Automap - GrandmasterJ

    Play a Sven Co-op map while it is being generated! This is a strange marriage of Roguelike and Co-op FPS that is really cool to experience, but unfortunately has been abandoned.

SCMapDB page

Author: w00tguy123

Date of final release: 2011

Maps in package: 1

Map review of Automap

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by GrandmasterJ | August 21, 2022 | 3132 characters

    What an amazing concept, Automap turns Sven Co-op into a roguelike. Every part of this is really interesting and executed really well. Maybe not perfectly, in fact, my teammate and I only got one run in before the map totally broke and we couldn't play it anymore. But when it sort of worked that first and only time we had a lot of fun.

    So to reiterate the map description, player start off in a room and then have to go through a randomly chosen hallway layout with random enemies and a random weapon loadout. After going upwards of 50 meters (which is five hallways if I remember correctly) a boss chamber with a boss is randomly chosen.

    Now, this map is abandoned and was made for Sven Co-op 4, which means it possibly doesn't work right. Let me confirm that the map does not work right. The first time we played the map worked well right up until the end, where an invisible wall appeared in front of the boss area and we couldn't leave spawn or grab any of our weapons. We noclipped through and fought Tor, when we won we got sucked up into a confluence of light and then hovered there awkwardly sliding around each other. I think the map was supposed to end here but it didn't.

    We restarted the map and eventually ran into a hallway that ended in skybox that we could not approach due to an invisible wall in our way. We restarted and found the same thing on the next run. After many attempts we gave up. The map almost worked one time and it was fun when it did, but we could not coax another run out of it. Also houndeyes could attack us through the spawn door, we could also see Alien Controller energy balls and baby garg eyes, so that started to get annoying.

    I did not die on our first run, but on one of our later attempts I walked into my own tripmine and blew myself to the respawn room. Here players have a choice of viewing the map from the outside, walking down the trail of boredom (a hallway that probably takes longer to traverse than the map's time limit), or standing around doing nothing. I like the trail of boredom, it's really invigorating.

    It's such a shame, this map is a really interesting technical marvel. The gameplay is pretty fun too, random enemies with random, but balanced, weapons. The time limit kept things moving, the resupply areas were helpful, combat felt balanced with the weapons. The map is very ugly though, it's only got about one texture for the hallways and that is it, not much went into aesthetics here. I wish it worked, I can't recommend it if it does not.

Pros:

• Really cool concept done well
• it felt balanced, that must have taken a lot of effort
• gameplay wasn't bad at all, the time limit helps things feel rushed
• I like the trail of boredom a lot

Cons:

• The map didn't actually work when we played it and we were never able to beat it
• I don't think the ending's map change works
• very ugly
• houndeyes can attack through spawn doors

Score: 4.5 / 10