Category: Tronyn Reviews

Tronyn reviews: For Love of Evil (and associated maps) by Hrimfaxi

Everyone’s favourite Norse Horse, Hrimfaxi, has released a trio of new Q1SP maps, accompanied by their own start. The start map is generally in the style of “For Love of Evil,” but the entranceway to each of the other two maps is in the style of the map that it is an entrance to. The start map as a whole is spacious, dark, and well designed; nightmare isn’t too hard to find, good stuff.

Voidscape

 

Voidscape is a sort of asteroid-type map, taking place over a variety of chunky, spiky terrain, with a few wooden structures. There are some floating rocks, including a “train” type one which is a fun ride, while fighting scrags. Enemies elsewhere in the map include Ogres, Hell Knights, some very nasty Vores, and a Shambler battle at the end. The map is fairly small (it is after all a turtlemap), but gets mileage out of its size and does some interesting things in a surprisingly underused setting (the only map I can think of in a “natural terrain voidmap” setting is Oblivion).

Score: 13/20

Brownie

 

This is another turtlemap, but it is on a much larger scale than “Voidscape.” It uses the Day of the Lords/The Living End textures, a set which I am happy to see used more often as they are a unique, very Quakey set (dirty, monolithic, gothic, etc). The entrance to this map in the start is suitably epic, in true Hrimfaxi fashion, and the map itself doesn’t disappoint. It takes place in a series of buildings stacked on different vertical levels around a central courtyard; one square court with two towers overlooks the central hub from a great height for particularly dramatic effect. The map as a whole has a great deal of vertical height, though this height could have been exploited a little more with walkways and so forth – but the effect as a whole is certainly looming/ominous. Gameplay is more difficult than “Voidscape,” including some deadly fights with fiends. Elsewhere medieval enemies are a threat; and be careful around the lava, especially while under attack by ranged monsters. Overall this is a very nice map, if a bit hard in places.

Score: 16/20

For Love of Evil

 

This is the main map in this release, and it is epic in terms of architecture and gameplay. Playing on nightmare, I died several times. “For Love of Evil” is a gigantic indoor Runic level, consisting of massive hallways and rooms, usually squarish but detailed with lots of arches, windows, and buttresses. There are some modified textures alongside the repeated architecture motifs that give the map a very unique look. The use of slightly angled beams throughout is a nice touch; and the map has many skylights which are complex, asymmetrical, and well-designed. However, despite the general texture detail, there are some areas where the map design’s basic blockiness shows through – more beams/pillars/verticals could have brought these areas up to the general standard. Lighting overall is good, lots of long shadows from the sky and glowing lava below.

 

There are nine secrets contained in the map’s spacious layout, so this is the best map for secret hunters in quite a long time. The monster population is quite dense throughout – and the constant presence of lava is another threat. There are also several classic Runic-style traps, including crushing ceilings, and a particularly cool train section above lava, with spikes coming out of the walls. There are several “arena” sections where you confront many monsters at once from different angles, including a couple sections with some wicked action against Vores. After the high-level challenge of this map throughout (especially with Fiends and Vores), the e2m6-style ending was not as big of a challenge as I was expecting; the scale of this could have been larger and more monsters used. Nevertheless, the slight break relative to some of the crazier areas earlier was welcome; this is a massive level and it will take you a while to complete.

The detail is lacking in places, and I think that despite the huge number of secrets, the giant, dark layout could have gained a little more mileage. There were several areas that I would have liked to revisit from a third angle, and it would have been nice to see a little more clearly how all of these areas relate to each other. In all, this is a great Runic map with its own style and a lot of lava, traps, and challenging combat.

