[TheCultist]

Man, I really could have used scuba gear right in that room where you go through the mine maze for the Manta Ray slayer in Incarceration. There is none nearby. Also, texture cache issues (again).
During the MantaRay boss fight I ran out of ammo, I had to use my claws and pipebombs to kill the sharks.

Now I'm at Steel Mill. I just noticed I have a Jetpack, do you get that when you start this level? Steroids would've been nice at the place where you have to go fast (because otherwise the moving column would push you and make you fall to your death) but it's not really needed.
After I got the slayer and got teleported to the crushing things, MutualFriend told me where to go to find the slayer (IMO the message shouldn't appear if you already have it, it's unnecessary). (Nice music, btw)
And yes, that Battlelord took me 4 Red Gem shots as well, he's tough. Finally a level that doesn't frustrate me.
The boss started throwing trashcans at me, then that huge exploding fart.

I started Machines now and "boss slayer found" message is still on (like reported before in this topic). Snowman is back... Those office desks really remind me of Storing Sectors.
How can I open this red door? https://imgur.com/a/OLQZu Second picture shows what's behind me.

[Zaxtor]

Jetpack?
R u sure you didn't godmode by accident cus it gives a jetpack.
Levels has no known jetpack except one level but is further than SM.


Throwing trash cans??

Boss slayer found at beginning is a code error (fixed for V2) is the dragon slayer didn't disappear.


That red door is from pressing a switch you forgotten.
There's a teleport at the bottom will return you to the jumping platform room since the elevator is up.

Switch is when you pass by the steelmill and that door that was previously unopenable in the last level

Here a screenie (switch is in black circle)
It has a pit of green stuff before it.

is not far from the miniboss

[TheDragonLiner]

Feedback time !!

Sorry I'm very late but I've just moved house and there's no internet for the time being >_<

Akrozis C500 :
--------------------

So we see Trequonia exploding in the distance, emotion emotion ... So a spaceship for a change, I remember there was A LOT of those in Oblivion, speaking of which : right away a teleportation room that looks like some of the ones we saw in Oblivion ! Nostalgia ? So we stumble across a first room which we will go through more than once. Boasting a slightly bare armory but filled with goodies and VERY generous on Slot 7 ammo FTW. So a first orange room with switches and energy pits, classic classic and easy ... let's call that a "mise en jambe". Then a corridor à la Secret Sector, first switch, first backtrack of a long series. Shuts down the forcefield of another room that was already accessible, already harder because the jump to the upper platform is not only tight in height but you can easily slip off the other side into an energy pit, surprise ! Easy switches, another backtrack to the corridor from before. CQC Battlelord, I never like those but the Red Gem makes them a formality now. Checking out the right white door for the G Door switch and a Medkit I was lacking. Pressing the switch where the Battlelord was and we can now access an upper bridge and visit the ship for real now. The teleporter as a shortcut is nice but not really because of spawning right next to enemies >_> Slight backtrack just to kill the enemies it makes me skip and upstairs we go. Could enter the G Door right away but I prefer visiting. The structure looks fairly simple on the first glance. Exploring and seeing lots of side rooms of various nature and containing various items, namely a Blue Keycard which is nice to have this early, +1 in optimization. Nothing special apart from the few red doors that are locked. Doing the same on the opposite side ... at this point I'm noticing that the Pistol Enhancer is doing marvels thanks to the closed-up nature of the level ! Now Door G ... well no, there's nothing but locked doors, so Blue Keycard door then, and an elusive Dark Red-Eyed-Enforcer yikes. Locked door again but slightly sneaky switch and back into G Door. A bare room with windows which let us get a better idea of the ship's look which is already promising. Fairly hidden switches in there and another elusive Red-Eyed-Enforcer, they'll no longer be that elusive if this keeps up ! Once again Reg Gem makes them a formality. Intimidating room with all the energy pit and the switches and platforming but still classic stuff. I suppose the Bride Maker can be of great help in case of trouble. Next room nothing special, downstairs, next room a White Enforcer, I'm starting to like those because the Red Gem makes them a good source of Atomic Health. More switches above oddly apparent HV wires. Next room, bigger, enhanced Pipebomb does wonder to Grey Enforcer downstairs. Taunting Health Orb, waiting before using it. Nice blue room, switch, Atomic Health good thing I didn't use the Orb right away. Vlan ! 818 HPs ! Backtrack to first red door for side rooms leftward when out of G Door. An odd lonely switch behind the Purple Enforcer O_o ? A quantine I suppose and a secured door with another switch and 6 red lights, Now I understand ! Finally something new in this level ! Now we just explore a bunch of rooms in search for those switches. Nice Library, with pics of freaky furies of Zaxtor's own. Just like in Oblivion it is very late in the game that we get to see personal pieces of art like that. And a Battlelord of absolute surprise behind a door in a completely empty room (apart from purple pipes) O_O I don't like that even with the Red Gem >_< Back to secured door for another switch, another backtrack to the opposite side of the ship (from G's pov), and accessorily a nice, though discrete, book about Fossa's I suppose. Backtrack to that room which looks like a command deck, a bit empty but at least it's easy to navigate and another Dark Red-Eyed-Enforcer (no longer elusive at this point it seems). Switch, backtrack to a red door of the very beginning. For the time being enemy guidance isn't really necessary IMO but at least it prevents the backtracking from being boring I suppose. Easy switch code, I suppose it unlocks the red door opposite ... an Enforcer is gunning "YES" at my face (Yes the Verb "To Gun" means "saying something via firing a gun"). Another surprise Battlelord, despite the Red Gem's absolute mightiness making them absolutely a mighty formality I'm starting to be unnerved by that. Switch backtrack to Blue Key Door between G Doors. Super Lag-o-Stairs and entering a new section, I believe we can say it's the underground of the ship which boasts rooms both à-la Steel Mill and The Core's deepest parts. Closest door to a Steel Mill like room. Nice and simple. Very precarious platforming on lava up to a door. Next room is like a mirror of the first one. Way easier to make our way down than up that's for sure ! Switch, backtrack you know the drill ... to previous corridor à-la Core (or "à l'accord" ? (inter-linguistic pun)). On the other side of the grate from the Super Lag-O-Stairs from before, actually it's the tall and relatively nice structure at the centers that causes all that down to 17FPS shenanigan. Switch backtrack up to the red side-room in G-Door. I kinda needed the enemy guidance here I must confess. Nice and spacey dinning rooms and kitchen + toilets with Red Keycard and a White Trooper I superbly molested down with the Orb of Power and the door (I'm proud of my deed ). However the Red Trooper is glitched, it's both inoffensive and invincible O_o Must be because of the SG add-on against the Dark Blue Trooper, he must have got caught in the blast while in "sleeping state" ? I kinda forgot where the Red Slot is so I must thank enemy guidance again. Back to the room at the beginning with our first Battlelord. Red door next, nothing special, just more precarious switching over energy pit in an empty room. Switch, red door in central section. Very small, but quite detailed, room with a no longer elusive Enforcer, switch and now we will finally see what's at the end of the G-Door. Long corridors with sneaky Grey Enforcers. Switch code. Very nice engin in 3D animated model. Dangerous and having to shoot it to proceed. And a bit laggy as well. Doing the same thing 2 times more, though more easy thanks to cover and we stumble into a pretty laggy central section with 3 floors and a bridge. I wanted to see the top first but there's a forcefield everywhere and a locked door. Second floor is opened but I spy a Keycard at the bottom ... Let's get rid of the next Super Laggy room now. Ah OK it's actually the top of the room behind the Lagg-O-Stairs of earlier ! But I need a Blue Keycard so off we go. Down under the bridge and going back up using VERY TINY platforms against the walls even Lara Croft wouldn't have managed to climb on and jump from. Blue Key shuts down that Super Lagg-o-nerator and so ? I suppose the forcefields are now off, and I can give myself a nice pat on the shoulder for being right. 2 rooms with a switch that does nothing and 2 rooms with a door. One of them, quick and easy grey enforcer over an energy pit and another surprise Battlelord and another switch that does nothing. Other side ? Same deal, different enemies. unlocking the red door inside that section opens on a 2 floored green room with a switch code (wasn't expecting that at all (really)). 5 buttons oh no T_T Turns off a force field in the corridor above and into another platformingly switchy room over energy pits. Switch and it looks like the Red Slot from long ago now has power. A lot of enemy spawns for guidance but the locked top door from before (with the bridge) is now open so let's see. A nice, though empty, room with grates on top. Rooms rooms, Battlelord and Switch. Next door, switch. Surprise Battlelord again, Red Keycard and Oh NO, an asteroid has purposefully hit a window ! Runaway ! It kinda reminds me of a scene from Oblivion where there was a ship progressively coming into collision with the "Ghost Mothership" I believe it was called ? Anyway switch puzzle to put you into severe stress >_< 4 buttons thankfully, and a hidden switch that seals the door for good measure, otherwise you could come back here but you'd get sucked into space right away with a minimalistic cutscene but still good to take for a small laugh. Timing is kinda tight IMO, unless you're lucky with the switches naturally. Now we got the Red Keycard we backtrack to that room (now filled with Enforcers) where there was a slot with no power. Enemy guidance thankfully. Thou hast unlocked the red door above with Pigcops to show you and another switch for a secured area we went passed just before. Another switch with a very unclear camera, I thank enemy guidance again ! Yellow Keycard and back to the beginning of the level. Weird blue device and a switch. I remember I was blocked there not knowing but it's true I should have remembered that there was a similar door on that Command deck from a while before. Another blue device with a teleporter into a quite nice room with a third one and a switch. Ejecting that "Warpcore" with a nice cinematic, less minimalistic than when we're sucked into space. And now Enemy Guidance again ! Because no clue what to do next ... Simply backtrack into the room where we took the Yellow Keycard but for the other red door and a room with a bunch of 3D wires and such and switch again. Going to the similar room on the opposite side for doing the same thing (a bit easier though), switch and back to the place where we found those small engines before the 3 floored bride because the other door is unlocked. THE END ! Didn't see it coming O_o Really kinda abrupt >_>

