Prophet: Bonus Disc Edition

[Seneschal]

Hey, look! A mappack without a hype thread!

This Double Triple Disc Edition includes:

-->Disc One - Prophet: 13 maps not designed specifically for your enjoyment, most of which can be found on NUMA

-->Disc Two - Bonus Disc: 7 bonus maps specifically not designed for your enjoyment.

-->Disc Three - A behind the scenes documentary exploring the making of Prophet, with contributions from the cast and crew (only in certain regions).

[PALEMOON]

doing this at 6 AM after staying up all night - here we go!

1:Professialouge
love the name. The lack of enemies and cool jumping required for this map make it an awesome opening, i think. A+

2:Heights
Now i really dislike how ugly doors hanging like that are but i have to admit they do their job, providing a perfect amount of cover to balance for the chainguns. I love the tileset - like bones or a ribcage or something. B

3:Gifthorse
lots of chainguns so far in this pack ( 6 actually ) - this is set out in a really cool manner and at first appears highly dangerous but it;s actually pretty straightforward and not as highly dangerous as i previously implied - kinda got tedious. something else mean in the middle would make it a lot more interesting to play. C-

4:Float
This is an interesting edit to Heights. It was fun running along finding a way to get through to the next section, and the chaingun is a great enemy to use here. I like heights more, though. C

5:Fomalhaut
I see what you're doing here with the alternate versions. Unfortunately this suffers from the problems of Gifthorse as well -- not very engaging. If those E-blocks weren't there the chaingun would be a lot more dominant and ultimately a lot more fun to deal with. C-

6:Permanent Passenger
Now we're talking. I really like this one's thwumps and especially the single rocket. I really want to know what those trapdoors do. A

7:Club With A Nail In It
Well this is jarring compared to that tower of mines in the last map. the three gold are stylish. Chaingun got kinda irritating but i guess i was bitching at you for not making them aggressive earlier so i am eating my words B+

8:Slice Of Life
OH GOD COSMIC LARVAE EVERYWHERE
at first i was bored of hopping around on the oneway platforms but then i had to jump over the top left section and it was so awesome i forgot about the oneways
also the launchpad scared the shit out of me - it rammed me into the ceiling for a grisly death. My only complain is the really random pile of gold up there - you coulda made it, like, elegant or something. Doesn't stop me from giving it an A though. A'd. A.

9:In The Kingdom Of Sleep And Rust[/url]
Trick Jumping up the chute made me smile. I really like the tileset but i think that it could be used better than this. The cloud of gold was fun for a while and then got boring and the cloud of mines afterward seemed very tacked on and flat. C-

[b]10:Build Upon
Chaingun was meh at first and then got more scary as you went on - i like that. Feeling kinda radiumey or something. Pretty good i guess - just didn't get as into it as your others. C+

11:Mjolnir
Killer tileset. Loved tricking the rocket around at the beginning. Something about you and oneway platforms - they are everywhere. I like it quite a bit, right down to those two sexy triangles and single mine up at the top that do nothing but look pretty. A-

12:The Great Unwashed
BWahhh holy crap. i like how you can go from something as minimal as club with a nail in it and then hit me with this fricken miasma of mines and a bewildering array of gold and those space larva mine bubbles. Felt like cruising around a bunch of ruins or an old space station or swamp. or a combination of all of them. I like this very much. A+

PS the great unwashed is a great name for a map like this

13:Post-Prophet
Here's you being all radiumey again. the one rocket managed to fly up my ass ALL THE TIME and the thwumps were very strict if you messed up passing them even slightly. I question the existence of those three one-ways up on the top. Their very existence mystifies me, defying me with their cold stares. B

B1:Prolongalogue-Face Edit (for GTM)
That's a very nice portait of GTM right there - in fact i daresay it is the spewing image of the gentleman, immortalized forever in chiseled grey. Oh, the map is cool i guess. Didn't really appeal to me. The Thwumps are predictable and it was more grueling to finish the map than anything. :/

PS. i meant spitting image
PPS. prolongalogue is a clever name

[b]B2:Haemogoblins
d'awww these guys are cute. I like how the Gauss worked with the tiles and jumpingnessyess of the map B

B3:(Oh Man It's A)Postal Strike
playing this map reminded me that i ordered things from amazon and i hope they get here because it's snowing really hard. Also my only complain here is that the gold is EVERYWHERE and looks weird to me. Very fun to play though. Nice use of an autodoor(s) there by the exit switch. A-

B4:Deliverance
Brought back bad memories of Kilisk and Twisted. Good thing i learned to Perpendicular jump since then :D Felt like a build up to something epic - is it the next map? TUNE IN NEXT TIME TO FIND OUT. B-

