[RELEASE] Cold in November

Sanek · 27 September 2014, 02:11:46

Hi all...this is my new map, called "Cold in November". It's a little bit experimental kind of map. There's no enemies, no weaponry or items. I just want to tell a little story through the mapster, which I hope you understand guys. It's about 4-5 minutes to finish, so it's not take much of your time. Have fun!

CGS - download/review

Download link:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/bvh3oamvwzr8k1m/Cold+in+November.zip

Puritan · 27 September 2014, 15:15:32

Can't seem to open the door in the grey bricked house by the lake.
Looked in Mapster and it seems to be two swithces at the back of the house that are activating the door.
But hitting both of 'em doesn't affect the door.

Am I missing something here?

Sanek · 27 September 2014, 15:25:15

Quote from: Puritan on 27 September 2014, 15:15:32
Can't seem to open the door in the grey bricked house by the lake.
Looked in Mapster and it seems to be two swithces at the back of the house that are activating the door.
But hitting both of 'em doesn't affect the door.

Am I missing something here?

Yes. There's two more.

Forge · 27 September 2014, 21:15:30

Not to be a downer, but I didn't particularity enjoy this map. It was dull looking for the most part & didn't have much ambiance, had no real puzzles, and the lack of deviation from the very linear path just wasn't that exciting. It also looked like the idea was lifted from z. eddy's moonbase accident secret level.

no enemies is no big deal if you can pull it off, but no puzzles or any real challenge was what killed it for me. it's just a straight walk from one end of the map to the other and there's next to no replay value.

Sanek · 27 September 2014, 22:46:10

Quote from: Forge on 27 September 2014, 21:15:30
It also looked like the idea was lifted from z. eddy's moonbase accident secret level.

Wow, I didn't know that.

Anyway, I was thinkink about b&w enviroment for years...

I'm already know that such opinions about map will be posted (Paul B actually replayed this map a few times lol). I was thinking about some kind of story first, not puzzles...

Forge · 28 September 2014, 04:03:23

just didn't appeal to me is all. felt like there was nothing to do but walk forward.
honestly, if you put up proper blocking walls around the game play area in lorch 3, it'd be a better map to me than this.

Eddy's made a couple things that just didn't spark any interest to my tastes as well, like that stairwell map that seemed to go on forever. By the time i got to the end i wasn't like, oh wow, cool". it was more like, "bout time, glad that's over."

You made a map that you felt the need to create, and that's a good thing, but i have to be impartial when i rate a map and give it what i think is a fair score when compared to all the other maps out there.

I'm sure you can tell by my comments that's it's probably not going to be a very flattering summary. At least know that if i ever get around to reviewing that stairway map by eddy, cold in november by you will score higher.

Puritan · 30 September 2014, 00:12:41

Reviewed and uploaded

MSandt · 20 October 2014, 18:17:15

Happy now? http://msdn.duke4.net/hotcoldnovember.php

Sanek · 20 October 2014, 21:33:55

Quote from: MSandt on 20 October 2014, 18:17:15
Happy now? http://msdn.duke4.net/hotcoldnovember.php

No. It would be better if there's no review. I know that it would be harsh, but don't expected it to be THAT harsh.
I was partly inspired by the Eddy's maps, but I'm not trying to copying anybody here. It's actually my most personal piece of works, and such words as "uninspired" is really offensive. And no rating. I'm really tired of this thing on your site. You give a rating to "The Edge", partly because you know that Eddy was in the depression back then and you respect him much more than me, but his map is not really deserved that rating. And the fact that you give to his map a rating, but not to mine is simply sad. I don't mean that I was in depression too, but I don't feel extremely happy at time I work on the map, and after you put some of your personal feelings into a map it's really sad to read such review. I feel so sad about it. But perhaps I'm too serious about it now.
I hope I feel better when I release my next map later.

MSandt · 20 October 2014, 21:58:26

I don't see how I'm being harsh at all. The review is very fair. I didn't hate the map at all, which is why it's in the Hot Maps section. I gave The Edge a rating because it was easier to quantify, seeing how it felt fresher and more polished. With yours I could go either way; I could have put it in Maps (I don't disagree with Forge's criticism; his points would put the map in Maps) rather than Hot Maps but I felt it more appropriate to make it a hottie and let the player decide how they feel about it compared to all the maps with more typical gameplay.

Forge · 20 October 2014, 22:08:04

i don't know about your map being 'uninspired', but Eddy's done the dream-like/odd-dimensional atmosphere concept projects multiple times already, and you've also ran the legs off that horse with all your follow-up knock-offs.

after awhile these maps all start looking alike and don't seem very original. Kinda like the bazillion city and space station maps; unless they're very well done and have something pretty clever to them, then they're just meh.

keep making them if that's your thing though.

Secret Level 7 in Moonbase Accident or Cold in November?

Micky C · 21 October 2014, 12:55:08

Quote from: Forge on 20 October 2014, 22:08:04
after awhile these maps all start looking alike and don't seem very original. Kinda like the bazillion city and space station maps; unless they're very well done and have something pretty clever to them, then they're just meh.

That's why I mostly map for TCs these days. It still takes imagination, but it does it a lot easier to pull off something fresh with some new textures and a few new effects to spice things up.

ck3D · 21 October 2014, 15:15:02

yeah, Sanek aren't you one sensitive little fellow. that review really wasn't that bad, in fact i thought it was fair and neutral in that it highlighted the good points of the map just as much as its bad points ; it even made a case of your black-and-white rooms as a general statement on how impressive good lighting can be in a duke map !

now, words such as 'pointless' and 'uninspired' might be hard things to hear when you know you've put something personal into some type of work, but people are free to either feel or miss it, it is part of their own, respective appreciation of the level (that you have put out there in public sight for others to play, therefore subjecting it to potential criticism), which they are entitled to. it shouldn't affect you really. i, for one, liked the map. some others will, some others won't. whatever !

maybe just remember that inspiration and fine execution go hand-in-hand. whenever one's missing, the other one is most likely going to waste as well. had you spent some more time fine-tuning some sections of the map, and built them a more presentable maneer, the whole thing would have felt more coherent and been a flawless act.

it is also worth noting that i haven't played a lot of eddy's latest work (i really should get at that at some point, i am sure i would like his stuff). just a few maps here and there a while back. so i don't know how original a lot of stuff in Sanek's map really was. i could appreciate it for what it was, though.

methy · 21 October 2014, 17:06:27

I don't believe it's fair to say that Eddy's dreamlike stuff was original and Sanek's wasn't. The only thing that was more original in Eddy's maps at the time was that they were made in DN3D, and that this kind of stuff hadn't been made in DN3D since at least a decade.

Forge · 21 October 2014, 17:27:32

who said Eddy's dream-like concept was original? 2 Bizarre predates Eddy's stuff by almost a decade. Devastator's Mind Storm by about half a decade.
There are others, but a few examples are more than enough to suffice the point.

when the community reaches an apex where certain styled maps are in abundance, then they aren't particularly a novelty anymore unless they are very well done and have something special that sets them apart from the rest.

I really didn't see anything in this map that jumped out as extraordinarily clever or unique. The simplistic and under-worked areas of the map didn't help the ambiance any either.

like i've already said, this map just wasn't my cup of tea. I beat it up on the lack of interactivity and the over-basic linear nature more than what it looked like or how immersive it is.