lost refinery - jason root
Nomonsters LMP here (02:22, 1.8K)
Note: needs ZDoom 1.22 to run correctly.
In construction, this map is not bad, showing competence at creating areas with
convincing supports (pillars) and the shadows are rather well done too. As this
is a (lost) refinery for green radioactive slime, it is built for solidity as
opposed to nice looks. This is often conveyed in a realistic way without looking
really ugly. The gripes I have about the construction is that there is often
insufficient cover in battles and also, the fact that there are many wide empty
rooms that are a tad over-light for the fact that they have no windows or a
skylight, but the latter is to do with my personal prejudices against open areas. :-)
I'm not an agoraphobe; I just believe (often unfairly) that empty space in a map
is wasted space. I do, however, believe in a map coming to its natural limits.
The gameplay is possibly the very best thing about this map! There are over 500
monsters on Ultra-Violence, which is not overly cramped for such a big level
as this. It certainly makes the map very entertaining to play -- there's always
action going on in some part of the map where you're just coming to (assuming
you are coming back to that place, which you often will be with the layout of
the map.) Oh, I dunno if secret areas count as part of the 'gameplay' section,
but I personally think that 16 or 17 secrets (however many this map has) is a
tad too much. (I haven't even discovered half of them yet!)
Error fixing is well done -- no HOMs or anything. Nicely done!
Umm... the aesthetic qualities are the few things that I think are lacking in
this map. The areas I have chosen to capture in the screenshots are the best
looking in my opinion, you may disagree. Hmm... well, maybe not the best
looking but certainly the most revealing about the map. The one below has
more than a touch of Doom E1M1 influence... :-) I must say the rooms near
the end are the worst; that sort of pinkish-brown STARTAN with the brown floor
and black ash ceiling is not at all pretty. But aside from those areas, this
is good and solid stuff.
Hmm... I don't like the thing placement much. Overall I think there are far too
few things (aside from monsters :-) and you can travel quite a few yards without
encountering a single thing (aside from a monster :-). This, unfortunately,
adds up to rather an ammo problem for the speedrunner, but if you are careful and
don't waste your ammo, it's allright. A note to the author: I'd advise you to
use more things in your maps in future....
verdict
Pros: Very 'nostalgic' E1-style map, a real challenge, a lot of fun.
Cons: Not very explanatory, can get too hard, in places very ugly.
Yes, I'd recommend downloading it. If, however, you are an agoraphobe,
don't do it. Some ugly rooms near the end really let it down.
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Construction: 7/10 |
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Gameplay: 9/10 |
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Error fixing: 10/10 |
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Aesthetic: 5/10 |
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Thing placement: 4/10 |
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Overall: 72% |
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