MAP01: - NICE PLACEHOLDER MAP02: - First off, I like the music! - Great looking map too. Looks like a proper techbase worthy of the starting portion of a megawad. - If the player doesn't take the right route at the beginning of the map (what is what happened to me on my first playthrough), they completely miss the GA and, more importantly, the RL. Ammo can get tight later on without it. Not sure if there should be some sort of hint to go that way first or not, like maybe some breadcrumbs or something (ammo, health potions?) Not a huge deal tho. - I like the ventilation system thingys. - The Cacos floating out beyond the fences near those walkways were really more annoying the fun to fight. I kept missing some and they'd be 50 miles away. - Overall a fun map. Ammo got thicker as the map progressed, which fine. It was a bit harder than I thought it would be for the MAP02 slot, then again I'm playing on UV and I've still got many maps to go. So it's hard to really compare it at this point. - I forgot to set the complevel to 2 when I recorded this demo. I made sure to set it to 2 for the rest of the maps though. MAP03: - I've really been looking forward to playing this map. Skillsaw's shots of this map really grabbed me but I wanted to wait and test it once the E1 alpha was out. - First off, love the gold startan and darker textures and red lights here! Very nice contrast. - I love the crushers with monster closets opening up behind the last crusher you go through. That's pretty neat. - Man, not much to say negatively about this map! It has superb flow and balancing and I love the visuals. The difficult also felt pretty good for the map slot, although the fight after the YK might be a bit tough in relation to that. Love it! MAP04: - I think I may have played this map and left feedback for it already, but I can't remember. For certain I've previewed it atlesat. - I don't recall the music, but I LOVE IT. Perfect techbas music. It's my favorite music track thus far. - The Caco/Manc trap with the RK is pure evil, but I like it :D - I came a little better prepared for the RK trap on my second attempt, but I wish I found that RL on the Manc ledge beforehand :P - I was expecting the final fight to be quite a bit harder. But I'm glad it wasn't because this map is the first relatively lengthy map, and getting smashed right at the end might turn some players off. - Great map! I'm pretty sure I played this one already now that I finished it. MAP05: - The room with the gray and lighter gray walls interweaved together (near the start) looks awesome. - The big, open, outdoor area you go into could probably use a bit of health scattered around. The hitscanners really make it dangerous. - Ammo seems pretty tight, though it's still enough. - The Arachnotrons in the RK area are slightly annoying just because of how difficult they can be to hit (depending on where they are). With a bit more rocket ammo in that area, it would be better I think. Although you do eventually get up to their level, but without preknowledge the player won't know that down in the pit. - Pretty good map; long like MAP04. Gameplay was a bit off for my style but I liked the large, open areas and the visuals were great. I think a bit more ammo in the first half of the map would be good. MAP06: - Placeholder mmmhmmm MAP07: - Good music! I especially like the way it starts out. Towards the end though, it sounds too...I dunno, happy? It starts out with the right sort of feel but gets a little more positive towards the end. Sorry I suck at making any sort of critisims when it comes to music. - Some stimpacks down in the trenches surrounding the start area would be nice. The Rev and all of the hitscanners really make sure you don't keep any of your health :P - I really hate Revenants, heh. - I like that there are multiple paths you can take, and that multiples of different weapons are scattered throughout depending on which way you go. So one route will still get you a SSG, RL, and Plasma; you don't get shafted by missing one of those weapons if you take a certain route. - The outdoor fight with the two Masterminds was kinda boring. I took out most of the supporting bad guys before going in, so all I did was just dodge behind the big brown pillar and take shots at the big brain with the SSG. I'm not sure much can be done to make the fight more interesting because, well, I think the Mastermind is just sort of a sucky monster on the whole :P - After getting the red key, a Mastermind will spawn in one of the courtyards nearest the player start. You'll notice in the demo he's stuck because, I think, the barrels are blocking him. So if you don't clear out the barrels beforehand, he'll get stuck. - Great map! Amazing visuals, to be expected when your talking about Vader. Good flow too though it was slightly confusing to navigate at times. Gameplay was very balanced, albeit pretty