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Posted by Lunaran [69.208.179.45] on 2005/06/27 01:26:13

What can I say? It's done. 199 monsters on Hard difficulty, so get it and start blastin'.
Info, screenshots, and download:
[ http://www.lunaran.com/maps.php?ma... ]
The readme (haha, right):
[ http://www.lunaran.com/files/lunsp... ]
Thanks to all who contributed, and have fun.

OMG Woot.
#1 posted by Shambler [82.38.192.54] on 2005/06/27 02:21:14
Yay
#2 posted by Vondur [85.140.31.20] on 2005/06/27 03:07:10
this is TEH release!
Yaey A Pretty Lun Map With A Silly Name
#3 posted by BlackDog [220.235.148.157] on 2005/06/27 03:11:33
I am confused though, that the "readme" (haha, right) appears in fact to be, confusingly, nothing other than a readme file. Huh?
Oh well. /me downloads
Great!!
#4 posted by Ankh [212.121.135.226] on 2005/06/27 03:38:23
finally something to play with - downloading now
Hmm
#5 posted by nonentity [144.32.128.75] on 2005/06/27 03:39:37
It was a comment on the fact that people don't read the readme...
At least I assume so, I may be entirely wrong (it has been known to happen ;)
Now if only I had some way of getting this from the university computers to my house so I could play it (soon! soon I shall have the internet at home again :)
But the screenshots look nice (although I still don't like the slime texture)
Hmm
#6 posted by nonentity [144.32.128.75] on 2005/06/27 03:42:04
btw...
Where's the DoW map on your site? (I'm aware that's a leading rhetorical question, since it isn't there. What I meant to say is; "When are you releasing the DoW map?")
:)
#7 posted by here [82.125.218.90] on 2005/06/27 05:29:13
nice work, I didn't know you and I see your other maps are nice...
Best Boss Fight Ever
#8 posted by BlackDog [220.235.148.157] on 2005/06/27 05:35:04
Also, nice visuals; great new monsters; killer gameplay; humorous crate placement.
Not bad. :)
Some Deserved Congratulations
#9 posted by HeadThump [65.140.58.35] on 2005/06/27 07:33:13
for getting it finished (unfortunately, I'm still without a complete copy of Quake).
Entertaining read me text file too.
There Seems
#10 posted by aguirRe [213.101.74.238] on 2005/06/27 08:02:40
to be a trigger problem in Easy skill; two doors (targetname dbsget) that cannot be opened due to a DSG excluded from that skill. Or am I missing something?
It's Just A Clever Homage To Moi!
#11 posted by czg [81.191.27.124] on 2005/06/27 08:51:38
Sacrebleu!
Devastating Maps
#12 posted by R.P.G. at work [208.221.166.2] on 2005/06/27 09:20:17
Lun, in your description at your site, you neglected to mention that there is actually a forth "Devastation" map. The release order is as follows.
Bestial Devastation - DaMaul
Minimal Devastation - DaMaul
Penile Devastation - RPG
Concentric Devastation - Lunaran
The Best 40 Minutes This Week
#13 posted by negke [85.176.94.208] on 2005/06/27 09:20:38
so big and so many secrets (only found two though, duh!) plus the new enforcers, the crate and the so-annoying-until-i-finally-got- the-idea boss fight..... excellent work!
Awesome Level Lun
#14 posted by czg [81.191.27.124] on 2005/06/27 09:54:58
I love it to bits.
P.S. I found a bug, don't hate me: http://czg.spawnpoint.org/stuff/lu...
Great Fun But
#15 posted by than [80.68.41.120] on 2005/06/27 10:53:34
hated the final boss (in the beta anyway). getting all the lightning rods down is like trying to do a rubiks cube...
...or I'm just a retard. Probably the latter, but I didn't enjoy it.
The rest was great, although I found the ammo a little lacking on hard (again, this was the beta2 from last night)
Excellent work overall.
#16 posted by Trinca [213.58.101.42] on 2005/06/27 11:34:39
what can i say more???
many thks for this great fun sp map!!! excellent work is the kind of maps that i love to play... man this one realy rocks!!! i will play more than once for sure...
Argh!
#17 posted by metlslime [209.213.199.133] on 2005/06/27 12:47:19
Now I have to wait all day to play this level :P
Curses
#18 posted by Ionous_at_work [65.115.47.2] on 2005/06/27 13:49:40
Fired up computer when i woke up and saw this released. Played until 80 monster mark ( hard ) and had to relent as to not be late for work.
Very nice from what was there, nice, large architecture, central generator thing in particular.
Axe grunts are good to fight, if a little random. Blue enforcers quite nice.
Look foward to finishing this one when work lets out.
Looks Nike
#19 posted by Mikko [212.86.24.14] on 2005/06/27 14:44:47
Yeah it indeed looks nice and there's nothing I'd rather do than play this map but it gives me some stupid "no free edicts" error when I try to launch it. Help!
Mikko
#20 posted by Blitz [24.218.169.151] on 2005/06/27 15:54:00
Download the latest Fitzquake version -- the news item for it is right in the forum, you can't miss it.
Thank You All For Your Feedback
#21 posted by Lunaran [66.188.130.172] on 2005/06/27 16:19:31
Lemme do these in order.
