Kajgue wrote:
Now that I think about it I'd actually like to see a well done Red Dwarf Unreal mappack lmao.
It could work using something like
firetrucks for dialogue and such
of course it would require someone with good knowledge of the show (and even being part Brit myself, I didn't know about Red Dwarf before this map's review landed last year - a likely consequence of not having spent more than a few years living in the UK).
The common thread here, of course, is that all 3 maps are a first release for their respective authors and are tech based / sci-fi oriented. And while
Pointless doesn't say anything explicitly, it makes you start in a closed space with your back to the wall with the exit in front of you, just like the others which are explicitly about escaping... basically, they are all a form of retread of the way
Unreal started (from a game design perspective). Even while
Pointless does feel like it transitions toward infiltrating a place as Semfry said, the first part - with the dead human bodies lying around and the broken down living quarters area - points to a human space that was invaded by the aliens you encounter (so you first need to break out from that).
I agree with TigerTheGreat that
Pointless is actually more enjoyable than the more original
Gelf Prison Camp, and while I'd shave off a few points to the latter's review score, I also acknowledge that it would likely still score a bit more highly than the former due to the scheme rewarding efforts in the narrative department... and since I'm on the topic of review scores, I'd also like to take the opportunity to highlight how
Morene, by far the most well realised out of these 3 maps, has the lowest rating! Mister_Prophet, you were way too severe
I know the review dates back to when the USP review scheme was updated to be more stringent, but time has clearly mellowed the average review score (*
cough* 94% *
cough*). Of course, Proph has stated before how relative the review score is, and how it would be nice to have more second opinions, but just sticking to the matter at hand, I'd say that while
Morene was rated a bit too highly in the old review scheme (at 6.5/10), it would deserve being scored in the low 50s, not 30s.
As mentioned by others here,
Morene can still look really good and the gameplay is actually interesting as it presents a challenge and a couple of twists (I particularly like the Brute lobbing grenades at you, it is well timed to give you time to react AND result in the triggering of explosive barrels - this moment is even used as the screenshot for the map in the
UT Oldskool menu
) - but as UB said, on a first playthrough it gives the illusion of having more to it than it actually has and I too recall being surprised by the sound of the Queen's screeching while riding that elevator... still, the map has a proper ending which is more than can be said of the vast majority of people's first releases.
Gelf Prison Camp at least has an OK Starbug which is appropriately the most memorable set piece of the map, but the only other unique art asset was indeed only used once for a corpse - "check out the GELF's naked arse!" the readme said gleefully. I interpret this as meaning that the dead GELF was actually rescuing you (and succeeded in breaking the bars to your cell before being killed), and hence looks different from the ordinary Brutes...
