Does anyone remember this?

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goran
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The first draft of the plot is done! Im going to sleep on it, and read it again tomorrow.

Level Order for Xmas:Icecave

1. Vampire Coffin (goran1)
2. Mcfortress (shadow1)
3. Crudelitas (driz)
4. welcome to the corp. (sinjid)
5. enchanced intelligence (goran2 + mb dcbob)
6. my cat can fly (shadow2)
7. 20000 sporks (sinjid2)

Hey, guys. You've done an excellent job. I'm as proud over you as a project leader can be. You're great mappers, everyone of you. I'll remember your work.

Ryoko, expect a huge email soon. As soon as I've merged the levels, and written out terminal locations you'll recieve the scenario.
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JohannesG
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goran wrote:The first draft of the plot is done! Im going to sleep on it, and read it again tomorrow.

Level Order for Xmas:Icecave

1. Vampire Coffin (goran1)
2. Mcfortress (shadow1)
3. Crudelitas (driz)
4. welcome to the corp. (sinjid)
5. enchanced intelligence (goran2 + mb dcbob)
6. my cat can fly (shadow2)
7. 20000 sporks (sinjid2)

Hey, guys. You've done an excellent job. I'm as proud over you as a project leader can be. You're great mappers, everyone of you. I'll remember your work.

Ryoko, expect a huge email soon. As soon as I've merged the levels, and written out terminal locations you'll recieve the scenario.

sounds good!
hope you can use my map :)
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Shadowbreaker
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For all ye who shall play this scenario and get to level 6:

I dont have a cat, let alone a cat that can fly.
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goran
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I've compiled a merged and unmerged version of the scenario. The terminals are not written yet, and the terminals lack pictures.

If you want to betatest before the terminals are written, let me know, and I'll send you an email.

Ryoko: I've sent you a mail with the beta-scenario and plot info. (your gmail) The shapes are available from fileball.

Last year, Ryoko wrote the terminals in one day. I got more impressed than I am ready to admit. I don't know how he'll do this year, but Ryoko is our terminal writer. He's going to make this scenario even better.
Last edited by goran on Dec 26th '06, 20:19, edited 1 time in total.
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JohannesG
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goran wrote:I've compiled a merged and unmerged version of the scenario. The terminals are not written yet, and the terminals lack pictures.

If you want to betatest before the terminals are written, let me know, and I'll send you an email.

Ryoko: I've sent you a mail with the beta-scenario and plot info. (your gmail) The shapes are available from fileball.

Last year, Ryoko wrote the terminals in one day. I got more impressed than I am ready to admit. I don't know how he'll do this year, but Ryoko is our terminal writer. He's going to make this scenario even better.
throw me an e-mail so i can beta test... i'm rather bored at the moment ;)
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Shadowbreaker
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Well... I've only got a billion other things I should be doing but wont...

Send me the beta version [MUp]
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goran
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the current beta version has wrong level teleportation in terminals.

beta2 got this fixed

level 5, enchanced intelligence is underconstruction
Last edited by goran on Dec 27th '06, 10:50, edited 1 time in total.
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RyokoTK
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Well, if my goal today is to complete everything in one day, then I had better get started! Girlfriend kept me busy all day yesterday, though. :(
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RyokoTK
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Update: It seems I have a penchant for writing, as I've got only five terminals left. The first five levels have been completed, leaving 3 terminals on My Cat Can Fly and 2 terminals on 20000 Sporks. That's really of no consequence; I'll take care of it later today.
Last edited by RyokoTK on Dec 27th '06, 16:31, edited 1 time in total.
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goran
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It's good to hear from you.

The deadline for the whole Xmas scenario is when I leave my home town around 1-3 januari.

While you write terminals we betatest the scenario and make the maps better.
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goran
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You're damn fast at writing terminals. Excellent position in the project.
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RyokoTK
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Or I'm not writing enough. Average length per terminal is 1-1.5 terminal pages (I'm using Hex), and that's definitely not very long, but it seems to fit so far.
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JohannesG
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Goran, could you e-mail me the latest beta when possible, i just got the first beta so...
thanks in advance.
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goran
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I sent you the second beta this morning to your forerunners adress (again!). A thing bugs me. The emails I get from your gmail account, do they self detonate? I'm serious, they do disappear from my inbox after I've read them. I keep losing your gmails.
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RyokoTK
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I don't know, but I finished the terminals (using the second merge that you sent me) and sent them to you via my school e-mail as opposed to gmail.
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goran
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Your terminals are good, but not fully correct ;)

Some terminals on the first 4 levels doesn't fit with the backstory from xmas2005. I wrote comments in the terminals with red text where I want things to be in another way. I also corrected some small stuff so the text would fit better with the levels. Again with red text.

