UNF***ING believable is the least I can say about this map.

if you want to read a full review of this map check it here. (no need for me to retype all of it.)

http://retroquake.planetquake.gamespy.com/blog/?p=93

Whoever rated this map "nice" needs to quit his job ; )
This one is EXCELLENT to say the least.
Very nice. Very unique.

Thanks Edger for pointing this one out!!! Without your comment I probably would have missed ount on this one.

It's insane that all of this was done without QC.

Very enjoyable map and interesting fights with nice ending. Feels very quakey.

Yes, good quake-ish style and cool boss fights, a great 1997 map. On the other hand, it's quite cramped for the most part and could have used more varied gameplay (less ogres). Hence the "nice" rating.

Excellent. The Best!

Insane amount of fun. Keeping in mind that this is a '97 map and doesn't use any QC it's a 6 out of 5 in my book. I don't mind many the ogres in the beginning so much since their placement is great which kinda makes up for it.

Thumbs up

Two thumbs up

One of my favourite maps ever!

Can't believe I never finished it. It is very nice! Old, crude but so full of imagination and weirdness.

area in the screenshot looks like DooM episode 4. :D
classic map

Kickass Map!

This is quite a fun map, it's very dated now but it has some interesting ideas. :)

BEST ending EVER!

Dated yes! Just as the Q1

Did anyone find all the secrets? How to get the first megahealth?

I Just found the first Megahealth secret. It's really tricky.

Spoiler ahead >>>>>>>>>>>>

When you're in the huge staircase room, jump on the RIGHT railing of the stair in the middle - the one with the invisible magic barrier. Walk upwards into the MAGIC BARRIER while you are ON the railing and it will throw you back right into the Megahealth.

Later into the map the barrier disappears - I don't remember how and when though - I guess you can't reach the MH any more once the barrier is gone.

There's also a Quad hidden in the same room. Take a close look at the walls > and shoot ; )

This map is so underrated. Just stumbled on it accidentally.

If you are looking for the real thing - give this one a try. 100% genuine old school Quake. The way it's suppose to be. 5/5

a great map with very interesting and unique ideas! however it is quite cramped in most places.

Played on skill 3. 4/6 secrets found

Good map with varying quality, some rooms and combats reminds a bit of first maps and other are good even by today standards. Stands out on the good side the first room, Cthon's room, the RoI part, and the shalrath's room, the rest are brushwork wise decent to good by 1997 standards, and some combats wise too. The worst part would be the room with the first dogs till the jail, with incomprehensible brushwork (that kind of door's frame just after the dogs).

Layout is good, linear with some revisiting and backtracking, combats vary a lot, from those where you'll probably die on the first try, some confusing ones in total darkness where you have to use a shambler, ogres' grenades and the RL to lit the room, to some enjoyable and inventive ambushes. Amount of ammo varies too, in the first third you have to run instead of kill or be lucky when choosing where to go, or you'll find yourself axing ogres and tartabies, but for the rest of the map the amount is even higher than ID maps. Health and armor is well placed and in adequate amounts. Secrets are well placed and with good amounts of rewards, inventive and tricky. Difficulty varies from around ID maps to way higher.

If it were a 2015's map, overall, it would get a rating of 3/3+. For a 1997's map, a 4+.

It was refreshing and highly entertaining to play this map. If you're fixed to todays standards this might not be the perfect map for you. But if you bought you copy of Quake way back in 96 like me you will absolutely love it. It's just the way Quake was meant to be. Simple and pure 10/10 from the eyes of an oldschool Quaker

Great!

One of the best classic Q1 maps I've ever played

Ummm... I'm not usually stupid but I can't figure out how to escape the FIRST room! There's two exits: the gold key door and the hallway that requires runes to continue (of course I have neither yet), apparently no way to climb the walls and the metallic square in the middle doesn't seem to open or move...

@BFG you have to ax or shoot the metallic square in the middle of the courtyard. Once you hit it, it will start rising up from the ground. At that point, you can either stay on the square and let it lift you up to the courtyard walls, or you can jump off and drop in the hole in the ground where the square used to be.

