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Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.05.07 (19:08)
by nevershine
Image

This is by far my favourite piece of work yet!
The pack itself took me about half a year to make, plus compilation work, what makes ~7 months. Thus it's about time this gets subbed. Enjoy! :)

:: Contains more than 50 maps ::

- 10 episodes à 5 maps!
- increasing difficulty!
- 2 particularly cool final maps!
- guest maps by destiny, shortshift and epigone! (<3)

:: Special thanks / <3 to ::

- _destiny^- guest mapper!
- shortshift guest mapper!
- epigone guest mapper!
- Radium for playtesting
- mahi for some technical inspiration. He playtested, too.
- zthing you're awesome. 'nuff said.
- furry_ant for the excellent image!
- and Meta_Ing for making some more complex maps cheat-proof. Thanks, guys!

:: Here you go ::

(also, please don't do that multiple-download thing with GC. It's kinda irritating. Thanks. :3)

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.05.07 (20:09)
by Scrivener
i will resist multi-downloading. :3
about to leave school, will play when i get home.

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.05.07 (20:12)
by toasters
Favorites: Leviathan, Gatecrasher, Employed Strategies
I felt like some of these maps could have been made more episodic, and the difficulty curve was kinda all over the place. But there are some real outstanding maps, and the overall quality is good. Great job man :)

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.05.07 (21:36)
by otters~1
destiny's: great melding of sectional gameplay into an overall theme. 4.5.
epigone's: neat teleporters, but the rest seemed thrown together. 3.
shortshift's: incredibly fun. The 2-tile next to the gauss was the bomb. 5aved

00-00: 3.
00-01: lot I didn't like about this. Too hard for the second map of a pack -- maybe just a more effective gauss would have worked; didn't like retracing my steps; the glitch mine-through-2-tile kept killing me. 2.5
00-02: cool map, nice tiles. The traps were unnecessarily restricting, and the door placement should have been below the middle structure. 4
00-03: I liked how you left the drones' starting area empty. But the right side played a lot better than the left. 3.5
00-04: great fun, and a good -4 map. 4.5.

01-00: good one. Flowed, every enemy covered just the right area, and it reminded me of an atob map. 5aved
01-01: this is the kind of map I played your pack expecting to see. 5
01-02: floorguard area was excellent, the rest a bit uninspired. 3.5
01-03: "So long and thanks for all the -- So long and thanks for all the -- So long and thanks for all the fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish." Didn't play well. 3
01-04: looked nice, played well. 5aved

02-00: good gold, fun to collect. Also a nice chaingun. 5
02-01: played really well. My favorite bit was the small gap you could use to hunker down in the drone areas. 4.5
02-02: good one-way/bb combo. 4
02-03: too much going on here for my tastes. 3
02-04: loved. Beautiful. 5aved

03-00: guards were too much; in fact the entire bottom section is annoying. 2.5
03-01: "looks great, plays fun, but the gold tunnels don't lead to places that you logically need to go in the map." What I meant is that the gold tunnels are there for the sake of getting the gold, and not additionally for transportation. If it was an atob map, or a featurable map, the tunnels would have a double purpose. Nonetheless, "5aved"
03-02: atob crossed with Pheidi, or something similarly sexy. Plays silky smooth, the cg never exerts too much influence on your path. 5
03-03: liked the idea, execution was a bit tight in places.
03-04: wow. You can play this whichever way you want, but the rocket always tails you, and the laser always times your route perfectly. Plus it's beautiful and thematic. 5aved

04-00: interesting map, definitely branches out. Parts played incredibly well (the top), parts took thought and perseverance (beginning). 4
04-01: I feel like this is inspired by something I remember, at least the inner portion. Everything connects well, anyway. 5
04-02: I do not understand this map. NR
04-03: this map really disappointed me. You /almost/ had the maximo feel, wide open rocket action intensity, and to be fair, Arachangel allowed for some crazy demos. But the look wasn't good and the jumping was awkward. 2.5
04-04: the structure was really interesting here, even if the bottom felt like a slow-down compared to the flowy possibilites of the top (especially the two gold on the left). All in all this reminded me heavily of Metanet. 4

05-00: great fun. Symmetry to perfection; very smooth, well-timed. 5aved
05-01: another well done symmetry map. The best thing about this one was how the two sides, exactly alike, played entirely differently when being ascended or descended. Also nice giant butterfly. 5
05-02: excellent theme -- the tile design, one-ways and gold all held together through the map. My biggest problem with most maps is that they're a mish-mash of object styles and tile patterns without and overriding concept, but this was the exact opposite. This is something I wish I had thought of. 5aved
05-03: cool idea, well executed except for the mines right beneath the middle two switches. 4aved
05-04: nce adventure map. I loved the first section but found the switch where both gausses and the drone could reach you to be frustrating. Also, the right drone path was really ... finessed. Not a word. Whatever. 4

