- Submitted by aDaya
- Creation date
Reviews
Not so much to add to the other reviews. Great stuff. And not the mapper's fault that I don't like and can't stand boss fights. Soothing, to read that others also are cheating 
Maybe it's a li'l bit too much with labyrinths, but for me it was fun to explore.
I never played a map with so much rain as in tot2.
The parallel world in tot5 is fascinating.
Thank you so much for hours'n'hours of fun.
Maybe it's a li'l bit too much with labyrinths, but for me it was fun to explore.
I never played a map with so much rain as in tot2.
The parallel world in tot5 is fascinating.
Thank you so much for hours'n'hours of fun.
One of the best mods for Quake ever made, i praise it for it's creativity and the new monsters, kudos for adding a tech railgun... thank you aDaya 
I don't get the time to play many new releases these days but this was one I absolutely wanted to make time for. As great as it is we have so many community packs/jams, there is something really special about passion-project episodes like this that are the singular vision of a sole creator; they form the cornerstone of custom Quake mapping and inspire me more than anything else, I literally dream of putting out something of this scale, consistency and quality.
That said, I am slightly conflicted. There are large parts of it that are truly phenomenal, awe-inspiring even, and it made for a really unique and memorable experience overall. But there are other parts, notably in the second half where my enjoyment levels got dragged down a bit and I finished it on a bit of a sour note. I've spent this morning ruminating on the good and bad and will try and cover as many thoughts as I can below.
General changes
I *loved* the new SSG, I possibly even prefer it over Dwell's rotary shotgun, the ability to control how many shots are fired is a great mechanic and makes it super fun to use. The minigun I wasn't quite as enthused over, although in terms of a SNG replacement that doesn't immediately invalidate the NG upon pickup, it fulfils its goal in a classier way than just spreading out the nails like in default copper. The railgun you can't really go wrong with, it did the job.
New monsters: I loved the Gladiator (well actually I hated him, he was a dick who kept killing me, but I mean that as a compliment). The nail infantry guys looked cool, although their hitscan attacks meant battling them got a bit cagey with lots of duck'n'cover play, there is little incentive to get out and run at them.
Most of the new sounds were neat, although hard exception on the weapon swap sound, which I'll be honest I replaced with an empty audio file at the first opportunity. That was one 28-year old omission that didn't need fixing.
Map 1
This was a solid first map that set the tone well. Some of the inside areas were a little on the bland side in terms of room shape and lack of visual variation, although some of that is down to the CR8 texture set, which definitely benefits from extra lighting detail (Dwell ep2 map 1 does this well).
The outdoor areas, however, were brilliant. Particularly the gold key tower section, which really stuck out as being memorable. I loved the steep climb and streetlights leading up to it, the imposing scale of the external tower view, and how the tension gradually ramped up as you ascend the stairs; great use of styled lighting. The lift down needed to be much faster though, it was quicker taking the stairs! The whole backdrop with the towering black mountains was mesmerising too, both here and in the earlier outdoor bit. Also loved the train exit. Combat difficulty felt just right on skill 1, just about enough to keep my on my toes without going too hard too soon.
Map 2
Probably my favourite, the rain was awesome! Really intrigued how you did it. I used Ironwail, there was some slowdown but it was still playable (reminded me of old times playing large custom maps on DOSquake). The sewer/swamp sections were all fantastically executed as well, really unique vibe. Only minor gripe was that some lower areas were a LITTLE too dark; I know it was by design, and it def needed plenty of shadowy areas, but a few more lights punctuating the shadows wouldn't have gone amiss.
Combat difficulty ramped up with many tricky ambushes, but always fair. Died once. The ending was really cool, finished the map on a buzz.
Map 3
This one kicked my ass a bit, I died about 5 times and occasionally got lost. That said, I still very much enjoyed it. The deaths were mostly fair, as was the layout and signposting; once I realised most routes linked back to the large open snowy area, and that area contained two colour-coded exits to each key as well as a signposted way back to the key door, I felt any loss of bearings was definitely on me. It's a well designed map.
The one 'unfair' death came when I went through a doorway with low health and got immediately greeted by three nailgunners and a vore; I knew I wouldn't be able to dodge attacks if I ran forward so immediately noped back out the way I came, only to find the door had slammed shut and I got shot in the back.
Visually the map was a treat, I loved the snow/fog combined with tall, imposing structures and the raw industrial feel. The ending was hugely satisfying too, perfectly executed horde battle that didn't overstay its welcome.
One minor complaint: too many doors. Quake's screechy metal door sound gets a bit grating when played too often, I'd have either picked a more subtle custom sound or just left some as open doorways.
