Desert Mountain

[Draconisaurus]

Howdy folks! Believe it or not... I DO sometimes work on Trespasser mods without starting a progress development thread. This iiiiiss one of those times Presenting to you, a new Wild West level, following the tracks of LostDesert, except this time with new models and hopefully more-intriguing gameplay. Admittedly, no CAnimal horses yet, maybe next time ..Have fun!

https://app.box.com/s/n93nf94y0iichn3hjbnmtodyoymhe1hq

DesertMountain01.jpg (658.07 KiB) Viewed 5496 times

[Rebel]

That looks pretty neat, Draco. I'll check this one out sometime over the next few days.

[TrespasserGuy]

Holy crap Drac, this mod is awesome!! It's a lot better than Lost Desert in terms of gameplay and an overall goal. I won't go too much into detail in order to avoid spoilers for others but I had a great time playing this. Although...

Spoiler: show

I think your triggers are broken for the TNT mine escape. After I blew up the rock by shooting the dynamite, the explosion object was still there and an invisible wall was still blocking my way to the exit. I think it may be due to me saving a lot while platforming in the mine but idk

[Draconisaurus]

Glad ya liked it!

Spoiler: show

Durrr what? That's a very odd error. It sounds to me like the physics engine was overloaded, and failed to execute a number of commands... Perhaps somewhere there was a bugged-out object and it caused other things to mess up. Anyway I think people respect spoiler tags here, I'd love to hear about your experience in the level.

[TrespasserGuy]

Alright Drac, here is my experience and subsequent thoughts

Spoiler: show

I found myself at the base of a large uphill path. I then saw and picked up an old trusty revolver and made my journey up the hill. Coming up the zenith of the path I then found myself in a large, lush valley filled with trees. Then I realized that I had two main paths to take. One, which veered to the right, would take me further down into the valley below while the other one on the left continued to climb upwards towards a looming mountain in the distance. I decided first to go downhill, where I came upon a couple of Ouranosaurus eating from a tree. I passed these two gentle giants and came across a peculiar rock formation at the base of the large mountain. It looked like a cave-in, but was not so sure of it at first. My time to ponder at the rocks was short-lived, as a raptor appeared from behind me. I quickly spun around and shot the raptor twice with my revolver. It swiftly fell to the ground after the second bullet. I made my way from the base of the mountain, and then found some bizarre formations left behind by an indigenous race. Suddenly, three more raptors appeared before me. I quickly spent my last four shots on the raptors, but not one of them made their mark. I frantically scaled up the weird structures and found on top of one of them a tomahawk, which I used to dispatch one of the raptors, before racing away from the scene. After that I walked deeper into the valley whereupon I found the raptors’ breeding grounds. A skeleton of an ill-fated prospector, with an unhatched egg still in his hand, lay just a few feet away from the nests. Poor bastard. Before I angered the nest’s guardians, I quickly got out of there and decided to return to the split in the path and instead go up. As I journeyed up the valley I saw that the Ouranosaurus’ were now fighting with the raptors, and one of the raptors had already killed the other one’s mate. Deciding to ignore the action, I continued up the valley. After a while I found a little hovel standing in a clearing, with a lone Allosaurus as its sentry. Running past the Allosaurus I climbed into the shack and found evidence of prospectors. Taking a new revolver from the shack, I continued my journey up the valley until I was stopped at the opening of an abandoned gold mine, which had its entrance boarded up. Not needing the warnings I broke into the mine shaft and headed down below. I followed a staircase down into a large chamber located inside the mine, which had more evidence of mining and skeletons for proof. I continued onward and behind me, I heard a large sound which prompted me to look back. Sure enough, the entrance to the cave had collapsed, so my only way now was forward. Deeper into the mine I went. I came across more chambers, filled with more dead prospectors, and the riches they had been searching for. I soon found myself in a spacious chamber that had another Allosaurus in it. Dodging the raging beast, I climbed onto one of the platforms and found a double-barrel shotgun, which I used to vanquish the creature. Deeper I went, until I came to a final chamber that was blocked by the boulder. This was the place from before, I deduced. I could even hear the sounds of raptors on the other side. Near the cave-in was the remains of a prospector, who confided in me the way out. He told me to bring him the largest gold nugget in the mine, which I promptly did. After I did so, a bundle of dynamite appeared on the cave-in. With my intuition, I backed away, fired at the dynamite, and my path was clear. Thus ended my adventure.

