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Unbelievable that Quake1, even in 2014, crushes all the other fucking computer games out there !
And this because of you guys ! An amazing pack of maps, many of which could easily be released as stand alone maps on their own merits!
So first off, demos! Split the zip because Sock and Tronyn's demos were somewhat big. All skill2. All maps except Sock/Tronyn Sock Tronyn Straight off: Other than I think being a bit too tight on ammo early on, MFX's map is absolutely amazing and I think most will agree the best map in the pack. As in likely the best release of 2014. I loved the bit of free choice in the start of the map to enter the temple! The visuals are awesome and unique, the atmosphere as you go through the level is fantastic, and it was just a joy to play. Wonderful :D Next I believe Sock's map is another clear stand out for it's clever design. It feels different than many Quake maps, but still fitting, and it gives you a definite choice in routes to try, and encourages you to play it again. The secrets are fun and the gameplay excellent. Everything about this just seems well thought out and considered. And of course, it looks awesome as you would expect from sock! Lun's map is a great setting, that just feels fun to play through without it trying to do too much. Some of it's Doom beginnings shine through, and there are nice secrets and the hot lava that will in fact kill you when you mess up your jump over it. The end is maybe a bit weak, but the overall setting and gameplay are fun. A nice short map that is lacking sanddogs that existed in it's beta... skacky's map is fun, and has another nice looking take on things with the floating upsidedown temple thing going on. This is some straight forward Quake action! The gold key area is a great big battle and the highlight of the map. Tronyn's was a massive vista that somehow you managed to let players walk around in. No wonder it took forever to vis! The visuals are big and chunky and Quake. I'm not so much a fan of the gameplay and pacing, it feels very odd to start off fighting Shamblers and Vores and Hell Knights, then meet sprinklings of Grunts and hordes of Knights and Scrags here and there until the end battle. Possibly this was due to needing to cut down for time? I had to actually quicksave in this level though, which is something I never do! Fifth/Ericw's map I feel like tried to do too much and it became a bit of a monster for them to wrangle into something coherent. It's a decently fun map, the combat was generally good, and there are nice visual elements... it just feels like it needed more polish beyond what they could reasonably do in the couple weeks. It DOES have the most unique battle in the pack though, so congrats on that part! Cocerello's is again another map where 'bit off more than you could chew' seems to be what happened. I appreciate the general direction of the look, think it needed some more lighting polish to try and make this shine... but the gameplay was really poor. I think you intended players to sneak around and collect some weapons and ammo, but that goes against the instincts of Quake players so much, and even then the monsters were still a bit too much to slog through with peashooters. I don't want to rag on this too much, you clearly state in it's title it's not finished to your liking, and I do know you are still relatively new to Quake mapping. My only suggestion for the future is to think smaller scale until you have a better handle on how much you can reasonable do to a high quality! To reiterate, this pack was fantastic, and a joy to play, great work everyone! I've played five maps and only succeeded in recording three demos and one of them was on my own level
I finally was able to find sock's super secret, without cheating ! :-)
Really great. Reminds me your Quake3 single player map. And apparently Sock have some sense of humor, related to the forum users here. Should I say more ? I don't want to spoil the surprise ! Heheheee ! recorded demoes.
died in a few so will do re-dos and post here eventually! The maps in this pack, like everyone keeps saying, are way better than they have any right to be given the time limit. Pretty amazing how well this jamming thing has worked out so far. Here's hoping you guys find a way to keep some sort of momentum going now that Sock won't be organizing! so your reactions after you played them are what i expected.
I'll explain: hard mode was planned to be experimental, brutal and UNFAIR, unfair in a sadistic way from the mapper like the traps in Quake custom maps from 96-97 (the tarbabies' ambush was planned with those objectives in mind), and from that position i toned it down a lot. And i didn't care much for two reasons: i never thought so many people would play them on hard, and because is the hardest skill, and a gameplay like that should be somewhere to appease that type of players. Those that want the usual Quake gameplay have easy and normal, i wanted to have a map for everyone. But i agree that for this type of map people expect straightforward gameplay and play with that in mind, and i should have put an advice ingame. Instead of most custom maps when the differences between skill level are minor, i wanted to specialize each skill for a different type of playing. Each skill level is like a different game. As i wrote on the text file, I achieved this not the usual way of changing the number of monsters, which is the same in all skill levels, but by changing the enemies placement and choice. I was pressed against time, so the faster option had priority and was used more than changing the monster placement, which achieved this grinding gameplay. So: - Easy skill: anyone can do it, very easy. - Normal skill: usual type and difficulty of gameplay in most Quake custom maps. For those that want a more normal gameplay while being challenging. - Hard/nightmare: unfair, and grinding, for those that want a extreme or weird experience. At least in hard, and judging from your reactions, i think that i have achieved my objectives quite well. About the matter of the choice of weapons is my own particular tastes. I don't like the big guns, as you can go through enemies like they were paper, obliging the mapper to double or triple the number of enemies or be very clever in its usage, which i didn't want nor had the time to do. So instead of matching the gameplay to the weapons given, i did the opposite, match the weapons to the gameplay, placing the big guns (GL and LG (i hate the RL)) as secrets with limited ammo. ******** Well, to summarize, those that hated hard skill gameplay, try out normal difficulty, is like a different map, more Quakey and i am sure you will like it way more. *********** Played a few, and I just have to say that Tronyn's map is not only the best he's ever made by a long way (so much better with a restricted texture set and no Drake mod), it's one of the best Quake maps I've ever played and indeed one of the best FPS maps I've ever played. The epic spectacle, sense of place and how far it pushes beyond Quake styling makes it as aesthetically exciting as any sci-fi/fantasy FPS.
