: Just thought I would start a new thread since the other one was getting long.
: Before I get started, I would ask that everyone keep my home state of
: Florida in mind as we prepare for yet another hurricane. As I write this,
: Hurricane Frances is supposed to cross the state and exit to the north of
: Tampa. I am praying that all we get out of it is rain. It's so weird right
: now. I am at home, while the university is closed for the weekend. It's
: sunny, warm, with partly cloudy skies. Truly the calm before the storm.
I've been thinking of you, John. Best of luck!
: Ok, let's talk about Level 5 - Un-Wired. Several years ago I remember the
: Battle Cat once saying "Give me a Pattern Buffer and a recharger, and
: I'll beat any level". These words are so true for this level. I
: finished playing it a few minutes ago. Been playing it all morning. I
: really do love this level. It's certainly the most ambitious of the first
: five. Forrest, in your quote above, when you said "It will eventually
: be replaced... I hope", I hope you did not mean getting rid of the
: level. Folks, this is a fun level to play. It's long, I'll agree. Is it
: hard? Sure it is in places. I think it has a particularly tough opening.
I finished replaying it a short while ago myself, although I cheated to finish it more quickly (a little help from yourmom and a little bit of nrg saves a lot of backtracking. Forrest, this level has grown on me, although there are definitely places where things get a little tedious. My biggest gripe remains the rather arbitrary nature of opening passages. There were several levels in TI like this, but I think mapmakers today are a lot more cognizant of the need for legitimate connectsions between switches and doors, platforms and the like. Although I don't think you would want to make major changes to the level at this point, I think that scrapping it might be extreme.
Here's what I'm thinking. If there's a level that should be replaced, it's the one with Tycho's core. Adam would like to make a level on the Marathon's bridge. What I would suggest is making level 5 be Duranda's core (currently level 6) and insert Adam's new level in its place. I think level 5 begs to be Durandal's core - it fits his personality so well. If each new section that opens reveals a part of his core, the level wouldn't seem so tedious - it would be more goal-directed and less arbitrary (think Begging for Mercy). I would also suggest making new areas that open up more obvious (less need to look in map mode) and activations less arbitrary (no poly triggers). You could then use level 6 to represent Tycho's core - a much more fitting home for him, quite frankly. Speaking of level 6 - my comments on it are at the bottom of the old thread, but although the tower exiting problem is fixed now, the regenerating compilers make it nearly unplayable on TC. I'll look forward to seeing John's comments on this.
