despite whatever 

@killpixel whatever you do, just do it; explode! your talent is exponential. Then back-step and pick up the bigger pieces. You do good work. stop worrying about the now. you will, kick ass when you meet your goal. 

Shamblers have shaggy hair, matted with the blood of their victims. The hair around their claws gets singed when they charge up their lightning bolt which produced a sulphurous odour that follows them around.

Fiends have vestigial eyes inherited from whatever lowly wretch Quake corrupted many millennia ago, but the once vibrant orange glow has been lost as the eyeballs have receeded in to the skull and the horns (once standing proud and vertical atop their head) have migrated down to obscure them further, making their charge attack all the more deadly. Who needs to see in Quake's gloomy halls, especially when you're a mere puppet of some omniscient ancient evil?

Scrags have a faintly transparent, pallid reptilian skin, and they can turn incorporeal to move through walls.

But real Quake fans know all that already, so I don't even know why I wrote it really. 

From: Adrian Carmack <adrianc@idsoftware.com>
Subject: Re: Shambler: Fur or no fur?

Not fur.

Adrian 

 

 

@qmaster - interesting. Apparently It's confirmed by adrian carmack as well. I will do my best to unsee the fur :/

@r00k - Thanks r00k, I appreciate it :D I'll take your advice. 

http://www.quaketastic.com/files/models/demon_chillo_replacement.zip

So I've added more blood, beefed up the biceps a little bit, and darkened the hooves.

I've also added eyes. There's no question that the fiend has eyes, they're just so subtle that I didn't think it would matter.

Please let me know what you think now.

Thanks! 

Yo!

I'm still fairly new to this forum (and Quake mapping in general) so I'm just following the convention set by SavageX regarding the format of Beta posts.

So I finally got around to finish my first beta version of a quake map. It's pretty rough around the edges, it's currently only balanced for "normal" difficulty and the artpass is absolutely not done for the time being, but I really want to make sure the gameplay is at least tolerable before giving it some visual polish.

It is a medium sized map, takes about 20-30 minutes to complete, with 106 monsters and nine secrets. Its main gimmick revolves around button-operated dynamic "planes".

Screens:
https://i.imgur.com/5XmCbcl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/1fZDJdb.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/EEZTnR6.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/lOgSl4C.jpg

Download:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m1vodslo3kn3vth/movplan_a1a.zip?dl=0

(Includes .bsp and .lit. Requires Qouth) 

2nd screenshot is very moody! Nice! 

Nice lighting in 1 and 2. Lighting in 3 and 4 is a bit flat / bright.

Textures in 2 and 4 are a bit OTT with that repeating grille. 3 could do with something to break up the walls.

I'll let someone else do the gameplay :) 

Some feedback (possible spoilers):

Played through a sizeable chunk of the map but got stuck at the big fight in that arena-like area with the silver key door, where you fight several waves of monsters. I'd still like to finish, but I can write what I thought so far (before I forget what I think).

The "moving planes" gimmick is really nice, and it's effectively introduced at the beginning of the map, in a relatively simple space, before things get more complex.

The secrets are fun; I've found 6 out of 9 so far. I really like the way they utilise the main mechanic of the map, although I was in pretty much every instance surprised that I had found a secret, as I thought I was just going where the map directed me. But that might just be because of my play style; I like exploration-heavy gameplay.

I find that the map can get pretty confusing and disorientating fast. This might partly be intentional, but I think it would still help if the player can get their bearings more easily. That would arguably also make the unconventional means of traversing the map (i.e. by means of the shifting planes) more impressive: "Oh, I'm here now!" instead of "err, am I somewhere else or back in the same spot?". I would suggest using the detail pass not just for visual polish, but also visually to differentiate the various areas more.

I have two things to say about the arena/horde/wave fight where I'm currently stuck:

The first thing, which is probably a matter of preference/play style, is that I really don't like it. It's too hard and it seems to go on forever, and it's the kind of thing that's been done to death. The rest of the map was so interesting; to have to plough through yet another cliched over-the-top fight was a real let-down. It doesn't make use of the unique mechanic either -- it's just a bog standard wave fight. I don't know, if nothing else, maybe tone it down and shorten it somewhat, at least for normal and easy? I realise other players might have the exact opposite opinion, though.

The second thing is about the messages, and it applies if if you disregard my criticism above. I'm guessing each wave --or at least certain monsters in each wave-- trigger the start of the next wave. That in and of itself is not a bad way of doing things, but the messages to the player ("there are more to go", "only x more to go", "sequence completed") are a bad idea in this instance. What happens in practice is that you're in the middle of this chaotic battle, where you're killing monsters left and right -- and since this is Quake, they're killing one another too, in which case the player does not see any messages. And then seemingly at random, you see these messages: "only three more to go"; "sequence completed"; "there are more to go"; "sequence completed", etc. But there is no clear objective and no sequence to complete that the player is aware of, so it all just comes across as random gibberish.