Score: 16/20

Overall Pack Score: 16/20

17.01.2010 in Tronyn Reviews | 1 Comment »

Tronyn reviews: Lower Forecourt by negke

 

Negke continues his tradition of a detailed, abstract architectural style coupled with innovative gameplay ideas. The reslt of this combination is a very cerebral, unique style of map. “Lower Forecourt” contains two gameplay modes: a more conventional single-player gameplay, and a DMSP-style gameplay. I chose the former, as I thought I would already be in for a challenge without worrying about respawning monsters. As it turns out, I was right – though the monsters are not really excessive (even the end only involves a few though it is certainly very challenging), but their attacks cause more problems than that number of monsters normally would, because of the tight spaces, intricately wound stairs and platforms (ie, they could come from a number of different directions and surprise you), and the fact that you’re often not sure exactly where to go. This is a unique style of gameplay; navigation could be easier, but the close-quarters fights against knights and ogres, going up and down staircases, was interesting – especially never knowing who would be ambushing who. Scrags and vores were also well used.

 

The architecture is great – another great and unique use of id1 textures – no
gargoyles, windows or normal decorations, but instead a wide variety of
different brick and metal structures, many fragmented and broken. The lighting
generally comes from glass lights, including some cool floating lamp posts. The part where this map strikes absolute genius is its incorporation of monsters into its architecture. This is, as a major map feature, unprecedented, and it’s freaking great. Spoiler warning, but I’m sure that just about everyone has played this map by now. On with the review: You teleport into the map with nothing but your starting supplies (ie, shotgun and 25 shells) and immediately see two giant shamblers with their arms upraised to crush you, and nowhere to retreat to but a deadly black void. I thought I was dead, but the Shamblers didn’t move – they were, Atlas-like, holding a giant building (if not the whole world) on their shoulders, and couldn’t move! This looked cool and gave a really weird sense of atmosphere. Each of the map’s towers has a wiggling Shub-Niggurath on the bottom of it, and there are spike-balls (as in end.bsp) which glow and move around whenever you “activate” a tower (generally by dueling with monsters inside that tower using traps; this is a great idea but two of the three were frustrating, especially the tarbaby fight). There are zombies staked to the walls in places, and faces tacked to the walls (a custom texture based on an id original), a detail that has never seemed more appropriate than in this map. Overall this is a creepy, beautiful, weird map. The tight architecture and vast void creates a sense of agrophobia and claustrophobia simultaneously. Never, I think, has a Quake map succeeded in creating a sense of “who the hell built this place, and why” better than this map.

 

The gameplay is also good; I just wish the signposting was a little clearer, and the traps you must use to kill monsters a little less difficult. Perhaps having a different monster other than a Shambler hold up the second tower would make it easier to tell the areas apart, as some areas appear quite similar (the shambler design appears twice and can be confusing). Arrows or even slightly different colour schemes for each area would probably help this quite a bit. Anyway, the gameplay requires a bit more patience and thinking than the average map, but this is a great map – unique in many ways, and brilliantly executed.

Score: 18/20

17.01.2010 in Tronyn Reviews | 3 Comments »

Tronyn reviews: Moldy Tower by Necros

 

Necros has really hit his stride – he’s currently in the middle of one of the most impressive strings of Q1SP map releases ever. This map, a vertically-focused map kind of like recent releases by Neg!ke and Than, is a good example of this as well of the new vertical layout focus. The layout is kind of like the aforementioned Neg!ke map, an intricate up-down/side to side progression including ramps, ladders and elevators. It almost feels like a 3d version of some old arcade game. The theme is initially green/moldy stone with lots of metal detailing, and later moves to less moldy brown stone. Lighting is appropriate throughout.

 

A few custom textures add to the visuals, but mostly visual interest is created by the detailed, varied architecture – lots of little brushes here and there adding to the style. Necros clearly gained experience doing this kind of style (less textures, high brush detail) back with r_speeds be damned! and it shows here.

 

The centrepiece of the map is the coolest elevator in Quake, and Qouth touches/moving parts/etc are well used throughout. The cramped quarters are occupied by low/mid level quoth enemies, providing a challenge but nothing overwhelming (this is good). It was nice to see Centroid Scorpions make an appearance. After the more cerebral exploration style of the map, it was cool and amusing to have a more traditional fire-and-brimstone ending full of slime, explosions and gibs. All in all a great map.