This is a fantastic map. It's not perfect--there are a few places where the gameplay drags--but it's very ambitious, and it has the same foreboding atmosphere as the original game without being a retread. The final fight is extremely tough on nightmare.

Thanks JMP. I wasn't sure if it was a lift because it's the same texture as the floor and nothing happened when I walked over it. Lifts are usually not activated by axing them and it seems counter-intuitive to me.

Wow! I just finished it and it's amazing for a 1997 map! I love its often surreal architecture. Special mention to that nonsensical room with the metallic panels - supposedly the one that Cocerello didn't like...

Perception is a funny thing: I read complaints about some cramped sections but I didn't really feel it when playing the map. On the contrary, what sticks in my mind are the huge proportions of many rooms, like the distinctive vore arena or Chthon's lair. The dark room is another highlight (pun intended) that makes for a pretty hectic fight, very impressive in Darkplaces with dynamic lighting enabled.

Combat is tough but manageable, thanks to the many covers and sufficient, well placed supplies. Secrets are mostly good except for a couple: one is a tiny ledge with... nothing? Only a trap, thank you very much! The other is the quad secret that I never could have found without noclipping because of the shootable part of the wall looking exactly identical to the rest of it and the lack of any other kind of hint. Note that the megahealth is still accessible after the magic barrier disappears with a well-timed grenade jump from the top of the stairs.

One disappointment: you don't really fight Shubby and you don't even see her get impaled by that gigantic nail.

SPOILER WARNING for the comment above mine and for mine:

bfg666, in response to your last sentence -- sure you do. It might be something that doesn't work in DarkPlaces, though.

Not saying you should switch to a different engine, nor that DarkPlaces is bad, but keep in mind that you're bound to run into these sorts of issues if you're going to use it for Q1SP. A few years ago it was the only engine I could get to run smoothly on my system (updated releases of QuakeSpasm have since changed that) and I recall similar things happening time and time again: end cut-scenes not displaying properly, items falling out of maps, certain mechanics not working at all or not working properly, etc.

Yeah, sorry about the lack of spoiler alert. I usually do so but this time I forgot.

I suppose you may be right about DP. [SPOILER] When the gigantic nail starts to drop down, I hear a teleporting sound and the view switches right to an indistinct end screen. [END SPOILER] I enjoyed this map enough to replay it eventually, so next time I'll try it in QS. I hate when I have to do that though, because I prefer DP's superior lighting capabilities and support for normal/bump mapping. When QS will support RTlights and normals, I'll see about making it my default engine. A lot of DP-specific issues can be resolved with a handful of cvars but sometimes, mostly in older maps, some issues still occur.

I've never really understood the widespread enthusiasm for this map. Too much of it is frustrating and ugly: the first underground area with all the angled walls, the numerous spawn ambushes, the pitch-dark fight under the shub. That said, the final execution was very satisfying.

the first underground area with all the angled walls

is one of the visual highlights of this map for me. It's so surreal!

I like that underground area too. The comabt is so-so, but visually it's really cool.

I can't speak for others, but I like Myworld because it has the same atmosphere as the original game, but the specifics are completely different. It repurposes many of the design elements from the id maps and introduces a few new ones, while executing everything on a grander scale. It's basically an "id plus" map, and since I play Quake mostly for nostalgia, that makes it ideal for me.

Well, I am going to classify this as my "Bob Dylan" map. Everyone else thinks it's great, but even after repeated attempts, I just can't see it :-)

Ha! I've never gotten Dylan's appeal either, so that's one thing we can agree on.

Seeing this floating all over the recently review list and here I am.

Going to have to agree with the Dylan effect here...nothing special.

What a boring level!

