13/02/2017 - "The Dead Mines" by Mr. Prophet and Hourences

[Jigoku]

Map Title: "The Dead Mines"
Author: Mr.Prophet, Hourences
From: Xidia Gold
Filename: XidiaES-Map4-DeadMines.unr
Music Files: Blank.umx, DigSh.umx, Guardian.umx, Mountain.umx, Newmca7, null.umx, Opal.umx




Video Playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE1fHEPdCcI

Synopsis: A mine that's much more than dead...

Discuss!

[Mister_Prophet]

So many themes in this remix...

[UBerserker]

So many themes in this remix...

Yet still the most defining Xidia map.

There's practically everything here, every section has its own defining set piece or event and they're all memorable, more probably than any other Xidia map maybe barring Outpost Phoenix, Genome Warriors and Black Window.

You got there:

• The large railway tunnel at the beginning.
• The Red Nemesis storage area directly after which is probably Xidia's most popular part?
• The Brood coming from the floor in the optional room with all those lockers.
• Revisiting one of the best locations from the original Xidia that still holds extremely high today, especially sound-wise.
• The betrayal event.
• The Controller being spotted, running away.
• The "dreamy" way how you access the ruins area, and the ruins themselves.
• The boss fight, a very distinct puzzle one at that.
• The entrance to the next level is great as well.

Never a dull moment and the gameplay is very fine too. A modern classic.

[Mister_Prophet]

As the years pile on I remember less and less about the actual construction of these old levels. Some things stick though. I took the original version as a base and cut out the parts I didn't need, added the new rooms I did, and kept building till I thought nodes would break the thing. Hourences' credit is simply what was from the original version, I pretty much took this one upon myself to do with what I could. I had already seen what he was doing with the Ice Skaarj map and I knew this level would precede it. Guess the motivation was, "make as many awesome ideas as you can fit in there because they won't care by the time they see the next map."

[Semfry]

Probably my favourite level in The Escape for overall design (although Genome Warriors is obviously the stand-out visually). It's kind of all over the place thematically, but it sells each shift so much, and the individual ideas mostly work well, so it ends up not being a problem. The story also helps as the progression of this level kind of mirrors Spencer being lost after getting betrayed and having no-one else to rely on any more. Of the "reduxed" levels in The Escape I think it's the best at making you feel like you're getting a bigger insight into a location from the original. The warehouse fight is also one of favourites in Xidia as a whole, and, while challenging, it's fair outside of sniper bullshit on Unreal. The boss fight is also a nice twist on a standard Titan fight, as well as taking the level in completely different direction (though that's the one theme that perhaps could have been explored a little more).

[Sat42]

I have to say I agree with UB completely, down to the singling out of Outpost Pheonix, The Genome Warriors and Black Widow (which are my favourite from The Xidia Incident - along with Derelict Surface - and Xidia Gold, respectively (I would add that Beacon had an as strong impression on me as The Dead Mines).

I remember spending more than two and a half hours on this one. In my experience, the only map slightly longer than this in Xidia Gold is Outpost Pheonix (3 hours!).

Notable moments from my first playthrough:
- getting down to the tunnel floor at the beginning to kill the Skaarj there although the ride would have allowed me to bypass them - as dangerous as that ride may have been
- getting my ass handed to me multiple times during the warehouse fight - I'm sure I'd handle it better now!
- seeing the Controller
- the locker room, from the pin-up to the Brood's sudden attacks (typical)
- the revisiting of the mines
- the betrayal event, this kind of thing is sooo rare in Unreal/UT
- the "holy shit" last act(s): the environments are awesome, and that boss fight is REALLY good - easy (never died here!), but great nonetheless given how well it is designed, it makes you tense and the "Grey Dragon" demolishing the huge pillars of the temple while attacking you is one of the best uses of destructible environments in Unreal/UT.

As good as my favourite maps from The Xidia Incident and better, overall, than Beneath Xidia (which is of course awesome too by the way, with another great boss fight).

[UBerserker]

For those interested - the siren sound you hear constantly in the river cave is a heavily pitched-down Call6.

[Sat42]

For those interested - the siren sound you hear constantly in the river cave is a heavily pitched-down Call6.

That's what I call smart use of stock assets. When I need inspiration with respect to sound usage, I know I can count on such maps...