I love old school metal maps and this is probably one of the best of recent times. The theme is consistent but there is plenty of variation throughout the level. The fights are very nice. Maybe there's a bit too much health on skill 2, but the ammo is well judged.

Quality stuff, I hope she finishes an E3-style episode! 

Very fun, super retro. I liked the secrets, especially the final that allows you to have an advantageous entry point to the GK right.

I found there to be a bit lack of shells but it wasn't too bad.

Yay more mappers! 

Nearly everything has already been said. I liked the design and flow, encounters were mostly spot on. Too much health on skill2 and the finale could've been ramped up a bit with a variety of enemies. It deserved better lighting + fog.

Thanks for mapping.

https://aww.moe/22z9ig.7z 

Hi everybody! Thanks for the warm reception to the map. I'm really happy to hear that it's been so well received. I have been listening to your feedback and will consider adjusting the amount of health kits even further for Hard difficulty. I would really like to do a full length E3-style episode, but it may take some time! Hopefully the rest of the maps will be as fun as this one was too. I think with the continued support and constructive feedback from the community I can make that happen. For now, it's just a matter of making the maps!

Thanks everyone for playing and leaving your comments and thoughts - I hope I can hear from you all again with my next release! 

What an amazing first release. Please give us more of it! :) 

a demo:
https://aww.moe/mwsiej.zip 

FOON!

Great first release. Great lighting and consistency. Agree re easiness but that's almost beside the point considering how fucking pleasant this thing is.
Thanks! 

Enjoyed this one, felt good and classic! 

in proper e3 style
keep on mapping!

here's first run demo https://cloud.mail.ru/public/Em1z/QPiyW5LZb 

Anyone notice an Ogre that floats in the map, and when you kill it...it stays floating.

Happened to me with my FPS capped and uncapped.

http://picpaste.com/spasm0001-KVCLirzt.jpg

http://picpaste.com/spasm0002-buWvNF8f.jpg 

Anyone notice an Ogre that floats in the map, and when you kill it...it stays floating.

Happened to me with my FPS capped and uncapped.

http://picpaste.com/spasm0001-KVCLirzt.jpg

http://picpaste.com/spasm0002-buWvNF8f.jpg 

As others have said, really felt like a page out of id's ep3 book. A good page!

Played through on skill 3, all kills, all secrets. The only secret I missed the first time through was the MH, eventually found it after I reached the end and came back through. I liked how you looped and reused space. It wasn't a super short level, but once you reach the end you can backtrack anywhere else in the level in just a few seconds.

The only monster encounter I had difficulty with were the vores in the GK arena. My quad had faded when I picked up the key and since they spawn on the outside ring, you almost inevitably get hit a few times (at least in skill 3) as you try to make it back to the outside for cover. Died once when I incurred a trail of 4-5 vore balls and fell into the lava.

Great level!

Demo 

Cool map! Congrats. I'm waiting for more maps from you. 

http://www.quaketastic.com/files/demos/otp_runeworld.zip

Cool little map!

Misc observations:

- Proper retro vibes and visuals. The brushwork was practically

- I spent quite a long time without any armor at the beginning. Not that the level needed it, but an early GA is always nice.

- I very much enjoyed the use of teleporters in connecting the layout, some people will say it's a clutch but E3 did that often and in good ways.

- I am a big fan of the ending and how the map has an actual denouement instead of another big fight past the final door. That's another cool thing that id did but other mappers sort of forgot.

- I also enjoyed the water area, in most other maps it would have been a boring square tunnel but this was a proper vertical area. The crusher was also nice (again, classic E3) but not putting a secret behind it was a missed opportunity, I think.

- The second MH secret (that I didn't get in the demo) could have been a bit more interesting, or useful? The first one was a great secret.

Great map for a first release, now go make some more! 

Hi again everyone. I've been watching all of your demos and reading your feedback - it's been very helpful in giving me a new perspective on how the map is played. I'll be keeping this in mind and trying to apply what I've learned to the next map I'm working on.

@OneTruePurple Thanks for the observations! I'm glad you liked it. The second MH is actually not a secret, it was originally placed there as a reward for the Shambler fight. It is one of the few items that I haven't come back to think about since updating the map, but perhaps I should. I may be wrong, but the item should illuminate itself in the dark and be noticeable by everyone, which brings me to another point I've been wanting to discuss: lighting.

I am not very good at working with Quake's lighting, but I try my best. That being said, it is hard to cater to everyone's tastes and ensure all experiences are the same. I've seen different engines that affect the visuals of the game, and not to mention different brightness settings on people's computers that will ultimately make some things harder/easier to notice for certain people. It's an issue that I honestly don't know how to address, so I apologize if anyone flat-out can't see any of the secrets that are lurking in the darker areas of the map.

Anyway, I have been working on another map that may be showing up over at QuakeOne.com soon, so the best place to keep an eye out for updates is over there in my project thread. I will come back to here and to let you all know about it once it's good and ready though! 

