Lost Jungle 2

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Lost Jungle 2

Post by Draconisaurus »

Ladies and gentle dinos... After 11 years, I have taken a bit of time aside from my current main project to create a sequel to the well-received "LostJunge" level. Like it, LostJungle2 presents a densely populated jungle microcosm full of dinosaurs, hidden intrigue, and exploration. Get lost and have fun!
(Special thanks to TheIdiot for both several new ground foliage models and new terrain textures, both from TI~MegaJungle.)

The Lost Jungle II

https://app.box.com/s/2gv76ii8pdm0hy4eucb5022xsf1vudnz
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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by machf »

Well, let's see what this one is about...
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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by TrespasserGuy »

Just played this level, here are my thoughts.
Spoiler: show
'Kay so I started on a Pine Valley-like incline overlooking a lush, foggy jungle. Making my way down the road I spot a rusted bicycle with a Deagle resting beside it. I pick up the Deagle and continue my way down, to a shady looking bridge and a huge waterfall. Crossing the bridge, all the while hearing Anne's thoughts, I come across a broken down InGen truck, where I find a nice HK rifle. So I take the rifle, and finally find myself in the dark and foreboding valley. I walk amongst abandoned construction blocks, meeting and killing a few Sorna raptors along the way. I run past a confrontation between a Kentrosaurus and an Allosaurus before I find myself standing in front of tall grass. As I take out my rifle I run right through the grass, shooting blindly at more raptors. Out of the grass I find a cool building. (I never knew how awesome the Summit building could look in a jungle setting). I walk around the building complex, find the room full of boxes and an SMG, and stack the crates to make my way up to the building's rooftop. I get into a locked room, just like you have to do in Summit, and the level ended there.

On my second run of the level, I found more interesting stuff, most notably the Zapper and an AK-74.
All in all, this is a really nice level, and certainly fed my hunger for new Tres levels. It's a great sequel to the first Lost Jungle, though the first one will always be better in my opinion, probably because of the bus stuck on the hill :P

I like how you used TI's mega jungle stuff, it really enhanced the realistic jungle tone.

In the end this level gave me an idea for a mod, a really good one. Wouldn't it be awesome to have a Tres mod based on the movie Apocalypse Now? Or at the very least have it be set during the Vietnam War? The mod would have you go to different outposts and bases, some American and other Vietcong, killing Velociraptors and other small theropods with your M16, and ultimately have you call an airstrike on the dinosaurs' nests. Some set pieces could include the aforementioned bases, a crashed B52 bomber, the tunnels used by the NVA, a small village, a French colonial plantation, and a bunch of other eye candy. Excuse me for brainstorming but it sounds like a really cool idea to me. :mrgreen:
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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by Draconisaurus »

Glad the level was such an inspiration to you! 8) And sorry about the lack of falling shootable bus... :yum:
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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by TheIdiot »

Hey, great to see a new level! And from the sounds of things, you used some of my MegaJungle stuff :D ...I'm excited to try it out! Will do so and give a long-winded review later.
In the end this level gave me an idea for a mod, a really good one. Wouldn't it be awesome to have a Tres mod based on the movie Apocalypse Now? Or at the very least have it be set during the Vietnam War? The mod would have you go to different outposts and bases, some American and other Vietcong, killing Velociraptors and other small theropods with your M16, and ultimately have you call an airstrike on the dinosaurs' nests. Some set pieces could include the aforementioned bases, a crashed B52 bomber, the tunnels used by the NVA, a small village, a French colonial plantation, and a bunch of other eye candy. Excuse me for brainstorming but it sounds like a really cool idea to me. :mrgreen:
That sounds pretty damn cool to me. I've had a similar idea to this, except instead of it being Vietnam, I've imagined it to be some kind of insane Nazi experiment near the end of World War II where they unleash dinosaurs in an attempt to stall the Allied/Soviet approach. Fighting your way through a ruined German village, evading not only dinosaurs, but also the occasional hostile soldier or vehicle. (T-rex vs Tiger Tank, anyone? :P )
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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by Draconisaurus »

TI, you and humans in Trespasser... :P You're going to have to prove to all of us that it can be done.