difficult. I was going to suggest moving this further up in the map rotation because of it's difficulty, but then I didn't realize it was making use of the MAP07 specials. It's probably not a big deal though since, if you go by Doom 2 standards, MAP07 should probably be kind of difficult and frantic (I think essel is making MAP07 the end of the chunk, right? If so, that works well). MAP08: - Ah, Doom 2 music. Is this getting a new track before the release? - The computer thingy at the beginning where the shotgun is sitting looks sorta odd. - Pretty difficult beginning! Maybe a bit more health? - I really, really like the visuals and texturing in this map. I dunno why but it speaks to me. Good job! In fact, there's little I can say negative about the visuals thus far in my testing for the entire episode. - I always like it when mapper's tease the player with a view of the exit before they can reach it. - Could we get a couple more rad suits? I found one after I needed it. - I admit it, you got me with the fake exit switch :D. - Really fun map! I loved how it look; it has a Quake II vibe to it, in the best way. It's also a lot of fun, though it started pretty difficult and then got pretty easy towards the end. Not a bad thing though, I really enjoyed this one. MAP09: - OH NOES NOTHER PLACEHOLDER MAP10: - Ah, more stock music. I hope it gets replaced for the final release. - Ed's tech map...I think I already gave feedback on this one once before. I know I've played it before, it's hard to forget the fantastic visuals in this one. - The room close to the start where the PE/Demons/etc come in is a bit much I think. I dunno, it just seems like it's kind of crazy given the small space with only a shotgun and some chaingun. I 'spoited it by getting up in the PE's face, but still. A SSG would be very welcome in that fight. - I remember running into this problem last time I played this map, but I can't remember if I ever brought it up - In the room with the first Arachnotron, there's a brown metal horizontal bar which is actually a door (well, lift acting as a door). I realize that there's not very much else for the player to explore, but it doesn't scream DOOR at first and might confuse some players. I think a texture change would be appropriate there. - I can't believe I actually found some secrets in this. I never find secrets, usually. Thanks Ed for the moderately easy to find secrets! - After going through the BK door, the flow gets a little confusing. I made it to room where I could see the RK, but it was a dead end. That whole area beyond the lift has the RK, and then a RK door on the other end. So it lead me to believe that I was missing something and, somehow, I had to make the RK pillar lower to then go through the RK door. But you actually have to backtrack back up the lift and hit a switch, revealing another area which then opens up some doors back near the RK pillar. I guess what I'm saying is, the backtracking is a bit meh; I wonder if the flow could be reworked somehow so it's more circular or just more linear without as much backtracking? It's not too bad with monsters spawning in some of the back-tracked areas though. - Some of the monster teleporters might be a bit inefficient. Sometimes I'd start to head to another area but then hear a monster teleport in from a previous area that I just cleared. - Note the hovering stimpack (shortly after I pickup the YK). - I've said it already, but this map looks amazing architecturally. It looks nothing like something you'd see in the vanilla limits, and that alone should be applauded. Gameplay is good but I think the flow could be improved. Still very fun map though! MAP11: - YET ANOTHER ONE. I'm pretty interested to see what the HUB maps look like though! MAP12: - Ah, more stock music :(. I thought most of the maps had new music. - This map starts off at a nice, slower pace than the previous maps. I like that; it doesn't want to CRUSH KILL DESTROY me right off the bat. - I also like that I get the SSG pretty early on. - Sweet Jesus! The map escalates pretty quickly after you grab the RK. Archvile and about 500 Cacos (hmm, I might have miscounted the Cacos). So much for that nice, soft start :P. But it means that it fits in well with the difficulty curve set so far, so that's good. - YK trap was pretty nasty, heh. - Wow, prefect length for a level at this point in the episode. It was very well balanced and executed in a clean way. I liked that the gameplay was paced but punctuated with higher stress fights throughout. Great map, no real complaints! It could probably be an earlier map if there was a need for one; if not, it fits in fine here too. MAP13: - More stocks music? AWW CMON :( - I recognize this map from screenshots. I really love the starting area visually :D - Are the unpegged doortracks on purpose? Not sure if all of them are, but the one nearest the SSG is. - In the