08/04/2008 - "Harobed Village" by Juan Pancho Eeke

[Darkon]

Map Title: Harobed Village
Author: Juan Pancho Eekels
From: Unreal
Filename: harobed.unr
Video Playthrough: http://www.dailymotion.com/MMAN2/video/8445539



Synopsis: After fighting teh beast in Dark Arena, you now arrive near a small village (named after a certain Deborah?). Closeby is an alien looking facility.. let's take a look at the area!

[Jblade]

One of my favourite maps, since there's lots to explore here. I never found the hidden cave area for quite a while here, so finding it was an awsome suprise (The same for the Nali hideout in Glathriel Village)

[Hellscrag]

This map has a great serene atmosphere after Dark Arena, helped by Hub2.umx. The design of area outside of Terraniux is awesome, creating, by contrast, a tremendous sense of an unwelcome alien intrusion in the landscape. The red spiky plant near the access bridge looks genuinely alien and out of place in the surroundings, like it has escaped somehow.

Down side: The map has aged very badly IMO, and the low poly nature of its design is painfully obvious nowadays.

Annoyance: The trigger at the entrance to the graveyard that keeps restarting the music. Hub2.umx is poorly encoded and doesn't take kindly to having songsection 0 restarted - errors creep through in the mix (unreal4.umx is another notorious example of this).

[Buff Skeleton]

I never even explored the town my first time through this map, but only because I thought I would go check out that giant machine first. Then I saw LOADING and completely forgot about the other part of the map.

I don't think I even discovered the flak cannon or the underground area the second time I played it. Just the town.

(unreal4.umx is another notorious example of this).

At least unreal4's errors actually kinda fit in with the surroundings in a weird, alien sort of way.

[fashahhh]

I remember my jaw dropping when I first emerged from the arena entrance. It was beautiful in its time & the scale was absolutely enormous compared to other games around at the time. Seeing the Merc ship above you was a sight to behold. I also missed the underground secret bit during the first playthrough.

[Mister_Prophet]

I never even explored the town my first time through this map, but only because I thought I would go check out that giant machine first. Then I saw LOADING and completely forgot about the other part of the map.

I don't think I even discovered the flak cannon or the underground area the second time I played it. Just the town.

I always loved that about this map, how you can ignore the town altogether and deal with the consequences.

Can anyone refresh my memory on this....but if you skip the Flak Cannon here, how many maps do you have to wait until you find it again?

[Ryu]

I remember playing this on the internet long time ago. Shame unreal's MP has come this low # of players. As for the Flak I think you need to wait till Noork, unless there is one on the Terri. In Noork , it is in the under water passage secret.

[Darkon]

The water area was always weird to me. It's not a pond/lake, because it has a border. However, I always thought it was toxic waste or something (before I entered the parts with the real toxic 'green' waste). I always tried to avoid to touch the 'liquid'.. until i found out that it won't do anything to your health.. (pitty actually).

I think the map is kinda bland.. it's pretty empty. A few area's are good with some detailing, like some parts of the tiny town and of course the alien structure, which always looks great. Other than that.. like said before, it looks aged by todays standards. More detailing would work wonders IMO.

[UB_]

Certainly the best village in Na Pali I ever seen. It's really great entering a peaceful place after passing another with an opposite theme.

So you make your step in a big valley. You see a giant ship in the distance, and a village on the left. Very impressive for those days' standard.
Architecture is very simple, especially the catacombs and any underwater part.
The lake below the Terraniux was actually Nitrogen in the beta, that's why it looks kinda weird and not supposed to be explored. And the stuff you used to go to the other part of the lake are all movers...

The village is really cool, not to mention the church and the cimitery entrance.
As for sounds, the action track of Hub2.umx has one of the best intro ever. Luckily that other songsection hasn't been used. It's more of a Jazz Jackrabbit track than an Unreal one.
Last thing is: why there's a lone stone wall in the catacomb area? Covering a BSP hole? Or an unfinished thing? Or just the church...

As gameplay, it's mostly about Skaarj Warriors. They aren't a threat if you know to use the Automag or the ASMD
Flies can be annoying for first timers. At the beginning, there's no one of them in the village. Then enter the first house, kill the Fly, exit, and the village is now filled with those things. Fortunately, they are easily killed with everything. Use your ears to hear the annoying buzz.
Mantas are pushovers as they appear far from you. The Sliths can be hard if you don't stay in the catacomb cave, where you have more space to avoid their Slime Balls.
The last Skaarj is easy with a bunch of Eightball grenades.

I found the secrets the first time I played the level... well, I unlocked the catacomb area accidentally. Then in later playthroughs, I didn't know where to use the button.
Saving the Nali from the Skaarj Warrior was also pretty hard if you try to fight the enemy inside the church.
The Nali opens the door to the Flak Cannon area and the points you to an Armor (the latter thing is pretty tricky).

OMG Flies hate water. The lake below the Terraniux is a proof of this. Once you are in the water, the Flies go away from the pool; weird.

It's a nice village with an awesome crashed ship.

[Semfry]

The most distinctive thing about this level is the non-linear "skip over 50% of the level if you head right for the exit" aspect. Plus the fact it comes after Dark Arena creates a perfect change in the pacing and atmosphere. The graveyard is also one of the coolest secrets in the game. I'd probably agree the visuals are pretty aged, but I think it's still one of the purest examples of some of the best, and most unique, things about Unreal (the exploration, the Nali backstories and the juxtaposition of ancient and modern).

Seeing how high you can get the barrels at the end to fly your corpse is also fun .

[UB_]

Juan Pancho EEKE!

[Creavion]

The most distinctive thing about this level is the non-linear "skip over 50% of the level if you head right for the exit" aspect. Plus the fact it comes after Dark Arena creates a perfect change in the pacing and atmosphere. The graveyard is also one of the coolest secrets in the game. I'd probably agree the visuals are pretty aged, but I think it's still one of the purest examples of some of the best, and most unique, things about Unreal (the exploration, the Nali backstories and the juxtaposition of ancient and modern).

Seeing how high you can get the barrels at the end to fly your corpse is also fun .

at least 75 %

Like the level with that seperate visitable village, too. Cant understand those people who can ignore those buildings. Whatever: Not a typicall linear level.

[zbreaker]

A real nice hub type level. Serene to a certain extent with lots of freedom to do or go pretty much wherever you want...altho still essentially linear in the final analysis.

[Jethro]

There's nothing I can say what hasn't been already said. True classic, despite of aged architecture still fun to play, and it's non-linearity, gameplay and stunning (at least for me) atmosphere makes it unforgettable expirience.

[StalwartUK]

Better late than never I guess. Classic level. Nice oppotunity to explore the level or jump ahead to Terraniux. I wouldn't miss the Flak Cannon though, it's really useful in dealing with Mercenary scum.