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25/02/2008 - "Fortress of K'etrith" by Maekh

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Subject: 25/02/2008 - "Fortress of K'etrith" by Maekh

Post Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 19:56

Map Title: Fortress of K'etrith
Author: Maekh
From: Deja Vu - Map 14
Filename: USP-14-Maekh.unr
Video Playthrough: http://www.dailymotion.com/MMAN2/video/7599525

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Synopsis: You're leaving a Skaarj mining facility and enter a valley with entrance to the temple of Novana.. Discuss!
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User avatar Hellscrag
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Post Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 20:03

There's something about this map that leaves me cold. I think, maybe, that the daytime setting doesn't do it any favours. Seti.umx isn't the most appropriate song for it, either. The lighting is mostly yellow / orange and lacks contrast. Combat is occasionally difficult.

It's a shame, really, because there's a nice sense of scale to it, and some nice architectural flourishes. I reckon a moody, nighttime setting might have worked wonders.

IIRC Deja Vu was originally meant to stay in the nighttime setting until the end, but EBM wanted his map to be a daytime map.
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Post Posted: 26 Feb 2008, 02:03

Hellscrag wrote:There's something about this map that leaves me cold. I think, maybe, that the daytime setting doesn't do it any favours. Seti.umx


I know what you tend to say alot is that Deja vu doesn't tend to matter too much concidering you think you could have done alot better, but i want to say that one of the reasons Deja vu felt cold was that there was little sense of location; either through the absense of something signature or maybe there wasn't any notable aspects of considerable scale. That made me feel disorientated, I couldn't really define my ground. And from what I remember of Deja vu (this map particularly) all the open spaces were very confined.

So hmm, is it worth mentioning or is it just a bit late to say now?
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maekh
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Post Posted: 26 Feb 2008, 09:25

This map probably suffered alot from my lack of planning when it comes to mapping. Some solid ideas connected by very weak links :p

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Post Posted: 26 Feb 2008, 21:22

Kajgue wrote:So hmm, is it worth mentioning or is it just a bit late to say now?


Well, all I can say is that scale, focal points and the "wow" factor were most certainly NOT a problem with the work completed on BFNP prior to its being put on hold.

This map, like most of Deja Vu, was scraped together in just four weeks.

maekh wrote:This map probably suffered alot from my lack of planning when it comes to mapping. Some solid ideas connected by very weak links :p


... :shock: ...

Where've you been?
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Post Posted: 27 Feb 2008, 08:09

Got caught up in alot of other stuff , getting my master degree and other stuff. Should have it by the end of this year tho 8)

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Post Posted: 27 Feb 2008, 12:28

If this map was done in only four weeks then that's good.
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Post Posted: 27 Feb 2008, 19:36

I always thought this was one of the better maps in the pack.

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Post Posted: 27 Feb 2008, 20:01

Kajgue wrote:If this map was done in only four weeks then that's good.


You just need to look at Deja Vu 1.01 to see what four weeks could produce. The maps by Sarevok, Willis, Maekh and Prophet were probably the most complex. The maps by Jaunie and Waffnuffly don't really count, as they reuse existing content that the mappers had hanging around.
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Post Posted: 27 Feb 2008, 22:28

I enjoyed the archi.. but the lighting was pretty bland. A pitty this map isn't at dusk/dawn or something like that.. would've been moodier..
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Post Posted: 28 Feb 2008, 21:42

Meh, I decided not to review that ONP map. Obviously, as I don't care one bit about ONP :D

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Okay, probably most of the people here know already it. This is my least favourite map in Deja Vù for some reasons (didn't like it as Map 5). It looks like one of those old custom maps with an Unreal feel; obviously this one does an incredible amount of good stuff compared to them, but nothing that make it as good as the other DV levels.

First of all, the build. Nothing fantastic, although the Novana Temple's entrance at the beginning has well-made brushes (columns and stone arches). After this, there's nothing better to look at.
It's pretty basic from the start to the end, and somewhat empty too. Mountains are well-made, but go and see the interior of the buildings: lots of cube rooms. And there's lots of repetition as well. How many bedrooms the Skaarj need? :lol:
The last cave was indeed great as well, but at the end it was a big empty space with cool terrain for put a big battle.

