There should be a link to the 'extended files' - http://www.quaddicted.com/reviews/n3sp02_extd.html - and the homepage url needs to updated.

(delete this comment after fixing)

Rating: Excellent? wtf :D

I agree with onetruepurple -- this is certainly not "Excellent".

Some of it is very nice. It starts off really well, with thunder, breakable glass, swinging lanterns, working machinery and special effects all helping to create an immersive atmosphere. A lot of it also looks really good, especially initially.

Unfortunately the quality is not consistent, with architecture ranging from believable to blocky, textures ranging from good to absent, a silver key sequence which (as I gather from Shambler's review) was supposed to be funny, but came across as buggy and features the sudden appearance of an inexplicable invisible wall, some unfortunate monster modifications and a very anticlimactic final map with an exit that seemed not to work without resorting to noclip.

This is certainly very ambitious and original, but necros's more recent releases are in a completely different league.

If you are using a case-sensitive operating system and/or engine, you may want to make sure all file and directory names are lowercase, with the exception of the following:

sound/ambient/Thunder1.wav

sound/ambient/Thunder2.wav

sound/ambient/Thunder3.wav

sound/ambient/TRumble1.wav

sound/ambient/TRumble2.wav

TQ1481.exe runs this map on my PC: Vista, 4.8GHz P4, 3 GB RAM, Nvidia GT240. originally, i used requiem and quakespasm, and experienced technical problems with this map. primarily: the silver key did not land on the platform when it fell. the lift at the end of the second map did not operate. if it is a lift. also, if there's an item in the secret of the second map, it did not appear. i did like the trees & transparent monsters though.

Hmm. Playing through the main level of this on Hard, and killing everything, I finished with only 63/97 kills -- less than two thirds. I wonder whether the other 34 beasts were? I didn't find either of the two official secrets (though I got the yellow armour under the steps that lead down to the zombies) so perhaps they're inside the secrets. But they must be darned big secret areas.

It's true that there's a lot wrong with this map. Obtaining the silver key is silly, and I wasn't able at first to figure out that all you're meant to do is wait. Actually using the silver key is all wrong, too -- it doesn't seem to actually open anything, just make the gold key accessible, so I had to do a lot of random hunting to find it. It's a shame that part of the map is, apparently, permanently closed off once you pick up the gold key, shutting away some supplies and the route to the ring of shadows which I assume is one of the secrets. I also couldn't figure out what to do after repairing the lift.

And yet, and yet ... you have to applaud the sheer ambition of a map like this, especially coming so early in a mapper's career. I think the seeds of Necros's future greatness are here. I'm glad to have played it, even though I can't score it above two stars by modern standards.

The boss level is a hoot, mind you.

Mike, the amount of facepalms i cant even..! Modern Standards? LOL! Rethink your reasoning for ratings, this is seriously damaging and falsifiyng the Quaddicted DB. You seem like an intelligent person, why do you come up with such stupid logic?

It is like saying the Beatles sucked, because they had no mp3's in the 70ies.

Better don't rate maps at all.

This map still holds more ingeniousness than most modern ones.

Everyone is free to rate things as they like. Honest subjective ratings are the entire point of letting users participate. Please refrain from personal attacks.

Thanks, Spirit. I feel that maps being rated now have to be rated by modern standards, because if you give five stars to a 1997 map that was great for its time then what are you going to do for Honey or the Rubicon Rumble Pack? The point is, the bar has been raised -- again and again and again.

This is indeed difficult to rate. But comparing it with new maps is not fair. There are so many new tool sets and tool chains available. This map by necros is full of new features, gimmicks and effects. He is without a doubt a very good mapper and coder at the same time. A robust 4 for me.

Great effort, which I want to reward with a 4 even though there are some obvious flaws. I was as puzzled as MikeTaylor: finished it in Nightmare with only 49/102 kills.