: John, it's good to have you playing. I will really be curious to see if you
: can beat the clock on the 4th level. Keep in mind of course that you're
: expected to fail the first time through and are later sent back there. Now
: I have to figure out what Forrest means by following Lela . . .
Ok, I have been playing level 4 for quite awhile now. (Did I say I the university is in session? shh...don't tell the dean!!). As for the level itself, I really, really like this level. It has good monster placement, nicely placed O2 rechargers, and generally good action. I think the complete symmetry might be a weakness, ONLY because it makes the level predictable. if you know what's going to happen on the right side, then you can almost guarantee the same thing will happen on the other side. But that's really minor in my mind since it's an advantage to the player. Also, the liquid in the middle of the opening room is not very noticable to me as liquid. Perhaps allowing it to rise and fall with greater depth would make it seem more like a liquid. But not such a large enough depth so that the player has difficulty running through it. Just a thought.
As for beating the clock on TC....whoa!! Hmmm.....well, I agree with everything Steve said. It's probably doable. However, it's going to be alot like vidding Acme Station. It isn't going to take as much skill, as it will incredible timing and A LOT OF LUCK. There isn't alot of ammo or weapons. Plus these enemies are too unpredictable in their movements throughout the level. I tried 6 times or so to beat the clock. Only one time did I make it all the way to the term. The other times I had too many enemies clogging up certain intersections. Forrest, I think you have to decide whether you want there to be a reasonable chance for the player to beat the clock or not on TC and perhaps Major Damage. Steve, refresh my memory if I am wrong, but isn't it much easier to "beat the clock" in Rubicon's "Hairy Legs" on the easier difficulty settings than on TC? I wouldn't expect anything less in G3 and I would expect it to be very tough to beat the clock on TC. At the same time if I recall, there IS a fairly reasonable chance of success in "Hairy Legs" when playing on TC. Since Steve has beat the clock in G3 on Normal setting, it seems only right that it be reasonably possible on TC. After trying this for 6 times or so, it seems that the main thing that makes it tough to beat the clock is that the enemies have too much "freedom" to roam the level. There isn't enough time to fight all the enemies. You have to dodge some of them. Unfortunately since the early Troopers and Hunters seem to have a lot of freedom to move around, they tend to clog up important junctions, forcing the player to fight or die. It might make beating the clock more of a possibility if Forrest could control the range of the enemies with clever placement of "monster impassable" polys. That would be my first suggestion. I realize that might not be enough. But it would have the least impact on the spirit of the level.
