Underworldfan's Single Player Map Reviews

Hosted by the
good folks at
PlanetQuake
[above]Fiendfear: "the emotion felt when playing a good Q1SP map"
contact me

## NEWS ARCHIVE 1: 1 November 2002 - 31 December 2002

## SITE UPDATE: Two cool sketches. posted: 13:15 30th December 2002

Added a couple of excellent pencil drawings of quake Monsters to the main index page (see above). These drawings were done by Ogro and he gave me permission to use them for my site. To check out all Ogro's quake art click here or go too pandemonium to see his whole site including the skins he has recently been doing for the Tenebrae engine.

## QUAKE: simmer 2 and technophobia reviewed. posted: 20:30 28th December 2002

Two more Q1SP maps have been reviewed, they are "Simmer 2" by Qubix (originally released a few months ago) and also "Technophobia" by Paul Murphy.
Both these authors emailed me their maps asking for reviews, and i decided the maps were of a decent enough quality to provide feedback on (for the author), and a review (for everyone else). Further, i want too encourage any other Quake 1 SP authors out there who may have maps in progress or even already completed maps sitting on their hard drives to email them in when they are ready to.

## QUAKE: Turtlemap 2 (4 maps) reviewed. posted: 10:05 27th December 2002

I have posted reviews for the 4 maps produced as a result of the Quake Turtlemap 2 competition, recently held over at QMAP , and organised by the industrious Scampie.

## CUBE: speedmap 4 and Arena Infinitum reviewed. posted: 19:45 23rd December 2002

Two more Cube reviews have been added, this time the reviews are for "Arena Infinitum", and also the "SpeedMap pack 4".

## CUBE: speedmap 2 and piglet campaign reviewed. posted: 15:20 21st December 2002

Two new Cube reviews have been posted, they are for the "speedmap 2 pack" and also for "Piglet Campaign", which is a 9 map Cube episode.
The Cube Speedmapping sessions are currently taking place every Sunday afternoon/Evening, depending on which side of the Atlantic Ocean you happen to be living :). Check this Cube Forum Thread for more details on how to get involved in mapping in these sessions. In other CUBE news, a nice new Cube news site, with lots of information and updates has been opened, check out all the details at cube stuff. Bye for now and Happy Holidays :).

## QUAKE: new Quake 1 SP Hall of Fame page and review. posted: 09:00 19th December 2002

I have put up a new page, a Quake 1 SP "Hall of Fame", which is rankings of the best Q1SP single maps and Episodes, based on the original QMAP Thread from which i got the idea and the Top 10's that i first asked you to send me a few weeks ago. This page is now also directly accessible from the bottom button of the slightly changed navigation menu in the top left hand corner of every page.
Go to the Hall of Fame for a detailed listing of the Top 10 results (so far) and an explanation of the points and ranking system in full (at the bottom of the page). I would like to emphasize this page is on-going, so anyone can send me their top 10 Q1SP maps and/or episodes at any time, and i will update the rankings to reflect their favorite maps. Further, i will be reviewing some of the classic maps and showcasing the qualities that make them so good too look at and play. My first "classic map review" is for "Soulstice", see the Hall of Fame page for more details. And don't forget to send me your Top 10s.
In Addition i have added the first "speed-run" demos to this site. I have arranged for Thomas Bergendorff from the Speed Demos Archive to do these demos, and being a good chap he has agreed to do them (this makes sense as he is approximately 7,000 times better than me at speed-running :P). So far we have three demos: matsp1, alk12a and alk12b, the links for downloading these demos have been added at the top of the respective reviews in the summary box, so check them out. Thats it for this update, more Cube reviews will be forthcoming soon.

## CUBE: sp_aard1, Slime and Arena Perpetual reviewed. posted: 11:30 26th November 2002

Reviews have been added for "sp_aard1", "Slime" & "Arena Perpetual", and my next review will be of Piglets 9 map episode for CUBE.
Also, still trying to decide the format of (and find the time to do) the top 10 page the best way.
EDIT: Due to me being stupid, i made an error in the review of "sp_aard1". This is in fact a level done by Bascule, based on the orginal "aard1" map made by Aardappel, apologies to all concerned. The review has been updated.