Here's a skill 3 speedrun of my map for shits and giggles. Contains SPOILERS on several secrets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRCzwVDgrfQ
glad you liked it Shambler, cheers. An expanded version will come out later, but I'll try not to use too many Drake monsters ;)
(I actually like grunts for the setting but I think Drake's Hexen 2 Archers would also fit it). Now that the jam is out I'm looking forward to playing it and catching up on all the other releases I haven't played yet. Thank you all guys for the demos, they were eye openers to me. They made it crystal clear to me that i should always use betatesters for now, even for speedmaps, at least for now. The map had its unintended issues in gameplay too, making it way easier for skill 2/3 and a bit harder for skill 1.
That, and that the ambush of the knights and the shambler in skill 2 is like Satan and Hitler cooperating. It was surprising to see that the SK was so obvious and way more to notice than the GK, even though SK was hidden as it leads to a big secret area. ** Lunaran, i won't follow your preach, i won't release again a map without one hundred betatesters and less than two thirds the time spent on polishing ;) . ** Ijed, thanks for pointing out the issue of lighting. In your demos it says all the time that you are playing on skill 1, but in them appears enemies from skill 2/3 that shouldn't be there, apart from those from skill 1. You also say that you are playing on skill 3 but in the engines i use (Quakespasm and Darkplaces) it says skill 1 for the three demos. I replayed the map, and it doesn't happen for me. What engine have you used? The solid doors are there, not entities and angled for three reasons, to block vis, so the monsters don't go out or in the building, and because they look cool, as the door on the floor does. Using them to make the gameplay easy by shooting through them is a plus, and i don't mind it, Quake custom maps are filled with that kind of moments. ** FifthElephant, the weapons and ammo that you missed are all on the biggest room (the one with the ogres) on the ground floor, below the stairs and on the side opposite to the door you use to enter the building. There is three places with ammo on the ground floor and one more with a weapon between the ground floor and the first floor. None of them are secrets. It is pity that you missed them, you were making a nice play in the map, and I enjoyed it throughly. ** as it seems that it was too long
** Digs. It was interesting to watch, you mainly played it like i thought, except the times of where do i go now, of course. Thanks. ** Onetruepurple, it was a funny demo to watch, but my maps are planned to play them slowly and cautiously. If you rush so much you'll feel overwhelmed and think that it is harder than it is. Play it on normal, its type of gameplay will be more to your tastes. The gold key is very near the door, drop down from there to the terrace below, and you'll find it. ** Skacky, it was an interesting demo to watch. No problem, you can be honest with me always, even though, in this case, i expected that kind of opinion from skill 2/3 play-through, so it was even less than a problem. I thought that, as you hated the gameplay you had a very hard time with it, but it was a nice demo to see. I should have put the NG before, but i always play with exploration in mind and wanted that getting to the NG felt a bit like an achievement while not being hard to get. Glad you liked the last room, is the one i feel the most satisfied with the lighting, as it was the one easier to light from the four with fake GI, even though in general looks, i prefer the library. The dissapearing brushes (in this case a func_wall to reduce vising times), i always though that it was related to having too many things to vis in a room. Isn't it? I worked on that, as before there were many more, but two escaped my watch. ** Scampie, i'll answer you later, now i have to eat. For now I can say that you nailed pretty much everything. As all the people who made demos where wondering where to go next in my map I am writing this.
The map provides hints on where to go next by having hints on both the button and the doors they open. Every button opened door has this. The hint is that every door has a central square in the middle, if it can't be opened or is opened automatically or by a trigger, that square is white, if the door is opened by a button, that door has the same texture in the square as the button that opened it. I found your secret rave party. AWESOME !
That map is such a gem ! 8�D I think that MFX's map is my favorite, with Scampie's and Sock's.
MFX map is so much Quake. The atmosphere is very strong, as it should for a Quake map. I especially like the basement with its mess of wood planks. And the rendering style is really great. Feels like some eerie dream/nightmarish. Very well done. Next : I'll reply all the maps using the DMSP mod, in nightmare mode, just to see what happens... Glad you like the secret :D
My map should work well in DMSP "Deathmatch 1", but the scripting of the blocking doors and such quite often breaks in single player DMSP, and there isn't much I can do to fix that Oh boy !
That combination works, and it's trully excellent ! Hundreds of dead bodies/gibbs/heads and parts everywhere, in all the rooms and corridors. What a freaking mess ! And I love the fact that the parts doesn't go away, with the DMSP mod. Here's an example : http://fsgregs.startlogic.com/Public_Files/Cham/Pictures/mess.jpg Muahahahaaa ! When you ask 'skill' it will return the skill you have on your rig, not the one the demo was recorded in (AFAIK).
I played in Quakespasm.
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