SM227 - Thunderbolts and Lightning!

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SM227 brings you Thunderbolts and Lightning!​

Thematically open to interpretation, the jam had just one rule: maps must include a Thunderbolt (aka Lightning Gun)!

This speedmapping event also includes some new mini powerups, custom designed by @Fairweather! A mini-pentagram, mini-quad-damage, and mini-bio-suit, each of which last only 8 seconds!

Maps:

AuthorMap Name
Atom1kWonder Weapon
ChumaThundervarium
ColossusRide the Lightning
iYagoAnd it Lit Back
magnetboxFrankenstein or Supersham-bler
mtschThe Lightning Lock
RecycledOJGround Fault
ShadesmasterCirthic Cull
SpootnikA Marshmallow Dream
Submitted by
spootnik
Downloads
648
Views
1,928
Release date
Nov 21, 2023
First uploaded
Last update
Rating
4.64 star(s) 11 ratings

Latest updates

  1. Final Update

    - fixed map entry teleporters not being able to be used repeatedly (after completion) in start map
  2. 1.01 - Small fixes

    -fixed some teleporter bitflag issues in start map -fixed a typo -small touch up for main...

Latest reviews

What an intriguing jam. There is certainly more of a theme than is spelled out – this dimension heaves with runic lava, and I feel the sickly shadow of FairWeathers malign presence at every dread-soaked turn.

Spootnik is in extra sadistic form with this one. The temple acid shoot switch sequence is a brilliant challenge which seems impossible until it becomes muscle memory and you ace it without saves. The main arena echoing the start map is absolutely horrible, a total cacophony of panic indicators and perverse incentives. One of those challenges where trying to strategise your approach makes you worse at it. Likewise, the final arena is one where there's no glory in confronting it head on. Avoid the floor until it's time to run away!

Mtsch gave us an absolute banger with this one, which felt ideal appearing as the last map in a clockwise sequence. Classic breathless action and extra cute secrets. The millenial brushwork is consummate.

Didn't encounter Colossus bug despite repeatedly failing that ordeal. I enjoyed the final arena which felt like slaughter in the vein of 2016 as opposed to Ribbiks. Impossible until you ace it.

Atomik set a delightful tone with an immediate beat and compelling poetry. I liked the way the combat encounters tricked you into thinking they were easy just as they became challenging, very neat.

RecycledOJ & Spootnik commit one of my obsessive pet hates here with fathomless voids that immediately reveal the edges of the bounding geometry. There are few things more disappointing in Quake than bottomless abyss that compells you to stare into it only to instantly see where the ceiling joins the wall a few metres away.

Overall I think the mini power ups system was really well done. It induces a good panic and the timing seems really easy to design around – compare this to the quad run jams and it's immediately obvious there's far less pressure on the mappers to fill the requisite time with sufficient carnage. Still smarting from Spootniks map though – the environment suit challenge was perfectly planned but the quad sequence was an utter troll.

Nice work everyone!
This is a great speedmapping pack. The mini power-ups change the dynamics of the game and I loved that. Great idea.
Enjoyed every map in this pack.
I'm giving this 5/5 because I'm pretty sure the maps I had huge problems with are much better if you're expecting above skill 0.

Highlights for me were iYago's combination of atmosphere and little setpiece challenges (I particularly liked the setup for the room with the knights), Magnetbox's perfectly flowing design with runic styling, and Atomik's which just sat well with me. I did like the Giant Coils in mtsch's map as well, as a stylistic thing.

If I were to nitpick, Spootnik and Colossus' maps felt too hard for me on skill 0 - and I think part of the problem is the short duration of the "mini-powerups" imposing its own limit of how easy you can make the challenge setpieces - although I also felt that the "water tunnels" bit in Spoot's finale was super hard to accomplish for me. (At least two of Colossus' bits I god-moded through - but with "full-length" or even half-length rather than mini- powerups, I think I would have found them enjoyable without being super hard.) I also managed to die about 10 times in the start map, but I don't hold my lack of jumping ability against it!
If you are not bad at jumping and are good at aiming fast at things, you probably won't have the same issues...
I typically don't feel right reviewing something I participated in, but this is a great pack. The mini power-ups were a lot of fun to work with, and I love that this includes the fgd file so that it's possible to do something with them even outside of the jam.

For maps, my personal highlights were spoot's (great use over the mini power-ups and tying it in with the start map), mtsch's (beautiful work with the electric coils, very fun layout), and magnetbox's (just a classic runic map).
Cool. Simple as that. And I really dig those mini powerups
Amazing pack, especially in my opinion because of the mappers' use of the mini-powerups. Colossus and Spootnik have delivered some real intense encounters that required high level of awareness of the environment. The rest of the pack felt more tame by comparison but still very good, with other worthy mentions including Shades' map, iYago's Shambler peek-a-boo under some amazing lighting and RecycledOJ's short but sweet CR8 themed map. Nitpicks would be the start of Atomik's, probably a bit more ammo would have been nice, and I think some of the door activation triggers in Mtsch's are too aggressive.