Conclusion : Well in orveral this level felt like it was a sort of "Final Exam" for a bunch of the things we saw earlier. Especially switches with platforms over energy pits. Otherwise the ship is very nice ! With a relatively simple and credible architecture and assortment of rooms and sections. Also some parts with windows allow us to catch nice sights of the ship from the outside, namely that small quantine with the glitched Red Trooper in the G-Doors. It also boasts a bunch of nice rooms like that 3 floored room with the bridge and the small engines before that among others. And it still finds the way to induce new things such as those odd switches for the Secured Area in the library or the small scenes with the Asteroid and the "WarpCore". As for complains however I'd say it relies WAY TOO MUCH on switches and backtracking back and forth, left and right, further and beyond X_X It becomes quite tiresome over time, fortunately there is enemy guidance to help you and some phases that give small breaths of fresh air. Also about those rooms with exposed HV wires and lots of energy pits I have a complain because it doesn't feel credible for the ship, namely because they are just as accessible as the cefeteria for instance. Therefore it gives me the feeling that those rooms, with energy pits namely, exist only for the purpose of platforming and switches. I know that old school games justify themselves through gameplay more than through realism or credibility, but we see so much of those rooms and energy pits that it feels like if you wanted to serve on that ship then you'd be suicidal in a way O_o As for the music I kinda like it, I was surprised because first time I was like "hey it almost sounds like a Tiny Toon music" and a while later a guy I follow on YT puts a video of "Buster Busts Loose" and hey hey the final level has the same music ^^ I'd say the music is kinda fitting, especially for the very beginning when you look at Trequonia's explosion, or maybe some people would have prefered a different kind of tune I don't know, personally it didn't bother me to have a happy tune for an artificial planet's demise >_>. Difficulty wise I'd say it's kinda the same as usual, only the surprise Battlelords and not-elusive-anymore Red Eyed Enforcers leveling it up. Anyway in orverall it was a good level, well designed, still some creativity, nice aesthetics, a BIG change compared to everything we saw before, except for gameplay, the only big complain is progression (always switch, backtrack, switch, backtrack) otherwise it lets itself played on my part and although it drags on for long because of the progression it still remained enjoyable. The abrupt ending arrived a bit at the time I was starting to get tired of all those switches and backtracks that's why I remain positive in the end. I am also relieved to see that the ship was indeed ("indeed" because I was having doubts) in 2 levels because I was fearing that this feedback post would be a billion bits heavy x_x We're getting there folks, we're getting there !

