Could be asleep, typing random messages instead.

[UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

For discussion and promotion of Unreal Engine single-player campaigns, mapping projects and total conversions.

Moderators: Semfry, ividyon

Doublez-Down
Skaarj Warlord Skaarj Warlord
Posts: 993
Joined: 27 Feb 2010, 22:46

Subject: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 28 Apr 2014, 00:00

Developer: Rob 'Doublez-Down' Collins
Status: Released



Synopsis: You were hurt working in a Na Pali mine and rescued by a group of Nali. They have taken you to the Monastery of De'Nasha Breeche, a Nali High Priest whose name appears elsewhere in the Unreal universe. After nursing you back to health, they would like some assistance...

Features: Hopefully refreshing gameplay and something different from the norm, with a few "secrets" thrown in here and there. This should also work with U1, but you will need the shanechurch and city texture sets in the proper directory (see readme).

Latest News: Released April 27th, 2014

Links:

Download from Google Drive

Download from Mediafire
I swear to god this forum isn't going to evaporate into ether within the next hour or so. - Bug Horse

User avatar AlCapowned
Skaarj Elder Skaarj Elder
Posts: 1175
Joined: 19 Dec 2009, 22:25

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 28 Apr 2014, 00:46

I just finished. It's a really charming map, and the lack of emphasis on combat was pretty refreshing.
:tup:

User avatar SteadZ
Skaarj Warlord Skaarj Warlord
Posts: 883
Joined: 04 Mar 2012, 10:52
Location: An error occurred. Please try again later.
Contact:

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 28 Apr 2014, 01:11

Looks pretty nice (loving the look of the shadows created by the purple window!), gonna try this out some time :D

.......
SZ
.......
Image

User avatar AndryxaXP
Skaarj Warrior Skaarj Warrior
Posts: 90
Joined: 10 Aug 2011, 21:35
Location: Moldova

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 28 Apr 2014, 09:11

This temple is simply amazing :o

User avatar Sat42
Skaarj Warlord Skaarj Warlord
Posts: 865
Joined: 14 Jul 2013, 16:42
Contact:

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 28 Apr 2014, 11:46

I got to play this almost immediately after the release, here's a bit of feedback (note: spoilers):-

First of all, I appreciated the change of pace from your previous works, this was more puzzle oriented and had a role play feel to it which I always enjoy. The architecture of the De'Nasha Breeche Monastery is not overly sophisticated, it is right, and has some beautiful aspects to it. It isn't a big map, and yet for me that was still a "long play" the first time round (over an hour), partly because I immerse myself by taking my time (and this map is really suited to that) and partly because, frankly, I had to spend a bit of time to figure out how to solve the puzzles :)

The sky island theme is always nice. I do believe this level accomplished the minimum in that respect; more could have been done in order to "feel" that you're on a sky island (other sky isles in the background, wind blowing on the edges of the terrain, more varied topographic relief - including that which allows you to appreciate the underbelly of the sky island from extreme angles, etc.).

Nice link with the mother game, by the way!

A few technical approximations (no real issues):
- I can check again, but it seems that if you go and ring the 2nd set of bells (i.e., the bells from the second tower which has the faulty lift) before the first set of bells, then you can't trigger a conversation when you return to the Nali in the starting room (and so the sequence of events is broken, making you stuck in the level)
- I know I'm not a really good FPS player, so when I fought those "bugs" I fell off the platform at one point and this together with the commotion upstairs made just about every Nali in the map panick (except for the one in the starting room), making them run and subsequently teleport for the most part (save for the one at the altar, who resumed praying after cowering near the altar for a bit, so he was basically still in place) - this led to a funny situation, whereby I was thanked by an invisible high priest, and an invisible cattle carer told me to slaughter that cow for next morning's breakfast! At least a Nali in flesh did run up to me when the Skaarj attack started, which leads to the last technical approximation:
- I was pumped up and rushed to get the Stinger, expecting Skaarj to appear round any corner, but upon getting to the Monastery's main entrance, I saw nothing but the Skaarj fighter aircraft! I tried shooting at it and getting closer - nothing, so I ran back inside and then all over the map looking for the Skaarj!! Eventually that brought me back to the main entrance and this time, next to the fighter aircraft, I finally saw the Skaarj Berserker wandering around :P on Medium difficulty at least, the final attack may require controlling the Skaarj Berserker's random movements a bit so that the player actually finds the creature in a plausible "attacking" position (like right in front of the main entrance door or something)!

