[Rhaisher]

TheDragonLiner, on 20 April 2019 - 09:32 AM, said:

There's an underwater section O_o ? I thought the only water in that level was either the flooded AMC Transport platform or the small lake near the Shopkeer's den >_>

I meant the small lake, sorry. The underwater of it is different in the HUB map (it's deeper and it has decoration). The one in the Under Attack map is flat and is the one we saw in EP2's HUB map.

[TheDragonLiner]

Allow me to introduce you to the Brand Spanking New AMC Feedback !
(well it's not new but I'm too much on a roll)

_New AMC Base : Firstly the new briefing. I'm not gonna develop on it because there's not much to talk about. Apart from the fact it created a fair share of drooling factor because ... GEOFFREY HAS A MISSION FOR HIMSELF !!!! So now onto the scenic tour. From the roof to the bottom floor. Roof is okay I guess. Good to see AMC now has an AA system. It also gives us the best, non-cheatable, view possible on the skybox which is nice. Last time we had seen a small glass-pyramid MS Corp thing, now it's a freaking factory ! Anyway.


Top Floor. Quick Food area looks good, though a bit small. Then the central bit with access to the rest of the floor with an easy way to break your legs at the center. Not to forget the memorial. The Memorial is nice but it would be even cooler if there were names on the stones, would be the opportunity for you guys to pay tributes to the community ! Micky's room is cool. Way better than the closet-like one he used to have. Looks like the main phylosophy of the room is optimisation of the space. Having stuff that sink into the floor like the fridge is cool (cause it's a fridge ( it's cool ... )). Though I'd say he relied a bit too much on the rotating platforms if I may. He may not have a condo with a balcony and a swimming pool but at least he has a secret elevator leading to a sea-side-simulating swimming pool. And he even has a security system in his office. Ain't my favorite room but I must say it excelently optimises space and use of space. It heavily furnished but optimised to have freedom of movement, very nice !. James's room. It's just the same as the old one. It's as ergonomic as before, keeps the same relaxing atmosphere and it's more spacious. The only addition I spot is the new kitchen, something only Highwire had in the old base. He has a view on the MS Corp section again ? Mikko sure likes to have the eyes on him >_>. James's room was one of my favs in the old base and it is still the case with the new base. Higwhire's room. It's basically the same deal as with James's room. It retains its looks and atmosphere. After seeing Highwire's Vacation House in the cinematic it confirms his taste for the globally white interiors. So my commentary remains the same as with James's room.


Middle Floor. Since we mentioned MS Corp twice might as well start with Mikko's room. Well it sure looks better, more colorfull than his old room. However there's very little thing inside. Just his stasis chamber and a bunch of VERY suspicious stuff in the closets ... Mikko is worrying me right now ... However getting out of his stasis field is treacherous, I have to hit the switch from behind the wall in order to get out ! I almost drowned once ! Central area has the same commentary as earlier but without the occasion to break your legs and easier accesses to the elevators. Rusty's room .... EMPTY. Bigger but more empty ! It REALLY could use some furnishing because there are some wasted square-meters there and it's also kinda sad to see such an empty room for a character, no windows either T_T. Sang's room. Well it sure is more welcoming than his castle ! I can't find anything worthwhile to say but I will say that I have the tendency to VERY easily mix up his room with Merlijn's O_o It's just the style of the entrances that keeps confusing me. Snowfall's room, with a nice little portrait at the entrance. Well the least we can say is that it will content the heart of any Space Enthusiast out there that's for sure. I particularly like that solar system on the ceiling, and the planets are in high resolution too. The place weirdly feels both cramped up and spacious at the same time ... Another good optimisation of space. Kitchen's nice though cramped up. Same for the bathroom, which is a bit minimalistic. Bedroom is cool though the huge arsenal storage kinda breaks the atmosphere. Also you'd better not snap out of your sleep because of the book shelf !. Note, I like the purple ambiance, it fits the space theme and it's always more original than white or grey. Also note to seeing pics of the maps he designed behind the glass. One of my favorite rooms !. "Reserved for future squad members" ? Okay then >_> Zaxtor's room. MUCH better than his old house in Madagascar, much more warm and welcoming. Nice selection of colors, nice furnishing and cool looking kitchen. Bathroom's a bit cramped up and the bed is also kinda small though. And the entrance door always makes me think it's an elevator instead of a room O_o In any case I believe this is my #1 favorite room of them all. There would be James's in 2nd and Snowfall's in 3rd. The rest is too hard to decide ^^. Merlijn's room. Well it's totally different from the old one. It looks more castle-like. But where/how does he sleep now ? In the end I prefere his old room from the old base, it was my favorite.