[Zaxtor]

Thanks for your reviews.

Level splits in few parts.

PT1 (you've played)
The core, final boss and retreat.


Dumping the core part idea came from the series Star Trek voyager, also Oblivion like you said had a scene like that.

Designing this level was pretty hard and long etc.
Probably longest in length mothership I've ever made.

[TheDragonLiner]

Zaxtor, on 03 December 2017 - 07:26 AM, said:

Thanks for your reviews.

Level splits in few parts.

PT1 (you've played)
The core, final boss and retreat.


Dumping the core part idea came from the series Star Trek voyager, also Oblivion like you said had a scene like that.

Designing this level was pretty hard and long etc.
Probably longest in length mothership I've ever made.

I can imagine it how hard it must have been, especially since you seem to have created your own 3D models instead of ripping some from elsewhere >_>

I'm pretty sure that the ship's core (the orange egg-like structure) must have been amongst the hardest things to make

[Zaxtor]

All voxels were created by me.
Core was pretty long to make.


Cute Dragon only one not created but improved

Dragon only thing that came with software, dragon was plain, no details etc.
I spent several hours adding details and etc

[TheDragonLiner]

Zaxtor, on 03 December 2017 - 01:14 PM, said:

All voxels were created by me.
Core was pretty long to make.


Cute Dragon only one not created but improved

Dragon only thing that came with software, dragon was plain, no details etc.
I spent several hours adding details and etc

You mean the Cute Dragon we can see in Out Of This Domension ?
It came with the Voxel making software ?

I'd have never thought of that >_>

[Zaxtor]

Yes the cute dragon in the out of this dimension.
Software has few voxel samples.
Dragon is plain, no details etc.
So I saturated it with details, shade etc.

[TheDragonLiner]

Bonjours !
Feedback !
C'est parti !

Akrozis Core :
--------------------

So let's begin Part Deux, directly greeted with 2 Atomic Healths (and a hidden one) and a Medkit, really nice, and a locked door which can raise interrogations since it doesn't look like there's anything special in here. But we get to explore the "side-rooms" of nice conception and aesthetic and take on some more platforming frenzy. The fact we get to jump on some 3D models can be off-setting at first but it feels like their "collision mask" is permissive, fortunately because some jumps are tight. 2 switches and jumps later we proceed through a nice corridor with many 3D pipes. It sure finds a way to clearly tell you that you're venturing into a Machine Sector in case you didn't understand yet, really feels coherent and "realistic" of a design, even though placing unlock switches at those dangerous places sounds forced for the sake of more platforming sections but we don't care about that do we ? Second room, all the same again but with more switches ! 2 are placed just like before, 2 are quite hidden, I remember that first time I had to redo them because I didn't notice their respective little platforms. Oh and toss in a Pigcop just to catch you off-guard from behind. At least coming back down from the top feels easier than in the first room. Also for the sake of not being a full Copy/Paste, the energy tubes at the bottom are different, I don't remember seeing these, they must be new, still nice to look at. Switches later we get to see our first Keycard Slot for forcefields and a weird colored staircase. Quite tall, better not miss a step and BOSS WARNING (Already !?) Nice beaming room with tons of ammo and freaking SEVEN Atomic Healths. Better take the time to set your add-ons up and since I remember the boss from my first (and only) play I make sure I activate Chaingun add-on. So with another nice cinematic we're beamed down to a weird celestial corpse, either a moon or an asteroid; the transition from sprite to mapped plateau is nice since it's barely noticeable thanks to the beam. Once we land directly on the Keycard we can catch a nice sight of the Akrozis from underneath, I believe it's just a big HR sprite but still nice to look at. Wonder how we can breathe here >_> We roam around a bit at random (and NO you can't fall off or circle around it) and BOSS. So it is the same Evil Gargoyle as in "Out of This Dimension" although we have a much more favorable terrain to exploit. It's attacks are the same, except that the open setting makes us clear of splash damage, the enemy also doesn't seem to move that fast in such a wide open scene. The only real threat is that new attack with a deafeningly whistling sphere that launches tons of red spheres, a bunch of which chase after you. But only moving sideways on the same direction and dodging the few ones that don't chase you and you're good to go. Overall it's a nice fight but kinda easy, especially since the enemy is subject to autoaiming, would you believe me if I told you that for this feedback I defeated the boss entirely UNHURT !? Back into the ship and to the forcefields of earlier. Taller stairs with a different music that feels epic. Opening a door into a SUUUUUUPPER LAGGY ROOM !! 7 FPS when I look towards the center to give you an idea. Fortunately it's a relatively easy room, few enemies, easy switches. Difficulty because of lagg is the bridges being relatively tight and easy to fall from because of EDuke32's "Roll Forward" glitch when lagging. Very nice core, vicious because of it being lagg inducing, it looks kinda like a mechanical futuristic egg O_o. Next room CQC Battlelord as usual, switches over energy pits, déjà vu. Next room, same thing but more complex, already seen in the previous level but made differently. Another nice room with the core's one, I believe the windows are the culprits. Unlocks the middle door but going to the top for good measures. Another nice room looking like a dinning room of sorts, feels kinda intruding in such an area. Unlocks the bottom door, I think I'll go to the middle one first. Red-Eyed Enforcer, switch hidden behind barrels, easy to miss and Hacking, it's been so long ! Complexity thrusted to a new level. Those flashing platforms look tricky but not as hard as it looks in the end. Remains fairly manageable, difficulty of Hacking has ALWAYS been balanced IMO, we're reaching the end and it still feels perfectly doable despite its complexity, at least I personally don't have a hard time with them (I guess playing Cubosphere helps). Industrial elevator online, dunno where that is though, checking the bottom door first. Nice corridor and more switch platforming over energy pits ... So we just have to backtrack to the intersection after the core, another special elevator (almost) like in Machines but first let's check the bottom door. More switches, a room with a big energy pit. I could cross over with the Bridge Maker but I'm sure this is a bad idea for level progression and "getting-lostness". So second floor of the elevator. A timed door that is only slightly tedious because of the enemies behind it dissuading you of entering, a nice UEPB shot and we're good (actually been a while since I last used it). More energy pits, that's probably the most dangerous machine/core area ever, the employees must have a tremendous risk bonus. 2 switches, we turn off the energy pit I could have crossed earlier but going to check the third floor just in case. Locked door so let's just go back at the bottom and check the room I mentioned. Crossing the pit, Battlelord and Atomic Healths, nice. Bottom of the pit where lies the red door we unlocked quite early I'd say, only for more Atomic Healths, nice. White door, tricky room with energy platforms between 2 energy pits ... Thank you Bridge Maker ! Easy switch combination and another one of those rooms, platforming and switches ... room looks nicer and more original than what I am used to seeing at least. There's a switch next to the shortcut teleporter, no idea what it does though >_> Corridors with weird, and new, energy obstacles on the walls. Just the same as the blue walls from AMC but less aggressive for the eye. Now a nice tall room which require more platforming. To the top and weird balance issues and explosions ? Switch, backtracking thank you enemy guidance once again, weird hole in the floor O_o I would have liked to have seen, or been told, what caused that hole. To the top floor. NOTE, during this backtrack I tried using the Shield and IT FREAKING WORKED !! I don't understand >_> But at least I'm reassured, I may have a small card to play for the final boss. Very tricky platforming, ain't the first time we see that kind of platforming but it's fortunate that it's rare, Bridge Maker to the rescue ! Now a room with a vent into freaky nice blue ""vents"". With weird crystal switches ... kinda weird but nice and original phase even though it's just like that part in "The Core" but easier. A bit misleading that we can activate and deactivate those weird switches because we're never told that the door opens. Yellow Keycard at last ! Backtrack to the ship's core again. ULTRA LAGGY orange corridor, dunno what's causing the lagg though. Red and white door, white one opens on more platforming over energy pits I'll make the same critic as in the previous level. Then a wide corridor with energy platforms and pit, no need for the Bridge Maker this time since the ceiling doesn't hurt. Easy orange room and backtrack to red door. And now this I believe is the "Final Room" because the middle red door leads to the end I believe. Generic tall room with platforms and an energy pit at the bottom. Going to the bottom, since the top is inaccessible. Generic corridors upward and ANOTHER room with switch and ... wait there's nothing but energy platforms now ! This is something NEW ! I don't remember seeing that before. It's very challenging because of a constant need of timing and moving but the Bridge Maker can negate everything, I won't use it just for the sake of the sequence. Big empty room and small full room (weird ?) with a nice plan of the ship ! I didn't notice it on my first playhtrough, still nice to look at. Now we're just going up bunches of rooms of various natures and colors, a bit random and sometimes intruding considering we're in the engine sections but I'm not an architect so who am I to judge >_> Room with the last Red-Eyed Enforcer I believe and a lot of ammo, especially for Particle Gun I kinda needed them because of all those Battlelords and strong Enforcers. Maps of Malaya and Mavri ? No idea >_> Backtrack to the red door of the tall generic room. Way quicker to go back than to go from ! Before going into the red door I want to see the top door with Bridge Maker and Secret Orb of Health ! Comes in just in time before the final boss ^^ Nice blue corridor. Tall black room with AGAIN switches and platforms over energy pit. Coming in very cautiously because of strong Enforcers in tricky places and I am willing to keep my 800 something HPs for the boss. Unlock, small backtrack, big room with a X4 screen I got no idea what it's for (probably the final level). Huge corridor like in "The Core" with tons of ammo BUT END !