Map 4 (A)
This was where I started to struggle a bit, I really want to like it because the scale and complexity of the layout is a huge achievement, each of the three floors could constitute a full-sized map in their own right. I liked the use of the large stairwell to link up the three floors, but the floors themselves seemed to lack distinctive grounding points you could easily find your way back to. By the time I'd gotten to the third room on level 1 I'd forgotten what the first one looked like, so lost all concept of there being a left and right wing for each respective keycard. I think a better approach would have been to have one gold and one silver keycard for each floor and use subtle colour-coding to distinguish each 'wing', like in the prior map. Then maybe taking the roof off in places to create epic centrepieces that link up the separate wings.
I had an issue with the circular slime pits in level 3 too, specifically that the entrance and exit pits looked so similar that given the twisty network of corridors linking them up, I didn't even realise they were two separate areas at first and thought I'd doubled back on myself. Then when I activated the biosuit chambers I found my way back to the entrance pit by mistake and wondered why no suit had appeared, I thought it was a bug. I'd definitely consider redesigning one of them to make it visually distinct.
I appreciated the little signs to the keycards, however I think placing strong visual landmarks so the player can find their own bearings and form a map in their head is preferable to actual signposts. The spawn ambush room was certainly distinctive, even if it was about the least suitable room for a spawn ambush...
Another thing that bugged me was the map felt just slightly too similar to RRP's 'Telefragged', with the vent-crawling intro, laser trap section and ending sequence. Teleragged's ending felt nicer too as the route to the exit was simpler but you had monsters to fight along the way, whereas here it was more a game of 'solve the maze quickly'. It only took me two attempts but didn't feel nearly as satisfying (ironically it was more satisfying to fail as I got to witness the great destruction sequence
)
On a plus note, I liked the many Q2 references; tastefully done. And I know I've written a lot of negative stuff about this map but really it's not a long way away from greatness, a few minor redesigns would make a huge difference.
Map 5
This was preferable to map 4 in terms of general navigation, however it took me even longer and I did start to fatigue towards the end, which hindered my ability to grasp my bearings and I got very lost at one point trying to find the final key. I think it didn't help that 'light world' and 'dark world' weren't physically connected; I grasped there were two portals linking to separate halves of the dark world, but it took me way too long to work out where one half was in relation to the other. The light world did suffer from some repetitive/symmetrical design too, so even when I knew I had to swim underwater to find the second portal I ended up swimming for several minutes in the wrong direction first.
That paragraph out the way though... wow, this map looked AMAZING. Both worlds incredibly styled, unique and fresh looking, with some imaginative designs, a rich atmosphere, and a real sense of grandeur. The use of ambient sounds was fantastic too, so creepy and unsettling.
I could not beat the ending without cheating, I gave in after about 10 attempts. Granted this may have been fatigue, but I definitely feel it was missing a yellow armor given the number of monsters and open design of the arena, at least on skill 1.
Map 6
The steep hill intro and the start references were wonderful, really cool idea.
I can't pass too much judgement on the boss fight because I pretty worn down by this point and resorted to cheats again, however I did enjoy the arena. Having three separate sets of buttons was a cool idea to reduce repetitiveness. The eyes looked great as well, although I personally would have given them much less health, I think navigating the arena and finding them all whilst dodging lightning turrets is probably enough of a challenge in itself without having to hit each one with 3-4 rockets. At the very least I'd add damage feedback so it's more obvious you need to hit them.
Final thoughts
All in all, although there were ups and downs, it was well worth the time. And I'm still giving it five stars despite the negatives, because the scale, atmosphere, visuals and boldness of vision make up for them. I'd rather have something flawed and memorable than polished and unremarkable.
If I'm comparing it to classic episodes from years gone by I'd rank it similarly to Warpspasm, it definitely evoked some similar emotions. Possibly even slightly higher as the combat here was generally tighter.
Thank you for the release. I hope to play the commercial version some day!
That said, I am slightly conflicted. There are large parts of it that are truly phenomenal, awe-inspiring even, and it made for a really unique and memorable experience overall. But there are other parts, notably in the second half where my enjoyment levels got dragged down a bit and I finished it on a bit of a sour note. I've spent this morning ruminating on the good and bad and will try and cover as many thoughts as I can below.
General changes
I *loved* the new SSG, I possibly even prefer it over Dwell's rotary shotgun, the ability to control how many shots are fired is a great mechanic and makes it super fun to use. The minigun I wasn't quite as enthused over, although in terms of a SNG replacement that doesn't immediately invalidate the NG upon pickup, it fulfils its goal in a classier way than just spreading out the nails like in default copper. The railgun you can't really go wrong with, it did the job.