Ground Floor. The entrance looks more grandiose than before. A ton more spacious. Though 1_ We can't talk to the receptionist (would be nice to have a new training course or at least a line of dialogue) and 2_ One of the fountain's springing water is frozen o_O. Then we have all the accesses to the floors and the base level. Occasion to say right now that the base really has a more clear organization than the old one. The room with the Veyron shows there's room for another car. What about a Stratos ? a Cien ? a Cizetta V16 ? a Ginetta G4 ? a 908 ? Oh wait I know > A CHAPARAL 2J ! Or a 2D maybe ?

Now the exterior. Well the exterior was better in the old base since now we're in the middle of a crater ... Also the Shopkeeper's den is a bit too well hidden compared to before IMO. First time I had to circle arround the base 2 or 3 times to find him O_o.


Now the Main Base section. Geoffrey's room. Well it's basically a copy/paste of his old area, except that we can access it at all times now, and it's no longer semi-mandatory fall dammage when you get out. Mind the step though, the BIG step. It's actually well hidden because I never suspected that you could go through the vents like that, I had to pick him in order to find out !. So having all the rooms revolving arround a central area like that is cool because it makes navigation extremely easy and straight forward. Though do mind the step in the midle, the BIG step. It's nice to have the Command Center and Armoury side by side like that, it's more practical than before. Though the room with all the weapons can easily be missed. Garage/Hanger Area. Looks gigantic. there's CLEARLY enough space to store all the vehicles now ! Also the occasion to see Snowfall's ship which looks imposing compared to the rest and the room's size. Also occasion to comment on the New AMC Transport design. Looks cool though I personally prefer the old one. It's actually very nice to see both models in the area instead of seeing nothing but the new ones. It also looks like you guys have a penchant for V tail designs but it's not that Hi-Tech you know, look for the Beechcraft Bonanza, or the Robin ATL ^_- The place even has a neat looking Control Tower of sorts. Good stuff.

Research Division. Looks as good as the old one though the computer is rendered more easily accessible. We lost the Precog Brain and the Universal Constructor though ... Holding Cells. Well it does look very secured. A bulkhead, a grated door and 2 force-fields. And a familiar face from Ep2, I was surprised to see him there, though he sounds hateable now with his speech, good thing he's there. Briefing Room. Looks pretty much like the old one except it's bigger. No screen now though. And having the evidence room next to it and directly accessible is cool and more straight forward than the old one. Research Wing. Well it's just the Supernatural Research room and the Dojo copied and pasted there so no big deal. Disco-Bar Area. Same here though I don't remember seeing that fancy ground effect at the old base. Also the place is too quiet to my taste, would be nice to add in a small music like at the old base. Canteen Area. Well it's a bit like the old one but it has no toilets and nothing that looks close to a kitchen or a recreational area. And nobody can be talked to. The only black spot on my list really.


Conclusion : WELL. Needless to say there were TONS of things to say compared to the old base. The overall design is more simplistic than the old one but this allows to way more spacious and optimised uses of space, and a clear and easy to navigate architecture. Though I tended to get lost in the midle floor sometimes. Most of the character's rooms got a nice make-over compared to their old incarnation. Except for Merlijn's room for which I prefer the old one and Rusty's room which looks severely EMPTY with a big chunk of wasted space.

My #1 Fave is Zaxtor's room. #2 is James's. #3 is Snowfall's. #4 is Highwire's. #5 is Micky's. #6 is Geoffrey's. #7 is Sang's. #8 is Merlijn's. #9 is Rusty's. I don't really consider Mikko's place to be a room like the old one, feels more like a small personal research division instead. In overall I prefere this new base compared to the old one (I damn well better) for the stated reasons. And to top things up it doesn't freaking lag HELL YEAH ! Before I forget, the music is nice. Ain't my favorite clearly but it's nice.

Efficient ? I guess ... Excelently designed ? Indeed. Ergonomic ? And how !

[Jblade]

The missing Precog brain and UC is a bug, I'll have to sort that out.

[Flanker15]

Cool new episode

If I have to critique it it would be:
The levels are too big and open like they're real life big now! but that's probably personal preference instead of often open but also tightly designed and paced like ep1 and 2 (zeta base, the space ship big but also paced out well) which had less walking through long empty areas.
It seems to run worse now, even old ep2 levels? Seems to be something to do with transparencies particles maybe and new eduke version?
The blood is a bit overkill compared to ep2 and it leaves the wrong footprint color.
It seems there are less atmospheric stages going for more pure bigger = better?