Conclusion : Well compared to the previous level I'd say this one is kinda easier to go through thanks to the fact the rooms are more spacious, less cramped up. However difficulty is higher because of A LOT of strong Enforcers, namely Grey, Red-Eyed and Purple. The rooms are more grey and homogeneous in comparison to the previous level but since this is a machine section it's kinda normal, that's why I say those last rooms looking like offices felt intruding to me. However I will have the same complaints as in the previous level : way too many rooms where you have to press switches and platform over energy pits, we've see WAY too much of those with the previous level already ! And it's always pressing switches and backtracking to locked doors. At least that last thing wasn't too tedious since it didn't feel like it was taking an eternity unlike in "The Core" or almost the previous level. Also the change of music is nice. The music in itself isn't my style, but in-game it feels more fitting than the Tiny Toons one, it's also all the more fitting that this is the final regular level of the game so it was only natural to have an epic sounding music for the occasion ! My favorite part was the beginning up to after the main core room despite the SEVERE lagg. Apart from that, the boss and a few isolated room nothing much marks me in that level, I have better memory of the previous level while I played it 7 days before ! But I suppose it's because of the more homogeneous design, a lot of sections tend to look alike because it's all but a machine area unlike the previous level where there was few bits of more. It might also be tiredness coming in because despite having taken a break off Trequonia when I reached the previous level, it still feels tiresome all those backtracking and platforming, feeling almost semi-constant in this level (platforming I mean) unlike the previous one ! In any case it is still a good final level because it still introduced some nice new textures/models, a final hacking phase that was complex but fair (I guess playing Cubosphere really helped me grasping the layout of the paths), a new boss if you didn't play "Out of This Dimension", and ... I don't know it's just THE END ! We're finally getting there ! But not without one hell of a trial that's for sure !

[Zaxtor]

Thx for ur reviews.

Lag in orange room is from heavy voxels complex etc.

With older computer lag was light and with that comp I got not long ago, lag is non existent.
Probably video card plays a role.
Older comp was a 3.9 ghz quad-core but no vid card only processor builtin thing.
While new one is 4core i5 core 3.0ghz but with good vidcard

[TheDragonLiner]

Zaxtor, on 05 December 2017 - 09:47 AM, said:

Thx for ur reviews.

Lag in orange room is from heavy voxels complex etc.

