Finished: From Base to Base

[CarThief]

Err, i'm not sure where to otherwise put it, the forum is In The Works, but there isnt really any more appropiate looking place to put this, even though the map is finished.
Edit: Seems it was in the wrong place, and now is moved. Meh, first time i released an already finished map though, instead of a topic about it while its still in progress. :P

Well, finally finished the map. It supports Co-op, DM and singleplayer.
I suppose the style could be said to be a bit cramped, and you'll often be fighting in-doors. Some area's may lagg as well. Oh well, atleast i like it how it turned out.

More details should be in the TXT file, there's 3 screenshots in the random project screenshot topic, since they end up too dark, i doubt its worth it to make new ones for this topic.
I'm not expecting alot of people will like this style of play and the somewhat repetetive enviroment, but still great if i can get to play this on Co-op sometime. :P
And be carefull on what difficulty you pick in case you find the map quite hard.

Lets hope i didnt mess up the .zip file this time.

[Gambini]

Downloaded. Is this map supposedly designed for Dukeplus right?

[CarThief]

Yeah, it'll require Duke Plus to run properly, except when deathmatching on it, it'll use the big area as well as some tricks to get there, that dont require Duke Plus. But it might look a bit odd with the few DP sprites lying around.

[Gambini]

Just played for about an hour, i had a review in mind but it vanished away after the tenth floor of the level.

This level is pretty good, its design is, and it´s also very original albeit i find some resemblences with Alejandro´s and Oostrum Brother maps, at your own style of course.

Gameplaywise the level is very fun but weird, really weird, an exorbitant amount of ammo and health, waaaaaaaay too much... most of it totally unuseful because putting two portable medkits plus five medkits and ten cola sprites in just one room sums about 450 health and nobody is going to loose that amount of health in one room.

The design is really good except for:
1- Or i had a lot of deja vu´s or the map recycles some rooms at least 5 times
2- You kept a very solid and consistent theme along the entire map, but some textures are sometimes used for doors and some other times used for walls and vice versa. it makes the things quite confusing and i got lost a few times due this fact, although its cliche of repetive design made the things predictable.
3- You really threw the hand out with all those decorative sprites, they made the experience even more cramped and confusing, i ended pissed off and was paying more attention to destroy them than the enemies themselves.

Overall, a quite enjoyable original map despite its defects. mostly because the balanced between defects and virtues.

ah, loved the 3d hologram computers, really awesome.

[CarThief]

Hehe... I thougt people found find it a tad cramped, whereas i almost never have that problem myself, suppose i'm used to it, as i fight better in small area's in DM as well.

Well, the large amount of ammo suits the rather difficult enemies at times, the map sometimes can be a bit hard and i at least want to give the player a fighting chance. :P
And the overflow of medkits at some places is mainly because you might just end up getting near killed and its a pain to go trough a level while almost dieing while finding little health.
Wonder if you tried it at higher difficulties yet, i was starting to get afraid people would find this too hard.

Hmm... Heh, amusing to read, but atleast you can destroy most sprites that are in the way. :P I guess not many people like cramped or small.

Well, other then all that, i guess its good enough for me, i dont plan to make any changes unless a huge bug pops up in the map. Come to think of it, items are placed mainly for skill 3, so it might seem too much for the lower ones.

[Merlijn]

I finished the level (thanks to saving my game a *lot*, I must have died at least 20 times lol ). Overall I enjoyed it, but at some points the gameplay became frustrating.
This is mostly because the sparkle attacks can kill you instantly and at some parts the crampy locations make it really hard to dodge them. I think you've overused the sparkle attack, these kind of attacks don't work very well in cramped environments IMO.
On a more positive note, I did enjoy most of the fights in the bigger storage rooms, because you could easily find cover behind crates, glass etc. The powerfull alien attacks kinda forced me to take cover, which gave these battles a more strategic element then just running into the room and killing everything. I liked that element, it's not very common in dukemaps. But like I said, at some points it was frustrating, so it might need some finetuning.
I also liked how there were many alien allies throughout the map.

Design was very good, it was repetitive but this also made for a very consistent looking base.

The final room with the boss was too small IMO, dodging it's attack was really hard.

Oh and please note I played this map with advanced enemy AI, which partly explains why I died so often.

[CarThief]

Ah, the gameplay is meant to be challenging, glad it was quite enjoyable, hehe...
Hmm... Its kinda like facing a slow and not so intelligent you wielding a double barreled shotgun, when you meet those pigcops, i guess they can be tough (and to the point of frustration in skill 3/4), but still doable.

