You can get the last two secrets without rocketjumping. After the first small flight of stairs after the gold key door, turn right, step up onto the wooden edge of the platform, jump over into archway, jump across to next arch, drop down to next arch, continue jumping to either yellow armor or quad. 

excellent, albeit a little repetitive architecture-wise but that was the point.
i really like how there are so many places where you can see into other areas through grates and such. gives a good feeling of being part of a big cave/ancient tombish/hell thing, although the path twists and turns so much, i have no idea how where i went, even though i never really got lost once.

gameplay was awesome. it progressed very well, and wasn't prone to the "beginning is too hard, ending is too easy" syndrome, not to mention that long stretch without anything to kill was genious! i tried that in my map, but wasn't able to pull it off as well as this. i was really nervous there! :)

the exploding part was a pleasant surprise. for a moment, i thought i was going to fight chthon again, but i prefered to big arena fight much better!

i still think it would have been nicer to have a little more variety in architecture... maybe have the cramped tunnels open up into some more wider areas, (wider than the ones there already i mean), but i'm not sure where you could have put the larger areas, as the whole layout was pretty compact to begin with, so maybe my suggestion wouldn't have been feasible.

recorded a demo of myself playing:
http://www.planetquake.com/necros/temp/ne_februus.zip (zip: 2.49MB)
http://www.planetquake.com/necros/temp/ne_februus.dz (zip: 1.03MB -- DZip roxors!) 

the bottom one should be (dzip: 1.03MB -- DZip roxors!) btw... 

It initially appeared to be quite an atypical CZG style, but then I remembered 04. Even so, not really what I expected, but the overall effect is cool, it definitely has a good feel about it. Like Necros's map, a somewhat conceptual map, but one with a strong purpose which shines through the vaguely repetitive style.

Gameplaywise it was all jolly fun until the end where I started to get lazy and bored with the final combat, which was a fine finale but I wasn't interested in arena combats by then. As others have mentioned, a plentiful ammo balance. The alcoves were a bit annoying to move around.

The secrets, BTW, were easy, particularly for speedrunners. I got 5/7 without thinking....although the other two might have been hard?? 

I returned to the empty map and found three more secrets (I was careful not to read the spoiler posts here). I can see what Shambler meant with his comment above. I wonder if I stand a chance of finding the other two without cheats or Morfan's demo. Also, I haven't found the 'secret' exit either. 

really liked this map (as all other czg's maps), especially gameplay-wise. LOTS of monsters, interesting layout but too much ammo even for me.
Found 2 secrets (red armor and MH).

Overall had a lot of fun. Thanks for that, czg 

Abolutely amazing. Haven't had an adrenaline ruch like that since I injected crack straight into my eyeball. 

I enjoyed this map. Very much so.

Atmosphere was truely superb. The rocks, lava chasms & broken arcitecture blend into the map excellently, and coupled with the labyrinth-like 3-dimensional layout, created a very convincing sense of place, and the gameplay fitted well with it; not the usual run-in-with-guns-firing type gameplay which I find fairly tedious nowadays unless used in moderation. Architecture-wise it was the little details that made the map what it was.. such as the gates, walltorches, arches etc. The exploding tunnel towards the end was also brilliant. Felt pretty immersed into the map which is something I can't say about many; especially towards the end - heading down the small twisty cave out into the spectacular yet subtle end arena.

My only qualm was that I kept falling into lava. Backing into what I thought were dark arches while fighting, which actually turned out to be ledges. D'oh. The end battle didn't really do it for me either... the gameplay up until that point didn't really warrant a big arena finale, especially one that dragged on as long as it did, in a pretty haphazard setting (kept falling off the edge again.. bah, I suck).

Still... despite that, best new map I've played in ooh, a long time. Since Day of the Lords anyway. Very unique and very well pulled off. 

since no one asked... what's a februus? 

* Information *

A series of catacombs, leading ever deeper and deeper into the abyss; where few people go, and fewer still return from. Go! Seek adventure!

Also: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/f/februus.html  

very impressive czg. Like xen said, the little details are astounding. This is one of the greatest quake maps I've seen in terms of build quality. It's also one of the most immersive. Great job!

