Nagafens Lair - Dunkelschwamm

  

    This is a map based on Everquest, something I have zero experience with. At the very least the map is dripping in fantasy aesthetic, from the level design to the custom models, the map reminds me of playing Dungeons and Dragons.

SCMapDB page

Author: Sword666

Date of final release: 2021

Maps in package: 1

Map review of Nagafens Lair

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by dunkelschwamm | January 15, 2022 | 4306 characters

    Man what the fuck did I just play?

    Nagafen's lair is an incredibly unambitious attempt at a very ambitious idea. Teleporter-based class selection informs which kind of character you'll be, though the icon of the helmet gives the player a crowbar, a wrench, a pistol, and a medkit, all of which are pretty crucial to proceeding. My teammate chose different classes but seemed constantly hurting for utility.

    The actual gameplay starts confusingly with a lava flow scene devoid of scale or grandeur, barred are nerfed with invisible walls. The natural progression seemed to lead toward a path which was barred by an invisible wall, much to our befuddlement. Eventually we realized that a dark gap in the nearby rock wall, which we had presumed we had emerged from, was the real way to proceed.

    Entering into the caves we were ambushed by silly wolfmen with really fun sounds. I kinda enjoyed this, obliterating wolfmen with my wrench, clearing away tunnels. Soon, however, tunnels became forks, options became dead ends, enemies became respawned enemies, and the blocky, chunky texture of the map began to cause concerns: is this going to be an annoying, blocky maze map? Of course I knew the answer. Of course I understand with clarity that this was already an annoying, blocky maze map. I just didn't want to accept it.

    I don't remember how long we fought through wolfmen before we reached the lava giants. Some of them had fun names and way too much health. Seeing them was a treat: these giant fantasy game men marching around, a kind of scale you don't see often in Sven enemies. All at once, however, it becomes apparent why you don't see these kinds of things often: the enemy mesh was incredibly large, but the enemy collision box was incredibly tiny. Not only was it tiny, it was positioned at the bottom-center origin of he enemy's positioning, so essentially on the ground between the enemy's feet. If you wanted to deal damage you'd have to run up to the giant and start swinging at his ankles hoping you'd find that sweet spot and a shower of blood would spurt from an invisible nothing just beside their giant feet. It's fine, overall, because for the most part these giants were completely harmless- the first ones we fought seemed incapable of landing an attack; later giants seemed capable of attacking but were incredible ineffectual combatants. Even with tons of health and us clamoring clumsily to chop at their health cube, we still felled these combatants without spending much time actually fearing much for our own safety.

    In the end there was a great spectacle- a giant dragon with a horrible purple beam attack. It killed us, and my comrade ran for the clearly present "map change" icon. Who knows how hard that fight could have been if we actually engaged with it. As it stands, rushing a dragon using mostly melee weapons while he blasts us to pieces with a big purple laser sounds like a bad time to me.

    I don't really know what to say. I really admire what this map tries to do, and sometimes you catch a glimpse of it just starting to really work. But, in practice, it really never catches. Combat is clunky and annoying, if not outright broken. There's no checkpoints so fallen heroes can fight respawning annoying wolfmen again. The map brushwork itself is very blocky so as to not evoke the natural cavern look I think(?) it was going for. If it was going for a castle or dug out fortress it didn't really evoke that either. The maze portion was full of really nonmemorable bits, the giants were broken, and the dragon let all of the air out of its own tires with a map ender.

    If you're looking for weird maps that try a lot in the least assuming way but still don't totally work to play with a friend, then I guess this is the map for you.

Pros:

• Fun new models
• Final boss looked like it was maybe impressively created

Cons:

• Poorly implemented class system
• Ugly, poorly paced, poorly laid out map
• Every combat situation is uniquely bad compared to the last.
• Final boss just offers an instant map end option right next to it

Score: 2 / 10