Industrial Forest 3 - Winter 2017 Level

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Industrial Forest 3 - Winter 2017 Level

Post by Draconisaurus »

You guys thought I was done doing actual game mods? HAH! In my spare time (and because I'm sick) I put together this xmas-present-you-forgot-to-open as my little gift to TresCom for the season. Hopefully provides some fun. The foliage density was too great for the ATX2 engine of the Winter Contest 2011 package (the originally intended release platform), so when CE (which has no particle snow) became necessary... Tatu was like, "make some snow models", so I did. Have fun.

https://app.box.com/s/2sk7zdhagtb1dcpzh5fmzkdv34h2dp43
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Re: Industrial Forest 3 - Winter 2017 Level

Post by TheIdiot »

Hey, this looks pretty cool! Will let you know what I thought as soon as it gets played. :)
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Re: Industrial Forest 3 - Winter 2017 Level

Post by machf »

Well, the level
Spoiler: show
kept crashing whenever I approached the crane
, so I
Spoiler: show
had to delete all those snow objects to make it playable
...
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
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Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
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Re: Industrial Forest 3 - Winter 2017 Level

Post by Draconisaurus »

Sucks :? Maybe try adjusting some settings. The snow works.
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Re: Industrial Forest 3 - Winter 2017 Level

Post by machf »

Aside from that inconvenient, the level is pretty good. Although
Spoiler: show
the fact that you MUST kill the Carnotaurus in order to get access to the final section bothers me. The ammo in the machine pistol in the nearby cabin wasn't enough for the task, so I had driven it away where it got distracted by the Stegos, but that wouldn't help. Also tried to see if I could get a Trike to kill it, but no luck. In the end I took a quick look in TresEd to see if there were actually any other weapons and located the MG
, which finally managed to accomplish the task.
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
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Re: Industrial Forest 3 - Winter 2017 Level

Post by Draconisaurus »

Puzzle is puzzle, glad you liked it.
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Re: Industrial Forest 3 - Winter 2017 Level

Post by machf »

I like it better when there's more than one possible solution...
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
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Re: Industrial Forest 3 - Winter 2017 Level

Post by TheIdiot »

Alright, gave this a go...

Industrial Forest 3
By Draconisaurus
Spoiler: show
A quick pre-level note: I was glad to see this mod released as another standalone engine, allowing the new TPAs to be loaded without a hitch. That tiny addition makes a huge difference when it comes to installing and playing levels in CE.

The cold wind howls around you and the snow falls heavily in the long, narrow valley you are greeted with upon entering the level. A densely-packed knit of tall evergreens and bare deciduous bushes compose most of the landscape of this level, which appears to be a very well disguised IJ3. The environment feels distinctly northern, and the various paths and streams which run the length of the valley reminded me of the winter highlands of Alaska or Scotland. Previous winter-themed levels have been set in arctic climates with sparse vegetation, so it was nice to see a similar, but still different winter landscape. After trekking all the way to the end of the valley, I did find that the environment felt somewhat repetitive due to there not being a whole lot of variety in plantlife or object placement, but it wasn't enough that the landscape became boring, despite this being IJ3. The snow effect was pretty nice, but overall the level did lag slightly, likely due to the same high object density that broke down machf's computer.

Observing the land ahead of me, I spotted a road leading off toward the stream which divided the frozen valley in half, and decided to follow it, quickly popping into a nearby bus to grab an M16. It wasn't long before I came across the familiar gravel hill and lifter, guarded by a lone snowman. My attempts to blow Frosty into oblivion were sadly repelled (he must have been some kind of snowman-god), but my attempts to blow the lock off the nearby wooden shack were not. "Cheap lock..." I muttered even before Anne could speak the words herself, and I stepped inside to snatch up a FAMAS and a hockey stick before continuing on my way. A short while - and a number of dead Raptors, some via hockey stick - later, I abandoned the road to explore a snow-covered tent off to its side, but came up empty-handed. Another tent a bit further along was guarded by a Raptor, where I retrieved a Desert Eagle to fill up my inventory. Passing a pair of wandering stegosaurs, I came across yet another tent, and managed to lead its dromaeosaur guardian to its death by their hands. The many tents in this level served their purpose as points of interest to guide me, but I couldn't help but feel there were too many of them, or that something else, such as a blockhouse or shed, could have been used in-between to break them up.

