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22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Each week a single map is discussed here in detail.

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User avatar Jigoku
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Subject: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 22 Sep 2014, 09:11

Map Title: "Outpost Pheonix"
Author: Will-"Mr.Prophet"-Drekker
From: Xidia Gold
Filename: XidiaGold-Map3-OutpostPheonix.unr
Music Files: Blank.umx Kran32.umx null.umx Seti.umx Unreal4.umx




Video Playthrough:

Youtube Playthrough

Synopsis: The player reaches an outpost.

Discuss!
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Doublez-Down
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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 22 Sep 2014, 14:30

Great map with some really good atmosphere and gameplay...although the third pic brings back memories of my head exploding from a sniper's shot on more than one occasion.
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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 22 Sep 2014, 19:07

Seeing as Outpost Pheonix is actually a Human Outpost and not a Skaarj one, don't you think the description should be changed? :P

Challenging map for n00bz like me and coincidentally has a bug which makes the game crash if you try to save and therefore have to go on God mode even on Easy...

Still, looks really cool and is an iconic landmark in Unreal SP history.

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User avatar Hellscrag
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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 22 Sep 2014, 22:55

SteadZ wrote:Challenging map for n00bz like me and coincidentally has a bug which makes the game crash if you try to save and therefore have to go on God mode even on Easy...


There's a fixed version out there somewhere. I seem to recall I fixed it myself in the end!
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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 23 Sep 2014, 03:14

Boy I felt like a dumbass. :/
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User avatar Mister_Prophet
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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 23 Sep 2014, 06:00

I was unawares the old unpatched version was even floating around.

Anyway, what haven't I said about this. Probably the first SP level I made that I actually cared for and showed to other people outside of friends and my little brothers. It was made from fragments of a few DM levels I was already inbreeding between each other, this probably being the best overall result of all that practice.

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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 23 Sep 2014, 18:12

There are a couple of things "wrong" with this map, e.g. a cutscene during which the player inadvertedly moves when it starts and can end up in a heated situation when the cutscene ends, also somewhat confusing pathways (although on later playthroughs I found my bearings), and also some unexplained attacks which seem to originate from inside.
On the other hand, it has some very interesting sections; for starters the whole outside exploring and trying to find a way in and the interaction with the Mercenaries inside, also the Slith attacking from inside the green sludge, an interesting open area (with a nice aerial attack), plus the "conversations" with the Mercenaries.
Each time I play this I manage to find something new.

Well, I never would have come up with the idea that this map is actually some DM-parts glued together, it doesn't feel that way.


edit: Strike-through non-relevant text. Conceptual grandness in confusion about maps :( :shake: :x :/ :?
Last edited by salsaSkaarj on 23 Sep 2014, 20:41, edited 2 times in total.

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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 23 Sep 2014, 19:41

Hey salsaSkaarj, I think you're confused, you must've misread the page title, because I am pretty sure you're talking about Mercenary Base from ONP! :) my comments on Outpost Pheonix will follow ;)
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Waffnuffly wrote:It's tarydium-doped smoothies. Drunk by the player, I mean. The player is tripping balls. The whole game actually takes place in a large city and the player thinks he's on an alien world.

User avatar salsaSkaarj
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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 23 Sep 2014, 20:36

Sat42 wrote:Hey salsaSkaarj, I think you're confused, you must've misread the page title, because I am pretty sure you're talking about Mercenary Base from ONP! :) my comments on Outpost Pheonix will follow ;)


hmm, you're 100% right :shy:
Strange thing is that during my writing I had the impression the map I was writing about was from ONP but I just accepted that I must have been confused. Turns out I was a lot more confused than I thought possible.
I'll censor my previous post.

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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 24 Sep 2014, 00:25

^Hehe that does happen!

So, my turn.
Originally, I was thinking of starting my text with a triumphant
OH FUCK THIS MAP
but it seems a bit ill-timed now! Anyway, what can I really say about this one? A lot of things...

