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Thursday 10th February 2000:

Alk05: "The Savage Sanguine"
(Size: 1.40 meg. Above link includes mirror downloads.)


Fresh new level, fresh new style. This map mostly uses the orange texture theme from the classic Efdm9 deathmatch map, combined with plenty of Quake 2 textures, to create a uniquely styled grimy, rusty, hi-tech level. The design is fairly simple one or two storey rooms, with lots of shallow buttresses, subtle angles, and plenty of grilles and lighting details. Texturing is a mixture of orange and dark grey textures, with a lot of grille textures too, and this is carried off well throughout the map, while having enough variety to stay interesting. The use of the orange/grey contrast to spice up the buttress and walls is particularly good. Even better is the use of angles - all the walls and many of the floors have subtle, undulating angles, giving even the most basic areas plenty of style and appeal.

The simplicity is one of the weak points - some more complex structures and variety in room designs would have been better (as Efdm9 shows, there's a lot you can make with this style). The other flaws are technical: some lights and a door that are badly lit, some scruffy texture uses around ledges, and the odd texture bug. Nothing that really detracts from the map's fine style though. Also, the story behind the map is pretty cool - you play an war criminal taking advantage of the Quake war to capture industrial sites to your own advantage. Nice to see an original story that still ties in with Quake. For exploration, you get a few route choices in places, and a few simple but useful secrets too. The well connected design - returning to previous sections via different routes - gives the map a nice, efficient, feel.

Despite being a hi-tech map, the combat is firmly focused on medieval monsters, with lots of Knights, DeathKnights and Ogres providing the action. Additionally, the Snakeman custom monster is used - appearing in a *good* map for the first time ever. The skin's a bit shabby on this monster, but it fits into Quake fairly well, and dishes out plenty of nails - the Snakeman is used sparingly but effectively in this map, providing some fun surprises. Some other monster usages are careless: Enforcers don't fit with the medieval gang, and diverse gangs of monsters often lead to infighting. A couple of other minor issues are doors that do you damage (pointless), and sometimes you can get stuck on the walls. Otherwise, the gameplay is straightforward, good, and consistent, and all areas have enough monsters to keep you busy. You start with some weapons, get plenty of ammo, and most areas are easy to move in or retreat from, so the map is fairly easy to blast your way through, perhaps a bit easy for some players. However, there are some good combat set-ups and some nicely lurking monsters, and the arena finale is well executed and pleasing.

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