demo, you can see me jumping on the ledge where the Imps were. Maybe put a goody and a secret there? - Very nice theme. I like that it starts to progress from rather cliche techbase to a more industrial looking theme woven into a lava/cave sort of thing. - I think one more radsuit in the lava area would be good (preferrably from the jump-down spot after you go through the area once). - By the way, speaking of that jump-down spot, that switch is really, really easy to miss. - I like how the area around the RK changes once you make the RK available to the player. - I got killed pretty far into the map like a big dumbus. So the demo is pretty long (this map is pretty long too! Much bigger than I expected). - At my second death, I was taking damage but had no idea where it was coming from. That was weird; could it be a node-related bug maybe? - Man this map just keeps going and going! The quest for the YK is pretty lengthy. - The ending fight got me, and I was pretty exhausted by the point (played all the way up to this map in one day). I'm assuming I was at the exit judging from the climatic fight there. I found the BFG secret and that helps, but that fight is pretty crazy. It's mostly because of the Archvile that pops up at the back of the room; all of the other monsters keep you from taking it out. I was unlucky and didn't get it to infight, and got blasted which pretty much did me in. I might take another stab at this map when I start up testing again. I'll have more to say about this map then. --RUN2-- - I'm going to run through this map on HMP this time, although I'm not sure if difficulty levels are even implemented. The start feels almost exactly the same as UV so I dunno. - Ok, some parts do look easier as I'm noticing some monsters are missing on HMP. So that's good. - Looking at it now, I think the switch which lowers the floor right near the beginning would make more sense if it is was placed in the little room directly in from of the start where the GA is. Where it's at now, half of the time I wasn't even sure what it was doing when I hit it. - The one trap where you hit the switch and some Imps and two Archviles are revealed...maybe remove one of the Archviles for HMP? - The floating platform thingys in the nukage area are pretty neat. However if you view the one with the Soulsphere secret from the ledge to the right of it, you can see some unintended bits. - In the room with the Arachnotron and the RL (RL is on a little square thingy with lights), there's a hovering stimpack. - Could the Archvile in the exit fight be removed or replaced with something else on HMP? - As you can see, I got ninja'd by a Rev at the end fight >_<. No big deal though, if it weren't for that, I could have beaten the map easily. - Hmm, final thoughts - it's a very interesting map. It's really long and is semi-linear. I like the fact that some of the secrets are very taunting to the player (coudn't figure out the Soulsphere one in the nukage caves or the Megasphere near the BFG secret). HMP could use a little more disparity in difficulty from UV though, I think. Overall a very fun map, I wish I didn't keep getting killed at the exit but the HMP run was just bad luck, not bad design. I was able to expoit it a bit by hiding in the far corner because of how the floors lower, than I bum-rushed the Archvile with the BFG; that made the fight much easier. Without the BFG or the exploit though, that fight would have been too hard for HMP for the average player I think. MAP14: - Ok, back to UV skill now. - No more placeholder music, hooray! I like it :) - I wish I had started mapping sooner so I could do another E1 map. I really would like to have made some sort of Quake-like thing with lots of bronze and brown. I like the brown metal here a lot. - This one certainly starts off pretty frantic. The manc got me on my first death in the first room...I wonder if that's a sign of things to come? :P - Heh, thought so...dualy-archies. - LOL, fucking Archviles :P - I think I redeemed myself on my second attempt at the Archies. Also I like it when mappers make use of the stair actions, nice! That's something I should do more often. - I'm loving the texture visuals in this map. Really one of my favorites thus far I think. I'm a sucker for brown/gold/tan it seems, oh well :P - When I come to the first radsuit, the lava looked more like blood than...well lava. I guess that's not a big deal and is more related to the flat than the map. It was only in the darkness too; in lighter areas, it looks like lava. - Whew, so this is another pretty long map. I can see now why essel was pleading for shorter maps. So far though I really, really like this map. - Fantastic level, definitely one of my favorites in E1. It started out pretty tough but leveled out nicely as I progressed. I actually thought it was going to be a lot shorter and tougher than it turned out to be, but