[Flanker15]

Also are the big pig cops in the bit on micky beginning where you don't have the suit supposed to be unkillable? Even after I had the suit and some guns I had to lure them away from the door to leave.

Very nice voxel-ing in it this episode though.

And final thing I've noticed is the save files are about 8 times larger than the ep2 version is this a new eduke32 feature?

[Solais]

I did notice that after I reached Ep3, making saves started to take double the time than in ep1 and 2. I wrote it off as having much more data to save due to all the progress. (As in, data to make sure to load the proper character sprites or the new base, instead of the "defaults", etc.)

[Flanker15]

The way the file gets bigger and bigger I think it's the game is keeping the state of the sub-levels even after you finish the root level.
For instance on Egypt if you try to replay that level, the hub will be fresh state but all the sub levels will be as you left them the first time you played it hours ago. Even going as far as switching your character to the one you played that level as first and allowing you to abort mission from that sub level and go back to the old AMC base map. So as you go through more levels that have sub levels all the entities, pickups etc in those sub levels are being kept permanently so your save get's bigger and you can't replay the mission (the special artifacts in the Egypt sub levels won't be there because you've already picked them up).
Maybe a engine limit that you can't have area transitions that save the state of the levels AND be able to flush the state of those levels at the end.

[Jblade]

there's a bug with the version we're using where the clearmapstate function doesn't seem to work, if you want to replay the Egypt maps just start a new game and that'll reset the maps to their original state.

[Solais]

As I'm slowly making my way through the finale of EP2 on Normal this time, I'm more and more noticing a few more annoyances which might be the reason why I don't like this finale that much.

I think one main problem are the enemies we fight through the levels. They are simply annoying. They are loud for one, but also, the basic Paradigm cultist got a problem that was present in Ion Maiden as well until the recent update: their sprites are almost completely black, making them next to impossible to properly make out in more shadowed rooms (and I'm already playing with increased brightness after I couldn't see anything on Dis Base). It can very easily happen that it's not possible to notice them even if they are standing right next to the player.

Another problem are those flying robots. It's one thing that they shoot incredibly fast, so they can be difficult to dodge, but they also got immense amounts of health and also armor as well. James got the most problem with them, as I can shoot all of his arsenal at a single one and maybe then I can take them down, in the case if I'm out of armor-piercing rounds. They almost feel like over-spammed minibosses. They also seem to have a logic to evade projectiles, or at least, they love to move up and down and very conveniently getting stuck on fences that makes the so you can't effectively hit them until you move into their direct line of fire. This is most noticeable with the two at the end of the Orbital Elevator level.

I also noticed that this mission is actually a very costly mission: I knew it will be difficult, so I decided to change my loadout from the usual "armor+flechette shells+MIA gun", that usually cost me 2k. I decided to go with some riot shield, but no armor, so the loadout cost was around 3k. And even then, what I'm noticing between level changes that I'm losing money, instead of gaining it. Makes me think that the whole loadout thing is just too expensive to actually consider using too much, besides the slight convenience of starting with armor. I guess time to farm DDisco more.

The biggest thing I learned however is the biggest difference between Easy and Normal difficulty. It's not that enemies do a little less damage, because that barely matters, hitscanners can still one shot you across the level (common Build engine trick). It's not that there's double ammo, that barely counts. The biggest difference on Easy is that armor works -completely- different. You see on Easy, if you have your regular body armor you won't get damaged at all, until it runs out. And it barely gets scratched too: You can stand in the line of fire of a Battlelord, and it will only take off 1 armor per shot. Compared to this, on Normal, I sometimes feel that armor only just barely help me survive better, because you will take regular damage as well as armor damage, besides armor being sliced to shreds in mere seconds. I think this is a huge difference between the two difficulties, which makes me feel like playing a different game on Normal (or Easy).

Maybe it's just me with these problems, dunno.

Edit: At least the quad drones on Mikko's levels do shoot now.

[Jblade]

armour always protects against all damage, the only exception is explosive weapons and enemy armour piercing attacks so I'm not sure what's happening there, I'll take a look and see if I can spot a bug or somehting.

[Solais]

Is there a way to spot if an enemy is using armor-piercing weapons?

Edit: On more closer look, it seems that I indeed don't get damaged as long as I have armor; but the damage done to armor really is a lot more on Normal than on Easy. On Easy, I could usually keep a bit of armor through the entire level, not so on Normal where I lose it pretty quickly.

Btw, I didn't mention it during my gush first post, but I think I do like the Mines section of the Ep2 finale best, so it's not all that bad to me.

[TheDragonLiner]

Leave me alone ! erh I mean ... Leave me feeback !