I didnt find the gameplay all that repetitive, in fact I found it bloody hard (I suck at cramped spaces) in parts. As for ammo, I was too busy worrying about what was coming rather than how much I had.

If anything, you should write a tutorial on how you do layouts. To me, that's the greatest thing about your maps. 

i knew i had seen that link somewhere, but i had thought it was in this thread. when i couldn't find it, i thought i was imagining things. :P 

Strong points: sense of place, solid architectural feel, twisty route, great ogre, scrag, zombie, knight placement.

Weak points: tight quarters and no clip brushes means that i took a lot of damage from getting snagged on pillars and stuff. Lighting should have been gloomier. Larger rooms needed larger forms (arches spanning the broad ceilings would have helped.) Few memorable locations. Vore placement rarely effective.

Also, the flat stone texture on exposed insides of broken arches/pillars that have brick texture on the surface is weird; are they made of bricks or solid stone? 

I must admit I found both the visuals (textures and maze-like corridors) and gameplay very repetitive, which took down the experience quite a bit. Like others have said here, too tight, cramped and since there was quite a bit of backtracking, I also felt lost pretty often.

However, the few big open areas were great, especially the final arena where I found it challenging (in a good way) to find a place not getting ambushed from behind while monsters kept teleporting in. The exploding ground was also well made.

I didn't like the particular rock textures much (a bit Manke-ish), but the rock formations and chasms were very attractive and believable. Lighting was also very good, a bit dark maybe. Weapons, ammo and challenge were all well balanced. I found a few secrets but they were pretty well hidden. I think the repetitive architecture helped a lot in hiding the secrets.

Technically it's an excellent map, but I find your previous work more fun to play. 

"... the flat stone texture on exposed insides of broken arches/pillars that have brick texture on the surface is weird" -
award winning Call of duty has that allover the place 

its a lot easier than making custom textures for each damaged section that reflect where the bricks are inside the arch or pillar that has been damaged. 

It doesn't make any sense but it looks good. 

is that there isnt a feasible alternative that makes sense 

http://www.planetquake.com/speedy/shite/sshot0estalk.jpg 

Yeah I'm looking forward to that one. 

Don't ever, ever, never ever use clip brushes on a map like this: it will totally ruin it - you're SUPPOSED to get caught on the jutty-out bits! You have to adjust your position just right within your location to dodge (say) Shambler attacks, and if you don't, you die. And if players are bored with dying they must, in reality, be bored with the game in general. And that may be the point in forums such as this: I wonder how many contributors are real, honest-to-God players?

Why should PLAYERS want the maps to be easier in layout terms: perhaps they are not players in the true sense but merely onlookers having to play through just to see the point of the map, examine architecture, see the quality of the build etc. I do very often see comments like "had to no-clip", "played in God Mode" etc. You didn't have to do that, you chose to. If you keep dying using one method of play should't you think differently?

Clip brushes have a place in map building but only to avoid 'accidental' snags or to assit the map builder in non-critical areas, but not just to allow the player to run through the map faster (speed running apart).

And here the rant do endeth.

Anyway, brilliant map, best for a long time. Didn't find any secrets as I was too busy with death - it took me 36 minutes and I never lost my way. Quake as it should be.

Well done CZG and thank you.

Honestly now, how long to build the map from start to finish? 

 

...and possibly controversial points, FMB dood. 

I was so keen to play the map that I "couldn't be bothered" to read the text. So, the jokes on me then.

However, perhaps "Been in the workings for maybe a few months" is like January to December? ( That's a compliment czg, 'cause I know I couldn't do it)

And, Shambler, the points really aren't meant to be controversial. But I do get frustrated to see so much effort going to waste because people don't 'play the game'. If people did try to play the game as it was meant to be played I am sure they would get even more enjoyment than they do just by looking around a map.

And that is why we must continue to encourage all of the new mappers, not tear them to shreds because we don't like their texture set (or whatever).

And, brothers, I feel a march coming on. Onwards and upwards, revolution is in the air. The proletariat is revolting! 

And that is why we must continue to encourage all of the new mappers, not tear them to shreds because we don't like their texture set (or whatever).

but some people use some pretty ugly textures... :P