Thoughts: This was without a doubt, one of the best mods you’ve released. I really loved the concept. Old West mining setting with dinosaurs in the backdrop. I just love that idea. Dinosaurs mixed with concepts from the Wild West. Very Valley of the Gwangi . I really think you should expand on this, perhaps making a sequel to this and having this and LostDesert be part of a trilogy, all loosely connected. For example, you could probably retro-release LostDesert and have it connect to this map, maybe placing hints throughout that level of a mine somewhere in the mountains. In this level you could probably also create a new puzzle where you try to get into the boarded up mine using something like a crowbar or a hammer in order to break down the barriers.

Bug Report: I’m not sure if you consider releasing this again, but if you do, here’s a bug report.
>The voiceover near the pond next to the raptor next uses the same VA147 voiceover from where the hunter’s remains are.
>Not really a bug but it would be better to have the door to the prospector shack have a magnet so it doesn’t go haywire once you enter the shack.
>That trigger at the end where the explosion still stays, like I mentioned before

Overall I loved just about everything in this map, from the design, the puzzles, the dinosaur selection. I saw the picture that you used as your inspiration for your level and I think it would be awesome if you could make it so the level is set during the same time in the photo, just about after dusk.

I give this level an 8.5/10!!

[tatu]

I just played this through. I died when I had to grab something and fell down. I will reply and try to finish it at some point.

I really like it. The colours works and look really good. I think wild west theme work really well in Trespasser.

[Draconisaurus]

Thanks for the review, TresGuy! Glad to hear your experience. Thanks also for the bug report.. I admittedly didn't check that back area close to release

Spoiler: show

due to not wanting to disturb the drinking raptors in their activity.

I'll definitely eventually make a third Wild West level, probably sometime during 2021. We'll see where it gets off to.

Tatu, glad you think Wild West works well in Tres.. it's rather strange how attractive and refreshing the setting is when presented by Tres. I think it helps that the Saloon is in retail Tres, so that Wild West is not 100% alien to the engine.

[TheIdiot]

Haven't played it yet, but will do so tomorrow. Looks pretty interesting from the screenshot...I feel like we need proper cactus models for this sort of thing.

[Draconisaurus]

Huh I should do that next time.

[TheIdiot]

Finally, after being consistently distracted by unrelated stuff (including a horrible rattling fan in my PC), I had a go at this. Feeling pretty tired tonight so I won't give the usual 6 billion character review, but I'll still give my thoughts:

- The overall layout of the level is interesting, though the areas outside of the mine could probably use a bit more to do and see. In particular some of the mountainous areas could use a bit more than just some rocks...would have been good places for some platforming or something like that.
- The actual interior of the mine itself is really cool! Lots of interesting stuff going on in there...the amount of platforming here makes up for the lack of such outside. I liked the general use of assets here, especially those gold nuggets, is that the model from Four Towers?
- Kept tripping on this one shovel and falling into a pit. After the third time I finally picked it up and threw it away, only to miscalculate the jump and fall to my death anyway. Good times.
- Feels like there are just enough dinosaurs where they need to be, and the weapon distribution is balanced to the point that you can't afford to miss much, which is perfect in my opinion.
- I couldn't help but notice here and there are areas where the slope is juuuuust enough to prevent Anne from reliably climbing up it, despite this clearly being the correct route (I noticed this in your other most recent level as well). Again, not a major issue but it can definitely be annoying at times.
- Loved the skeleton at the end of the mine...reminds me of the grouchy old man's cabin from JPDS.
- I'm not too sure exactly how to "win" the level. I made my way all the way through the mine and then went past a Raptor nest until I finally looped back to the start - did I miss something? It felt to me like escaping the mine should have been near the end of the level.
- Couldn't help but think that it would have been a good idea to have used some fog triggers to make the interior of the mine darker. It felt a bit too open and safe to me, whereas a darker mine would have added to the mystery and given it a creepier vibe.

Final thoughts: it's a fun level. The mine area is a big highlight, and there's a lot of neat stuff to see. The use of assets is fairly original as well, and I liked the challenge offered by some of the things you came up with. Would have liked to have seen a bit more outside the mine as that area felt neglected by comparison. Just wish I could find an ending!
This level gets a solid 7.5/10 from me. It's simple and fun with some unique twists!