_Garmid - Sector 14B : New hub, more sightseeing. Hangar looks cool, kinda reminds me of Zeta Base somehow. Then walking up the stairs to have the main sight, the skybox, thrown to your face. It looks mighty fine. The lighting could be a bit more pronounced for the night setting. But the city is well furnished and credible for a futuristic one. Not sure what that central structure is though ... At least now I know where James's background picture comes from. Entrance of the night club looks okay. What I like the most about it is 1_ The girl who you can turn into a freaking paranoid and 2_ The discrete music of the intermission screens from Imagination World. Ethel's Lounge (reference to the AMC transport nickname in Ep2 ?) is the same deal. I liked the conversation with the guy, personally it was the most realistic one of the bunch to my experience the first time. Then it's like a market alley, a bit flat I'd say, would have been nice if we could have visited one or two building.

Then Faifthfull's Guns, I especially liked the exposition. Those voxels look so nice in the vitrine that it really makes you drool for them. I was like "indeed it's hefty but I don't care I want them NAO !". And I was frustrated by the glitch ... The bottle caps sidequest was cool, I ended up finding them all but it was already too late ^^ I still gave them for charity but it seems like the conversation is kinda glitched now. Then the Veyron exposition. Another of the main sights. I was anticipating it since I saw it in a teasing image but there's just the one car unfortunately. I still got my bit of a laugh with the constant "I want it", "I want it", "I said I want it", "For the 4th time I WANT IT" ^^ Personally I would have prefered something else but it's still cool. The car's voxel looks fine despite the technical limitations and the pictures are in good resolution.

Then downstairs, another sort of market place but it's awfully empty compared to the first one. Would have been nice to add some people and maybe another store to visit. And there's an elevator that doesn't work. At least it gives another panorama of the cool skybox. Back upstairs there is that row full of advertising. They're all nice, though I don't understand some of them. It would have been nice if those green terminals had been info terminals like in IW's 4th episode with the terminals telling about MJ12 soldiers. Good thing I checked more than once because I had missed out on the Scuba Diving Lesson ad which is kinda helpfull in-game, especially in Final Confrontation in my case. As for the park, it looks nice and peacefull. Before leaving, will mention the ships' voxels which look way better than as their old sprites. Lastly the music. Well it's a bit "upbeat" for a hub music but it still kinda fits the setting, especially the night time and the relatively futuristic ambiance. Personally I'm not a fan, it's typically that kind of music that I like in-game but don't out-game.



Conclusion : Well since hubs are only about strolling arround and a few one-time stuff, it's hard to find more to say. I was actually expecting the place to be bigger, I mean more stuff to explore like on the Moon. But at least it gave its funny, peacefull and worthwhile moments. Like with evey hubs, it's the first visit that is plentyfull and enjoyable, after that it's just a time-waster, in a relatively positive way. What I liked the most > The ambiance, the Veyron conversation and the drool-inducing sight of the new guns. What I "disliked" > The relative lack of open stores or buildings compared to the Moon hub.

[Solais]

Garmid is a mighty fine hub, but It's sorely missing a James-King joint.

Actually I wonder if hubs could be used for more in the future, like more side-quests and such so players can have a reason to return. Maybe could be an additional source of income. Like bounty missions, that could be completed in any mission.

[Jblade]

My main goal is to really flesh stuff out once all 5 episodes are done - the hubs don't have a huge amount of purpose right now but I do still like them because I want players to have non-combat stuff to do rather than just going home and going straight back out into combat again

[Flanker15]

Is there a "special" way to finish neutrino mission? It seemed like I did something wrong or missed something I almost have all the secrets and picked up the side mission and didn't notice anything special on a second run, just a console that said unauthorized access when I tried to use it.

[Solais]

Currently on Micky Begins on my Normal playthrough (had no problems whatsoever with the first maps and Egypt, they are still great), and only now I learned about the "Main Area Assault" level, which explains why I couldn't find one of the areas from the trailer. A little bit of a bug, I think, is that when I started the level, there was a text string on top of the screen saying "James". (Where usually "Game Saved" and other strings appear.) Pretty minor, just a weird oddity I noticed.

[Jblade]

Flanker15, on 22 April 2019 - 06:00 AM, said:

Is there a "special" way to finish neutrino mission? It seemed like I did something wrong or missed something I almost have all the secrets and picked up the side mission and didn't notice anything special on a second run, just a console that said unauthorized access when I tried to use it.

That was an oversight with some code Mikko added, I'll fix this at some point. Only thing that's missable in Neutrino is a new weapon for James (you can drop down below the Neutrino device at the very bottom) and access to a secret map (look for a computer near the Blue keycard with your scanner out)

[TheDragonLiner]

I'd like to report a thing or two quickly ...