06-00: this didn't play as smoothly as it could've, but it looked impeccable. 3.5
06-01: the deliberate break in symmetry made this stand out refreshingly. Each room played smoothly and fit in with the rest. 4
06-02: awesome map ruined by the unpredictability of the drones. The unplayable section was good, the gold, tiles and mines fit well, and the gausses were judt intense enough. But every few seconds I had to backtrack beyond all reason to eliminate any chance of the drones taking a bizarre turn and shocking me.
06-03: this mappack is getting very diverse, and I'm really enjoying it. The beginning of this puppy gave me two choices; jump on the thwump and escape death by centimeters as the drone zipped under me OR draw the drone down into the door area like a devious bastard. All of this was well planned and cool and I liked it. (And, yes, it /did/ remind me of that one lord_day map.)
06-04: notafan. Again, well put together and really functional, but nothing stood out. I would say that was perfect for an episode, except that this isn't a conventional mappack by any means, and the map itself is too long and tricky. 4

07-00: here's an example of a map where two or more themes are melded. The result is detrimental to the aesthetic, but it was still fun to hop around in for the most part. 4
07-01: great look, nothing special about the gameplay. I think my main criticism of the pack is going to be that playing it straight through is tiring and not too fun. There's a reason Metanet's maps weren't too complicated. Maybe what you should have done is something along the lines of Pheidi's Monologue and Dialogue: both shorter packs where each map is so spectacular and stand-alone that it doesn't feel like a grouping at all. (Then again, a series of many intense maps really worked for Riobe in Earth, etc.)
07-02: filler. 3
07-03: not sure what to make of this. Feel like you resorted to symmetry as a gimmck because you didn't know what to do either. 3.5
07-04: little things bothered me. Gold didn't quite match, neither did the one-ways, and the rocket was too light around the switches and too heavy up close with the lower gold. 3.5

08-00: fun map, lots of nice structural things going on. Bottom fourth stood out, gameplay-wise. 4
08-01: thought-inducing map that grew tedious after a while. 4
08-02: weird map, totally out of line with everything so far. The bb action was fun and replayable, but the pit didn't fit in. 4.5
08-03: the right was well done, especially the drones. The top-left felt contrived; I think the map would've benefited had that been blank space. Good laser. 4
08-04: like a Pheidi map without quite the polish. 4

09-00: gauss and I would've enjoyed this more. Reminded me of Seneschal. 3.5
09-01: I have a soft spot for jumpers. Nothing new here but it's well-executed and not too hard. 4
09-02: this map suffered from having way too much shit going on at any given moment. Most of the maps within have had a distinct lack of breathing room, a lot of objects (bordering on too many), and a really complicated, adventurous atmosphere. Again, not a bad thing unless you play twenty in a row. 4
09-03: refreshingly straightforward, with a spot-on difficulty curve. 5
09-04: Shit, just realized I never finished this. Gave up because the text editing goes screwy after a certain length. Excellent map, great pack with perhaps a shade too many symmetrical, seen-it-before maps. 5

4.2 overall.

(furry: brilliant image.)

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.05.08 (11:03)
by nevershine
wow, thanks guys! really glad you enjoyed it.
toasters wrote:Favorites: Leviathan, Gatecrasher, Employed Strategies
I felt like some of these maps could have been made more episodic, and the difficulty curve was kinda all over the place. But there are some real outstanding maps, and the overall quality is good. Great job man :)
again, thank you. :)

also, I wasn't going for episodic maps at all. They're all pretty much full blown non-episodics. Maybe I'll brace up and make an episodic pack, too, but that's not entirely sure.
ghoulash wrote:(furry: brilliant image.)
100% !

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.05.10 (15:49)
by epigone
Twas a pleasure to guest map for you. I'll be sure to give your whole pack a playthrough as soon as I get a chance.

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.05.10 (18:44)
by PALEMOON
This is a fantastic pack. All the maps really look and play like you put a ton of time and effort into them and the whole thing was just really fun.

favorites include:

Watch My Wings [Shattered, Remastered]
Employed Strategies
Eruption
Flood Rave
Backyard Quest

Also, the difficulty curve was not very reliable at all for a numbered column like this but i guess if you weren't aiming for that then you are fine. Having them be numbered like that just suggests that they curve upwards, is all :)


All the guest maps were also sick. Great job!

edit: i also thought your symmetric maps were great. Not too many authors do that nowadays and i think it is very cool.

