This is a really late reply, but I’m so happy you people like the map, and thanks for the feedback and demos!

Flint I’m glad you think my forest doesn’t look like ass! :D

Oh and you’re right Drew, the visible bounding boxes in the final void area look bad. I changed the map’s fog colour and density before publishing and forgot to take that into account. Should have resized the void room accordingly.

Thuksa, I was warned about those secrets. I could have done them and other things needed for progression better, but I didn’t listen, heh. I’ll learn.

Shambler I agree, some areas like the Red Chamber’s interior look a bit bland. I feel especially cringey about the Red Chamber.

Oh and Fairweather thanks for the full video review/critique/showcase/commentary/something, it’s awesome!

Ipowell, the ground fog effect in this map is a 6 unit height brush with the metflor2_1 texture, turned into a func_illusionary with alpha of 0.2, 12 units above the ground. 

Pal, your map was amazing. This forest theme is something you don't see too often in Quake, and here it's so nicely executed. The areas are smartly connected with portals, monsters and items are placed properly and detail is amazing. 17 minutes of my life gone which I am not regretting a bit. I could play a whole episode of maps like this one. Amazing quality! 

I forgot to comment on this until chatting with you just now. This was a really excellent map and I'm surprised that it's only your second. I had a list of things I wanted to say but I don't remember now since I played this weeks ago. However, there's so much good to say about this map that I can pick a bunch of things just off the top of my head.

I did a double take at first to make sure that I didn't have AD loaded when I saw the forest floor fog. It was a really neat effect. I was also interested in the concept of a forest map with flora but I gave up because it didn't seem feasible, yet you pulled it off pretty well.

The flow of the map was very well done. I feel like I had a few options at the start and after ascending the castle, I had even more options as to which portals I could take. The brush work was neat with some interesting geometry and the texturing was excellent. Most importantly, the combat was fun. I'd say you used the right monsters at the right time and the segment where you gave the player a quad and then threw enemies at them was great. I like how it started with a corridor of enemies rushing at you and then opened up into a bigger room that was full of them.

If this is only your second map, then I can't imagine how incredible your next ones will be. You knocked this one out of the park and it's one of my personal highlights. From the texturing to the brush work and the combat, it was all around a terrific experience. 

Can't add too much to the accolades above. It's lovely and fun. My only complaint was I missed one of the altars and had to go back and hunt for it after killing most of the monsters which was pretty anti-climactic. Took me a bit of time to find it nestled in an outdoor area among the trees. Was nice to explore the map though and this is a minor note.

I'll be studying this map for sure. Congrats! 

I really enjoyed this map. First run demo is here:

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

(Hard skill, 125/125 kills, 4/5 secrets)

I played a bit wonky at the start, and got got stuck for a while in the middle, but managed to scrape through.

The things I enjoyed most were (I'm going to echo everyone else here):

* The visual theme was strong and unique (tilting trees, curling archways) and yet it still worked very well with the existing Quake assets.

* In general, the attention to detail was subtle and clever: e.g. the thin layer of mist covering the ground in the forest, the old books piled on the tables (and QuakeGuy's comments about them), the way the diamond-things released by the altars gently bob up and down, etc.

* The layout was non-linear enough to be interesting and to give a sense of exploration and discovery without being overly complicated/confusing. Good job!

* It's heartwarming that all this was achieved using only the stock Quake textures and gameplay (plus some modern engine features, obv.).

I thought the following things had room for improvement:

* The clue to "Burn and light their voice and sight" was too vague for me. =( As you'll see in the demo, I ended up wandering around stuck for several minutes because I thought I must have missed something in one of the other areas. I guessed the right thing to do eventually.

* Health and ammo seemed a bit too tight at the start, and a bit too plentiful by the end.

* This is a minor pet peeve, but the buttons in front of the altars have the red "Q" texture which the id maps always reserved for shootable buttons: this gives the player the wrong cue because the buttons need to be pushed rather than shot. The red "Q" is why, in the demo, I tried to axe the first one I came across. =P

Overall, a great map! I would happily play a whole episode of this. Keep up the good work! 

I really loved this one. Gonna echo everybody else's praise here. Great visuals, ambience, gemeplay. I completed it on skill 1, found all 5 secrets (which is not that typical for me). Had lots of fun.

But I'm dumb and hadn't thought that I HAD to pick up the Quad to open that big gate. So I was certain I'd missed something and run through the empty map like a maniac trying to find a missed switch or something. Finally I picked the Quad just out of desperation and voila! The damn gate opened :D

Here's my playthrough with Polish commentary (in two parts, I'm slow):
https://youtu.be/s9s4v-_D9sg
https://youtu.be/22Re3z7ERa0