Thanks for the comments and demo.

It seems many people considered the bloodcube battle in my map hard and random/luck-oriented (well, it is. a little.) because they approached it differently from what I intended. I think the best way is to engage the monsters - chainsaw does work against Shamblers, especially with the bloodcube - and not rely on hide and seek tactics.

Btw. Trinca: you don't have to axe every single wall. Secrets are usually marked in one way or another. :D

In case anyone is interested: I recorded two simple Kascam demos in my maps (thanks aguirRe) spoiling the secrets. I'm not totally satisfied with the outcome, but I can't be arsed to give it more tries atm - each KC run looks different, it's hard get perfect results. Anyway, http://negke.quaddicted.com/files/aderlass_kcdemos.dz 

Headthump - not bad, quite crude but I enjoyed the gameplay and liked the finish. I can see that some of the chaotic nature of the design was Zer-ish. But needed more.

Efdat - well rad dude. Like a little summary of Zer in one map! Good designs and all, and good gameplay throughout - except the end which needed more beef. I like the reliance on Zer weapons in particular. I'm most impressed with the huge chunk of map that was left out too!! 

Will watch those today.

For anyone who hasn't seen the kascam I recommend these demos; they're like recammed thirdperson camera.

Got to say again; really good pack. 

Neg|ke's map had all the right pieces of the elder Zer puzzle in place. I only disliked the Zer turrets -- never cared for 'em -- and accidentally took an extra jog around the block after the last mega-enforcer before the gib-pit. Great cut scenes, BTW!

Efdat's map fit the Zer bill, too, and was an almost perfect match of 'True Love Waits.' I didn't like the 1:1 stairs, though, but they were a part of the original.

Headthump's map could have used a little more polish but I could see where it was trying to be like the Zer graveyard level. Not at all bad for rehashing a scrap at the last minute.

Beers to you guys! 

that huge chunk isn't left out =)
try playing the map in dm and you'll see... 

I noticed how no-one made that weird blue plasma gun available. I always wondered what the deal was with that weapon, because in Zerstorer you get it at the very end of Bunker so its pretty much useless in the single player game. Almost like the retarded stepchild of the weapons that they didn't want to show anyone :) 

When you realise you should have just used that rocket icon. 

Excellent maps all round.

There is something faintly sexual about adrlass2.

Anyhoo... 

http://shub-hub.com/files/demos_singleplayer/bam_zerturtle1.dz 

 

Cool, but I couldn't view the second part of the demo (second map) because recording a demo of multiple maps in sequence doesn't work in standard engines. All you get are the console messages. 

I played Zerstor�r a while ago... meaning years... But yeah, the spirit is there. In the order, I prefered (my personal taste):

1/ Negke: the 2 maps have a real oppressive ambience, and that is very good... a shame there is not enough fights. Also, the architecture and the detail level is.... OMG !! Why are you not a pro mapper !!!

2/ HT: Very good design, good frantic fights, cool monster placement and lot of fun during the slaughtery :P

3/ Efdat: Nice fights, nice details touch, but visually not the best of all... Well, a good map with lot of fun ;)

Well, now I have to replay Zerstor�r completely...

keep it up guys, you all rock !! 

Adrlass1: Very nice Zer style, all properly done. Rather easy though, could have done with more combat.

Adrlass2: Completely bonkers, more Zer than Zer itself, great attention to style and some many warped designs. Arena was hard at first then fun in the middle bit. I would have prefered a lot more combat throughout the map, then an easier start to the arena, then a really bloody finish with maybe a quad and stuff. The final cinematic (and associated designs) was very good - Zer watching through the teleporter-view was a touch of genius. 

How did you do the cutscenes BTW? Were they incorporated into the bsp somehow? 

quite good but I wished it were longer and more challenging. It was over before I really got into it. Great end cutscene though.

More full sized maps please negke :) 

are scripted sequences consisting of camera, focal point and script entities. See devkit.txt for more information. At first glance it sounds more complicated than it actually is.
Still, making the end cutscene was horrible and took ages. Most of the time I wasn't really sure what I was doing or what would happen if I changed any value. No wonder all Zer cutscenes were done by the same person who created the cs code in the first place. 

Has anyone ever come across that dubious acs.map mentioned in devkit.txt? It would have been very helpful (and still might). 

Well I thought the cutscenes looked perfect!! 

because of cutscenes, amazing architecture. focus on amazing architecture and ambience. interesting, not just intense game play. 

interesting, not just intense game play.

It's not like I used a mind numbing horde of monsters in every area (or hordes in any area, for that matter) coming at you on the same ground floor that you happen to be standing. I considered the tactical advantages of monster placement, anticipating the most likely way a player approaches the situation in front of him to throw in several surprises. To carry this off, the vast majority of the monster were low and mid-level with only a handful of higher level ones used mostly near the end.

And, I used as few in number of monsters as I could to do it while still presenting a challenge to the player.

I have nothing to apologize for in regard to game play accept maybe that last damn platform that doesn't work (and it didn't stop working until the last damn version of the map, damn it!).

I've pretty much stayed away from counter criticism as either I pretty much agreed with most of what has been said so far, or thought the critic had a valid point, but this one bugged me as it implied my map was nothing more than shoot what is in front of you, lazily constructed affair when nothing could be further from the truth. 

I agree with you. The main flaws in your map were architecture / build quality. The gameplay was pretty neat throughout, and as you say somewhat tactical. Which is welcome. 

It was kind of odd to see a old school build qaulity but with decent monster placement.

Visually the map suffered slightly but in game play it was allot of fun. 

and, also, my comments were not meant as a criticism of the maps of any one else who may have a different approach to game play and flow than I do. 

Although I was forcefully reminded that I haven't played zer for far too long :) Took me ages to work out what was zer-like about efdat's map... 

i'm a little confused.
Took me ages to work out what was zer-like about efdat's map...
have you ever played zer1m6 or zer1m7?