วีดีโอ

Nah its a lot different when you play it. Lots of puzzles and mechanics for a game that old.

Ditto!

Well, the Aleph One port is maintained and regularly updated, and that's what is being released on Steam. So it will be more accessible to a wider audience. I do know they're working on Steam achievements, but I don't know much beyond that.

That’s a lot simpler than I was thinking. Sounds excellent

​​@@windbreaker1701i hope they dont paywall the entire port tho considering aleph One has been free for like forever now and is constantly updated via they're own site

on the bright side, it means it's even simpler to get Marathon on the Steam Deck

@@SamSquids BINGO!

You should still be able to play as a guest, though? Like if you delete your user/password in Prefs > Internet

Make a new account

In my experience, the more regular online players generally prefer lots of missiles on their network maps, or none at all. Most people don't really like having one or two rocket launchers on a map, as you'd see more often in the old days, on stock maps for instance. Marathon is such a fast game, and the maps are usually small enough, that having the only rocket launcher on a map is a massive advantage that makes things less fun for those equipped with lesser weapons. People prefer having most or all of the weapons right away, and then utilizing them as they see fit, with enjoyment coming from competing skillsets, as opposed to the frustration of getting killed over and over by the guy who got to the rocket first. That being said, I have made a handful of maps where there's only one rocket launcher :P Usually I counter this by not providing any ammo, so you only get two shots with it before having to fall back on the other available weapons, and it doesn't spawn as frequently. Still, some people have complained about that. I have also made a number of maps with no rockets at all; a change of pace to a rocketless map is often welcome during online rounds.

Sweet. Hope you like it!

I think it's such a slow process for me, with so much redrawing taking place, that it would become mundane after a while. Maybe not, though. But there's also the concern that the streaming itself would affect the creative process, which I would want to avoid. I think this is a decent compromise, all things considered.

@@windbreaker1701 Understsandable. Still, I am wondering how you would summarize your thought process when you created this map. What was the overall concept and what kind of details did you want to add, and why?

@@sphtpfhorbrains3592 Since this was the "hub" map, I wanted it to be a spectacle of sorts, and to stand out from the other maps. With that in mind, I decided to make a tower map, because I really enjoy creating towers, like the last level of the Yuge campaign. So, I decided I could make a serious version of that level here :P To change things up from the Yuge map, I decided to have one half of the map above ground, and the other half below ground, instead of the entire vertical space being taken up by the tower. This would allow the player to discover the subterranean cavern later on in the game, which would hopefully be a cool experience. Irons came up with a really good sting that we use during this transition underground. I wanted the player to have to work at gaining entry to the tower during the above-ground sequence. With that in mind, I needed to make sure I left enough space around the tower for streets and other buildings the player could enter. As I mapped out these areas, I also needed to be careful that I didn't make them too complicated, since I needed to create the tower and the entire cavern still, and had to be mindful of polygon usage. We also knew the chain burst would be introduced on this level, so I wanted to make sure the street sequence was fun. As I mention in the video, the spawns here took a while to get right. It was hard to make them feel organic, and to have them not activate at the wrong time. It would have been a bit easier to draw more polygons for activation triggers, but I didn't want to draw more than I had to. Once the player reaches the top of the tower and beats the above-ground sequence, they are given their first victory in the story (even if short-lived). This also serves as the halfway point in the campaign. And once the player progresses through the next two maps, and then beats the cavern sequence, I sort of view that as the player entering the last act of the game, as they head in to map 8, Born Under Punches. I'd say the process with this map, and all the other Istoria maps, involves balancing a number of different goals for the level. Overall, you want the combat to be fun. That's the top priority. But you also want the layout to be interesting and a bit challenging, the appearance of the level to stand out, etc... So, it's really just a big balancing act, I feel like. Not sure if any of that makes sense, but that's my answer :P

@@windbreaker1701 Yes, it all makes sense, thanks.