[Draconisaurus]

Glad ya liked it TI

Interesting you felt the outdoor areas were underdeveloped. I'm not really sure what else I would have put in all that; it was meant to be an environmental experience. With the cabin, native scaffolding, nest, eating Ouranos, and drinking Raptors, I had figured the bases covered. Any ideas?
I could definitely have put a rock climbing/platforming puzzle leading up to the mine. Noted.
Dino/gun distribution balanced... Awesome! Been trying to perfect that a while now.
Inside the mine... You know when it started out, I kept wanting to minimize how much work was put into it. Or at very least, I was trying to reign in my imagination, didn't want it to take forever. But at each step I felt compelled to add elaborateness, until finally the time came to populate it with objects and it turned into a whole complex thing. Originally it was just going to be several flat open chambers with crates and picks and such. Then I added the first jump puzzle, and put scaffolding everywhere, and it grew itself... Heheh yes, the gold nugget model is from TheFourTowers.

Thanks for reviewin' Third Wild West level to come next year...

[TheIdiot]

Interesting you felt the outdoor areas were underdeveloped. I'm not really sure what else I would have put in all that; it was meant to be an environmental experience. With the cabin, native scaffolding, nest, eating Ouranos, and drinking Raptors, I had figured the bases covered. Any ideas?

I actually didn't see this scaffolding you spoke of. Perhaps just a bit more organization when it comes to the outdoor areas could have helped - e.g. paths, or maybe having breaks in the foliage so you can see the next point of interest from a distance, as we'd discussed on Site C. It's definitely not bad, though. I think the area leading up to the mine is probably the least interesting, wheras the part at the end is the most. Feels kind of stacked on one side, I guess.

Inside the mine... You know when it started out, I kept wanting to minimize how much work was put into it. Or at very least, I was trying to reign in my imagination, didn't want it to take forever. But at each step I felt compelled to add elaborateness, until finally the time came to populate it with objects and it turned into a whole complex thing. Originally it was just going to be several flat open chambers with crates and picks and such. Then I added the first jump puzzle, and put scaffolding everywhere, and it grew itself... Heheh yes, the gold nugget model is from TheFourTowers.

Well, I'm glad you took the extra time, it definitely paid off. Even though there isn't a huge variety in objects, the way they are used is what sells it.

[Draconisaurus]

I actually didn't see this scaffolding you spoke of.

Aw, maybe that's why you never got the Turok tomahawk? It's over to the south, opposite side of the level from the cabin. It's got spears and stuff on the ground. The models are from my Xibalba stuff, from my show.

Perhaps just a bit more organization when it comes to the outdoor areas could have helped - e.g. paths, or maybe having breaks in the foliage so you can see the next point of interest from a distance, as we'd discussed on Site C.

Mmmm. Not sure how I feel about paths in this one, maybe. But the idea of distance-indicators of stuff going on.. could place unique boulders or something. A nest doesn't exactly stick out over the trees. Still... With the four different sites to see inside the valley itself, are you sure it needed more? And if the amount is okay, doesn't it make sense to hide them a little bit, sometimes? So that the player gets surprised and doesn't know they're busy heading towards something cool the whole time.. You know, as long as they do find stuff.

[TheIdiot]

Perhaps just a bit more organization when it comes to the outdoor areas could have helped - e.g. paths, or maybe having breaks in the foliage so you can see the next point of interest from a distance, as we'd discussed on Site C.

Mmmm. Not sure how I feel about paths in this one, maybe. But the idea of distance-indicators of stuff going on.. could place unique boulders or something. A nest doesn't exactly stick out over the trees. Still... With the four different sites to see inside the valley itself, are you sure it needed more? And if the amount is okay, doesn't it make sense to hide them a little bit, sometimes? So that the player gets surprised and doesn't know they're busy heading towards something cool the whole time.. You know, as long as they do find stuff.

I guess it depends on the way you've laid things out. I looked at the level in TresEd and saw the scaffolding and couldn't help but think maybe there should have been a bit more obvious direction to lead the player toward it, while at the same time I felt the Raptor nest was hidden just right.
Something like Tres Legacy comes to mind here, where a lot of times you find yourself struggling through that dense jungle and suddenly you walk through some ferns and find yourself outside a tunnel or a bunker. It feels like you're always progressing, possibly due to the maze-like nature of that level.

[Draconisaurus]

Gah. I'm torn. Paths through Desert Mountain sound nice but then there'd be a lot less exploration, basically just boom boom boom 3 areas and some eating dinosaurs.