FATAL
June 24th, 2007, 11:32 AM
Noob Project Part 4- Space Station Vrack
nprject4.zip (671 kb)
ftp://ftp.fu-berlin.de/pc/msdos/games/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/m-o/nprject4.zip
Port: ZDoom 1.7.
Single Player.
Jan 2007.
1 map.
Danimetal using Zdoom 1.7 (Didn´t even end in a previous version).
Score: 3
To begin with, this is the fourth map on a series that seems to be aiming for a large number of releases and I haven´t played the ones before this one. That doesn´t mean that I can´t be bothered to do it but it´s more like I don´t feel like doing a full review series like Fatal did with the "Fort" maps... Anyway, if I haven´t played the ones before, why did I play this?. Well, to put it simply: the news item caught my attention. Don´t you read the News at NewDoom?. Damn, let us do a bit of pimping and tell you that there are actual people looking for news so you can see them (among them there are each and every issue of the NDWR) and that takes a lot of time... Next time you visit the forum, why don´t stopping by the main page and look at the news?.
Oh, okay, okay, I am getting away from the point so I´ll stop it. As I was saying, I just played the map because I saw that it was released and, given the title, I think that it would be worth giving it a try to see if I could come with some constructive criticism. So, what´s about this map?. The "Noob Project" maps seem to revolve around a storyline in wich a marine is searching for the BFG. On this map, positively inspired by the VRack series, our hero has crashed into some kind of spaceship structure he must get out of... Of course I´m not making that out as these things are told via cutscenes as you play.
The map starts as many others do: with the player on a cell. From the moment in wich the player scapes from the cell to the ending there are many situations that can be inspiring and original -like practicing near zero gravity jumps- but for any of them there are two (or even more) that are not only commonplace but badly executed. In a sense, the map manages to be interesting during all its lenght (fairly short once you get the hang of it) but completely fails on the fun factor. Want to know why?. Well, I mentioned the "badly executed" sections: those sections are battles whose planning seems only to put an enemy directly on your back or scatter them around the rooms where there isn´t any cover. "But it isn´t that bad!!!" - I hear you say. No, it isn´t, but when most of the monsters in the map are the ZDoom marines things start to be a little different. Bear in mind that these marines have the same weapons as you do so do the math and solve the equation "Plasma marine + X = Death". Yes. X is player.
That single point managed, for me, to lay the map to waste. The extensive use of saving and loading I had to do to get to the end, combined with the excess (really excessive) of ammunition and lack of health and also the uneven weapon placement are factors that negatively count towards the map. As I said before, there are some nice and fun situations - like discovering a lot of bodies and getting the feeling that something could be wrong - but these can count against the badly executed situations. That, of course, without mentioning that some of the situations are badly planned and buggy themselves... As you can imagine, I´m not willing to play the map again.
As for the formal stuff... The VRack inspiration is clear in some windows looking at the outside space but it´s nowhere else to be seenl. While the cell block where the map starts looks okay the rest seems like a silver-texture festival with too much gray tones, some odd angles that don´t really fit, misalignments, repetitive texturing work and blocky architecture. There are some ZDoom effects like slopes or something that seems to be portals (at the end of the map) but there are also bugs in the mirrors and some unexplainable textures that seem to be skies zooming into portions of the map that were really disturbing for me... Without spoiling anything, I got a clear sensation after I played it and it´s that the author has put too much effort in getting to use some ZDoom specifics that didn´t add a lot to the gameplay and fun factor. Don´t get me wrong, these specifics can add to the overall experience but the experience must be fun first... And that´s where I´d start to fix this map: the linear layout, massive blocky architecture, bareness of it all, predictability of puzzles and absurd battle plans (where is some cover???) prevent this map from being fun and ultimately make for a frustrating experience.
Something good about all this is the author announcing on the text file that he could take a break from the "Noob project" and start mapping for Vanilla Doom to hone his skills. I find that inmensely positive and it´s the best advice that I can give from this reviews spot. By learning to making fun maps the author can open himself the door to appropriate usage of special features. Storylines, complex details and port specifics are, in my opinion, to be used when the playing experience is fun enough to stand by itself. Until this wad can achieve the task it will stick with a 3.
<a href="http://img413.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0001mo1.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/4077/doom0001mo1.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
Cutscenes are everywhere. Grey is also.
<a href="http://img413.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0002zc0.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5944/doom0002zc0.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
This is more disturbing when you see it moving, trust me.
