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Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 20 Jun 2011, 15:26
by Tarydax
Thanks for the feedback, guys. On the subject of gameplay, I don't really consider myself the best at FPS games, so when I beat the map with ammo to spare, I thought it was too easy. I ended up running past a lot of enemies, though, which is probably why I had so much ammo left. I thought if I had an easy time with it, everyone else would, but I didn't take how others would play into account. I should have realized that there wasn't enough ammo to kill everything, but I didn't have enough time to test with time running out for the contest. :/ I left the dispersion pistol out because I wanted to do something different with the gameplay. With the first version, I originally had it that there was a dispersion pistol, but I thought it made it too easy. I'm not the best at shooting games, so I figured I would take it out and try to make the gameplay a bit more challenging. For the final, I'll either include a DP or add more ammo, not sure which I'll end up doing.

And thanks for the tip about Shrak, Mman. I'll have to take a look at that, but I think I'll play through it first. I haven't played it in a while. :)

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 20 Jun 2011, 16:12
by Turboman
finished it and
[spoiler]loved the challenge it offered, i think i ran out of automag ammo quite fast (before i even entered the first temple, so i spent most of my time dodging enemies (till that ceiling piece dropped on me :lol: )
Lack of health was noticeable, i was only playing on (default) medium, and near the end i was holding on to 12hp, luckily i had enough ammo by then to get the boss down easily (he was more distracted by his offspring then me).
The map is visually good looking, very unreal-ish, some good designs here and there, balanced yet challenging gameplay, a nice sense of exploration and non-linearity, i especially liked the detour area's, like the pupae ambush or the cavern near the start. I'd say you planned every bit quite well :tup:
The only complaint i had was that some parts were empty looking, and others that looked alot like areas from unreal/rtnp[/spoiler]

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 20 Jun 2011, 16:28
by Legendslayer222
Teridax wrote:For the final, I'll either include a DP or add more ammo, not sure which I'll end up doing.

Add more ammo, I think it is interesting without that weapon, forces the player to be careful with their supplies.

Also I prefer killing everything and I did that (first version of the map, medium difficulty) with some ammo to spare. Don't know how V2 or a higher difficulty affects things though.

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 20 Jun 2011, 16:52
by Semfry
Teridax wrote:For the final, I'll either include a DP or add more ammo, not sure which I'll end up doing.


As it is the level could do with either the DP and a little more ammo, or no DP and a lot more ammo. I'd prefer the former as this is designed as a traditional Unreal level and the gimmicky concept of the player having no way to defend themselves if they are out of ammo doesn't really add anything at all.

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 20 Jun 2011, 17:51
by AlCapowned
If you do add the DP, make sure you increase (maybe double) Bog's health. He could already be killed with ammo to spare; with so much ammo saved by using the DP against smaller enemies, the current Bog could be killed a few times over.

If it had to be added, I would at least keep it out of Unreal difficulty. When I was starting to get low on ammo (usually happened near the key areas), I never felt like I was backed into a corner with nothing to do because of the escape routes. I never completely ran out, either.

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 20 Jun 2011, 18:12
by Semfry
AlCapowned wrote:If you do add the DP, make sure you increase (maybe double) Bog's health. He could already be killed with ammo to spare; with so much ammo saved by using the DP against smaller enemies, the current Bog could be killed a few times over.


[spoiler]At the end of the level all I had were about 150 stinger shots, if the boss had much more health the map would have been literally unbeatable for me. Plus default Giant Gasbags are nearly harmless anyway (although I recall the boss had a slightly improved projectile), and making it a bit stronger would just make the fight last longer without making it any more difficult.[/spoiler]

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 20 Jun 2011, 18:16
by AlCapowned
[spoiler]Good point. I felt like I should have been hit more often, but his attacks seemed to miss me when I moved only a few steps away.[/spoiler]

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 21 Jun 2011, 01:25
by TheIronKnuckle
There was one frustrating point involving a lot of slith and devilfish where i was one one health. I just gave up and summoned 20 points more. Only time I felt like there wasn't enough health though.