New monsters: I loved the Gladiator (well actually I hated him, he was a dick who kept killing me, but I mean that as a compliment). The nail infantry guys looked cool, although their hitscan attacks meant battling them got a bit cagey with lots of duck'n'cover play, there is little incentive to get out and run at them.
Most of the new sounds were neat, although hard exception on the weapon swap sound, which I'll be honest I replaced with an empty audio file at the first opportunity. That was one 28-year old omission that didn't need fixing.
Map 1
This was a solid first map that set the tone well. Some of the inside areas were a little on the bland side in terms of room shape and lack of visual variation, although some of that is down to the CR8 texture set, which definitely benefits from extra lighting detail (Dwell ep2 map 1 does this well).
The outdoor areas, however, were brilliant. Particularly the gold key tower section, which really stuck out as being memorable. I loved the steep climb and streetlights leading up to it, the imposing scale of the external tower view, and how the tension gradually ramped up as you ascend the stairs; great use of styled lighting. The lift down needed to be much faster though, it was quicker taking the stairs! The whole backdrop with the towering black mountains was mesmerising too, both here and in the earlier outdoor bit. Also loved the train exit. Combat difficulty felt just right on skill 1, just about enough to keep my on my toes without going too hard too soon.
Map 2
Probably my favourite, the rain was awesome! Really intrigued how you did it. I used Ironwail, there was some slowdown but it was still playable (reminded me of old times playing large custom maps on DOSquake). The sewer/swamp sections were all fantastically executed as well, really unique vibe. Only minor gripe was that some lower areas were a LITTLE too dark; I know it was by design, and it def needed plenty of shadowy areas, but a few more lights punctuating the shadows wouldn't have gone amiss.
Combat difficulty ramped up with many tricky ambushes, but always fair. Died once. The ending was really cool, finished the map on a buzz.
Map 3
This one kicked my ass a bit, I died about 5 times and occasionally got lost. That said, I still very much enjoyed it. The deaths were mostly fair, as was the layout and signposting; once I realised most routes linked back to the large open snowy area, and that area contained two colour-coded exits to each key as well as a signposted way back to the key door, I felt any loss of bearings was definitely on me. It's a well designed map.
The one 'unfair' death came when I went through a doorway with low health and got immediately greeted by three nailgunners and a vore; I knew I wouldn't be able to dodge attacks if I ran forward so immediately noped back out the way I came, only to find the door had slammed shut and I got shot in the back.
Visually the map was a treat, I loved the snow/fog combined with tall, imposing structures and the raw industrial feel. The ending was hugely satisfying too, perfectly executed horde battle that didn't overstay its welcome.
One minor complaint: too many doors. Quake's screechy metal door sound gets a bit grating when played too often, I'd have either picked a more subtle custom sound or just left some as open doorways.
Map 4 (A)
This was where I started to struggle a bit, I really want to like it because the scale and complexity of the layout is a huge achievement, each of the three floors could constitute a full-sized map in their own right. I liked the use of the large stairwell to link up the three floors, but the floors themselves seemed to lack distinctive grounding points you could easily find your way back to. By the time I'd gotten to the third room on level 1 I'd forgotten what the first one looked like, so lost all concept of there being a left and right wing for each respective keycard. I think a better approach would have been to have one gold and one silver keycard for each floor and use subtle colour-coding to distinguish each 'wing', like in the prior map. Then maybe taking the roof off in places to create epic centrepieces that link up the separate wings.
I had an issue with the circular slime pits in level 3 too, specifically that the entrance and exit pits looked so similar that given the twisty network of corridors linking them up, I didn't even realise they were two separate areas at first and thought I'd doubled back on myself. Then when I activated the biosuit chambers I found my way back to the entrance pit by mistake and wondered why no suit had appeared, I thought it was a bug. I'd definitely consider redesigning one of them to make it visually distinct.
I appreciated the little signs to the keycards, however I think placing strong visual landmarks so the player can find their own bearings and form a map in their head is preferable to actual signposts. The spawn ambush room was certainly distinctive, even if it was about the least suitable room for a spawn ambush...
Another thing that bugged me was the map felt just slightly too similar to RRP's 'Telefragged', with the vent-crawling intro, laser trap section and ending sequence. Teleragged's ending felt nicer too as the route to the exit was simpler but you had monsters to fight along the way, whereas here it was more a game of 'solve the maze quickly'. It only took me two attempts but didn't feel nearly as satisfying (ironically it was more satisfying to fail as I got to witness the great destruction sequence
)On a plus note, I liked the many Q2 references; tastefully done. And I know I've written a lot of negative stuff about this map but really it's not a long way away from greatness, a few minor redesigns would make a huge difference.