it was the perfect length (I was expected fast and frantic from how it started). I loved everything about this one - great visuals and an awesome theme, very balanced and fun gameplay, and it was easy to navigate. Top notch! MAP15: - I do not like this map. It is big and confusing :( - Ok, so I'll do a UV demo for giggles. I don't need to say anything about it for the obvious reasons :P - I lied, I'll say some things. Did I ever say how much I liked the track for this map? Jimmy outdid himself; I think it's one of my favorite tracks from him of all time. - Note to self: bad comp texturing near the Chainsaw ledge. - That Caco horde on my first death has gotten me many times before. I was a little careless this time though :P - There at the end I was just fooling around trying to get 100% kills. - After playing all of the previous maps, this one feels sort of out of place in terms of difficulty and pacing. I suppose the length does pad the difficulty though. But also I'm too biased to say so I dunno. - And after staring Rott's map, visually it feels out of place too :(. It looks more like an early E1 techbase instead of the more industrial stuff going on in this section of the episode. Would it be worth going back and maybe doing some texture palette swapping so it matches a bit better? MAP16: - Ah, Rottking map! I recognized that first room immediately. I wonder if it will kick my butt? - The lighting effects in the first room are fantastic! - Really interesting shapes going on in this map. - Agh, fugging Rev got me with a ninja rocket. Not cool :( - I love the music; it fits the map amazingly well. - On my second death, I got surprised by the monsters coming from behind (stupid chaingunners) and my email alarm went off and sort of surprised me. Doh! - The hitscanners are really chipping away at me. Maybe just a couple more stimpacks sprinkled around? - Also a Chaingun somewhere before the SSG might be a good idea. - Ah, some texture variation finally. I love the architecture and the unsettling ambiance and shapes, but there was little texture variation. That's is my only real complaint with the visuals, but thankfully you do get into some different looking areas. - Man, really tough level! I think it's all of the hitscanners chipping away, leaving me really vulnerable to everything else (see: Revenants argh!). I'm gonna give it a run on HMP, but maybe still throw just a few more stimpacks around for UV? --RUN2-- - Ok, doing a HMP run this time. Hopefully I won't get destroyed, heheh. - Yea, definitely easier on HMP! Although part of it could just be pre-knowledge from the few UV runs I did. Hopefully it'll maintain this difficulty curve further into the map. - The switch in the nukage pools which lower the nukage might be just a tad bit too easy to miss. I'd put a larger 32x32 switch on the rim of the pool container maybe. - I wonder if we can get a GA at or past that nukage pool area? Maybe atleast on HMP difficulty. - Maybe this isn't a big deal, but after picking up the RK, you have to lower a lift in front of the nukage pool you go down earlier. I instinctively knew that it wasn't there before so I should press use on it. But I'm wondering if the average player will be able to figure that out? Would a lift texture work better there maybe? - I honestly had no idea where the RK door was, but lucky I just sort of ran into it. Not sure if there's any way you can advertise it better though. - Again, just past the RK door, it's not readily apparent that the texture in front of you is a lift. Though in this case it's probably not a big deal because, well, there's nothing else in the room :P - Man, didn't find any secrets :( - Pretty tough map! It's difficult in different ways than previous maps. In this one it's the many hitscanners which slowly wear you down since health doesn't seem to be as plentiful in relation to the previous maps. It just has a different sort of gameplay and that's nice because its a change of pace. I might be able to clear it on UV with some more practice, but I would think about maybe sprinkling a few more stimpacks around (not just for UV, but in general). I'm happy to report that HMP is definitely easier than UV, so that's good! I loved the atmosphere in this map. It has a TNT vibe to it which I dig (I mean that in the best way possible). This one could possibly be pushed down the map list later on in the episode depending on how harder the maps get after this one. Though as it is now, it makes a good cluster ender. MAP17: - Nother placeholder. MAP18: - Back to UV skill again. - Essel map! I recognize the starting area almost immediately. - The first death was because someone kept yelling for me and distracting me. Also stupid Revenants :P - I LOVE the lowering nukage lake effect! - The room with the black ceiling is interesting. It looks just a bit weird because it makes me think it's a void sky