Well, i dont know what else to say, but did you know the advanced AI is pretty much enforced on almost every monster? :P
Hmm... The boss room is a bit small, but i didnt want to make an ugly oversized room either, not to mention, currently, the pal 21 bosses have a damn small hitbox.
Altrough for me i found him too easy at first, made his attacks a bit stronger. You will find hiding behind the boxes (and crouching) to be effective to reduce damage, i guess.

Not to mention his attacks will also make it hit itself sometimes, shoot the rpg a few times in its face and he'll go down. :P
Hmm... Unfortunately, i dont think i'm going to change anything, i suppose every map has its tiny flaws and will not suit everyone's taste fully.

[Merlijn]

Heh I didn't say you have to change everything I don't like, I'm just giving you feedback. Maybe you can keep some of these points in mind with your next map.
My 2 biggest advices for future releases:
1. make sure someone betatest it so you can balance out the gameplay perfectly.
2. Add some more variety in rooms and hallways, some of them looked too similar. I like your general style though.

Not to mention his attacks will also make it hit itself sometimes

Yes, he eventually killed himself while I hid behind a crate.

[CarThief]

Maybe next map indeed. They say duke mappers never retire. :P

And would you perhaps want to play this online with me on Yang sometime? If you could host preferabaly, my router wont allow me to host, only to join. :P
And i assume good ol' dutch ping should work out perfectly.
Rather unfortunate my Hamachi broke, though, probaly will have to reinstall.

[Dan G]

I finished the level (thanks to saving my game a *lot*, I must have died at least 20 times lol ). Overall I enjoyed it, but at some points the gameplay became frustrating.
This is mostly because the sparkle attacks can kill you instantly and at some parts the crampy locations make it really hard to dodge them. I think you've overused the sparkle attack, these kind of attacks don't work very well in cramped environments IMO.
On a more positive note, I did enjoy most of the fights in the bigger storage rooms, because you could easily find cover behind crates, glass etc. The powerfull alien attacks kinda forced me to take cover, which gave these battles a more strategic element then just running into the room and killing everything. I liked that element, it's not very common in dukemaps. But like I said, at some points it was frustrating, so it might need some finetuning.
I also liked how there were many alien allies throughout the map.

Design was very good, it was repetitive but this also made for a very consistent looking base.

The final room with the boss was too small IMO, dodging it's attack was really hard.

Oh and please note I played this map with advanced enemy AI, which partly explains why I died so often.

I haven't played through the whole map, because I don't have the time and motivation, but from what I played the above seems to be an accurate assessment.  There seemed to be a ton of ammo and equipment around, but it was still very dangerous due to the threat of instant death from powerful attacks in tight spaces.

It bothered me that there is no explanation of why there are allied aliens or why they are randomly mixed in with enemy aliens.  If the allied ones are part of your force, then I would expect them to drop in from helicopters or bust in through the outside walls, not to be sitting around in the enemy base waiting for you to arrive.  My idea for this kind of map would go something like this:  You start on a train or some other kind of vehicle (not necessarily moving, it could have arrived before the map starts) and there is already a group of allied aliens with you.  There is a view screen and/or game quotes that explain they have joined forces with you and are helping to attack the base.  Then you begin the assault....  Reinforcements could handled in a way that makes sense.  For example, they could be prisoners in cells that you open (I did see one pigcop in a cage in the part that I played).

I'm sure there is a lot of cool stuff that I didn't see yet, hopefully I'll get a chance to look later.

[CarThief]

Ah, the .txt file has a small story to it why there's friendly aliens, though.
Its mainly that they are already locked in combat with the enemy forces, and most of them are already gone or dead. And at that point the player comes in and might just save the few last of them (or kill them if they bug you, like i do, or for fun :P).
Now i remember, in one area, some do pop up by helicopter, but that happens once.

Oh well, other then that, the friendly forces are quite thin and you'll probaly see them 2 or 3 times. Hmm... Also a few prisons yes, but unfortunately cannot be unlocked.
Well, i hope the map will prove enjoyable, i might as well warn you its quite difficult on the higher difficulty settings. And other possibily important information will also be in the .txt file.

And i hope you dont mind the kind of crampedness, or possibily repetetive design. But i'm not planning to make any further changes, most likely. But everyone their own style.

[Mikko_Sandt]

Ugh, almost impossible to play on a laptop, so I guess I'll wait until I get home.

[Mikko_Sandt]

I reviewed the map and you won't like it.

I also think you should release the second map you made. Despite its flaws, it'd still be a worthy contribution to the mapping scene.

[Dan G]

By the way, I'm reducing the damage of star projectiles from 8 to 6.  Yeah, that's right, they have only beeen doing 8, but the enemies using them tend to fire tons of them at once.  Normally I don't change stuff that alters gameplay in released maps, but I can't think of a single instance in which this change would be a bad thing.