I liked the verticality of it. The high point of it was the secrets, since all doors open (I get frustrated when there is a door that does nothing, I know sometimes it is there for ambience purposes, but why not put a easy secret instead) and one of them said: “find all the secrets”. Ended the level with 2/5, so I had to go digging. Since it isn’t a giant map, people shouldn’t be put off the search.
Enemy placement was good, when you get the golden key, you’re suppose to fall down, I got stuck on a corner and cheated my way through the level and got a lot of enemies by the back.
5/5. Wish it were larger though, but I think it would spoil the map. PS: what was that last spawn, took ages to kill.
Just like Beep’s map, it’s a gauntlet of some sort. I would like that the first level had a fight in it, the first thing that I went for was the blue armor, so after I got all the weaponary and pressed the buttons, I was startled for a fight, but it never happened.
Although the gauntlet type was cool, the wave without any control of the players leave everything for chance and you can’t even get acquainted to the map. Except for the last wave, everything was well balanced.
The last wave was a little disappointing, if you hadn’t save rocket ammo, it probably isn’t satysfing as it was for me, and became a nearly boring task of mowing down enemies while invulnerable.
Some secrets would be nice and it can be done like Beep’s map showed, although his waves were a little spaced out by some action from the player.
You can cheese the teleporting enemies, that was funny.
Finally got around to playing this. Everyone had a solid map, but 3 of them really stood out for me:
“Violet Fluid” by heresy was one of the most creative maps I’ve played in terms of visual story-telling and originality. While modern games simply give you a story, maps like this offer an idea and let you develop the story. I had the impression the player is on a distant desert world escaping an outpost occupied with hostiles (maybe mercenaries for a corrupt corporation?) that “mines” the sap from an alien tree. Beautiful base-style architecture that seamlessly blends with the alien landscape and caverns. The santa secret was entertaining as a side note.
“Coldwind Castle” by MortalMaxx was a fantastic blend of atmosphere, architecture, visuals, and level progression that made this small map feel larger. The skybox, lighting, weather effects (great use of snow), music track, and foliage models all came together to offer a very Skyrim-esque experience. I can easily see maps like this being used for a Quake mod that focuses on medieval weapons and gameplay mechanics. The only drawback to this map is that it was constrained to 1024^3. Maybe one day we will see a larger standalone version.
“Roba el Ehaliyeh” by Ionous is another example of great storytelling that gives the player a sense of place and time. I loved how the story tied into a Lovecraft theme. Additionally, the geometry and texturing are second to none, employing a great use of space and texturing to really bring the Quoth/knave elements alive again. Level progression was fantastic, as were enemy encounters (I always play on skill 2, so there were a lot but well paced out) and it’s hard to believe the depth and scope of this map happened in 1024^3 (with 14 secrets packed away nicely).
Honorable mention: “The Anti-Christmas” by nolcoz for making me laugh at a few of the carnival game voice-ins
Nice job everyone, thanks for the maps and keeping Quake alive. Best game ever even 24 years later.
THANK YOU. Great maps. All of them. Not a single one was a filler, all were truly engaging
My personal favourite is Roba El Ehaliyeh by Ionous, since I am Lovecraft fan & here I was collecting Al Hazred tomes. Hooray! Not to mention the very unique usage of space and secret passages. Little masterpiece!
