The Remnant Plot - Part II

Description
Who ya gonna call? For this one, probably Mulder and Scully.

Short summary. Kyle Katarn beings outside an Imperial facility of some sort. His mission is to infiltrate the place and screw over those Imperials. So, he makes his attack during the night - despite the sky being the blue light of day and the Imperials not even turning the lights on. Well, can't blame 'em really. As the base commander quite rightly said - "It's the middle of summer, and we can't afford the heating bill!". Upon completion of this objective... well... you [i]don't[/i] want to know. That's as much as you're gettin' from me; this isn't a walkthrough. :p

As a basic summary, several things detracted from this mod. Primarily architecture. It's blocky, and not in the same style of blockiness as Raven's maps. Most walls are just flat brushes painted in, rooms are just hollowed out cubes, etc. That's kind of a surprise, since certain elements do actually look quite good, suggesting to me that 95% of the included maps haven't been designed to the full extent of the author's ability. Not that there's anything wrong with basic architecture, as it can be very appropriate, but when the majority of a map is nothing but dead basic architecture, well... it gets, boring, I suppose is the right word. The visual element is often the most important, due to how the human brain works.

Other technical problems include misaligned and badly placed textures. These can be fixed via use of the Surface Inspector tool (select a brush face and press [b]S[/b] to use it). Lighting needs major improvement - in many areas you can't even see at all. Light sources would also be good to add, tying in with my mention of the visual aspect above - due to the nature of the human psyche, gamers are more likely to enjoy products they can relate to. The audio side of things needs work, as does the visual. The mod just didn't have any real audio cues or elements.

The mission itself was quite rocky, to be honest. Basically just run through and smack the few enemies you meet on the way. Basically all you need is a lightsaber and Force Push, and you're God to these creeps. The scripted elements present in the mission were well-done, so no doubt the author would be able to create something a little more involving, and challenging. I'm always curious upon discovering someone who can script effectively, because everyone uses the knowledge in their own unique way.

Some minor in-game elements have been changed, too. The Weequay, Mark I vehicle, AT-ST and Probe Droid have been reskinned, and so have the Bowcaster and Merr-Sonn. Can't say I'm fond of the new looks, but they do fit well with their intended purposes. I suppose....

The second map, I simply refuse to talk about. I think all that really needs to be said is... Thank God for high levels of psychological tolerance.

This mod, due to it's complete surreality near the ending, probably isn't for the faint of heart. That means if you're a weak-minded fool, likely to fall off your chair, probably going to damage your kidneys and liver or harm your retina by staring at the screen in a state of paralysis - take precautionary measures.

And while we're on the topic of insanity-inducing products, [i]"Guilmon bread, Guilmon bread, there's a loaf shaped like my head!"[/i] - possibly the [u]only[/u] YTMND capable of overpowering the "Find The Computer Room!" YTMND. Of course, they're both classics, but whatever....

~ Kouen