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 21 Jun 2011, 04:50
by Doublez-Down
Am I the only that got stuck at the RL? EDIT - NM... :? :oops:

[spoiler]After falling in the lava twice...which felt somehow cheap, but I guess it'd be a realistic trap of sorts...[/spoiler]

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 21 Jun 2011, 05:03
by AlCapowned
Out of curiosity, which version are you playing?

[spoiler]V2 has a hint to the left.[/spoiler]

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 22 Jun 2011, 04:48
by Tarydax
I made a third version. Creatures drop more health and ammo, and I included a DP and powerups on easy, normal, and hard. Unreal lacks the DP and powerups. Unreal and hard are pretty much the same, aside from one lacking a DP and the other not. Link here: http://www.gamefront.com/files/20467748/ChapelOfTheEldersV3.zip

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 22 Jun 2011, 20:47
by AlCapowned
I just finished the new version on Unreal. I didn't find it as fun because I didn't have to play differently or conserve my ammo as much.

For some reason, a few of the krall didn't have models when I played the first time. That might just be a problem on my end, because I opened the map again and they appeared.

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 22 Jun 2011, 21:39
by salsaSkaarj
Teridax wrote:I made a third version. Creatures drop more health and ammo, and I included a DP and powerups on easy, normal, and hard. Unreal lacks the DP and powerups. Unreal and hard are pretty much the same, aside from one lacking a DP and the other not. Link here: http://www.gamefront.com/files/20467748/ChapelOfTheEldersV3.zip

Downloaded and started playing (I'm way behind my schedule in paying the contest maps and have to get on with it.) Just I now I saw that the results have been published which means I'll have to watch out what I read so as not to be influenced. Fact is I'll probably just write my comments, log off and only login again after playing all maps.

Chapel of the Elders ... very nice story construction, the bad guy subplot is overused but still works here. Visually, actually surprisingly good with those tall cliffs and the views from the occasional window. Gameplay, a bit rough here and there (Slith) but generally well balanced, end Boss something different than usual, seems to be faster, considering the environment good choice. Technically this looks good but I got stuck, really stuck twice and had to ghost to be able to move again (first time in the cave, nearing the Nali from the right, second time getting out of the water on some wood with Slith following me, got stuck between wood and brick, had to ghost also). Considering the size of the map, I won't hold it against it. It's probably bad luck that I was in that precise position: I could only repeat the second instance, not the first.

Of all the maps I have played up to now I'll rate this the highest, and since I'v only got 3 or 4 more to play, this is a potential winner (BTW I played V3 so perhaps the earlier version(s) would score lower).

still to play: usp_turbo, ibyn_gold, IOS_demo

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 22 Jun 2011, 21:59
by Semfry
I just tried the new version and it's much more reasonable now. It gets very tight at one or two points but there's enough to deal with everything now if you're careful (and be very comfortable if you pick your battles). DP upgrades on lower settings sound like they'd be a bit much; just the DP should be enough. The only other thing is there could be a couple more medikits in the temple section (the key-hunt part), as I had to do a significant portion with about fourty health.

[spoiler]A couple of things I forgot to mention before is that I liked the armour only accessible with the Scuba gear, as it adds a reward for exploring both sides, and the ending was nicely mysterious and made me wonder what follows.[/spoiler]

Re: Chapel of the Elders - Released

Posted: 22 Jun 2011, 22:38
by Legendslayer222
Tried the new version. I thought the dispersion pistol ruined it a bit, but hey, you can't please everyone.
By the way, is there a console command or something to remove just the dispersion pistol? I tried 'killall dispersionpistol' but it didn't accept that. :B

--

Chapel of the Elders is my personal winner out of this years entries. It has the fullest experience and is the only map that didn't scream "I was built waaaaay to quickly!" at me.
Actually, if the maps yelled that, it would be hilarious, although an immersion killer. :P