OK, brace yourselves. Naturally, by the time you get to this map, the shit has already started with that excellent playable intro provided by the pack's first two maps. Tension is there right from the start, and I was quick to notice the superior skills of enemies compared to stock pawns. Gee, it was so tense... first I had to backtrack some way through the rooms and corridors of the previous map and in fact I went right back to the landing point, only to see the bodies of fellow soldiers littering the floor... that confirmed what command said. I also needed the ammo badly. I had given a glance at that bridge I was meant to cross and got a salvo of rockets in return. What with the tough Skaarj I had already been fighting (including a close quarter encounter with those damned pupae during a creepy passage through an air duct), I knew I was in for something rough. Ha! if only I really knew... OK, so I make my way across the bridge, dispatching the Brutes on top of the cliffs save for one who fell back a bit, out of range. Whatever. Let's keep moving as fast as possi... WOW!! steady now! fuck haha imagine if I hadn't paid attention to that translator message and had dashed ahead through that valley! OK sniper time: scanning area... one, two, three down... oh there are more of them... and in fact, funnily enough, that really cool section is an easy section of the map - the only easy section, actually. I wasn't headshot once. Well, now I can continue. In order to open the door at the end of the valley, I have to reactivate some mechanism and in the process I find myself going in a flooded part of the facility - and oh shit there goes a big and freakin' fast moving Squid! shoot the motherfu- BAM!!! 'Splodes. Me, that is. What the f... AH that was because I used my weapon underwater! The Shock Rifle, I mean! Yeah the readme did mention that, yeah that's really cool man! OK, reload, this time we will do it right! OK so I make it and now I can go through that door into the next part of the outpost... Oh damn, this part was a nightmare. So many reloads, and not necessarily because I always got killed but also sometimes because it was just best to reload rather then risk continuing with low health - and we all know how it feels to be low on health with the Xidia gametype, don't we? :wink: Right so I was headed towards what I imagined would be the final battle in that really cool looking area seen in the bottom right (or 4th) screenshot. The tension builds to a new high here... and I completely freaked out! Holy moley, that's when I really realised that Outpost Pheonix is a scary map! And during that fight I got my ass kicked many times. Eventually I made it, but I was almost dead, thank goodness I soon found some medkits or my head could have kept on spinning for a long time! Ah so now I can activate that mechanism and go back to the main part of the outpost and proceed towards the mines... uh-oh, not so fast apparently. There are some clues as to what still lies ahead. This doesn't bode well... of course, I just have to continue, right? Take that lift a-a-and crash down into that soil depository. OK now I know I'm fucked. Any second now and that boss is gonna make its appearance. Ah yes, there you are, Red Nemesis! :B let's get this party sta- aaaand I'm already dead. Reload. Die. Reload. Die, etc. Inflict some damage while taking minimal damage, SAVE, and die. Reload in the middle of the fight. Inflict some more damage, save, die, reload the last save, etc. And thus I eventually made it, I was so RELIEVED when I finally defeated the Red Nemesis, you have no idea! :P Honestly, this map is very hard, but with that very hard boss fight, the level is close to being extremely hard IMHO. And there was no way I was gonna miss a very valuable item as I was taking the lift down towards the mines!

Do I even have to talk about the build? It's excellent, kinda realistic, details everywhere, use of sound and music is professional, man it's all perfect in a way. I know Hourences' Derelict maps have a more aesthetic side to them but Outpost Pheonix is the best human facility I have seen in Unreal and Unreal Tournament as of yet. And I loved the way Mister Prophet revisited the location in Xidia: The Escape!
Definitely one of the best maps of Xidia Gold. And the longest one for me: on my first playthrough, it took 2h45min to complete! Mister Prophet did an incredible job. By the way, that mappack is the most professional large campaign I have played so far (the other large campaigns I have already played are Legacy, Nali Chronicles, Deja Vu v2 and Operation Na Pali).
The only pseudo "negative" thing I'll say is, because it's often very hard for me, Xidia Gold isn't always exactly as fun as Operation Na Pali. Now I'll say that again: the former is the most professional of the two, but the latter is, to me, slightly "better" overall because slightly more fun. In essence, it goes down to personal taste: I am not a very good FPS player, and very high difficulty doesn't maximise fun for me... unless the story is really compelling (i.e., really justifies the difficulty/motivates me). That last remark is important when considering my favourite individual SP map of all, which is a very hard map, but nonetheless my favourite so far. I'll tell you about it when it comes up in Map Of The Week ;)
That said, I like the story in Xidia Gold, but the main plot in The Xidia Incident is just good, and it's really the action that is awesome. Xidia: The Escape improves the storytelling a bit, and since it's just as good as the first part in every other way, well, it constitutes my favourite half of the overall mappack.
Oh yeah, regarding the fact that Outpost Pheonix was made from fragments of a few DM levels: I would not have been able to guess that. However, come to think of it, I can see how that area in the fourth screenshot could do well in a DM map! It is an excellent arena to fight in.