## CUBE: Shadowland, Monster Machine: part 3, tictac reviewed. posted: 00:40 18th November 2002

I have posted a review of "shadowland" and also 2 "mini-reviews" of "Monster Machine: part 3" and "tictac".
I have decided to introduce this new mini-review sub-category for small maps which i want to give some comments on, but are either too small, unfinished or too poor to merit a full review. The primary idea here is too give feedback too the author on their ideas and implementation; these typically will not be finished/top-quality maps and hence scores for these mini-reviews will probably be relatively low. As always, anyone is more than welcome to Email me with their comments on this idea.
Also, as you may have noticed i have a new logo! This was kindly provided by "Disturbed", i had 3 logos submitted and they were all great but this one was my favorite, thanx to everyone who sent one in.
Also, I have had quite a few Quake top 10's submitted and will do my "hall of fame" page soon, once i can decide on a format and layout. I had previously saved the "Top 10" thread from QMAP, which was lucky. For those of you who don't know, QMAP itself unfortunately appears to have crashed at present, which is a great shame, as QMAP is an excellent source of quake-related threads and conversations. At the moment QMAP is using a new prototype design/URL here and hopefully the old site can be restored soon.

## QUAKE 1 News & Screenshots posted: 14:50 10th November 2002

I decided to post a "mini-roundup" of the major Q1SP maps and projects currently "in progress", if anyone knows about any others apart from those listed below, and wants the world to know about it, please email me.
The Pipeline is where mappers can post screenshots from their maps they are working on, and get feedback on those screenshots. Below is a summary of all the Q1SP maps posted but not yet released.
Q1SP Pipeline Summary
(the Date is when the screenshots were originally posted)
"Grendel's Keep" by distrans 04.11.02
"World of Hate" by PFMM 24.10.02
"Autumn Haunting" by [Kona] 12.10.02
"QurSP1 - Moon" by MisYu 05.10.02
"Aperture of Desolation" by Fr3n 04.10.02
"Carved In Flesh" by [Kona] 03.09.02
"nesp09 - Dawn of Eternity" by necros 02.09.02
"MisSP1 - Titan" by MisYu 28.08.02
"Shades of Death" by necros 05.03.02
"ne_sp07" by necros 11.02.02 - currently abandoned?
"gmsp3" by GlassMan 03.02.02
"Bastion of the Underworld" by Kinn 31.01.02
"Jeff: the new adventure in the world of Q1SP" by Kidney 20.01.02
Untitled by Apollo 01.01.02
"Frying obstacles" by Hrimfaxi 01.01.02
All of these maps feature some very nice looking architecture and textures and have some great screenshots. Although some of the screenshots are quite old, i think most of these maps are still being worked on. Goto The Pipeline for all the screenshots, details and comments.
Summary of other current major Q1SP projects/maps
Glassman, (in addition to gmsp3 at the pipeline) also has an SP Episode for Nehahra in progress called "MarkhasBr�ch", click the link to check out the truly awesome looking screenshots and pray to the gods of mapping that he finishes it. =).
Kona, over at Ethereal Hell, as well as the 2 entries at the pipeline called "Autumn Haunting" and "Carved in Flesh", has a map called "Guncotton" (no screenshots available), which is finished, but in true kona fashion, when it will actually be released is anyone's guess :P.
Bnayni Software hasn't updated it site for a while, but they are still working on their planned (5 map?) Episode. There are some great looking screenshots here, so lets hope Daz and the team can keep working on it and let us know more soon.
Speaking of Daz, he has just re-opened his DaZ Dranz level cave with a new design and some new content, and he has 2 major Q1SP projects in progress. There is dazsp4 complete with "Galaxy wide news" updates (!?) and "purposely but annoyingly fuzzy" screenshots here.
There is also "The Night Journey" which is a SP episode with some excellent looking screenshots.
Moving on too Fat Controller's Quake Map Shed there is news of a new episode entitled "Ontranto", check out the website for more background, this is from the same mapper that led the excellent OUM episode, so this is exciting news.
Finally, potentially the *biggest* of all these projects is "Obscurus". This is a project led by Mindcrime, the man responsible for leading Nehahra to completion, so he has a pretty good track record. Progress is currently *on hold*, but he promises "work on Obscurus *will* happen", so that's good news.
So you can see for a 6 year old game, The Quake 1 SP mapping scene is amazingly healthy. Lets all motivate and encourage each other for it to stay that way and grow even more in the future! If you are a mapper and want to help out on any of the bigger projects contact the team leader and see what they say.
Final Note: I updated the screenshots for my reviews of the Quake maps "Hexameron: Phase One", "Subterranean Siege" and "Satarship Bunker", as the original ones were not...er...very good.