1_ AMC agents have the "3 handed expertise" perk which allows them to use their 2 hands while using a Shield >>
2_ A new space discovery, you can create bullet-holes in the void ! >>
3_ When James has the bionic arm, the Golden Jericho has a slight problem below the hammer (just compare without the bionic arm) >>

[Solais]

Just finished Micky Begins on Normal (still love it, and now I found his special weapon too). When I finished on Easy, I noted that the Super Lizard boss at the end never appeared and was killed by EDF soldiers past the wall that I have to jump. Now, the same thing happened on Normal, and it happens EVERY time, I loaded a save over and over to see it happen: The moment the Super Lizard spawns, it does its super jump. However, in mid-jump, it notices the soldiers, and turns around in mid air, jumping towards the soldiers. After that, I don't even have to fight it, either the soldiers kill it, or I can just jump over the wall and the mission is over. So this one is definitely a bug.

I wonder if the story of Dumbass will continue in the future.

Also, I wonder if there will be other backstories told eventually. I know that some of the guys aren't around anymore, like Rusty and Geoffrey, wished we had a backstory or a conclusion to their stories eventually (Rusty did get a new voice actor and Geoffrey also planned to have one so maybe?). Especially Geoffrey feels so out of place, even though he's pretty much my main man now. I wonder if maybe Brave New World could be incorporated into the TC (for Mikko's backstory)? I know that Duke is not planned to appear whatsoever in the TC, but maybe he could be a one-shot character like the cultist. Obviously Oblivion wouldn't be incorporated either considering it's huge as hell, nor I can see Imagination World either (though Ep4 would definitely fit, considering it's pretty much AMC TC Episode 0.) I'm pretty sure Merlijn's story will be Ep4's "main feature". And of course, Highwire got his origin story in Ep1. Hmm... (And who knows who will join the team next time.)

Spoiler

To be honest, it's kind of a shame Duke isn't planned to appear. The final confrontation would be so cool if there was basically a sort of All Star cast of characters for the final mission, all AMC members, and each of them getting a legendary Build Engine hero NPC helper, like Duke, Caleb, Lo Wang, the guy from Powerslave, etc.

[Jblade]

I did kind of want a scene of James meeting Duke that's basically a rip off of the Picard meeting Kirk scene, but ultimately the big build heros will only get a passing mention at best (Shelly from IM won't be referenced, if only to avoid stepping on any toes since unlike the other guys she's brand new)

Rusty will get another map in episode 4 that'll finish off the Hyde storyline, so don't worry on that front

[Rhaisher]

Solais, on 22 April 2019 - 01:08 AM, said:

Garmid is a mighty fine hub, but It's sorely missing a James-King joint.

Actually I wonder if hubs could be used for more in the future, like more side-quests and such so players can have a reason to return. Maybe could be an additional source of income. Like bounty missions, that could be completed in any mission.

I was working on an extension for New L.A. consisting of a gym, sauna, SPA and lounge bar - I couldn't complete it before EP3's release, unfortunately.

As of now, you can visit the bit I built and let me know what do you think and what would you like to see (past the weapons shop) - it feels kind of empty right now, though. Nevertheless, I added lots of interactivity which was my favourite part of Duke3D.

I plan on finishing it at some point after my Armaggeddon playthrough and, aside from some random conversations, I'll try to convince James to code things to do there.

Yup, maybe it is kind of strange to be part of a minor development aspect of the TC and being surprised by the story and maps, but I tried to spoil myself the less I could while I mapped.

[Radar]

Jblade, on 22 April 2019 - 11:34 AM, said:

I did kind of want a scene of James meeting Duke that's basically a rip off of the Picard meeting Kirk scene, but ultimately the big build heros will only get a passing mention at best (Shelly from IM won't be referenced, if only to avoid stepping on any toes since unlike the other guys she's brand new)

Rusty will get another map in episode 4 that'll finish off the Hyde storyline, so don't worry on that front

Any chance Bombshell from AA gets a mention in AMC?

[John Brown]

@Rhaisher: I did notice the spa and gym area on the Moon, I thought it looked great. When I first stumbled in there last month, I was a bit bewildered and asked myself, "Wait was this always here and I just missed it every time?" While most of my time on New LA was spent frantically trying to find that one secret (until TDL informed me that there is no secret after all), I did think those new areas looked great and I enjoyed wandering around them. And you say they're unfinished... wow.

@Radar: She does get mentioned in one of James' phone conversations with Jane the EDF soldier, but it's super brief. I remember in another topic, there was talk of having the AA version of her appear as an AI (with Batsuey's voice), which would be epicly awesome (my two favorite Duke mods smashed together... better than chocolate peanut butter cups).

