Arcade - GrandmasterJ

 

    Arcade feels more like an experiment than a full fledged map, but it recreates classic arcade games in Sven very well. There is also a jumping puzzle for those who get tired of the arcade machines.

SCMapDB page

Author: w00tguy123

Date of final release: 2016

Maps in package: 1

Map review of Arcade

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by GrandmasterJ | April 8, 2022 | 3318 characters

    This map is exactly what it says in the title, an Arcade. The arcade machines include two player tron, pac-man, one or two player pong, and snake. The fact that all of the arcade machines work near perfectly is just amazing. They even have scoreboards that will announce the high score for that machine. The map also has some nice music to go along with the arcade atmosphere. The level is small and half empty, but the arcade machines are the main attraction and they are impressive.

    The map description says that some of his arcade machines are in some of Keen's maps, I actually experienced these machines fist in one of his maps and they had a habit of trapping the player in place. I am happy to say that problem is not here and may have something to do with the fact that Keen put weird cubes on the ground around his arcade machines. Players do get stuck in machines if they try to play a two player game and press the button, but nobody decides to play with them. I was playing with one other person and he went to Pong while I played Tron, this is how we found out that Pong has a single and two player option while Tron does not. I was helplessly stuck while watching him play his little game, I had to suicide to get away.

    There is also a monitor activated by a button that plays a short gmod clip of the heavy.

    If you climb to the top of the Pac man machine you can see some green squares in the air, this is the beginning of a jumping puzzle that goes high into the air directly above the arcade. The jumping itself isn't anything crazy but there is a lot of it and it is a long way down. There is different music up here that is very relaxing and invokes a sort of heavenward feeling. The gravity also seemed to get lower but I wouldn't know because I noclipped up there, I knew early on this was too much for me. At the top is a platform with a spinning crowbar, players do not spawn with anything, not even HEV suits. Picking up the crowbar displays the message "destroy the machines in the arcade and you will be greatly rewarded". Destroying any machine or even the TV monitor will blow the map up and trigger a map end with the parting words "wow, what an asshole".

    I think this map is great, it's small and I totally cheated to get up the jumping segment, but the arcade part is fun and really neat to look at and play. It's just really mind boggling to me that these classic games can be recreated so well in Sven without scripting. The jumping wasn't so bad either, give me a couple hours (days) and maybe I can get it. The crowbar bit was funny but I can imagine that being very contentious on a server with high scores.

Pros:

• The main attraction, the arcade machines, were incredibly well done
• the two player games were especially fun
• the jumping part is one of the more tame jumping puzzles I've seen in Sven
• the music, both at the arcade and in the sky, really added to the atmosphere
• destruction of the arcade is a fun way to end the map

Cons:

• no way to exit the arcade machine in tron if nobody else plays
• the end seems like it could be a mood killer

Score: 9 / 10