With older computer lag was light and with that comp I got not long ago, lag is non existent.
Probably video card plays a role.
Older comp was a 3.9 ghz quad-core but no vid card only processor builtin thing.
While new one is 4core i5 core 3.0ghz but with good vidcard

Indeed because, when I cleared the enemies, my technique in order to proceed on the bridges safely was to use F7 view while looking at the closest wall and walk side-ways, not looking towards the center of the room really helps. But this technique still takes time and in the escape sequence it made me loose quite a bunch of time (I mention it in feedback) >_>
Well I don't really know what the specs of my PC are, I don't even know if it has a graphic card (I don't think it does), and the fact it handles Polymost HRP quite well raises questions ... the biggest thing it mannaged to handle well was Attrition with HRP before Dan's latest update, surely it tended to lagg but only when something new appeared once, and if I made long gaming sessions the PC would pretty much lagg less and less since there were fewer and fewere new elements appearing, even in big levels like "Dog City 2012" O_o

Your mod is pretty much, I believe, the biggest thing my PC could ever handle. The severe laggs like in the ship's core room or some portions of "Out of this Dimention" are clear signs of its limits, surprisingly pushed far IMO, I kinda underestimated my PC >_>

[Zaxtor]

Graphic card looks like a chip and usually has a fan on the chip.
Chip is slightly bigger than a wallet

To check the spec, ram processor etc on ur comp.

You goto control panel,
The goto system and security then goto system with view amount of ram and processor speed etc.

[Zaxtor]

HRP my old comp could handle it to, if I put around 210s or so polymer sprites on same screen id lag to death.
With new comp I'd lag a bit if I put around 2230s polymer sprites on same screen

[TheDragonLiner]

Zaxtor, on 05 December 2017 - 12:43 PM, said:

HRP my old comp could handle it to, if I put around 210s or so polymer sprites on same screen id lag to death.
With new comp I'd lag a bit if I put around 2230s polymer sprites on same screen

My PC can't handle Polymer. Even vanilla Duke with no texture pack is barely playable because of lagging (barely 30 fps at most, almost 20 on average, coupled with EDuke's "roll forward" glitch) >_>
In any case I gauge my PC's strength with games such as yours instead of specs that don't always mean everything. For instance I know my PC can handle Flight Simulator 2002 quite well, even Pacific Fighters (which came out later). Those along with HRP Duke and Trequonia give me a good idea of my PC's capabilities.

Anyway for the feedback, I believe I'll submit another part on Thirsday and then for the ultimate part it will be either Saturday or Sunday depending on the internet being available at our new house or not :/

[Zaxtor]

Ok, You're probably at almost end of critics for V1.

has last boss, retreat and ending.

[TheDragonLiner]

Hey hey !
It's "you know what" !

So here I will just talk about the boss because, not only it takes a whole map for itself, but the fight takes a long time and I wanted to speak of it in detail (maybe too much in detail) because of the fact the whole level revolves arround it >_>


