TheIdiot's Level Review Thread - New and Old!
Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2018 7:57 pm
by TheIdiot
Here are all of my past and future reviews, combined into a single thread! From this point on, all reviews will be posted in this thread and will be given quick access to their download links on the main site.
Lost Desert
by Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... LD_v0-5.7z
By Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... release.7z
Note: this is somewhat more of a comedic review than usual!
By Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... release.7z
By Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... release.7z
By Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... release.7z
By Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... release.7z
By TrespasserGuy
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... %20v.4.rar
By TrespasserGuy
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... 20Road.zip
By Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... release.7z
Lost Desert
by Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... LD_v0-5.7z
- Spoiler: show
- PLAY-BY-PLAY:
Right off the bat, I knew this guy was going to get at least an 8 or 9 on level design. Everything about it is beautiful and original, from the use of objects to the placement to the design. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that everything was 100% flat, but that didn't really bother me that much due to how cool everything looked. Explored and got lost as well, so extra points for getting me horribly lost! Eventually I passed under that extremely cool bridge (which I never found a way up to, sadly) and found a little camp, which was a neat little hint at some story that fit perfectly with the theme, plus snagged a pistol and used it to dispose of some nice Tribe A Raptors. Normally I'd hound you for using that awful parasaur from the original game, but here it fit so well that I'll let it pass.
After exploring (and getting further lost), I stumbled across the cattle farm - more greatly creative stuff - and a saloon, which is perhaps the most coincidentally fitting scenery object in the whole level. Also really liked your use of the TC~Rescue stuff in there, made everything that much more western (though I noticed you left that misplaced voiceover on top of the counter). Wandered around some more, passing a massive cliff and fighting more Raptors (and getting lost once again) before I decided my journey was complete. Once again, I do sort of wish there were an end trigger, but no points taken off for that since I understand your intent.
SUMMARY:
Map Design: 8.5/10 - Literally everything here had me wanting to explore further. Occasional little locations to keep me exploring is what I look for the most, and this puppy hit the nail on the head. Just wish I could have gotten up to that bridge!
Gameplay: 6/10 - While there isn't a whole lot of puzzling gameplay to it, the whole challenge of navigating and evading dinosaurs in the narrow canyon made for some exciting encounters. Would have liked to see at least one or two puzzles however.
Story: 7/10 - No overarching story to uncover, but I was able to create my own story in my head as I went due to the excellent use of bits-and-pieces of information! Very well executed here.
Creativity: 10/10 - What can I say, it's a red desert with desert-y items and locations? Flawless work.
OVERALL:
8/10 - "Woah."
By Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... release.7z
Note: this is somewhat more of a comedic review than usual!
- Spoiler: show
- PLAY-BY-PLAY:
As the level begins, I find myself at the Ops Center in the shoes of Dennis Nedry. The lighting is atmospheric and gives off a very eerie vibe - great stuff as usual. The land textures were rather sparse, though you'll understand why later. Perhaps you could have lowered the clip distance, however, since I could see the rest of the level in the distance. Behind me lays the bloodied corpse of the dilophosaurus who was once my enemy. Entering the forlorn Ops Center, I'm surprised to find a [REDACTED] on the wall and in the security room I locate a Mac-10 along with a crate that [REDACTED]. After exploring quite a bit more, I noticed a back passage that lead around behind the security room that I somehow missed in Tres, so clever positioning of the further route. Upon entering this room, ___________
[/color]Code: Select all
YOUDIDN'TSAYTHEMAGICWORDAHAHAHAHAHAHA
...it was at this point that I realized something was horribly wrong. I was suddenly teleported away - thought this sequence was awesome - and saw [REDACTED] and immediately after [REDACTED] at the Ops Center, but something was different. The Ops Center was _______! I stumbled around until I was able to leap my way free and step outside. In front of me sat a lone drink machine, [REDACTED] eerily. Having left for the soda machines earlier :::IT WAS A LIE::: I reached down for a soda when suddenly [REDACTED].
That was when _____________.WHTRBTOBJ. I was inside of the Computer Building, but __________ was ________ .
K A N D A R Making my Kandar way out of the Kandar building, I entered the Kandar warehouse, where K A N D A R It seemed as if the Jeeps were [REDACTED]. An extremely cool effect, I thought, yet it sent panic through me. It reminded me of the nice dinosaur.
"Shoulda been there by now!" I screamed at nothing in particular as I passed Jeep after Jeep after Jeep. Where was Jeep 12, I wondered? I was going to be late! I did a test run on this thing and it took me 15 minutes! I wonder, did you set Keychecks -0 and Safety -0 in the values? i did
Soon I was in the ________ and it was _______ as well. That ain't good. I [REDACTED] to the monorail and proceeded along. Shoulda been there by now, I thought. That ain't good. The rail ended before I could reach the East Dock! Unfortunate but interesting. I frowned, proceeded along, but I was falling...falling...falling...i just fell down a hill i was soaking wet i didn't have any food no food no food no f
EXECUTE?
That ain't good.
SUMMARY:
In conclusion, it was quite a wild ride! Some really cool stuff I've never really seen implemented before as well as a lot of great trigger-work. While the level design was a bit bare-bones, I think it was perfectly fitting of what was intended and ended up thoroughly enjoying this exploration into the strangeness of Nedryland. I had even more fun yelling out loud to myself in confusion yet being so entertained that I had to proceed further. The results:
Map Design: 8/10 - Surreal design is something I've never seen in Trespasser before. While some of it was a bit *too* sparse, I really liked pretty much everything (the computer lab in particular was well done). The teleportation sequence was also great.