Cheers everyone!
Nali: Magic or Telekinesis
Waffnuffly wrote:It's tarydium-doped smoothies. Drunk by the player, I mean. The player is tripping balls. The whole game actually takes place in a large city and the player thinks he's on an alien world.

UB_
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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 24 Sep 2014, 10:32

Can't believe I wrote a walkthrough for this map pack.
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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 24 Sep 2014, 12:50

UBerserker wrote:Can't believe I wrote a walkthrough for this map pack.


Hmm, I've just been skimming through it and it's very thorough. Then again, it would have to be so, if you're talking about Unreal difficulty!
Regarding Outpost Pheonix, your walkthrough refreshed my memory regarding some of the details of the progression: I can't believe I forgot to mention the passage with the Machine Gun Turret (MGT) and the Skaarj Hunters; that was super cool, and quite hard for me the first time round (I died a couple of times, indeed you have to have good accuracy and reflexes). Probably the most memorable MGT sequence of the whole of Xidia (and none of the bugginess witnessed in Na Pali Haven Redux, where only one out of two MGT sequences worked alright). You see, this map is just so full of various setpieces, it would easily be enough for several maps, and yet the whole map is incredibly coherent, as is the whole of The Xidia Incident. Actually, I have an explanation as to why I forgot this particular highlight of the map when giving my detailed impressions: the thing is, I only ever did one complete playthrough of this level, and my last memories of this facility are from Xidia: The Escape, which managed to bring again a lot of new memorable sequences to the map, including by adding new sections to it. Outpost Pheonix is the most complete version of the facility, though Beacon comes a close second.
Nali: Magic or Telekinesis
Waffnuffly wrote:It's tarydium-doped smoothies. Drunk by the player, I mean. The player is tripping balls. The whole game actually takes place in a large city and the player thinks he's on an alien world.

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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 24 Sep 2014, 15:37

Interesting (and flattering) reading your experiences Sat :o

It's been so long since I made this one that I often forget myself a lot of the stuff that's in there. I just know that I was less aware at the time of the kinda stuff I couldn't do as opposed to what I wanted to do, hence why the level is so long. Went like this; I would make a section, think of a cool gameplay situation, and then move on. Then I'd hit a wall and then brainstorm for another idea. That's why one area has a squid, another area has snipers, one spot has a lockdown sequence with a machine gun, ect. I don't think me and Hourences were even totally sure we were going to do a campaign until I was mostly done with this level so that's probably another reason why it went on so long; I was trying to cram a whole adventure into one level, essentially.

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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 24 Sep 2014, 22:39

OK, so I read the walkthrough and now I know which map this is.
I've got nothing to add to previous comments except that even on Medium it was damn hard (but still very enjoyable).
The most memorable part for me was the Pretorian. For one reason or the other about half way through the map everything went slomo, which was actually fun in learning to deal with the strongest thing I had ever met. After many tryouts I finally found out how to kill the beast without suffering too much damage. And in a later installment, the slomo didn't occur anymore and everything I had learned ceased to help me with that monster. Eventually I did find the way to beat him with some authority (even on Hard) but it remains an exceptional battle.

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Subject: Re: 22/09/2014 - "Outpost Pheonix" by Mr. Prophet

Post Posted: 25 Sep 2014, 11:23

Mister_Prophet wrote:I just know that I was less aware at the time of the kinda stuff I couldn't do as opposed to what I wanted to do, hence why the level is so long. Went like this; I would make a section, think of a cool gameplay situation, and then move on. Then I'd hit a wall and then brainstorm for another idea. That's why one area has a squid, another area has snipers, one spot has a lockdown sequence with a machine gun, ect. I don't think me and Hourences were even totally sure we were going to do a campaign until I was mostly done with this level so that's probably another reason why it went on so long; I was trying to cram a whole adventure into one level, essentially.


Well you're pretty good at cramming a whole adventure into one level, I'm also thinking of Na Pali Haven Redux here!
It's enlightening to hear about the creative process: it shows that you don't necessarily need to have everything planned out in advance in order to make something great; I'd even go so far as to say that as long as you have a clear overall idea of the type of game you're trying to make, it's OK (and even preferable) to be flexible when it comes to implementing all the details, so that great ideas that come up during the implementation process can still make the cut, even though they weren't in the script. I've experienced this in my own work (irl) before...
Nali: Magic or Telekinesis
Waffnuffly wrote:It's tarydium-doped smoothies. Drunk by the player, I mean. The player is tripping balls. The whole game actually takes place in a large city and the player thinks he's on an alien world.

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