[RELEASE] Delta Station Down

[reflex17]

Part 2 of Project: ARES

- Requires Atomic Edition/Plutonium Pack
- HRP intended/recommended
- Polymer not supported

Download link:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.mediafire.com/download/rvr6o36rmvox1i8/MARSDSD.zip
-----------------------------------------------------------------
(included in the .zip is the .txt file and tiles13-20.art)

For screenshots, see the WIP thread here:
http://www.scent-88.com/forum/index.php/topic,222.0.html

[MSandt]

Cool, gonna check this shit out tomorrow.

[Puritan]

Yep, downloading 

[methy]

Cool, will check it out as soon as I have time. How much does it matter if I play without HRP?

[Forge]

bad timing for me to be sick
sometimes it sucks having kids; they bring home shit you would have avoided otherwise.
little bastards stick their fingers in all their face holes then touch everything as they're walking by coughing and sneezing in your direction like you're being crop dusted.

i can give it a go, but i can barely see straight

[Puritan]

bad timing for me to be sick
sometimes it sucks having kids; they bring home shit you would have avoided otherwise.
little bastards stick their fingers in all their face holes then touch everything as they're walking by coughing and sneezing in your direction like you're being crop dusted.

i can give it a go, but i can barely see straight

Take a few days off......you've deserved it 

[MSandt]

Couldn't see shit in the first section. Have to wait for the dark. Fuck the Sun!

[reflex17]

Cool, will check it out as soon as I have time. How much does it matter if I play without HRP?

This reminds me I meant to test it without HRP, but I forgot. I think the game is darker by a little bit without HRP, but it should still be okay. Realizing now though a lot of the map is pretty gloomy, I hope it's not so dark as to be unplayable...

Couldn't see shit in the first section. Have to wait for the dark. Fuck the Sun!

I think that first room is the darkest part of the map, I guess I meant for it to be a kind of 'calibration' area. I'd rather something like this be at the beginning rather than halfway through. Confusion in the dark is a feeling I wanted in that first room and while it's a shame you have to wait, the rest of the map should be more navigable.

Forge - feel better soon! Chopped up ginger in boiled water with honey is my go-to wellness drink, it always helps me, give it a shot if you can

Thanks for the comments folks!

[Loke]

I played through it without the HRP and it was fine. There were just some minor stuff like vent grates, pipes and switches being face-aligned instead of wall-aligned. Otherwise it looked fine. Great map btw, took me 29 minutes to finish. The Zen Garden part was awesome because it was a nice change from the cold and dark steel corridors.

[Forge]

i gave it a shot despite my head feeling like it's full of lead.

first impression - looks beautiful. lots of variations between atmospheres, smooth transitions from section to section (though that last tram ride was a little too long), the back ground scenery coupled with the actual playing field was really immersive.

game play was fine. things seemed well balanced, but it was rather typical face-to-face confrontations until the last restaurant part where the aliens were tucked into nooks and could come at the player from multiple directions. (the blue key fight was pretty good as well)

despite all the nice scenery, it still felt a little piped because it was so linear until the key cards. the little side excursions were very short and very limited.

the only problems i had:
--it took me a minute to see the missing window in the delta tunnel
--one of the first secret areas that had an atomic health (behind a vent in the area where the delta tube is unlocked iirc) -it was incredibly dark and there's some sector work that squishes the player
--some of the background scenery is deceptive - it looks like the jumps can be made to some of the cliff faces, but they're blocking and the result is a death fall. on the flip side there are cliff faces that are unblocking and the player can get into minor sections of background scenery - i even managed to get to the bottom of the cliffs without dying - course i was stuck.


edit: i played it with HRP, but something is screwy with that addon. without the crosshair and/or the hud up the screen would change perspective/size from normal to wide.

[reflex17]

@Loke - Thanks for playing! I always forget those damn grates being relative, I'll keep that in mind when I update the map. Much appreciated.

@Forge - I've noticed the HUD issue as well, I guess I don't see it much because I usually play with crosshair and minimum HUD enabled, this seems to keep the problem from happening. It's a strange glitch though, it seems to be affected even by mouse-clicks, I notice it a lot with no HUD and quick-kicking with RMB

EDIT: I realized someone may wonder why I say HRP is preferred, especially when so many custom textures are used. It really just stems from my preference, I mean I like the old sprites of course, and they generally have a darker feel about them which would help in a map meant to have scary atmosphere. The reason I specify HRP is mainly because I enjoy detailing every aspect of a map. Every ammo box and health container is angled according to it's position, I try to make everything as eye-pleasing as possible. Really all it comes down to is when someone presents a map it's like an architect saying 'Here is this house I made, and it has this wallpaper'. Now if you move in, you can take off the wallpaper and put up something else, and it will still be the same house, but it will not look as the architect had made it. It's really a matter of preference and I have no problem if someone wants to play without HRP obviously, I'd like the map to be enjoyable no matter how someone wants to play it.

