Duke4.net Forums: [RELEASE] Red1: Poisoned lands - Duke4.net Forums

Jump to content

  • 2 Pages +
  • 1
  • 2
  • You cannot start a new topic
  • You cannot reply to this topic

[RELEASE] Red1: Poisoned lands  "aww yeah :-)"

User is offline   Merlijn 

#1

Strange things are happening. A giant alien fleet is orbiting Mars, and attempts to communicate with these mysterious ships have failed so far. Meanwhile, weird things start to happen at earth at well. A giant part of the deserted lands outside of Los Angeles seems to have been cut off from the rest of the world. You're sent in to search the area and find out what's happening..

After driving through the endless desert for hours, you start to feel more and more nervous. Something feels wrong, something is watching you. Vague cries can be heard, barely, in the distance. Then, without a clear reason, your car breaks down. When you enter a nearby building to call for help, the sound of a tremendous explosion rips through the air. You turn around to see the burning wreckage of your car.. And suddenly, you can see them. The hidious faces. Swarms of Pig cops coming from every direction, pointing their shotguns at you, ready to fire...


A brand new map: this is a remake, loosely based on the old red1, but bigger and more ambitious. Get ready for a dark adventure!

MSDN review & download
Come get some reviews & download

-Merlijn

Attached thumbnail(s)

  • Attached Image: red1landscape.jpg
  • Attached Image: red1 alien bathroom.jpg
  • Attached Image: red1landscape2.jpg
  • Attached Image: red1controlroom.jpg


This post has been edited by Merlijn: 01 December 2013 - 02:59 AM

17

User is online   zykov eddy 

#2

Holy shit. Downloading.
0

User is online   zykov eddy 

#3

Playing it. Love the Lovecraft references.

Posted Image
1

User is offline   Loke 

#4

Played it. Enjoyed it. Took me about 21 minutes, a few of those spent exploring. At the very end though with the ambushing Octabrains there was a box of pipebombs laying in a hole in the ground, jumping down there I couldn't find a way up. Did I miss something?

Another 7 years for the Red 2 remake? :P
2

User is offline   Merlijn 

#5

Glad you guys are enjoying it. :P

View PostLoke, on 20 October 2013 - 08:39 AM, said:

Played it. Enjoyed it. Took me about 21 minutes, a few of those spent exploring. At the very end though with the ambushing Octabrains there was a box of pipebombs laying in a hole in the ground, jumping down there I couldn't find a way up. Did I miss something?


You're not supposed to fall in, the pipebombs are there to blow yourself up in case you fall down and get trapped.
1

User is offline   Radar 

  • King of SOVL

#6

OMG IT'S FINALLY HERE. Too bad I have a pile of homework and an exam to study for as well as stuff for my band... I'm definitely gonna get to playing this as soon as I have time.
0

User is offline   Mikko 

  • Honored Donor

#7

Review: http://msdn.duke4.net/hotred1.php
2

User is offline   blackhatred 

  • Dumbfuck Wannabe

#8

View PostMikko_Sandt, on 20 October 2013 - 09:23 AM, said:

You changed the pose! Who is this girl?
-1

User is offline   MetHy 

#9

Just played through it. Took me 22mins and found 2 secrets out of 5 (the two atomic health, the rest seemed to be really well hidden).

Most fantastic map. Its most shining points being atmosphere and pacing, both of which go very hand in hand.
This map has some of the best pacing I've ever seen in a Duke3D map by bringing enemies only after long quiet atmospheric moments. Worked really well throughout.
The enemy choices depending on the areas also helped with the atmosphere by making sense.

Obviously design is excellent both in its attention to details and in its sense of scale, as well as with its perfect layout alternating between cramped straightforward areas and huge places that are big just enough to give moments with a sense of freedom.

In conclusion this map has impressed me by how Merlijn showed that he has mastered every single aspect of level design. Detailing, atmosphere, layout, pacing, enemy choices and placement, supplies ratio, length, a story that's just long enough (= not too long but just enough to set the tone and give a sense of purpose), etc. Everything is Rock solid.


At the end of the map I fell down the hole in the middle of the road created by the explosion, I thought I was done for but I managed to get back up with the help of an Octobrain.

This post has been edited by MetHy: 20 October 2013 - 11:38 AM

1

User is offline   Lunick 

#10

View PostCentaurious, on 20 October 2013 - 09:47 AM, said:

You changed the pose! Who is this girl?


