew what i was building entirely before i was building it (not to say its impossible to move around quickly in my map especially in e+ due to the far amount of clipping).

Also a map does not need rich texture work to support it. there are many examples out their to reinforce this view (including many rooms within my map which i know artistically look fine (not all of them)), however i see maybe a few places which need more detail however these are in the larger rooms which already have a fair amount in them so the level would become unplayable laggy if i could to add more (that was the sacrifice i had to make).
However i do take into note their are other big maps out their, however there use a more uniform architectural thruout the level. This is not what i wanted it to be, as instead i wanted it to be room based (like q3dm12 (but on a bigger scale)) in my own style.

Also one note about texturing and geometry. i value geometry (and understanding lightmap drawing) over texturing alot more within quake maps otherwise a map could end up looking flat and not very 'real'. its the difference between a very good pencil drawing and a very good colour drawing. The color drawing will always look less real as it has no defining form despite the fact it has colour. yes you can say normal (bump) maps help on this but they still do not cast light map shadows which when you look at it as a room (specifically big rooms) will look better than crazy texturing. Anyways Complex geometry always looks best with flatter textures anyway other wise it will look too cluttered.

maybe one day i will do a small cpma tight open style map with lots of detail. but not yet (i think LOTR's map next )

yes i guess it could be called an experimental map. but i designed it to be big. adding small details is hard to do.
lemme tell it you like this imagine you have a big fish tank and a small fish tank (these represent rooms) and you was only allowed to put a set amount in (with the ability to take stuff out just in-case their was too much in the small tank) however with the big tank i only have enough stuff given to me to maybe fill a medium tank or a small tank so i have to use that stuff wisely as i don't have as much 'stuff' in the case of some rooms i choose to have central features but this did take away my ability to do other details because i ran out of stuff.
The reason i have set myself a limit on 'stuff', being details an such, is because of performance factors. however i decided i wanted to use that stuff in a way which gives each room a unique definition however i still wanted them all to obliviously have common elements this is a different way of approaching it to say overkill as Ive gone into features more than architecture however you notice overkill also has not may features but lots of nice architecture this would be the other way of doing it. (i guess its just down to how you want to use that stuff).
like i could of removed the big features and added more architecture like most normal maps but i decided against it.
where i could get away with adding more detail you will find Ive done it in the smaller rooms because these tend to be loaded separately to the big rooms (once your in them with the right hint brushes set up) and so wont effect performance.

Also i started making this a quite along time ago and i already had most of the layout set before i knew alot more about how to deal with performance issues so i had to work with what i got.