[Mike Norvak]

Colors of the Void

Norvak - Yellow: Mirrors (YM.map)

"Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun"
—Pablo Picasso¨



Description: A short semi-metroidvania non-linnear single player map. It can take from 15 minutes to 40 minutes. It's the first level on a planned series that I may or may not complete depending on the reception of the overall concept. EDuke32 required!



Gameplay: Even if it has action and exploration sides, it also takes inspiration from classic Merlijn's Red series, Gambini's "It Lives" and most recent Eddie Zykov's "Memories" so is really lore driven both in terms of environmental storytelling and via text, pay attention to the surroundings, notes and viewscreens to immerse your self in the experience! I wouldn't call this map a horror one but it definitely has some mystery.



Includes: New music (Mike Norvak - Colors of The Void)



THANKS FOR PLAYING!

 Norvak_Yellow(Mirrors).zip (6.66MB)
Number of downloads: 127

FAQ

[Gambini]

Looks intriguing!

[Jan Satcitananda]

Very cool. I like the concept of using colors as map themes. It kind of reminds me of the French "Three colors" film trilogy except there was no yellow. I think you painted a great picture of an existential crisis about having a strange "yellow" idee fixe and then realizing that it's the "color of deceit".

I see that you've assigned each keycard color a specific purpose (blue for weapons, yellow for useful items and red for map progression). The non-linearity means that you can choose between various ways to complete the map (e.g. unlock the jetpack, the boots or the scuba gear first), what is cool and adds to replayability. In fact, only the second play you actually realize what the map is really about, and why there's a yellow guy who hanged himfelf. There are also a few interesting design choices. My favorite is the ankh room, where you made great use of palswaps and also combined several different textures to simulate gradual colored lighting on the pillars, going from a blue shade into yellowish light. I also like the "desperate desire" mirror designed with that trick of placing objects "inside" a mirror. Overall I liked your heavy use of mirrors and creative spritework with some extensive use of yellow pals. The combat is a bit challenging with tough enemies attacking you right from the beginning, but there's plenty of health and ammo on the map, especially for the freezer.

[Mike Norvak]

Jan Satcitananda, on 22 December 2024 - 03:12 AM, said:

Very cool. I like the concept of using colors as map themes. It kind of reminds me of the French "Three colors" film trilogy except there was no yellow. I think you painted a great picture of an existential crisis about having a strange "yellow" idee fixe and then realizing that it's the "color of deceit".

I see that you've assigned each keycard color a specific purpose (blue for weapons, yellow for useful items and red for map progression). The non-linearity means that you can choose between various ways to complete the map (e.g. unlock the jetpack, the boots or the scuba gear first), what is cool and adds to replayability. In fact, only the second play you actually realize what the map is really about, and why there's a yellow guy who hanged himfelf. There are also a few interesting design choices. My favorite is the ankh room, where you made great use of palswaps and also combined several different textures to simulate gradual colored lighting on the pillars, going from a blue shade into yellowish light. I also like the "desperate desire" mirror designed with that trick of placing objects "inside" a mirror. Overall I liked your heavy use of mirrors and creative spritework with some extensive use of yellow pals. The combat is a bit challenging with tough enemies attacking you right from the beginning, but there's plenty of health and ammo on the map, especially for the freezer.

I'm glad you enjoy it! That Erised mirror (desire backwards) is from Harry Potter. The Magic Mirror in the Wall is from Snow White. Yeah playing the map for the second time makes more sense isn't it?

BTW I see some people sre suffering with the difficulty of this map but all 3 difficulty settings are implemented.

[Mike Norvak]

Also I forgot to thank betatesters CK3D Aleks, Clangbang and Seizhak! Without you guys this map would probably have been worse! 😬

[Jan Satcitananda]

Mike Norvak, on 22 December 2024 - 05:53 AM, said:

I'm glad you enjoy it! That Erised mirror (desire backwards) is from Harry Potter. The Magic Mirror in the Wall is from Snow White. Yeah playing the map for the second time makes more sense isn't it?

Oh, now I see that the map contains references to those titles. Great to know!

The map is pretty short though. First time it took me about 40 minutes (was reading the lore and exploring the surroundings), but I think it can be completed in under two minutes with some luck. Basically you only need to activate both red cards and get the shrinker (and you'll also need the jetpack for that), so you can skip much of the map. I think it's a downside of non-linear gameplay; it's pretty hard to design such a map that would require you to do many various things and remain well balanced.

[Mike Norvak]

Jan Satcitananda, on 22 December 2024 - 06:23 AM, said:

Oh, now I see that the map contains references to those titles. Great to know!

