Pak Attack: Alkaline v1.2 additions (2023) [BQTN E182 | PC w/ vkQuake]
5A couple of weeks ago I was surprised to catch wind of a new update to Alkaline. (I suppose I shouldn't be _too_ surprised, as Sewer Jam 2 seemed to be somewhat of a testing ground for this.) Over half a dozen maps have been added, along with visual enhancements and one weapon update.
Most of the new maps are rereleases/remixes, but I wanted to play the additions to see how they fared in the context of Alkaline.
00:00 - Intro
12:00 - Start map comparison between 1.1 and 1.2
21:06 - Caustic Preserve by JPal
This is the only map out of the new additions that I haven't played before; it might not be completely new, but it was never posted on Quaddicted or Slipseer before. A short but solid map with a curious abundance of shoot switches and plenty of area reuse.
54:21 - Pipework-Powered Pillars by Sze
This map originally appeared in Sewer Jam 2 featuring some Smilecythe-esque platforming. I remember it very well for its rather unreasonable final battle. That battle has been considerably reined in, at least on normal difficulty, so I no longer felt the need to resort to god mode to complete it. It also has a cool new music track.
1:26:59 - Dismal Signal Reforged by Heresy
This is probably the most heavily-reworked of the new additions; there have been significant aesthetic changes, some areas have been rearranged/expanded, and you start in a different area of the map than in the original.
I'm torn on the aesthetic revamp - it doubles down on the industrial parts of the original setting and makes the map appear more cohesive overall, while still allowing the later areas of the map to stand out. But I miss some of the more striking aspects of the original that arguably made interior and exterior areas contrast more against each other. I'd say both versions are worth seeing.
2:15:25 - Head Reattachment Trauma Redux by Trashbang
I was extremely happy to see this map make it into Alkaline; aesthetically it certainly fits right in. This seems pretty faithful to the original, with a few enemy tweaks/replacements.
2:31:09 - Undead Memories by Scampie and Greenwood
This map seemed mostly unchanged aside from enemy swaps. Given that this is probably the oldest map to be incorporated into Alkaline (it's over 10 years old), it says a lot that it holds up without much modification.
2:57:01 - Mountains of More Insanity by bmFbr
I'm fairly certain this map has had some rearrangements - namely, the SSG near the start used to require finding an obscure switch, and I'm pretty sure the room across the entrance room from it used to be completely different.
3:33:33 - Slipgate Sickness by Scampie and Greenwood
This map is not a new addition, but the location of its entrance changed (its old entrance is now occupied by Pipework-Powered Pillars), so I played it anyway.
3:46:54 - The Early Bird Gets the 17cm Fromitz Board by Juzley
They went and added this to a pak that already includes Overengineering Mania, and somehow the computer didn't explode. The Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie of Quake maps are now united in one pak. I had already managed to get all 50 circuit boards in this map once; here I am seeking to do it again, but faster.
I ran into a few oddities, which may have been vkQuake-related; a few doors didn't open (fortunately only ones that have alternative routes), and I nearly got softlocked when some lifts decided to not work for a minute.
5:36:41 - Overengineering Mania by Mazu and Greenwood
This is also not a new map, but given that I completed Early Bird in a reasonable amount of time, I had time for something else, so why not revisit the Alkaline version of the map that inspired it? And could I finally redeem myself and get all 50 circuit boards in this one, too? (My best to this point had been 46).
The answer is yes and no; I found far more secrets this time than I ever had before, and managed to find all but two of the boards without help. But just when I was worried I'd have to throw in the towel, Mazu himself arrived to save the day (assisted by the change to daylight savings time in the US), immediately pinpointing one of the two I had overlooked, and eventually arriving at the other.
8:35:43 - Outro
Having reached the end* of my current to-do list (excluding paks that haven't released yet), this seemed like a good time to look back for a bit.
*Not the end; I already have more paks I plan to look at next weekend, but then I plan to move on until Explore Jam 3 is released in April. Don't worry, there are plenty of other FPSes I also want to get through during the weekends!
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For more BQTN (Better Quake Than Never), see details and the full playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfGxDQwmTH6y1mhQzUaCZ6XxXxspG7Z19
This was originally livestreamed. Catch Quake and other FPS playthroughs live on weekends at 8PM US Eastern on YouTube or Twitch! You can find links to both on my site at https://cney.stream/ along with a BQTN page listing all of the Quake paks I've played.
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