It was a comment on the fact that people don't read the readme...
At least I assume so ...
Nongrindentityspire is correct. Ten points.
When are you releasing the DoW map?
I think I'll upload it tonight. I made some changes, changed them back, made some others, changed those back, so it's more or less as it was the first time I finished it a month and a half ago.
killer gameplay; humorous crate placement.
Hee. :) Did you find it by accident or were you spelunking?
There appears to be a trigger problem in Easy skill; two doors (targetname dbsget) that cannot be opened due to a DSG excluded from that skill. Or am I missing something?
Well, it actually closes a door instead of opening it. On easy a certain shambler doesn't appear when you hit a nearby button, so I didn't need to close the bars to corral the player back to the main room the "right" way. This worked out well because the DBS is in a different place (earlier) on Easy anyway.
How did you find that out anyway? Does AguireQuake print that stuff in the console? Fifteen points.
Your compilers are awesome by the way. (Hint brushes! ;D)
Lun, in your description at your site, you neglected to mention that there is actually a forth "Devastation" map.
Shit. Twenty points.
P.S. I found a bug, don't hate me:
Shit. Fifty points.
hated the final boss (in the beta anyway). getting all the lightning rods down is like trying to do a rubiks cube...
Once you get the trick it doesn't take much longer than regular Cthon. Shocking him takes five button presses instead of three, for a total of 15 (more if you stuff it up), but that's about a standard increase in difficulty for a custom map from the original encounter, I thought.
Also, get rid of beta2 and play the real one.
there's nothing I'd rather do than play this map but it gives me some stupid "no free edicts" error when I try to launch it. Help!
Oof. What engine are you using? Try downloading a different one (I'm ever plugging FitzQuake) and see if it goes away.
Impressive Stuff
#22 posted by aguirRe [213.101.73.26] on 2005/06/27 16:35:32
Magnificent visuals, fun gameplay and good balance all throughout. New enemies were all good, the chopper being similar to the CoE AxeMan. The new ME variants were also better than the original. The big setpiece area around the SK bridge was the highlight of the map. I only found two secrets but noticed at least one more, thus increasing replayability.
Just like Insomnia, amazing interconnectivity and still not too confusing during play. Exceptions being the major goals SK/GK, which were both found before their purpose were known. Also, the exit location wasn't too obvious, reminiscent of Colony.
But unlike Insomnia, the Chthon fight was too complex and created an unnecessary gameplay pause before continuing. It took me about an hour just to figure out how to use the buttons and then it was still difficult to execute it under heavy fire. The bad part of the Myst concept put into Q1 and unfortunately a considerable detraction. Oh well, next time it'll be a bit easier ...
From the technical aspect, I hope you made use of the Light -gate 1 option, at least during fast builds; it cuts about 84% off the processing time in this map with no visual difference. How long did vis take?
No Free Edicts
#23 posted by VoreLord [203.51.223.59] on 2005/06/27 16:41:13
I got the same problem, I tried a couple of other engines, same problem. I like it too look much like glquake (without waterwarp), and with not much in the way of added eye candy, any suggestions?
Fitzquake is out of the question for me as the the lack of modelinterpolation makes my eyes bleed, and that low sound quality makes my ears bleed :(
As For The
#24 posted by aguirRe [213.101.73.26] on 2005/06/27 16:49:40
alleged Easy trigger issue, I see now that it probably doesn't cause any problem, my mistake.
Does AguireQuake print that stuff in the console?
Heh, aguirReQuake prints a lot of warnings but not this one. It's my Light tool that normally prints this. As you actually used it, how come you didn't notice these warnings? Old version or maybe disabled warnings?
And I'm glad you like my tools. Best way to show it is to make more maps like this ... :)
Works
#25 posted by Mikko [212.86.24.14] on 2005/06/27 16:56:13
It works now with the latest version of Fitz (I originally tried to run it with 075 version of Fitz).
Anyways great map - great visuals, nice curvy architecture, good texturing, good new monsters, good gameplay - until the end where I simply couldn't stand it any longer (Chthon) and pulled down the console with 'quit'. I just couldn't get the buttons right.
VoreLord
#26 posted by aguirRe [213.101.73.26] on 2005/06/27 16:57:14
Any engine with 800+ edict limit should suffice, e.g. DarkPlaces, FitzQuake 0.80, JoeQuake or any of my engines. My Nehahra engine has model interpolation if that's important.
Spelunking By Accident
#27 posted by BlackDog [220.235.148.157] on 2005/06/27 17:11:46
At least I got a chuckle before I died.
I'm Not That Smart
#28 posted by ionous [70.22.180.62] on 2005/06/27 17:46:51
Very nice map, well made, fun....
until the Chthon fight. I spent an hour trying to figure out how the electrodes worked. I still have no idea.
Chthon Fight
#29 posted by Blitz [24.218.169.151] on 2005/06/27 18:02:31
I found it to be frustrating even in god mode
Hmm
#30 posted by bambuz [80.221.25.15] on 2005/06/27 18:12:26
**spoiler alert**
the chthon (or whatever he is and is spelled) fight has the problem that the machine doesn't work "right", but you have to exploit some bug-like operation mode with the right timing when pushing the buttons. Btw, it takes 4 pushes for one electrocution according to my counts.