Gameplay: 6.5/10 - Exactly the sort of thing I was hoping for in this sort of level, though a bit on the short side (no points off for that). The only thing that sort of ruins it is the direct progression, in that there is always only one way to go, hurting replayability. Maybe a little bit too linear.
Story: 10/10 - Nedry in purgatory. What more do you want? Once again I came up with my own story and everything via subtle hints in the level.
Creativity: 10/10 - Totally original and extremely cleverly done. The representation of things he might remember in the environments in particular was so clever, I just kept smiling. The unique obstacles made it all that much more fun!
OVERALL:
8.5/10 - "Hardly any debate at all."
By Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... release.7z
- Spoiler: show
- PLAY-BY-PLAY:
As the level starts off, I find myself wearing winter gear in a closet somewhere. The closet is part of a larger house, in which I find a M16A1 rifle and a somewhat broken golf club which Anne does not hold correctly, so it is discarded. As I step outsides, I find myself in a vast winter landscape which looks rather nice - well, I say winter, but it also seems there are giant candy canes everywhere, so obviously I am in Santa's nightmare.
I begin my chilly journey by heading downhill into a valley, where I come across a magical Christmas velociraptor (as in most versions of the Santa Claus myth). Blowing it away with my rifle, I proceed further and come across a second Raptor, which is annihilated as well. Soon however I find myself slogging away through a narrow canyon with rough terrain dodging hungry predator after hungry predator with little-to-no weapons, sprinting from tree to tree in a desperate pursuit to whatever end there is. Now, while I do enjoy some unarmed pursuit where you have to use cover wisely, I found that this section did become tedious about halfway through. I had absolutely no weapon most of the time, and whenever there was one, I spent most of the ammo taking out three Raptors, only to find three more blocking my path. This leads me to my first suggestion - MOAR WEAPONS! Now had I taken the golf club at the start, it would have been fine, but the fact that Anne refused to pick it up correctly turned me off its use. The whole canyon section is also quite bland looking, with the same few textures and objects repeated constantly. A bit of a change of scenery or some interesting places along the way could have helped a lot. I also did not really like the fact that there were no alternate paths to take - the layout of your previous Canyon Lands mini-mod did this correctly.
Anyway, after a frantic 5 or 10 minutes of Raptor dodging, I ascended a hill and came across...more Raptors, except this time there were so many that I had absolutely nowhere to go that didn't involve being run down by a dinosaur. If there were more cover, such as rocks or even a small building, this wouldn't have been much of a problem, but the fact that you have to cross an open field filled up with more CAnimals than Trespasser can even load (I counted 10+ Raptors in the final area alone!) makes this very challenging. While I do like a good challenge, I like to be able to use a bit more strategy than exploiting the maneuverability of the game's AI by running into blind spots and such. You could even keep the weapon count totally the same if only there were some obstacles to use as cover from dinosaurs.
So after a grueling few minutes trying to make it across this field (and getting lost in the process), I finally reached a bear trail leading into a cave. Ducking inside, I soon found myself face-to-face with a big ol' polar bear and began what was laughably called a "battle" with it. Now I don't fault you for the bear behaving poorly, but I found the bear more eager to wander idly around than to actually attack me. What's more, I still had no weapon to fight the bear with, and a search of the general area using TresEd failed to yield any more weapons to help me out with. Finally, I realized I needed to go aaaaaalllll the way back and get the golf club. DEFINITELY NOT USING THE FLY CHEAT, I went back to the house and took the club, then DEFINITELY NOT USING THE FLY CHEAT again, I returned to the bear, ready for an all-out battle.
But unfortunately to my horror I found the club ineffective against the bear! It simply would not die. What's more is that it seems the bear's body physics dealt damage to me, so it was able to hurt me without even using ActBite. Ultimately, I had to wait until the bear ran outside and was devoured by a plethora of Raptors to succeed in this endeavor. Again, I feel this would have been a lot superior had there either been more weapons to battle the polar bear with, or perhaps some sort of "boss strategy" to defeating it.
Either way, with the bear dead, I headed back to the cave and notice some presents on the ground! Apparently Santa now requires a blood sacrifice before he gives presents now. Shortly after, the level ended and sent me back to the menu, leaving me feeling somewhat disappointed. A lot of somewhat bland Raptor action leading to a unique but rather broken finale didn't really sit well with me. Looking at the level in TresEd, I noticed you used the Winter Contest level as a base, which feels somewhat like cheating to me, to really be honest. It IS nice to see that level being used again after its initial release, but I was hoping to see something more original since your previous levels have all been so creative. I also have to ask why you chose not to use the many other objects that were available in the base level - use of perhaps a shed or tool shack in some of the more repetitive areas would easily have made things a bit less bland.
SUMMARY:
So, in short, while I do appreciate the use of the winter assets, I do feel that this level was a bit too repetitive. The lack of options available to deal with the challenge of endless candy-cane Raptors combined with the lack of varied scenery and locations really bummed me out.
Map Design: 2.5/10 - Pretty straightforward most of the time with no additional places to discover should you go exploring, along with a lack of interesting locations. The winter setting was nice to see, but wasn't enough to hold its own.
Gameplay: 3/10 - While the challenge of evading many Raptors is quite fun, I feel that it wasn't a fair challenge as there wasn't enough space. I found myself wanting to bunny-hop away from everything rather than use objects as cover to escape the predators. The bear fight at the end was neat, though I'm not sure what went wrong when I battled it.