Also a question for Jblade, when you do get a voice actress for Jane, what kind of voice are you planning? Her new face portrait looks... I'd say Asian, but I believe the biography still says she's from UK (I know those are not mutually exclusive). I only ask because I am just now finally playing the Tomb Raider games finally for the first time ever, so Lara Croft's accent is fresh on my mind (even if she did change VA's from the first to the second).

PS: I don't mean this as an insult but I always think it's funny when the female scientists say "It's-a good to see you".

[Jblade]

Radar, on 22 April 2019 - 05:59 PM, said:

Any chance Bombshell from AA gets a mention in AMC?

She gets a hell of a lot more than a mention, it's what I spent my weekend working on

We do actually have a VA for Jane as well now, somebody reached out to me on the Discord and stuff is being sorted out and recorded. Hopefully if all goes well Jane might finally be able to make a physical appearance in Episode 4.

[TheDragonLiner]

Every Feedback entry I post, is a bunch of Bytes evicted from my PC.



_Eviction Notice : So right off the bat I notice something peculiar. Depending on the fact you conducted Snowfall's New AMC Transport research project or not, you will start the level at a different place. If not, you start under a broken bridge with just the 3rd gun, if yes, you start on top of a building with stuff, 3rd gun and a Barret Sniper which is handy in this level. However I will still go back to the original starting point for the extra 3rd gun ammo. Also starting from the top of a building makes spotting the secret cave easier though reaching the top of the other building got me to find it the first time too. I'll mention the music right way, it's nice. It's a bit repetitive but it suits the action well and I like its style. And it's neither too discrete nor too present. It also has a good beat to it, 100% aproved.


So starting from the roof makes this early portion quite easy. You can clear out the streets right away with the sniper and good cover, same for the guys on top of the small canyon. So the other starting area, with the broken bridge is nice. Not too baren, not too filled. Though it would have been nice to add some bits of the fallen bridge's asphalt here and there. The radioactive crystals are weird, and deadly. They hurt from surprisingly a large distance. Going up the hill shows the main base and needless to say it's well defended. I will dare to say this base is the best defended base (and area) of the whole game ! Thanks to its huge turrets. However the turrets are surprisingly weak against the Barret Sniper. You can cheese them out from the hill, if you stay in the slope, with only TWO shots. Even the DUP Missiles aren't that powerful ! Also a rope for the bridge with the small toll house. Don't see what purpose it serves though. Maybe a shortcut if you fall ?

Anyway now the Town area. It looks nice. A bit small but it's in a canyon afterall. Enemy placement is good in this area, despite being barely effective when you start from the top of a building. I like the overall look of the area. Good color choices on the environement and the buildings, and I also like that Ambulance voxel it's nicely done. Also giving a Zilla Missile Launcher (ZML) with THREE DUP stacks ! It feels too generous but it's actually a very valuable tool to have against the big turrets that defend the bases. You also find the horse somewhere, though I already discussed it on the AMC Vehicle Testing Site. First building. Well it's kinda baren, has it been robbed ? The roof top is the best looking place of it and with valuable stuff too. It's also where you can find the secret which boast and even more valuable gun (especially if you assigned the Meson Cannon) and a nice looking voxel ship. I don't know where it comes from though, it kinda reminds me of Star Wars with its design ... There's also a similar looking aircraft in Deadly Skies 3 which was taken from an arcrade game but I forgot. The only thing I don't like with the secret is that it's mandatory take dammage jumps, even with the Ninja Roll, and I never like that.


Then there's the starting building (if new transport). Apart from it being VERY usefull if you start from there, it's just scenery. Good thing it varies in design, also the color selection matches that of the other buildings and the landscape. Now the Hospital, it looks quite fine. Especially when viewed from heights. The Helipad should have an H instead of a cross but I saw airfields IRL where there were crosses so nevermind. First floor. Looks very nice, and well furnished. Like a real hospital would be. Fighting is relatively easy if you hide behind the couch just in front of you, only one of the enemies can shoot you shomehow. We can also see those neat looking beds. A bit too many voxels for my PC but Aesthetics +++. Next floor. A regular treatment floor. A bit more baren but it's clear, clean and easy to navigate, just like in a real hospital. Besides I like spacious rooms like that without small obstacles to block you every 2 steps. Fight's a bit harder since the rails of the stairs sometimes block your shots and the enemies hide behind the green curtains. Makes for some interesting fight nevertheless. Next floor. Looks like this is a laboratory doubled with a surgical unit which is severely messed up and baricaded. Looks good still. Credible, easy to navigate, well furnished and organized. It also brings more variety to the building despite the relatively restrictive theme. Also fights are a bit easier thanks to the stairs blocking shots and the red curtain being made out of concrete. Also we find a new temporary weapon here, too bad it cannot be unlocked because I like it, though I'd say Snowfall's mission is WAY better suited for its use. Next floor. Administration office it seems. Looks cool though the wood walls are kinda intrusive here for a medical building but nevermind. Still looks good. And I liked fighting the guys with all the windows breaking up, it's not much but it gives more feeling, more "honpf" to it.