Face To Face :
---------------------

At last we're here ! The huge door helplessly closes behind us as a "No going back now" sign. A short but wide corridor, with slightly ominous looking green around the place and lots of ammo for the basic guns, Atomic Healths and Medkit. Now before opening the last door, looking tame and yet intimidating because of imagining what's behind, I don't know if it's a good idea but I'll just turn on absolutely every add-on (of which I have everything !). Right away I'll go all mad-man with enhanced Chaingun and Red Gem. Music changes and let's go. So we get to face a GIGANTIC purple robot with teeth and horns O_o Nicely modelized actually, especially its slim body. Too bad there's not more animations going on but I doubt the engine would have handled it that well >_> Straight away I slaughter its left eye with Chaingun and some 20/30 shots of Red Gem. Meanwhile it just fired bunches of easy to dodge rockets and made weird blue platforms appear, better not stay on those because you become vulnerable and can hurt yourself with fall damage. Suddenly everything becomes upside down ! That's the worst attack of all because, even though I find ways to keep my orientation okay, I still end up getting a bit lost when many attacks occur, that's how I got from 800 something HP down to 400 something because of that flame with explosive red beads in full ! VERY hurtful ! Fortunately we're still given a few Atomic Healths and Armor for good measure, and a Ball of Life just in case but should be kept as last resort IMO since it doesn't go above the default 255HP. After ALL THAT I tackle its other eye with still Red Gem and maybe a few UEPB shots. A bit of the same happens although it started firing orange balls along with flames with red beads, because of the UEPB shot's flashing explosion I got downed to 260 HP ouch >.< The inverted part went out better than last time though. TWIST, now everything get purple and I'm face palmed on the floor ! and there are lightnings striking at places, and I've been comboed by a lightning and another orange ball ! Ball of Life right away, I take more damage but it works surprisingly fine, I got downed to 140 HP and in barely 3 or 4 seconds I was back to 255 ! Satisfactory I think I kinda underestimated that power up >_>. One last mention of the lightnings, it appears we can spy small white lights at the places they're going to strike but personally that's the last thing I'm paying attention to right now :/ Finally we destroy its other eye and lots of explosions leaving us time to take whatever item can be taken. Suddenly its whole face tears apart, very easy to dodge, simply go to the right/left-most place and you're fine. Now all remains is a weird small brain ? Kinda tiny in comparison to the head's size ... It starts firing big fireballs, quite easy to dodge actually, I don't know how hurtful they may be but they feel easy to dodge. I try using my remaining 9 shots of Red Gem on it but before I run out we're suddenly warped to a HUGE freaky looking arena o_O I can't describe what the texture/sky-box represents I got no idea ! So right now the brain is simply chasing after me, it sometimes stops in order to launch green and regular rockets, easy to dodge. Relatively easy since I'm taking advantage of the fact it remains grounded to spam Enhanced Pipebombs and if you can regularly hit it then it won't attack really, just stay close enough for the bombs and move fast enough to remain at safe distance for both. Suddenly it starts spawning weird expanding yellow spheres, I'm pretty sure these hurt like a B, a thing is for sure they make me fall to 10 FPS which is more problematic since I can manage to stay far away from the danger. And since there's quite a number of Pipebombs around I can apply my tactic to the maximum. After a bunch of Pipebombs more it suddenly starts to move around SUPER FAST and erratically, I'm kinda scared actually. However if I remain far from it it will eventually hug a wall and stay stuck so I guess I'll switch to the Enhanced+Altered Devastator a bit. It works mighty fine although we must aim at the ground around it because attempting a direct hit will probably go into the void and waste everything. It also start launching weird transparent balls in the air and they fall back down in order to try hug you, they hurt a lot ! Fortunately there's tons of Atomic Healths around. I switch to the UEPB because it's being an easy target right now (and it's standing near the Devastator ammo so I don't dare to close in). Now it resumes to its previous pattern so I resume to my previous Pipebomb strategy. Later YIKES it goes super fast and starts firing Trooper Lasers. Suddenly it halts spawning enemies. And now it sometimes go up in the air before coming back down launching TONS and TONS of easy to dodge regular rockets, the occasion to start using the Enhanced SG IMO, and then back into the running around Pipebombing tactic. Meanwhile it's weird I spy small blue/dark explosions in the distance ? Then it suddenly goes SUPER HIGH O_o Occasion to use the Enhanced Pistol IMO. Later things change, it becomes tainted green and launches TONS of psychic waves along with the rockets, doesn't change my occasion to use SG but from slightly farther away ... Also it remains still so I guess Slot 7B has a good occasion here. Also Look out because sometimes, I don't know why but it suddenly dashes SUPER FAST on me with TONS of explosions and it's impossible to run away from it and survive, another glitch but due to a certain configuration of the boss's rockets and the player's position I'm sure. Also it sometimes fires UEPB shots, easy to dodge. The fight pretty much settles to a """relaxing""" phase compared to what we had before that. I threw all my 30 slot 7B shots and apart from a huge dash on my last shot (which fortunately didn't go further than simply startling me) it's still going on though it seems to have calmed down so I'll throw more Pipebombs after roaming around to get more and CHANGE AT LAST ! It goes high and launches TONS and TONS AND TONS of rockets which make Altering Gem explosions, I can tell you I don't like that phase because all those blue flashes make aiming super hard, I spend my last Pistol shots and suddenly it expands and disappears O_o Now begins the most interesting part IMO. It reappears and spawns a sphere with lots of switching symbols. I remove the SG enhancer in order to shoot it and depending on the symbol we get to face a different attack. I find this mechanic interesting, I remember seeing something of the sort in OKAMI on PS2, its final boss YAMI in blue form was slot-machine like but with a few scripts, HERE HOWEVER there's no script at all ! I find this to be FAIR randomness because it is NOT 100% random and therefore a skilled or patient player can exercise a form of control over the fight and so work the randomness a bit to his/her advantage. Surely this part is the most interesting but it's also the longest and the one that puts your nerves and concentration to the REAL TEST ! Symbol "= with a bump" spawns lots of slimes and boss remains inoffensive, NICE. Symbol "Sagittarian Arrow" spawns LOTS of explosions, requires a carefully timed jump in order to avoid, boss inoffensive, NICE. Symbol "Turkish Moon" fades to black, barely visible, boss shoots few rockets, Still NICE IMO. Symbol "Waves" spawns TONS of electric circling spheres which do TONS of damage, and very hard to avoid and hit the inoffensive boss at the same time, NOT NICE. Symbol "Skullface" results in DEATH from Toxic Gas, the most UNFAIR result of the bunch but we can avoid it if we're careful. Symbol "Weird Asian Image" spawns a HUGE chasing fireball which leaves smaller ones of the same kind which explode with time, interesting mechanic along with inoffensive boss but the ball never wears off and can't be destroyed it seems, NOT NICE. Symbol "Sun" deafeningly whistles and spawns tons of relatively easy to avoid red balls, inoffensive boss, NICE. Symbol "Flower" shoots a bunch of fireballs with big splash damage, fairly easy to dodge, NICE. Symbol "Mix of U and O" bombards you with that symbol, VERY easy to avoid but boss becomes hard to hit with projectiles, SEMI-NICE. Symbol "Yin Yang" spanws Atomic Health and shoots easy rockets, NICE. Symbol "Small O with a long tail" spawns lots of weird pink Enforcers which spawn pink troopers upon dying, boss invulnerable but becomes vulnerable and inoffensive, can be a source of ammo for Chaingun and Pistol, NICE. Symbol "Bomb" spawns LOTS of explosions of various sizes randomly across the whole place, I can't believe I managed to get out of that unscathed, boss inoffensive, SEMI-NICE. I believe we didn't see one or two symbols but right now I deal the killing blow ! Explosions, boss disappears, reappears, explodes again and POOF ! THE END. This is too minimalistic IMO, I'm slightly disappointed T_T But I am too thrilled by my first VICTORY thanks to no glitch >_> ...

Conclusion : Whew, now that's what I call a boss fight ! And no wonder why it takes a level for itself ... Very well designed, phases are all distinctive and varied in nature and patterns. First phase with the huge robot is amongst the trickiest but it boasts the most creative attacks, especially the inverted view and palmed to the floor ones, and it's well balanced thanks to all the resources we're given, along with infinite RPG,SG and Devastator like in "Out of This Dimension". Second phase is a bit more classic, and it tends to drag on for a while, up until I hit the 30 minute mark to give you an idea, with all add-ons. Remains ballanced and challenging at the same time. At that point, as you inflict damage, the boss alternates between active phases where you'd better run fast and relatively calm phases where you can spam harder to use guns like UEPB or Slot 7B. And then that part with the sphere of symbols. As I said it reminded me of OKAMI's final boss's slot-machine like phases. The "Yin-Yang" symbol being the equivalent of YAMI's own symbol as in being the most advantageous set-up, and "Skullface" being the most unfair, but fortunately rarest, one of the bunch. Admiration > Design, creativity, challenge, fair, well balanced in pretty much EVERY aspect, variety. Complaints > 2nd (first one in the weird arena) onwards drag on for kinda long but not as abusively long as in some Oblivion bosses I remember, Sphere of Symbol invincible boss with no sphere game-breaking glitch (despite the fact it didn't happen even once this time), Too minimalistic ending, too sudden, unsubtle, I'd have preferred a small cinematic or a "cool down" moment serving as a transition for the next level. I still enjoyed the fight (especially in absence of glitch) quite well, however no time to relax because we're thrown directly into the next level with a timer right away (I don't like not being given time to relax after that boss) ! Next time.