I Retract That
#31 posted by bambuz [80.221.25.15] on 2005/06/27 18:13:55
yes, 5 pushes.
Yaeyw00tHARDASFUCK.
#32 posted by biff_debris. [24.159.179.233] on 2005/06/27 18:24:21
Lun awesome job, you -- specially on those caves (my fave part). I got lost (I always seem to do that with your maps ;D), but found the keys and killed off the bad red men. I still haven't beaten SnotChton -- apparently theres a short in the electrode system in that room. Someone should tell the management.
Gah
#33 posted by . [68.77.198.100] on 2005/06/27 19:50:20
Quite good job, I like the scale and the connectivity. Generally fairly challenging, and interesting brushwork on the huge building stuff.
I'm usually not a fan of custom monsters, they're typically executed poorly - in this case, I didn't like the colorizations - the colored enforcers with the standard-color grunts clashed.
What I did like was the idea of the red grunt, with it's attack - the fire and the rocket launcher.
I still haven't passed it - the boss fight is an unfair puzzle, because I'm running and jumping in circles dodging projectiles, and hiding, while trying to understand the whole configuration.
Also, funnay little secret in the slime.
AguirRe
#34 posted by VoreLord [203.51.235.221] on 2005/06/27 21:06:16
Thanks, I did try Darkplaces, and although it works fine, to much ginning around to get it how I like (getting rid of all the extra stuff), I found that Q2K4 doesn't get the edict problem, and it looks pretty much like glquake, it's not ideal, but what is. I will also try you nehahra engine and see. But I'm out of time at the moment, it's going to have to wait until tonight now. Thanks again.
Great Map
#35 posted by Ankh [212.121.135.226] on 2005/06/28 01:30:32
It is a very nice and beautiful map. I enjoyed playing it. Liked the architecture very much, and the placement of light textures all over the level. I'm not a fan of new monsters but they fitted well in this map. Gameplay was also good.
Am I right that to reach some secret you have to perform trickjumping? For example the green armor at the beginning of the base complex, up on the rock. I have found 3 secrets during normal play.
Chton fight made me despair for the first time and I quit from console. I found the solution on second try. If you play the level on hard you have no chance to figure it out on first try. For those who are still searching. Don't touch the armor and juggle with the buttons while Chton is "sleeping".
I had lack of ammo during play on hard but maybe I took wrong sequence of progression. I always had to fight with those red enforcers usind shotguns. Which doesn't seem to be very efficient. For me it doesn't matter normally if I use nailgun or shotgun so I don't care about having balanced amounts of shells and nails. On your map it seemed to me that balancing ammo was very important. I have no idea if it is god or not. I also found the grenade launcher a little bit late so it didn't help me fighting those enforcers. But maybe this was intentional.
I must also say the map has a strange name.
PS.
One of the first fiends in the rocks at the start really scared me. I knew there must be something beneath the rock but couldn't see anything so I jumped down...
I have recorded a demo while playing the level for first time - unfortunately I died after about 100 enemies - was too lazy to go back for health...
Hmm
#36 posted by nonentity [144.32.128.75] on 2005/06/28 04:45:17
Not that I want to be a petant (hell, who am I kidding? ;), but;
Fired up computer when i woke up and saw this released
Where did you get the cybernetic interface on your net connection?
And I still haven't had a chance to play this (damn lack of net connection), but for all the people complaining about a 'thinking puzzle' for the boss fight...
Remove idiots out of the way!
THINKING HURTSSSSS
#37 posted by . [68.77.198.100] on 2005/06/28 04:53:05
This is Quake. No thinking. Keep thinking to a minimum. Tiny thoughts.
The Slaying Of Rangoonshinaa
#38 posted by czg [85.93.227.233] on 2005/06/28 05:02:11
So how are you supposed to do him then?
The way I did it was:
-Lower any two widgets.
-Raise same two widgets.
-While widgets are still moving, sprint over to one of other buttons and lower two, except one is still rising so it will not move back down, and you end up with only one being down.
-Go back to first button you hit and lower the two last widgets.
-ĦElectrO!
To me this seems more like a speedrunning puzzle than a thinking puzzle.
BUT OMG MAYBE I'M A IDIOT
Yeah
#39 posted by Vondur [195.128.95.36] on 2005/06/28 05:11:16
it's Raagoonshinnaah actually
anyway, the electrodes work very weird... it was very confusing (nearly frustrating) to understand under the shower of slime balls how do they work, but i managed to survive (for the second try) and kill the bastard. seems like while they move u can enable another electrode to start moving. this is the key. but still it's very complex to get the idea being bombarded with evil balls.... lun you're cruel man!
Czg
#40 posted by bambuz [130.233.220.23] on 2005/06/28 05:28:08
it's easier if you use the electrocution button for raising the widgets (instead of pushing the same button you lowered them with) since now you don't have to dash across the whole room but only make a shorter trip.
I tried it many many times until finally succeeding. It sucks that you can't get out of the slime btw. :/
Aguire
#41 posted by Lunaran [66.188.130.172] on 2005/06/28 05:28:45
Fullvis took 45 minutes. I had it at 20 before I ran out of bmodels and had to turn all my bitty light fixtures back into solid worldspawn. The bsp tree didn't like that. :(
It's my Light tool that normally prints this. As you actually used it, how come you didn't notice these warnings?