I don't think it will take all too long to fix this. (check your gmail)

Other than that I appreciate the humor in the terminals.
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Shadowbreaker
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Well I played the beta, and I must say I am very impressed by drictelt's map.

However, I noticed that the 3 levvels after that's missions dont work properly. I tihnk the first 2 after that require writing in the repair switches and my cat can fly needs it's mission type set (my fault).

Oh yeah and theres a misplaced texture on mcfortress that simply doesnt fit, in the area with the 2 chip inserts.
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goran
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Shadow. I'll send you Mcfortress and mycatcanfly so you can fix the errors. I've made small changes since the beta. (like texturing un-textured areas on elevators and so on)

Please be specific on what's wrong with:

20000 sporks
enchanced intelligence (Im still wokring on this one)
Last edited by goran on Dec 28th '06, 09:16, edited 1 time in total.
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Drictelt
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Shadowbreaker wrote:Well I played the beta, and I must say I am very impressed by drictelt's map.
Thanks [MSmile]

Im sorry for not betatesting, but if i play a scenario once, i cant bring me to play it a second time (i guess that was grammatically wrong) and i really wanna have the terminals. And besides, otherwise eternal will never get finished [MWuh]
Eternal - Victory Dance IV - KTA III - Phoenix
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RyokoTK
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Okay, my second attempt at terminals has been sent.
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RyokoTK
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I think I'll post comments during beta-testing to help inspire discussion about it. This is what I see is an issue with the level, but isn't necessarily an actual issue... if you know what I mean.

Beta-testing notes for Vampire Coffin
-The AR is too hard to find. The first time I played it, I never found it, and that made it a whole lot harder (on TC); furthermore, you can't go back to that room once you go up the lift, sealing it off forever.
-The save in the room with the AR doesn't work.
-There's no sounds?
-Why is almost every monster a Major? I mean, I realize it's an attempt to make it harder, but it's still sort of unoriginal and boring. Especially with these hordes of Fighters; they don't make a difference since, with the AR, they're no threat anyway. Might as well make some of them Minor just to spruce it up. Minor gripe, I guess.
-What's up with the "?" teleporter in the first ice caves?
-Great architecture overall, no complaints with flow etc.

McFortress
-What's with the space texture in the little window notch in the first room?
-The two Enforcers on poly98 were placed in poor taste; having them blast you right as you pass the door wasn't a very nice trick. Perhaps move them a bit further south along that ledge?
-Again, general lack of sound is disconcerting, though I may not have heard it through my music.
-Several monsters standing on boxes and in corners weren't very alert, and it was easy to kill them before they reacted to my presence. Example: the troopers on polys 778/779.
-Why do Minor Fighters and Troopers appear to be Major Fighters and Troopers?
-Most of these lifts could stand to be a little faster, especially 790.
-One of the walls in poly 233 is not flagged "Solid".

Crudelitas Quaerendi
-I haven't found a Fusion Pistol yet, but I have a ton of batteries, and this seems to keep happening to me. I enjoy a good non-linear level as much as the next person, but goddamnit, don't make the weapons so easily missed. If there was a Fusion Pistol on McFortress, I never found it, and I had explored about 80% of the level by this point.
-Similarly, I haven't found a recharger yet, and I've already punched out one of the wires. This is getting silly.

...more to come when I play later.
Last edited by RyokoTK on Dec 28th '06, 20:00, edited 1 time in total.
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JohannesG
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I think i have nothing else to add to your beta testing notes, I have only played the first two or three levels though. The only thing that has been bugging me are large amount of bouncing walls and also how easy it is to miss weapons.

Another thing that bugs me are those hordes of monsters, in most cases the same type. It's no fun to fight 10 cyborgs in a small space on TC. The bigger battles would need to be more thought out but we are rather late for that i guess so this will have to do.
RyokoTK wrote:I think I'll post comments during beta-testing to help inspire discussion about it. This is what I see is an issue with the level, but isn't necessarily an actual issue... if you know what I mean.

