20/09/2018 - "Approaching the coast" by Kimmo "Cardiologist" Kontto

[UB_]

Map Title: Approaching the coast
Author: Kimmo "Cardiologist" Kontto
From: Skaarj Tower - The Fall of Seethe
Filename: ST-thecoastline.unr
Music Files: sdmfar.umx




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QpZDEvq-SU&t=

Synopsis: Approach the coast. Take the galleon. Ride for an unseen endless journey.

Discuss!

[Mister_Prophet]

Strange, I know I've played this one but I blur some aspects of the Skaarj Tower levels together. To explain, as I recall the Skaarj Tower levels are interesting because they are two sets of releases made by two different mappers, the second one (Fall of Seethe) being a sequel.

My memory of this one is limited to the blue torches lining that path in the screenshot, which I thought were quite distinctive way back when though the other screenshots provoke thoughts of what I remembered was another map from the set. I guess that's a testament to the Skaarj Tower maps, as scale was always an important factor and more so than any set of levels I've played I have a hard time remembering which level ends where and which level begins there. To confound things, I'm ashamed to say I've played this follow up a one handful of sessions many years ago. I suppose this is a good opportunity to brush up.

By chance, does anyone recall the circumstances involving how this one came to pass as a release? I ask because I'm curious in this sort of arrangement, did Cardiologist work with the original Skaarj Tower author initially? It's been years, but I really remember this one being a case of two different authors, apologies if I'm confusing this situation with another. At the time, I thought it was a really cool idea for users to adopt campaign sequels if the previous mapper could not continue work on it in order to preserve the progress of content.

[UB_]

By chance, does anyone recall the circumstances involving how this one came to pass as a release? I ask because I'm curious in this sort of arrangement, did Cardiologist work with the original Skaarj Tower author initially? It's been years, but I really remember this one being a case of two different authors, apologies if I'm confusing this situation with another. At the time, I thought it was a really cool idea for users to adopt campaign sequels if the previous mapper could not continue work on it in order to preserve the progress of content.

Was meant to be a collaboration mappack between the two mappers, then Drew retired because he had no time and left all to Cardiologist.

[salsaSkaarj]

Damn, I know I've played the Fall of Seethe in the past, but the screenshots don't ring a bell at all.

[UB_]

I never noticed this one never had a MOTW vid. It's Fall of Seethe's ending, basically you walk from point a to b and kill Mercenaries and a Titan on the way.

What sets the level is how summery it is (the skybox) and also most definitely the song used. Indeed I decided to open up this motw because the day or two before I wanted to listen how Far from home (the name of the track, by Sandman) was once again.
I listened it and felt somehow completely depressed inside - thinking about another summer that just went away, back when I played a lot of these "new" mappacks around 10 years ago, the status of the Unreal community all these years.

I have nothing else to say, just that I enjoy playing this level overall, it's chill.

[Semfry]

I do have a video but it's on my ancient DailyMotion account, which means I'll redo it anyway (because the quality was ass back then).

[Semfry]

A short and simple end map with a few diversions that don't really have anything beyond a few enemies to kill and then a boss fight. The idea of you starting in a dark canyon and then ending in the sunlight is a nice idea, but the cliffs could probably be a bit higher to sell the darkness better. As mentioned the music is nice but the level isn't long enough to hear it properly when playing it as intended. Simplistic but it does it's job as an end.

[Sat42]

A good map, but coming after the mappack's climax I have to admit it felt a bit disappointing. This short campaign deserved to have only great maps, seeing as it is the sequel to the king of conceptual grandness - Skaarj Tower - Shadow and Fire. Also the skybox is suffering from the same visible borders as the final level in Deja Vu v2.01. There could have at least been a small ending cinematic to show the ship leaving for its unknown destination... that would have wrapped things up nicely. At least the Mercenaries show some resistance (if you choose to fight them all - seeing as the fight in the abbey is optional), and yes the valley is nice and the blue torches lining that path constitute a distinctive feature - as does that unique song.

The fact that the story, de facto, ends here definitely makes one feel nostalgic: it remains a typical Unreal-thing, that story of escape that never ends, and in this particular tale there's always the promise of eventually finding your fellow humans (alive!) but the player never sees that promise realised... of course that was also partly due to technical limitations (the base game avoided showcasing conversations with live characters, much like the original System Shock, and has arguably aged better for it - this is not yet as technically evolved as Deus Ex), but it does result in rather credible feelings of loneliness on an alien world (barring the occasional encounters with the Nali, that result in the most basic - but effective - form of non-violent communication).
I do really like the fact that there are community mappacks that do things differently (Operation Na Pali, Nali Chronicles, etc.) but it's interesting to see the results of various takes on the original idea, and how they become either stereotypical or more emotionally impactful for it.