Score: 17.5/20

29.08.2009 in Tronyn Reviews | 7 Comments »

Tronyn reviews: Fort Driant by JPL

 

Note: there are two versions of this map, a VISed version with some HOM problems and an unVISed version without those problems but which will run slowly on older systems. For further details see the readme.

JPL’s latest long-vising handful of a map is Fort Driant, in which he brings some of the style of Half-Life (the first) to Quake. There was obviously a lot of work involved in this; the initial outdoor scene of the map is a good indication of this, as it contains replicas (brushwork, as in the original) of the trucks and forklifts from Half-Life, as well as a detailed crane with a really cool nailgun secret. The textures aren’t very Quakey, but they have converted more or less intact, and the theme of a base/bunker is pulled off well in the setpiece areas.

 

Once you get inside the base, things change a lot (and not necessarily for the better). You find yourself in fairly dark, cramped bunkers, and at the mercy of Quoth base enemies who can take shots at you through small openings in the walls. The various hallways aren’t all that distinct (a problem I had with the original Half Life), so navigation isn’t that easy although you will probably not actually get lost – the issue is more excessive backtracking to figure out where to go. Later, the hallways are better-lit, a sort of bluish futuristic appearance (functional details also make appearances in places, or as close to it as can be managed in a map this big with Quake’s block-favouring brushwork). Some of the rooms in these hallways are look decent, and the whole thing certainly is a challenge with many enemies and quite a few of those Quoth-level base foes. These things are certainly good, but there are numerous drawbacks to this style of gameplay, which by its nature (many closed corridors, where you can’t see anything but the hall you’re currently in) is confusing (no real idea of where you are relative to the layout as a whole) and frustrating (similar visuals in most places, backtracking).

 

Once you reach the back of the base, the confusing corridors open up to a gigantic setpiece clearly inspired by an area early in Half-Life: a huge silo, surrounded by walkways. This area definitely looks cool, and it’s even cooler that you get to go on top of it and that numerous beams/details cast asymmetrical shadows down on the whole scene. You approach this structure from many angles, and you must beware of enemy sniping here. A lot of mileage is gained from the layout, as the exit is actually back outside the base, so you have to go through again.

This map is a mixed bag; it is ambitious, large, challenging and unique, but it can also be bland, confusing, slow, and monotonous. It seems like the amount of hallways is not really necessary, and even that the main function of the hallways area (other than imitating this aspect of Half-Life’s design) is really just to connect the two setpieces. It might have been better to split this level into two, or even three separate maps. The nature of this map means that its virtues/limitations will be appreciated differently by each player; give it a try, and see what you think.

Score: 15/20

24.08.2009 in Tronyn Reviews | 8 Comments »

Tronyn reviews: Temple of Anubis: Judgement of the Dead by DeathMethod

 

This map is a pleasingly unique Q1SP that incorporates a wide variety of textures, mainly from all four Hexen II sets. In one map, one gets a variety of colours (crimson, yellow, white, blue, green, brown), a variety of temple styles (egyptian, roman, mayan), and a variety of textures (Hexen II, Rogue, Quake, some others). While this might sound a little “busy,” the overall style is very coherent in its consistent variety. The layout could be compared to Kona’s old maps – multileveled man-made structures built into canyon walls. There are some underground/cave/tunnel sections which are nice, including a really great one with zombies. In the courtyards, the enemy is often hell knights and ogres, though fiends and shamblers keep things edgy.

 

The architecture is unique and really quite detailed; the sections are distinct, and the theme is a unique take on a Quake mainstay. The map never becomes overly ambitious in size, but it provides a consistent – and a consistently interesting – challenge.

Score: 16/20

23.08.2009 in Tronyn Reviews | 5 Comments »
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