instead of just being what I'm guessing is a really dark ceiling? Anywho it looks cool. - I didn't really want to fight the Cyberdemang because, I dunno, it looked really tedious shooting at it from so far away. I think it would be a bit more interesting if the floor lowered all the way down into the nukage and he would walk around. Maybe toss in a couple radsuits and make it a nukage Cyberdemon battle. You could possibly have a smaller tower in the center for the YK to sit on and then have a switch nearby in the nukage pit to lower it. It would still be dangerous to get with the Cyberdemon roaming around. - Fun map! Perfect length too! I should study some of essel's maps so I can make something that's of reasonable length :P. It felt very polished and well balanced. I'd just tweak the Cyberdemon fight somehow as that is really my only complaint. MAP19: - Placeholder music again. I was just getting use to hearing new tracks after that strech of placeholder music earlier. - First off, I love the composite green/brown walls at the start. Looks nice. - By the time I'm outside in the rocky part with the Revs (and RL), I'm wishing I had a SSG. Or maybe some more rocket ammo. But it's not terrible. - By the time I reach the second Archvile, I really, really, really want a SSG. The fighting is more tedious and grindy than fun with just a SG, CG, and a few rockets. Also I really have to question if there's enough ammo by the second Archvile if he starts resurrecting half of the Revenants I've killed. - And then on my second runthru, I find that there is in fact a SSG that I missed near the two Mancs. Hmm, I'd try moving it somewhere where it is really hard for the player to miss. Perhaps in the alcove nearby with the Zombiemen on the upper ledges and the blue lights. - I was happy to find the SSG this early in the map, because otherwise it was shaping up to be the first map that I wasn't really liking. The pacing felt like it was designed for the player to have the SSG earlier on in the map so that's good! - On my second run, I notice that the first Archvile actually teleports behind the player. But this didn't happen on my first playthrough. There must have been an active demon which triggered the line before the Archvile could. - That second Archvile encounter is potentially really, really tough. I'd find it very difficult to take down without prior knowledge. Maybe some armor beforehand? - The view to the central room (first seen when you get the SSG and then second after the second Archvile) is impressive! - Some health after the 2nd Archvile would be welcomed. - After taking out the Baron, going up the lift, and opening that door...my first reaction is "nope". There's close to zero cover on that walkway and a bunch of Cacos and turret monsters. Please, some health and/or preferably some cover there? Otherwise my reaction is just to snipe the monsters, very slowly, until I can go out there without getting roasted. Not so much fun :( - Just an idea, but perhaps that 1-way door, which you can open after going into the room with the Arachnotrons, can be opened from either side? It would promote a bit of non-linear exploration and I don't think it breaks the flow in any harmful way. - I got really lucky with the Archvile past the RK door with it's pain states :P. I really do this think map could use some more health in general, atleast in the first half. - The area past the BK door suffers from the lack of cover thing I was talking about earlier in relation to that walkway. It's like walking into a bonfire without any protection, and I have to snipe from the door to get anywhere. - HMP is probably better, hopefully. But there are glaring issues in UV that aren't necessarily a problem of the skill choice, but just a part of the map design. After that last death on UV, I wasn't really amped to do the map again on HMP unlike previous maps. Those big, open firefight rooms need some sort of cover for the player, especially since your basically walking right into the middle of them. I'm sorry if I sound negative though, and I'm looking to say something positive about all of the maps I'm playing. Some of those coverless areas and scant health aside, I like everything else in this map gameplay wise. It's also a gorgeous map with interesting desgins and clean texturing! Just, please, consider tweaking the gameplay some. - I might do a HMP runthrough later. MAP20: - Heh, right off the bat, I love the music. - Throw 4 more shells at the beginning of the level please. I'm having to pistol a Cacodemon to get to the box of shells behind him :P - The first outdoor area has a SiD feel to it that I like. I also like the midtexture stuff going on near the pool of water. I wish I did more midtexture abuse in my maps. - Hey man! When do I get a rocket laun....oh wait, there's one :D. RL introductory felt spot on. - That room that you go through just