That's Princess Madeline from Sweden I think.
0

User is offline   Radar 

  • King of SOVL

#11

What a whore.

*ahem* I'm talking about Centaurious. Dude, go away already.
-2

User is offline   neoacix 

#12

Downloaded and played from a new mappers perspective.

Liked the beds in the upper room.... thought they were HRP models (cause I'm playing with that), but no.
Great sprite and texture goodness!
Even didn't know that this bed texture exicsts.

Especially loved your "Rock" restaurant... lots of nice details. :P
0

User is offline   Forge 

  • Speaker of the Outhouse

#13

double review:
http://www.scent-88....poison/red1.php
1

User is online   ck3D 

#14

took me about 20 minutes, i found 0 of the 5 secrets (!). the first section of the map that i remember you posting screenshots from back in like 2006 on the AMC forums really got me thinking, because I remembered how fantastic and innovative something as 'simple' as those curved roads and sprite bridges were back then, i remember the feedback you got and everyone was blown away, nowadays people use this type of stuff so much it has almost become a standard, but you were ahead of your time ! it was fun to see what you did with all those sections i remember i got to see so many years ago while the level was still in its unfinished stage, how you cleaned them up and what their final versions looked like. i thought the level was going to end soon after i got to the first blocked tunnel, boy was i wrong. the second canyon and those underwater / bizarre alienesque sections looked really good with some nice terrain work, great layout and as it's been pointed out before, a good sense of overall pacing in terms of action. i also liked how you focused on the vertical axis more than most mappers usually bother do, those jumping puzzles and how one has to 'surface' again after the 'the rock' section were really nice touches. only things i didn't like so much were how cramped some of the houses were (i understand you were going for a more claustrophobic feel in those sections, but when it gets to the point where it hinders movement like that it is too much), and i would have made some of those bridge sprites three-dimensional (i mean the ones you have to jump on in order to get to the top of the bridge), so that the player wouldn't have to struggle so much, maybe it's just me not being used to playing duke anymore but i thought it got frustrating to miss the (flat) sprite by just one inch and fall straight back to the bottom again everytime (happened to me half a dozen of times, then again i suck), having more space to land on would have made things work better. but that's just minor complaining really, i really enjoyed the map and i am happy to finally see it released. looking forward to your remake of red2, i loved that map back in the day, i would really like to play its more modern counterpart as long as it is not in 2020 !
0

User is offline   NNC 

#15

I love every part of the map except the opening. It's too harsh to start with, but that's not the biggest problem. Maybe the completist in me says this, but I hate (no, I mean ABSOLUTELY HATE) leaving areas without cleanups. I hate to see a Duke map ending without all the monsters wiped out. Not because I'm a psychopath who likes killing or such, no way, it's just an incomplete work. Just like finishing a Yoshi's Island (LOL) level without getting all the 20 red coins. And for the sake of the storyline, those left in the bay should really reappear somewhere else.

OK, enough for the rant, let's pretend the first two-three minutes of the map don't exist, and playing the rest:

Now, the rest of the level is really ambitious, and a fantastic work of art. Merlijn always find new ways to surprise the players with spectacular traps, and put monsters in places where they are the most effective. It's really the influence of the modern shooters, but enemy placement is now not a random one, they actually attack in waves and in a logical way. The best part is when the octabrains appear after the big falls in the bathroom in that middle earth mayhem. It's not a difficult battle, in fact it's rather lukewarm, but the beautifuly atmosphere compensates. I always pictured a big falling to middle earth mayhem styled map like this, but never seen one that does it perfectly, until now. Besides, I'm getting older, and slower too, so I don't care for kill-a-ton loud shooting bonanza anymore. The general scenery, including the long road is very well done too. Not that I haven't seen such thing before, but it looks more mature and realistic now.

On the other hand I actually enjoyed that not-that-great Red1. As I'm getting older, I appreciate those oldschool maps more and more. While I'm looking for a Red 2 remake that fits to the rest of the episode more, the original level of that one is really an enjoyable one, and shouldn't be considered as old crap. No, it's really part of Duke history, in a good way.

My score is 95 (should have been 97 without the opening mess).