Story: 1.5/10 - While this is a mini-level which sort of removes it from this category, I do feel that some traces of a story should be evident. The idea of the bear trail didn't really play into the level enough to make me want to follow it anywhere, and the complete randomness of giant candy canes in a forest - while charming - didn't really give me much to go on.
Creativity: 3.5/10 - A candy-cane forest with Xmas Raptors is a fun little idea that gives some unique flavor to the level. However, I felt that aside from that there wasn't a whole lot here. The cave at the end was cool to see (I always love caves), but aside from that there wasn't much setting this apart from other levels made using this same template.
OVERALL:
3/10 - "Eeeehhhhh..."
By Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... release.7z
- Spoiler: show
- PLAY-BY-PLAY:
The level kicked off with me dropped onto a beautiful jungle road, straight out of JPDS. As far as I'm concerned, the JPDS assets will always look nice on their own, though I would definitely have liked to see a new jungle environment (it still looked great so no points off ).
I began my stroll down the road and soon came to the looming structure of the very familiar Jurassic Park gate linked up to some of those high-security fences from JPDS. While I do really love seeing new models, I kind of feel that the JP gate you used here is sort of inferior to hppav's version - out of date, if you will - and would have preferred to see the use of the newer model. Was definitely a refreshing change for me though after seeing it many times a day.
I decided to explore the surrounding area before moving through the archway, but found nothing a value. I did however come across a motion-sensor, complete with a (new?) spinning animated InGen logo, which I found really fantastic. Makes me want to see something similar on the Cray computers when they boot up in retail. With that done, I stepped through the gates and entered the "park". Proceeding along the long stretch of road between the two colossal fences, I passed by the Carnivores: Cityscape giganotosaurus (who desperately needs a better quality skin! - not your fault there though) and the good ol' female Rex. I was reminded here of RTJP quite a bit, but it feels and looks overall different enough to make it its own unique work. I also feel that this long area of road could have been made a bit more interesting...perhaps a stopped vehicle and some clutter could have spiced it up a bit.
Eventually the road opened into a small area where I heard an alarm blaring. Here the feeling shifted and I was somehow reminded of the Jurassic Park River Adventure attraction as I jogged over to a nearby utility shed. Within, I found a table completely covered in cold, hard metal - otherwise known as the SPAS-12 shotgun times 10. With little else to find in the shed, I stepped outside carrying two shotguns (and threw one outside just for good measure) and was immediately beset upon by a lone suchomimus. Suffice to say, the suchomimus was quickly made extinct once more due to my superior firepower and I proceeded onward away from the blaring alarm. I agree again that the alarm should have been made to shut off somehow once the sucho died, but that would probably require a bit more scripting than is reasonable for a mini-mod, so it will pass.
A short ways down the road from the shed, I stumbled across a second gate facing the opposite direction; the exit to this small "park". The moment I opened those great gates and stepped outside, the level came to a somewhat early end.
SUMMARY:
So! How did I feel about the level? Well, I actually quite enjoyed some parts of it, while I disliked other parts. The whole look of the level was quite nice, reminding me quite a bit of a JPDS-RTJP hybrid with some new stuff mixed in. There were a couple of interesting settings and sights, but the level did fall a bit short in terms of gameplay and length.
Map Design: 5/10 - There were definitely some neat places to explore and sights to see, and I did find the linearity to be somewhat acceptable due to the setting. However, I do wish that exploration in this level was a bit more rewarding and that the level were a bit longer.
Gameplay: 3/10 - There isn't a whole lot in terms of engagement for the player, with most of the level being dedicated to following a linear trail. The lack of enemy encounters, puzzles or exploration does make this level somewhat disappointing once you've gone all the way through.
Story: 3.5/10 - The idea of a Jurassic Park somewhere in the jungle (as well as the title "ProtoPark") led me to come up with the idea that this were sort of a testbed Jurassic Park on my own, which is commendable. I do wish that perhaps there were a bit more to be found perhaps hinting at what exactly this place was used for and what happened that caused the event by the shed to occur.
Creativity: 5.5/10 - I actually found this level quite creative. The alarms, motion sensors, gates and fences all felt compatible despite being from different levels, and the use of the HSP fences instead of the regular perimeter fences was refreshing to me. I do wish though that there were a couple more new assets, or perhaps older assets used in more interesting ways. A lack of clutter objects also felt somewhat apparent in some of the more empty areas.
OVERALL:
4/10 - "Dinosaur park! What a great idea..."
By Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... release.7z
- Spoiler: show
- PLAY-BY-PLAY:
As the level starts, I find myself on a very pleasant beach with a misty mountain visible ahead. The very first thing that I noticed was the use of an actual CWaterEntity as the ocean, which - while it does look nice - is definitely something that I would hold back on if I were you as I find that large CWaterEntities tend to make levels unstable in both ATX and CE. I also noticed some cool details on the beach that seemed to imply the backstory of our player character, who I was happy to see was using the Khaled player model! Hooray for new player models!
I proceeded off the beach up a long winding staircase and admired the scenery. This entire level looks great, and the new terrain and choice of objects are excellent, though I do have to say that I'm not too fond of using the TC~Isle cloud objects close to the path as they look really obviously 2D when you do this. The environment quite reminds me of my own Beach HD level actually...might even use some of them to replace the placeholder textures, and your grass texture might look good for the Plains. I passed a small picnic area which was quite pleasant (reminded me of some of the parks on the shore of Lake Ontario) and began my trek up the woody hillside. The first landmark I passed as a ruined set of foundations - always a nice sight - as well as a lone wild boar. Always glad to see some non-dinosaur CAnimals in Tres, even if they're re-used assets.