Map 5
This was preferable to map 4 in terms of general navigation, however it took me even longer and I did start to fatigue towards the end, which hindered my ability to grasp my bearings and I got very lost at one point trying to find the final key. I think it didn't help that 'light world' and 'dark world' weren't physically connected; I grasped there were two portals linking to separate halves of the dark world, but it took me way too long to work out where one half was in relation to the other. The light world did suffer from some repetitive/symmetrical design too, so even when I knew I had to swim underwater to find the second portal I ended up swimming for several minutes in the wrong direction first.
That paragraph out the way though... wow, this map looked AMAZING. Both worlds incredibly styled, unique and fresh looking, with some imaginative designs, a rich atmosphere, and a real sense of grandeur. The use of ambient sounds was fantastic too, so creepy and unsettling.
I could not beat the ending without cheating, I gave in after about 10 attempts. Granted this may have been fatigue, but I definitely feel it was missing a yellow armor given the number of monsters and open design of the arena, at least on skill 1.
Map 6
The steep hill intro and the start references were wonderful, really cool idea.
I can't pass too much judgement on the boss fight because I pretty worn down by this point and resorted to cheats again, however I did enjoy the arena. Having three separate sets of buttons was a cool idea to reduce repetitiveness. The eyes looked great as well, although I personally would have given them much less health, I think navigating the arena and finding them all whilst dodging lightning turrets is probably enough of a challenge in itself without having to hit each one with 3-4 rockets. At the very least I'd add damage feedback so it's more obvious you need to hit them.
Final thoughts
All in all, although there were ups and downs, it was well worth the time. And I'm still giving it five stars despite the negatives, because the scale, atmosphere, visuals and boldness of vision make up for them. I'd rather have something flawed and memorable than polished and unremarkable.
If I'm comparing it to classic episodes from years gone by I'd rank it similarly to Warpspasm, it definitely evoked some similar emotions. Possibly even slightly higher as the combat here was generally tighter.
Thank you for the release. I hope to play the commercial version some day!
Strong start to this, and also some great vibes popping up here and there throughout. Foggy/rainy ambience, mysterious towers, brooding custom music, melodramatic taunting from some invisible adversary... actually, reminiscent of the things I liked best in Zerstoerer. Love it.
The mid parts of the episode do become too sprawly and maze-y for my tastes, and I'm usually very on board with exploration gameplay. Making progress often requires "unwinding" your path wayyyyy back, which can be problematic given the similar-looking and even symmetrical areas along the route. (Sometimes tricky in having any idea at all where you need to go back to, and sometimes tricky in remembering how to get back there.)
But you know, with the help of a bit of noclipping I got through those parts. The rest was pretty great! I enjoyed the new monsters, the new weapons, and even the final boss fight as a twist on an old standard. One problem there: on hard difficulty the eyeballs each took 3 rockets to destroy, I think, but they had no reaction at all to the first 1 or 2 rockets. Given the amount of other stuff going on it took me a while to find out that they were in fact destructible and that was the solution to the fight.
And it's hard to overemphasize the vibes factor, so I'll repeat it. It's so satisfying to stumble across some weird characterful area. I do like me a well-constructed Quake combat arena, but it's never a bad time when I find a place that feels like it owes more to some sketch of "here's a rad place" than it does to the rules of constructing an edges-sanded-off fightzone.
The mid parts of the episode do become too sprawly and maze-y for my tastes, and I'm usually very on board with exploration gameplay. Making progress often requires "unwinding" your path wayyyyy back, which can be problematic given the similar-looking and even symmetrical areas along the route. (Sometimes tricky in having any idea at all where you need to go back to, and sometimes tricky in remembering how to get back there.)
But you know, with the help of a bit of noclipping I got through those parts. The rest was pretty great! I enjoyed the new monsters, the new weapons, and even the final boss fight as a twist on an old standard. One problem there: on hard difficulty the eyeballs each took 3 rockets to destroy, I think, but they had no reaction at all to the first 1 or 2 rockets. Given the amount of other stuff going on it took me a while to find out that they were in fact destructible and that was the solution to the fight.
And it's hard to overemphasize the vibes factor, so I'll repeat it.
It's so satisfying to stumble across some weird characterful area. I do like me a well-constructed Quake combat arena, but it's never a bad time when I find a place that feels like it owes more to some sketch of "here's a rad place" than it does to the rules of constructing an edges-sanded-off fightzone.