Rooftop already discussed and now we gotta face a freaking tank by foot ! Soldiers are easy thanks to heights. At least the tank can't shoot upward and if you didn't take the ZML then it's still possible to take it easily as the tank doesn't seem too aggressive. And Meson Cannon can help if you have it. It still takes the equivalent of 2 Baret shots and 8 or 9 DUP Missiles ! Then the tunnel. The 2 hardest turrets to fight. Extreme long-range, no more Sniper on my end, relatively restrictive space, no real cover. However using the edges of the wall allows to cheese out the fight. Though it's hard to launch DUPs from this far with the new crosshair ... But you have like 30 DUPs arround the town so it just HAS to be okay, even with misses. Taking the horse here, otherwise it's a long long walk. The horse actually doesn't bring much to this level, just makes this long stretch to the outpost easier to reach. Because I find it doesn't accelerate swiftly enough to make moving arround the town any faster than by foot, even if using the sprint key. Just my thought. I will say that, the first time, I didn't spot the big slope on the right of the tunnel exit that easily. It's in a dead angle when you come out, and it's hidden by the edge of the mountain wall when you go back. Surely there's nowhere else to go but still. Going up there gives us a mighty fine view of the outpost ! It's well designed, I like the style and layout. Too bad we can only visit the hanger. The latter boasts a good welcoming party. The Flamethrower works good if you're patient. Or a DUP if you're in a hurry.


Now for the part that just made me like the level. That cool looking vehicle we already discussed in AMC Vehicle Testing Site. THAT MUSIC. As it was heating up, as I was getting closer to the base ... I just started banging my head naturally and I loved it RIGHT AWAY ! Usually I need more than one listen but here it was straight up ! EXCELLENT choice of music ! Ultra fitting, cool style, good beat, good rythm, goes mighty fine with the tank action and storming the base. 3,000% aproved ! At the base, I notice the only weak point of the HoverTank : It's surprisingly fragile. With those big turrets, soldiers and Tanks you can get mauled down to bits fairly quickly, especially on Pro and Armagedon. And especially because of those fucking lags >_< So we have to start with the Barracks. As a non-connaisseur of Command And Conquer ... Where the hell is this ? On my first playthrough I thought that the Glove looking building was just decoration but this is actually the Barracks. I got confused, not only because I'm oblivious of the reference, but also because the entrance is hard to spot. It's located behind the building, and you hardly notice it in the tank if you don't have the idea to circle arround. And yet that's what I had done, I actually noticed the entrance because something looked suspicious with TabMap. If the entrance had been placed on the opposite side it would have been easier.

Inside it looks fine, it has everything. Beds, showers, a kitchen, medical devices, weapons, upgrades, shooting range .... And the biggest amount of C4 charges of the whole game (with 1 extra). One of the best designed elements of the base clearly. Now the Radar Station. The building looks cool, better than the one from the outpost with its roating radar voxel. As for the interior it looks okay, spacious at least. Though I didn't see any radar screen, kinda weird for a radar station ... Would have been cool to have a radar screen with a blip indicating the AMC Transport being not far, waiting for the signal to come in for extraction, just my suggestion ^^. And it stops spinning once destroyed for details sake. Now the Generators. Well it's the simplest looking building of the bunch, nothing much to say about it. Now the Hangers. The first one looks cool with its Hazardous Stuff Storage style. It's the easiest building to take out along with the Generators. Then the second Hanger has an easy Powersuit thanks to the Hover Tank. Nothing much to say since it's exactly like the one from the outpost except that the Red Access Key for the factory can easily be missed (I didn't on my first try but I did on one of my subsequent run). Now the Factory, the hardest building to tackle IMO. It looks cool from the distance. Inside we get some useless GasMasks. The main room looks cool. It's like a giant workshop with tons of machines, crates and barrels and a sort of promontory for an overseer. It has a nice sense of scale too, sometimes it even feels like the inside is bigger than the outside somehow. Anyway what may make it hard is the Powersuit or, if you're playing on Pro and Arma, the Powersuits with an S. Surely you're supposed to have the ZML with DUPs (more supplies at the top FTW) but still. It's reassuring to see they're not as hard to tackle as the one in Providence somehow, besides at this point you have a fair bunch of 7th gun ammo so it's okay. Not that hard in the end but you gotta be prepared for it. Only thing is that the Factory doesn't seem to have any conveyor belts or such, lets me wonder what the hook outside is for. Anyway going back at the center of the base for extraction. END.


