Last map you played

Started by Puritan, 02 December 2011, 08:14:26

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Forge

#825
TITTYCITY
Artem Nevinchanny (CK games)
20 August 2012

A city styled map.

The level leans heavily on the influence of maps like Red Light District and Hollywood Holocaust in their texturing, detailing, and strong shading techniques. Game play style is also quite similar, as in key card hunts in urban environs that switch back and forth between open outdoor street sections, and semi-linear indoor locations that have multiple entries and exits.
It's a pretty straight forward progression with a few added quirks; such as the lounge and office where Duke is shrunk and has to platform off of furniture. The map is well balanced between aliens and the incremental weaponry collection. There's a good amount of healing items and quite a few stashes of equipment that really doesn't throw the level out of balance. More fun than looking under your couch for treasure.

Overall I'd give it a 91
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Forge

#826
Dark Seed
Sanek
12 May 2018

An EDF lunar station styled map.

This is a short, story driven level. The player is expected to read logs and transmissions on view-screens, follow the clues and instructions embedded within the text, then solve the mysterious disappearance of the station's crew along with the true source of their odd discovery.
The maps starts out pretty quiet on a transit ship and then the story takes a turn for the worse just as the shuttle reaches the station. Everything is quiet. Too quiet. There are signs of recent human activity, but there's nobody around.
Read the consoles, follow the instructions, find the keys, buttons, and weapons. Other than locating a couple obscure buttons and seeking out which door unlocks when said button is activated, there's not a lot of deviation from the flow of the map. Expect to do some back-and forth across the facility, but since it's only so big, the short distances and other factors usually keep the redundancy effect to a minimum.
The station starts out clean and orderly, but devolves into a mess from what appears to have been a violent fray. Well lit areas lead into dull shadowy locations as the condition deteriorates. Some more ambient sounds could have really assisted with the visuals and transitions from one location to the next as far as the immersion factor is concerned, but with its nice lighting and detailing, it's quite satisfactory as it stands. More fun than dead batteries.

Overall I'd give it a 87
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Forge

#827
Castle of Fear
Robert Carter
25 September 1996

A medieval, island castle styled map

This is primarily a Dukematch map, but can be played as single player since it has enemies, and a boss that can be killed to end the level.
Aesthetically it has well constructed architecture, but shading can be over-dark in some spots. The nearly black areas are good at providing hiding spaces to ambush your opponent in DM, but hinder navigation and exploration for the single player. Detailing and trimwork, or offsetting textures, are also pretty absent, so generally the level is pretty flat and lacking in much atmosphere.
The layout is fairly open to accommodate the primary Dukematch aspect of the game. There are a couple of keys, but the locks can be bypassed to access the more remote sections. The keys are there to simply make it easier to get around. As per multi-player, the map is loaded with health, weapons and ammo. The aliens don't stand a chance, but being sloppy or careless can be costly. More fun than a pinecone hidden in a ball pit.

I'd give it a 75 from the single-player aspect
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Forge

#828
Castle9
UFO & DRT
11 May 1998

A sky castle with a Doom-esque atmosphere. Would be good for 2 to 4 players.
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Forge

#829
Anybody recognize this map?

I have no template & couldn't find a watermark. Looked around on the web a bit and didn't find this.
So either it is some random, unknown, or this isn't the proper name for the map.
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Puritan

#830
Quote from: Forge on  19 July 2018, 06:05:43
Anybody recognize this map?

I have no template & couldn't find a watermark. Looked around on the web a bit and didn't find this.
So either it is some random, unknown, or this isn't the proper name for the map.


Just poppin' in from one holiday destination to the next...
Had a go on this one but really can't help you out.
Though it reminds me a bit of Kevin Sipes...maybe a test map before building / releasing "Watergun" ? (edit: not a good guess, I guess...  :P  )
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

Forge

#831
CHAMBER3
Unknown
25 July 1996

A large destroyed city. Quite an extensive layout from the tops of skyscrapers, to the depths of underwater channels and broken sewer systems. This map could comfortably handle 8 players. Anything less than 3 and combatants might have a hard time finding each other.
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Forge

Chris Coleman's Ross Lemon Memorial Death Match


An island city.

The map is primarily for DukeMatch, but it does have aliens a couple keys, and an exit button. The level is solidly constructed with strong shading, nice articulate sector work, good texture selections and combinations, and is nicely detailed out. The only knocks are a few of the indoor rooms are a bit over-crowded which hinders movement, and the map is lacking in ambient sounds.
Game play is pretty basic. Find the keys and leave. The red card is stashed in an out of the way location. The blue key is hidden behind a book shelf opened by a hidden switch. Finding it is probably the most difficult thing about the map. Like most Dukematch levels with single player aspects added as an afterthought, the supply-to-alien ratio is heavily in favor of the player. Even if the map is easy to beat, it's still worth a look just to check out the scenery. More fun than a sun burn.

Overall I'd give the singleplayer aspect a 77

http://www.scent-88.com/reviews/C/ccrl/ccrl.php
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Puritan

Thanks a lot, Scott !
Someone actually asked for Chris Coleman maps / reviews in a mail some time ago.
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

Forge

#834
Twilight City
Stephano Lessa
7 July 2006

A city and industrial map.

