Review of Single Player Quake Levels v2.1. NOV 17 1996

(C) 1996 Michael Wise. All Rights Reserved.
Quake is a trademark of Id Software, Inc.
Levels are usually copyrighted by their author. Respect the copyright.

Write me at: mikewise.ddd@juno.com
Int'l PC Gaming Echo (Fido) to Michael Wise
id Software/DOOM Echo (Fido) to Michael Wise.

HELP WANTED:

I need someone to do capsule reviews. Complete credit is given.
I also give my GRATITUDE. If you are interested, PLEASE mail me 
at: mikewise.ddd@juno.com. (no resumes please :)

----------------
I review Single Player levels for Quake. I created a data chart 
to show how they ranked. Rankings were based on 4 categories:

!!!!COMING SOON: DM Level Reviews for Quake!!!!

CONTENTS:
----------------
1.0- The Categories.
2.0- The Single Level Reviews
    2.1- Notes on Single Levels
3.0- Capsule Reviews
    3.1- New levels
    3.2- Older levels
4.0- Add-on Pack Notes and Requirements
    4.1- Add-on Pack Reviews
5.0- Where to get the levels and this review...
Appendix A- History
----------------

***
1.0- The Categories
***

---
Overall is simply the average of the below 4 categories.

---
(1) Smooth-o-meter. This checks how smoothly the level performed on
a P83 with 12 megs of RAM. This computer has onboard graphics, which
perform close to or above VESA video cards. (Quake was played in DOS)
This is a valid premise because I have seen some REALLY poorly designed
levels, resulting in low speed.

---
(2) Fun. Was this level FUN to play? Did I fall asleep? Did I quit
because there 30 shamblers in one room? Was the level well balanced
and varied? Was there a chance to beat the level?

---
(3) Graphics and Sound. This checks to see if they chose appropiate 
graphics for their level. It also checks if they made good use 
of Quake's lighting and true 3D. I also check for graphics' glitches.
I checked for appropiate ambient sounds and sound effects.

---
(4) Creativity. This checks to see if the level was very unique and
intriguing, or if it was a dime-a-dozen. Perhaps it introduced
some sort of new playing style or achitecture.

I DO NOT CALCULATE CHALLENGE. THIS IS FOR >YOU< TO DECIDE!

---
Other:

(E) Number of enemies. This isn't used in calculation.

The levels are ranked from highest to lowest, respectively,
with Overall being the determining factor in placement.

I rounded to the nearest percent when calculating the Overall score.

