# 6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771 **URL:** \ **Category:** Files\ **Created:** [May 26, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259 "2022-05-26T17:46:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 2:19pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/41 "2022-10-10T14:19:59Z")
_White Blight_ (`sm218_shades`) is another really nice little map, this one set in a snowy village. It uses its setting well to provide rather more combat than you might expect in so small an area, and does a good job of changing up the different kinds of combats you wind up in. Plus it’s just nice to look at. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/42 "2022-10-10T14:52:39Z")
_Carcosa Docks_ (`sm218_alexunder`) is another nice little level, working from a Honey-like sewer through a brief pipework-ridden industrial area into a small town. Each part of it looks great, though no part of it looks much like docks. Gameplay is enjoyable enolugh, but never especially inventive or exciting. All three areas feel underpopulated, especially the climactic, or rather anticlimactic, town. 50% more monsters and maybe a little more visual variation in the sewer section would elevate this map to the next level. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 2:52pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/43 "2022-10-10T14:52:40Z")
_Carcosa Docks_ (`sm218_alexunder`) is another nice little level, working from a Honey-like sewer through a brief pipework-ridden industrial area into a small town. Each part of it looks great, though no part of it looks much like docks. Gameplay is enjoyable enolugh, but never especially inventive or exciting. All three areas feel underpopulated, especially the climactic, or rather anticlimactic, town. 50% more monsters and maybe a little more visual variation in the sewer section would elevate this map to the next level. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/44 "2022-10-10T14:53:47Z")
(@Spirit, if you’re easily able to delete my accidental duplicate comment – I inadvertently double-clicked) that would be welcome. If not, no worries. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/45 "2022-10-10T15:48:59Z")
The hits just keep coming with _Ransacked Balaneion_ (`sm218_aesopolis`), a lovely level that uses two or three novel environments and can only really be criticised for not getting enough gameplay out of them. The garden where we start is beautiful, the largely wooden hall of the early combats works well, the wooden house on stilts where the climax takes place is also a pleasing envronment. Best of all are the glimpses of gorgeous far-off places that the poor old Ranger really wants to get to. I would have loved this to be a lot bigger. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 1:41pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/46 "2022-10-11T13:41:21Z")
More quality in _Runic Rampage_ (`sm217_greenwood`): a fairly long level where you make you up a runic stairway with lots of side-areas which you need to visit to unlock barriers. Never especially inspirational, but also never dull and never less than competent. It’s perhaps let down by a slightly anticlimactic ending, but props for not going with the obvious shambler. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/47 "2022-10-11T16:18:25Z")
_Neophanemia_ (`sm217_ish`) is the first clunker in this pack, for me (although I know tastes will vary). The reduced gravity feels unmotivated, the extreme ammo shortage is an unsatisfactory source of difficulty, and the connections between parts of map feel odd and arbitrary. I made my way uncomfortably to the exit with not many more than half the kills, and even when I went back to `noclip` around I couldn’t find plenty of monsters. I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 4:50pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/48 "2022-10-11T16:50:45Z")
_Overcast Outpost_ (`sm217_stickflip`) is an elegant design that lets you see early on some of the places that you will visit later. It’s nicely put together, but feels a bit samey by the end – and at it’s a short level, there really ought to have been ways to avoid that. BUT the final boss is properly terrifying. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 9:39am UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/49 "2022-10-12T09:39:13Z")
_Sewer Authority_ (`sm217_yoder`) is a lovely example of what a small map can be – atmospheric, frenetic, goal-directed. But it leaves an aftertaste of disappointment because the ending feels incomplete. Having found both (easy) secrets and killed everything, I had only 61 or 67 kills; and there was an obvious but unmarked secret with a double-barrelled shotgun and some ammo, which seems impossible to reach. Am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 10:19am UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/50 "2022-10-12T10:19:48Z")
Only now, when I have finished reviewing all the maps in this pack, does it become apparent to me that I have been writing about sm217, not sm218! Yes, I am a dumbass. Rather than copy-paste my reviews across, I will leave a note on sm217. And I will return to _this_ pack later! ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/51 "2022-10-28T13:42:34Z")
