Map Title: The Tower of Shrakith'a - Part 1 Author: Geoffrey "MadMartigan" Field From: The Tower of Shrakith'a Filename: Shrak1.unr
Video Playthrough:
Synopsis: During an investigation of a mysterious ruin on a desert planet, it becomes apparent that there is a vast source of power contained within it. Some time into your search of the decayed structure, you absently touch a medallion and a bright ball of bright light surrounds you. Seconds later you find yourself in a large house confronted by strange four-armed creatures and strangely you collapse from fatigue. In the following hours the creatures tell you of your plight, and that this medallion that travels between worlds may only be used in this world if the Guardian is defeated. You learn that the Guardian may be reached through the heights of the Tower of Shrakith'a and you decide that this is where you must go. And so it begins....
Discuss!
Nali: Magic or Telekinesis
Waffnuffly wrote:
It's tarydium-doped smoothies. Drunk by the player, I mean. The player is tripping balls. The whole game actually takes place in a large city and the player thinks he's on an alien world.
A great start to the set. The town itself is in a pretty small area, but all the unique details and different building designs makes it feel more organic than the towns in a lot of other Unreal sets, and it also does a lot with things like texture variety to make buildings feel different but part of the whole. The bridge (with it's green water contrasting with the rest of the map) and pseudo-secret cliff edge after provide a nice transition into the area of the tower itself. If there's one thing I feel the design is missing, I feel the tower should be prominent in the sky throughout, rather than only being visible towards the end; while that was likely the result of limitations, there's probably some tricks that could be done to fake the tower throughout.
As a start the combat for most of the map is low-tier enemies, but there's a major exploration element, and if you don't look around you could miss multiple early weapons and plenty of other equipment; there's a ton of mini-secrets and I'm not fully sure if I've ever found everything. One of the stand-out parts of Shrakith'a is how it creates multiple unique interactions with Unreal's basic elements, and here you have things like the interaction with the Nali and Krall harassing them at points, and even things you can miss like the Nali getting dragged off in a side part of the fog area. The story also draws you into it's world and establishes all it's elements quickly and builds on them throughout in a seemingly effortless way that few others manage (let alone back when this was released).
For the few issues I have, the first jump in the fog area could be made a little easier to accommodate people who don't use dodge/don't know the difference it makes (it's hard not to think dodging wasn't intended with how much easier it makes it). It can also feel a little dark at times, although you are given a long-duration flashlight at the start so this is somewhat accounted for at least. The darkness does play into the Sniper fight in the lead-up to the tower though, which is the most imbalanced fight in the set, with you having an ASMD at best vs Snipers in dark towers; on higher settings the safest solution is probably to just sprint past and deal with the snipers when you go up to the rampart rather than try to fight them on the ground. The last section is quite a difficulty spike in general with things like the Brutes and potentially an Eightball Skaarj in confined areas, but the Snipers are the only part I feel is imbalanced.
Map and and the mini campaign are still surviving extremely well the aging. It has become more noticeable since playing The One, the skybox in particular feels strange because the sky is really bright and the mountains are pitch black.
Regardless the mappack (and more like this map alone) introduced or reinforced so many mapping concepts, like locked doors to give some sense to the places, intelligent use of decorations (non-destructible too), climbing, Mantas in the darkness, foreshadowing and most importantly, Superhealth pickups with a different energy color.
The snipers are ass and overall the AI at the end of the level is not too good. Kinda ends on a weak note due to the fights, which aren't the highlights of the level to begin with. On the other hand it's a well-realized location, with memorable set pieces and visuals.
I agree with the general sentiment: this is an excellent start to a campaign that has aged extremely well. Before ONP, Xidia and other more modern offerings of the 21st century, The Tower of Shrakith'a was already an example of a custom-made SP adventure that can rival, and sometimes surpass, the original Unreal.
I recall an old thread where someone (probably Waff) said something along the lines of The Tower of Shrakith'a being the first campaign to really embrace a more dark fantasy angle with an evil demonic-like foe (similar to - and perhaps an inspiration for - the later EXU2).
This first map succeeds in building up that kind of setting in a gradual way, and you'll be completely won over by the time it transitions to the next level. The deadly fog is still a fantastic idea and does a lot to cement the dark, foreboding atmosphere.
And yeah it's no walk in the park - the finale may be somewhat imbalanced due to the snipers, yet it remains convincing on the Medium difficulty setting, with the context of breaking into the Guardian's stronghold legitimizing the difficulty spike.
The scene in the fourth (bottom-right) screenshot is still definitely among the most recognisable views in the Unreal/UT custom SP mapping milieu.
EDIT: I would speculate that The Tower of Shrakith'a's concept for the "Guardian" and the power to travel between dimensions was inspired by Ultima VII: The Black Gate.
Nali: Magic or Telekinesis
Waffnuffly wrote:
It's tarydium-doped smoothies. Drunk by the player, I mean. The player is tripping balls. The whole game actually takes place in a large city and the player thinks he's on an alien world.
