01/02/2025 - "Illhaven" by Tim "Kew" Jarvis

[Sat42]

Map Titles:

• Kew's Dream
  Return to Illhaven
  The Hall of the Eight
  Illhaven

Author: Tim "Kew" Jarvis
From: The Illhaven Saga & Illhaven Anthology
Filenames:

• illhaven_101.unr (Illhaven Anthology)
  illhaven_102.unr (Illhaven Anthology)
  illhaven_103.unr (Illhaven Anthology)
  illhaven_1.unr (original) / illhaven_104.unr (Illhaven Anthology)

Illhaven (original):



Kew's Dream:


Return to Illhaven + The Hall of the Eight:


Video Playthrough:


Synopsis: "At last, I return to Illhaven Harbor. Many moons have passed since I was last here. I have fought with Heretics and with Trollocs since I last set foot in Illhaven. But wait, what manner of creatures now invade my home? My name is Kew..."

Discuss!

[Semfry]

I did the original Saga intro map at the start of the video before moving to the Anthology; it's simple but it's only a few seconds long, and I remember it being an impressive touch back when it first released.

The first new Anthology start map is a nice intro that sets up the new story aspects and establishes it's own atmosphere. The second feels like a bigger plan must have been intended given it's literally one room and you can leave right away (I guess the messages also acknowledge the biggest sources of inspiration for the set), which could be easily handled by a teleporter or other transition rather than a new level. Then there's the hub which is the most contentious part of the new Illhaven, as it being forced regardless of gameplay mode makes the set feel less coherent as a single journey, but it's okay for what it is.

The actual first map is a great intro despite the aged aspects; stuff like the texturing getting more decrepit as you head towards Kew's house sells heading into older parts of the city, and the medieval atmosphere is sold by the details throughout despite the relatively simple geometry. The initial boat trip while being watched by Skaarj is also an iconic introduction, although it can get a little awkward if you're trigger happy. The combat is mostly simple, but the tight alleys and ambushes from above make it easy to get caught out if you aren't paying attention. The weighing towards Razorjack and Sniper ammo also gives the gameplay here a somewhat distinct style too, with you feeling more starved on the weaker weapons for most of the map. The Razorjack also fits the confined combat here well, and I think this was one of the first maps that made me realise how good it could be when used right. The tightness also creates a lot of exploration, with multiple house interiors to explore and a couple that can be overlooked quite easily if you aren't checking everywhere (as well as only a small amount of the map being required, although you'll be low on equipment if you go right for the end).

I feel the story aspects really bring this map together though; Kew's melancholy anecdotes about the history of different places and people does a lot of the work in quickly selling you on the fantasy world the set takes place in, as well as communicating your goal and building up to the more intimidating moments (I remember being pretty creeped out by the dungeons on my first playthrough). Some of the messages do feel a little randomly placed, but if you look around the main areas you should stumble on the important ones. I do find it a little odd there's no comment on the Nali in the secret dungeon room though. While the story change supports it, I do slightly prefer the original ending with the boat getting blocked off over the somewhat empty harbour the new version stops on.

The music choice is one of the weakest aspects as the Nyleve track doesn't fit the dark atmosphere at all, and the Dasa track would be the obvious choice for this level (but hardly the only better choice); this map could own it as well as Shrakith'a manages to. The sound is mostly fine but a really fast drip sound at one point is a little silly. The Mercenaries also don't fit at all; even treating this as a new universe where they work with Skaarj, their appearance doesn't work with the low-tech style at all. While seemingly not a map issue the HD textures also seem to misalign the moon for some reason.

[Kajgue]

I have to admit i don't remember too much of the story in this pack but pretty sure that Illhaven will always be one of those 'iconic early mappacks'.

I always really loved the suble bent roofing ontop of buildings in this pack - gives the architecture so much character.

Speaking of 'character', while i think there are alot of aspects to this mappack which are rather antiquated now but I can't deny Illhaven bursts at the seams with character.

[TigerTheGreat]

It's worth mentioning that the description itself references Tim Jarvis' work on Heretic II and Wheel of Time... and there even is a custom WoT map showcasing the Illhaven harbor. Elayna's trek through the place is its own beast, but worth a whirl nonetheless.

[Sat42]

The Illhaven Saga version of Illhaven is still my preferred way of playing it, and I switch to Illhaven Anthology for the new maps exclusively.
The reason is that among Illhaven Anthology's little touch-ups to the original maps, some changes are objectively worse, such as the addition of Mercenaries (indeed clashing with the medieval aesthetic, as pointed out by Semfry), or a new room that is just a big rectangular cuboid (with another Merc inside), and yes, the original ending with the boat getting blocked off is a more dramatic scene than the rather empty ending of the new version.

Shame about the floating torchflame decorations bug affecting the whole of The Illhaven Saga though! That's one thing that the Illhaven Anthology does properly clean up (maybe I should just go in the original .unr files and clean that up myself...).
EDIT: found a fix for the bug regarding the flames floating too highly above the sconces and being simultaneously too big in Illhaven Saga (N.B. unlike what the included ReadMe suggests, I found that the fixed maps still work in Unreal Tournament v436 using Oldskool, not just Unreal v227): https://www.moddb.com/mods/illhaven-sag ... me-bug-fix

Besides the above nitpicks, the advantage of playing through The Illhaven Saga first is that the "compilation" feel of Illhaven Anthology will feel far less confusing, with the hub map - The Hall of the Eight - suddenly being an advantage as you can just skip the old stuff and play the new maps. Also, I found the whole intro sequence to Illhaven Anthology to be particularly emotional, in a sort of intimate way that is very rare in the Unreal/UT scene, and that is because I had already first experienced The Illhaven Saga. Woah - the Illhaven harbour with snow! Remember that first journey through here? [EDIT: I realise this was already done at the end of The Illhaven Saga, so the Illhaven Anthology intro is a direct callback to that ending.] And with the music (in Kew's Dream, I mean) and the character's melancholic thoughts it's just really good... I agree with Semfry that Return to Illhaven could really have been part of the same intro map given how short it is, but the emotional resonance is still present, and fun fact: last year I finally played through The Wheel of Time (excellent, by the way), so this time I understood the references the author placed here, and it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling

Anyway, Illhaven itself is at least one of the best maps in The Illhaven Saga (perhaps the single best one, in terms of things being the least likely to break gameplay-wise, but there's another map later on which makes up for some janky gameplay implementation by having the story's climax and even more impressive scenery), and just a small step behind the best new maps for Illhaven Anthology. It absolutely rivals the better stock Unreal levels (just not quite on the same level as Bluff Eversmoking), and incredibly its development started as the intro map for a Quake total conversion and ended up being the main model for the opening level in Heretic II (which I have installed and still need to play).

Kajgue absolutely nailed it by saying that this mappack is bursting with character.