Build Puzzle - Dunkelschwamm

 

    The map title is a misnomer, there is nothing to build and the puzzles are all platforming challenges. There are 12 challenges in total and all are easily accessible from the spawn room.

SCMapDB page

Author: Ice Box

Date of release: 2010

Maps in package: 1

Map review of Build Puzzle

(originally posted on SCMapDB)

by dunkelschwamm | May 28, 2023 | 3057 characters

    What even is a puzzle map? What does the Sven Co-op community consider a puzzle map? I mean really, it seems whenever a map is considered a "puzzle" map it just means any map where you spend one minute not stubbing your toe on a monster entity. This map includes platforming, gimmicking platforming, trivia, invisible mazes, hidden progression switches, and tests of coordination skill. There's a few problem-solving bits, but overall I feel the majority of this map relies on extreme displays of goldsrc movement mastery over any puzzle-solving skills.

    So, sc_tl_build_puzzle_fft_final isn't so much a puzzle map, in that sense. Maybe it's a collection of challenges. So, how does it fare as that?

    The overall gameplay experience of sc_tl_build_puzzle_fft_final is: browsing the overly large number of challenges until one seems doable to you, then wasting your time dying over and over again when death is entirely consequenceless. Well, that's not true, though, is it? No, death has consequences: it wastes the player's time and punishes them with a trek to the correct numbered door from the hub back all the way through what had been progress through the challenge up to that point to catch up to where failed jump had gibbed them. Overall, deaths feel like trial-and-error problem-solving at best, and frustrating and confusing most of the rest of the time. Some of them simply require incredible shows of platforming skill.

    So, the challenges themselves are annoying. But do they present well? Well, no. They are bare-bones and utilitarian as can be, putting function miles above where it places form in terms of priorities. Even then, important information for progression is often omitted in favor of brutalist minimalism. There is no pomp or circumstance given to any aspect of the problem solving situation. The hub is just a massive hall of numbers that was discouraging to respawn at every time I died- seeing how much more of this map I had to play to finish it.

    Which, in the end, I did not. And neither must you. The challenges are annoying, unsatisfying to complete, and there is no great prize or incredible ending waiting for you.

    I don't really recommend this map. I couldn't even bring myself to fully complete it. It's a collection of extremely varied of challenges, each of them at their most annoying and brutal, and each requiring too different a skill for success in any to bring out any self-assurance the rest will be doable. It's more of "Well, I already know I'm not good enough at this skill to solve this 'puzzle', so I hope one of my teammates will or we won't finish this map."

Pros:

• The floating water blocks were neat
• The skiwampus room was kinda neat
• Good background music

Cons:

• Ugly to look at
• Annoying, frustrating challenges that are called "puzzles"
• Disappointing ending

Score:

3.9 / 10