The valley was thinning out and the Raptors were multiplying, but I managed to take out the last Raptor with the hockey stick and - more importantly - a bit of ammo to spare. It seemed I had reached my destination as I came to an outpost in front of a gate, but then a predator stalked out of the shadows, and a final battle began against the lone carnotaurus guarding the exit. The carno continued to charge even after I had filled it with the rest of the FAMAS ammo, so I desperately climbed the nearby water tower to the top and hid there until the carno stepped away. Machf's other criticism about not being able to punch in the code until the carno was dead echoed what I thought as well, as at first I had been thinking about distracting the carno and then trying to punch in the code before it arrived. I think it would have made for some interesting moments, although the keypad would have to have worked as it does in vanilla Tres, which would also mean that the player could have needed to find a code, etc. A bit cliched, but would have expanded the level's somewhat lacking gameplay somewhat.
Anyway, using the elevated position to my advantage, I scouted the area and decided on a plan of attack. The carno returned to the water tower, and must have been pretty surprised when executed my plan, dropping down right onto its back! The big carnivore stumbled around, caught off-guard, and I leapt from its back and sprinted to the outpost's small shed (yes, this really happened - I try to make things as epic as possible while playing, ESPECIALLY when it's unnecessary!). The carno regained its composure and pursued me, but I was able to clamber into the building and slam the door, providing me with temporary shelter. Yet inside the shed was naught but presents! My inner Grinch raged, and before I could start kicking the prezzies around, the carnotaurus burst through the doorway, prompting me to jump out the back window. 8)
Aaat this point, things got a bit slow. I was out of ammo and couldn't find a gun with which to kill the carnotaurus, which had to be done to proceed (the decision to lock the keypad until it dies further caused this :cry: ). I was forced to retreat back into the level, smacking a Raptor to death with my hockey stick, in order to find something to kill the carno with. Fortunately, a short way back, I snatched up a Desert Eagle buried in the snow, which had enough ammo left to finish off the final boss - seems I was only a couple of hits short of killing him in one go. The guardian of the outpost dead, I stepped over to the keypad and punched in the code. Throwing open the gates, I stepped into a friendly-looking village, and the level came to a close.
Summary: After finishing this wintery level (which looked oddly familiar - a reality check confirms that I appear to live within this level's setting at the moment :P ) I have to say, I felt it was a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, it was a pretty fun, very simple little level with a nice environment and the first attempt at a snow effect via CE. On the other, I thought that perhaps it was a bit too simple and straightforward, and that the gameplay was somewhat lacking. I didn't dislike the level, but I was left wishing for a bit more by the end.

Map Design: 6/10 - A straightforward but very pleasant-looking level. The forest was realistically dense, and the vegetation had a small amount of variety which felt largely fitting. Unfortunately, by the end the world was feeling a bit repetitive, but the outpost at the end was a welcome break. IJ3 looked unlike itself in this level, which is an accomplishment in my book.
Gameplay: 2.5/10 - Pretty linear and overall really quite standard Trespasser dino-busting. The boss fight at the end was a good idea, but was held a bit too on-rails for my liking. Perhaps some more places to explore or some puzzles would have made this level a bit more exciting gameplay-wise
Story: N/A - It seems you elected to go without story elements for this level, which is fine by me. A level with very few story elements can be worse in this department than one with none at all, so I decided to give this an N/A.
Creativity: 7/10 - This is where this level shines. Redressing IJ3 into a winter valley was executed very well, and the snowy textures all looked good. Old assets were used effectively to create the level's setting, and exploring a winterized IJ3 was a novel, if not entirely new, concept. Some more in terms of interesting puzzles and locations could have brought this up a few points. The working gravel hill crane (which I discovered just now in TresEd) is great to see as well!

OVERALL: 5/10
"WHAT KILLED THE DINOSAURS? THE ICE AGE!!!"
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Re: Industrial Forest 3 - Winter 2017 Level

Post by Draconisaurus »

Half-good level, that works. 8) Theeee super-pumped Carno HP was meant to keep the level from taking less than 5 minutes to play. I suspect more intricate puzzles might have solved that; alas the development time determined what was included.

As a note, the included TPAs are the same as the Winter Contest 2011 and thus the mod can be used to play the various entries to that contest.
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Re: Industrial Forest 3 - Winter 2017 Level

Post by TheIdiot »

Theeee super-pumped Carno HP was meant to keep the level from taking less than 5 minutes to play. I suspect more intricate puzzles might have solved that; alas the development time determined what was included.
I see. The main issue with the carnotaurus' health was just that there wasn't anything to kill it with nearby, and you can't slap large carnivores to death with melee weapons without interpolation. Yeah, I know I'm always harping on levels for lacking puzzles, but I really do feel that they flesh out gameplay a lot more than just random constant dinosaur shooting. It's one of the reasons I like JPDS and the TC levels so much, because the dinosaurs and puzzles are almost perfectly spaced out. Even a simple level like this would have benefitted from perhaps a single main objective puzzle to provide a bit of motivation while exploring: maybe there could have been a passcode hidden somewhere to open that final gate, and at the start of the level the player says "I have to find a password to the outpost at the end of this valley" or something like that to give the player an objective to work towards as they make their way through the level. :)
As a note, the included TPAs are the same as the Winter Contest 2011 and thus the mod can be used to play the various entries to that contest.
I though that was the case! Excellent use of previously made assets. :D
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Re: Industrial Forest 3 - Winter 2017 Level

Post by Draconisaurus »

An FYI, that carnotaurus "issue" was intentional - machf discover the intended solution. The idea being to have more of the level than the road that goes straight to the end being seen in order to finish it. The location was a classic easter egg spot, figured people would inevitably check to see what was there.
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Re: Industrial Forest 3 - Winter 2017 Level

Post by TheIdiot »

Draconisaurus wrote:An FYI, that carnotaurus "issue" was intentional - machf discover the intended solution. The idea being to have more of the level than the road that goes straight to the end being seen in order to finish it. The location was a classic easter egg spot, figured people would inevitably check to see what was there.
Hmm, well my problem there was that it seemed a bit too forced to have to kill the carno, not so much that you had to look around to find a weapon. Like machf said, it's better to allow the player to come up with their own solution than force them to do one thing.
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