Most of the time you fight ogres with shotgun in long narrow corridors lit by dim light. With the same shotgun you're supposed to kill 6 vores that attack you at the same time. Then when it's almost too late you get: the supernail gun, the grenade launcher, the rocket lancher. Simplistic architecture, stupid-looking endless buttons that you just keep pushing, small ugly platforms functioning as elevators. The final battle is near to impossible to survive: in almost complete darkness several fiends, at least one shambler, ogres and spawns attack you from all the directions.

Overall the interest in playing is close to zero. The overall atmosphere is such that the general feeling is always of the end of the level, i. e. the next jump ends up in the void.

Awesome! Loving every minute of it Very challenging indeed. But that's what I wanted and expect from any grade A map. For everyone who's not tough enough to take such a challenge. Better go play something else! This is pure oldschool QUAKE the way it was meant to be! Hats off

Note: I HATE it when people spoil the end!
INSTA BAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And a hint: If you think if a room is too hard. Try it again, turn off the lights and put on your headphones. BOOM - whole new experience.

If you are looking for a map that provides a unique but classic quake experience than this is the map for you. This is the best classic quake map that i have played that implements all of the elements such as enemies and traps that quake is known for into one experience. The architecture and level design as well as the combat within the map are engaging and well ahead of its time. This is a must download if you are an original quake fan and i would give this map a five out of five rating as it is one of those maps that set the bar higher in quality for the early quake modding community.

holy crap. this is definitely a pro map, not for the weak. this map will kick your ass. quite possibly one of the best maps i've played in a while, a must have for your old school maps collection. honestly, this map makes newish maps look like childs play.

my run of this map: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhK1EfWZ9TI&feature=youtu.be

"Repus Guest23 November 2017, 19:28 What a boring level!

Most of the time you fight ogres with shotgun in long narrow corridors lit by dim light. With the same shotgun you're supposed to kill 6 vores that attack you at the same time. Then when it's almost too late you get: the supernail gun, the grenade launcher, the rocket lancher. Simplistic architecture, stupid-looking endless buttons that you just keep pushing, small ugly platforms functioning as elevators. The final battle is near to impossible to survive: in almost complete darkness several fiends, at least one shambler, ogres and spawns attack you from all the directions.

Overall the interest in playing is close to zero. The overall atmosphere is such that the general feeling is always of the end of the level, i. e. the next jump ends up in the void."

-i fought the starting demons with an axe. quite yer whinin' lad.

Finally I found it. This was my most beloved map back in '97 I think. I had forgotten the name but just saw it in a let's play video. Still as challenging as it used to be. Love it

I cannot believe this map is from the year 1997. Even nowadays, what it offers, would be seen as controversial. I love it. It is genuine avant-garde. Furthermore, perfect strength of symbolism and environmental storytelling. There are few places which may navigationally loose the player, but it is all doable - just thoroughly examine the geometry. To myself, this is 'Quake' - wonderfully twisted and dark, like the paintings of H.P. Lovecraft.

This map fares a lot better in presentation than in gameplay. The atmosphere is just great and the architecture is really interesting to explore. The ending alone deserves an honourable mention; both entering the arena and the climax. Definitely 5/5 material in the visual department!

The gameplay, however, reeks of first time mapper traits: Lots of interesting and novel ideas that look cool on paper, but in practice don't work that well, in my opinion. There is quite a bit of trial and error and just plain ol' luck involved (cf. the final arena). The author sure wasn't kidding, when he warned about the map being hard. I'd be surprised someone survived this on a first playthrough. (I did play on nightmare, though, so I guess kudos for making the difficulty level worthy of its name.)

If you're going to play this, don't expect to survive without dying, and think of the various combat encounters being more like puzzles than your usual Quake fare. Finally, SAVE often! If you manage your expectations with these things in mind, I think you'll find more enjoyment out of the gameplay.

In conclusion, I think the gameplay aspect of the map is worthy of a 3/5 rating tops, but since the presentation department is so hard carrying the team here, I think my overall score for the map would be in the ballpark of 3,5/5.

AWESOME LEVEL !

it's fun, but the shub fight wasn't. fighting things in complete darkness isn'tfun

They don't make them quite like that anymore.