Overall, this is still a great map, worth playing for its looks and unconventional but perfectly valid pace which enhances the atmosphere. It is, in my humble opinion, your least great SP work, but that's mostly due to its scope, but then again, this is apparently just the start of a new series, and I'm definitely looking forward to the rest! :)

Thank you for sharing this Doublez-Down!
Cheers!
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.

Doublez-Down
Skaarj Warlord Skaarj Warlord
Posts: 993
Joined: 27 Feb 2010, 22:46

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 28 Apr 2014, 14:02

Thanks for having a look and glad you enjoyed it...

[spoiler]I'll have to check on the falling off the ledge while fighting the spinners part. Thought I had that covered and none of the playtesters ran into that. But I can see how it would cause some stuff to act funky. It's funny, I didn't once run into a teleporting nali (neither did my playtesters), and now of course someone else has. :cry: EDIT: Okay I was able to replicate it, but I had to fall off the ledge and run around the map a couple times to do it.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]For the last fight, yeah I originally had 6 skaarj scouts attacking, but they kept falling off the ledges, killing each other, etc, and the counter to bring the ending teleporter wouldn't count them right unless the player actually shot them. So meh...[/spoiler]

Overall it was fun to do a different type of map and hopefully I can address any of those types of issues in the 2nd installment...
Last edited by Doublez-Down on 28 Apr 2014, 14:19, edited 1 time in total.
I swear to god this forum isn't going to evaporate into ether within the next hour or so. - Bug Horse

User avatar Sat42
Skaarj Warlord Skaarj Warlord
Posts: 865
Joined: 14 Jul 2013, 16:42
Contact:

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 28 Apr 2014, 14:19

Doublez-Down wrote:Overall it was fun to do a different type of map and hopefully I can address any of those types of issues in the 2nd installment...


Excellent, good luck with that! looking forward to it :tup:

EDIT:
Doublez-Down wrote:[spoiler]I'll have to check on the falling off the ledge while fighting the spinners part. Thought I had that covered and none of the playtesters ran into that. But I can see how it would cause some stuff to act funky. It's funny, I didn't once run into a teleporting nali (neither did my playtesters), and now of course someone else has. :cry: EDIT: Okay I was able to replicate it, but I had to fall off the ledge and run around the map a couple times to do it.[/spoiler]


Ah well, I guess I was just unlucky causing that! Just played through the whole thing again, avoided a mess this time :wink:
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.

User avatar Mister_Prophet
Red Nemesis Leader Red Nemesis Leader
Posts: 3098
Joined: 11 Nov 2007, 23:30
Location: Lost in Oraghar

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 28 Apr 2014, 22:19

In beta testing I nearly fell and heard the Nali wigging out, but after slaying the spinners I noticed none of the Nali actually attempted to flee or teleport. Perhaps this depends on how long the spinners remain alive.

User avatar Sat42
Skaarj Warlord Skaarj Warlord
Posts: 865
Joined: 14 Jul 2013, 16:42
Contact:

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 28 Apr 2014, 23:59

Mister_Prophet wrote:In beta testing I nearly fell and heard the Nali wigging out, but after slaying the spinners I noticed none of the Nali actually attempted to flee or teleport. Perhaps this depends on how long the spinners remain alive.


I guess it does depend on how long the spinners remain alive. I fell off on the wrong side, meaning I had to go right around the building to get back to the lifts. More than enough time to scare the Nali into making a run for it (typically, they'd run off somewhere, and when they stop running, it's a matter of seconds before they decide to teleport).
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.

diamond
Skaarj Berserker Skaarj Berserker
Posts: 366
Joined: 13 Nov 2007, 10:51
Location: ROFLand
Contact:

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 29 Apr 2014, 11:13

I think we all need a subclass of Nali who will panic only after direct attack.
Image
UBerserker wrote:Architecture doesn't need to detailed, it just needs to be right.