This post has been edited by Nancsi: 22 October 2013 - 09:42 AM

0

User is offline   Forge 

  • Speaker of the Outhouse

#16

View Postck3D, on 22 October 2013 - 07:54 AM, said:

....., and i would have made some of those bridge sprites three-dimensional (i mean the ones you have to jump on in order to get to the top of the bridge), so that the player wouldn't have to struggle so much, maybe it's just me not being used to playing duke anymore but i thought it got frustrating to miss the (flat) sprite by just one inch and fall straight back to the bottom again everytime (happened to me half a dozen of times, then again i suck), having more space to land on would have made things work better. but that's just minor complaining really

glad it's only a minor complaint because most people probably went past that bridge and climbed the rocks instead :P
0

User is offline   MetHy 

#17

Yeah I climbed those rocks too.

Unlike Nancsi, I didn't mind the opening but that's because survival horror is my favourite video game genre and that first part was pretty survival-ish in a way.
Still, it would have been cool to have them all blow up in a giant explosion (or something...) after the player jumps and reach the other way, like Nancsi, I tend to have that autistic "kill everyone" completion need, and I believe lot's of people who play video games do.
0

User is offline   Merlijn 

#18

Wow, a lot of comments to reply to! Thanks for the feedback guys, I enjoy reading these posts. :P
Thanks to Mikko, Forge and Sanek for their reviews, I've put them in the first post.

About for the beginning: I can see why it bugs some people. But you can always pretend that the later pig cop/liztroop wave (after the house section) comes from the same group, finally catching up to you. And that the 2 commanders at the end are the same 2 that are shooting at you from a distance in the beginning. It's one of the things I was going for: a bit of a cat and mouse game between you and a group of aliens, constantly try to ambush you.

Quote

Took me 22mins and found 2 secrets out of 5 (the two atomic health, the rest seemed to be really well hidden)


They are, but finding them is very rewarding. One of them shouldn't be too hard to find. I was sure most people would find at least one of the harder secret places, but it seems no-one has found any of them so far. :P

Quote

Downloaded and played from a new mappers perspective.
Liked the beds in the upper room.... thought they were HRP models (cause I'm playing with that), but no.
Great sprite and texture goodness!


Cool, glad you enjoyed it! It's always good to see new faces and hear new perspectives. And if one of my spriteworks gets mistaken for a HRP model, I'll take it as a huge compliment. :P

Quote

i also liked how you focused on the vertical axis more than most mappers usually bother do, those jumping puzzles and how one has to 'surface' again after the 'the rock' section were really nice touches.


Thanks, I love using vertical progression (descending into an underground section, having to climb/swim your way up again etc.), so I'm glad it doesn't go by unnoticed.

Quote

only things i didn't like so much were how cramped some of the houses were (i understand you were going for a more claustrophobic feel in those sections, but when it gets to the point where it hinders movement like that it is too much)


That house-section (or at least the first floor) is one of the oldest sections of the map, hence it's a bit more cramped. I could have replaced it, but I really liked the design and figured it would indeed fit the claustrophobic, creepy atmopshere of the place. I added the second floor this year, so I had to work with the confined rules of my older self. If that makes sense. :P

Quote

While I'm looking for a Red 2 remake that fits to the rest of the episode more, the original level of that one is really an enjoyable one, and shouldn't be considered as old crap. No, it's really part of Duke history, in a good way.


I don't concider Red2 to be crap either. In fact, Maarten and I have been working on a 'remake'. But instead of starting from scratch, it uses the old map as a template and improves the design (more realistic outdoor terrain, better trimwork etc). The gameplay pretty much remains the same. I might release that one as well, even though it won't be radically different from the original.
2

User is offline   Forge 

  • Speaker of the Outhouse

#19

maybe i'm the only one sick enough to kick a corpse

the one i never found was the rpg (or devastator if that's what you decided to put in)
0

User is offline   faked 

#20

Beautiful map.I liked it very much! :P
1

User is offline   Merlijn 

#21

Thanks, grouchbag! :P

View PostForge, on 22 October 2013 - 01:15 PM, said:

maybe i'm the only one sick enough to kick a corpse

the one i never found was the rpg (or devastator if that's what you decided to put in)


That's a pretty big hint heh, glad you found one of the secrets. I'm not going to tell where the RPG is though, there are some (small) hints to where it might be, but it's easy to miss them.

