Hi all

This may not be of any interest at all, so please let me know if I'm wasting everyone's time. I did actually attempt something like this on the old forum, but I never completed it and it was much less detailed.

It's time for one of my occasional Unreal play-throughs, and I thought I might produce a travelogue on this forum where I talk about the experience, sometimes nostalgically and sometimes looking at the game with a more critical eye. My plan is to start with Unreal, then play RtNP, and then to move onto custom maps for as long as my interest sustains me. I'll play the retail games on Unreal skill and any custom content on Hard skill.

To give this exercise a bit of context, my most recent SP gaming experiences have been Doom, followed by Doom II, then Quake and its mission packs - so I'm definitely moving up in the world!

So, without further ado, let it begin...

_________________

The first two maps of Unreal are tremendously important. Undoubtedly, without these maps' atmospheric design, clever gameplay set-pieces, dramatic contrasts in design, subtle use of backing story delivered through the Universal Translator and their clever showing off of most of the engine's most innovative features, many of us wouldn't have been nearly so captivated by this game.

Vortex Rikers - by Cliff Bleszinski

You have to love the way the game starts. You regain consciousness in a devastated cell block, staring at the ceiling, damaged and unarmed. The lack of an intro sequence or in-game explanation for your presence here gives the player a disorientated, slightly amnesiac feeling that suits the game well.

Sound is very effectively used here, too, with silence except for the bleeping alarm, punctuated by the occasional sounds of distant explosions or announcements from the clearly damaged ship's computer.



Exploring the cell block is a sobering experience. You are surrounded by death and the desparation felt by the inmates prior to your arrival here is palpable. Small details like the bloody toilet with the bandage predominate (a very effective way to introduce that inventory item, by the way...), and the collapse of the lighting gantry is a genuinely shocking moment.

The shocks continue if the player accidentally triggers the electric chair in the execution chamber - a spectacular display of pyrotechnics!



Travelling through the shaking vents filled with green steam (and catching the briefest glimpse of a Skaarj) is a head-tripping experience, and is shortly followed by one of Unreal's truly immortal moments as the player steps out onto the bridge and the music starts.



It is here that the player starts to piece together where he is and what has taken place to leave the ship in such a state of devastation. At this point the player starts to feel sadness (not for the last time in Unreal) for the victims of the crash. The screaming corpse at the navigator's station is another nice little shock moment. Piecing together the demise of the Rikers is a theme that continues for the rest of the map.

From here onwards the map is primarily an atmospheric exercise in exploration, but, of course, no travelogue of Unreal would be complete without a mention of the infamous jammed door sequence, since echoed but never outdone: a great exercise in the use of light and sound, and a great example of the "less is more" approach to frightening the player. When the door finally opens to a shower of body parts, the first full-body view of a Skaarj is a fantastic moment.

As the first of Unreal's annoying little bugs, however, it's a pity that, when the music re-starts, it plays at the wrong speed.

NyLeve's Falls - by Juan Pancho Eekels

In case Vortex Rikers wasn't impressive enough, NyLeve's Falls brings us the first of Unreal's true awe-moments: stepping out of the close confines of the ship and into a verdant natural environment replete with the sights and sounds of nature... and then, of course, there's the powerful, mystical and uplifting music.



It may not look that impressive nowadays, but one has to remember that, when Unreal first came out, the mucky beiges/browns and blurry skins of Quake II were the cutting edge of 3D game graphics. This was arguably the first time that a game had immersed the player fully in a living, breathing and inspiring natural environment. The presence of the Nali Rabbit that hops across the ground in front of you, palm trees, birds in the sky and fish in the pool all add to the effect.

The story of the Vortex Rikers crew is effectively continued by the logs of the dead bodies scattered around the first Nali hut. Said logs also make reference to the ISV-Kran in Unreal's first example of textual foreshadowing: this kind of thing helps the game to feel like one continuous world.

The first Tentacle: This fight takes the form of an unexpected attack from behind as the player enters the hut. A low-key ambush but an effective way to introduce the first of Unreal's "pest" classes.

As the player heads back towards the crashed ship, he gets a nicely composed view of the heat-scored vessel with its flickering ident panel: another iconic image.