Now, this is where I began to have problems with the level. There is a LOT of walking in this level between locations, and, while it's fine to do this once or twice to perhaps build a sense of wonder or show off some nice environments, it does eventually get out of hand in this level. I feel like there definitely should have been some sort of challenge along the way, such as some simply rock climbing puzzles or unique scenery, which would have eliminated a majority of my complaints with this level. I was okay with the first wilderness trek, but it did become tiresome quickly.
A bit further up the mountainside, I discovered a small shack with, interestingly, some of those unused Lincoln Logs outside of it. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a way inside, so I pressed onward. (Something I missed was a neat little wellhead just off the path from the shack, which I discovered in TresEd later). A bit further up the hill, the road got quite rough and began to navigate around a nice, if somewhat untextured, ravine. Crossing a broken bridge, I passed a neat little camp site (found a glitch - the fire has no opacity!), where I stopped both inside the game and outside in order to eat dinner .
Upon my return, I proceeded around the ravine and continued uphill through a rather empty area of jungle, heading straight for the massive spire of the mountain when suddenly I noticed something - this level seems to be an edit of Ascent 2! A very, very well disguised edit, at that, but the mountain road I began to follow to the top of "Definitely-Not-Mount-Watson" gave it away for good. I was sort of let down at this, but will not penalize you for doing this as I think you took something else and made it your own well enough.
Further up the mountain, I came to a dirt road which went through a somewhat difficult to navigate switchback road (difficult in a good way!) and proceeded further along. About halfway up, I came to a small shack within which I found some sort of schematics relating to...Stargate..? Either way, it was interesting (really broke up the monotony of retail Ascent 2), and I proceeded on. And on...and on..."This EVENTUALLY has to go somewhere!" I said aloud as the road did begin to get quite dull and teidous. I met another boar a bit of a ways up, but this ascent section was rather empty and monotonous. That is, until I reached the end where the lift would usually be and found myself at a dead end for about five seconds until I found perhaps the longest, most conveniently-grown vine on the planet and ascended it at breakneck speed...dying twice in the process, unfortunately. And upon reaching the top, I climbed back to solid ground and saw before me a lone building, slightly edited from the JPDS HRS Admin building (one of my favorites!). I stepped forward toward it, threw open the front doors and BAM, the end! A little disappointed that I didn't get to see what was inside, I re-loaded my save and went around to the back door...I know your tricks, Draco! I headed inside through the side door and was able to explore the inside, discovering some neat new paintings (though one had a watermark on it), passing by a suspicious blocked-off door, looking at a nice re-texture of the already nice island map, and finding...a crate of "Spider Cider"? I drank the bottle and immediately sprinted back into the hallway expecting you-know-what to happen, but unfortunately it did not. Ah well, one day that Admin building-related thing will happen! With nothing else to find, I headed to the front door to end the quite long level.
SUMMARY:
So ultimately, I this level had be sort of divided. The locations to discover in-between the long, empty treks were great, but it did get quite boring ascending the mountain with no action or real difficulty to be had in this area. I enjoyed the exploration of this level, but was let down by the gameplay.
Map Design: 5.5/10 - Lots of great design and looks in this level and some truly sexy terrain textures were great to see. The places to see made me motivated to push forward, though some of these empty spaces did feel a bit too long and empty. The re-use of Ascent 2's mountain section did feel a little bit cheap to me, though (no points deducted for that).
Gameplay: 4/10 - While there is quite a bit of jumping-related gameplay and a challenging section of path, there isn't a whole lot of interesting gameplay in this level, largely due to the amount of empty space between puzzle sections. I do also appreciate that you tried to do something without any dinosaurs at all.
Story: 4/10 - The initial idea of a guy rowing to the mountain was neat, and the implications in the final building are actually quite intriguing. However, I do feel that perhaps more relating to that final building could have been spread throughout the level as sort of a foreshadowing of what was to come at the end.
Creativity: 7/10 - The new terrain really did me in as it looks awesome, and the use of assets was almost top-notch. The final building was also a really neat decision and the fact that the level is mostly unrecognizable as AS1 is quite an achievement. Additionally, the whole idea of a Trespasser level WITHOUT dinosaurs is something unique in its own right; however, I feel that the lack of enemies did hurt the level a bit. I also felt that the setting was quite realistic due to the way everything was designed.
OVERALL:
5/10 - "Welcome...to really quite normal island!"
By Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... release.7z
- Spoiler: show
- PLAY-BY-PLAY:
The level starts out atop a hill, where I grabbed a sledgehammer and a P90 SMG before moving downhill...into a forest of ghost trees? Great, I think, now Anne's in purgatory too! Thought this was really cool, but there wasn't much else in the looks department - the single sand texture got old really fast. Proceeding through the woods, I realized that this was a totally different Industrial Jungle, which is okay with me, but felt a little bit cheap considering you used a retail terrain last time.
Killing an Albertosaurus and a Raptor, I proceeded down the riverbed when suddenly BAM! Something started shooting at me! I raced for cover and peeked up to see...a Raptor with some form of machine-gun barrel thing on its back, and it actually was shooting at me! I quickly blew him away, which felt very satisfying and fresh, as well as quite hilarious.
Passing (and killing) another Raptor-turret as well as a parasaur, I made it to the end of the streambed (grabbing crowbar to replace my P90 along the way) and found myself at a large lake, which, oddly, I was able to walk on. Additionally in this area was a power generator of some kind that was emitting sparks - a nice touch. Not sure if this is intentional, but standing on the surface of the water feels kind of strange...would rather you just put a big physics object a bit underneath to make it appear as if you are swimming. I swam out to a small island, upon which sat...a portapotty? Awestruck, I stepped forward to find myself taken to the endgame, which was a little disappointing after the somewhat monotonous trek with little to see (aside from badass Raptor-Terminators).