Looking forward to your review!
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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by TheIdiot »

TI, you and humans in Trespasser... :P You're going to have to prove to all of us that it can be done.
"The mysterious TheIdiot...shady forum-goer, multi-thousandaire - heh! - jovial mod creator..."

Aaaanyway, having given the level a go, here's what I thought:

LOST JUNGLE 2
By Draconisaurus


Full review:
Spoiler: show
When I read that Draco had gone and made a sequel to the short but very enjoyable Lost Jungle level, I was naturally quite excited. Having been a fan of the first level, I of course was eager to get exploring the sequel.

Dropped into the jungle in control of a green-shirted woman (one of the early Anne models! :D ) who through voiceovers I deduce to be a woman named Anne, I find myself looking at a beautiful jungle landscape overlooking a fast-flowing river. Bright green trees contrast with the harsh, gray fog that cloaks most of the area, and the landscape appears to twist downward into a valley. I worry that I might be a bit biased considering some of the assets from my MegaJungle level are used here, but in my opinion, the world you have set up is visually quite nice, with an excellent foliage selection and some great atmosphere and colour. I set off into the jungle and immediately obtain a Desert Eagle from a rusty abandoned bicycle. Moving down the slope, I come to a battered, rickety wooden bridge which spans the flowing water in the ravine below. A small note here - the water appears to be several meshes which overlap, causing a sort of weird seamy look to each object. It would have been great for you to model a new Water object, but considering the small scale of the level, this is a bit uneccesary, and I won't deduct and points for that. :wink:

Safely across the bridge, I stumble upon the skeleton of a massive prehistoric beast, snatching a worn P90 SMG from remains of the skeleton's stomach. I should say here that I liked the use of these alternate, higher-poly weapon models a lot, and appreciate seeing something other than the usual Tres objects. Passing a wrecked truck, I come to the bottom of the valley and follow the trail around a swampy area of water, where the stream I crossed earlier comes to a peaceful end. The peace however is shattered as a lone female Isla Sorna velociraptor emerges from a set of decimated ruins up ahead. I give it a blast with the Desert Eagle - but too late! The carnivore rushes forward in a quick strike, and tears into my arm, causing me to drop my pistol. Dodging back and abandoning the gun, I dash into the thick foliage, intending to evade the Raptor amongst the trees. The dense jungle blocks my view up ahead, and I emerge from the flora into a clearing - a clearing which is occupied by a furious allosaurus (Big Al, as always, good to see!). The behemoth snaps at me and I sidestep its gnashing jaws as suddenly another velociraptor (this time a male Sorna variant) springs forward from behind, successfully startling me and causing me to drop my freshly unholstered P90. Heavily wounded, I stagger away from the carnivore, recklessly entering a field of forsaken long grass. As you may expect, this plan is foiled quickly by a pair of greenish Raptors, which finally surround me and deliver the killing wounds with their sharp teeth. The sheer number of predators in this level makes it quite a challenge to find even a temporary safe haven, which I quite enjoyed. Lots of action in a smaller level is always welcome in place of exploration!

Restarting the level, I manage to get back to the ruins and kill the first Raptor this time around, and am nearly defeated by a second Raptor which attacks from the side, ala Robert Muldoon's death. A number of lucky shots take down the second animal, but my pistol is out of ammo, so I discard it. A quick sweep of the ruins finds me a replacement weapon in the form of a SPAS-12 shotgun, which I raise just in time as the allosaur again charges from the bushes. A couple of blasts to the head ward the big dinosaur off, and I run around him into the jungle, emerging near a lone kentrosaur which agitatedly guards a clearing which is also occupied by a Mercedes-Benz Unimog. I pull down the tailgate and find a stun gun in the rear, but leave it be as my shotgun still has plenty of ammo. It's at this moment that the allosaur reappears, prompting me to scurry around the kentrosaur and leave the titans to duke it out themselves.

