Unreal Grief Chapter 1

[zacman]

Yeah, gotta hold it down. I didn't think to have that fixed at the time because back then I thought it would balance the weapon. It probably did, but in a very cumbersome way in retrospect.

lol, I just gave up and emptied my Machine Mag ammo into him, then the flechete (Actually killed him fairly fast). But now I know, I might go back and do it with the Quadshot... Might be able to pull off the trick I did in Rise of USP.

[salsaSkaarj]

Well, having played it early evening, I didn't really know what to write.

In a sense it was a disillusion, but on the other hand it was all the more pleasing knowing it's a new LS222 fabrication.


[WARNING - CONTAINS SPOILER]
The major dissillusion is that it 's much too short and that the translator messages indicate things to expect but they don't materialise. And I am still wondering why TF I had to go and get those weapon cards or something. And yes, the door on the left after the glass bridge causes strange sightings and my clothes seem to get stuck on things - you didn't sandpaper that one properly. Basically I thought the visuals inside were poor compared to the visuals outside.


But... and now for the good stuff.

THe view from the starting point was really cool - don't worry about that strange contraption in the middle hanging by 3 thin pieces of metal- I looks good (I managed to get a weapon card on the first one - what about the 2 others? any purpose there).

Gameplay balance? actually I thought the balance was OK. The first Skaarj was difficult but no real danger of dying, the second Skaarj was a piece of cake and the third Skaarj (in the room with the razorjack) has no chance since it's not difficult to keep him in the room long enough so that's he's low on health when he finally manages to get a bit closer. And the reward (the razorjack) makes the rest of the voyage a lot easier (I finally learned how to headshot with more regularity).

THe Brute ambush was fabulous (even though I heard him and tried that strange looking door, I still got suprised by the attack) but 3 razors made him shut up.
Still had enough razors for the others after the glass bridge.
The only real hard fight was the last Skaarj (damn, what class was that, lucky I had the flakcannon and I could move around that central pillar).

And then the big disillussion - the end of the level
[END SPOILER]

Major improvement in gameplay balance as compared to Rise of USP, 3 nice challenges here, also visual improvements, but the story seems seems to be a bit haywired (probably things will become clearer with the sequel - which I certainly hope will come).

[zbreaker]

LS222....Scrags review basically says it all. I must say it was a fun/quick spin in Unreal world. Keep up the interest and effort. It is always good to see new material in this game we all love

[zacman]

@SalsaSkaarj:
[SPOILER]
I found one weapon Cache, and weapon card 2 opens a Cache in the Merc Tower Storage area, but i didn't find anything else
[/spoiler]

@LS222: I think the way into the tower needed to be a little more obvious. I didn't notice the hole hidden behind the pillar at first, and saw the bridge was at a comfortable height... And then encountered your oh-so-kind anticheat sytem. Then I tried the big torch thing beams-Moar anticheat... Maybe in the next maps make the route out of the start a little more obvious?

[Legendslayer222]

I think the way into the tower needed to be a little more obvious.

Well, I hid the hole because I didn't want people to just leap down it straight away without exploring, but as you start off facing Zak there was no real need.

The only real hard fight was the last Skaarj (damn, what class was that, lucky I had the flakcannon and I could move around that central pillar).

Berserker with a custom lord skin to confuse you.

I am still wondering why TF I had to go and get those weapon cards or something.

They were just there as a bonus for exploring players, "Ooh look a card, lucky me gets get bonus weapons" sort of thing.

The Brute ambush was fabulous (even though I heard him and tried that strange looking door, I still got suprised by the attack) but 3 razors made him shut up.

I didn't hear him, must be going deaf, not good for my mapping career.
Actually I had no idea how hard the Brute attack would be, I knew he was there so I was always facing towards him when I hit the trigger to open the chamber.

Major improvement in gameplay balance as compared to Rise of USP, 3 nice challenges here, also visual improvements, but the story seems to be a bit haywired (probably things will become clearer with the sequel - which I certainly hope will come).