** = New review     
                                     
***                                     
2.0 The Reviews.
***
                                     The Categories

Title of Level       Overall    (1)    (2)    (3)    (4)    (E)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Best":
-----------
** Devil's Decree      103%     90%    100%   110%   110%   56
(decree.zip)
Fear Castle            99%      85%    100%   110%!  100%   29
(frcastle.zip)
Armageddon 2           99%      95%    100%   100%   100%   29
(arma2.zip)
TMI+++ (v.96)          98%      90%    100%   100%   100%   25
(tmi.zip)
Notlob's Residence     96%      95%    95%    100%   95%    40
(sgc4.zip)
Liquid Despair         96%      90%    100%   95%    100%   61
(despair.zip)
E.T.'s World           96%      90%    100%   100%   95%    32
(etworld.zip)
** Pyro1               96%      90%    100%   95%    100%   23
(pyro1.zip)
-----------
"Low A's, still great!":
-----------
Eat this...            95%      90%    90%    100%   100%   24
(whippet.zip)
Bubbah's Slate         95%      80%    100%   100%   100%   26
(bub2.zip)
Slime Ground           95%      85%    100%   95%    100%   42
(tef_sg.zip)
TightRope              95%      95%    100%   90%    95%    18
(titerope.zip)
Snakepit               94%      95%    90%    100%   90%    41
(snakepit.zip)!!
The tomb of Ra         94%      95%    85%    100%   95%    12
(ra.zip)
Forsaken Citadel       94%      95%    100%   90%    90%    31
(fc.zip)
Cubus                  93%      85%    95%    100%   90%    11
(cubus.zip)
House of Traps         93%      90%    90%    100%   90%    16/34/43++
(houstrps.zip)
Cult                   93%      95%    90%    95%    90%    18
(cult.zip)
Altar of Pain          93%      80%    100%   90%    100%   60
(tef_aop.zip)
-----------
"Higher B's, still good":
-----------
** Satan's Den         91%      85%    95%    90%    95%    22
(satanden.zip)
Potpourri              90%      80%    90%    90%    100%   33
(pop.zip)
The Climb              90%      90%    95%    90%    85%    18
(climb.zip)
EldenCross             90%      90%    85%    90%    95%    23+
(elden1.zip)
The Crucible           89%      85%    90%    85%    95%    31/43/52++
(crucible.zip)
ET's Level of Hell     89%      80%    85%    95%    95%     6
(ethell.zip)
Bubbah's Lair          89%      85%    85%    80%    95%    21
(bubbah.zip)
-----------
"B- and C+, OK" 
-----------
** Fun Run             86%      85%    85%    90%    85%    36
(funrun.zip)
House of Desolution    86%      75%    85%    95%    90%    29
(deso.zip)
Mini                   85%      85%    90%    85%    80%    11
(mini.zip)
Close Quarters         85%      95%    80%    85%    80%     8
(close.zip)
Axeme                  85%      90%    80%    95%    75%    26
(axeme7.zip)
Entryway ][ - Quaked   84%      80%    90%    85%    80%    45
(kysenty2.zip)
Palace of Shadows      84%      75%    80%    80%    100%   50
(ps.zip)
Tower of Death         83%      85%    90%    85%    70%    21
(tod.zip)
Pagan Temple           83%      70%    85%    85%    90%    27
(pagan.zip)
-----------
"Low C's, somethings wrong"
-----------
Basic Castle           81%      55%*   85%    90%    95%    76
(bc.zip)
CrossRoad              80%      70%    90%    80%    80%    12
(crosroad.zip)
Erkle's Domain         80%      80%    70%    75%    90%    21
(erkle.zip)
The Ledge              80%      75%    85%    80%    80%     7
(theledge.zip)
Magnet                 75%      80%    70%    50%#   100%   18
(magnet.zip)
-----------
"F's. These levels had BAD problems"
-----------
Dave's Graves          63%      60%    70%    35%#   85%    36 
(dgrave.zip)
-----------
Not Rated
-----------
Welcome to the Mill    *NOT RATED DUE TO GAMEPLAY PROBLEMS* 34
(themill.zip)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 42

***
2.1 Notes on Single Levels
***

Notes:

* = This level is _VERY_ LARGE. Thus, slowdown is inevitable. However,
if you have a fast computer...get this level! It is COOL!
+ = Level says there is 28 enemies, but there really is only 23.
++ = Level has different skill levels to choose from.
+++ = Full name is "Trilogy Military Installation".
(filename.ext) = Name of file you will find at the download site.
# = Too many "grayouts" appeared in the level. It sometimes made
the level difficult and unfun to play. Thus, the low marks. 
! = You MUST check this level's graphics out. They are REALLY GREAT!
!! = Requires the Snakeman QuakeC patch. Available at ftp.cdrom.com
in the \pub\quake\quakec\monsters\ as snakeman.zip

***
3.0 Capsule Reviews
*** 
    
    Starting with version 1.5, I started doing small capsule reviews.
I HOPE they help you decide what levels to get. Levels that receive
an 84% or below do not get a capsule review. Only levels new from
version 1.5 on up are reviewed. I have no plans to capsule review
older levels than 1.5.