Again I approach a field of long grass, though a different one this time, at the end of which I notice a short concrete structure. I know I have to brave the grass, so I fire a number of random shots from the P90 into the grass and hear the screams of dying Raptors. Turns out my aim was quite lucky, and I kill the two Raptors stalking in the field. Grinning to myself, I quickly wade through the tall grass and emerge at the structure (a re-purpose of the Summit station). Another Hammond voiceover gives some backstory here, but like a couple of other VOs, it felt a little bit out of place - perhaps a mistake or mix-up between triggers? :? Yet another Raptor comes into sight at the other end of the buildings, and I rush to enter the far building, only just beating the dinosaur in a race to the door. I slam the door shut behind me just as the predator crashes into it! Pushing my body against the door, I manage to hold the Raptor back for long enough for it to give up, but it manages to get a bite or two on me as it noses its way between the door and the frame. Before the Raptor can come back for a second attack, I shove a big box in front of the door to block its entry - just in time too, as the dinosaur crashes into the metal door once again! The box barely holds, and a second one in place keeps the dinosaur out for good (it's moments like this that entirely redeem the somewhat wonky dinosaurs for me in Tres 8) ). With no alternate exit, I hunker down in the corner and wait, thinking to myself how this level's been a constant thrill ride!

A minute or so later, I can barely hear the dinosaur anymore, so I move my makeshift barricades and tentatively open the door - nothing in sight. I hastily jog over to the other end of the building (no idea why I didn't go in here first!) and find myself in a neat little radio room, which uses some JPDS assets in an interesting and fitting manner. Stepping over to a computer terminal, I somehow (not sure what I did..?) enable an emergency beacon, which summons my rescue from this valley and the end of the level.
Summary: For such a short level, I sure had a lot of fun with this one! Lots of combat and some lovely scenery definitely made up for the lack of story and occasional strange or too frequent placement of voiceovers. Action is rampant in this level, and it makes a suitable, if not perfect, sequel to the original Lost Jungle level.

Map Design: 5/10 - Lots to see here despite only a few locations, and the dense jungle makes combat difficult without feeling unfair. I would perhaps have liked to see a bit more interaction with the environment, and I noticed a minor lack of detail in the areas surrounding the main playable area.
Gameplay: 4.5/10 - Short but sweet. A mostly combat-oriented level, which is made more fun by the large amount of hostile dinosaurs and a challenging setting. No real puzzles or challanges other than the combat, however, make replayability a bit low.
Story: 3/10 - While I understand you weren't really going for a story-oriented level, the minimalist story elements such as voiceovers were kind of off in places. I was confused at the end how I activated the computer at the end, if I did anything at all. I did like the couple of little hints of other activity in the jungle though, but the messy narrative elements hamper this score.
Creativity: 6.5/10 - Using the JPDS and MegaJungle assets together is quite successful! Everything was well-made and well put together, and there wasn't anything lacking in this department. There was clearly a fair bit effort put into creating an interesting environment using the level assets and expanding on what we saw in LJ1. Not the most creative use of said assets - I would have liked to see a bit more than the rather simplistic, scriptless level we have here, especially after that falling bus and the short cave in LJ1.

OVERALL: 5/10
"The jungle canopy hung over us, there was an utter silence...when suddenly, a Raptor attacked from the side, and we were torn to shreds!"
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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by Draconisaurus »

Thanks TI! Glad you liked it.

*The voiceovers... I went to the trouble to select general-narrative-type voiceovers, from both Hammond and Anne, in an attempt to set the mood. Guess there were a few too many of them. ..I don't give a shit how untopical they were :lol:
*Everyone misses that damn bus! :lol: Whenever LJ3 comes around, I will be bearing this in mind...
*"TheIdiot's success was a mystery to me..." I have no idea how you got through the door to the radio building; it is locked and you must stack crates to get ontop of the building, as TrespasserGuy mentions. The idea is more or less that you simply activate the systems in the room by arriving at the location... Didn't think to add pressable buttons.

