[Merlijn]

Thanks for sharing that video! It's a great playthrough, even showcasing all the secrets. I remember being somewhat disappointed that no-one seemed to find them during the initial release.
I still consider this to be one of my best maps, maybe even the best of the red series (but that's extremely personal).

As for a red6, a part of Clear the coast is actually a repurposed red6. So in a way you already played it. But I get what you mean in terms of the overall story.
Even though red5 ends with you eliminating the alien threat, there's a couple of plot threads that are left unresolved (like the martian fleet, and indeed the identity of 'Invader').
In terms of gameplay, it's also weird to not have a climactic fight at the end. I'm not ruling out a red6 in the future, but we'll see what happens.

Quote

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).

I do like the idea of Red and Shaky Grounds being canonogically connected, perhaps it was Froyd Eenakee all along.
But I can neither confirm nor deny that.

It's cool to see some people getting invested into the backstory, even when it's just a wall of text in a txt.file!

[Ninety-Six]

Merlijn, on 14 April 2021 - 10:28 AM, said:

It's cool to see some people getting invested into the backstory, even when it's just a wall of text in a txt.file!

That's one of the biggest strengths of your mapping style, in my opinion. The text file is literally only half the story, as a lot of the detailing in the maps themselves further along the plot, as well as sell an atmosphere and tone. The Roch influence is unmistakable, but wheras Pascal used all the detailing to sell the location, your maps put details to a slightly different use; indeed selling the story and atmosphere.

I think one of the best examples comes from the very map this thread is about, and it's a moment that always stuck with me. It's the house in the swamp atop the hill. You go in, you see the images of the Martian Fleet on the TV news, you see the state of the house, you learn the backstory, and then you find the grim reality. You see the corpse, and then the slimers swarm in just to make you jump a little.

It's not that it was particularly scary; no it's that it just felt so unpleasant to stay in that house. But unpleasant in a good way, of course. Very unpleasant things happened in that house, and you just end up feeling really bad for the people there. It's very effective environmental storytelling combined with regular storytelling via the text screens.


Shaky Grounds continues that legacy as well, and it's clearly to your strengths. The way the levels are designed make it hard to not be invested in what's going on, even a little bit.

[NNC]

I never liked these tldr messages you can see in those viewing screens. You know: "these weirdo things attacked our base, and now we're all lost. Now restore the power level in the factory before we're all kille.....aaah" kind of things. The "story" needs to be told in the mapping with set pieces and such. Not that the Red series are lacking those (although I always felt that most Merlin maps are more of the same we saw in the revolutionary Red 3).

[Ninety-Six]

Merlijn's text screens seem to usually be just for flavor. I can only remember a few that contained objective information, and even then it was usually stuff you'd do on your own, if by detonating an obvious wall or just exploring an area you hadn't gone to yet. I can only remember a small handful that had specific instructions to them.

[Merlijn]

Ninety-Six, on 14 April 2021 - 11:50 AM, said:

That's one of the biggest strengths of your mapping style, in my opinion. The text file is literally only half the story, as a lot of the detailing in the maps themselves further along the plot, as well as sell an atmosphere and tone. The Roch influence is unmistakable, but wheras Pascal used all the detailing to sell the location, your maps put details to a slightly different use; indeed selling the story and atmosphere.

I think one of the best examples comes from the very map this thread is about, and it's a moment that always stuck with me. It's the house in the swamp atop the hill. You go in, you see the images of the Martian Fleet on the TV news, you see the state of the house, you learn the backstory, and then you find the grim reality. You see the corpse, and then the slimers swarm in just to make you jump a little.

It's not that it was particularly scary; no it's that it just felt so unpleasant to stay in that house. But unpleasant in a good way, of course. Very unpleasant things happened in that house, and you just end up feeling really bad for the people there. It's very effective environmental storytelling combined with regular storytelling via the text screens.


Shaky Grounds continues that legacy as well, and it's clearly to your strengths. The way the levels are designed make it hard to not be invested in what's going on, even a little bit.

Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you brought up the part of the house, that's basically a recreation of 'The colour out of space' by H.P. Lovecraft.
The story of the son in the kitchen has several direct references.

If you never read it I can heavily recommend it. IMO it's one of his best stories.
I had the same feeling you described when I first read that story, it's really strange and unpleasant (in a good way) and you feel sorry for the family.

And yeah, those who don't like the story elements can simply ignore them. I always liked these little extra story elements ever since I played the first Unreal.

[Seb Luca]

This exterior landscape is breathtaking! Awsome !

[Merlijn]

Thanks Seb! I'm still quite happy with how the nature scenes turned out in this map.

PS: as CK3D predicted, the youtuber November blue is uploading playthroughs of the entire red series (red2 even has 2 video's, both the old version and the 2014 remake).
It's really cool to see people still discovering the series! Here's Red3:


Funny thing, it's pretty clear to me that I used 'Let's Rock' as the default difficulty back then.
CGS feels a bit too crowded in both red3 and red4.