Beta-testing notes for Vampire Coffin
-The AR is too hard to find. The first time I played it, I never found it, and that made it a whole lot harder (on TC); furthermore, you can't go back to that room once you go up the lift, sealing it off forever.
-The save in the room with the AR doesn't work.
-There's no sounds?
-Why is almost every monster a Major? I mean, I realize it's an attempt to make it harder, but it's still sort of unoriginal and boring. Especially with these hordes of Fighters; they don't make a difference since, with the AR, they're no threat anyway. Might as well make some of them Minor just to spruce it up. Minor gripe, I guess.
-What's up with the "?" teleporter in the first ice caves?
-Great architecture overall, no complaints with flow etc.

McFortress
-What's with the space texture in the little window notch in the first room?
-The two Enforcers on poly98 were placed in poor taste; having them blast you right as you pass the door wasn't a very nice trick. Perhaps move them a bit further south along that ledge?
-Again, general lack of sound is disconcerting, though I may not have heard it through my music.
-Several monsters standing on boxes and in corners weren't very alert, and it was easy to kill them before they reacted to my presence. Example: the troopers on polys 778/779.
-Why do Minor Fighters and Troopers appear to be Major Fighters and Troopers?
-Most of these lifts could stand to be a little faster, especially 790.
-One of the walls in poly 233 is not flagged "Solid".

Crudelitas Quaerendi
-I haven't found a Fusion Pistol yet, but I have a ton of batteries, and this seems to keep happening to me. I enjoy a good non-linear level as much as the next person, but goddamnit, don't make the weapons so easily missed. If there was a Fusion Pistol on McFortress, I never found it, and I had explored about 80% of the level by this point.
-Similarly, I haven't found a recharger yet, and I've already punched out one of the wires. This is getting silly.

...more to come when I play later.
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RyokoTK
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Continuing with Crudelitas Quaerendi
-Okay, this is getting ridiculous. I still haven't found a recharger. What do I have to do? Beat the whole level with a 2x I had from McFortress? Come on.
-As it is, this level is simply too hard. Massive hordes of monsters in small places, not enough health or ammo, too many Cyborgs to eat up all of my bullets.
-The ledges in the room that contains poly 832 experience some kind of "solid wall" glitch; I don't think they're flagged as such, which is weird. If they are, I was still able to shoot the Cyborgs from the ground with pistols.
-This map needs more pistol ammo. If you're going to keep making me fight monsters in long narrow hallways, I'm going to keep using my pistols; they're the perfect weapon for the map. Add more pistol ammo or let me fight in more tenable spaces.
-Okay, I finally found a 2x recharger. If the first one is in the room with poly 172, that's way too far into the level. At least put a 1x recharger in the room with the first terminal and save. If that's not the first one, put one there anyway, because I never found it after dying about 8 times and going different directions every time.
-I don't know how you're supposed to get that secret Flamethrower, but you can simply jump from the ledge across and grab it as you fall. You don't need to grenade-fly or anything.
-Another hidden 2x recharger, this time by the SMG. These are so hard to find!
-Same with the Fusion Pistol, which I found at last. Tucked away in a room that it looks like you can't reach, behind a pillar. That's so not intuitive; the only reason I found it was because I couldn't find my objective.
-I don't understand this map. I'm looking for a button to press, right? Okay, that's fine. Now why are there so many buttons that don't fucking do anything? Most of these buttons turn on a light. Which button am I looking for? This map is a maze! Nothing makes sense!
-Still looking for the right button. Do I need to actually just press all of these stupid buttons? More updates when I finally finish this damn level.

Update: In retrospect, those ledges were flagged as solid, which is peculiar, because I was able to shoot the Cyborgs anyway. But that's still stupid. Why are they flagged solid? There is no reason for that; they just get in the way and make the level more frustrating.
Last edited by RyokoTK on Dec 29th '06, 03:26, edited 1 time in total.
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goran
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dcbob is going to have a good laugh at this, but the answer to the non existant minor aliens is this:
I changed the minor colorschemes to the major color schemes because I found them to be more good looking. I wasn't opting for harder gameplay, no. It's fighters, troopers, and spht who are effected by this. It's interresting you noticed this. I'll throw some of them back, and change some of them to white/black colorscheme.

Further on vampire coffin:

The location of the ar is a good point and I have 2 sollutions for it:

1. place another AR somewhere
2. make a terminal picture that shows the location of the AR (ppl shouldn't miss the 2nd terminal. it IS visible as hell)

I'll use both of them.

