Another of my favourite maps (DAMN YOU, CZG). It may not be as good looking as some of his other maps, but the gameplay is fantastic, with lots of nice secrets and a few really fantastic battles (particularly at the end)

One of my favourites as well. Thematically, this (alongside czg's Terra4, which is possibly my favourite map of all time) defines "Swampy Wizard" for me - which is by far my favourite theme. I would have gone with a torch-based approach to the lighting rather than the metal-style lights here, but that's a minor quibble.

Gameplay-wise it's classic czg. In fact, playing Februus Depth, Numb Nimbus, and then this, back-to-back today was like immersing myself into a warm vat of czg-flavoured quakey goodness. I think he does pacing possibly better than anyone, knowing when to hold back, and knowing when to assault the player, with an enviable degree of intuition.

+1 on Kinn's comment: he said everything I would have said. Twelve years on, Cermonial Circles is unsurpassed in its idiot. I've never played another level that feels so dingy and forsaken. Awesome work.

I rated this a 4? Weird.

Video with commentary

MAN, i love me some czg!

One of my favourite maps ever. The atmosphere is great, the visuals are good and the combat is amazing. This map is huge, frantic and very difficult. You're constantly under fire, but in a good way (I like this much better than other maps like that such as Coagula 2). I love the feeling of ascent in this map, too. A must play in my opinion.

I just noticed that I wrote "Twelve years on, Cermonial Circles is unsurpassed in its idiot" a year ago! Obviously what I meant to say was "unsurpassed in its idiom"!

^^

This is one of my all time favourite czg map. I wish he would still map. Can't thank him enough :)

About the torches versus electric lights issue: there are both kinds in this map, and I don't think it's a coincidence. To me, this suggests an ancient world which has been intruded by future humans. You lose this symbolism with torches alone.

A bit too brutal for me.

Ditto to everything Than stated above. Excellent map!

One of my all-time favorites.

The Sèvres standard of a Q1SP.

fight for health, fight for armor, fight for ammo! it's a big map, but with claustrophobic feel. nice enemy placements, nice combats, nice usage of map space. very fun ol skool map to play. 46:08 4/7 secrets 166/166 nightmare. thank you, czg!

Excellent map, maintained within the classic 'id' style of campaign episode two. I have found the map terribly difficult on the "Normal", probably due to it being infested with ogres - strategically located - who have gained an enhanced Z-accuracy, thanks to the 'Copper' mod reinforcement in my playthrough. Anyhow, the "Ceremonial Circles", feels very good to play, it is very atmospheric, very dark, very well structured and planned out, as well as feels very rewarding to complete for a player. It is a proper, timeless classic.

i love this map, you're my favorite mapper czg

Despite having only started going through the massive Quaddicted backlog in a rough chronological order I can already tell that czg will be one of my favorite mappers.

The combat in this map is brilliant, that includes both pacing and the encounters. It builds up to a spectacular pair of fights through a series of smaller arena battles and chunky incidental combat. I was actually quite starved for health for the majority of the map as it's borderline non-stop action made me want to keep pushing and pushing rather than stop to hunt for secrets.

From a visual standpoint I found it quite useful as a novice Quake mapper. It uses limited textures and shows and utilitarian detail in an easy to grasp style.

As a fan of frenetic combat I highly recommend this release.

I can't remember, how often I played this. One of my all time favorites.

the real ceremonial circles are the paths we traveled, and traveled, and traveled along the way