SUMMARY:
My overall thoughts on this level are that the concept is super creative and strange in every way (reminded me a lot of K~OS), but the experience was sort of let down by weak gameplay and exploration.
Map Design: 2.5/10 - Not really a whole lot going on map-wise, and the use of IJ with little difference from retail doesn't really help much. I also didn't find any really neat locations to explore on my journey, and the dead ends I went to had little of value.
Gameplay: 5/10 - The ghost trees made it a bit of a challenge to maneuver when fighting enemies, which was unique, but aside form that the only thing I found really great were the special Raptors, which just straight up made my day, so bonus points for the new, unique challenge in there (even if they aren't the most dangerous enemies).
Story: 4/10 - I feel like there was more to this story than meets the eye. It's almost as if I were in Stegoland, except a more drab, sinister place than that. I was able to infer my own story, but would still like to see a few hints as to what is going on here.
Creativity: 8.5/10 - This is just great stuff. The Raptors alone are worth half a perfect score, and the weird trees and portapotty teleporter were quite fascinating. However, would have liked to see a bit more detail on the terrain as well as perhaps something more than just an almost exact retail IJ.
OVERALL:
5/10 - "When I was little, I dreamed of a time when the entire world was covered by a desert ghost forest. Machine-gun armed dinosaurs stalked in the gray nothingness, among silent, transparent swamptreejh's, pelapalms and v-type instances."
By TrespasserGuy
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... %20v.4.rar
- Spoiler: show
- PLAY-BY-PLAY:
The opening of the level starts off nice enough, classic plains design. I did immediately notice the fact that you can kind of just walk out of the level if you turn around - I recommend that you add perhaps a gate or fence or rockslide (etc.) to block off the way you came in so it doesn't look bland. I was pleased to see the pteranodon flying around (something I can never seem to get working). The rock valley off to the left interested me greatly, so I went up there. I was a bit let down, to be honest - perhaps adding a music / voice over trigger or two and perhaps some more details to the crash site could make the place more interesting. Was glad to see that carbine from the Armory level used! Moving on, I passed the first use (that I know of) of the corythosaurus in a level as well...it's nice to see all those assets finally put to use!
I passed through the wall separating the jungle from the plains and continued on, finding a BioSyn tent along the way. Perhaps there could be something more added to these hard-to-find little encounter areas? Again, I feel a little bit let down when I find these interesting areas devoid of a reward or significant event. On the left of the road I found a gorge resembling the Mayan Face / Jeep scene, which brought a smile to my face. Might I suggest using the actual Mayan face model in JPDS instead of the big stone head (though that's just my opinion) . One thing this section of road did well was your use of actual wired power lines, which is no easy task.
I found the gas station and killed a Raptor or two, and grabbed the AK-47 on the back dumpster. Immediately after I took a right because I noticed a nice bridge in the distance, which I crossed. I noticed here that there was an awful lot of CWaterEntity's, which could explain the crashes you've been getting. I suggest you reduce their size by a bit or find another way to reduce the object size. Anyway, continuing over the river and beyond I eventually reached the Hunter Camp, which was a pretty interesting. Once more, I'll say I was hoping to find more goodies in the camp itself, but it was still neat overall. Snooped around there for a while before making my way back to the road.
Now came my favorite part of the level, the big underground tunnel. I think I recognize the entrance from Tres Legacy, but it was still absolutely awesome...well, once I found the white keycard. I ran around for a while trying to find it and I simply could not, so I jumped over to TresEd and looked it up. Veeeerrrryyy sneaky hiding place, I must say, but I believe players will need to a bit more of a hint or a clue in order to find it without...well...cheating. Perhaps there could be a way of knowing that somebody had gotten onto the roof, like a visual indication - not too obvious, but not too obscure, either. But back to the tunnel! I grabbed the card ingame and entered the side room. The sound of a Raptor scared the pants off of me and I boogied up the ladder (through a well-hidden teleport, might I add ), exiting the tunnel and into an absolutely beautiful mine. I loved this entire sequence, and then I came across another keycard door. Naturally, I lacked the card. I searched the tunnel a bit more and couldn't find it, so back to TresEd it was. I found the card a fair ways away, which meant I had to go all the way back, which REALLY sucked for me. I think you should try moving the card closer to the tunnel area so if a player (like me) misses the card, they don't have to walk all the way to the camp and then all the way back to the tunnel. With your tunnel-making skills, why don't you try expanding the tunnel area and adding a place to hide the red card a bit closer to the red door? WE CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH TUNNEL!!!!
Also, sidenote on this, I would like to suggest moving the white card to the location of the red one - this will make players explore the entire area without having to do much backtracking, as well as offer up a timely reward for finding the Hunter Camp. That way, when players enter the tunnel, they will for SURE have explored everything your level has to offer without becoming frustrated.
ANYWAY, back to the level! I grabbed the card and moved on, noticing your clever use of voiceovers there. Climbing another ladder I left the tunnel through yet another cool design choice and continued onward. Unfortunately, this last area sort of left me wondering if it was incomplete. The gate was locked, but I was able to walk around the fence instead. I was sad to say kind of glad though, because during my final check in TresEd I found the location of the Green-Blue keycard...and boy, that one would have been quite painful. I think that card needs to be moved to the area after the tunnel at least, perhaps in another place that players will explore, and into a more commonly explored location, because I never would have thought to look there. Otherwise...well...dat backtracking, dough. This keycard / backtracking issue was the one thing that really took away from the level for me, unfortunately. Hopefully that can be improved in newer versions!