The player starts out in the busing lot of a factory styled facility, navigates through it, and ends up across town in another factory styled facility. The map looks good, it's very well detailed and has strong shading techniques. The architecture and spritework are put together solidly, and there are numerous ambient sounds and sector effects to give it a nice atmosphere. There are some minor downsides to the aesthetics; the entire map, both the factory and the city streets are all done in greys. Everything is gun-metal, stone, or cement. It is nicely trimmed out with some reds, yellows, whites, and blues, but the majority of it is one primary flat color, and that can be a bit dull. Another issue is that a lot of things look like doors, or are non-functioning doors, this can cause the player to spend a lot of time checking to see what does and what does not open. The final obstacle are the switches and buttons. Some are functional, some aren't. Again, more time is spent having to check them all. The map isn't hard to figure out, but it can become a little tedious, especially if you're bent on exploring every nook and crannie for supplies.
Game play is a key card hunt and a shooting gallery. The keys are fairly easy to find, even in the semi-open floorplan of the factory and the city. The gun battles are pretty good until the back-half of the city, then it slows down and becomes a little bit of a drag. I like an occasional turret as much as the next person, but there comes a point when the author is simply abusing them for sadistic purposes. More fun than grape soda.

Overall I'd give it an 86
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Forge

#835
CAVE FEAR
Lado Crnologar
31 August 1996

This map is actually a cave with some interesting sightseeing (sniping!) locations, great dark areas, waterfalls, pools and other cool stuff...
http://www.mediafire.com/file/3s4cv3gnpj79bx4/cavefear.zip/file
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Forge

#836
Military Base (BETA)
Dennis Collins (StarCraftZergling)
8 June 2014

Ultimate Doom's E1M9: Military Base

A prison styled structure. The design of this level is pretty basic. It just a room full of aliens and a key card that opens the next room full of aliens guarding a key card. Repeat. The primary architecture is square, with brown stone texturing. Add in some ooze, brick, colored trim around the locked doors, a few shadows, and you have yourself a Doom map.
Get shotgun, walk forward, hold trigger button down. More fun than lemmings (real ones, not the game).

Overall I'd give it an 81
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Forge

#837
Doom
Tony Man (MANGA)
30 April 1998

Remake of level one from Doom.

It has the same basic layout and enemy placement as the original Doom map, with a few extra aliens and sector effects added in. Liberty was also taken to adjust the texturing to make it a little more colorful, and also give the ambiance just a hint more sense of wear and alien occupation. Stronger shading and more sounds would have been a nice boost to the atmosphere, but it gets by well enough on the pallete and texture combinations.
Game play is a pretty straight forward alien shoot while walking to the finish line. The balance is a bit tight on health and ammo, but fair. More fun than demon possession.

Overall I'd give it a 78
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Forge

#838
The Castleship
Seb Luca
11 December 2017

An industrial styled structure that's been turned into a teleportation transfer station. At least that what it looks like.

Duke starts out in a base camp and must investigate this mysterious structure to discover its purpose; and it is quite an odd collection of steel, wood, and electronic components. It looks like something a steam-punk would make with it's mash-up of old and new. Visually it's well constructed with solid architecture and nice detailing, and the atypical combinations work well together. There are a multitude of effects and navigation challenges, along with a heavy dose of sound effects to give a nice atmosphere. It's only lacking in good, strong shading.
The level is a series of ambushes, obstacles, and puzzles. Hidden panels open and aliens emerge, or they just pop up out of the floor. The player is expected to platform across lava and toxic waste, dodge freezer-ray traps, and hit switches in order to move terraces around so they can access segregated areas. There's nothing really unfair and the player is well equipped. The only confusing part was after using the second blue key that opens into an empty room. It appears to be a dead-end, but there's a small section of false-floor that basically has to be accidentally stepped on in order to progress. More fun than oregano.

Overall I'd give it an 87
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass

Forge

DoomBOX
Sanek

A canyon styled map.

The landscape is expansive and vast, doubly so because not only are the distances long, the heights of the cliffs and depths of the canyons are large as well. All this open and extensive terrain is just ripe for the exploring. It has it's advantages as well as drawbacks. Especially when the primary means of getting around is via jetpak.
In the beginning there's no real method to it, the objective is to find buttons, and not in any particular order. This lends to some replay value. The downside being that the player may run out of fuel and be unable to reach the stashes of jetpaks high up in the cliffs. Oops. Restart your game and pay more attention. Hope you didn't get too far. Ammo and health are pretty scarce, so it's easy to get into trouble if the player hasn't found any items for awhile. The terrain and huge distances do allow for escapes though. Just watch your back; especially during the frequent large spawn parties.
The second section is a small sea-side town. This is less jetpak involved, but the aliens are more congested and harder to avoid, while supplies are almost non-existent. Complete the island tower and find the switch puzzle to drop the gate to access the next section.
A deep gorge with a military base inside a mesa greets the player in the final leg of the journey. Lots of flying out over a deep drop. Find the keys and get out there. You can acquire a few more weapons and healing items in this section, but you have to live long enough to locate them.
Aesthetically the map is pretty good. It has nice terrain elevation variations, and the texturing is well done, but the vast distances between locations tends to make things look a little under detailed. Huge maps are also prone to lacking strong shading, as the allowed walls go towards primary architecture and structures instead of detailing sectors. More fun than a Red Eye from New York To London.

Overall I'd give it an 85

http://www.scent-88.com/reviews/D/doombox/doombox.php
Take it down to the beach with a hammer and pound sand up your ass