TNT: Evilution (2nd half) | HMP | Crispy Doom | Long OverDOOMed E4b
2I mostly breezed through the first 14 maps of TNT. The rest...didn't go quite as smoothly, for a variety of reasons.
Of course, I needed to find the secret exit in Dead Zone. As it turns out, that map is...pretty weird with its secrets (and non-secrets), and I still feel like a few mysteries remained unsolved even after finally finding the very-arbitrarily-placed secret exit.
Then, there's the matter of Pharaoh. Little did I know that there was eventually a patch released for TNT, and I was playing the unpatched version, so I got to experience presumably the same utter confusion that many folks must have experienced in the 90s... because the yellow key literally doesn't exist outside of multiplayer. Oops.
I also got very distracted in Mill, due to another unexplainable sound effect (flashbacks to Wormhole).
Beyond that, there were definitely a few instances of oddball map design in the back half, though there were some enjoyable maps too.
One of the most glaring issues is that the level designers were very inconsistent in their use of textures representing damage sectors. River Styx is the most egregious example, using a texture that has always indicated damaging floors... for a floor that doesn't damage the player at all.
Then there's Last Call, which starts off with easily the worst room in the game, and has an absurdly flawed Icon of Sin setup that I remember confusing both my dad and myself in the 90s.
Plenty of TNT's maps were fun enough, but I definitely see where it could get a reputation for spotty level design.
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