In the "fort" type area, I was entertained by a dead guy in the portapotty (heh heh) and a very angry tyrannosaurus. It seems BioSyn have been up to something here, indeed! If this area were more complete, I think it would be a satisfying ending to your level for sure. Dodging Mr. Grumpy, I checked out the barracks and the remainder of the area - I assume this area is unfinished? I'm excited to see what it ultimately becomes and what BioSyn have been up to this time. I couldn't find an actual ending to the level so I exited out. I checked the rest of the level out in the editor to see if I'd missed anything - the only thing I noticed was a climbable tree with a G3A3 in it, which was a neat idea, but I think there needs to be some way to tell players that the tree is different and climbable in that particular area.
SUMMARY:
Map Design: 7/10 - A cool setup and interesting ideas that made me want to keep going. Could do with a bit more detail in certain areas and perhaps a bit of variation in landscape, though overall it was solid.
Gameplay: 4/10 - Sadly, this was really killed for me by the keycard thing and lack of any other puzzles. I was kind of hoping for more dinosaur encounters as well, but that's just me.
Story: 8/10 - I liked your little hints here and there without actually giving us any exposition. The BioSyn thing at the end was also neat, and I want to see more!
Creativity: 8/10 - Given that you used limited resources, there was a lot of new ideas and such here! The tunnel was especially well thought out and put together.
OVERALL:
7/10 - (I had fun)
By TrespasserGuy
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... 20Road.zip
- Spoiler: show
- PLAY-BY-PLAY:
The level opens up with you disembarking your crashed helicopter. My immediate impression was good: neat terrain textures, beautiful ambiance, and even a new texture for the BioSyn helicopter. I was quickly reminded of JPDS as I followed a vague path into the jungle and was instantly horribly lost - which is a good thing. I stumbled across a pond with a so-far unseen dinosaur, dryosaurus, and wandered a bit until I came to the little fenced-in village.
I noticed here that the fence was a bit...huge - I might suggest scaling it down a little bit, though it isn't really that much of an issue. Heading into the Generator Tower, I discovered that I could drink the canteen, bringing a little smile to my face. The interior of this building is very nicely detailed, quite a step up from the original in Tres, with moss hanging down and more clutter. I continued down the path and entered a small, empty house. I noticed you even put a puddle of water in the sink - good thinking! If you have performance issues with the level at any time, however, removing that would probably help out a bit. I gathered a wrench at a house foundation, and made my way into the apartment complex (which is always going to be a very fun building to explore). Was a little disheartened to find nothing there in any useful manner, until I reached the final room where I discovered a key. I also investigated that hard-to-find back room and nabbed a gas can, as well as another drink of water from the canteen and a first aid kit. Clubbing a Raptor to death with my wrench, I used the key to unlock the turbine shed, and quickly solved the puzzle. I was quite pleased with this sequence - everything was placed in a fair way, and the puzzle was satisfying once I had everything I needed. The power generator rumbled to life and I continued on my way, following the road back out of the village. I also have to commend you on the use of actual, linked power lines - that's a bloody daunting task, and you did it excellently
Following the road, I came to another well-executed tunnel, which had sadly collapsed. I actually missed the little camp near here in my playthrough, but looking at it in TresEd gives it a thumbs-up (could definitely have used that revolver later in the level). Back along the road, I eventually came to another fenced complex, though this one had been breached at some point. A smack with my wrench threw the lock off of a small shed, and I grabbed a drink from another canteen. As I continued to the helipad ahead, I was attacked by a baryonyx straight out of my old RTJP level - glad to see him used somewhere, though I have to suggest using the original version from JPDS (suchomimus), since mine is a bit odd looking without the back spikes. I also suggested replacing this guy with a spinosaurus as I felt that it would suit this scene better, though now that I look at it, the sucho definitely still works. I dodged the carnivore and ascended to the helipad, grabbing a SPAS-12 with which I blasted a few rounds at the sucho and then fled back the way I came, this time following the one remaining path to a cliffside. Arriving at the titular "mountain road", I was ambushed in a rather well done little scene by a pack of Raptors - the actual attack came from behind me, though, just like it should have! I fought them off (died once, though) and reached a gap in the ridge.
This is the first part where I got stuck. I knew that palm tree had to be the way across, but I tried everything - a whack from my wrench, a shotgun shell, but nothing worked. I actually still haven't been able to find the solution even with TresEd, though I did find a pair of axes in the basement (one of which is the woodaxe I made for Tres: Reborn - I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you do NOT use that, as it is heavily bugged and will never be held correctly!). I eventually had to fly my way across to continue. Any hints as to the solution?
Continuing on from the gap, I came across a shattered bridge. As I attempted to cross it using the nearby plank, I foolishly tripped up and dropped it into the river, forcing me to make a perilous jump to the railing on the other side. Perhaps you could find a way to ensure the plank never falls into the river, or if it does retrieve it? Maybe have it freeze in place once dropped into the general area it needs to be in? I was actually very surprised to see an actual river moving rather than a TWaterEntity, and in TresEd I see it is actually a bunch of Reborn TWaterfalls - holy crap, that must've taken some time! Anyway, I made my way further down the road, luckily stumbling across a wrecked jeep with a passcode to a Gate A, which was stored in the game, ala JPDS (SWEET!). At the next section of mountain road, I fought off a couple of Raptors before realizing that I had been trashing ammo-heavy guns for even more ammo-heavy guns. I must suggest removing a few guns here and there to make ammo a much more dire situation, especially in this section of the level. At the end of this section, I found a hidden canyon with a rather eerie Mayan face at a rockslide, but gathered nothing more as I made my way further along. I came to the gate for which I had the passcode, so I slammed my hand into the pad and made my way through.