… And now to play _this_ map-pack!! ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/52 "2022-10-28T13:45:28Z")
We’re off to a good start with _Snake’s Wondering if its Tail Tastes Nice_ (`sm218_alexunder`). It begins on a small podium in the middle of a square pool whose edges are too high to climb out into the surrounding room. Instead you have to explore a network of underwater tunnels and deal with the set-pieces in the three or four areas where you emerge at the end of them. Lots of fun to be had. My big quibble with this one is the abrupt ending: despite finding all three (easy) secrets, I arrived at what proved to be the exit with only 49 of 62 kills. Somewhere in that map lie another 27% of monsters on top of the ones I killed. Where? ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/53 "2022-10-28T14:11:48Z")
_Purgatory Passage_ (`sm218_chrisholden`) is nicely executed, but rather too easy and maybe a _bit_ too derivative of _Hell’s Atrium_ (`e4m5`). Not his most impressive work for my money. (BTW., Now I notice that in the comment above I described Chris Holden’s sm217 contribution as “nicely executed”, too!) ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 3:49pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/54 "2022-10-28T15:49:09Z")
_Palace of the Elder God_ (`sm218_dariusgi`) is exactly what you would expect from a map of this name in an Episode 4-based speedmap competition. It’s nicely put together with a clear progression and plenty of combats. Another that I would have been happy to see continue for much longer. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2022, 4:37pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/55 "2022-10-28T16:37:40Z")
More goodness in _Respect Your Elders’ World_ (`sm186_greenwood`), which really nails the intense brutality of the best parts of Episode 4. It has one of those contrived progressions where you have to drop down into an extended sewer adventure in order to move up one level from where you start, and judges the difficulty well to keep you on your toes especially mid-game. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 11:26am UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/56 "2022-11-01T11:26:47Z")
I can’t say I enjoyed _Shady Better Sin_ (`sm218_hcm`), although I admired it. I would probably have had more fun on Normal skill than my usual Hard, but by the time I realised this I was deep enough in that the sunk-cost fallacy prevented me from starting over. I had to cheat early on: having not found any secrets (I ended with only one of the seven) I had nowhere near enough ammo, so I gave myself 100 shells. With that done, I was able – just, with many, many reloads – to finish with 105 of 136 kills. I know where there’s one ogre that I didn’t kill (up on a ledge and I wanted to conserve ammo) but I have no idea where the other 30 are. If I play this again, it will be on Normal. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2022, 11:27am UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/57 "2022-11-01T11:27:54Z")
BTW., I only now figured out that HCM is Mazu. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 10:26am UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/58 "2022-11-02T10:26:06Z")
Well, i gave up on _Elder Mechanys_ (`sm218_ish`). It was another, like Mazu’s, that was so hard on Hard that it just wasn’t fun – not least because of the dearth of ammo. So I swallowed my pride, restarted on Normal, and was mostly enjoying myself until, after the zombie interlude, I found myself teleported into a small caged area with a box of rockets, a quad, and no apparent means of escape. If someone can tell me what I need to do from there, I’ll pick it up again, but for now I’m done. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 11:42am UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/59 "2022-11-02T11:42:26Z")
_Columns of Hopelessness_ (`sm218_iyago`) is much more tractable, and feels like actual fun instead of work. It’s maybe a little bit by-the-numbers, with its very E4M2ish opening, but that’s easy enough to forgive. Not necessarily one that will last long in the memory, but a blessed relief after Mazu’s and Ish’s maps. ---
**Author:** ![MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/user_avatar/discuss.quaddicted.com/miketaylor/32/70_2.png) [@MikeTaylor](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/u/MikeTaylor)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 12:34pm UTC](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259/60 "2022-11-02T12:34:18Z")
_Stir Fried Dissolution_ (`sm218_riktoi`) is unexceptionable, but small and blocky, and lacking in atmosphere. It’s a pleasant enough way to spend five minutes, but that’s all. [Previous page](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259.md?page=2) [Next page](https://discuss.quaddicted.com/t/6ac9e28d7b06f2c0f3ae012f1ae0f9141733fc2838703bb2f98dcd150806c771/7259.md?page=4)