But it's when the player reaches the cliff edge that NyLeve's Falls' awe factor is at its highest. The fact that the game can not only convincingly portray a canyon of this sheer size but also include playable areas at both the top and bottom of it says a lot about the game's sense of Conceptual Grandness. The combination of visuals and sound effects leave a lasting impression.



It's not long before the player enters a gloomy alien outpost, in yet another effective exercise in stark contrast.

The first LesserBrutes: The LesserBrute is introduced as the game's first challenging opponent in an exceptionally well designed combat sequence. From the first LesserBrute flinging a human body against the wall before rounding the corner and charging at the player, accompanied by a dramatic change in the pace of the music, to the second LesserBrute which emerges from the doors to the right as the player retreats, this is another sequence that makes an impression on the first-time player.



At this point, the player who explores is rewarded with a visit to the bottom of the canyon. However, here we enounter the second of Unreal's annoying little bugs, namely the lift down to the bottom of the canyon, which can get incredibly confused if the player touches the controls located inside the lift itself. The music after the fight sequence is also clumsily handled: after the fight, it should have been configured to fade to silence rather than continuing to play the combat music until the player either exits the outpost at the top or kills the LesserBrute at the bottom.

The first Manta: The attack at the bottom of the canyon by a single Manta is well handled, as the creature generally attacks from off-screen. It can take a tense few seconds to locate the creature, and first time players might take its calls to be part of the natural environment and be surprised to find themselves being attacked at all (the alternate first Manta fight, at the top of the outpost, is also well handled, being referenced by the log of a nearby dead human which also introduces the player to the Nali Healing Fruit).

On lower difficulty settings this is also the player's first chance to meet a live Nali. It's a nice touch for replay value, although rather sad, that he appears as a dead body on higher difficulty settings. There's another example of effective textual foreshadowing here, with a reference to Chizra's temple.

Visiting this part of the map also allows the player to appreciate the minor subplot of the Van Wely brothers, who become separated when one leaves his injured brother in search of help but ends up dead himself.

Moving on to the last part of the map, we encounter the first of many impressive building frontages, namely the entrance to Rrajigar Mine. This bold and uncompromising design very clearly announces that a change in location is imminent. The alien structures are also a sharp contrast to the simple stone huts of the natives, making clear that something is very wrong on this planet.



For the explorer, however, the map isn't over yet, and the optional detour to the storage facility is a worthwhile addition to the map that helps it to feel like a complete environment. The storage facility also makes good use of black shadows to provide an effective LesserBrute ambush. The use of darkness adds to environments like these, and with so many Flashlights and Flares around, the player is seldom ill-equipped to cope with it.

_________________

To be continued...! Commentary on later maps will, inevitably, not be as detailed as this, as a lot of the above deals with the player's first impressions of the game.

very very good read 2 x . If you keep going, you could publish your own book like Hourences!! I would buy it.



Interesting.. I'll have to take a closer look into that bug. Didn't realize that Vortex2.unr had any bugs at all.

It's actually a problem with the way the map uses vortex.umx. When the ambient music in Vortex Rikers comes back in, it's not at the start of the song section. Consequently the speed isn't re-initialised properly and the track plays at the wrong speed, presumably because the "heartbeat" song section uses a faster speed setting than the ambient song section. An update to vortex.umx could easily have resolved this issue if Epic had taken the time to do it.

(Some understanding of how tracked music works would be helpful in following the above!)

Thanks for the kind words btw. It's certainly not to a publishable standard, though.

Nice read!

Nowadays I cannot really feel the immersion factor of Unreal anymore. For instance I simply zip through the Vortex Rikers, for the only matters of concern left are the way the Skaarj in the foggy vent simply disappears in an instant, when you look at him (the explosions don't cover him well enough in OpenGL), avoiding the damaged cable and getting the armor and full health before leaving the map. Also I found the accidental electrocution sequence to be rather pathetic instead of shocking or disturbing. Though I must admit I didn't even discover or fully realize it in my first, immersed playthroughs.

NyLeve is an entirely different matter, though. even today I still appreciate the map. Playing it in the usual ways became bland, however it is a most excellent testing ground or a place to simply mess around with summoning and other commands.

