[RELEASE] Red1: Poisoned lands

Started by Merlijn, 20 October 2013, 17:34:13

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Gambini

I left half the way through it because it was getting quite difficult. Not because of the map but because I´m like a newbie again, haven´t played anything and my skills are very very rusted. I hope I can resume my playthrough tonight. So far from what I could see is a mix of CTC and Red, although feels a bit under scaled (the roads and such, not the sheer desert which is quite huge). The atmosphere is up there with your other Red maps and can´t really say anything worth about the gameplay because I was having difficulties even with single liztrops  :-\ . Apart from that, something I would have complained if I were a tester is that the soundtrack, while great, is too fast for the map´s pace.

Gambini

#16
Done with it. It wasnt that difficult at the end it´s just that that room with the lights... and the book... I was really inmersed during my first playthrough (if you know what i mean ;) ). Something really good to say is that it made me think about playing some more duke again. Love how dirty things get for picking the blue key, the other keys are a breeze so you expect the blue one to be just around the corner, but actually you have to venture yourself into the deeps of an alien hive. The claustrophobic feel in those underwater caverns made me feel uncomfortable. The screens were this time more on the speculative side, rather than telling a story like in other Red installments, I myself like this way a bit more, when not everything is told your mind makes up the rest and it builds a different level of tension, depending on the player. The design is as clever as all your other maps. The twists in the layout work like a charm and the level flows great while revisiting places feels natural and cool. Didn´t like the bobby traps, i once fell in a pit with slime that wasnt even visible and then when opened the blue lock an explosion left me very low on health and i had to run through the tunnel leaving all the enemies alive. The soundtrack timed better with the last half of the map. At first, during the slow exploration i made, it was like rushing me, but once the action picks up it feels much better. As always, the big picture with those desert silouettes is awesome and I agree here with Mikko on the fact that being not as scary as the maps that come later set the mood perfectly for playing all them in order.

Merlijn

Thanks for playing and commenting.  :) I'm not sure which room you mean with 'that room with the lights' though? The one inside the house with the flickering lights and the skull with the eyeballs hanging out of the alien growth?

QuoteLove how dirty things get for picking the blue key, the other keys are a breeze so you expect the blue one to be just around the corner, but actually you have to venture yourself into the deeps of an alien hive. The claustrophobic feel in those underwater caverns made me feel uncomfortable.

That's the most recent part of the map actually, I created the restaurant and that whole underground/underwater section this summer. I had a lot of fun constructing those places, the restaurant was a bit like playing architect (starting with an empty building, then slowly turning the rooms into a believable restaurant) and the underground section was just me going nuts with the alien theme and make it seem as hostile as possible. :D

I think I've sent you the unfinished version a long time ago btw, do you remember that? You were working on It lives at the time.

Quotethe screens were this time more on the speculative side, rather than telling a story like in other Red installments, I myself like this way a bit more, when not everything is told your mind makes up the rest and it builds a different level of tension, depending on the player.

Yeah, it's the first installment, so the story remains rather mysterious/vague at this point. Of course, we all know how it's going to end. ;) I liked giving some clues in the view screens, and then let the visuals do the talking. For instance, at the house you can read about a certain situation, and the visuals show that it didn't end very well for any of the family members, they all died in a pretty gruesome way. Probably the darkest thing I've done in duke3D (then again, it's based on an actual horror story).

QuoteDidn´t like the bobby traps, i once fell in a pit with slime that wasnt even visible and then when opened the blue lock an explosion left me very low on health and i had to run through the tunnel leaving all the enemies alive.

That pit should be visible, it's dark but not pitch black. As for the explosion, I assumed people would stay indoors after entering the keycard. The earthquake and the spooky alien sounds are indicating something is about to happen, my initial reaction would be to stay put.

Gambini

Of course I remember when we shared our maps, I mentioned it sometime ago. At that point the maps were on equal condition and It lives got released two years early (and it was a slow map already). A big part of The Rock was done in that version though. I still have it somewhere!

QuoteI'm not sure which room you mean with 'that room with the lights' though?
Yeah that little terrarium with neon lights and a book that read "the art of being something". During my first playthrough I took too seriously that book and that´s why it´s been a bit difficult to deal with monsters.  ;D

Merlijn

I also have that old version of red1, I started using a different map name when I resumed working under it. The rock had some interior work already, but none of it was anywhere near the finished state at that point.

And LOL, that explains a lot.  ;)

Maarten

Loving the map.. glad you finally released it bro! (Y)
For fun, I also played the old Red1. Pretty weird since you can see some of the same elements here and there :D

I also had lots of fun while recording the soundtrack. Probably going to get on youtube :)
Boo!

DavoX


Puritan

#22
Use CGS link then.


@Merlijn.
Want me to remove the "other" link from your first post?
Bitter words mean little to me. Autumn winds will blow right through me
And someday in the mist of time, when they asked me if I knew you
I'd smile and say you were a friend of mine, and the sadness would be lifted from my eyes
Oh when I'm old and wise

Merlijn

Sorry, late reply.. Yeah, please remove the filedropper link. Didn't know it would expire so soon.

@Davox: you can still download it from CGS and MSDN.  ;)

Merlijn

*bump* Maarten has uploaded the soundtrack to his youtube-channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppKPT403Its

Micky C

#25
Well I finally gave this a try (the first usermap I've played in countless months). It's indeed a very fine map. Visuals are very nice, gameplay flows quite well, plus atmosphere and story are a plus. I wish more usermaps were like this, both in terms of design as well as having context. For example it was refreshing (despite being done before) to start off in a building under siege and outgunned, having to sneak around to find a way out. Sneaking is underused in Duke maps, although to be fair the game mechanics don't support it beyond ultra-simple cases. Plus the context to what's going on in general.
Combat and layout were fairly good. Open enough to have some exploration and feel like a real location, but not enough to get lost or waste too much time figuring out what to do. Same for combat, plenty of room to move, and ammo/health/enemy balance was nice too (a little bit extra is better than slightly not enough).

The terrain reminds me of Clear the Coast (although this map is better), and the music reminds me of one of the tracks of Imperium, which isn't surprising. Hopefully you can make a new map at some point in the future Merlijn, I don't care if I have to wait a few years for it :)
Wall whore.

Merlijn

#26
Thanks for the feedback! Good point about the sneaking, it's not done very often but the game is pretty limiting in that regard. Still, it was fun to implement it.

You know, it's very likely that I'll release another map sooner or later. I only build every once in a while, but when I'm in the right mood it can still be very addicting.