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Monday January 26th
Escape from Actaltraz by Kevin Shanahan
Actaltraz? Huh?
The level is pretty good, especially considering this is Kevin's first level. The outdoor area especially is amazing
with its wide open spaces and giant crane... Of course all this has a big hit on performance, and although it was
smooth on my P166MMX with 3Dfx acceleration, on lesser computers its likely to crawl in places.
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Monday January 12th
Sadlark 9 by Jonas N.P. Lindstrom "Sadlark compound metal style map" says the description. Huh? Um, no it isn't... Like Hexen II, Sadlark 9 uses a hub system. You start in a central metal area and must go through four outer areas to find the rune you need to open up the next area. A very linear hub, then... The level uses a whole host of different textures from Quake and its mission packs, and these extra textures are used to great effect in the Egyptian and Mayan areas. The Egyptian area is stunning, but the Mayan area's architecture takes second place to its textures. The third area is better constructed, but without the fancy textures. It's a slimy metal world with a Maginot-line style bunker at its entrance. The bunker is a work of genious - nicely built with nail traps behind firing slits so it looks like you've got heavy machineguns firing at you. But then the fourth, final area is a fairly unimpressive 'chapel of the last rune'. One room, a rune, a shambler, and that's it. You get the impression Jonas ran out of pretty textures and good ideas by this point. All in all a mixed bag. Some areas are too narrow so that you keep getting snagged on pillars and doorways all the time (you never heard of the CLIP texture?). Some areas have bland design, and only the combined textures of id, Rogue and Hipnotic rescue these places. But then some areas look gorgeous with great design and excellent texture use. Well worth a look, despite the Mayan and Chapel areas... |
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Monday January 5th
The Weapons Factory by EraserX
Another quiet week for Quake - only two single player releases. Is this the end of Classic Quake?
The weapons factory is just what it says... Featuring a submarine, missiles, tanks, and a jet plane, this
could have been so much more. Some nice design in places, but then in other places there are silly little
bugs (such as a button that vanishes into a wall when pressed and some dodgy textures), and some of the areas
just look bland.
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