Zoro on 3/12/2018 at 05:33
Played it. And i'm pretty sure this is the worst FM for contest. No atmosphere, linear maze-y design, nothing really good. The only thing i found intriguing so far is... the beginning. After passing into the sewers a senseless routine starts. And it mostly goes until the very ending of mission from point A to point B.
DirkBogan on 3/12/2018 at 07:32
I'm inclined to agree with DrK on this one. This FM seems intended to bore and/or frustrate the player.
Grandmauden on 4/12/2018 at 07:37
Made it through in about 30 minutes. This has the potential to be a nice little maze mission, though it can certainly get frustrating without a compass, something to use as breadcrumbs, or unique landmarks.
Out of curiosity, I loaded the mission in DromEd afterward to look at the layout, and I ended up finding a scroll from the author explaining why their submission ended up the way it did.
Anyway, here's my advice for other players who don't have a good internal compass or don't want to draw their own map: at every intersection, always go right (or always go left, if you like). It may take longer to make progress, but at least you won't have to worry about getting lost from disorientation.
DirkBogan on 6/12/2018 at 10:46
Quote Posted by DarkMax
It's cool to use other people's work for your mission but at least change it up a bit more! Especially when it's multibrushes.
I think that's very forgiving of you, DarkMax. Personally, I think it's downright disrespectful. This is not inspiration, nor is there any evidence these authors gave permission to do this (the FM has no info-file at all); it's simply plagiarism!
Aemanyl on 6/12/2018 at 12:01
There are apologies from the author included in a scroll (Books/English/acknowledgment.STR - openable via notepad), but they do not justify such a dishonorable behavior. In my opinion, the mission should be disqualified and excluded from voting, as it's nothing but a troll mission from an anonymous person. I don't mind the poor level design and boring gameplay (I understand that not all FM authors are skilled in DromED), but stealing stuff from other missions is not something I could tolerate myself. He could at least change it up a bit, but he didn't.
Psych0sis on 6/12/2018 at 12:14
I'm gonna post a hot take, but judicious copying of layouts or being influenced by them isn't wrong in any way really.
But when your mission only has like, 2 unique areas that aren't just empty tunnels and you pretty much copy them 1:1 its a big :thinking:
DrK on 6/12/2018 at 12:24
If there's an apology then fair enough, however I managed to end the mission and never came across the readable ingame. It may be hidden somewhere in the mission, but honestly it doesn't encourage exploration to find it. Why not put the apology in a readme file !?
Also, using multibrushes is alright but at least try to heavily edit it, use it as a base, unless you have open authorisation from said authors to make a straight copy of their work. I have used multibrushes before, from OMs mind you, and always modified them to the point they cannot be recognised anymore, or they gave a hint of their origin at best. But this ? This is just laziness...
Aemanyl on 6/12/2018 at 12:24
Inspiration or even copying layouts is fine, as long as you also include your own original ideas that make the section of the mission clearly distinguishable from the source of inspiration (which should be credited in the readme file). In the case of this mission, 95% of the room layout remains unchanged.