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	Re: Tempus Irae Volunteers - Dark/Epicus/Lather .
	Posted By: Mark Levin	Date: 12/27/03 3:16 p.m.
	In Response To: Tempus Irae Volunteers - Dark/Epicus/Lather . . . (Steve Levinson) : In our briefing, we are informed that a Pfhor Dreadnought has entered orbit : and that the planet's defenses are minimal. This places the time period : definitely after the Pfhor attack on Tau Ceti, but it's not clear that it : is after the events of M2/Moo, or how long after. What is particularly : intriguing to me is the question of whether S'bhuth has returned us to our : own time period and that these events are occurring in sequence after the : rest of the TI scenario, or perhaps has done exactly as he suggested - : altered our path so that what happens next is independent of the rest of : TI. We'll see in the next level that this is probably the case. If he has : truly altered our path, it's possible that the events of the rest of TI : never even happened in this timeline. Who knows. I suspect this briefing is meant to take place in the same "universe" as the terminals on Prison Sex. S'bhuth returned us to the present and we returned to whatever we were doing before he showed up. Then, a while later, he calls on us a third time to end it once and for all. : At the end of the level, S'bhuth introduces himself - that's : right - he introduces himself. Why would he do that if he had been : communicating with you in the previous level? I think this makes it likely : that you are now in a different timeline. However, S'bhuth also refers to : Leonardo, but in an analogy. Is this a plot inconsistency, or am I reading : too much into this? "I am S'bhuth" isn't much of an introduction :) I think it makes much more sense to read this as merely an acknowledgment of communication ("Hello? Anyone on this terminal?" "Hey, this is S'bhuth, wassup?") rather than the Marine not knowing who S'bhuth is. : The final level of this trio is Lather, Rinse, Repeat. This level was : originally intended for the first TI scenario, but replaced with Hang to : Dry due to difficulties with the level that made it too difficult to play. : Although still a very difficult level, it has been cleaned up for TI2-TLL : and is very much a blast to play. It is clear why the Nardo group used the : ruse of a religious order bringing the manuscript to Alpha Centauri - they : wanted to use the earth texture set and needed a viable reason to use : stone building materials on Alpha Centauri. This is a compact level, which : is a good thing since the player needs to go back to some areas again and : again as they defeat security locks and open new areas, eventually : granting access to the "nexus" that the Pfhor have built where : they are analyzing the manuscript. Sometimes it can be confusing where the : player needs to go next, but there are a limited number of blocked doors : and passages so that there is seldom far to go to find out. I have to disagree here: This level is quite annoying to play. The automap is utterly useless; there are so many windows the entire complex is instantly visible (and overlapping) and one can't use the standard technique of looking for open-ended hallways, half-visible rooms, and so on. I have a lot of trouble memorizing the layout, having to constantly consult the map for the location of stairs up the second floor in particular. The usual complaint of switches being far from their doors applies, and the spoiler guide admits that the switches are deliberately layed out to force the player to visit most of the level. And aside from the puzzles, I didn't find the combat all that difficult. Another thing about this level is that the texturing is a cut below most of the rest of TI. It uses a lot of the brightly colored "decorative" textures, but they come off as more garish than fancy, unlike many of TI's levels. I'm also pretty sure I spotted some textures obviously meant for walls being used as floors and vice versa. Continuing the theme of texture complaints, I suspect that too much effort was dedicated to making sure no room looked like any other, rather than making them individually look good. The mixing of technology and Renaissance architecture isn't done nearly as well as Mt. Vesuvius, although this could be accepted as meaning the Pfhor have built their installation on top of an existing human building instead of making it from scratch as they apparently did in MV (which returns us to the question of why there would be a classical stone building on a distant colony).

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Replies:

	Tempus Irae Volunteers - Dark/Epicus/Lather . . .	Steve Levinson	12/27/03 2:01 p.m.
	Re: Tempus Irae Volunteers - Dark/Epicus/Lather .	Mark Levin	12/27/03 3:16 p.m.

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