You recompiled the map?
Yeah, your light.exe printed those warnings, but as I said, I knew what they were and knew they weren't consequential to the gameplay so I disregarded them. And no, I didn't know about -gate 1. The final extra4 light took about an hour thirty but I also played quake for a few minutes before deciding it was a bad idea :)
<-- Raagoonshinnaah
#42 posted by Lunaran [66.188.130.172] on 2005/06/28 05:34:30
czg is correct. Another way to do it is to lower two widgets, and instead of standing around waiting to raise them, hit the fire button, then do the rest the same way. That way you can hit the far button, hit the electro button, then hit one of the near ones on your way to the far one again and it all works out in sequence just running in two circles.
Okay, I admit apparently the puzzle at the end was far crueler than I anticipated. I made the armor pickup trigger Chthon so that you wouldn't have to wake him up until you were ready, and thus had plenty of time to run around, notice the red-light/green-light on each widget, and get a sequence down.
It might perhaps have been a better idea to have the rune big and obvious as you walk in, so as to be reminiscent of the first Cthon, so as to better communicate to the player "go figure the shit out first."
Map and learn I guess. Glad you guys at least enjoyed the rest. :)
Lun
#43 posted by aguirRe [213.101.72.148] on 2005/06/28 06:23:21
I always analyze new maps to see how they're built and then I saw the warnings. If you want a quicker Light (with same quality), just run:
light -fast -extra4 -gate 1 -tyrlite95 lunsp1.
On my system this takes about 8 mins.
VoreLord
#44 posted by aguirRe [213.101.72.148] on 2005/06/28 06:33:44
I forgot to mention that DP (last full release) has some quirks that sometimes affect gameplay. In this map, the early fiend ambush is gone (because the fiend is missing) and skill setting doesn't seem to work from command line (always Medium).
Puzzlefight
#45 posted by cyBeAr [80.217.112.63] on 2005/06/28 06:54:34
Lun: When you enter the room it's kind of obvious that it it's going to be a chthon style fight. Because of that you excpect it to work as usual and won't even consider waiting with picking up the ra to figure the mechanism before waking him up. This unexpected behaviour and fairly complex solution makes it virtually impossible to get it right on the first try wich is EVIL.
The map in general is excellent though.
Puzzlefight
#46 posted by bambuz [80.221.25.15] on 2005/06/28 13:07:07
The fact that you have to exploit a gimmick makes it very unintuitive - the gimmick of pushing the button exactly when the other posts are moving. A real machine would never work like that, but instead have some safety function (i.e. stop all posts, do not accept input or something similar) if you use buttons when it is in operation.
Lun
#47 posted by . [68.77.198.100] on 2005/06/28 15:32:38
You had to make your light fixtures into worldspawn? Wuzzat and how?
Boss Fight
#48 posted by than [80.68.41.90] on 2005/06/28 16:19:21
I might be stupid, but I'm certainly not patient enough to fuck about trying to figure out how to lower three electrodes just to see a crap slime monster die. I've seen Cthon die, and it was crap, I'm sure the slime monster is just as crap.
I had my fun playing the rest of the level, and the boss just left me with a bad taste in my mouth at the end. I suppose you might liken it to eating a good Christmas dinner and then following it up with flavourless cheese on crackers that were stale last Christmas.
Excellent
#49 posted by VoreLord [203.51.221.44] on 2005/06/29 02:18:30
Thats the most fun I've had since the last time I had the most fun I had. Very nice looking and some excellent gameplay. More please.
Than
#50 posted by aguirRe [213.101.72.128] on 2005/06/29 02:51:13
Try this after waking Chthon up:
1. Press the left button and hide until completed.
2. Press lightning button and quickly run to the right button and press it too.
3. Go back to the left button, press it and hide until completed.
4. Press lightning button and fry Chthon.
Rinse and repeat sequence two times more.
Thoughts
#51 posted by robenestobenz [217.40.164.65] on 2005/06/29 03:20:54
Awesome map; excellent architecture and even better gameplay. It's really quite a feat you managed to make it so interconnected and seemingly nonlinear and yet easy to find the next place to go. I even grenade jumped onto the platform above the grenade launcher and facing out to the yellow armour surrounded by slime (hard skill placement) and it still didn't manage to break up the flow of the map somehow.
Health placement was perfect, although I had an excess of ammo. However, I did find 7 of the 8 secrets and I suspect that without the red armour, pentagram and quad, I'd have faired differently. It's always a tough balance with secrets I think - keeping the map challenging for players that find them and viable for players who don't. On that note, the secrets were pretty inspired and the classification of difficulty added something.. I'll probably mimic this in my own map.
As for the boss, I found him maddeningly frustrating for about 20 minutes - even when I'd figured out what the hell to do I was having problems - and then felt a wave of sickening smugness come over me when I finally killed him.
In all, the most fun I've had with a Quake map/mod in a long while.
Something
#52 posted by aguirRe [213.101.69.17] on 2005/06/29 04:31:10
else I noticed was the very smooth player movements in the entire map; no snagging or unnecessary jumping. Monsters also like to move around easily and cause more unpredictable results.