No, I'm probably going to abandon the rubbish sub stories for Chapter two, leaving only a few Interrogator mentions and you starting off at the exit to the mountain. No one wants to hear any more about the dodgy mercs and funny Skaarj.
Instead, I'm going to start a new main storyline and quest. With a bit more planning.

[Legendslayer222]

I'm making the first level of chapter 2 now. Maybe I'm being over ambitious, this is going to need about 7 maps and two cut scenes.

[Legendslayer222]

Just want to check a couple of things from the review...

However, the author couldn't seem to decide whether his translator messages were going to be serious or comedic, creating an inconsistent feel.

Which ones did you find particular comedic? Stuff like the flak wielding Nali were meant to be, but on the whole I tried to keep things serious.

The map also has no screenshot for the Oldskool menus.

How do you put screenshots there? I put some under Level Properties > LevelInfo > Screenshot, but do you need to do something else?

As a side note, it's also worth noting that a number of required files are missing from the download, including the custom Quadshot (link provided below) and, less crucially, the Oldskool mod and certain stock music tracks from Unreal (most players probably have these already, but it should have been mentioned in the ReadMe).

Doh! I’ll remember that for next time...

[Hellscrag]

Just want to check a couple of things from the review...

However, the author couldn't seem to decide whether his translator messages were going to be serious or comedic, creating an inconsistent feel.

Which ones did you find particular comedic? Stuff like the flak wielding Nali were meant to be, but on the whole I tried to keep things serious.

The Flak Nali was one of the major ones. There was also the interrogator's log, which didn't read as "serious" to me. I think you also need to work on getting the Skaarj "voice" right in their logs; they didn;t read as aliens to me.

The map also has no screenshot for the Oldskool menus.

How do you put screenshots there? I put some under Level Properties > LevelInfo > Screenshot, but do you need to do something else?

You need to import a screenshot as a texture to MyLevel. 256x256, 256 colour PCX file. Normally the texture would be called "screenshot" in the group "Screenshot", but I don't think that's a requirement. Having done that, you use the level property that you identified to set that texture as the screenshot.

As a side note, it's also worth noting that a number of required files are missing from the download, including the custom Quadshot (link provided below) and, less crucially, the Oldskool mod and certain stock music tracks from Unreal (most players probably have these already, but it should have been mentioned in the ReadMe).

Doh! I’ll remember that for next time...

A minor point, really.

[Legendslayer222]

How do you put screenshots there? I put some under Level Properties > LevelInfo > Screenshot, but do you need to do something else?

You need to import a screenshot as a texture to MyLevel. 256x256, 256 colour PCX file. Normally the texture would be called "screenshot" in the group "Screenshot", but I don't think that's a requirement. Having done that, you use the level property that you identified to set that texture as the screenshot.

I did everything there (size, colour, pcx, mylevel-ed etc.) EXCEPT for the bit about the texture being screenshot in the group screenshot. The thing is, I don't access my maps through the oldskool menus because (as I said before) that crashes the game. I use the console. That way, I can't check to see if the screenshots work or not.

[Hellscrag]

Have you tried installing an up-to-date version of Oldskool yet?

Please remind us of the error message.

[Legendslayer222]

Have you tried installing an up-to-date version of Oldskool yet?

Please remind us of the error message.

Good point, I haven't tried loading from that menu in a while, I'll see if it works now I've got the newer oldskool.

The error I got last time I tried to load the 'custom maps' section of the new game bit was this...

[Hellscrag]

Let us know if the same thing happens again with a newer version of Oldskool...

[Legendslayer222]

Let us know if the same thing happens again with a newer version of Oldskool...

Same thing happens, I select custom maps, wait, game crashes, error message.

[Hellscrag]

Try deleting or renaming your oldskool.ini, so that it has to rebuild the list of custom maps. Warning: You will lose access to your saved games.

[Legendslayer222]

Try deleting or renaming your oldskool.ini, so that it has to rebuild the list of custom maps. Warning: You will lose access to your saved games.

I renamed it to oldskool1.ini and the custom maps bit easily loaded. I renamed it back again for now to reach my Xidia save game though.