Texturing is overall nice. I have seen some alignment errors though (one was after the prison).
The other problem is the SkyBox. I don't have any S3TC SkyBox installed, and I still see the Black Masked bug on the mountains. It's just ugly as hell.
The Sky isn't moving, but that was a choice I think.

Lighting is the best part of the map's build. I don't remember one unsourced light.
The caverns were extremely coloured, nice mix of orange lights from the torches and blue lighting from the Tarydium crystals.
Although I wonder why the last cave is soooo illuminated.

Sound was, let's say ok. Actually I don't remember much of it, except a Warlord's roar when you enter the prisons.
SETI is the most fitting track for this map. The music is good when you have to pass inside caverns and strongholds with a prison. At least that's my opinion, which I thought after playing Alshar's second map.

Overall, it's still a disappointment in the build part. Not really too far from the "basic", and it's very repetitive. I don't get the prison entrance... What the hell, a seeming Nali-wooden mover which is activated by a Skaarj computer?
And the entrance doesn't make sense, as you have to fall through a hole to access another part of the building. If I had to build a castle, I'd never make a corridor which sends you from Point A to Point B, but you can't go anymore to Point B and only forced to go forward in a Point C or D.
Way too simple and linear. Not very atmospheric too, it's just another level for killing monsters.

Gameplay isn't another shining factor. It's mostly about killing Skaarj and Krall that are simply patrolling the place. There aren't any deep scripted sequence to make you pumped.
The battles can be inordinately easy or hard. Krall are pushovers, totally. There's one even where a Krall call with a lever his mates. What happens next? Thanks to the awesome Unreal AI, the called Krall Elite beats up the mate who adverted him. This happens usually or just always, making the battle even more easier.
Other Krall likes to fire wrongly to the enemies and battles ensue.
Hard battles are probably inside the stronghold with amazing groups of Skaarj Troopers/Infantries/Gunners/Lord. The last battle is probably one of the hardest in DV.
Enter the last cave and you are assaulted by Stinger's crystals and also some rockets coming from a Behemoth. It's very tricky.
Oh, Skaarj Gunner in a very small area after the colourful caverns!
The gameplay is not really balanced on Unreal difficulty (ammo is quite rare as well), but with some strategies you can go through it easily.

As for other things, nothing story-wise happens here. Translator messages are pretty uninteresting (the usual "I'm pretty dead and my mate will be too in the next piece of land" thing. Also, too many joke messages that make me remember about ONP. Skaarj playing a game instead of working? Awesome! :lol:), plus there's one put in a wrong position (check my walkthrough).

Other cool stuff are:
1)The Ice Skaarj battle. This part was really unexpected, I just turned my view to the temple and this big mister comes to kill me. Finally some Flak Cannon action!
2)The entrance to the Novana Temple. I thought it would have been cool to expand it more, by making the second door movable and seeing again the temple... behind the lasers :B
The sounds in the small corridor were kinda scary too, when SETI is still off.
3)Prison areas are always nice. Although I want to know why there aren't humans in the cell where they are supposed to be in. Dead bodies or at least some signs of their past presence would have been better.
4)The EE was damn hard to find. Cube room with Swedish message and the badly-aligned Na Pali Pirates sign! But I found it funny after reading the message about the author forgetting about the EE's presence in the map.
5)OMG Evil Biterfish! :o

I have been probably a bit tough here. The map has really nothing which doesn't make it unforgettable (apart the last battle, that's for sure).
It's enjoyable, once you find a way to win against the enemies. A night setting with more plants and FireFly would have made this as awesome as the best offerings of DV2.

EDIT: Saw the video right now and realized that the black SkyBox isn't a problem that only I have.
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Post Posted: 02 Mar 2008, 05:23

I forgot to fix the black skybox bug for the playthrough.

I'd probably agree that something feels slightly wrong about this map as a whole, something that could easily have made this one of the best maps in DV if it was gone, but I still class it as one of the better maps in the pack.

Apparently very few people got that the Novana entrance here was supposed to be to my level, as a suggestion that the last levels had essentially been one big detour (Carpathus makes it worthwhile ;) ). I like the Skaarj who lost a pillow :P . The big fireplace room with the Krall in it always stuck out as feeling kind of pointless to me (it seems like the idea was to get ammo from the crates, but it feels like there should be something else in that room).

The dungeon onwards is probably the most well designed part of the map (suggesting a growth in experience), especially the final cave area. Overall, it's a good map.


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