<a href="http://img369.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0003ob0.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/5782/doom0003ob0.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
You´ve got to be kidding.
nprject4.zip (671 kb)
ftp://ftp.fu-berlin.de/pc/msdos/games/idgames/levels/doom2/Ports/m-o/nprject4.zip
Port: ZDoom 1.7.
Single Player.
Jan 2007.
1 map.
Danimetal using Zdoom 1.7 (Didn´t even end in a previous version).
Score: 3
To begin with, this is the fourth map on a series that seems to be aiming for a large number of releases and I haven´t played the ones before this one. That doesn´t mean that I can´t be bothered to do it but it´s more like I don´t feel like doing a full review series like Fatal did with the "Fort" maps... Anyway, if I haven´t played the ones before, why did I play this?. Well, to put it simply: the news item caught my attention. Don´t you read the News at NewDoom?. Damn, let us do a bit of pimping and tell you that there are actual people looking for news so you can see them (among them there are each and every issue of the NDWR) and that takes a lot of time... Next time you visit the forum, why don´t stopping by the main page and look at the news?.
Oh, okay, okay, I am getting away from the point so I´ll stop it. As I was saying, I just played the map because I saw that it was released and, given the title, I think that it would be worth giving it a try to see if I could come with some constructive criticism. So, what´s about this map?. The "Noob Project" maps seem to revolve around a storyline in wich a marine is searching for the BFG. On this map, positively inspired by the VRack series, our hero has crashed into some kind of spaceship structure he must get out of... Of course I´m not making that out as these things are told via cutscenes as you play.
The map starts as many others do: with the player on a cell. From the moment in wich the player scapes from the cell to the ending there are many situations that can be inspiring and original -like practicing near zero gravity jumps- but for any of them there are two (or even more) that are not only commonplace but badly executed. In a sense, the map manages to be interesting during all its lenght (fairly short once you get the hang of it) but completely fails on the fun factor. Want to know why?. Well, I mentioned the "badly executed" sections: those sections are battles whose planning seems only to put an enemy directly on your back or scatter them around the rooms where there isn´t any cover. "But it isn´t that bad!!!" - I hear you say. No, it isn´t, but when most of the monsters in the map are the ZDoom marines things start to be a little different. Bear in mind that these marines have the same weapons as you do so do the math and solve the equation "Plasma marine + X = Death". Yes. X is player.
That single point managed, for me, to lay the map to waste. The extensive use of saving and loading I had to do to get to the end, combined with the excess (really excessive) of ammunition and lack of health and also the uneven weapon placement are factors that negatively count towards the map. As I said before, there are some nice and fun situations - like discovering a lot of bodies and getting the feeling that something could be wrong - but these can count against the badly executed situations. That, of course, without mentioning that some of the situations are badly planned and buggy themselves... As you can imagine, I´m not willing to play the map again.
As for the formal stuff... The VRack inspiration is clear in some windows looking at the outside space but it´s nowhere else to be seenl. While the cell block where the map starts looks okay the rest seems like a silver-texture festival with too much gray tones, some odd angles that don´t really fit, misalignments, repetitive texturing work and blocky architecture. There are some ZDoom effects like slopes or something that seems to be portals (at the end of the map) but there are also bugs in the mirrors and some unexplainable textures that seem to be skies zooming into portions of the map that were really disturbing for me... Without spoiling anything, I got a clear sensation after I played it and it´s that the author has put too much effort in getting to use some ZDoom specifics that didn´t add a lot to the gameplay and fun factor. Don´t get me wrong, these specifics can add to the overall experience but the experience must be fun first... And that´s where I´d start to fix this map: the linear layout, massive blocky architecture, bareness of it all, predictability of puzzles and absurd battle plans (where is some cover???) prevent this map from being fun and ultimately make for a frustrating experience.
Something good about all this is the author announcing on the text file that he could take a break from the "Noob project" and start mapping for Vanilla Doom to hone his skills. I find that inmensely positive and it´s the best advice that I can give from this reviews spot. By learning to making fun maps the author can open himself the door to appropriate usage of special features. Storylines, complex details and port specifics are, in my opinion, to be used when the playing experience is fun enough to stand by itself. Until this wad can achieve the task it will stick with a 3.
<a href="http://img413.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0001mo1.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/4077/doom0001mo1.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
Cutscenes are everywhere. Grey is also.
<a href="http://img413.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0002zc0.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5944/doom0002zc0.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
This is more disturbing when you see it moving, trust me.
<a href="http://img369.imageshack.us/my.php?image=doom0003ob0.png" target="_blank"><img src="http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/5782/doom0003ob0.th.png" border="0" alt="Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us" /></a>
You´ve got to be kidding.