The non existant sounds. I'm aware of this. I figured it would be pretty quiet in their closed base. I'll try to throw in some sounds areas here and there.

The teleporter in the icecave is my sollution to not trap the player. It's possible to raise the staircase and drop down in a room later on and get trapped. HOw about making some new polygons in the icecave so the teleporter seems to be under construction? That could be a reason why there's many pfhor there, and why the teleporter is teleporting such a short unneccessary distance.

For the waves of major fighters at the end: Yes you can blast them away with the AR. The idea was that they should make the player run. I may experiment with throwing some other aliens into the mix. 1-2 hunters in each wave maybe.

For dcbob's wish of mixed alien threats, I'll look into on this level. Many groups are small on this level, and I think it looks ugly as hell to have a hunter and trooper coming at you. 2 troopers, or 2 hunters looks much better. I like to place cyborgs/troopers/hunters/spht among hordes of fighters though. That looks beutiful. Then they look like bosses. Anyway. I'll see what I can do.

----------------------

For mcfortress, I'll take care of the things you noticed. They all seem to be easy fixes. There's a fusion pistol on mcfortress. I think I'll leave it where it is, and put a fusion pistol early on crudelitas. (beginning room maybe)

A recharger on crudelitas could be placed somewhere in the basement right at the start (where you have a pattern and terminal). I returned to that area quite a lot when I played the map. If you have your own suggestions for the placement of a recharger, please let me know.
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RyokoTK
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Finally! On to Welcome to the Corp...
-You don't actually have to do anything on this level to beat it. Read the terminal, and boom. You teleport to the next level. But I'll run through it anyway.
-This level is dull. The lighting never changes, every room (well, corridor, in this case) is the same, and it's just a repetitive, mindless level. Go down this corridor, press the button, go down the next corridor, press that button, etc.
-The instructions I was given by goran in regards to the terminal text don't make sense, and given the context of the level as I heard from him, this level is completely pointless and honestly shouldn't exist. According to goran, the instructions are to input a virus into the computer mainframe and attach another hard-drive. I don't know what that has to do with pressing all of these buttons at the ends of this tangle of hallways and putting a chip in a slot. Maybe I should rewrite the terminals here, or something.
-You can't go back up the lift after you go down it, making this level actually impossible to finish.

Enchanced Intelligence
-What is that word supposed to be? Enhanced? Enchanted?
-Why do I only get grenades?
-This level is stupidly easy. I don't know why you only get grenades, but you get so many that this level isn't hard at all.
-I actually really liked the architecture, texturing, and lighting here. It's stellar. It's just that the level is... frivolous, and there's no sounds again.

My Cat Can Fly
-Once again, the terminal here allows me to exit without completing the level's objectives. Did I screw up with Hex, or what?
-Why are monsters shooting at me underwater? That's hardly fair.
-This level sprawls like a mofo, but I actually like it. It's properly difficult, for one; good, tough battles, but with a good balance of saves and rechargers as well. I'm not so into the water, but I'll live with it.
-So I went to where the chip slot was, but I didn't have the chip. That's okay, but I can't get back to the rest of the level; I can't get out of the water in the room with the two Juggernauts. I ultimately had to kill myself and revive at an earlier save.
-What is the point of the giant room south of poly 931?
-After you punch out the wires next to poly 401, the door nearby opens. Fine, but then it closes again, and I can't go through it again should I want to.
-All of the teleports leave you facing walls.
-Because I was able to leave the level immediately, I'm not entirely sure what my objective is. I think I finished the level, though. The texturing isn't very good on this level; wall textures are used on floors, textures aren't aligned with corners and ledges, etc. It looks sloppy.

20000 Sporks
-The lighting here is poor; it seems like only one light was used for the whole level, and it gives the level a pretty bland look.
-What is up with these MOACs? They both tried to kill eachother, and their flamethrower was replaced with a Trooper grenade? Not a challenging fight at all, by the way; get the Troopers to fight the Cyborgs and you've avoided the whole battle.
-The end terminal should end the game; it doesn't.
-This level isn't challenging at all, which is a real let-down from Xmas Sub 1. Loviva was a very difficult level with a handful of creatively altered monsters (the shotgun Enforcers were real sons of bitches). This level, however, really doesn't live up to the first. It's short, it's easy, and it's just boring. Vary the lighting and add in a lot more monsters -- especially some creatively-altered ones, not like the Frankenstein MOACs -- and this level could really do a lot better.
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