Conclusion : So in the end the level was actually a bit easier than I imagined. However it remains a mighty fine one. Cool aesthetics and canyon-like environement. A nice little town. A cool little outpost, and a nice main base. All of which are well designed, well laid out and well defended as well. It's supposed (I use this word because I don't know the game) to reference Command And Conquer and for the RTS game it is I must say the outpost and main base look just like the kind of thing you would find in such a game, and tackling them in FPS is a nice take on the thing.

Looks like Micky clearly has a thing for desingin cool looking bases. Every building looks cool, nice style and layout. Furnishing depends from one to the other, from the simplistic Generator to the excellent looking Factory and Barracks. Once again there's a fair bit of variety in terms of settings both inside and outside. That Hospital definitely takes the ticket in that regard. In overall, apart from the big turrets when on foot, fighting is relatively easy. There are either many covers, or very long distances which go well with Micky's 2nd and 4th guns + the ZML and potential Sniper. There's just the right amount of armor given the fact the HoverTank takes the majority of the beating IMO. It's also interesting that the New AMC Transport changes the starting location of the map, it's unique as far as I can tell from my gaming experience. It also makes the beginning much easier with the Barret Sniper, sounds like Micky just loves this gun because there is one in EVERY mission specific to him.

Music choices are top notch. The first one is a bit repetitive but accompanies the action well and the one with the HoverTank is just divinely chosen. The second music is one of my 5 utmost favorite news tracks. If I had to make a complain it would only be the mandatory dammage for the secret and the Lag-O-Base but the latter is independent from your will (French expression). It's hard not to say it's one of my favorite levels but we're going to put everything in the basket at this rate ^^

[Solais]

No wonder you like the music that comes with the HoverTank, it's freakin' Mechanical Man from C&C, which indeed got a divine soundtrack! I was so happy when I heard that.

Also, the base is based on Tiberian Sun's NOD buildings, like here: https://media.moddb..../4169/57285.jpg (this is from a mod though, so not perfectly accurate to original)

To me, it was pretty much nostalgia boner, the whole mission. Even got actual tiberium (those radioactive crystals)! What's next, a Russia mission with tesla coils?


Also, nice to hear that we'll get some much needed girl power in Ep4! (And a conclusion to Rusty's story too.)
Actually, been thinking about this, how Sang and Merlijn barely got extra weapons nor upgrades to their magical/medieval weapons (though Sang definitely makes up for that, as his magic are almost OP strong). Maybe Lilith could be added to the base to first have some character in the Mystic room, and also to "conjure up" some alternate magics, upgrades and magical weapons for our more magical characters.

[Flanker15]

I tried the optional hard level with the pyramid under the old base and yes it's very very hard and probably too hard if you play it on expert (mainly the bit where it will spawn guys behind you while jumping over lava!) but it's supposed to be too hard in the end!
But! at the very end when I was leaving through the escape tunnel that takes you back to the start of the pyramid I found I couldn't jump out of it no matter what I tried it was just a little too high up so I nocliped out so does that character have a high jump or something?

[TheDragonLiner]

Flanker15, on 22 April 2019 - 11:35 PM, said:

I tried the optional hard level with the pyramid under the old base and yes it's very very hard and probably too hard if you play it on expert (mainly the bit where it will spawn guys behind you while jumping over lava!) but it's supposed to be too hard in the end!
But! at the very end when I was leaving through the escape tunnel that takes you back to the start of the pyramid I found I couldn't jump out of it no matter what I tried it was just a little too high up so I nocliped out so does that character have a high jump or something?

You can simply wall-jump. Face a wall, jump and quick-kick on that wall.

[Rhaisher]

TheDragonLiner, on 22 April 2019 - 11:49 PM, said:

You can simply wall-jump. Face a wall, jump and quick-kick on that wall.

Ah, TDL's favourite feature.

[TheDragonLiner]

Rhaisher, on 23 April 2019 - 12:59 AM, said:

Ah, TDL's favourite feature.

You can't imagine how much I explored Ep2 with wall-jumping back in the days
This is what got me tottally lost on Island Facility because I climbed up the cliff to the Reactor Room just by wall-jumping up, on and off the trees This is also how I managed to get inside the secret house in the Hidden Dojo before I noticed the zip-wire