The brushwork was practically straight from American McGee's book, with the right shapes and angles and textures. I enjoyed how each area was a small tribute to a different E3 map, the E3M6 bit being my favorite.

The lighting was just fine.

That Shambler MH was totally a secret... 

No demo but enjoyed two playthroughs.

It's a good first release - gets all the basics right, theme, designs, details, gameflow, secrets, etc. Lots of little things that can be improved but the core of the map is simply PROPER QUAKE and that is very welcome and a great basis for further mapping. I.e. much better to release a simplish, decent map that just WORKS than to attempt something to crazy and make a mess. Good choice, congrats, etc.

Bits that are particularly nice:
Designs in the first outdoor area - nice pillar designs.
Secrets all useful and the one before the GK is nicely placed.
Tougher combats later on are good and interesting.
Room with the Ogres in metal walkways above, and associated secret is cool.
Silver key dropdown trap.

Some improvements:
Earlier areas are a bit sparse on monsters and feel a bit empty, a few more low level monsters to warm into the gameplay would be good.
Very finish is too easy.
A couple of areas you return to could be repopulated to give more gameplay value.
Underwater trap is a bit obscure and a bit too quick, some bloodstain textures and maybe 80% of the trap speed would be better.
Some of the connecting rooms are fairly bland and could do with stronger designs (e.g. the room with the rockets underwater - a spawn underwater would be fun there too).
Some stronger design hooks overall would be good too. 

@OneTruePurple Thanks! I really appreciate that. I studied his maps closely to try and nail that look and feel, so I'm glad you think I did a good job :).

@Shambler Thanks Shambler! I suppose I could go back and look at some of the earlier portions of the level and consider a few more monster placements. Good point about repopulating areas you return to as well. I thought about doing this but couldn't settle for something that felt right to me. For example, after the GK fight, it is a quiet walk back to the GK door, and I strongly considered having some monsters show up there but I couldn't figure out what to do so I just decided against it.

When you say the very end is too easy, do you mean the two ogres in the exit room? I like having it that way for a simple ending, but I will be trying other things with future levels... so watch out!

I thought about using a bloodstained texture for the underwater trap but I felt that it ruins the element of surprise. Most traps can be spoiled because of this, but if you feel that it is too hard on a first attempt I will consider slowing it down some.

As for the connecting rooms, I agree that they are bland, but that's sort of the point. A connecting room is mostly just there to serve as, well, a connection. Interesting idea about the spawn though, I will consider that, but I would prefer to avoid using monsters that did not appear in Episode 3. 

A connecting room is mostly just there to serve as, well, a connection.

A connector can still fit the environment and make the player look around. A connector can be an interesting element when an ogre drops from the ceiling part way through said connectors. ;)

Just food for thought! 

I would prefer to avoid using monsters that did not appear in Episode 3.

And this right here is the correct way of doing things!!

Nothing riles me up more than seeing people making """""classic""""" runic maps and putting Knights or Spawns in them. 

@Bloughsburgh Yup you're right! Sometimes I'll do stuff like this, and sometimes I won't. I just think that the occasional break room with nothing much going on it can be useful to give the player some respite. However it is a good idea to keep the player on their toes more often than not!

@OneTruePurple Haha yeah I feel that way too, but sometimes I'll be a bit more open minded if they're used in a clever way.

Btw does anyone out there know where I can get a readme file template for custom maps? I've been needing to create one to go with my maps but I can't seem to find a blank template one to use. I'd rather not just clean one up from an existing custom map. 

That may be your best option. I know I just used the ReadMe style from Sock and then put in sections of my own. 

Haven't played the map yet, only watched Arcee play it, but the room with a bunch of Fiends and rusty pillars and beams under the purple sky is extremely reminiscent of McGee's work, more so than the rest of the map. That room just screams E3 in the most perfect way possible. Very simple but quite iconic. 

@Bloughsburgh I suppose you're right, so I went ahead and did just that.

@Skacky Thanks! I'm really happy to hear that so many people are seeing American's style in my work :)

I've posted a new version of the map over on QuakeOne.com, just follow the link in the OP and you'll find it in the latest post, or the OP of my thread on the Q1 forums.

There's also a little sneak peak of some upcoming stuff! 

The lighting was spot on. None of the areas were too dark, the shootable buttons weren't too hard to spot, and this isn't the kind of map that needs dramatic lighting - the great brushwork and texture choices already gives a very solid atmosphere.

There's no problem with there being fewer monsters at the beginning, because they're strong monsters with well planned encounters.

The underwater crusher speed is appropriate. It can be lethal at first, but after dying once, it becomes dead easy to pass through. This brings me to a point I really liked: replayability. The underwater crusher and the last quad secret are good examples of stuff that the player will likely have to restart the map after figuring them out; but rather than giving frustration, they actually give excitement, because when the player restarts the map, he'll have the knowledge he needs to beat those challenges in a breeze.