Pak Attack: SM222 - Towers (2023) + Power Structure (2022) [BQTN E172 | PC w/ vkQuake]

Channel:

CnEY

Subscribers:

293

Published on February 4, 2023 1:56:16 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tQ3oyslc7M

Game:

Quake (1996)

Duration: 3:36:27

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5

I continued to catch up on the most recent speedmapping packs by following up SM221 immediately with SM222, along with one additional map by Aesopolis that I wanted to check out.

Table of Contents:

00:00 - Intro

01:51 - Exheres Monstrum by CommonCold

You probably thought we'd be climbing towers, right? So did I, but surprise, the first map I chose to play has us going _down_ a tower, apparently. Kinda wish the map gave us more frequent views of the outside; otherwise it's easy to forget it's a tower map.

14:13 - Soggy Tower Trouble by DragonsForLunch

I've already seen quite a few of DFL's maps, and this one doesn't disappoint; a nice cavern/tower/castle aesthetic with plenty of details.

29:34 - Nakatomi Shaft by ish

I was hoping the title would hint at some Die Hard references, but the only one I could find is that I would, in fact, die hard, repeatedly, of course, because this is an ish map. I somehow managed to push my way through this one, against my better judgment. The level design may be less questionable overall than several other ish maps (although the trap elevators are pretty bizarre and rude), but there's still plenty of brutal challenges in it.

53:01 - Untitled by Llanstoloq

This is Llanstoloq's first Quake map, though he's made maps for TF2 and Quake 3/Live. It's rather basic, and doesn't feel like it cashes in particularly hard on the tower theme.

1:01:01 - Become Pure by magnetbox

This level has an interesting plot/texture gimmick, but I feel like it only really works for the immediate area after the "decontamination" happens. Then the rest of the map ends up feeling like we've been transported to a prototype jam.

1:12:47 - My Job Destroys My Brain Cells by Mista Heita

This map stands out aesthetically for its choice of textures, although architecturally it seems more focused on pillars than towers.

1:23:20 - Spears by Spoot

This level had a good bit of work put into it and easily lives up to the tower theme, but it ended up feeling somewhat problematic. The proliferation of unnecessarily-narrow walkways and stairways makes travel a lot more precarious and sometimes stilted than it should be on a regular basis. I found myself extremely health-starved for the very end of the map, which made the premise of returning down the towers exhausting.

1:43:25 - Mold Molester by zigi

This map features an entire foggy network of towers, each offering their own little experience inside and around.

2:02:16 - Lightning Rod by Aesopolis

I saved this map for last out of the SM222 maps because Aesopolis released a more polished version. It certainly is a tower; the aesthetics are super well-done, and the shamblevator was an amusing feature (though I've seen one other map do something a little like this before).

2:25:09 - Power Structure v1.1 by Aesopolis

This is unrelated to SM222, but ending that on Aesopolis' map gave me an excuse to play through his other standalone 2022 release. It sounds like he felt bad about how long he took to finish this map, but holy cow is it cool. I popped in on one of his recent mapping streams to say so and he was critical of how boxy the building exteriors are, and I guess that's true, but the map makes pretty effective use of both the interiors and at least some of the exteriors. It seems like several folks felt the end of the map was surprisingly underwhelming, but given that this was initially intended to be part of an episode, I'd be curious to see what was planned to be sequenced after it. It sounds like Aesopolis might still have plans in that regard...

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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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