I guess Lun's DM skills here pays off very well.
Awesome
#53 posted by Tyrann [202.45.120.45] on 2005/06/29 04:35:02
Not much more to say really - I loved it. Some of the secrets were very tough, but I eventually got them all. I hope to see more maps begun in 2001 completed.
U Right Tyrann
#54 posted by Trinca [194.65.31.249] on 2005/06/29 04:46:00
like nehahra episode 4 :( hope glassman finish soon!
Well.
#55 posted by Shambler [82.38.192.54] on 2005/06/29 11:53:18
Excellent design, very nice, lots of different bits and a good layout with some good exploration. Best bit was above the YA trap. Still didn't like the rock texture though. Everything else worked really well.
Only thing it was missing was enough fun. The start was a bit too hard but okay, and later on about the 120 monster mark was good, in between was quite tedious. You did all the right things with monsters and stuff, a bit too sparse on the health and early ammo, but I just didn't enjoy the middle bit that much.
New monsters were fine, just a bit wearing.
Some of the tempting shelves above the slime were highly counterintuitive, given the secrets were hard and required jumping puzzles.
The Chthon bit was the first equal worst Chthon battle ever, along with the end of Contract Revoked. I played around for a bit, and then thought I could either waste loads of time getting utterly frustrated, or go do something remotely enjoyable instead.
But as I say the design was great...
Ain't I Perceptive?
#56 posted by megaman [213.6.36.112] on 2005/06/30 05:17:01
this map seems very much like a mix of APSP1 and CZG07b.
Omg
#57 posted by PuLSaR [80.80.111.129] on 2005/06/30 11:52:47
that was very good: design, gameplay, atmosphere
reminded me of czg07
I spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to kill the boss. Killed it successfully afterall.
Lunie
#58 posted by . [68.77.198.124] on 2005/06/30 11:57:47
You had to make your light fixtures into worldspawn? Wuzzat and how?
Phait:
#59 posted by metlslime [209.213.199.133] on 2005/06/30 12:01:16
His light fixtures were made out of brushes. They can either be func_whatevers, or they can be part of the worldspawn. He had to switch them from the former to the latter.
Yeah, But
#60 posted by . [68.77.198.124] on 2005/06/30 12:05:23
1. Why would you make a light brush a func_anything
2. What is the benefit of putting things in worldspawn and just what is it?
Stimpy, sometimes your ignorance astounds me.
Phait:
#61 posted by metlslime [209.213.199.133] on 2005/06/30 12:10:28
You'd make something a func_whatever to reduce vis times mainly, and sometimes it also reduces the polycounts.
You'd put it back in the worldspawn if you ran out of models. There's an engine limit to the number of unique models that can be cached. If you have ogres in the map, the ogre model is one model. If you have four func_doors, each func_door is a model, for a total of four.
Oh Ok
#62 posted by . [68.74.213.10] on 2005/06/30 12:25:57
So Move-To-World command, essentially. So for detail brushes you'd make it a func_wall? if that area is causing VIS problems?
Just Finished It
#63 posted by Kell [82.41.10.46] on 2005/06/30 17:11:40
Good stuff. The combination of rock and base was excellent. The concentric and frequently curved structures had a solid industrial atmosphere, especially by being very vertical in most areas. Good combination of textures; the rock wasn't awesome, but that's probably because it's gray and therefore a bit limited by the palette and going for anything other than gray would have spoiled the color scheme.
My favorite bit was the walkway-into-stairs activated by the blue keycard. That was sweet.
I got lost a couple of times, while looking for the keys, but that's not unusual for me and it wasn't enough to make me noclip.
Axemen rawk. Nifty combination of existing id content; familiar but new.
Blue/NuMeg Enforcers were much saner than the last time I met them, which is good. Their use of two ranged attacks was a little outside the standard for Quake monsters ( usually just one ranged/one melee ) but it wasn't anything to overpower them.
Red Enforcers were good. Not sure exactly what happens with their invulnerability/partial invulnerability. I think that the first attacks against them do less dmg so they are certain to get off a few shots. Then they lose that protection and die faster.
Good thing about the custom monsters was also that they were used sparingly and in appropriate places, resisting the temptation to overuse them for sheer novelty. Except the fourth red dude - he couldn't get his dick over a rock step, so I just cacked on him with grenades from a few feet away. Oh well.
SnotChthon/Tripletrodes. Um, no. No way. It was a novel idea for sure - three threes instead of three pairs to achieve victory. But really, it was like trying to solve the Towers Of Hanoi while a prison inmate beat me over the head with a claw hammer. Counterintuitive setup, given that as well as requiring thourough investigation and observation of the mechanism, it also then requires timed observation and timed pauses. You didn't give the player any indication of the 'trick' SPOILER that one of the switches has to be pressed while the trodes are still in motion SPOILER. And all the while dodging fast travel splash projectiles and essentially inescapable environmental hazard. That's a shopping list for 'Frustrated Player Flambe'. Sorry.
The Half-Lifey chamber in which it took place was well designed - capped off the 'concentric' motif perfectly.
