"ethycs0fL3gaci" is not hc2, as a remainder. 

This was pretty decent! there was one shot that i got stuck in. visually it was pure quake, and it worked. 

c00l. 

http://www.quaketastic.com/files/demos/orl_neg2betahc.rar 

But too many monsters are placed where they are no threat to you (knights on platforms where they can't reach you, fiend, vore harmlessly under bridge below you etc.) 

I am so behind on playing new maps... 

neg2betahc: http://www.quaketastic.com/files/screen_shots/neg2betahc.png 

Did you build some extra architecture or simply convert the map to SP and populate it with monsters? 

Both. Most of the map remained intact, but since the original neg2beta source map had unintentionally dark surfaces in the rock walls I had to put in additional lights and fire torches to fix it. The previously inaccessible top parts of the towers were modified so there was a slightly larger playing field, then the silver key got inserted into the area of the tower near the yellow armor. The stairs once you access the silver key door were definitely extra architecture I built. The teleporting parts of the deathmatch map were reduced to just only a changelevel part in the exit area, the tower where the scrags come from. I did convert it to SP and populated it with monsters.

The rocket launcher and grenade launcher positions were changed to avoid a problem I found in Peripheral Fundament: The rocket launcher, along with other weapons, were all delivered in quick succession for less than the first half of hc0, making it easier to beat than what I said about it when I introduced the map in December 2016. This new map has less issues than that. 

The main entrance to the castle you saw in the map is blocked by rocks in "ethycs0fL3gaci" so that it wouldn't be too short to complete. It is thankfully still short. 

Some clip brushes were removed, and some clip brushes were kept. 

 

That's primarily because it was made in WinQuake instead of QuakeSpasm, since I felt like rushing to get this map published. 

I assume he was critiquing the composition of the shot, not the engine it was taken in - WinQuake is pro look for Quake, btw. 

Oh, WinQuake is actually pro look. Kinn you're right. The shot was turned 90 degrees and cropped, and it wasn't overwritten because of said "rushing" reason. 

Some honest questions:

What's the rush?

Why are you taking unfinished maps and completing them as opposed to just making a new map of your own?

Honestly you are going to learn a lot more by making some test maps and learning how to light and trigger entities etc. 

The rush is I wanted to make something quickly while hc2 was still being developed. hc2 was going to be released near the end of last month (December 2016), but then after that was postponed, I decided to take on turning an unfinished map into a complete singleplayer experience (this one "neg2betahc" got released recently) to compensate for the delay instead of creating a new one myself.

I'm still making some test maps; for hc2 I made at least one with curved walls to make development progress faster. Learning how to light and trigger entities etc. can be done with anyone giving suggestions to me at Screenshots & Betas and/or Mapping Help. An example would be the nail gun part in e1m1: once you grab the nail gun the previously dark room becomes bright and a wall slides open to reveal at least one grunt. 

hc2 will be released in the first quarter of 2017. 

nice little map, was a fun blast! 

The idea of turning this into a singleplayer map is good. However, this attempt seems like a wasted opportunity. Very little is changed in terms of layout/geometry, even the DM items are left it in as is, and only a bunch of monsters added. As basic as the original map is, with a little expansion/copy-pasting etc it could probably make for a nice small/medium oldschool level. Sorry for being blunt.

I hope at least you got some inspiration or brushwork ideas from working with this for future projects! 

feels like a lot of monsters were thrown in and the floor plan not changed enough.

I would have made it more linear and introduced a starting area. The silver key was hidden away but I would have put it in plain sight but also an unreachable-til-later area.
Keys and doors should usually be looked upon as objectives, seen early but not attainable.

The exit was tucked away too and not signposted. Again, this should be an objective OR should feel at least somewhat significant. You'll find a lot of mappers will make a final battle zone in this area or at least make it look cool and interesting. 

Trinca, negke, and FifthElephant are all right. ;) 

The potential was there, triple the monsters and force some progression and it would have been cool.

http://www.quaketastic.com/files/demos/sham2betahc.zip 

Yep.