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So I got up in the morning (well, about midday to be fair) and made a big cup of tea. The plan was to drink the tea whilst playing this. A huge cup of tea like that would normally get glugged down as soon as it hit a drinkable temperature, as it would be the first drink of the day - I had just got out of bed, dehydrated from all the Christmas gluttony, you know the score.
So here's the thing - I place the tea on my desk and sit down and start playing - choosing MFX's Swampy map first. After an hour, or was it two hours (?) I finally finish the map, and then notice a full stone-cold cup of tea just sitting next to me. What I'm trying to say is that the map was so engrossing that I became oblivious to basic bodily needs such as hydrating myself after a night of digesting half a turkey and god knows what else. And that's just the first (and so far only) map I've tried. It's insanely epic, although if I had to crit I would say I would have preferred no droles, and maybe the amount of broken brickwork and jangled wooden planks is a bit OTT, but yeah, whoa. What an awesome job.
Small bit of feedback, nothing too serious. If you're going to the effort of adding QC, why not add additional sounds instead of "crunch crunch, the bones of children"? I would probably pose that question to scampie/lunaran since they could have easily sourced a crunchy noise and have it play in that area when you walk across.
Hope you don't mind quickloads in demos, I died a lot.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/58150516/q1/demos/dwcrucialerror.7z https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/58150516/q1/demos/dwmire.7z https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/58150516/q1/demos/dwnecrokeep.7z https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/58150516/q1/demos/dwunderearth.7z Can't really add anything to what already been said. Looks and plays awesome so far. Why are the test maps called "test" ? They are all full fledged awesome maps (except #11). They should all be parts of the whole episode.
Also is this a bug ? In the start map, most of the gates only get me in spect mode. When I click the mouse, it just change the view. No map loading ! This mod is an huge work of love, by the way. The maps are truely awesome. My only complains yet is the walking sound which is too repetitive. Is there a way to change it ? Played through all the maps and a few test maps.
Crucial Error - This is basically Mainframe Mayhem but with the middle of the map entirely remade. I really liked that version, especially the pipework which is quite crazy (did you make this with Trenchbroom?). I preferred the regular version's skybox and lighting outside, but other than that it's better than the original imo. The Underearth - I don't really remember e2m7 but I really enjoyed this map. I especially liked the huge catacomb area with the zombies and warlocks. I got a bit confused with the Blood Key and I don't think I even found the door again when I picked it up. The Mire - Excellent map, albeit a bit short. Really great verticality and cool lighting. The layout is pretty fantastic, I didn't recognize dm5 at all. The Lost Souls were used very effectively in this map. Swampy - Wow. Just wow. One of your best, MFX. Loved everything about it. Loved the ammo scarcity that forced me to be very careful. Lots of secrets everywhere, and I discovered I could access the rooftops after I finished the map. :P The tomes hunt is a great way to push exploration. Wins the award for the best stairs in any Quake map. Necromancer's Keep - This is so rad. I loved the architecture style, which reminded me of ancient Rome for some odd reason. The new textures are great, I liked how this map reminded me of e1m5. Clever encounters and great secrets. Awesome final arena as well. Lavatomb - It's alright, but nowhere near as kickass as The Mire imo. The main issue is that the rooms are too big for their own good with a lack of variation, resulting in fights that can be won at a distance without too much trouble most of the time. I did like the new elements you added for the AD version, especially the cool end fight. Place of Many Deaths - Really loved this one. The most retro of them all, but it still looks somewhat modern. The layout was especially good and the different encounters were fresh. Backstein Redux - It's Backstein with AD monsters and a few modifications here and there. It's great, like the original. Not too much to say about it, it plays well and looks great. Firetop - This one is very strange and not Sock's usual style. I found this one to be the hardest of the bunch by quite a margin, as ammo is very scarce and Ogres are absolutely relentless. I must admit I got stuck in the 6 Shamblers area and didn't continue further, but I will! Later. :p Test3 - This is amazing. I think I loved everything about it. The machinery, the traps, the pipeworks, the flags on the towers. It all looked great and played really well. Quite amazed this is 'just' a test map. Test6 - I remember this map, but that was quite a while ago. Just like MFX's test map, it is quite incredible to see this is only a test map because it looks and mostly plays like a full release, although you can see it was made as a sort of tutorial map to showcase AD. End - Awesome, but I didn't find the secret! :( Monsters:
New grunts and enforcers - all pretty cool. I was surprised to find GL grunts in MFX's base map. The plasma grunts and enforcers shoot fast, which is good. Pyros seem to be a bit less unfair than their Quoth counterparts. The Centurions are still as annoying as ever. Jim - I liked the fact that you increased their projectile speed and increased the amount of projectiles they shoot. They are more of a threat now. Ogres - Oh boy, they seem to be more precise than their RRP cousins. I often get demolished by Ogres. I really like the Hammer Ogre. Crossbow Knights - Annoying as fuck, they shoot fast and hit hard. I like them, though they should probably have less health since their melee counterparts die in one shot. New Knights - I didn't realize they went down this easily. Not much of a threat but cool nonetheless. Death Knight - Loved the increased fireball speed. Flail Death Knight - I found these guys rather easy to dispatch. I think they should fire their homing pods more often on higher skills. Fury Knight - I seem to remember that these guys were super deadly in the old version I had. Right now they're kinda dangerous but not that much. I may be talking out of my ass but I believe their fireball attack doesn't always register when it hits the player, as I believe I got hit by them and didn't lose any HP on one of the demos. Stone Knights - They're like regular Knights and Death Knights, but made of stone. Never been too fond of Stone monsters in Quake (I prefer fleshy monsters with gibs!). Golem - Cool, but they have a hard time hitting the player with their projectiles. Increasing their projectile speed on higher difficulties may make them more dangerous. Gargoyles - Pretty cool but again they have a hard time hitting the player. I had a few against me on MFX's test3 and I got hit by one I didn't see while I wasn't moving. They seem to be slightly stronger than Scrags. Gaunts - I like their new attack but it's too slow imo. Make their projectiles faster on higher difficulties and they'll be awesome to fight, especially in packs. Skull Wizards - Love these guys. The red ones fire fast so you have to move constantly. The green ones can be quite deadly. Lost Souls - Perfect. Don't change anything gameplay-wise, they work very well. Their design isn't too Quake-y but they're alright and I really like the effects. Wraiths - The guys from Dissolution. Annoying, strong, hit hard, especially the Archvile-type Wraiths. I like their attacks overall. Minotaurs - I talked about them a lot in previous posts. Right now they're quite disappointing, which is a shame because they look great and intimidating. Vorelings - I liked them in Quoth and I like them here. Droles - I love Droles. I could've sworn they were immune to shells in Lavatomb. Spiders - Not very fond of Spiders in Quake tbh, they look too generic for the game. They work okay, especially the poisonous spiders, but they're not memorable enemies unlike Vorelings. Zombie Knights - Love these guys. Great fun. Overall I believe there is a balance problem between low/mid-tier monsters and high-tier monsters. Enemies like the Crossbow Knights, Ogres, the Skull Wizards and even the Death Knights are much, much more dangerous than monsters like Minotaurs, Golems or Gaunts. This should not be the case. Weapons and Items: Projectile Shotguns - Works surprisingly well. What's interesting is that I find the regular SG more reliable than the SSG now. Widowmaker - The model looks great, albeit a bit higher-res than the rest. Packs a punch. Shadow Axe - Love that weapon, especially as it allows to gib corpses on the ground! >:) Plasma Gun - Awesome. Love the projectiles and the sounds. I wasn't too convinced when looking at the screenshots, but when you have this baby in your hands all your doubts disappear in explosions of energy and blood splats. Sharpshooter - Using this with the Widowmaker is ridiculous, haha! I love the noise it makes! Model is cool but it kinda stands out a bit too much from the rest of the items stylistically, much like the Nail Piercer. Nail Piercer - I'm not too sure what it does, as everything went a bit fast when I used it. If it pierces multiple enemies then it's totally rad. So far I've finished playing through the Place of Many Deaths, Necrokeep, as well as the Mire and the Underearth. Can't say enough good things about the mod.
I'm going to have to replay Necrokeep quite a few times to find the flesh, blood, and bone keys. After about halfway thru the map I noclipped through the grate to get the plasma rifle (it was just too enticing hehe). Love the new model (I replaced it for quoth as well) and the explosion effect after every few shots. Like NarNar said the overall vibe is just very scary and unsettling, big props to all the mappers for continuously upping the ante. I looked briefly at all the other maps and know I have some work to do. The base map does have the most beautiful skybox in the pack as someone else pointed out. Download said QS build, tried to run it but now it's stuck as a ghost program I can't turn off in Task Manager
No matter what I do, this version of Quakespasm will run as a ghost program, meaning I can't get into it and Task Manager can't reach it. The only way to get out of this is to reboot my laptop.
Ok I played some of the test maps prior to release, and assumed because they looked and played like 5-star classics in their own right, that I was just playing test variations of "proper" AD maps.
But apparently they are still "test" maps! Explain! PS: I've played a bunch more of the proper maps and I'm glad I wore loose jogging trousers because the tenting has been...considerable. Yep, the test maps SHOULDN'T be any *test* maps ! They are all awesome (except #11).
All these test-icles maps should be made full glory into the start map. Oh, and the numbers above the portals of the testicles start map suck ! And why the start map isn't behaving normally ? I'm always set into spect mode when I run into any portal (except for only 2 maps). I forgot to say that I'm using QS on OSX. The app works perfectly. It's the start map which is behaving oddly (gates not working).
Fire cycles through info_intermissions.
Jump goes to the next map, but you need to wait a couple seconds. It appears to be broken in some way. If I wait one or two minutes, or click through all views, nothing happens. I have to manually load each map. This sucks !
The end map is TOTALLY AWESOME ! This is probably one of the most beautifull maps I EVER saw in Quake1, and even in many "modern" games ! I'm giving full 6 stars to that end map, I almost pooped in my pants when I saw this at first. This is just too much guys ! Hat's off ! pic here:
http://i.imgur.com/kESlhFo.jpg I've just gibbed a wave of zombies and a wizard thing, but after that there seems to be no way out of this room... Is this a bug? Should I noclip out?
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