Overall, 'twas a long and winding attack into an adequately defended base. Management should look into draining that toxic sludge though, it's environmentally unsound.
Great Map, I Wrote A Review.
#64 posted by Marius [69.204.110.159] on 2005/07/01 00:20:22
I posted a review for the map over at retroquake http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~retroq... .I gave it an eight. I really like the map alot, although i have an unnatural love for techbases so I'm not totally impartial. And ill switch the download link to a fileplanet mirror pretty soon so we don't hurt your bandwidth.
The Palette
#65 posted by bambuz [130.233.220.23] on 2005/07/01 06:29:20
yeah, the rock suffers from banding... are you guys still so opposed to 24-bit textures? Even if just that rock was replaced with an external .png file... The position is kinda weird, since most new quake textures are made from 24bit stuff anyway.
High res, now that's a different matter.
and I second the weird color of the enforcers too, it didn't fit that well, the bright blue and red.
I liked the architechture a lot and gameplay was pretty nice too. Any chance you'll make a BIG dm map (there's a lack of them) out of this by erasing the start rocky area and adding a few ents, maybe one additional route to the choke point? We discussed this a bit with Trinca already.
#66 posted by Trinca [194.65.31.249] on 2005/07/01 10:08:42
I´d love to see this ;)
Yay
#67 posted by Kinn [81.152.115.115] on 2005/07/01 14:12:27
This map rocked. Architecture and gameplay (for the most part ^_~) was top-notch, and connectivity was excellent, if a little disorientating. The Q2 base theme was executed consistently and attractively; the curviness of the base structures, intertwined within the rocky cave network worked perfectly.
One thing I would have liked though were those little arrows scattered around that direct you to the key doors. I spent much longer than could be deemed enjoyable running around in circles looking for the GK door.
Great take on the axemen btw; they work well in a base theme. The modified enforcers were cool, even if their various shielding properties didn't get appreciated that much (I just kept shooting at them whatever).
Sadly, like some of the others here, the Chthton fight prevented me from finishing the level. Although I knew I'd seen everything up to that point, and it kicked arse, so I had an enjoyable time nonetheless.
Key Arrows
#68 posted by aguirRe [213.101.70.254] on 2005/07/01 15:32:07
I also thought that they'd have been helpful directing the player to the doors.
DM
#69 posted by Lunaran [66.188.130.172] on 2005/07/02 20:25:48
I actually thought about making this a DM map. Dunno if I can get away with that now with my current employers but the thought occured to me as something that could be fun. :)
Oh, I was going to put arrows in and Von told me not to, so blame him for that. The boss fight is entirely my fault though. :(
Oh, and as for enforcer shields, here's the breakdown.
When they spawn they have no shield, and when they're awakened the shield activates at 0. It recharges a few points per frame based on difficulty (it's 1 + skill). HP's are subtracted from shield strength first, then health. Therefore, the best tactic is to never relent on the attack so that you don't waste too much ammo chipping away at the shield because you're a lazy bum and let it recharge. Nailguns are therefore best (SNG is damned effective), shotguns not so good (single shotty is basically impossible on skills higher than easy). Grenades do enough damage that it's inconsequential.
While this was almost never really taken advantage of in the gameplay, the shields are particle shields only. The lightning gun will fire right through it, shorting it out and reducing it to zero with no penalty. When the attack stops the shield recharges as normal.
It'd be fun to see a Q1SP that makes something of that ... ;)
Lunaran
#70 posted by JPL [82.234.166.130] on 2005/07/03 00:27:07
I tried to play the map yesterday night, and it was very slow when new monsters appeared, i.e. at the very beginning, when the first blue enforcer appears, suddenly the game goes slow... I have a Athlon 2600+, ATI radeon 9200 and 768 Mo. I launched the game with FitzQuake 0.8, so do you have any idea how to solve this problem ?
JPL
#71 posted by aguirRe [213.101.70.57] on 2005/07/03 02:14:40
Try adding engine option -heapsize 48000. If the heap is low, the engine might start thrashing objects in and out and then the disk icon in the upper right corner is flashing. This info is also in my ToolTips.
AguirRe
#72 posted by JPLambert.. not logged [82.234.166.130] on 2005/07/03 06:36:37
I launched the game with PatMan (a utility which allow to select mods / See my website for those who are interested), and in the command line, I had only -heapsize 16000. I 've just changed the value up to 48000, and it works fine now. thankqs a lot..
It's Probably
#73 posted by aguirRe [213.101.70.251] on 2005/07/03 07:50:38
sufficient with 32 MB, but 16 is definitely too small for FQ (default is 32).
Lunaran
#74 posted by JPL [213.30.139.243] on 2005/07/03 23:22:58
I was able to finish the level thank to aguirRe help, and I think it was very good. Very good design architecture, many interconnects, interesting textures (even the rocks ;)...), and very good as well lightning effects.
Maybe the level is a little bit confusing sometimes: I was completly lost 2 or 3 times due to the amount of interconnection... you see the area where you have to go, but you are unable to find it... my memory have still to be improved...
In anyway it's a really good level... I had fun for sure.. Thanks for this Lun' !