B5:Harvest
Mission Log:
Day 1: Well i have arrived here at the 15th map of Prophet. Things are going smoothly and i will report back.
Day 2: I'm hopping up and down to avoid mines and grabbing gold. Waiting for something mean to attack us.
Day 3: I just fucked myself out of a bunch of gold by being a slowpoke and missing my chance. Now that fricken floorguard is calling me names and saying i can't get in :(
Day 4: I just fucked myself out of a bunch of gold again and the second floorguard redoubled his mockery.
Day 5: GOD DAMMIT I NEVER LEARN
Day 5 and a half: I can't beat the map now brb noose

F MINUS MINUS MINUS

B6:Built Upon
neat little throwback to the beginning here. Kinda has the same problems with the first one - despite being all huge and woahh it still was not very engaging. i was not very enthusastic about this map after dying three or four times C-


B7:Epileptilogue
Awesome, awesome name. Seriously. Also, this is gold clouds done right - fun to grab, dangerous as hell to fly through, and the map looks great. I would take this out to dinner and a movie and after a long night of intelligent discourse we would retire to my quarters for some sweet AGD action. A+

n

So, this was a little hit-and-miss for me but you definitely are a good mapper and it provided a lot of fun for me during my bout of insomnia. cheers, man

PS where is my third disc i was looking forward to that documentary. Goddamn.

[nevershine]

downloaded to play this weekend, I'm a fan of the image!

:S

[unoriginal name]

Doing this at 1:30PM after waking up an hour ago - here we go!

Professialogue:
I had more trouble than I should have completing this. Certainly lets you know this pack won't be a walk in the park.

Heights:
Interesting tonal shift after the switch. There's a very definite path to it, but after it's snatched, the whole map opens up for some optional gold! However, I think that said gold was a bit too awkward to get, especially after having survived the hail of bullets. I just went straight for the exit after the first couple tries.

Gifthorse:
Reminded me of Mirage when I first saw it, but the gameplay isn't nearly as polished. The side 'guns felt unnecessarily mean, while the top one was a little ineffectual. I would have done away with either the side shafts or the floating middle blocks to increase the allure of the gold.

Float:
Phew, this was a real challenge. At first I found it pretty annoying, overworked and overlong, but the more I played it, the more I enjoyed it. It feels like a real adventure, which is a pretty admirable trait. This wouldn't work on NUMA, but it fits in this setting, where there's a real compulsion to beat all the levels, in order.

Fomalhaut:
Yeah, this is more like it. The rockets work great, the gold is tons of fun to get. The chaingun is still kind of ineffectual, though.

Permanent Passenger:
Now this is just plain cool. When did you become such a cool mapmaker.

Club with a Nail in it:
Interesting change, but I'm not sure it's totally successful. I could only find one at all reliable way to get through most of it, and that involved a lot of waiting. I think this would be better if you toned down the enemies a bit.

Slice of Life:
At first I was confused as to where the exit switch was but then I got it. The launchpad thing is very cool, and things really switch into high gear in the high reaches. It was kind of dull earlier, but it builds nicely.

In the Kingdom of Sleep and Rust:
Hella atmospheric, but there's really not much here, gameplay-wise.

Build Upon:
Surprisingly hard. I really like the start, before you enter the real map. You see the chaingun gliding through the sky, and you know you will soon have to face him. Really ace offering, overall. It wouldn't stand out on NUMA, though.

Mjolnir:
The exit switch thing is cute. Fun to jump around, but kind of bland overall.

The Great Unwashed:
On first playthrough, I was totally confused and disoriented, which was kind of cool. It felt like a collapsing digital world. Your mine motifs are getting a bit old, though.

Post-Prophet:
Another cool map ruined by obligatory mines! Seriously, this would've been so much better without them. Also the mine/thwump/rocket was a bit much.


Prolongalogue - Face Edit (For GTM):
Well this is a cute little map. A nice respite. Also it's fun riding the thwump aaaall the way back across the map.

Haemogoblins:
Cool little jumper-esque thing. Gauss seemed kind of neutered.

(Oh Man, It's a) Postal Strike:
I love this. Love love love this. It's like Brttrx crossed with Barabajagel. I had a lot of fun and every moment felt fresh.

Deliverance:
Apt name. This map feels big and unknown and not to be trifled with. I love it.

Harvest:
This one was just boring. It felt like it was going somewhere, but it never got there.

Built Upon:
I'm not sure which I prefer. I enjoy the much more adventurous and expansive feel of this, but the first felt much more polished. This is kinda rough.