***
3.1 CAPSULE REVIEWS OF NEW LEVELS (AND ADD-ON PACKS):
***

Devil's Decree --

        WHAT CAN I SAY? This level is SPECTACULAR!!! This is
PROFESSIONAL quality. The lighting is awesome. The graphics are
paralleled only by Fear Castle. But the CREATIVITY was great!
There were things I had never seen, such as animated lighting.
(not torches!) This level uses teleporting very well. When
you step in a certain area, teleporting of monsters. Another
thing that happens is once you kill ONE guy, another teleports
in...very GOOD! The graphics, well, talk about EXCELLENT light
sourcing. I heard those ambient sounds! 
Oh, and it was fun, too. :)

STRONGEST ENEMY: Shambler
Grade: 103% A+ "MUST HAVE"

Fun Run --

        This level, frankly, is rather repetitive and boring.
It has simple level graphics, with a notorius slowdown. It isn't
exactly creative, either. It's mystery takes too long to figure
out and I still haven't yet figured it out.

STRONGEST ENEMY: Fiend (I guess, didn't see all of level)
GRADE: 86% B-

Pyro1 --

        A great level. An excellent lava pentagram is located on
top of a swamp. However, the ceiling texture was bricks....Hey,
it's great fun! Creative, too. I especially liked the small cave
in the swamp if you swam up. Just a little herky jerky on some
parts. Other than that, this is a great level. I highly
recommend it.

STRONGEST ENEMY: Shambler
GRADE: 96% A

Satan's Den --

        A pretty cool level. The areas seemed a lttle boxy and
not too interesting. It did have a moat and was fun. The graphics
were solid. (no darn brushes dropping out, as was the problem
with Dave's Graves.) The level had the all-important quality
of creativity. (The inevitable slowdown was present...darn it..)

STRONGEST ENEMY: (unknown...sorry)
GRADE: 91% B+

Welcome to the Mill --

        Not rated due to some gameplay problems I encountered.
I could not get out of the starting room. (don't laugh) I feel
it would be unfair to rate this level because of the problems I
faced. (probably MY ineptitude, not the author's.) I did noclip
around, and it looked pretty good. Go ahead and try it. Let's 
see if someone can kindly point out my err.

STRONGEST ENEMY: N/A
GRADE: NR (NOT RATED)

***
3.2 CAPSULE REVIEWS OF OLDER LEVELS (AND ADD-ON PACKS):
***

Bridges --

        The first major add-on pack yet..This has a LOT of skill
levels (5, I think). There's a decent challenge GETTING to the
fifth skill level.....Check out the fourth or fifth level....
one of THE most fun & creative levels ever. The bottom of the 
level is a huge transporter. If you fall from the ledges, you
will going sailing into the transporter. Thus, you end up
in the beginning. The smooth-o-meter was a bit low....but it
was pretty fun (except for one of the levels...) and had
excellent graphics. Otherwise, this is a fine level set.

(ADD-ON PACK)
STRONGEST ENEMY: Go play and find out! :)
GRADE: 93% A-

Cubus --

    This is a small level with mainly vertical action. It doesn't
have many powerups, so use your ammo wisely. It has good graphics
with a rather light graphics slowdown. It is sort of challenging
to reach the top, if you are of hurrying, anyway. :)

STRONGEST ENEMY: Enforcer/Scrag
GRADE: 93% A- 

Eat this... --

    The graphics in this level were great! Some good rock formations.
The Shambler was hard to beat....since I didn't really have good 
enough weapons. It ran fairly well. Great creativity! I saw a lot
of new ideas in this level. For example, to get into a transporter,
a "plunger" lifted up and I jumped in. I hadn't seen anything like
it.

STRONGEST ENEMY: Shambler
GRADE: 95% A

Snakepit --
    
    A level for the Snakeman QuakeC patch.  Created by the
fairly solid level creator Bubbah. This level has (in my
opinion) WAY too many enemies in proportion to the ammo. (as
warned in the .txt file) That DID detract from the fun. The
level has great graphics. There was good use of shadowing. 
Even with a few large areas, there was very little slowdown. 
The level could have been more creative...but all and all 
it's pretty good.