User avatar Sat42
Skaarj Warlord Skaarj Warlord
Posts: 865
Joined: 14 Jul 2013, 16:42
Contact:

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 29 Apr 2014, 14:16

We could also use a subclass of Nali who won't ever teleport. But I believe some works control that already. I haven't yet bothered to check how they did it though.
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.

User avatar Semfry
Trustee Member Trustee Member
Posts: 2068
Joined: 12 Nov 2007, 02:43
Location: UK
Contact:

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 29 Apr 2014, 20:55

Nice use of having a bunch of gameplay in a small area, and a focus on non-combat action. The theme and visuals and decent too. The only part I found a bit lacking was the very end, as just backtracking to a place with nothing else happening was a little disappointing.

Pseudo-spoiler for a potential bug I seemed to come across:

[spoiler]After killing the Spinners it seemed like I was stuck when I dropped down on the other side of the Church (the side that doesn't have the entrance door), as it seemed like no doors would open, but maybe I missed something.[/spoiler]
Formerly Mman

Doublez-Down
Skaarj Warlord Skaarj Warlord
Posts: 993
Joined: 27 Feb 2010, 22:46

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 29 Apr 2014, 21:30

[spoiler]"After killing the Spinners it seemed like I was stuck when I dropped down on the other side of the Church (the side that doesn't have the entrance door), as it seemed like no doors would open, but maybe I missed something." You should just be able to go back out the backdoor again. That sequence definitely is the most troublesome spot of the map though.[/spoiler]
I swear to god this forum isn't going to evaporate into ether within the next hour or so. - Bug Horse

User avatar salsaSkaarj
Gilded Claw Gilded Claw
Posts: 1862
Joined: 21 Apr 2009, 21:54
Location: on the prowl

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 30 Apr 2014, 20:24

Played this one this afternoon.

It's fun but it's missing something.
For one there's hardly any tension (nor build-up) and then suddenly PANIC, Skaarj attack!.
hmm Skaarj attack - that one scared me considering I only had the DP and the message suggest the Skaarj have landed (which I interpreted as plural). So I quickly retrieved the stinger and went up the lift to the Bell towers from where I could walk on the rooftop all around the Monastery in safety whle locating the enemy. I walked around the roofs 3x looking over the edges but could see no Skaarj (the shuttle yes) and when I finally decided to go back down I still couldn't find a Skaarj. Almost giving up I was suddenly attacked from behind by 1 Skaarj and as I ran backwards shooting at him, he avoids the DP bolts and eventually just evaded right of the edge.
No teleporter appeared (anywhere) but a message stating I have to return the dagger to it's original place and after doing so: an error message "can't find file unreal ...".

I don't really understand the part about the dagger giving me strength anyway.

About the Nali panicking, I didn't experience that, but I had managed to de-infest the upper level without causing much commotion: spinners are much less of a threat there than pupae would be (I think).
Overall, nice visuals, good exploration, an interesting story but basically no danger and nothing worth being called "a puzzle" (which I was expecting when the Nali started ranting about the bells).

Oops correction, the puzzle with the 2 deadweights was a nice one!!

Oh BTW, I also had the problem that the Nali didn't speak to me after ringing the bells (in the wrong order), but going back up and ringing them again in the right order solved that "problem".

Doublez-Down
Skaarj Warlord Skaarj Warlord
Posts: 993
Joined: 27 Feb 2010, 22:46

Subject: Re: [UT] SP-De'Nasha Breeche Monastery

Post Posted: 30 Apr 2014, 21:53

Bugs, bugs, damn bugs!
I swear to god this forum isn't going to evaporate into ether within the next hour or so. - Bug Horse

Next

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 55 guests

Copyright © 2001-2024 UnrealSP.org

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Limited