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Imperial Station B-24 by Geoffrey Simpson (* * * *)

 
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Barry Brien
Dark Trooper Phase 1

Joined: 26 Sep 2003

PostPosted: Aug 21, 2005 11:41    Post subject: Imperial Station B-24 by Geoffrey Simpson (* * * *) View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Reply with quote

Geoffrey's first level. It's a great little mission, but way too short!
What's the story Geoffrey? What happened to the gigantic mission that you were working on a couple of years back?

Download

Fish
Gamorrean

Joined: 29 Sep 2003

PostPosted: Aug 22, 2005 11:56    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote

I have played this level yesterday. General impression? Very sweet and furnished level, bridging the gap between the mini-levels and the standard-size levels.

The architecture seems all right, I didn't notice anything that distracts the player or seems out of place. Anyway, I guess we all know how tedious and difficult it is to make an interesting architecture when one has the predefined design of a space station. (Remember Condition Red?)
Texturing is also O.K., as well as some subtle nice details (e.g. windows to the space with the adjoined texture). There were no details that were out of the Imperial color scheme and design.
Speaking of eye-candy, I liked also the craft flying outside. Nice touch.

Enemy placement seemed all right (I played, though, only on the hard difficulty). Most of the enemies were placed well, and I noticed there are some generous enemy generators that can surprise you occasionally. However, a difficult level it is not. After a few tries, one can play it through on hard difficulty without losing health at all.

The only potential drawback is its size: it's tiny, and once you know when and where to go, it can be finished in just a few minutes. Just at the point of the game where I thought the plot has started developing (for example, Jan gets abducted by a pirate ship), I was quite surprised to read the "Mission objectives complete" message. I didn't notice any serious errors - just a small ones that don't affect gameplay and won't at all be noticed in most cases, so we can just ignore them. (For example, the sector that houses the Star Destroyer outside can be seen on the map - as a yellow rectangle).

So, in general, I liked this level and look forward to the future works of Geoffrey. There were no so-far unseen INF techniques or tricks implemented in here, but it compensates with a nice layout and architecture, and details. Thumbs up!

Geoffrey S
Gamorrean

Joined: 29 Jan 2005

PostPosted: Aug 22, 2005 13:03    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote

Quote:
What's the story Geoffrey? What happened to the gigantic mission that you were working on a couple of years back?


Still working on it; I didn't have access to a computer for a year or so, which made editing difficult. Sad I've got the first and third levels finished, the second and final missions halfway and the rest vaguely started.
Quote:
For example, the sector that houses the Star Destroyer outside can be seen on the map - as a yellow rectangle.


I tried making it invisible, but for some reason the sector wouldn't move then.

Nottheking
Kell Dragon

Joined: 29 Sep 2003

PostPosted: Aug 29, 2005 12:18    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote

I guess this (along with the fact that I didn't even make an entry for the contest) means that I REALLY need to get to work on seeing about making DOS programs run on my computer. Unfortuantely, I got an unfortunate setback during the summer: after a memory and video card upgrade, (now using a Radeon X800XT: W00t!) my computer now refuses to run any DOS program that specifies an extended memory requirement; MEM in DOS reads that my system has none of that. I guess I'll probably wind up switching back to my old memory (only 512MB of defective RAM that won't run at 400MHz) to get DOS games running again; as it stands, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall is the only DOS game that currently runs on my system.

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Kir Kanos
Gamorrean

Joined: 28 Sep 2003

PostPosted: Sep 17, 2005 17:33    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote

I really liked this mission. Escape scenarios are seldom very exciting in DF anymore, but this one had some really nice special effects. I loved seeing the TIEs and the transport fly by out the window. The atmosphere was great.

Right to the point and fun to play. Good job!

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"Curse you, Kanos!!! Why don't you just DIE?!"

Ye Olde Schoole
Trandoshan

Joined: 07 Apr 2004

PostPosted: Oct 09, 2005 01:26    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote

I actually played a Dark Forces level (Wow). It's been about a year and a half since I played anything Dark Forces. If I had to review this I wouldn't even have a good frame of reference upon which to base a score. Yikes. Good Level Mr. Simpson.

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gamelover91
Dianoga

Joined: 06 Jul 2005

PostPosted: Oct 14, 2005 14:14    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Reply with quote

I really enjoyed this level.Keep up with the good work Very Happy

Geoffrey S
Gamorrean

Joined: 29 Jan 2005

PostPosted: Oct 19, 2005 10:31    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Reply with quote

Thanks!

Burning Gundam
Kell Dragon

Joined: 28 Sep 2003

PostPosted: Oct 19, 2005 21:56    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Reply with quote

A good one to play when you don't have enough time to play a long one. Very good job man.

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Jackson
Dark Trooper Phase 2

Joined: 24 Sep 2003

PostPosted: Mar 16, 2007 19:56    Post subject: View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Reply with quote

Just ran through this level a few minutes ago -- the first one I've played for DF in ages. I made a point to not read any of the comments above so I'd have a relatively open mind and wouldn't be looking for things others had pointed out. Looking at them now, though, I second pretty much everything Fish said!

The level of detail here is incredible! As Fish mentioned, it's a bit tricky trying to make interesting architecture on a standardized space station, but GS put in quite an effort and made B-24 seem lived in. The crates in the middle of the hall, the troopers' lounge area -- the troopers caught off guard, with their helmets off! These are the sort of specifics that set this level apart.

Granted, there are a few hallways that are fairly rectangular and undetailed, but this is only because they ought to be; they're basic connectors between more important areas.

Another big positive point is the sense of adventure. This mission's action-PACKED! Great use of generators -- you get the feeling that these troops have been here for a long while now and are TICKED you're here! (Nice touch with the concussion rifle-toting imperial, too.) Having action going on outside also brings up the quality quite a bit. Instead of feeling like you're in the middle of some blah galaxy, you see TIE Fighters, Star Destroyers, scaffolding and docked ships... like I said before, this station feels lived in, worked in.

Yeah, it is a bit shorter than most missions, but -- to me, anyway -- it seems like it's just the right size. You're blasting your way out of a space station in a matter of minutes, not venturing through unfamiliar terrain, infiltrating a lab, planting a bomb and then dashing back to your ship. For what's required of you, the scale feels correct.

Anyway, this is a great little (but not too little) level. If you haven't played DF in a while, like I hadn't, you definitely should give this one a go.

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