Lunaran
#75 posted by Trinca [194.65.31.249] on 2005/07/04 01:36:27
hope u made the DM map ;) is easyer know becouse the map is done just a few changes...eheheh
Fine Fine Map
#76 posted by nitin [138.217.4.38] on 2005/07/04 03:40:44
except the end. Some very funky architecture and well connected although a bit more direction would have been good.
As for the end, given how much you complain about frustrating, luck dependent gameplay where the player almost has no chance first time around, I was surprised to see that sort of fight in your map.
Apart from that, it was great.
Almost Done
#77 posted by Scragbait [65.92.64.74] on 2005/07/10 17:41:19
I'm playing on Hard and have found this to be a fun, interesting, well built and expansive map with some big scale areas. The sounds and textures borrowed from Q2 fit in well. The new enemies are good and are not frustrating.
I have found 4 secrets and the crate and I hope to find more after taking a second look. The ones I have found are clever and varied.
I am at the end battle with slime Cthon and I guess my brain isn't working becuase I haven't got the combination right yet so I decided to take a break and make my comments here. I played with the buttons before waking him and haven't quite got the formula.
Aside from that, this is a great map and much needed in these quiet days.
Boo
#78 posted by Bal [83.199.9.113] on 2005/07/11 04:09:35
Finaly got around to this, great work, I really like the layout: I always felt a bit lost, but never enough for it to be a nuisance, which is exactly how I like maps. =)
New monsters were nice, visuals were great, was able to zap Cthon once (pure luck), then died and couldn't be bothered to try again though. =\
Great map.
Hmm
#79 posted by nonentity [144.32.128.73] on 2005/07/11 06:17:27
Managed to get a copy of the map to my PC.
Enjoyed playing, even if I do suck at Q1SP. Got lost a few times (I'm inclined to agree with the need for a few arrows), but not enough to annoy me. The new monsters worked well, although I'm not a huge fan of the red enforcer's shield (I don't like the fact it forces a particular (blitzgrieg) play style).
My only problem with the boss fight was the repeat speed of his projectile firing, slightly longer delay between shots would have made the whole thing slightly more bearable.
#80 posted by DaMaul [81.77.118.76] on 2005/07/17 14:55:24
Wow! I'm so happy to see that the awesome naming conventions pioneered in my maps are still wowing the crowds to this day! :)
Haven't had a chance to play the map yet, looks good though! I might just reinstall quake for this special occasion...
DaMaul!
#81 posted by Lunaran [66.188.98.12] on 2005/07/17 20:43:50
If LunSP1 were to receive your approval I would be happier than a clam in a field of dutch tulips.
Oh
#82 posted by Lunaran [66.188.98.12] on 2005/07/17 20:52:38
Not that I don't appreciate everyone else's approval, of course. I'm also happy about that.
Hello IP Adress!
#83 posted by DaMaul [85.224.215.164] on 2005/07/18 07:05:37
This map sucks, and you should never map again! My eyes are really sore from watching your crummy maps. Please hault this onslaught.
Oh
#84 posted by Lunaran [67.129.250.254] on 2005/07/18 10:28:10
My soul has withered.
Like a clam in a field of Dutch tulips.
#85 posted by DaMaul [81.77.118.76] on 2005/07/18 12:13:24
Someone slap that evil DaMaul impersonator around with a trout. The real DaMaul has yet to play Lun's map.
Lunaran
#86 posted by voodoochopstiks [85.224.215.164] on 2005/07/18 14:05:34
My deepest sympathies, now please refrain from comparing IP adresses in this thread.
Voodoochopstiks
#87 posted by Lunaran [67.129.250.254] on 2005/07/19 16:25:03
Go suck a uranium fuel rod.
Lunsp1 Speedrun...
#88 posted by Shambler [82.38.192.54] on 2005/07/20 06:33:30
Run to GA, drop down, use Fiend to get onto slope and jump to YA, run round and press both buttons to extend bridge, run through and rightwards, kill annoying monsters then steep slope slide to GL. Drop down, run back to bridge, double GJ off any lurking monsters to exit.
Any takers?
Challenge Accepted
#89 posted by Lardarse [82.32.58.225] on 2005/07/27 17:34:49
Oh, and as for enforcer shields, here's the breakdown.
When they spawn they have no shield, and when they're awakened the shield activates at 0. It recharges a few points per frame based on difficulty (it's 1 + skill). HP's are subtracted from shield strength first, then health. Therefore, the best tactic is to never relent on the attack so that you don't waste too much ammo chipping away at the shield because you're a lazy bum and let it recharge. Nailguns are therefore best (SNG is damned effective), shotguns not so good (single shotty is basically impossible on skills higher than easy). Grenades do enough damage that it's inconsequential.
While this was almost never really taken advantage of in the gameplay, the shields are particle shields only. The lightning gun will fire right through it, shorting it out and reducing it to zero with no penalty. When the attack stops the shield recharges as normal.
It'd be fun to see a Q1SP that makes something of that ... ;)
It just so happens that I'm creating a SP mod at the moment, that will make Quake a much more interesting challenge. So I'll be re-using some of your code (and the "Grunt Chopper" model) for some of the tougher monsters ;-)
Hopefully, I will be releasing a major part of it at QExpo, although that depends enirely on how much work actually manage to get done over the next 2 weeks :-/
Feel free to pass on your thoughts...