I'll get on fixing those issues ASAP and update the level. In retrospect I do see some encounters could be spiced up a little, I'll go through the earlier parts especially and see if I can offer more of a challenge. It's really important that I check those cliffs, in platforming sections it's essential that it be clear to the player what is okay to jump to and what isn't.

As far as the linearity goes, this map was made in response to my first Mars level, which was very maze-like. I hate modern games for their linearity but I wanted to see if I could make a linear level that is still fun/interesting. Like you say around the time you see the big MARS sign it does open up, but even then it's not too complicated. Instead of tight corners and slow progress I wanted this map to feel like a long journey (altho I agree as well that maybe that last tram could be cut down a bit hehe) and it's an important part of my design concept for this episode that each level be different, while keeping to the same feel. This level probably could've been cut in half, and I thought about doing that, but in the end I felt like it would then be too short compared to my original idea.

I'll take the points you've made into consideration in the future, thanks for the report!

On a side note, the update to 'Last Train to Marsville' is done, I just have to review it quickly, so within a day or two I should be able to put up re-released versions of both maps.

[Forge]

It's really important that I check those cliffs, in platforming sections it's essential that it be clear to the player what is okay to jump to and what isn't.

i'm the kind of player that likes to see where i can get to in a map. the path is quite obvious, but i tend to deviate to sate my curiosity.

the only cliffs that may need attention are the ones at the end of some high-tech tunnel where there's another high-tech tunnel directly across from it in an opposing cliff face. it appears to be just unreachable scenery (like the bridge is missing or something), but the upper and lower cliffs can be jumped to.

there are a few other small ones i can't remember the exact locations, but the player can safely jump back to the proper path

edit: already wrote a short review and tossed it at Puritan. i don't think there's much you can do to the level that will change the score. Frode likes to hold off and upload everything in one shot, so he's probably going to wait for an updated version of the map. In the mean time I'm sure he'll share the summary with you if you're curious.

[MSandt]

Reviewed here: http://msdn.duke4.net/hotdelta.php

Anyway, tried The Last Train to Marsville to refresh my memory but damn it was so dark I couldn't play without the automap.

[Puritan]

edit: already wrote a short review and tossed it at Puritan. i don't think there's much you can do to the level that will change the score. Frode likes to hold off and upload everything in one shot, so he's probably going to wait for an updated version of the map. In the mean time I'm sure he'll share the summary with you if you're curious.

Yeah, I'll wait for the final version before uploading 
Also, I can't play HRP on this PC so the screenshots may be of the good ol' 8-bit quality unless I receive some screenies from somebody.

[reflex17]

@Forge - Ah yes I know exactly where you mean, that was originally going to lead to another area but I didn't want the map to be overlong, so it probably still feels like you might be able to go that way... I'll have a look at it and the other outdoor areas to try and make it better for final release.

Thanks for the review, I don't mind waiting until it's up on the site

@MSandt - Thankyou for the review, as always I see your advice is spot-on. I agree about a lack of storytelling in the level, I had originally meant to include viewscreens in both of these maps with expanded storyline. I always wait to put them in until the last thing, and by that point I just say 'ah fuck it'. It is an important point though and I do have a story in mind, so I'll see what I can do about that. In terms of music selection I'm not sure how to put in a new track, I should get into basic CON editing though if for no other reason than music/level name etc. I also appreciate the comment about LTTM, so when I do the re-release I'll brighten it up a bit.

Apologies to anyone who was looking forward to a sequel when I released my first map, I've been trying to get better at mapping quickly.  I have a very slow and deliberate sort of way that I make maps and while it can be taxing, things usually end up closest to the way I planned when I work this way. I have a tough time mapping just on the fly, so almost every area is thought out before I put down a vertex. For example I thought of the idea for the zen garden last year and only got to making it a few weeks ago.

It's very rewarding in the end to see people comment that they like the scenery because that's what I usually spend the most time on. The window that looks out over the yard with a crane took me an entire day to make and someone could pass by in 5 seconds and not even notice. I build my maps for everyone but I try hard to reward a player who is curious and likes to take their time.

As soon as I quickly update the two Mars maps I will get started on map 3

EDIT: @Puritan - If you can't play HRP then I will make sure to go through the level in the original mode and check it out. I have my own ideas of presentation but I'd like good quality in both formats. I can take care of screenshots if you like, just let me know what size and how many, or any other guidelines that you already follow.