STRONGEST ENEMY: Shambler (3 of them, actually...sheesh)
GRADE: 94% A-

TMI (v.96) --

    And the author says this level is in beta! WOW! This level is
almost like some of the early stages from episode one. The only
flaw is that it gets a bit choppy....but everything else is superb!
The level was VERY fun. A correct balance of challenge and fun was
achieved ...and some new ideas were introduced. The level had a room 
with moving parts of an engine. Plus the exit room had this sort 
of lightning bolt flashing through the room when you stepped in it
....I'm not exactly sure why it was there, but it was cool anyway!

STRONGEST ENEMY: Enforcer
GRADE: 98% A "MUST HAVE"



The Tomb of Ra --

    A fairly small level. Has plenty of ammo, if you conserve it.
No graphics problems. Is a tad on the boring side... It does
have a variety of areas to look at.

STRONGEST ENEMY: Knight
GRADE: 94% A-


***
4.0 Add-on Pack Notes and Requirements
***

NEW! This NEW section reviews level "add-on series." The requirements
for the level series is:

1. Must all be packaged together (ie no ONGOING release series)
2. Must in some odd way or another be related. (whether
   it be through architecture, place, storyline, etc)
3. Single Player Only.
4. A single level with a skill level selection intro IS NOT considered
   a level pack!

The same categories are used, but an enemy count isn't taken.
Smoothness is calculated for each level included in level pack
and then averaged to find the Smooth-o-meter score.

The add-on levels are ranked from highest to lowest, respectively,
with Overall being the determining factor in placement.

I rounded to the nearest percent when calculating the Overall score.

** = New review     
                                     
***     
4.1 Add-on pack reviews
*** 
                                     The Categories

Title of Add-on Pack   Overall    (1)    (2)    (3)    (4)  
-------------------------------------------------------------
Bridges                  93%      86%    90%    100%   95%
(bridges.zip)
Drakopf                  91%      85%    95%    85%    100% 
(drakopf.zip)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 2

***
5.0 Where to get the levels and this review:
***

FTP: ftp.cdrom.com \pub\quake\levels. Choose the appropiate sub
directory to find the level(s) you want. 

WWW: Most popular Quake sites have good file areas too. You 
might want to check some of them.
     
     The latest version of these reviews may be obtained at:

FTP: ftp.cdrom.com \pub\quake\levels\reviews as SPLEVxx.ZIP
                   (xx is version number)

BBS: Some Dayton, Ohio area BBSes are occasionally uploaded
     the reviews.

For now, these reviews are released _ABOUT_ once a week.

************
APPENDIX A -  History:
************

1.0 First Public Release. (FIDOnet) 11 OCT 1996
1.1 3 new revs. Fixed Tower of Death entry. 16 OCT 1996
1.2 2 new revs. 24 OCT 1996                            
1.3 3 new revs. 25 OCT 1996
1.4 3 new revs. Changed Fear Castle's ratings. FTP release. 27 OCT 1996
1.5 Explained the "!" of Fear Castle. Introduced capsule 
    reviews. Added 3 new reviews. 2 NOV 1996
2.0 Major upgrades. Introduced add-on pack reviews. Added contents.
    Decided not to delete capsule reviews of older levels.
    Sectioned off reviews into "grade groups" for easier reading.
    Moved Drakopf and marked it is an add-on pack.
    Changed "Graphics" category to "Graphics and Sound" category.
    Introduced "MUST HAVE" in capsule reviews.
    3 new reviews. (1 addon pack) 11 NOV 1996
2.1 Removed Black Majik. (Too old to be competitive)
    Little grammatical fixes, probably not noticeable.
    5 new revs. (1 NR)
    

Enjoy the reviews.....and KEEP! (and please don't take credit
for them..)