A dilophosaur attacked here, and I disposed of it quickly. This valley yielded a very silly easter egg across the two most coincidentally positioned fallen trees of all time - maybe changing those over to a single tree and scaling it up would work better. I mowed down on some JPDS 'shrooms (was kind of hoping for a "drug" effect, honestly) and was suddenly halted by another gate. This time, I was locked out, and I was never able to find the passcode in-game. In my TresEd exploring, I found it waaaaay back along the path in a fairly hard to find location. This really needs to moved, to be honest - I would have had to backtrack a very long and now fully-explored distance to locate it, and I doubt I would ever have found the path leading there. I think this area is probably better off as a side area, or, if you want to leave the passcode there, it needs to be essential that players will easily discover this, because for the moment, the path leading up there is very hard to spot. Additionally, I found the hidden easter egg at the summit of that mountain, which seems like a long way to go all the way up and then all the way back down if you don't have the head (which is also hard to find). This whole puzzle needs a bit of a redesign if it is to be fair, I think, but to be fair, this is the only major gripe I had with this level. I think that most players would expect to find the clipboard somewhere in the area after the collapsed bridge - if this were true, the rest of the mountain area would be better suited as a hidden place rather than a required location, where you could find bonus items or the like. Perhaps the cliff camp could contain the mountain idol's head instead?
Also, I never found that Mayan valley in the game. I would have liked to see an easier way to explore it, rather than making it an easter egg type area, because it is very cool and I think it could even make a good place to place the clipboard I mentioned earlier! I'm actually unsure of how it is currently accessed or its purpose at the moment, which is sort of sad to say because the entire area looks very neat, especially with the rope bridge across the chasm. I was pleased to discover the memorial area, which is a great easter egg that I'm sure will be appreciated.
SO ANYWAY, back to my in-game progression. Having had to fly past the locked gate, I continued down the road, coming across an awesome sight - a crashed chinook on a cliff, overlooking more human ruin. This whole place was extremely neat to look at, and this valley started to feel very haunting, especially as the chopper creaked when I passed it. But, as I made my way further...the level ended! It's a great cliffhanger for the next level, Everlasting Jungle, and it really sets the mood of what the next stage will be like. I am looking forward to seeing what comes next, and what the dangers this canyon ahead might hold!
SUMMARY:
Annnnnd...phew! There's my in-depth review. In conclusion, it was a pleasure to explore and a very well done level, with some interesting locations, unique ideas, and fun, fair exploration. My only problems revolve around two puzzles which are hard to complete, but other than that, it's a 100% exciting experience! It makes you want to play again and search for things and places you may have missed, because there are a lot of out-of-the-way, off the path type places that really flesh out the level. So, the verdict:
Map Design: 8.5/10 - Consistently well designed, and always keeps you wanting to explore. There is so much to see and do in this map, and the concentric design around the central valley is presented very well. My problem with the whole second passcode and the area it is found in brings this score down a bit, and I would have liked to see perhaps a *tiny* bit more in the terrain texture department. Great work, nonetheless.
Gameplay: 7/10 - A fun, exploration-based level with a lot to find, be it a new item, or a tool to help you on your way. This was also brought down by the couple of puzzles I couldn't complete due to them being very hard to discover the solution for, and the large amount of backtracking involved in the completion of one. A few many guns at one point as well.
Story: 7/10 - Not much of one, though I assume this is not the central focus of the level versus the action/exploration aspect. The voiceovers were integrated well, though.
Creativity: 9.5/10 - So much done well in this department, from the design of the valley, to the bridge made of some fences and wood planks, and especially the tunnel, as always. A variety of puzzles and plenty to find on second playthroughs, plus some well-placed easter eggs and use of limited resources to make something new. Excellent work here!
OVERALL:
8/10 - Enjoyment abounds.
By Draconisaurus
Download link: http://www.trescom.org/download/downloa ... release.7z
- Spoiler: show
- PLAY-BY-PLAY:
This level opens with the player immediately dropped into an enclosure on a misty, gray day, straight out of my own visualization of the novel. The foliage is beautiful and plentiful, and looks just like the cloud forest that Crichton describes. I begin to make my way along the fence and quickly come across my first dinosaur, an ouranosaurus. I have mixed feelings about this (and a few other dinosaurs encountered in the level): while I do like seeing dinosaurs that are uncommonly used, this mod is supposed to be set on the novel's Isla Nublar. We know exactly which dinosaurs were present on the island in the novel, so it's sort of odd to include new ones such as ouranosaurus, ceolophysis, and styracosaurus, which were never mentioned in the novel. Obviously there could have been some sort of secret cloning thing going on or whatnot, but I really would have liked to have seen more familiar faces than what is present here.