Nice replay Scrag . Reading it brought back a stream of nostalgic euphoria and a smile to my face. God....that first time through the game was such a beautifully immersive experience...your observations capture it well.
I will confess here that during my first go thru I had to call the special "Help#" on the jewel case just to get through the Vortex Rikers. My comp at the time and lousy rendering prevented me from seeing the air duct to enter and I was going around in circles for 2 days

AHHHH! coronas!

Nice reading Scrag

I must agree with Sanastro here - I was never really worshipper of Vortex Rikers, it looks funny and unconvincing for me, although reaching the navigation room was interesting expierience.
As for NyLeve - always love it. So atmospheric.....

Anyway, I'm really looking forward for further chapters

Vortex Rikers is the best map ever. Crushes everything else in your first playthrough.

Then there's Nyleve - the other ownage. Too bad its waterfall isn't anymore cool nowadays.

Good to see you pick up the walkthru again, Scrag! I missed it after you stopped some months ago!

I like the coronas on the bridge. They may be a bit surreal, but then this is UNreal!

Huge coronas aren't appropriate everywhere, but in the strange, dazed atmosphere of the Vortex Rikers I think they work.

Rrajigar Mine - by Cliff Bleszinski

Rrajigar Mine very quickly establishes its credentials as a (comparitively) hardcore combat segment compared to the mystery and exploration of the first two maps. I used to hate this segment, but these days I have much more respect for it from a design standpoint. The map makes good use of vivid colours and sound effects to make what could have been a very drab environment come alive.



You enter an underground dominated by heavy metal alien technology. From the first areas the map does look like a working mine, with chambers carved out of rock caves, strewn with glowing tarydium crystals, mining carts and crates (the blue tarydium crystals are another recurring design element in the game that help it feel like a cohesive world, and later become a major element of the Nali planet's mystical atmosphere).

Rrajigar Mine is also notable for the extensive use of hidden secret areas, an early example of which provides a nice storyline aside and provides textual foreshadowing of Harobed Village. Areas like this enhance the environment and make it seem less linear.



Of course, Rrajigar Mine also contains what is possibly Unreal's most iconic combat sequence...

The first SkaarjScout: Having deactivated the Force Field generator, the player turns around and the atmospheric opening music fades away to silence, and what previously seemed like a fairly benign part of the map suddenly seems a lot more threatening. As the player heads back the way he has come, bars seal him into the corridor with a loud wrenching noise, and a rhythmic clicking starts up ahead as the lights are extinguished one by one. There then follows a very tense couple of seconds in total darkness, before all hell breaks loose - claxons blare, red lights strobe, and the player, armed only with the most basic of weapons, is confronted with one of the quickest and most intelligent creatures hitherto seen in a computer game. For the first time player, it is a truly harrowing and disorientating fight, and a fantastic way to play out the Skaarj attack that the player has been waiting anxiously for since Vortex Rikers.

Unfortunately, the combat music now proceeds to drive the player insane by carrying on for ages. (Epic really hadn't nailed their use of dynamic music in these first few maps!)



The player now descends into the lower reaches of the mine, enhanced by the lava, which bubbles evilly, and the unnerving use of earthquakes and collapsing scenery (environmental hazards are utilised well thoughout Rrajigar Mine). The player also gets to pick up the game's first and only Voice Box (yay!).

It is here that the player first encounters a Nali in the middle of a combat setting. Those who manage to hold their fire when turning a corner and suddenly encountering the frightened native are handsomely rewarded... assuming the Skaarj operating the nearby console doesn't kill him before he can help.



Skaarj are used well throughout Rrajigar Mine. Most are either operating consoles or ambush the player in an interesting way, instead of just standing around like a Brute.

At last the combat music stops as the player enters a nicely designed cave and is ambushed by another Skaarj. Unfortunately, after this point, the map ceases to feel like a mine as the player enters a series of more generic corridors and control rooms. The music that starts during the next segment as the main ambient theme for the map, however, is a well-composed piece with a good sense of travel to it.



The second Nali, encountered after the cargo lift in the upper control room containing mining carts, is the first to be placed at a really great risk of death. Preventing the Skaarj at the consoles from slaughtering the native is a tense moment for even a seasoned player.

Soon the player arrives at what is perhaps Rrajigar Mine's most memorable area, namely the lava cave with the collapsing bridges. The alert player has been forewarned about the state of the bridges, so this isn't a "learn by dying" situation. The all-pervasive lava and red light creates a moody effect.



