Archive M-O

Level Archive M-O

Brad's first Quake map, Mercy at Stroggos Deten3 is a fun level based in a Strogg jail complex. Your objective is to "Mercy kill all your tortured buddies" :) Sounds good to me! The map follows the basic guidelines of the id jail maps and Brad has constructed some nice architectural areas within the level, as you progress through the jail from Cell Block A to (you guessed it!) Cell Block B, collecting a power cube to shut down the jail defences along the way.

Mercy... is sometimes a confusing contrast of editing quality. Some areas are very well built, interesting to play through and great to look at, such as the water area pictured with its hidden torture area, while others, for example the long, overbright and tedious ramped stairway that seems to go on forever, look like they could have been built by a different person. A little more attention to detail next time? That said, I enjoyed playing the map and towards the end, even though the level is weighed down with ammo and health, things got a little tense for a while!

MPQU1 - Bad Seed European Mirror Download
Warren Marshall | mpqu1.zip | 1.98mb | 31.03.98 | SP | text file | e-mail

The first true user-created multi-level unit, Warren's MPQU1 - Bad Seed, consisting of 4 large maps, Prisoner Containment, Information Central, Down Under and Main Gate, is a triumph of patience, quality and playability. Not content to throw a single player map out as soon as possible, Warren has been quietly working away on this project for months now (he talked to me about it around 4 months ago), and it's really been worth the wait.

Based in a Strogg Prison unit, your goal is basically to (you guessed it) escape. In order to achieve this your plan of action consists of shutting down force field generators, disabling a security computer, accessing the sewers, finding keys and getting the hell out of there! Warren has fully utilised the cross-level abilities of Quake II's engine. What you do in one level effects the previous or next level you enter. In Information Central, for example, you destroy a large security computer which is keeping a hatch in the previous map sealed. Head back to the first map and the hatch has dropped and you're on your way again. Each map of the four is distinctive in style, ranging from a prison to a computer lab, sewers (my favourite section, for some reason) and the exterior prison gate. Each area has plenty of ante-rooms and hidden areas to explore and in Information Central, Warren's previous experience with deathmatch maps is obvious. One criticism I would make is that skill settings have not been utilised. This would be unfortunate were it not for the fact that Warren has managed to get the item balance almost perfect - you'll be riding right on the edge of running out of ammo and health for much of the time, but this just serves to force you into proper use of your 'iron' (© Jeff Yost). Monster count is high and varied, with the wandering Gladiators giving me the most trouble. I'm still not entirely convinced by the musical finale to Main Gate, but it did bring a smile to my face...

I had a hell of a lot of fun with this unit - each of the 4 maps was equally as enjoyable as the others, the architecture is well executed and interesting (and most importantly, fits the theme of each map perfectly), lighting is good and ambient sounds are adequate without being overwhelming. What can I say? Nearly (but not quite) as stunning as '99 Ways to Die' :)

Mutated Pic 1 Mutated Pic 2

Alright - any level that has a message for finding a secret that reads "You got a special bonus item generously provided by the author" is OK in my book!

Mutated! is the latest in a regal line of maps by the right honourable YooShin Yang of this parish (it's ok, I'll stop talking crap soon...) and was built in response to Robert Duffy's QE Radiant level design contest (disqualify him - he used BSP, honest Guv...). It's a map that *will* be criticised for being very close to id's base maps. It's a map that *won't* be criticised for being, as is a tradition with YooShin's maps, downright fun play and beautifully built. Personally I have no problem with Mutated paying homage to Mr Willits (some of the best Quake 1 user levels were 'inspired' by id's/Romero's work) - YooShin does the theme justice with his usual superb attention to detail and meticulous lighting. If any criticism could be made of the architecture, I would say that a few 'clip' brushes could have done wonders here and there covering the smaller lighting fixtures, but what do I know?

The thing I love most about YooShin's maps is that they never fail to put a smile on your face and Mutated! is no exception - check out the first F1 Computer message - "Find out what the Stroggs are doing" hehehe (maybe he should have added "and stop them doing it" :) The marine/mutant processing room is carried off admirably and the escape through the sewers is, well, as fun as any other escape through sewers I've performed :) YooShin has yet to make a bad map - until he does, check this site at regular intervals for sickly, gushing praise...

Juha is the author of many levels for Quake 1 (which, incidentally, can be found on SPQ Level Heaven, plug!) and Old Storage Area is his first foray into the murky world of Quake II editing.

As he displayed in his early maps, Juha has the art of building clean, precise and good looking maps down, and it's these qualities that persuaded me to feature his map here. If there was an award for "Best use of randomly placed crates", Juha would win it! Old Storage Area is exactly what it says on the box - a number of well designed and well textured rooms/areas littered with crates and boxes and our friends the Strogg. Nothing more, nothing less. This makes the experience of playing the map a little unfulfilling - the map is fun and great to look at, but to be honest, it's a bit of a walk in the park. The World's Worst Quake Player (i.e. me!) will stroll through with no problems. The map is very linear and the only goal to speak of is to find one key and exit. As all the crates are climable, I would have like to have seen a few secrets up in the rafters, and some moving crate conveyors, etc, would have been nice. Next time, perhaps?

Maybe I've been a little hard on this map - like I said, it is fun and good looking, and sometimes that's all you want from a one night stand, ain't it? :)