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61d810b90fe75f82c5441861a494d0c57dd682a5c28fcf3299034041a4d8069f
overall_rating
4.214285714285714
42
Played on skill 3 (there is no option for skill 0 
), 55/55 killed, 3/4 secrets.
Brushwork is based on setpieces with in-outs which make the map look a bit bland but way better than in the screenshot, it doesn’t get too repetitive as there is several, enemies get stuck sometime on them, but as the map is easy, it’s hard for the player to get stuck himself. Layout is linear with backtracking and with room to move. Difficulty is around ID maps.
Combats are varied but not too imposing on the player, no feel of hurriedness, no real ambushes, but decent gameplay nonetheless. Amount and placement of ammo/health/armor is very good, lower than ID maps but with more than enough to miss. Secrets are hard to find, and there is the typical Vondur’s secret, easier to open than to find.
Overall, considering the year and that it is his first release, it gets from me a 5/5-.
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@Icantthinkofanickname “Inspired by skacky’s demo with commentary for Metal Monstrosity, I am uploading my own far less amusing demo for this map.” Where?
Uhh, nevermind, I just saw the demos chart on the left.
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So, I’ve played this and I pretty much share MikeTaylor and Icant’s opinion, except that I seem to have found combat a little more enjoyable than them. Nothing much to add but this: I loved the design of the hallways at the start, it reminded me of Koohoo. Sure, you can get stuck on the architecture but you just have to be a little extra careful about where you step, that’s all. It’s not that big of a deal. A solid 3.5 translates to 4 kawaii pink hearts.
Also: in the room with the door framed by two small crosses (the one that leads to the gold key room), there are two buttons hidden inside holes in the wall on the sides. They’re too deep to be able to press them and shooting them doesn’t seem to do anything. If anyone has a clue, please share.
One final note: Solarfall? Uh, why? I mean it’s a cool sounding title in itself but I don’t see any reason for it in the map and at any rate, it sounds much more sci-fi than medieval fantasy. It would have suited the base theme more.
Never understood the title either–actually would fit a base map quite well, preferably one featuring a skybox with a dying star being sucked into a black hole. Anyone?
Lane Powell (& bfg666), that’s easy enough to piece together by reading the readme, knowing that Vondur is into black metal and a quick internet search for “Solarfall”.
The readme explains that Vondur was annoyed with the sunny summer weather while creating this map, and thus decided to create a cold “kingdom of eternal
winter and darkness [where the] sun no longer rises” (from the readme). A google/startpage/your-search-engine-of-choice search reveals that “Solarfall” is also the title of a black metal song from the same year this map was released, and that the lyrics likewise describe a cold, sunless world.
OK, thanks. Yeah, I admit I overlooked the readme and I’m not much into black metal - except for Burzum - so I didn’t know the song.
No problem.
Oh, I know nothing about black metal myself; I just happened to know that Vondur likes it (and/or related genres). I simply did a search for the word “Solarfall” to see if it is used elsewhere – very often map names are references to other works (mostly music or Lovecraft stories). The song was an obvious fit for the aforementioned reasons. 
Yeah. I still feel it has a more sci-fi ring to it, though.
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