I played the beta version in normal and really enjoyed it all the way through. I haven't yet played the finished version, so I will just mention the things I liked about this map.

1. scale. Everything is big and there is lots of room to move around to fight. Very different to my last map :)
2. layout. The layout is simply awesome. I love how large the areas are yet it is very easy to get between them all once the doors have opened. I didn't really get lost that much despite the (true) non-linearity of it and lack of arrows to show me the way.
3. combat. Some of the combats are really great in this map. I think the Quoth base enemies work nicely when given more room. The Eliminators are interesting to fight without having to duck into cover every time they shoot, and the edies are nice to fight at a distance. My favourite moments involved surprise fiend attacks where they had spotted me but I hadn't realised and when I was least expecting it they pounced.

I thought the ending was a bit weak in the beta, but I suspect it is more climactic in the finished level. Also, I played on normal, so maybe I should go through the final version on hard or nightmare. 

Sorry I didn't get you feedback in time. I didn't realize the release was so immanent, and I've been distracted. Was just gonna look at it tonight really. Oh well I'll just play this version. 

had a day off today and was going to send comments. Anyway, will give it a whirl later tonight. 

basically I released it now because "it was done"

I had hit the signon buffer limit, the marksurfaces limit, the clipnodes, lightmaps were out of the question really (61 last time I checked), precache models and the total amount of entities I could stick in it due to the light tool (Tyrlite)

Brushwork and textures were all tweaked from testing though, and I fely happy enough with it to be released even though it's not perfect.... 

apologies should really be the other way around, I have had plenty of time but due to one thing or the other, couldnt get around to it before today.

Anyway, played it and liked it. Dont think its your best one but still a very good map. Combat was really quite fun, good use of quoth monsters in a different way (than already mentioned long range Eliminators and Eddies). Looks wise, I like your chunky architecture style but texturing should have been more varied. Good use of coloured lights again although this time I think soome of them were too saturated. 

Just finished a first romp, to check architecture, basically. Played on normal.

Love the scale, interconnectivity and the lava pits... Detail is fine and I love the use of the old wornout base wad in a creative way.
Would have liked to see some exploding walls, all bases should have things that blow up.

Lighting is a bit too bright especially in the ouside areas, but I did not play on a proper engine to fully appreciate the looks of it(FOD's glquake, so I'm missing colored light and skybox).
Tonight I'll play it on a proper engine and maybe record a demo.

Found 4/6 secrets. Will sort that out also.
Good work, al in all... 

Nice interconnected layout, brushwork, details. I expected Quoth horde gameplay and gladly I was wrong. I died once on skill 1, but it wasn't really a mean situation. Non-linearity was good; I got lost twice searching for the key doors but not for long and it always seemed possible to get from one point in the map to the other quickly. I was going to suggest spawning in some additional enemies in already cleared parts of the map (even if there is a chance the player won't return to them). However, the newly spawned (or still living) monsters helped me find the right path a couple of times, so my suggestion would probably only create confusion.
Again, I'm impressed how you managed to fit a map of this size into the standard Quake limits. Some areas could have been a bit less spacious and with lower ceilings for variation.
Now, please let go of the base style for good!

Demo: http://www.quaketastic.com/upload/files/demos/starke.7z (I know now how to get the SNG secret - I was so close...) 

I love that the releases are still flowing! :)

Ricky, sorry I couldn't have tested more thoroughly but I agree with the comments above. Great map and it's awesome to see how much can still be done with the base engine. 

Nightmare.

The way to go. Lots of Edies. Lots of dying.

Weak ending, tho... The Gugs can be picked from the distance quite easily, i liked better the Shambler/Gug combo of skill 1. After them the rest is eating cake... 

Grand scale and everything, definately recommended.

Thanks for including alot of the suggestions, although seemed odd to meet dogs after I'd been through the first half of the map.

You've really consolidated the base style here, everything is solid, chunky and Quakey, with the large-scale layout being seemingly complex but also easy to navigate once you've got your bearings. 

What's the upload log-in for Quaketastic BTW? 

...of this year's "FPS Maps That Are One Billion Times Harder At The Start Than At The Finish Despite It Being Bloody Obvious And Surely A Much Better Choice To Have Escalating Rather Than Easing Gameplay" goes to........ 

So. Bloody hell. Hugely impressive map, a monstrosity but in a good way. Just really big, bad, and proper.

Good:
+ fantastic map.
+ splendid and comprehensively good architecture.
+ consistent theme and great build quality.
+ great gameplay for the mid-parts with some fine battles.
+ good balance in the mid-parts.
+ good blend of monsters throughout.
+ impressive layout and progression.
+ nice exploratory secrets.

Bad:
- coloured lighting is pretty foul in a Quake map.
- a few areas can feel a bit repetitive.
- very start is crap, and disproportionately hard if wrong route is taken.
- gets surprisingly easy to finish.
- maybe lacking some spawning monsters.
- some combats could be more themed.

That will do.... 

Combats. It's nice when combats really stand out in Quake.

The highlight of this one was Shambler + SNG vs. hordes of Eddies / Enforcers above the U-shaped stairway, proper duck and shoot style, felt like something out of a film.

Those blue Enforcers were well used too.

Hail Quake! 

"What's the upload log-in for Quaketastic BTW?"

Same as shub-hub. 

I tried that, I'm sure. 

grrrr..... 

Must have typoed it.

http://www.quaketastic.com/upload/files/demos/sham_stark.dz

Skill 2
57:00
209/210
6/6

I really like the dodgy last secret, as can be seen in the demo. 

... upload a .zip, so I can see your dodgy secret luv.... 

yeah well from watching Negks demo I can say that the secret box of rockets up in the rafters is dodgy. You can grab the rockets without hitting the trigger (damn!)

Well I'll probably have to tweak it just for that (and maybe stick an intermission in as Preach says it wont add to the signon buffer)
then get Willem to replace the upoaded file (if that would be OK Willem?)

It wont affect demo playback though, or anything really.....

shit.

Heh - thanks for the comments guys, you're all too kind. I know the map aint perfect, theres some z-fighting in a couple of places and a couple of slightly miss-aligned textures here and there.

I recommend playing on skill 2/3 btw! 

Not only it's possible to grab it w/o triggering the secret(jumping near but not on the ledge), but I learned that you can actually land on the ledge and not trigger the secret all the same.

My dodgy secret is another one, anyway.... 

...please, upload demos in a widely used format. Zip compression is just as good as 7zip, with the added bonus of being usable by all. 

"then get Willem to replace the upoaded file (if that would be OK Willem?)"

Sure. Shoot me an email with the filename you want removed when the time comes. Might take me until the evening to get to it if it's during the week but I'm happy to accommodate. 

7zip files can be opened using WinRAR 

... for MAC users?

BTW, I have no problem decompressing 7zips(at home, not here on my MAC), but I wonder where is the gain in using means to share stuff that in the first place needs a very uncommon application ...

Sorry for the OT, guys, back to the map for that last secret...