Quake Upstart Mapping Project (QUMP) Beta Release

[HexenMappper]

If the old rules still apply (and I believe they do), you need to have a minimum of 10 posts before you can select a picture. The old site used to inform people of this on the profile page, I don't think this new site does.

I better get posting then....

[ArrrCee]

MadGypsy - Thanks for all the watching buddy! And hey, someone thinks I'm hot, I'll take it!

Dutch Yea, I will start posting up new Quake Grave episodes then!

[dumptruck_ds]

NewHouse_ It's been 8 days since the beta was released. Any word on a final release? Or at least an update?

[HexenMappper]

dumptruck_ds Pretty much all the maps are QA tested and good to go, we have 1 map with some very minor edits, so hopefully release in the next few days

We will end up with 10 maps in total - a few mappers who were originally part of the project coming out of the woodwork after the beta release was announced

[NewHouse_]

@dumptruck_ds I'm sorry for hyping this up too early, I should have said it is never written in stone. In other aspects it got few people active again, which is a good thing I think.

[TheKillingJoke]

This is damn near to a whole extra-episode, you know? I have my Fun while playing it and i wouldn't have thougt that the makers of this map Pack never Made a Quake map before.

[HexenMappper]

OK WE HAVE RELEASED! 10 new maps all good to go

The Link is in the OP (its the same link)

[TheKillingJoke]

Feeeeeeeeed uuuuuuuuuuuuuus !

[Dutch]

Downloading right now, can't wait to try this. Can I make a pre-mature suggestion? Set up a Google Drive account to host your download. This file hoster you got now sucks BIG time. 6 minutes for 38 mb? It's like I'm back on dial-up...

google drive is free, has no ads, is quick, and super easy to set up.

[HexenMappper]

Hmm strange, download only takes about 30 seconds for me... I wonder if it depends on where you are? I'm in NZ so we're usually far away from the hosting areas of most sites.

[Dutch]

Just finished playing all the maps. Skill was hard/nightmare. I'm going to offer two styles of feedback: one that considers these maps are made by newer mappers, and one that focuses more critically on details a seasoned mapper would employ, in the interest of these mappers honing their craft.

From the perspective of them being first-time maps, very well done indeed. Pacing was great. Monsters were fairly well balanced and ammo was scarce but well-placed. This is good in my opinion. It forces the player to utilize good ammo management, flag in his mind where more ammo is to come back for, and boosts the difficulty without 'monster-spamming'. Many of the levels were well laid-out, utilizing vertical spacing well. I'm usually not a big fan of over-done monster swarm boss battles, but the ones in the Waterway and Dog Prison were a blast. It took me SEVERAL tries, tweaking my strategy each time (which monsters to kill first, invoking monster fights, finding the best defensive position, etc.). All in all, great job, keep it up.

Now, from a more critical standpoint. Most of the maps lacked brushwork. I understand these are probably supposed to mimic id-style maps, so my critique isn't based so much on the brush count, but the use of angles and shapes. Some areas were fairly blocky and would have greatly benefited from a vaulted ceiling, a couple of gussets, an extra window here and there, some beveled edges, and what not. Many of the textures really clashed. Metal/runic areas right alongside medieval/castle without much of a transition (to iterate, I think it's fine to include different themes, but the transition should be smoother...maybe an organic environment like a cave that links the two?). Be 'color-aware'...bright green and purple are hard to pull off in the same room. However, I loved the clash of red and blue in the Dog Prison. Maybe that's an exception, or the lighting was done well to pull it off. Organic areas were very blocky as well, but considering id maps were like this, not such a big deal. Finally, some areas were just too big to accomplish the purpose I believe they were intended for. Best example is the start hub. At first it was fairly hard to navigate, and I felt it could have been smaller/better structured.

Keep mapping fellas. I had a good time playing through this episode, thanks for the release.

Oh, and the secret 'map' was funny. Thanks for the drink!

EDIT: A note to anyone else who has played this... I recommend you hop in here and provide feedback. Let the authors know you spent time enjoying their work. This site is REALLY slowing down as of late (no doubt because it looks freaking abandoned...hey, we're still here!) and we need all the participation we can get.

[HexenMappper]

Thanks dutch, glad you enjoyed the maps. Some very helpful feedback!