before dropping down and getting the YK...maybe a bit more health there? - Ah corpse bug! A ghost Caco/HK killed me :(. That whole bit before and after the YK is a real difficulty spike. - Up until my death at the crazy YK fight, I was having a blast with this map. It's more of mindless run-n-gun than previous maps, which was a nice change of pace. It is also the easiest map in this cluster by far...well, except for the YK fight :P. If needed, it could probably fit in earlier in the episode. The ghost caco death took the last bit of energy I had (especially after going through MAP19) so I'll come back and finish this one tomorrow, maybe as a HMP run. --RUN2-- - New day, HMP run. - I'm playing kinda sucky it seems; the map is actually a good bit easier so far. - Ah, a Soulsphere before dropping down to get the YK. That will help! - Everything after the YK is uncharted territory for me (well, for the HMP demo). So far so good though. - Hmm, could we get a midfence on the window directly looking at the BK platform? It looks like you can run through it, but it's impassible. Just a bit odd is all. - I didn't realize it until this playthrough, but this map does have some nonlinear design to it. And I thought it was just a straight-up linear run-n-gun (which is fine too). Nice! - I really like this map! It has good visuals and a nice mix of textures; still no map has disappointed me in the visuals department so far. The gameplay is a change of gears from the rest in that it is just run-n-gun, and I like that aspect since it is straightforward, kill everything and move on. I also like that it has some nonlinear elements to it, and I was never lost. The flow was planned out well because a player could very easily get lost in this map if they get turned around, I think. All-in-all, I really enjoyed this one. I think I could have beaten it on UV too, but I was pretty tired by the time I got to it. MAP21: - Aaaand back to UV skill. - Stock music ;_; - Ran out of ammo just as I killed that first Arachno...whew, glad a CG and some ammo was close by. - The part where you hit a switch, and some platforms raise so you can hop across to the other side...not sure if there's anything you can do about monsters below the player blocking them from going across without spamming some monster blocking lines. But I think you may want to think about it. - I'm not a huge fan of repeatable lift/door switches where you have to hit the switch, and then run a long ways to then catch the lift. If you miss it, or if your not sure what the switch is actually doing, it can be annoying and offputting. I'm referring to the lift nearby the Soulsphere trap (close to the BK, although you do not get the BK there). - The trap where you are supposed to ride a floor down, and then an Archvile appears next to you along with some Imps...well the overall trap was fine by me (pretty mean, heh), but there's what I think is an air duct entrance on the way down with some Imps. Now what I did was lower the floor, but decided not to go down because I was anticipating a trap and I also wanted to go back to the raised platform bridge thingy that I got blocked from by a monster earlier. So when I came back and dropped down the hole, there was this Imp attacking me while I was pinned in the shaft that I couldn't see or really figure out where it was. Pretty annoying when you've got 6 more Imps infront of you and an Archvile getting ready to melt your face off. - Maybe put a little more health down there in the Archvile trap? I got lucky because I found the Plasma secret before hand and almost didn't make it out alive. That plus the two Revs that reveals themselves behind you just after that Archie fight will pulverize many players. - Close to my first death, was that really a lift and not a secret? I just humped the wall not really expecting anything (maybe a secret I thought). If that's a lift that's supposed to be part of the normal flow, please use a different texture. - The Manc in the triple backpack secret is kind of non-threatening, heh. Maybe just remove him? Or maybe toss a Demon right at the door. - Pretty sure I should have died at my second attempt at the Arachno/Rev/Spectre trap :P - I find that on my second playthrough, the oddly textured lift is actually the only way out. Still though, I'd use a different texture. - Also, in the area just beyond that lift, maybe add a bit more cover? Perhaps one or two crates? It kind of sucks that you can't really get any cover from the Arachno or all of the hitscanners as soon as you enter that room, and you can't go back down the lift either. - Baron that teleports behind the player after hitting a switch on a really narrow walkway...meh. Widen the walkway just a bit please...maybe by 32px. That should still keep it relatively challenging. - Kinda wasn't expecting the super-duper Cyber/Manc/HK trap a little ways past the RK