Epileptilogue:
This is a really great gold challenge level. I think you've finally hit just the right key with your chainguns.



And there we have it. Well. That was a fun 2 and a half hours oh my god what happened to my life

[otters~1]

I'm gonna try to play this.

[MattKestrel]

<3 for seneschal. I enjoyed the pack, especially that striking fellow at lv 14.

[da_guru]

Hello. So, I'll finally keep my promise and write a detailed feedback. I hope it will be of any use to you. Here we go...

Review Prophet Bonus Disc Edition

1: Professialogue

It seems to me like this is to be a kind of a prologue of your pack, am I right?! So let me write the following as a prologue of my review as well.
Although the thumbnail doesn’t suggest that, this one is astonishingly well-planned and at least in my opinion you left your own very special note on it (once again). If anyone showed me 100 maps and said: “Find out Seneschal’s!” – I reckon I’d be able to. All I can say for sure is that you have developed your very own style, which is clearly distinguishable from others. That’s why I’ll give you two advices right at the beginning (although they seem quite paradoxical):
1. Stay just the way you are.
2. Keep changing.
I hope you understand that.

Professialogue is like a prelude in a concert: definitely not the best part of the whole, but the one, which makes you listen to the following ones as well, expecting greater things to come.
I really like the gameplay: it’s smooth and flowy somehow, however it feels a bit empty. Only you and your ninja next to some mines: harmless, unless you’re asking them for a dance.

3.5/5

2: Heights

And that was the sort of map the pack had to continue with. Better than the first, but still leaves room for even more awesome maps. Good thing that the gold told me on which platforms to stop. The chainguns might have shot me more often without the gold, but fortunately it lit my path and it was the path of life. The only thing, which made me wonder, was how to get a quick AGD.

3.8/5

3: Gifthorse

Don’t look a gift horse into the mouth. Well, you made me do it and feel it, though. The one moment I had just been welcomed by drones, the next moment I was already hurrying for those rare pieces of gold spread all over the inside of the mouth, escaping gunshots and trying to find an exit out of that hell. All in all not a very pleasant stay. But an experience worth at least ten new horses. An experience you’ll remember, whether you like or not.

4.0/5

4: Float

A “stairway to heaven” - only guarded by one enemy. No problem!? Oh, it is. The chaingun weakened me, the mines did the dirty work. I call that a very ecological/economical enemy placement.

3.7/4

5: Fomalhaut

Gifthorse part 2. Slightly better than the original. Played very well with this stationary drone. You were right – it gave me a feeling like exploring a foreign planet.

4.2/5

6: Permanent Passenger

I have to admit that this map confuses me the most (of those in this pack). Overall it was the many mines in the centre, which didn’t seem to have an use, except for letting rockets through, but not letting the ninja pass. Furthermore it wasn’t as well-structured as the others, but it provided a welcome change after all those maps.

3.2/5

7: Club with a nail in it

This one also gave me a strange feeling. So simple, yet so difficult. You certainly planned it this way, but the chaingun was extremely annoying on the way back to the finish and made me die in 90% of all tries. Moving around the tiles was an extra-challenge, imo.
However I have to say the enemies were quite effective and the minimalistic placement of objects fitted well in here.

3.4/5

8: Slice of life

I’m still not sure how I feel about this map. I really loved dodging those rockets and I also loved the upper enclosed space (with the one-ways), but it didn’t feel completely right.
Still - good job.

3.7/5

9: In the kingdom of sleep and rust

Loved the title, loved the tiles. Addictive gameplay. My only major complaint would be about the long way you have to go to the place where there’s action, maybe you could shorten that or make it more interesting on the way there.

4.0/5

10: Build upon

My absolute number one from the pack. Wonderful tiles, highly enjoyable gameplay, never boring at any moment. In plain and simple English: EXTRAORDINARY.
Innovative aspects missing, but would have been 5aved.

4.7/5

11: Mjolnir

I’ll repeat myself: I dare say this could have been one of PALEMOON’s.
Neither the best, nor the worst (out of this pack). Included good elements, such as the drone and the bottom-right rocket.

3.8/5

12: The great unwashed

The gold was shimmering through the dusty air as I was standing in that back-street environment. In such an atmosphere of danger every step could be a fatal error. I was so lost in thoughts, that I didn’t even realize I was stepping forwards, carried by feet that didn’t feel like my own anymore, – and out of hiding. The last thing I saw was a bright red flash of light.

Probably the 2nd best map of all. Perfect range of both enemies. AGD = additional challenge and a reasonably difficult one.

