Preki wrote:It's really good to see new enemies and friendly NPCs alike. The beasts are really terryfing, like Pack Hunters on steroids, but amplified ASMD and flare arrows can quickly take care of them... If you're not mauled by them first. Also the new variants of Krall and bigger numbers of these foes made them formidable opponents rather than walking Rifle target practice they were in the original game. Still I wish there would be more Skaarj encounters. And thank God there are no Spinners within the underground ruins, I hate these buggers.
There could have been more Skaarj, I agree. I decided to focus largely on the Krall as the main antagonists early on, as they're the ones invading the island.
There are still some Skaarj and Brutes present as I absolutely had to break the monotony of facing only Krall. Lore wise I've just put these down as independent observers/specialists ensuring that their Krall minions do their jobs. And nice to hear that you (everyone so far) liked the new enemy additions, I'm happy that they break the monotony of applying the usual tactics facing the regular unreal opponents.
Also there are no spinners because I've kind of grown tired of them after having them in about every FS map
Alternatively I could have put down pupae, but lore wise I felt that wouldn't have made much sense with the lackluster Skaarj presence on the island let alone the underground.
Preki wrote:As for the music, yep, the mod is in dire need of new tracks, but not quite new tracks. Remember Nali Chronicles, right? Original tracks for this add-on were composed in a tracker and heavily used samples from Unreal OST. It's new music, but thanks to these samples it still holds that unique atmosphere of Unreal. Toxeen did the same when he scored songs for Operation: Na Pali. The problem is that not many musicians these days use trackers to compose music and with the 227 patch you don't really need to use module files anymore, but I would prefer to have a soundtrack composed in a tracker anyway.
New music is something I would have loved for The One. But exactly for the reasons you mentioned I decided not to focus on that. It would have been very difficult to do/find someone who had time to spend creating pieces that exactly replicates that unreal atmosphere, even more so when we're talking about tracker musicians in the modern age of DAW musicians.
Preki wrote:► Show Spoiler
First of all - the boss fight against the ship at the end is ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL!! I mean... what the hell, Turboman? I couldn't run away from those bombs most of the time, are these homing onto your position or what? Can you destroy them with your guns before they reach and wreck you? I tried finding answers to these questions in scripts of both the ship and bombs. This is definitely the weakest, most frustrating part of otherwise a marvellous experience. Also it's funny you can set a ship on fire with flares or damage it with Razorjack blades.
► Show Spoiler
And yet again I need to apologize for the "unfair" ship bombs! Their difficulty is the result of a really-last minute bugfix.
It IS possible to shoot them and they will often go in a chain reaction that way. The thing is, I think they only become armed (and vulnerable) a few seconds after being released. I did not expect it to turn out so hard on Unreal difficulty. But during my run I usually run far away to the opposite side of the arena once the ship decided to pull its bombing run move. As I mentioned before it will never bomb the entire arena and it will only bomb one side at once.
Preki wrote:BIG SPOILER!! Do NOT open before finishing the game! You've been warned! I just had to share this with Turboman (though it would be better to PM him about this).
I'm fine with discussing the plot in this thread rather than a PM as long as we keep it spoiler-tagged, it might provide insight for other people wondering about the same thing.
Once you've seen all the flashbacks, spoke to all the "mandatory" NPC's, such as the ones that appear to you in the dreams, you should have enough information to tie the plot together. Most of the exposition is tucked into the main sequences after all.
Something we already know from the non-spoiler synopsis from the thread main post: The One is a powerful malevolent Deity that was imprisoned in the underground beneath the island. Yet even from its prison it's powers still seep through the island. Those who linger about too close to its domain are afflicted by a curse.
The story could have a lot of interpretations and my own thoughts on it are just another person trying to interpret a mishmash of these strange random imagery. I'll just explain some things that we can discern a little from the events that occured during your journey.
Spoiler territory ahead, don't read if you haven't finished it:► Show Spoiler
Many of the NPC's you meet are victims to The One, not all seem to be aware of this at the time you meet them. The Skaarj mentioned he's been around quite some time and he made sense out of it. The Nali Acolytes understood their fate. But Solo seems to be oblivious at the beginning, only once you find him at the end he mentions the Sisyphean loop he's stuck in, having to relive these experiences over and over again.
Those who are afflicted by The One suffer a fate far worse than just hallucinations. It controls the entire reality of those it takes ahold of, essentially imprisoning those in a personal hell which defies reality.
For you this manifests itself in weird visions, which play out as a sort of Deja-Vu, but it also seeps through the reality you perceived to be. Na Pali days suddenly flash by in mere hours on the island. You washed upon the same shore again, twice. And the underground that you visit seemingly extends infinitely below the island.
All it's victims tried to reach The One in the hopes to end this curse, but they all failed, instead they relive the cycle over and over until someone manages to wake up and break free...
Then the ending shows that it's over, everyone seems to be free to go about their regular lives, except the player who hasn't survived?
There's actually several interpretations to what actually happened there, all of them are more a less equally valid.
Preki wrote:Is this all a dying man's dream?
Among those your ending explanation is definitely one of the valid conclusions to what
could have actually happened.
As far as the incomprehensibility of the story goes, when building this I've been influenced a little bit too much by David Lynch movies and games such as Silent Hill or Cry of Fear. Hence why it gets pretty bizarre out there with the "visions" and the NPC dialogue getting quite cryptic near the end.
Skaarj Elder
Skaarj Berserker
Skaarj Warrior
Skaarj Scout
Skaarj Warlord
Pupae