The map is pretty short though. First time it took me about 40 minutes (was reading the lore and exploring the surroundings), but I think it can be completed in under two minutes with some luck. Basically you only need to activate both red cards and get the shrinker (and you'll also need the jetpack for that), so you can skip much of the map. I think it's a downside of non-linear gameplay; it's pretty hard to design such a map that would require you to do many various things and remain well balanced.

I think if you are lucky enough to figure how to enter one secret psychiatric consultory you can even skip one of the red key cards and finish the map in about one minute, remember this is the first map in the series so think about it more as Hollywood Holocaust than Dark Side, so that's totally fair.

[Ninety-Six]

Is that your take on the Yellow Sign on that...uh, sign? I'm actually in the middle of reading that book right now.

[Mike Norvak]

Ninety-Six, on 22 December 2024 - 10:49 AM, said:

Is that your take on the Yellow Sign on that...uh, sign? I'm actually in the middle of reading that book right now.

I haven't read the story so it's more of an interpretation of the symbol than a literal depiction. The map has some nods to Chambers' mythology intertwined with other pantheons.

[Ninety-Six]

Mike Norvak, on 22 December 2024 - 11:55 AM, said:

The map has some nods to Chambers' mythology intertwined with other pantheons.

Interesting.

Mike Norvak, on 22 December 2024 - 11:55 AM, said:

I haven't read the story so it's more of an interpretation of the symbol than a literal depiction.

Spoiler

All depictions are interpreted, it was never shown, only vaguely described

[stillTodd]

Would some kind soul PM how to get to the shrinker?

I see one in a mirror (really cool effect, along with the Commander in the black mirror next door) but my mind is wholly unable to grasp how to, well, grasp it.

[Mike Norvak]

A really fun let's play of the map by William G. He is below 29 hp most of the time but refused to use the water fountains in the street 🤷🏻‍♂️

Thanks William for playing the map!!


https://www.youtube....ive/B8cqUz31pFU

[Mike Norvak]

stillTodd, on 22 December 2024 - 04:52 PM, said:

Would some kind soul PM how to get to the shrinker?

I see one in a mirror (really cool effect, along with the Commander in the black mirror next door) but my mind is wholly unable to grasp how to, well, grasp it.

That's because the mirror shows the most desperate desire of the player.

Spoiler

The shrinker is inside the machinery line in the mirror factory, there's is a yellow rectangle hole that can be seen in multiple screen cams (the one with the slope) in order to access it you need two things: unlock the fence, the switch is on the other side in the same factory, and the second thing you need is using the jetpack to avoid the fast conveyor belt, you also need s blue keycard to unlock the terminal, to vet out just jump out and the conveyor belt will do the rest.

[stillTodd]

Thank you. Great map! (edit: and a real challenge in DukePlus, haha!)

[Mike Norvak]

Thanks for playing the map stillTodd! I haven't used Dukeplus in eons, I'm glad the map is totally playable with the mod.

@Ninety-Six Nice, so this makes a for perfect depiction of the symbol then. Have you read The Stories from the Yellow King?

[Ninety-Six]

Mike Norvak, on 23 December 2024 - 10:03 AM, said:

@Ninety-Six Nice, so this makes a for perfect depiction of the symbol then. Have you read The Stories from the Yellow King?

Yep. Almost finished with the book. Onto the last story, now (only the first four really pertain to the yellow king it seems).

[Mike Norvak]

Ninety-Six, on 23 December 2024 - 12:17 PM, said:

Yep. Almost finished with the book. Onto the last story, now (only the first four really pertain to the yellow king it seems).

Yes, apparently the publisher pushed those unrelated romantic stories for commercial reasons?

[Mike Norvak]

Gambini, on 21 December 2024 - 03:42 PM, said:

Looks intriguing!

I hope you'll like it!

[Ninety-Six]

Mike Norvak, on 23 December 2024 - 12:33 PM, said:

Yes, apparently the publisher pushed those unrelated romantic stories for commercial reasons?

Iuno. But I mean it wouldn't be surprising at all for a publisher to do that (especially at the time).

It's funny since romance is a major component of two of the play-related stories anyway, one of which only barely has the play in it at all. It seems tossed in more to "explain" why two of the characters contract a bad fever (something no other readers of the play in the other stories experienced, and it seems strange since do you really need an eldritch plot device to explain a fever? In the late 1800s?)

[Mike Norvak]

Ninety-Six, on 23 December 2024 - 01:03 PM, said:

Iuno. But I mean it wouldn't be surprising at all for a publisher to do that (especially at the time).