## Email me your Top 10 Maps and Top 10 Episodes for Q1SP! posted: 20:15 6th November 2002

Yep, i am asking you to email me your Top 10 Maps and Top 10 Episodes for Quake 1 SP. The purpose being i want to construct some sort of "Hall of Fame" or "All-Time Top 20 Maps/Episodes" for Q1SP. This thread at QMAP may help you remember or give you some ideas, but you can choose whatever maps/episodes you want.
Quake 1 SP *is* an Art-form in mapping and after 6 years the best maps deserve their own hall of fame, and the authors to be recognized for their hard work and brilliant imagination they put in.
My idea is then to work out a format/ranking system, i am open to suggestions, and put it up on a new page. Then it might just stay static with screenshots & summaries of the best maps etc, or it could be on-going, i.e. people send me emails and i will update it based on their votes. What do you think would be best?
So, Email me your Top 10 all time favorite Quake Maps and Top 10 Quake 1 Episodes/packs (ideally submit two separate Top 10s) that you would like to see included.

## CUBE: Kartoffelernte, Ammo Facility reviewed. posted: 13:00 4th November 2002

I have added 2 more Cube SP reviews, both of which happen to be "base" maps, they are "Kartoffelernte" and "Ammo Facility".
I have had some good feedback on the site and reviews, and most of its (so far!) seems to be positive. A couple of people have mentioned to me that my reviews are maybe a little too "nice", indeed one person expressed his opinion that i should become an "evil bitch-whore" when reviewing maps =). To accomplish this i am going to enroll in "how to be a cruel and evil map reviewer" evening classes and give all maps a score of 3/20.
Of course i am joking, but i have seriously taken these comments into account, and this has resulted in a few maps (mainly CUBE maps) being re-rated (usually only by 1 point) from their original scores. I will NOT be doing this again, its just a little adjustment at the beginning to set the right standards. I would like everyone (including the authors!) to understand that the *fundamental* reason for doing this is too motivate and encourage mappers (in both CUBE and QUAKE) to make *even better* maps, and so raise the overall "expected' standards of mapping, which will be cool for everyone =).
Finally i have had 2 logos submitted, and i am going to set a deadline of Friday 15th November for anyone else who wants to submit one.

## Q1SP: Ultramarine, Fearcraft reviewed. posted: 16:30 2nd November 2002

As promised, 2 big new reviews, one of the new Ultramarine and one of the slightly older (August 2002) 3 map episode called "Fearcraft".
Also, I have had already had 1 logo submitted, but i want more designs, if anyone is willing and able the details are posted below, thanx.

## Q1SP: Ultramarine by [Kona] released. posted: 11:05 2nd November 2002

[Kona] released a new Q1SP map called "Ultramarine" yesterday, (nice timing with launch of my site, and completely unplanned!) i will put up a review either later today or tomorrow, i am also going to review his recent map pack "Fearcraft", as that doesn't seem to have had a full review anywhere yet.

## New Logo request. posted: 14:45 1st November 2002

Well i was thinking of this already, before i even opened the site today; i like my logo (top of the page, below the adverts) but i am not a photoshop/paintshop pro expert, so if any of you good people and expert graphics people out there want to do me a huge favor (and show off your skills) and come up with a new (or improved version of the current) logo i would be more than happy to use it.
I am basically looking for something "professional" and "glossy" looking, if you know what i mean. My only requirements are it has the exact same wording "Underworldfan's Quake & Cube Single Player Map Reviews", and that it contains a minimum of 2 screenshots (it can have more), one from a Q1SP map and 1 from a CUBE map. I would like it be roughly the same dimensions too, i don't really want it much bigger overall as it takes up a bit of space already. So with all that in mind, i will accept all admissions (try and email them in the next few days), i am not guaranteeing i will change the logo, but if a good enough one that i like enough comes along i will probably use it.

## Welcome to my QUAKE 1 & CUBE Single Player Map Review Page. posted: 30th October 2002

This is my first update, to welcome you to my QUAKE 1 & CUBE Single Player Map Reviews site. I want to say thanx to Planetquake for hosting me and also for just being all-round cool guys, they are my ideal hosts and are very friendly and helpful.
I opened this site primarily to encourage people - current mappers and *potential* mappers =) - to make SINGLE PLAYER maps for QUAKE 1 & CUBE. I enjoy playing both of those games very much.
If you look around the site (use the menu in the top-left corner for navigation) you will see i have opened the site with 3 QUAKE 1 Single player (Q1SP) and 7 CUBE SP reviews. I have also written an article on the cube SP monsters. Please look around and check the FAQ page for some more info on the games and this site.
I shall be updating frequently so if you know about any *new* (ie in the last month or so) QUAKE 1 SP maps i have not reviewed please email me. Likewise i shall be bringing the Cube SP section up-to-date, i have about another 4 or 5 maps/episodes (including all of Piglets stuff) on my hard-drive to review which i plan to do in the next 2 weeks.
Finally, just a small note: I have tested this site in IE 5.5 and mozilla/Netscape, most things should work ok in all browsers, but i recommend IE at 1024*768. (i am not an HTML guru, i just know the basics).