Forum thread for smej_1.0
964c7f1e6f20f04d32cc075ca70e6fdb28913875b8861d408e52b732643742ed
overall_rating
4.526315789473684
57
Unusual, unexpected, has music. Looks like I got my present after all.
Not sure what the inspiration behind the first level was, but I immediately thought of Doom 64, followed by a more appropriate flashback of Quake 64. The former is darker than this, while the latter is infamous for its unusually colorful lighting.
Then there’s YukiRaven, but her only level for Quake is rather toned down compared to her Doom works.
In any case, looking forward to playing the rest.
Puzzle-heavy progression definitely reminds me of Doom 64, especially Outpost Omega with its cubist yellowish vertical maze. Except it’s even more extreme here, but also more clever. I’m sure some people will hate it for this, but I’d say let them.
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Unregistered user “NewHouse” posted:
Based On The Current Feedback
Version 1.1 Is On It’s Way.
An update to the link is coming as soon as possible, all your feedback & demos are greatly valued and will be taken account.
-smej crew
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Thank you guys for great release. I passed all of maps instead of w1m2 and w1s1, because of crash-on-save issue. Please fix it. I had the same in “Of Three Plantagenets” by Ubiquitous and he found a solution in this post: http://www.celephais.net/board/view_thread.php?id=61759
All four lions are in the same room, right?
Unregistered user “anon” posted:
Yes
Found three of them easily, but the last one was kicking my ass until about now. The reward is pretty underwhelming for such an interesting setup. I expected it to lead to the secret level, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have tried so hard.
Unregistered user “anon” posted:
Yup, one of the four is exceptionally hard, almost impossible to find.
Unregistered user “anon” posted:
The entrance to the secret level is in a later map.
Unregistered user “anon” posted:
The entrance to the secret level is in a later map.
Unregistered user “Vasya shkolnik” posted:
How open Hightmare skill?
Hello, admins! Not related to the present map, but I am commenting here as it’s the most recently posted map and most likely to come to someone’s attention.
The link to jumpmod2+btd_complete is broken, because the + gets interpreted in an URL as meaning a space. To get to the correct page, you need this link: https://www.quaddicted.com/reviews/jumpmod2%2Btd_complete.html
(It’s well worth going there, by the way: it’s an interesting mod and the levels are nice.)
About half of these levels can’t be saved using Quakespasm, on LInux at least. Gah. I really wish someone would fix this… my hardware doesn’t run Darkplaces well at all.
vkQuake on Windows worked for me.
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Level 1 soaked most of the creativity in the pack. So many neat little things about the progression and secrets. Although my determination to solve the main optional puzzle made me really weary of it in the end. For those who are reading this, but missed my older comments: it’s probably not worth it. Death pits could use a second chance system demonstrated in Underdark Overbright, because as it is the LG platforming challenge is a savescumming fest.
Level 4 (showcased on the screenshot), on the other hand, represents the highest point of immersion. I wish it was a little longer and/or more complex, as it ends roughly when I expected to be at the 2/3 of it. It gave me a Dark Souls feeling due to its uhhhh let’s call it structural depth - a number of distinct setpieces that nevertheless feel connected as parts of the same decaying ruin, with history and purpose to its structures.
The rest is adequate, but those were the highlights for me, aside from the last level, which is remarkable for its evil theme somewhat resembling Nyarlathotep, but set in a pitch-black void instead of an endless cosmos. It exemplifies the pack’s monotonous pacing: pick up an item - get an ambush in your face, press a button - get an ambush in your face, scratch your butt - you get the idea. This may be a good way to provide the player with constant shooting, but it leaves little room for suspense. Highlight encounter: spawn pit. Very unpleasant, good paranoia.
Mines are cool and slightly underused. I’d lift them into something of my own making, except maybe implementing them as a more dynamic mdl actor. Scourge of Armagon has a similar thing that could serve as a basis for the model.
What else? A couple of misplaced textures, and there is no water vis in a few maps, causing rare and generally inoffensive glitches for people playing with water alpha less than 1 (an otherwise good idea with this pack).