It's funny since romance is a major component of two of the play-related stories anyway, one of which only barely has the play in it at all. It seems tossed in more to "explain" why two of the characters contract a bad fever (something no other readers of the play in the other stories experienced, and it seems strange since do you really need an eldritch plot device to explain a fever? In the late 1800s?)

So an afterthought to tie the romance stories with the eldritch ones?

Anyway in what moment they tied Hastur, a benevolent god of shepherds with The King in Yellow, an evil entity beyond human comprehension? My hypothesis is that this has to do more with how you approach the deity than the deity it self... I'm writting a short FAQ about my map series and all the lore and mythology involved

[Ninety-Six]

Mike Norvak, on 24 December 2024 - 11:22 AM, said:

Anyway in what moment they tied Hastur, a benevolent god of shepherds with The King in Yellow, an evil entity beyond human comprehension? My hypothesis is that this has to do more with how you approach the deity than the deity it self... I'm writting a short FAQ about my map series and all the lore and mythology involved

I did briefly switch to the relevant stories by Ambrose Pierce to try and find connections. As far as I can tell, there aren't any. Chambers just liked the names Hastur and Carcosa. Carcosa at least remains a location (albeit one that doesn't remotely match the description in Pierce's story), but Hastur goes from a benevolent god to simultaneously a lake and an entity that may or may not be synonymous with the Yellow King himself. The book uses the name in three different ways in three different stories.

[Aleks]

Played the final version last night, I've noticed you you removed one of the secret places and instead put there a Yellow King book. Found the remaining secrets which I have missed during the beta, of which the remarkable one was the shrink's office - this one also allowed me to skip one of the red keycards and get straight to Floron's domain. I also never found any RPG - not sure if it was also the case with the beta or did you remove it (or I just missed it!), didn't mind too much though. The aliens/sentry drones in the Floron's domain are the most challenging part IMO, but it's so cool especially with sparsely used NVG to just flash their silhuettes in the dark for a moment before shooting.

I really like how the lore is kind of scattered around in this map, it's neither important to the progression, apparently, or even gives the player a complete picture when you read through it all, it's more just bits and pieces open to interpretation, with a lot conveniently (and elegantly) left out. Reminds me a bit of trying to dig in through all the little details in Lynch movies, or Submachine (not my map; the point and click games by Mateusz Skutnik), which also leaves a lot of seemingly disconnected lore around that may or may not make sense, but is either way very satisfying to digest.

Now reading through the conversation in this topic, I am pondering the purchase of Chambers' book...

[Mike Norvak]

I always have liked how on the original maps the items are actually useful but not necessary, I wanted to replicate that in this map. The nightgoggles are definitely helpful in that last area.

I'm glad you find those secrets, the last one didn't actually make sense since there was no more real enemies to use that extra ammo for, so I replaced it with a "plot device" instead, (probably you should use spoiler tags) I intentionally wanted to leave just pieces of the real story (inherent to the the characters) because this map is just the first one in a planned series, as well as the referenced story (Yaldabaoth, Hastur, Mirror of Floron, Project Blue Beam) because anyone can search for the mythology and conspiracy theories online. 😈

[Ninety-Six]

Aleks, on 25 December 2024 - 03:29 AM, said:

Now reading through the conversation in this topic, I am pondering the purchase of Chambers' book...

FWIW, you can read the full text for free online as it's public domain, having been published all the way back in 1895.

[Mike Norvak]

The FAQ is ready...

[ck3D]

https://msdn.duke4.net/hotym.php Mikko's review.

[Nacho]

Going to cover this in tomorrows stream at 12:00 PM EST:
https://www.youtube....7p26DI4MH9EMfG0

[quakis]

Uploaded my review: https://taw.duke4.ne...yellow-mirrors/

[Mike Norvak]

Thanks for the reviews and gamethrough guys!

@quakis I really enjoyed reading your review, I appreciate that you really paid attention to the details, mood and atmosphere of the map, which was a top priority for me while making the map.

My favorite part of the review is at the bottom where it literally says : "Download Mirrors" 😂

I'm glad I managed to reflect the different layers of the lore through the music. I haven't started buildin the next map yet, I'm an slow mapper, but I have a clear plan of where this is going.

[Aleks]

quakis, on 15 February 2025 - 08:43 AM, said:

Uploaded my review: https://taw.duke4.ne...yellow-mirrors/

Brilliant review as always, Quakis - I like how you always look beyond the typical gameplay and design, trying to find something unique in the levels you review (and yes, I hope you'll write a review for OGBB2 one day, if you find the necessary 20 hours to complete it a couple of times ).