4.4/5

13: Post-prophet

Not a memorable ending of this map-pack, but at least some kind of epilogue.
I saw some similarities to build upon (at least the tiles), but the gameplay quality was a bit lower. Nice to see it had a flowy character, but there was nothing else too special about it.

3.5/5

B1: Prolongalogue – Face Edit (for GTM)

I’ll also say some words about his one, although its probably just a ded to GTM.
I bet you know it is below your standards, but even this means it’s not too bad.
And yeah, I would definitely edit this ugly face.

2.7/5

B2: Haemoglobins

Now you were thinking serious again. Much better than the previous map, even though it was much shorter. Interesting tiles, reasonably hard gameplay, good bonus map.

3.8/5

B3: (Oh Man, it’s a) Postal Strike
Weird map. I felt as if I was being watched throughout the whole map, although there were just floorguards. Getting the exit switch was a real challenge, collecting the gold was fun. A bit too long for my taste, though. Reminded me of your earlier maps as ‘cheesemonger’.

3.4/5

B4: Deliverance

One of the best out of the bonus levels.
I liked there was an optional gold section. Also a very addictive map, the only ‘but’ here is that the gameplay became quite repetitive after a while.

4.0/5

B5: Harvest

(Title reminded me of the first map of my map-pack)
Well-themed: feeling of collecting the crop well communicated. Too bad I only got seconds for entering the sections in the left, because they were locked so quickly by floorguards.
There was no spamming of objects, but the map was a bit too full (or maybe ‘cramped’ is a better description, dunno).

3.4/5

B6: Built upon

Sequel of ‘Build upon’, am I right? Not as good as its predecessor, but still very nice. But here it seemed like you made the same mistake as I’m used to make: the desire to fill every corner of the map, even if it’s not really necessary. There are way too many chambers for my taste.

3.5/5

B7: Epileptilogue

Good map to end the whole pack with. Nice gold design. But I had no real desire to say hello to the chainguns, they seemed so unfriendly. Maybe you could have set the exit switch elsewhere (perhaps on the bottom), so to make the lower section at least partly compulsory to visit.

3.7/5


average rating


Maps 1-13 (Main part) 3.84
Maps B1-B7 (Bonus disc) 3.50

Total 3.72

Summary:
- very enjoyable map-pack, I’d loved to play more of these
- high-quality levels (numa-average is “very good” =4/5)
- your strengths: diverse gameplay, your tilesets are becoming better and better
- your weaknesses: hardly any, maybe lack of innovative ideas, difficulty is often borderline to “too hard for the average player”(like me), but your strengths weigh more heavily
- you’re still one of my favourite authors, but I think you already knew that
- keep mapping and bare my first two advices in mind
- I’m in love with your signature (self-made image?)

Well, I think I wrote enough now. Phew, I’m sooo exhausted now.

Yours,
Da_guru

(btw, I’m recently working on a map-pack myself, I would love to have you as a playtester if you don’t mind)

[bobaganuesh_2]

I've played most of the pack just now and I have to say that you have accomplished a daunting task: finding a balance between looks and mechanics will utilizaing a variety of styles to make a worthy pack. My only problem is that some of your maps lack atmosphere; they can be dead cold sometimes. But that is up to the player's opinion, after all. good work. "Postal Strike" is especially wonderful.

[Seneschal]

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. Just to clear up a few things: first, the image was originally a painting by Constable (I think) which I raped in paint.net. Second, the GTM map was actually made in response to a comment he left on the original map, and wasn't meant to be a depiction of him, but I guess it works like that, too.
I'd be glad to playtest, da_guru, but it may take a while as I have a lot of work on my plate at the moment. I was really struck by how good your English is, too, by the way ;)

[da_guru]

Glad to hear that, too. Well, as I said, it took me a while to do this, because I thought twice about everything I wrote.
I'd also love one of my reviews to be that of a featured map one day, but I guess that will never happen, because I can't compete with those of native-speakers anyway...

[aids]

I'm quite surprised how good some of these maps were. I never considered you to be a proficient mapper, but this opened my eyes quite a bit. But, just so you know, the maps were out of order in NReality because you numbered them that way. It was really annoying. :/

My favorites:

• Float - it was cheatable, but it liked much more than Heights
• Permanent Passenger - I loved the fake dual-route setup of this map, but it took me several times to realize this
• In the Kingdom of Sleep and Rust - the ascension was unnecessary, but I loved the rocket room
• Mjolnir - everything about this map was amazing
• (Oh Man, It's a) Postal Strike - for some reason, this map reminded me of a blizzard
• Epileptilogue - groovy tiles and gold clouds for the win

Demos:

prophetdemos.txt

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