Adam's Puzzles - Dunkelschwamm

  

    There aren't really any puzzles in this map. The map is all about answering trivia questions. Each room has at least four paths to go and only the one labelled with the answer will allow the player through unharmed.

SCMapDB page

Author: Adambean

Date of final release: 2009

Maps in package: 1

Map review of Adam's Puzzles

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by dunkelschwamm | January 29, 2022 | 4345 characters

    Adam's Puzzles is a cute high-concept server map, where the concept is multiple choice questions. Room after room, players are treated to an interesting vignette setting and a multiple choice question. By choosing one of the doors, you seal your fate- you either chose correctly and continue to the next question, or you chose incorrectly and fall into a certain death trap. It's very straight-forward in its concept. For winning, players are treated to a lounge area with security cameras for watching other players struggle with answers, a swimming pool, a pornography room, and a beautiful sky deck. I really like the idea of a map with a reward waiting at the end, as many Sven Co-op maps just smash to the highscore screen as the map abruptly ends. A little resolution is welcome.

    The brushwork and gimmicks built around each question are fun and interesting to look at. Sometimes the settings shift so much between rooms it gives me that feeling that comes with playing one of Nipper's abstract maps. The traps are also often fun, like lava pits or rooms where the walls extend metal chompers. I think the attention to decent brushwork and careful placement of textures also helped a lot with making the reward room at the end such a treat to hang out in.

    That said, there are a few parts of the map which deal unnecessary damage to the player via fall damage or oxygenless chambers. I think those could have gone away and the map would only be better for it.

    The questions themselves range from fairly simple obscure trivia to overtly complicated algebra equations. By the way, there is an overly complicated algebra equation in this map, and the answer isn't even correct. It's, like, an entire extra digit in the middle of the number wrong. There's another question about what frequency dolphins can hear and the answer contradicts all answers I found online. In a way it feels a bit like the questions are intended to be a crapshoot, and that the real intention is to have people charge through the map one after the other, testing to see which room results in a death notification and what doesn't. The rest are probably looking up answers on their phones. There's nothing wrong with that in particular if you're under no illusions that this map is meant to be a serious multiple-choice question test.

    The map has an epilepsy warning at one point which drops a hard c-word and offers players an option to walk through a door to avoid epilepsy-unsafe parts of the level. Walking through that door simply sends the player back several rooms, undoing progress. I don't know what this is meant to accomplish other than to stick it to epileptic people. So, if you have epilepsy, I can safely say this map probably isn't for you.

    There are cute things and secrets and gags throughout, and I think this map has a lot of charm. I would often groan when I died and had to run back through all of the previous questions to get to the next one, but those treks were shockingly short once you know the way. I do feel like, since the players spawn in a teleporter room, it would have been neat to have its location update with progress through the map, though I understand that it wouldn't be there if part of the map's purpose is to get to the end and watch everybody else fail to proceed over and over again.

    Overall, I think Adam's Puzzles is a fine map for what it is and it's full of fun content. If you're running a goofy server, throw this onto the list, why not? If you're playing with some friends, this could be a fun little excursion. Just know that the map is NSFW and is not epileptic friendly.

Pros:

• Good looking and fun environments throughout
• Fun execution of a fun and novel concept
• Full of fun side stuff and gags
• Fun rewards at the end
• A bunch of music from toggleable music boxes

Cons:

• The epilepsy room bit is kind of out of nowhere and sort of hostile
• I don't think all of these answers are correct, and I know at least one of them is incorrect
• Having to trek all the way back after a trap kills you is a pain
• There's plenty of points where you need to take damage as you continue

Score: 7 / 10