door. I mean the map is pretty tough, but that is just mean :P. I survived it though, so I guess it's not all that bad. - Hmm, I'm not too sure about the Archvile that spawns in after you hit that switch on the upper walkway. Mostly because of how you get back down; that narrow lift. If you wait just a bit too long, the Archvile revives half of the monsters and your blocked - no fun. If you could provide an alternate way down, preferably opposite of the lift (so the player can manipulate the monster's positions around a bit), that would be very welcomed. - Ghost Spectre argh >:(. Does the ghost bug happen more often in vanilla compat? I really do not like that bug at all. Thankfully I killed him with rocket splash. - Wow, pretty tough map! I'm surprised that I actually beat it in two tries on UV. I'd probably find it better on HMP. It's difficult up until the RK door, and then after that the difficulty level spikes. I don't think it was anything outrageous or too hard though. I do think certain things could be tweaked though, like the Archvile/lift thing for instance. But for how far along this map is in the episode (cluster ender), the difficulty is just about right. I enjoyed the visuals too; the dark, spooky techbase was pulled off superbly. MAP22: - Last placeholder, yes? MAP23: - Tough start! Looks awesome too. - If the pacing and feeling of the music is anything to go by, this will be a hard map. - Some of the wall decors (comps, lights, etc), should really be set to impassible. - BK door was a bit confusing to find. I think because I never came across it while exploring other parts of the map. - Ah, Archie got me...that was my fault I think :P - Was the exit marked? I really didn't even realize that the teleporter was the exit. If there was an exit sign, I completely missed it. Might want to advertise it's an exit a bit more. - The music was a tad misleading; it was a lot easier than I was expecting heh. Not a bad thing! It's a cluster starter map so the difficulty was perfect in my opinion. - Loved this map actually! I was really digging the theme; it makes it feel like your on the cusp of jumping into the gothic/hell stuff in E2. It's difficult on a first playthrough, but after getting killed by the double Archvile trap, it was easier on my second playthrough. MAP24: - Aha, I know this map! I've played it already and I'm pretty sure I gave Tango feedback on it once already. But I will do the demo because it is an awesome map! - That being said, I don't know how much I remember from my first playthrough, so I imagine I might get stomped :P - Music is fantastic by the way :). Very fitting for the end of E1 map. - VINESSSSS 0_0. Also something I regrettebly do not use enough in my maps. - The Manc trap SSG is significantly more difficult to get than the other SSG (nearby two Chaingunners off a ledge). - I think the chaingunner that got me on my second death was a ghost. FFFFFFFFF - The fancy curved stairway leading down to where the Arachnotrons and monsters in the walls (very pretty stairway btw), could you make those sides impassible? Since I fight like a coward and I go back and forth up those stairs, it was easy to get caught along the wall. - Ok, so I ended the demo a bit early on purpose. I'm getting pretty tired so I figure I'll do a HMP run since I've played this on UV before and I know I can clear it. It just might take a bunch of runs and I'm too tired for that. Plus, I'm sure we all want the lower levels to be well tested as well, because I know many of these maps will be too hard for the average player on UV. --RUN2-- - Ok so, HMP this time. - So far so good, I can definitely tell it's easier at the start. - Thank goodness, no more ghost Chainer. BTW, up to that point, the map is considerably easier (that's good!) - Maybe widen the walkway you get onto from the air duct thingy (near RL)? - Ah man, forgot about the Caco horde after getting the YK. That whole area can be a bit frustrating for a few reasons. Number one, dropping down into that area can be a pain because monsters like to block you (sometimes you can see them, sometimes not). Second, the number of Cacos that spawn in are pretty crazy. The space is small so if you can't take them out quickly, they crowd you and you can't escape. This is annoying because you can't run under them because stupid infinitely tall things :(. For HMP, maybe reduce the Caco horde a bit? You can probably use the RL to dispatch them better, but that works best if you know about the horde beforehand. If you don't, they'll be way too close to you to use the RL. - Man, I forgot how awesome the Cacos from the dark thing was! Brings a tear to my eye. *sniff* - The whole water/vines fight is very well orchestrated and paced. It's really the highlight of this map and a great bullet point in E1. - That said, that whole area has to be teetering on the vissprite limit. I'm sure it's