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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by TheIdiot »

*Everyone misses that damn bus! :lol: Whenever LJ3 comes around, I will be bearing this in mind...
It's not specifically the bus, I just wanted something physic-ish along those lines. The bus was only an example! Don't do the bus again!
*"TheIdiot's success was a mystery to me..." I have no idea how you got through the door to the radio building; it is locked and you must stack crates to get ontop of the building, as TrespasserGuy mentions. The idea is more or less that you simply activate the systems in the room by arriving at the location... Didn't think to add pressable buttons.
Iiiiinteresting...I tested it again after reading what you said and this time, I couldn't get through. I wonder what happened? Maybe that Raptor broke the door physics or something, I did sort of clip through the side of it to get in.
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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by Draconisaurus »

TheIdiot wrote:
*Everyone misses that damn bus! :lol: Whenever LJ3 comes around, I will be bearing this in mind...
It's not specifically the bus, I just wanted something physic-ish along those lines. The bus was only an example! Don't do the bus again!
Haha, I'm already aware of this :P Nothing came to mind of like-sort; I'll have to dwell on it longer in the future..
Am curious - on a scale of 1 to 10, how worthy of a sequel to Lost Jungle would you say LJ2 is?
*"TheIdiot's success was a mystery to me..." I have no idea how you got through the door to the radio building; it is locked and you must stack crates to get ontop of the building, as TrespasserGuy mentions. The idea is more or less that you simply activate the systems in the room by arriving at the location... Didn't think to add pressable buttons.
Iiiiinteresting...I tested it again after reading what you said and this time, I couldn't get through. I wonder what happened? Maybe that Raptor broke the door physics or something, I did sort of clip through the side of it to get in.
Quite interesting. It's like when you got to the final building in Mountain Path (the green-covered AS2-terrain mod) and the door enter/leave-sequence you described was not as I had designed.. though in that case it proved to be my own mistake. Next there will be.. a hot air balloon which travels into the ground instead of into the sky. xP
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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by TheIdiot »

Am curious - on a scale of 1 to 10, how worthy of a sequel to Lost Jungle would you say LJ2 is?
Hmm. Well, I think that might be a bit biased since I recall LJ1 being one of the earliest levels I tried out. I think I definitely still prefer LJ1, even if it has a few areas that are a bit too bare for my liking, but I felt there was a lot more to see and to in LJ1. It's a fairly worthy sequel considering the simplicity of the first, but I think it lacks a bit in areas where LJ1 excelled, and makes up for it through the superior detail in places. It's a mixed bag, really. I guess I'd have to give it about a 5, dead center (and I hate to give a middle of the road rating, too, but I'm torn right now) .
Quite interesting. It's like when you got to the final building in Mountain Path (the green-covered AS2-terrain mod) and the door enter/leave-sequence you described was not as I had designed.. though in that case it proved to be my own mistake.
I suspect it may have something to do with a recent edit I made to my ini file where I increased the max active dinosaurs to 7. I thought I put it back to 6, but I may have forgotten to do so, which can result in erroneous physics.
Next there will be.. a hot air balloon which travels into the ground instead of into the sky. xP
:lol: How about a ship that sails on land? Or, better yet, heavily-scripted, stop-motion, ASA-pathed dinosaurs, which still work as CAnimals for dynamic behavior? :P
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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by machf »

TheIdiot wrote:
Next there will be.. a hot air balloon which travels into the ground instead of into the sky. xP
:lol: How about a ship that sails on land?
I'd rather keep it sailing on the sea, thank you...
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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by TheIdiot »

machf
:o Woah, what the heck level is THAT?! You never cease to blow me away with these fancy models and scripts of yours!
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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by machf »

One of my old test levels that I have lying around... that one in particular is full of stuff.
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Re: Lost Jungle 2

Post by Draconisaurus »

Yay for test levels. :| Perhaps we should go sailing on Mars or something.. ;)

And TI, thanks for the rating - I agree with your arguments. I'll have to dream bigger for LJ3.
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