» Prodigy (Special Edition)

Prodigy (Special Edition)

Author: Dario Casali | Rating: 9.50 | Download: prodigy_se.zip / pse_gl.zip

Prodigy Special Edition is a 1997 Q1SP episode by Dario Casali. Prodigy SE is named after the British techno group, The Prodigy. You may even hear a bit of one of their tunes in one of the PSE levels! For those who don’t know, Dario has been mapping for quite some time. He and his brother Milo created many levels for Doom including the Plutonia Experiment, which became part of Final Doom. He comes by his artistic ability honestly. His mother Kim was the creator of the widely popular Love is… cartoon series. All that mapping goodness led to Dario being offered a job with fledgling Valve Software to work on the development of their new game, Half-Life. So if you’re roaming the levels of PSE and you see something that looks familiar and you think you may have seen something like it in HL…well, you could be right! Dario also has a few Q1DM maps to his credit, the DCDM series.

Note(s):

PSE crashes GLQuake occasionally (GL version .97) because of the GL cache mismatch problem. To fix it, see my previous review (Corporal Punishment).
This level set is not optimized for transparent water. If you like to run your maps this way, download and install pse_gl.zip by Darren Winter . Complete instructions in his readme.
Even though these maps have deathmatch spawn spots, ammo, weapons, etc., they just don’t make the grade. There are too many good DM maps out there to even consider these except for maybe p_se_3b.bsp. For that reason I won’t bother reviewing them.

PSE is a big (4.37 MB) five-map unit plus a large start map and a hidden, secret level. All four skill levels are supported, but Casali calls them normal, hard, really hard and nightmare. Maps one, two and four were originally released as stand-alone levels with the secret level and the start map first making an appearance with the release of Prodigy Four. These are all large maps, but map three was the largest (bet you were wondering where three was!) and had to be split into two separate levels. It was never released by itself and is only available with the Prodigy SE release. Because of their stand-alone playability, the start level is more of a hub than anything else and each map has its own entrance hallway. Also, each level contains all the weapons needed to play it, so you can play the maps in any order with each exiting back to the start map. Secrets, traps and tricks are everywhere so keep your eyes open. Ammo and health are not everywhere…
The maps all have the visual appeal made possible by the proper use of textures that are well made, and by lighting that is consistently realistic and properly sourced. Texture alignment is particularly good. The texture set is the original Quake set augmented by quite a few of the author’s own. Brush use is consistent with believable archecheral designs found throughout the episode. Overhangs have proper looking and interesting supports. Sloped roofs and the use of curved structures add interest to the levels, making the player want to explore. These levels are rife with tricks, puzzles, switches, buttons, levers and traps. Sometimes you have to press a switch or shoot a button that opens a panel so you can press a switch or shoot a button…

Monsters come at you in reasonable numbers, although as the skill level rises so do their numbers. You’re always given a proper weapon to dispatch them with, but several times on the harder skill levels, ammo gets in short supply. I improved my axe skills considerably playing PSE. For this review, I first played the episode on normal skill and played the maps in order, one through four. The large levels and interconnected sections encourage exploration and in some sections, make it easy to get lost. PSE probably has the most finished look of any user created map or episode of its time. It raised the bar for quality level design as well as for tough gameplay for the experienced FPS player. The only complaint I have with PSE is with the fact that each map was released individually, and then included as part of this episode. That sort of unbalances the weaponage in the favor of the player. PSE would have been better if the maps had been designed from the ground up as part of an episode.

The Start map: The skill select portals are set into the facade of a beautiful, towering, gothic style cathedral. Really Hard dominates the center as the largest entrance and is appropriately textured in the bloody id metal typical of traps and crushers. The sky is a lurid red color, custom by the author, and possibly the first red sky seen in Q1. Step through a portal and into the first room where twin stairways wind up to an upper room that leads to the center of the hub. There, a large lighting fixture casts an ominous pentagonal shadow on the floor as the entrances to the four levels radiate outward. The construction of each doorway is varied with different textures applied and give the impression that each does lead to a different world. A couple of hints: The nightmare skill portal is hidden, but not particularly hard to find. It’s worth finding just to get a look at its design even if you have no interest in playing at skill 3. The entrance to the secret level, which incidentally has nothing to do with the episode, is also found in the start map also. The title of the secret level is Endurance…I’ll let you figure out why!

Prodigy One -Arrival, begins inside your spaceship, textured in idbase. A little exploration gets you well provisioned and you’re off on your quest to the planet below. You must penetrate a well-protected chapel, all textured in a medieval theme, to get the gold key and return to your ship! There’s one secret that you’ll have to backtrack to get.
skill/monsters: 0/60, 1/66, 2/77, 3/77

Prodigy Two -Ebony Shrine, has the coolest and maybe the toughest ending and one that is very much a climax. It finishes with some tough combat and with some cool tricks. There’s a big difference in the way this level plays, depending on which skill level you choose. Two secrets here; one is easy to find, the other harder and more important to secure.
skill/monsters: 0/53, 1/61, 2/71, 3/71

Prodigy Three and 3b -Venom, this is a map in two parts. It had to be chopped because of its size. The first part of this map is a labyrinth of passages in and out of a watery lower level. The outer walls of the complex are textured in a nice looking reddish stone, while the inner walls are done in a similar stone with a blue tint. A cool touch is the use of yet another similar stone with a green mossy look down next to the waterline. Gothic style window treatments are very cool looking and tie in with the start level. Because of the many winding, twisting passages, this level feels even bigger than it is. I tend to have problems negotiating levels like this and spend a lot of time backtracking. I don’t mind, in fact, I think it’s a good thing not to own every level the first time through. It’s cool to be able to play it a second or third time and find new features. There are four secrets. One gives itself away by showing textures through the floor…
skill/monsters: 0/95, 1/117, 2/127, 3/127

3b -This second part of Venom doesn’t feel so much like a continuation of the first part as it does like a new map. The transition is a good one, you exit the first part after walking across the bridge and into a room facing a pair of closed doors. You spawn into the second half map in an identical room. The map does use many of the same textures, but there the similarities end. The structures give 3b a different feel. Also, this type of map would have been better textured in a metal theme. Still, it’s very cool and has the same sort of innovative design the other maps have. There’s a trap in the upper room that is very deadly; tripping it on an enemy is a huge amount of fun! The gold key is kept in the coolest looking pyramid structure I’ve seen.
skill/monsters: 0/34, 1/38, 2/44, 3/44

Prodigy Four -Sombre Citadel, A metal textured level with its own share of traps and tricks and with two secrets. There are a lot of switches to trip before you can get out of this one. The best thing about that is that it keeps you sharp and makes you do a lot of extra exploring. Check out the large lift and see if it doesn’t look like one in Half-Life. skill/monsters: 0/53, 1/62, 2/65, 3/65

Secret Level -Endurance, It’s great fun, but skill levels don’t apply.

I give this my highest recommendation for fun and a good challenge! Well worth the download.

- The Mechanic