You know, however, if you get to see this view, that you might have been slightly clumsy...



The cave with the bridges also presents the map's most difficult Nali-saving scenario. It is essential to distract the LesserBrute before he can fire on the tarydium barrels and obliterate the nearby Nali. In the past I have attended to approach this combat sequence by climbing up the plank from the lava below, so that the LesserBrute is forced to turn away from the barrels.

After this the rest of the map becomes rather generic, although the sequence at the end with the giant fans and the damaged catwalk makes me nervous to this day.

Depths of Rrajigar - by Cliff Bleszinski

This was originally part of the same map as Rrajigar Mine, which is odd as it feels quite different. The lighting is less colourful and the map feels even less like a mine and more like a storage facility. The name, Depths of Rrajigar, is also a misnomer, as much of the map takes place at or near the surface of the planet.

None the less, the creature placement continues to be reasonably well designed, with most Skaarj either operating equipment or lying in wait to ambush the player.



The first Brute: The first proper Brute fight passes rather uneventfully in a room at surface level. The sniping tactic of the Brute and the presence of a large cluster of tarydium barrels does, however, make the sequence at least moderately challenging.



There follows a short underground sequence which is the map's only real gesture to the mine theme. The attack by a Skaarj who emerges from the bright white fog, however, is quite a nice moment.



The player then emerges into a very drab, Quake II-esque environment used for the storage of crates.



There is little to distinguish the map design after arriving in this area, although the gas transfer station is, admittedly, another fairly classic Unreal view. The actions and sound effects of the gas transfer station also continue a reasonably high standard of interactivity in the map environment, which started in Rrajigar Mine with the electric beams of the Force Field generator and the use of explosive tarydium barrels to reveal a secret area.



The first SkaarjWarrior: The first SkaarjWarrior is introduced here as kind of mini-boss, but the effect of using the slightly tougher Skaarj class is more psychological than it is an actual increase in combat difficulty.



The hidden water pool revealed by collapsing the bridge here, which players can only really discover by accident and are only likely to reveal if they have already found the hidden ASMD, is a nice touch that adds to the replay value of the game and is a nice reminder of the beautiful natural environment of the planet, which now isn't so very far away.

Anybody who has any comments on the maps that I'm played, or a differing view than mine, feel free to pitch in... that way I know I'm not talking to myself.

Personally I didn't mind the SkaarjScout encounter's continuing combat music. I thought it underscored the adrenaline rush and thoughts Prisoner 849 probably would have under such circumstances ("OH GOD WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT I HAVE TO GET OUTTA HERE") very well. The music change later on might have suggested that the situation and the player character have calmed down.

I never discovered the VoiceBox pickup before being made aware of it's presence here. Also I almost never managed to rescue the Nali in the lava cave for some reason. The Rrajigar maps are indeed full of little surprises and secrets like that.. yet despite all the nice things I can't get myself to like the Mines. I always tend to just rush through; but then again I probably don't have the eye for the Unreal campaign's hidden beauty anymore!

You described the SkaarjWarrior encounter in the Depths of Rrajigar as a "mini-boss", however I never perceived it as such. The "psychological effect" also kind of went by unnoticed; all in contrast to the Brute fight which I appreciated as something special.

Yet another pleasant reading! Why don't you publish the travelogue in a new UnrealSP.Org section? I'm sure it qualifies as a post-mortem of some kind, the kind you often see on popular game reviewing sites.

The first Skaarj fight has one of the most impressive build-ups that I ever seen.

CliffyB's maps have really fun gameplay.

All that is true, but it makes me want to rush through the game, which is precisely what I don't want to do.



Well, on some maps its beauty is more hidden than on others! I've never liked the Mine texture set - taking Foundry as an exceptionally drab example of how not to use it - but it works quite well here IMO due to the colourful lighting, lava and intermittent use of natural rock.



I was more suggesting that there was an intention that it be a mini-boss that doesn't really come across in the gameplay. As you rightly say, it doesn't really work.



I may well do that if I manage to keep going.



The surviving ones in Unreal do have good gameplay. I wonder if CliffyB was upset that so much of his stuff was cut from the released version? There's no more of his stuff in the released version after Rrajigar.