BTW to give you an idea of how tough this was, Fighting the boss and writing this feedback at the same time, took a good 50 minutes in total and my left hand is starting to feel weak and almost hurts >_>

[Zaxtor]

Thanks for your reviews.

Boss with symbols that does diff thing when shooting upon symbol.
Is kinda a reference to Evo : The search of Eden's final boss and Contra III: The Alien Wars' last boss in its brain phase.

Also as I said for The gltich, in V2 its fixed, if it doesn't spawn a symbol for more than few seconds after the time suppose to spawn it "cancels" the invulnerability mode and becomes vulnerable.
Boss was freaken long to program and took several thinking, ideas etc to make the change of behavior.

PS
Those weird blue orbs that moves randomly upward or sometime semi inside the floor spawns atomic health when destroyed.
Kinda similar to Super Castlevania 4 when Dracula spawns small blue energy orb that drops a chicken leg when killed.

[TheDragonLiner]

Zaxtor, on 07 December 2017 - 12:13 AM, said:

Thanks for your reviews.

Boss with symbols that does diff thing when shooting upon symbol.
Is kinda a reference to Evo : The search of Eden's final boss and Contra III: The Alien Wars' last boss in its brain phase.

Also as I said for The gltich, in V2 its fixed, if it doesn't spawn a symbol for more than few seconds after the time suppose to spawn it "cancels" the invulnerability mode and becomes vulnerable.
Boss was freaken long to program and took several thinking, ideas etc to make the change of behavior.

PS
Those weird blue orbs that moves randomly upward or sometime semi inside the floor spawns atomic health when destroyed.
Kinda similar to Super Castlevania 4 when Dracula spawns small blue energy orb that drops a chicken leg when killed.

Okay, I didn't know about those games, as I said Okami is the only one it reminded me of ^^

What about the big orange chasing ball ? In my fight it never wore off and it didn't seem like I could repell it >_>

[Zaxtor]

Orange chasing serpent has a lifespan of little over 2 minutes is it has a lifespan of about 133 seconds and 1/3
Its ifcount is 4001 before decay.
30 is one second in ifcount

[TheDragonLiner]

Euh, Hello ?

Sorry I'm so late but there has been some unexpected things and the internet being as "out there" as ever >_>

Akrozis Escape :
-------------------

Barely defeated the big bad guy (wonder what its name is actually) and we're already thrown into the thick of it with no time to relax X_X Good thing we're in a video game and can save for later ^^. Eight minutes to do this !? Damn that's a lot, so the X4 screen right away shows us a bunch of important places. Basically they remind us of where we found those switches "For Emergency Only" we stumbled across in the 2 previous levels, one in each. So right away we rush and pwn enemies in our way, no time to lose. We go up 1 floor of the room I used to call a "Final Room", into a room with surprise explosions but not cheap as long as you don't rush full speed. Crossing SUPER LAGGY Orange corridor with difficulty beating a regular Enforcer because of lagg. Taking a right to the elevator and into where there used to be an energy pit in order to cross the 2 platforming sections over energy pits we already know about. Then crossing those corridors with those weird blue flashing things which are IRRITATING because of them being slow and us being subject to a timer >_< The Invincibility would have been perfect here ! Instead I use the Orb of Health (which I managed not to use for the Final Boss) to get 800 something HP and rush through everything ! Reaching the tall room with a breach on the floor, scaling up, first switch and we backtrack. I salvage 600 something HP from the blue things. Nice that the small "short-cut" teleporters still work, it saves us 1 platforming section's effort. Back into the room where there used to be an energy pit, the window's cracking so better hurry, but it's quite permissive because I failed a jump TWICE and yet I still made it. Now, while the windows are shouting, we scale up the SUPER LAGGY Core room, with bunch of harmless explosions. Really this is the hardest part of the whole level for me because of 7 FPS X_X And there's more floors to go up than I imagined. I FINALLY reach the top with 3:50 left (wasted all the time I had saved T_T), going down the tall stairs ASAP while taking a few fall damage I can afford. Purple Enforcer, and first REALLY CHEAP explosion : the small bridge for the door behind him suddenly explodes, breaks and makes you fall onto electric wires with instant death, and since this place is laggy for me there was no way I could avoid that on my first try, mean >_<. Anyway we finally reach what used to be the end of the first Akrozis level. Surprise explosions but not cheap if you either back-off or stick to the left. Because I'm a completionist I'll explore both corridors in order to kill all the enemies HOWEVER I advise you wait and take the Right Door when the explosions stop because it ends with a White Enforcer and an easy Atomic Health if you use Devastator. Now we're back into the circular set of corridors from the beginning of the ship, with a semi-cheap explosion. If you go right you're simply awarded a lonely Atomic Health, not useful anymore. So we go left, and through more cheap explosions you can barely avoid, in order to reach the "Command Deck" with enemies I pwn with the Enhanced Chaingun's autoaiming while tons of cheap explosions occur, but I still got some 300 HPs so I won't complain. Second Emergency Switch and now we backtrack to where we were just before. Taking the central red door into the very first room of the first Akrozis level, with more tons of cheap explosions but I still salvage some 200 HP, along with 1:50 timer (quite a satisfying score for a non-optimized run) and weird "losing balance" effect. The right teleportation room is now opened thanks to the Emergency switches and, despite a sneaky Yellow Pigcop, THOU ART SAVED !