been tested, but it is either going over or is very close. I don't know for sure since I'm playing in PrBoom+ but it just looks like a lot of corpses. - All of the huge Caco corpses and vines sort make it hard to see the Cyber. Just adds another layer of difficulty I suppose (not a negative heh). - The last time I played this, I remember being confused after the big fight area. You go up that lift and then...your stuck? It's confusing because the way your supposed to go is pretty camoflauged by all of the green and vines. Not too big of a deal though. - The candle trail definitely helped to find that little walkway out :D - In the area past the RK door, I like that you warn the player of the Archvile with it's awakening sound before you actually fight it. - The exit fight is...yea, I remember it being super hard :P. Not sure if I'll get through it on this demo. If not, I probably won't play through the map again since I know it's the exit. Hopefully it'll be toned down for HMP... - That said, the scale and tone the exit area has really sets the stage for the end of E1 and the beginning of E2. - Oh yea, definitely toned down for HMP. Thanks for that :D. - Last nitpick - the exit signs seem like that should be right next to the actual exit line instead of opposite of them. - Man I love this map. Everything about it is epic and very fun! It's also hard but perfect in that sense for the episode ender! MAP31: - Yup, played this map before as well! I can't remember if I gave feedback or did a demo of it though... - This map is pretty difficult so I'm gonna do a HMP run. I've beaten it before on UV but that may have been with saves, not sure. - Man, really rough start. I could have done better than that. - Skillsaw makes some of the most aesthetically pleasing maps in visuals and layout in my opinion. I saved a DB shot of this map on my desktop for a few months to serve as inspiration. - Is it just me, or does the music have a Castlevania quality to it? It's pretty upbeat and fits the map well, that's for sure. - The path leading to the YK door...could the techwalls be yellow instead of blue? That'd be a nice leading hint that, hey, the YK door is over here! - Hmmm...down in the waterway where you meet the Mastermind, perhaps add some shell/bullet ammo down there? I know it'd suck if I jumped down in there, not knowing there's a Mastermind blocking my way with no way back, and I don't have enough ammo to kill the thing. That's definitely a possiblity. - As you can see from the demo, I was able to trigger the line which opens up the three doors and reveals all of those monsters without actually dropping down into that area. This is a potential headache because it makes it really difficult to then get down in there because the monsters block your way. I'd move that line down into the actual pit so it's unavoiable. Also that fight is a tad bit crazy when it is fought as intended. - The second drop-down pit trap is significantly better in terms of how crazy it isn't :P. I think you can do that same exploit with it as the previous one, but I didn't do that this time in the demo. - I tried to point out a concrete texture misalingment near the Cyber fight (near the end of the demo) - This map probably has my single favorite layout out of the entire episode. It is just so organic and so enjoyable to traverse. I really do love it. The architecture and detailing also grab me. Skillsaw somehow manages to craft beautiful visuals without dumping tons of details into it; the architecture greatly compliments the texturing and detail work. The gameplay is really great too, although very frantic and unforgiving. - By the way, HMP definitely felt right as far as difficulty goes! Good job there. OVERALL THOUGHTS: - This was heaps of fun. Definitely one of the best set of maps I've played in a long while, that's for sure. The new textures are a breathe of fresh air and all of the maps look fantastic. I'm so proud of everyone that contributed a map in this because it is going to be a big hit with the community (I hope). It feels very completely as it is now, but the hubs and new music will pretty much set it off. Also, even though there are 32 maps, it certainly felt like I played an entire megawad in a few days. The maps average from medium-to-long in gameplay length. I'm sure E2 and E3 will be similar, so we're looking at a 3-megawad experience for player's here in terms of length. Not sure if that's a good thing for a bad thing, heh. - Something that I think we should focus on during this testing session is making sure difficulty settings are well balanced. I did drop down from UV to HMP for some of my demos and, thankfully, in most instances HMP felt perfect in relation to UV. It would be a good idea if that same level of skill disparity is felt from HMP to HNTR. The skill levels are the best tools to ensure a wide playing audience in my opinion.