My first netpack. It includes 4 netmaps. Maps are good for 2-4 player games. The netpack includes the following:
1)Mr. Roger's battle world 2)Playing, at night 3)Battle at Hill 21 4)We're waiting for the boxes
Map 4 was a Rubicon netmap. I retextured it so it can be played in Marathon Infinity.
Offical
Destiny and I are bitter enemies and I hate him forever and ever. That said, I was surprised with the quality of this pack. It has problems, but if Destiny keeps mapping, he might learn how to avoid mistakes like these in the future.
"Mr. Roger's battle world" is simple and symmetrical; therefore, it's also monotonous. The texturing, lighting, and sounds are adequate, and he's even done a good job with the notorious Pfhor texture set. There are plenty of weapons, but I have a problem with his inclusion of the invisibility powerup. A player who gets this and shotguns will probably have a very long run on this level, especially because there's a health recharger in the lower area.
"Playing, at night" is the labyrinth thermo and time chose to poke fun at, and with good reason. This level's competent texturing and sounds are overshadowed by the level's design. It's a senseless maze, definitely not something I'd want to throw a mere four players into. The lighting encourages everyone's favorite pastime, camping, but so does the structure. Destiny seems to get an OK idea for a room or two, and then goes on to replicate it over and over until it's the whole map. I did like the floating bones area.
"Battle at hill 21" is another symmetrical monster. Destiny also has a penchant for sharp corners in his levels, which is a good way to snag players and piss them off. The southern area of the map has tons of these. He also put so many shotguns and shells around the level I had to wonder why there was any other weapon, and I ran across an invincibility powerup. He needs to work on balance. The pedestals in some of the corner rooms were a bit too tall: if I ran over one of them, my head got snagged for a second on the skylight above. Players will die this way. I understand the general idea of the level, which is a big battle, and the main arena conveys this idea pretty well. It even has some trenches that add a nice touch, even if that touch is of questionable use. I expected the structure at the center to have a little more to it, or to be elevated at the very least.
"We're waiting for the boxes" is just a rectangle with some elevated areas and lots of irritating platforms and jumps. The Jjaro textures look bad, because I think he chose the wrong ones - Jjaro is a tricky set to use, but with the right (non-tan) colors, it can look nice. Anyway, probably the worst in the pack, but it's got stiff competition in the form of "Playing, at night."
If Destiny can get over his obsession with symmetry, repetition, and lack of variety in elevations, he might be able to make some good maps. Players might have fun on these, but not as much as on other levels.
@thermo ok that looks kind of cool. I guess I'll have to actually download this one.
I heard from $lave that this was an amazing netpack. While that is good enough for me and ought to be good enough for anyone, maybe you, skeptic reader, need further proof: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/616960/srsly.png
Low resolution, with huge black borders and a giant HUD at the bottom. These screenshots make almost every mistake in the book.
Aside from the technical problems, the composition is poor and the lighting in inadequate. Is that a wall or a hallway? What weapon is that on the floor? Who was that masked man, anyway? Everything is so dark, I just can't tell. Try using the lighten filter in Photoshop to bring out those details and make the colors pop!