Passing the ouranosaur, I come to my first building: a small generator shed which fits perfectly with the theme of the level. Investigating inside, I find a small, gray keycard with a picture of Hammond on it. Taking this (and promptly forgetting I have it ), I exit the building and proceed out of the enclosure through an open gate (Later in TresEd I did discover a small wooden shack that appears to have been empty in another corner of the exhibit - bonus points for including off-the-path stuff like this). I quickly come across a dirt road, running away to my left and right. On my right stands a tall mountain, which I assume will be my final destination, so I take a left and follow the road along the electrified fences. A dirty trail catches my eye off to one side, so I follow it a short ways and come to a large ceolophysis nest, complete with eggs and angry nest guardians. Fleeing back to the road, I soon arrive at a large maintenance shed, which I find to be locked. A quick search of the exterior comes up with nothing, so I head back and continue down the road, noticing now a large structure in the distance. I'd also like to mention how nice the flora looks in this location - it is very fitting of the Isla Nublar theme, with the low plants covering a lot of ground to keep things looking realistic. My peaceful stroll is soon halted as I come across a wandering velociraptor, straight out of the PC Gamer release, dueling with a pair of ceolophysis! I'm really glad to see this Raptor used, and he fits into the Jurassic Park level perfectly and I was worried he wouldn't see the light of day. I sneak my way around the carnivores and find myself heading left at a fork in the road, passing a calm pond and a thirsty Raptor.
I hurry to get away from the mass of predators and soon come to a wrecked truck on the road, with a dead compy sitting in the rear. Wondering what became of the driver (and the unfortunate caged passenger), I search the area and am unfortunately greeted by another hungry Raptor. This guy however doesn't have a distraction that prevents him from eating me, so I am forced to flee from him, sprinting between trees and logs to give him the slip. This eventually leads me to a rather scenic small tower, presumably at the end of the road had I taken the right fork. The pesky Raptor doesn't seem to have been fazed by my weaving and is now camped out at the bottom of the tower, snarling and gnashing its jaws. Trapped at the top, I am forced to wait for the Raptor to move away from the base of the stairs, then leap to the ground and bolt for the structure I can see a short ways away. This Raptor is a clever girl, however, and moves right around the tower and begins to chase me. Music from the film begins booming in my head as I leap over logs and desperately make my way to the building. My superior navigation pays off and I make it to the building with the Raptor long behind me. It's little events like this that really make a level for me.
Coming around to the front of this building, I notice that it is made of "building blocks" - various objects put together to make something new. This always brings a smile to my face, and the interior looks just as great as the outside. However, I find the door linking further into the building to be locked via red card-reader. Investigating further, I find nothing of use and decide I need to get into this room. But where is the red card? About 10 minutes of wandering around later, I realize I've had that gray card the whole time and remember that the shed I passed needed exactly this. A facepalm later and I'm at the building, searching the interior. The search turns up the red keycard I needed, a Lindstradt air rifle, and a couple of fun easter egg-y references to some other giants of times long-past. I make my way back to the large building and use the red keycard appropriately. This opens the door to a small computer lab with another fun reference thrown in (I liked Anne's comment on this one), and, more usefully, a green keycard. I take this card in hand and make my way back along the road - I somehow assume I will need this to climb the mountain, despite having seen another gate or two that could potentially need it just as much.
Random intuition pays off however and, following a quick encounter with a Raptor which my rifle easily tranquilizes, I find myself crossing a nice bridge over a beautiful waterfall and opening a gate, which leads to a steep climb up the mountain. This was the one area of the level I didn't find very visually appealing - the steep, blank cliffs on either side of the road and the seemingly random placement of foliage was kind of a downer, especially considering how well thought-out the placement of foliage on the rest of the level seems. I felt that, should it be necessary to place tall cliffs on both sides of a narrow road, it might be better to roof off this road and make it a cave, or just remove the outside wall of cliffs and add a deadly drop instead.
As I reach the top of the road, I find myself coming face-to-face with another Raptor, coming down the road in front of me. A quick burst of rounds from my rifle and the Raptor is fast asleep. I sneak around the unconscious predator and find myself with a grand, foggy view over the landscape I just traversed. However, as I come to another neat building-block structure (which I *think* I recognize from that old SUM Reloaded level?), I pass some really obvious floating plants - something that is excusable if they are in some vague place way off the path, but definitely a problem when they are right in the middle of the main path. With a quick look around for any goodies, I enter the central part of the moutaintop building and find myself a Glock pistol - which I cram into my belt - and what appears to be a working radio. I fiddle around with it for a few seconds before radioing in my findings of loose carnivores on the island, which brings a close to this very fun medium-length level.
SUMMARY:
Map Design: 7/10 - Everything looked great and felt like I was really on Isla Nublar from the novel. I did think some areas could be made a bit less flat so as to add a bit more realism, and the mountain wasn't really that great, but these setbacks were made up for by the overall great layout and look to everything.
Gameplay: 4/10 - A pretty standard Tres level involving keycards that lead to keycards, etc. The lack of lethal weapons added a bit more to this level though, as I found myself locked in interesting encounters as I tried to escape through the well-designed forests. This is a case where a few simple map design choices really add to the gameplay.
Story: 3.5/10 - This is definitely the Novel's version of Isla Nublar, and I felt that I was there by the little indications such as the choice of buildings and fences. However, there wasn't much of a real story until the end, and I was unaware of my objective until that final little bit of text told me what I was supposed to be up to. I also likely wouldn't have been certain that this was Isla Nublar had you not mentioned this in the download - perhaps a little clue or two in the level itself would have fleshed this out better and in a more immersive manner.
Creativity: 8/10 - Well, it IS the first Novel Nublar level, so it's already got that going for it. The custom buildings were really well done, and the overall choice of objects and animals was appreciated. It really felt like you had an idea and carried through with it effectively. All of the custom-made little things to see added to what could have been an otherwise overly straightforward level.
OVERALL:
6/10 - “...we haven't had any accidents for months now...Everything on that island is perfectly fine.”