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01/12/2014 - "Entrance to the Fifth Vortex" by Doublez-Down, Teridax, and Nivlek

Each week a single map is discussed here in detail.

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UB_
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Subject: 01/12/2014 - "Entrance to the Fifth Vortex" by Doublez-Down, Teridax, and Nivlek

Post Posted: 01 Dec 2014, 13:56

Map Title: Entrance to the Fifth Vortex
Author: Doublez-Down, Teridax and Nivlek
From: The Fifth Vortex - Ehactora's Story
Filename: EhactoraFour.unr
Music Files: Surface.umx




Video Playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijorpQLQtSQ

Synopsis: You finally reach the peak. The courtyard of the temple on the peak hides the portal to The Fifth Vortex.

Discuss!

Doublez-Down
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Subject: Re: 01/12/2014 - "Entrance to the Fifth Vortex" by Doublez-Down, Teridax, and Nivlek

Post Posted: 01 Dec 2014, 22:02

Some trivia: The modern day (and inspiration for) the main structure:

Image

This was a fun map to build, and Teridax did a super job on the effects and lighting.
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User avatar Tarydax
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Subject: Re: 01/12/2014 - "Entrance to the Fifth Vortex" by Doublez-Down, Teridax, and Nivlek

Post Posted: 02 Dec 2014, 21:17

I really liked working on the scripted sequence where all the lights go out. It's a shame that the TriggerLights are what cause some of the performance issues, though.
Image

User avatar Mister_Prophet
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Subject: Re: 01/12/2014 - "Entrance to the Fifth Vortex" by Doublez-Down, Teridax, and Nivlek

Post Posted: 03 Dec 2014, 18:46

May I ask...how much is Nivlek's work integrated into the map? I only ask because playing it I was embarrassed to think I could not tell if parts were actually ported or if there were instead some port work and some of your own style of emulation on top of what new stuff was added. I've always preferred direct Redux over this for the very reason that as a player I dislike having that moment of, "...oh wait...this is from" and then I spend more time trying to remember what I had seen and how much of that had been new instead of what I aim to see going forward. It's borderline on the immersion thing, whereas for me telling a player outright "listen, this is the Vortex Rikers. Only later" sets them at a certain understanding of the location so they go in expecting something familiar and being shocked by the differences.

I enjoyed the enemy rush sequence at the summit, a fair nod to Gala's Peak in a lowly path leading above a great abyss with that sense of foreboding. I always relish the opportunity for more combat centric situations with Unreal enemies and enemy rush (or boss rush) is always an element I deem worthy of veteran players. Some gamers out there tend to loop these kinds of gameplay entanglements into a term that I really hate hearing nowadays called "arbitrary difficulty," and I hate it because people who tend to say it often do so with little regard to what is imposed on the player or what the game/level designer is trying to ask of them. The internet has given knaves and children of knaves a forum to scrutinize everything they do not understand. But I think Unreal is spared this dismissal in sequences like the one seen in Entrance to the Fifth Vortex because a good enemy rush is presented to a player that ought to be able to handle it, has to means to do so, and can engage the enemy in a setting and situation that sidesteps AI limitations and instead gives the player more options than it takes away. Some might feel that rush modes in games should be optional. I think deciding to play a mappack for a game that is 15 years old you should consider these scenarios not only fair game, but meaningful methods of keeping the game going for those sticking around.
Last edited by Mister_Prophet on 03 Dec 2014, 19:00, edited 3 times in total.

UB_
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Subject: Re: 01/12/2014 - "Entrance to the Fifth Vortex" by Doublez-Down, Teridax, and Nivlek

Post Posted: 03 Dec 2014, 18:51

Seems like just part of Gala's Peak terrain.
Never understood why the scout ship pops up from the pit though haha.
ImageImage

Doublez-Down
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Subject: Re: 01/12/2014 - "Entrance to the Fifth Vortex" by Doublez-Down, Teridax, and Nivlek

Post Posted: 04 Dec 2014, 05:04

Yep, just part of the middle terrain, and I believe the first land bridge are the only things from Gala. I just enjoyed Gala and thought it would be cool to do something similar. And I always thought the building where I worked would make a good map, at least architecturally speaking. I had envisioned the sun dials being much larger, but they get the job done I suppose.
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Subject: Re: 01/12/2014 - "Entrance to the Fifth Vortex" by Doublez-Down, Teridax, and Nivlek

Post Posted: 04 Dec 2014, 18:09

This map really stuck out to me. Probably more so than other maps in the pack, all for good reasons. This pack as a whole was FUN, and this map did something fun and reminiscent of Unreal and other games from that era that I have really grown to adore. This is a really great map with awe-inspiring presentation to boot.

Mister_Prophet wrote:I enjoyed the enemy rush sequence at the summit, a fair nod to Gala's Peak in a lowly path leading above a great abyss with that sense of foreboding. I always relish the opportunity for more combat centric situations with Unreal enemies and enemy rush (or boss rush) is always an element I deem worthy of veteran players. Some gamers out there tend to loop these kinds of gameplay entanglements into a term that I really hate hearing nowadays called "arbitrary difficulty," and I hate it because people who tend to say it often do so with little regard to what is imposed on the player or what the game/level designer is trying to ask of them. The internet has given knaves and children of knaves a forum to scrutinize everything they do not understand. But I think Unreal is spared this dismissal in sequences like the one seen in Entrance to the Fifth Vortex because a good enemy rush is presented to a player that ought to be able to handle it, has to means to do so, and can engage the enemy in a setting and situation that sidesteps AI limitations and instead gives the player more options than it takes away. Some might feel that rush modes in games should be optional. I think deciding to play a mappack for a game that is 15 years old you should consider these scenarios not only fair game, but meaningful methods of keeping the game going for those sticking around.


Having just recently played Blood Dragon for the first time, they did this on at least one occasion, and it was amazing. I'm surprised at how much that game reminded me of classic Unreal and the map packs that have and still do spawn from the community. The Fifth Vortex as a whole dominates on so many levels in hitting Unreal's unique Sci-Fi/Fantasy themes repeatedly and with hardly any stumbles in design and gameplay, and I deeply appreciate the effort put into its creation. I'm certainly going to have to play this pack again, and soon.
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Subject: Re: 01/12/2014 - "Entrance to the Fifth Vortex" by Doublez-Down, Teridax, and Nivlek

Post Posted: 04 Dec 2014, 18:40

After playing packs like Tower of Shrakith'a, 7 Bullets, and ONP, I never thought that another custom map pack would be able to surprise me. I was really happy to be proven wrong by The Fifth Vortex (both in this map and the pack as a whole). This map's last sequence in particular is one of my favorite Unreal moments ever, and I don't think I'll ever tire of it.

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Subject: Re: 01/12/2014 - "Entrance to the Fifth Vortex" by Doublez-Down, Teridax, and Nivlek

Post Posted: 04 Dec 2014, 19:22

More of a transition/boss map compared to the other maps, but it does the job well; the abyss looks dramatic and the centre area provides some interesting scripting, events and combat, as well as providing a climax with you discovering the Fifth Vortex itself.
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