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.05.11 (16:17)
by Seneschal
Ich werde das nach meinen Prufungen spielen ;)

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.05.11 (16:51)
by nevershine
PALEMOON wrote:This is a fantastic pack. All the maps really look and play like you put a ton of time and effort into them and the whole thing was just really fun.

favorites include:

Watch My Wings [Shattered, Remastered]
Employed Strategies
Eruption
Flood Rave
Backyard Quest

Also, the difficulty curve was not very reliable at all for a numbered column like this but i guess if you weren't aiming for that then you are fine. Having them be numbered like that just suggests that they curve upwards, is all :)


All the guest maps were also sick. Great job!

edit: i also thought your symmetric maps were great. Not too many authors do that nowadays and i think it is very cool.

<3

seriously, thanks a ton. glad y'all like it so far!

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.05.13 (11:05)
by Brainstone
I`ll play this when I`ll have time. In the holidays in one week or so.

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.05.22 (18:29)
by moonlight
This is a good pack with some outstanding maps, but as toasters said, the difficulty is jumpy here.

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.06.08 (19:44)
by da_guru
Fantastic pack. Seems like you put loads of effort in it.
Nahezu jedes Level hatte seinen Reiz, tolle Atmosphäre. Damit hast du dir ein dickes Plus in meiner Favoritenliste verdient.
All of those maps are amazing.
Keep 'em coming.


I have a mappack, too. I'd love you to see it.

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.06.15 (23:08)
by Donfuy
I'm currently playing this, and it has been amazing so far.

It's also quite hard for me, cause you know, I'm not pro, hence why I'm taking quite the long time.


But yeah, sincerely awesome.

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.06.29 (16:56)
by nevershine
thanks, everyone! glad you enjoyed it! :)

(<3 flag for massive feedback. thanks a ton.)

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2010.07.25 (17:22)
by Ferox
Good mappack. I really enjoyed it.

I liked 02-2.

Re: Megalith - by Nevershine

Posted: 2011.07.26 (15:28)
by aids
I'm really sorry nevershine. This overview comes off extremely angry and mad. :(
  • 00-00 >> Okay for an opening level.
  • 00-01 >> The separation of top and bottom was excellent.
  • 00-03 >> Enemies were horrible.
  • 00-04 >> Too long with too little purpose.
  • 01-00 >> Very nice design. The gausses were a bit tacky.
  • 01-01 >> I remember this one from NUMA. Sucks.
  • 01-02 >> Another shitty map. None of the enemies work.
  • 01-03 >> Piss-poor level design. Awful.
  • 01-04 >> Had a little bit of flow. Looked good as well.
  • 02-00 >> Sloppy map. The two parts didn't fit.
  • 02-01 >> This one looks familiar. <3
  • 02-02 >> Looked good but I couldn't find a route.
  • 02-03 >> Could've been much better.
  • 02-04 >> Also from NUMA. I'm quite shocked I beat it first try.
  • 03-00 >> I'm on the border with this one. The top section is bad, but the bottom is good.
  • 03-01 >> Eh. The tower was fine, but the rockets were terrible.
  • 03-02 >> Again, a nicely layed-out map. Good chaingun.
  • 03-03 >> Yuck, poor use of the tiles.
  • 03-04 >> NUMA. Ugly enemies.
  • 04-00 >> The bottom floorguard was the only good part.
  • 04-01 >> Backtracking is a cheap trick in N. Use it sparingly.
  • 04-02 >> Very stupid.
  • 04-03 >> Looks good, plays bad.
  • 04-04 >> CBA to beat. I hated the design.
  • 05-00 >> NUMA. Pretty-looking.
  • 05-01 >> While I liked the tiles, the gameplay suffered.
  • 05-02 >> Another map where there's little to do.
  • 05-03 >> I actually really liked this one. The locked doors work great. Userlevel'd.
  • 05-04 >> Once again, backtracking.
  • 06-00 >> The outside was good, but getting back up was a pain in the ass.
  • 06-01 >> Huge map. Not quite good though.
  • 06-02 >> Not my type of map.
  • 06-03 >> Cheap trick with the last thwump. :(
  • 06-04 >> Shoddy level design. I hate forced linearity.
  • 07-00 >> The lasers were awful.
  • 07-01 >> Yuck.
  • 07-02 >> Had a very nice spudzy feel to it.
  • 07-03 >> NUMA too.
  • 07-04 >> The drones worked well, but the rocket didn't.
  • 08-00 >> Quite a ponderous map. Make more like this.
  • 08-01 >> NUMA.
  • 08-02 >> NUMA.
  • 08-03 >> Fantastic. Everything was perfect. Userlevel'd.
  • 08-04 >> I loathe lock doors like those.
  • 09-00 >> Splatter maps such as this one don't usually work for me, but this did.
  • 09-01 >> NUMA.
  • 09-02 >> Didn't like this one much.
  • 09-03 >> Good map, but it was really generic.
  • 09-04 >> Ugh, this could've been refined a lot.
A few demos:
megalith-demos.txt
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