redux - daniel trim

Filename: redux.zip

File size: 605k

Author: Daniel Trim

Homepage: unknown

Other work: unknown

This six-level map-set is well designed; the architecture throughout is
of a consistently good standard. This is especially noticeable outdoors,
where height variations were used to great advantage. This use of heights
gives the outdoor areas (always difficult to design) a sense of realism,
the idea that they could almost be real places. However, not all of the
maps' areas are meaningfully designed; there is real confusion at times.

On UV (the level I tested at), there is a steep learning curve to the
gameplay, but it's by no means impossible. Care is needed throughout.
There is plenty of ammo for the monsters you are pitched against, which
is a good thing - nothing is more frustrating in my opinion than not having
enough ammo to survive on. The maps tend towards being explanatory, but
in some of them (map03 especially), very thorough exploration is required
for progress. For extra atmosphere, I would recommend using the music
WAD from the Talosian Incident (TALOSM.WAD) alongside these maps.



In map03 and map04 there are some dreadful Tutti-Frutti errors - ugh!
Also, more seriously, there's a VPO near the end of map05. For a mapset
which claims to run on DOOM2.EXE, that shouldn't happen.

As far as I can tell, the author would have been well sought-after in the
1960s, when brutalism was de rigeur (can't spell that). He has a very pared-
-down æsthetic style; he tends not to use more than a handful of different
textures in each map, but the variety through the whole WAD is good. The
textures in map01 and 06 are extremely brown (not so good), but in the other
maps it's not as bad. He uses ceiling-lights well in map05. Those lights
wouldn't have been amiss in the earlier maps, where there are some extremely
dark sections, with no indication of an imminent hole ahead; this is very
atmospheric and realistic, but impractical for gameplay, especially as there
is no visible way out of said hole once you are in it. I mentioned above
the music WAD for the Talosian Incident; the bare minimalism of those pieces
is matched by the æsthetics and architecture in this set too.

The things are well placed.

verdict