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Skill 2 demos (died once), all kills, all secrets.
[SOME SPOILERS AHEAD] First off, the things you didn't fix: - torches still don't flicker, - LG and SK in the library are still a bit too much in darkness (armor is fine now), - there's still unwanted fullbrights on a shelf texture, - you didn't remove the odd sparkle noises (one in the hallway in front of the first watery passage, the other I think was somewhere in the library - I can't be more specific). I also found a clipping issue that I hadn't noticed earlier: just before the curved staircase leading to the first big room, you can enter the left hand wall and see the whole map (see demo)! You can't fall through, though, so it's not as bad as it sounds. Lighting is much better now - you fixed pretty much all lighting issues except for the above couple items in the library. The crypt still looks very dark but it doesn't bother me because, well, it's a crypt! Difficulty is spot-on for skill 2, haven't tried other skills. Having access to the RL earlier has the unforeseen side effect of making the GL useless: once you grab it there's no more zombies to blow up. It might have been best to make them appear when you grab the contract (or retrospectively to simply put more nailgun ammo before entering the church so that the RL is not needed). Speaking of the contract, as you'll see in the demo, the spawning fiend got hampered by the geometry of the treasure chest and it couldn't attack me at all! Still, a very nice map for a first Quake release - your experience with other games shows. I've said it before but I just love your surrealistic design. I hope there's more to come! A word about the start map: It's usually quite unnecessary to make a start map for a single map release but you had the good idea of taking this opportunity to teach the player the specific gameplay mechanics of your map, so congrats for that. Start maps, however, follow the Quake tradition of making harder skills harder to reach, with nightmare skill being hidden. This is sadly not the case here. I haven't had time to play through this final version. Looking forward to it. Sounds like you made a lot of improvements.
Some nice ideas, creative design touches, and good meaty gameplay. Floating rune pillars, the facing alcoves room, chapel with catacombs beneath, upside down scenery - all good interesting designs. But the scale varies a bit wildly and it feels a bit like a collection of rooms. Focus on a coherent vision / plan for the next map and it will definitely be great. As Mugwump said this is a very nice first map as it shows a lot of talent and promise already.
"It's usually quite unnecessary to make a start map for a single map release"
What a silly thing to say. If you personally don't like start maps, ignore it and run the main map form the console -- but saying it's "unnecessary" is like saying "I play on skill x, therefore all other skill settings are unnecessary". Besides, there's plenty of precedent for making a start map for a single map -- off the top of my head, Vondur's Solar Fall and Adamantine Cruelty, PulSaR's Menkalinan, KillPixel's Cartographer's Nightmare, and virtually every single map Sock has released (even though Sock sticks the start map and main map into a single bsp). To me and many other players, start maps are like secrets; they are what gives flavour to playing Quake and makes it more than just run-shoot-repeat-exit. Anyway: Very nice first release. I really liked the abstract visuals, and the way the map unexpectedly opens up to much larger spaces as you progress -- even if there are some scale issues, as Shambler notes. I liked the story/mission elements, although it wasn't always too clear to me what I was supposed to be doing: <SPOILERS> The part with the contract at the end had me stumped for a long time. I didn't realise the "contract" wasn't just a prop, so I didn't try to grab it, and couldn't figure out what I was supposed to be doing until I read one of the comments above. Perhaps this could have been avoided by making the contract stand out a bit more visually, and/or using a centreprint message. E.g. instead of just telling the player "You can now visit the crypt", you could say "Now go find the contract in the crypt". That would give the player more of a sense that they're on a mission and trying to achieve something; it would solidify the narrative of the map somewhat. The desecrating runes business was set up nicely by the start map, so that was easy enough to figure out. It would have been better if the sealed door were more unavoidable, though, so that the player sees the message "This door is protected by a magical seal" before setting off to find the runes. As it is, it's very easy to bypass that door entirely, and then finding the runes feels a little random. Thanks to the start map, I knew more or less what is going to happen -- but as with the contract, it would have been nice to have a clearer sense of what I was trying to achieve. A third minor criticism is the visual effect of the desecrated runes' disappearing -- or rather the lack thereof. I realise this was made for id1 with all of its limitations, but there are better options than simply having brushes pop out of existence. See Adib's Signati from Mapjam6 for an example of an id1 map with a similar mission, but more satisfying a visual effects (and also a great example of making the door the player is trying to open unavoidable). </SPOILERS> These are minor criticisms, though. The map is really neat, and having a start map too is great! Only found one secret on my first playthrough, so I'll probably play again until I've found the other three. The map is a very good iteration of the Knave theme. Some unique things here like the floating geometry and the runestone hunt. I also like the boss battle, as its not too often one encounters this in Quake maps.