Overall, though, this is the start of a really great map, I think. I hope some other people give you feedback too and I am excited to see the final version. No demo, sorry. I always get stage fright when recording demos and then can't play as I normally would. 

...continued (more spoilers):

Ok, I got impatient and just godmoded through that fight. Hmm, I guess that was the end -- except for then having to jump over platforms over an instakill void to then be surprised by spawns. I didn't mind the platform jumping, but those spawns just add insult to injury.

So yeah, a really annoying end to an otherwise really engaging map.

That reminds me: there is a staircase that would lead up to the blue key-door arena, were it not for a doorway that's blocked by vertical bars. And that staircase has pockets of instakill void on either side. This is also a bad idea I think. It looks more like a potential secret area shrouded in darkness (in fact, I jumped in on purpose and then of course died) -- which would be more interesting and less annoying than those two pockets of instant death.

To reiterate, overall this is really great. There are just certain things that detract from the experience in my opinion.

I noclipped around after I finished and saw that there are some areas I missed completely -- presumably connected to the secrets I missed, or maybe just optional extra areas. I'm tempted to play again and try and uncover the entire map, but part of me wants to wait for the final version so as not to spoil it for myself. 

This is an incredible concept. How long has building this map taken you so far?

I haven't finished playing it yet, but like former_total_newbie, I wanted to write this down before I forget.

The whole map feels like I'm inside a giant mechanical puzzle, trying to find the right sequence of switches to move on to the next area.

Is this going to be a void map? I'm curious, because at this point you don't die in the beginning if you fall off the edge into blackness.

The initial view at the beginning is rather unremarkable. I'm sure you intend to add more visuals to represent it as the outside of the complex/fortress/puzzle.

I really enjoy the feel of the level. Despite the texture set being familiar, this level gives Quake a new and somewhat unrecognizable impression during play.

My favorite part so far is of course trying to fit into the openings of the falling platforms. One thing that would be cool to see, and I don't know if this is possible, is to create divisions in the platforms depending on which opening you choose to fit though, since some of the plats have more than one way to get through. This could maybe lead the player through a completely different route through the level than if he were to choose a different opening to squeeze through. Not sure if I am conveying this accurately.

Overall a great map so far, and one that I feel would get even less-than-avid players back into Quake to try it out. Awesome work! 

The gameplay is cool. The map corridors are boring, though. For this kind of stuff, I would expect more "weirdness" in the geometry and details. It's not "out of this world" enough (i.e Lovecraftian).

Maybe darker ? 

Now in 3D!

Anyway, that's it for sneak peek stuff until the demo is out; I don't want to spoil all the cool stuff. Keep your eyes peeled q1/q2 2018... 

I'm so grateful for all the great feedback I have received so far.

@Former_total_newbie
I agree that the ending is pretty weak atm. I'll probably replace the final arena with some kind of puzzle section.
I'm already in the process of addressing most of the other issues you mentioned.

@Chillo
The earliest saved version I can find is from September (it was initially meant to be a submission for Jam 9).
I get what you're saying about the openings in the platforms leading to different paths (and I think I know how to implement such a feature) but I think it's sadly beyond the scope of this project. 

I know this probably won't sway your decision, but I loved the sprite weapons.... maybe it's a bit anachronistic but I love the character they can add to the screen, really charming when done well.

That said, your overall aesthetic is really consistent and good so I'm sure you'll put all the pieces together nicely. Look forward to the demo! 

Woo hoo. Cannot wait. Your hard work is going to pay off. 

@starbuck - I loved the sprites too and thanks :D Looks like Ion Maiden will deliver big time for those of us needing a sprite fix.

@dumptuck - thank you, sir. 

coachgun test animation

thought I'd go ahead and share this last thing because the gun has already been spoiled and it's a personal milestone, so I'm all giddy. Anims are in rough form atm, especially the initial pickup. all sounds can be ignored too (they're just carryovers from the sprite version).

Wow. in actual (3D) viewmodel. functioning. in the game. :D :D :D 

again: cannot wait

can you talk a bit about the lighting. It's subtle but perfectly creepy and dark. Is that ericw's tools or DP? 

Haven't commented on any of killpixel's work but it's all magnificent. Really, really good models and animations, can't wait to see it all in action, and eventually play it myself. 

really nice ammo-loaded indicator, it's really subtle yet effective

also really like the fading (heat?) on the side of the barrel. It's a nice touch. 

Bored of having boring flat walls? Nothing some fancy new flat screen TVs cannot fix! http://maikmerten.de/base1/randomscreens/base1-monitors.jpg

Having trouble finding your silver key? Just add some subtle lighting fixtures where you put it! http://maikmerten.de/base1/randomscreens/base1-find-the-key.jpg