Conclusion : Well that escape level, IMO, fairer and easier than the Trequonia escape one ! It's shorter, with less cheap explosions, or at least they are more manageable. In any case I definitely managed to get through it more easily than I imagined, and WAY more easily than Trequonia, it's simple I needed 3 attempts for my first completion here against almost 10 for Trequonia's. Also it's surprising that we can still kinda explore the ship, a lot of rooms are now sealed off obviously but, especially in the circular corridor near the end, we can explore some rooms we had seen in the past and since they serve zero purpose it's quite misleading, can get lost. BUT in the end the placement of the 2 Emergency Switches is quite fair IMO. The first one is the hardest but the clues of the camera at the beginning are enough to remember and the "Command Deck"'s switch is very easy to find as long as you're not panicking. When I reached that place (circular corridors) I had some 2:30 something timer so you can definitely "take your time". The overal 8 minute margin is kinda permissive in my opinion, as long as you remember where to go and don't waste time being afraid of cheap explosions at every steps you take. Nothing much to add really, Complaint > too many strong Enforcers (namely Purple), hard cheap explosions at the end (despite my remaining 300 something HP after them). Admiration > Not misleading for 3/4 of the thing, not 100% of the explosions are cheap, enemy placement less irritating than in Trequonia's escape, no switch puzzle. == More balanced and fair overall difficulty.


Akrozis's Destruction :
-------------------------------

Relaxing Cinematic time ! We get to see the Akrozis' destruction in quite big detail O_o Lots of shots of rooms and the outside with lots of explosions and a music we can hardly hear because of them (yet I had 100% of everything in setting). It drags on a bit but the levels did drag on themselves so it's only natural and satisfying to see them blown up >_> Ending with a satisfactory explosion, I spy the moon/asteroid under the ship being super flat (2D sprite FTW !). Then we see Skyvh stranded on it, fortunately Zaxtor (first time he's named in the game) comes in to fetch him and bring him back to ANWR, we catche glimpse of the first levels, which I loved (it's so far away in the past now it almost makes me want to restart right away !). Then we see our hero's house, I don't think we can see, or access it in the first level ... actually I never tried to look >_>. And then a HUGE staff-roll with all the custom enemies of the game with a relatively repetitive music (feels like DKC2). At least now we can discover the "official" names of the bosses, so the Final Boss is called the "Akrozar" eh ? Too bad we are not shown the bosses of the "Out Of This Dimension" level, I'd have liked to see the name of the big scary face boss T_T (unless I missed it ? we were preparing to move as I was writing this so I couldn't pay attention). The credits tend to drag on for a long time actually, I didn't realize there were THAT MANY bosses O_o But it's a big game so it's only natural that it boasts a BIG ending. Lastly we see the whole list of Musics and Soundtracks, really nice idea because now we know where they come from and can eventually go out and look for more from the games they're from !. THE END !! For good !!


Conclusive conclusion : Well in the end I've definitely had a good time playing this mod. It felt good having some vibes of Oblivion but all fairer and less glitchy. I'm kinda exhausted because of having played 3 or 4 times (2 complete only) but just like with AMC I would say that I would be ready to dive into it with no problem. Now if I were to name some of my favorites levels I would say (no particular order) "ANWR", "Secret Launching Bay", "Big City" and "Steel Mill". As for my least favorites I would say : "Out of this Dimension" (for its insane difficulty), "The Core" (for its long and tiresome progression) and "Secret Arctic Forest" (for its ultra mazey networks of galleries). And lastly if I had a list of my favorite mods in an order, I don't really know where I'd put it but for sure AMC would remain #1, and Trequonia would join the struggle for #2 along with WGR2, IW2 and Oblivion. One thing is for sure, Trequonia has earn its place in my all-time favorites which I'm never against playing again !

[Zaxtor]

Thanks for your reviews.

Glad u enjoyed.

Also the super secret boss is nameless.
Or could be called evil face,

[TheCultist]

TheDragonLiner, on 24 November 2017 - 01:17 AM, said:

Machines :
----------------

Hardcore switch code ... At least we have a clue but it's SUPER EASY to miss.

I missed that clue and I have no idea what the password is (I reached the place with switches on both left and right side that should unlock a yellow door in front of me). Help?

[TheDragonLiner]

TheCultist, on 25 December 2017 - 02:29 AM, said:

I missed that clue and I have no idea what the password is (I reached the place with switches on both left and right side that should unlock a yellow door in front of me). Help?

It's been so long I'm not sure anymore >_>

I believe the clue is very close to the switches on the left wall when you arrive, it's just a small bunch of grey and red-ish squares giving you a clue, it's very easy to miss, just look carefully at the walls ^_-

[Zaxtor]

TheCultist, on 25 December 2017 - 02:29 AM, said:

I missed that clue and I have no idea what the password is (I reached the place with switches on both left and right side that should unlock a yellow door in front of me). Help?

You can post a screenies cus there are 2 passwords things or so.

[TheCultist]

TheDragonLiner, on 25 December 2017 - 04:05 AM, said:

It's been so long I'm not sure anymore >_>

I believe the clue is very close to the switches on the left wall when you arrive, it's just a small bunch of grey and red-ish squares giving you a clue, it's very easy to miss, just look carefully at the walls ^_-

You're right, found it, thanks! The white core boss was so easy. Also, I didn't check the target door before taking the hydrazine and everything was fine. Grey Trooper boss was so easy with pipe bombs. The Bridge Maker was really useful at this point, I had to guess a lot which doors to choose, while backtracking for the final boss, because there wasn't enough enemy guidance until you're already close at which point it's not really useful. With a bit of luck I reached good ol' Steel Mill again. (I like that you leave footprints after getting out of water). I'm at the red corridors, now where's that final boss?

[Zaxtor]

You must refer to level 10.
Which red corridor you refer to, there are several red corridors in the level because it crossover the steel mill (level 9).

Last red corridor leads to the level's boss, you must pass obstacles before the fiery boss.

Did you beaten the floating boss where you stand on a platform?

[TheCultist]

Yes I'm at level 10 (Machines).
I don't recall any floating boss, last boss I fought was the Gray Trooper. I've also done all that gasmask stuff and went through the red timed door that TheDragonLiner was talking about. I went up here but I don't know where to go: https://imgur.com/a/EbwrJ
I came from there: https://imgur.com/a/Ya9oD

[Zaxtor]

You got the gas mask, you go at the beginning and go in the blue cloudy gas

[Zaxtor]

Floating mini boss is a thing you fight and it moves inside a long corridor (semi dark room).
You must have beaten it cus you're in the room after it. (that opened door)

[TheCultist]

Hmm maybe I blew him off along with everyone else when I used the UEPB-8000, I don't recall.
I don't see any blue cloudy gas, where is that?