LA
Finally Played It
#90 posted by R.P.G. [24.136.254.133] on 2005/07/28 09:27:48
Lighting was maybe a bit too bright, but it was very effective overall. I agree with Kell about the bridge that turned to stairs--very cool. Architecture was very sound and pleasing.
I wasn't so impressed by the red enforcers because they tended to take way too may shells to kill. I might have tried the nailgun on them, but I'm not about to waste precious nails on an enemy I don't know how to kill. I did suspect that the shield degenerated after each hit and then regenerated, but I wasn't sure how fast or how often. I ended up just blasting them with grenades after I got the grenade launcher.
Furthermore I have basically the same comments on the Cthon fight that everyone else had: too frustrating, not enough clues, no way out of the slime, and the slimeballs were nearly instant death. I even spent about 15 minutes in the room without picking up the red armor so I could figure out how to do it, and I still died three times after Cthon got added to the mix. The last bit of gameplay was rather easy compared to this fight.
The close-quarters fiend/slimefest at the beginning really chafed my chain, too. Otherwise combat was pretty good and offered some challenges and variety.
Ammo balance seemed a bit odd. At one point I ran out of ammo, and had to take a completely different path to try to get somemore before I met more enemies. Overall, the ammo seemed pretty tight at the beginning, and very plentiful at the end.
A good map and well worth playing until you get to the boss fight.
Thoughts
#91 posted by Lunaran [67.129.250.254] on 2005/07/28 12:05:18
RPG, thanks. :)
Feel free to pass on your thoughts...
Go for it. Just put me in the readme.
Lun: Just Put Me In The Readme
#92 posted by Lardarse [82.32.58.225] on 2005/07/28 18:27:53
No problem :-)
#93 posted by gone [213.170.89.98] on 2006/07/11 07:08:57
Played it only yesturday
Didnt mind green chton - just had to reload couple of times.
Layout lacked logical progression and I got lost a bit.
Easily jumped some gap that required brige triggred from other side ;/ so I think I played a section of the map 'backwards'. Oh well, non-linear layout got its ups and downs.
Cant say that slaying doezens of axemen or circling tougher enforcers was much fun... well, but secrets were nicely done.
One huge wide section with repeating beams and Chton room looked really good (esp the light effects on the electrodes).
Jam Sandwich
#94 posted by sock [88.110.143.38] on 2010/04/06 00:26:52
I know I am late to the party on this one (4 years too late) but I have always been a fan of Lunaran's Q3 work, so with my new Q1 exe in hand it is time to try the lucky skill dice on lunsp1.
I want to feel really excited and enthusiastic but for some reason I feel let down. I know lunaran in person so I just hope he does not take what I am about to say to heart. I expected the map to rock with amazing brushwork architecture and glorious textures that melted together to form some new base artform but I did not see anything like this.
I began with skill 0 in a very cool start room and an AI walking away from me. I felt so confident of surprise I decided to whip out the axe and have some fun with hand to hand combat instead of using the gun! It went really well and I was soon on my way through very squarely cut rock borders and some green slime that clashed with everything else around it.
The map had a nice gentle start and I was soon hoping and skipping across rocks on my way towards some mountain base. I dropped down some rock face and then bam! I had some fiend chewing my neck for breakfast. Sure I can appreciate the shock value but that thing nearly killed me and I was not even at the base! grr was not happy with this. :(
Not in a good mood from the fiend encounter I ran around a corner to see the base and felt my heart sink with disappointment. I was expecting some brushwork master piece, but the front of the base was square and rough. So I saved the game, exited Q1 and checked I had the right pak file. It was from Lunaran ... I was playing the right map, so back to Q1 and on with the map.
After a while of ignoring the visuals I found the combat was really good, it felt balanced and the AI felt like they were placed for a reason. I liked the new blue enforcers with dual weapon attacks, the mallet enforcer felt strange because they had no gun and did not feel threating because they moved too slow. The red enforcer was cool, I liked the shield effect but I assume because of my skill level it was toned down. It should of been more deadly because they were the top enforcer.
The layout was damn cool, lots of choices of where to go and loads of vertical stuff and paths which wrapped around on themselves showing new routes I did not see the first time. I never felt lost and I always felt like I did not have to worry about trying to find that last locked door.
Eventually I got to the final boss room and I did not read the above thread on what people had said about it. I assumed when I got into the room there would be something cool to do with the buttons. So I ran around the room looking at everything, worked out a route around the room and collected the YA which started the event.
I could not and still cannot work out what you are suppose to do in that room. I could not spend any time watching what things did because I was constantly in combat trying to avoid death or being knocked into the slime. (which is also death, just a bit slower) Eventually I flipped on god mode and randomly hit buttons until the ceiling things were in the right position to kill the boss.
Overall I enjoyed the skill level combat, I thought the new AI was fun, but due to the way the map ended I dont want to play the map again. Which makes me sad because the middle part of the map really shined and I thought it would be cool to play again. I really don't understand what went wrong and why no beta testers said 'Hey Lun, you should change the end of the map, it is confusing and not fun' :(
#95 posted by Lardarse [62.31.162.25] on 2010/04/06 17:16:59
the mallet enforcer
It's a grunt with an axe, honey...

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