There were a few things that could have been fixed during the beta. Not sure how those fullbrights got on the Knave textures, perhaps blood smears were added but non fullbright red from the quake palette wasn't used. Minor issues though. A great map, recommend to anyone that wants a Knave map, but without Quoth enemies. Not sure how those fullbrights got on the Knave textures
mukor has released a non-fullbright knave wad. See post #170 in the jam 9 thread for download link. Some of [kona]'s textures have this problem too. This map has old school vibes, and yet is a big step above them at the same time. Tough but fair gameplay, and fine visuals. Couldn't see any major flaws that I'm aware of, though I do agree with the statements others have made.
First run demo, hard skill: http://qrf.servequake.com/~orl/misc/orl_contract.rar A very good effort for your first released map, you show great promise :) Ridiculous, apply yourself func!
This is a very fine little map with many clever ideas. It takes a lot of creative liberties with the usual map design and the end result is quite interesting to play and look at. Enjoyed your use of Knave a lot but my favorite area was the crypt with id1 green & terracotta. The progression is weird, but interesting. I more or less agree with Shambler that it feels like a collection of rooms, but IMO that's mostly because I as a player didn't spend enough time in each "zone" to get to properly know it. I'd mostly have liked to explore more of the library and the crypt. Skill 1 demo Good map, hope to see more! I was thinking the same thing this morning but I think everyone is busy with Jam 9. I haven't completed this but I'll send some thoughts when I do and a laughable demo.
Yeah, I have a lot of newly released maps to play! At the same time, it's exciting to have all of choices!
I know Serge has moved on to an Unreal project but I thought I'd upload my demos.
I think my only real criticisms are: Most doorways and some hallways are way too tight. I got stuck a lot. I hope you do another Q1SP map because this is something you can easily avoid next time and it will make your maps more fun. Monster horde after the silver key was hectic and the terrain made it very difficult to get items. For me after a long day at work it wasn't fun - more frustrating. Maybe a couple of waves of enemies spaced out a bit over time or just an easier way to get to the power ups in that courtyard. The rest of the map was very fun although I got lost early on in the large room with all the doors. Maybe more color or lights/decorations in places like these would help players keep their bearings. All in all, you are VERY creative and a great addition to the Quake community. Come back to us when you complete your Unreal map. Thanks everyone for the comments/feedback. I took the feedback into account. Some things I didn't "fix" like the flickering torches and the sparkling noises weren't really bugs imo, just personal preference.
Mapping for Quake has been quite the experience. I've learned alot during the development of the map and by reading all the comments on how to improve it. I've also added a small update. The windows of the church now have colored lighting. You can download v 1.1 from my website if you want to check it out. Indeed I've moved on to an Unreal project. I'll use what I learned and try to pump out something decent. This was great! Loved all the angled walls and details, how you taught the rune desecration and water traversal in the start map, the water doorways to different areas, and the upsidedown bits were just lovely. Also, your church ceiling was really cool.
Don't pass this one up! It's a nice map. Straightforward and felt just right, with a certain classic touch. Grateful for the void teleporter! Lighting could have used some tweaking, the courtyard especially looks a bit flat.
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