BTW, did people like the music? It was composed for this map by my brother Maarten.
1

User is offline   MetHy 

#22

Thought it fit the map well.
0

User is offline   LeoD 

  • Duke4.net topic/3513

#23

Nice one. It's not my style to run away from the baddies but this time I had no choice at the beginning. (When will this damned health doubling be reverted to Atomic behaviour?) Found two secrets during gameplay. Other than usual I did not mess with corpses and therefore missed freezer and airtank. I guessed the RPG location but didn't find how to get there. The music was good though it might have better fitted to Imperium. But maybe I felt that way because afterwards I found my settings were messed up and everything was way brighter than it should have been. Since I'm a fan of those brownish desert/rock outdoor scenarios I still enjoyed your map's look a lot.
0

User is offline   pmw 

#24

Just played this map.
I think there was really nice sprite usage, nice buildings, etc.

But also, I think it was extremely easy. Almost no monsters at all, no need for brains, just run straight forward.. Maybe map details were more important?
And what also bothered me; lack of secret places and _really_ much stretched textures.

Overall, really great map. Nice to see so high detail map.
0

User is offline   brullov 

  • Senior Artist at TGK

#25

Inspiring!
1

User is offline   faked 

#26

View PostMerlijn, on 27 October 2013 - 10:37 AM, said:

Thanks, grouchbag! :P



That's a pretty big hint heh, glad you found one of the secrets. I'm not going to tell where the RPG is though, there are some (small) hints to where it might be, but it's easy to miss them.

BTW, did people like the music? It was composed for this map by my brother Maarten.

You're welcome!Sorry about being late on that.Yes,I did like the music.Thought it was great.Your maps are always good anyway! :P
0

#27

View PostMerlijn, on 27 October 2013 - 10:37 AM, said:

BTW, did people like the music? It was composed for this map by my brother Maarten.

Great job. It haunted me till the end. I kept telling myself "I know this song". Well I guess I was wrong. To me it was something between Black Sabbath's Under the sun and Sopor Aeternus's Shadowsphere. That was fantastic.
0

User is offline   Merlijn 

#28

Thanks! Maarten was planning to put the song on youtube, so stay tuned. :D

@PWM:

Quote

But also, I think it was extremely easy. Almost no monsters at all, no need for brains, just run straight forward.. Maybe map details were more important?


Thanks for your comments. I know it's not a very action packed map, that wasn't the intention of this level. It's an immersive/spooky adventure and it's the first level of a series.
To me, gameplay is much more then just the enemy count, it's also about atmosphere, layout, flow etc. In other words, the whole package is important (methy's post also explains it pretty well).

If you want to play a similar looking level with more action, I'd recommend Clear the coast. It's an older map of my and my brother.
(Here's a link to CGS)

Quote

lack of secret places

There are 5 secrets, which is more then the average user map I think. 2 of them are pretty big too. But they're also hard to find. ;)
0

User is online   ck3D 

#29

Bump because this map/series is worth it, but also because this YouTuber just put up a playthrough of Red 1, and usually when they start a series they complete the whole series so I wouldn't be surprised if the other 4 Red maps popped up in their feed next (now I wonder whether or not it's the remake of Red 2 they will actually play, that one sort of flew under the radar in comparison to the Red 1 remake I feel like, probably because IIRC the changes were less drastic):



Also I know the subject has been touched before but it's really obvious to me right now how you really should wrap up the whole series with a Red 6 sometime, all the other ingredients are already out there for it to be a full episode with a conclusion. Or it would be amazing if somehow the ending of the SG series tied in with the one of the Red series so that one same last map would work as proper closure for both! Some parallel universe/alternate continuity thing. Most players would probably just think the idea is cheap though, I guess, but I think that would really tie your whole career together.

This post has been edited by ck3D: 14 April 2021 - 12:32 AM

5

User is offline   Ninety-Six 

#30

I'm sad we never got to learn Invader's identity. I've since started to pretend it was Froyd Eenakee (I am pretty confident that I spelled that wrong).


Yes I do care about the plot in a Duke user map series fight me

In seriousness it's good to see this get some attention from a youtuber. This remake is legitimately one of the single best user maps I've ever played, in contention only with It Lives (which was inspired by Red 5 so that's a nice little bow if I've ever seen one).

This post has been edited by Ninety-Six: 14 April 2021 - 01:47 AM

2

Share this topic:


  • 2 Pages +
  • 1
  • 2
  • You cannot start a new topic
  • You cannot reply to this topic


All copyrights and trademarks not owned by Voidpoint, LLC are the sole property of their respective owners. Play Ion Fury! ;) © Voidpoint, LLC

Enter your sign in name and password


Sign in options