Forum thread for 37_hcm1
f69651ed08e9a8dd7b8ce043c8e793122fe8f03caf4c437c19e019b986a442e8
overall_rating
4.63265306122449
49
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A tremendous map in every respect. Right up there with Rubicon Rumble Pack/AD maps in terms of just being a huge fuckoff base, though the detailing is maybe closer to Travail. Combat is dense and sometimes even brutal (some might say “grindy”) on skill 2, keeping me in the red for a lot of my playtime, so be prepared. Also be prepared for a huge time investment. The map may not have the real estate of a Ter Shibboleth but it will take time to explore. There’s plenty of distinctive areas and an organic sense of exploratory and sometime secret-like progression, so it’s catnip for mapcrawlers. I completed it in 140 minutes, with only 13/37 secrets and 823/925 kills (!).
Definitely one of my favorite maps in recent times.
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How many seekers does a map need? 
I really doubted I would be able to finish this, and I’ll probably revisit it when I’ve recovered. Getting all secrets and all kills seems overly ambitious though, I’m not sure I can manage to find enough ammo.
I’m looking forward to further work from the author. Well done!
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Here’s a 100% Nightmare walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhL1vyD2vSg
Awesome map throughout
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Damn, I just finished this in 142 minutes and got about 85% of the stuff. This is like the Forgotten Sepulcher of Base maps. It has everything! Great story, great set pieces, loads of secrets, good visuals and the gameplay is pretty fun. The ending is really excellent too considering it’s just a single map. You get invested in the whole story of the place from logs scattered around, then it pays off. I found it more immersive than most other maps.
The sense of scale is probably the best I have seen in Quake for ages. Not just because it’s huge, but because of the way it gradually progresses. You see previously visited areas underneath brand new areas, it really gives the sense of being in a tangible space. Yunno, “oh my, that’s the place where I was 15 minutes ago” kind of shit.
The only thing I might fault is the visuals in some areas later on, they look a bit 90’s (areas lit too brightly with few coloured lights, repetitive texture work etc). Hardly a bad complaint, Quake is from 1996. I’m just spoilt by the really modern look of Sepulcher/AD/xmasjam2018 etc.
Highly recommended.
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Could it be, could it be, could it possibly be … a base map better than Telefragged? It might be! I’ve played that one four or five times, so I know it like an old friend, whereas I’ve only played 37th Relic Retrieval once, so I’m not quite ready to call it, but it just might be! At any rate, definitely one of the two all-time best base maps, and putting it ahead of the other two in RRP (A Locust in August and Ceci N’est Pas un Pipe) is really saying something.
It’s not merely huge, it’s a huge place, where it feels like real work is going on and where all the various secret routes open up new ways to old places. The only map I’ve ever played that comes close to the same feeling of actual exploration is Sock’s Hordes of Zendar.
Absolutely top drawer in every respect: map, detail, progression, and — most of all — the brutal but fair gameplay.
One quibble: I didn’t enjoy the various monsters’ invulnerability to explosives. For me, that added nothing, and made a useful weapon much less useful. As a result, I played almost the whole level with the SNG and the two shotguns, which is a slight loss.
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