Topic: D2 Single-Player: Enemy Vignettes

[Naphtha]

Attention Deficit Creativity Disorder at its best.  The mission set I was going to be working on has been put off for quite a while now that I have multiple project ideas to precede it... but this was actually one I wanted to release first.  With permission from DarkFlameWolf, Sirius and DH, I've taken the 27 levels of Descent Vignettes and created an expanded port for Descent 2.  The original levels have been tweaked to add extra secrets and powerups for D2 balancing, and I also added in three all-new secret levels to bring the total up to 30 and divide the level set more evenly into fifths.  Secrets that have been added are often very tricky, and usually involve triggers in lights (so don't host with indestructible lights in coop ) or panels hidden behind illusions or beyond the line of sight.  Every level has a Full Map and almost every exit tunnel has at least one secret panel, so look long and hard if you want everything!

The other major change to the set, however, was the inclusion of robots and bosses from The Enemy Within version 1.3 (i.e. the slightly less difficult versions from the 2010 update).  Five of the main levels are boss levels now, using the boss ships from The Enemy Within as well.  It definitely isn't an easy set by any means, and includes quite a few extra traps in some parts.  Take your time as you go through these levels-- they're intended to make you think, so approach each area carefully.

Download link here:
http://www.enspiar.com/dmdb/viewMission.php?id=724

And a few teaser screenshots, courtesy of Sirius:

[Matthew]

Sounds cool, I should check this out sometime...

Right after I finally finish the original missions for the first time :x

[Kaiaatzl]

Lol, you're lucky then.  You've still got new levels to go through.

[Pumo]

Oh yeah, I just noticed this was uploaded on the DMDB precisely today while browsing the database.

I made a super-quick playthrough (with cheats and freespace), and I must say I liked a lot what you have done to the Vignettes levels Naphtha, and the adaptations made to the levels to conform to D2/TEW style were excellently executed.

I must say I was impressed by how you changed my level ('To The Top') to the Ice theme, that is completely the oposite theme of the original level.   

[Naphtha]

Hahah, glad you like. C: I actually got quite a few ideas from Darkflamewolf's playthrough of Vignettes on YouTube, and converting Level 16 to even out the numbers of levels per "chapter" was one of them.  But I liked the idea of oil instead of water in an icy environment, and since I can't stop seeing that black texture used everywhere in Vertigo as being oil instead of rock... Her playthrough also influenced some other decisions, including the tweaks to the setup of the final level.  It goes without saying that this is much harder than the original D1 version, so congrats in advance to anyone who clears all thirty levels on Ace or Insane!

[Pumo]

Well, TBH, although I usually play D2 on Hotshot, when playing some D1 level-sets and TEW I must say I prefer Rookie, unless I'm feeling REALLY adventurous (like the time I played D1 up to level 14 in Ace).

So indeed, congratulations to the players that can finish TEW (or in this case, Enemy Vignettes) on Hotshot and above, lol

[Kaiaatzl]

I'm playing through on hotshot and I've got to level 13 with a decent number of lives, I found the secret exits on map 5 and map 9 but I missed the one on map 11.  So I guess I won't be able to claim I did all 30 levels, lol.
I beat D1 (missing only the first secret level) and D2 on ace finally a couple months ago (without allowing myself to save the hostages for last), and I finally finished Obsidian, period (although I missed the last secret level).

[Naphtha]

Hahah, now I feel like a better single-player pilot.  Hotshot's my default for missions I've never tried before, in case an add-on suffers from horrific imbalances.  Ace is usually as high as I'll go, but I have beaten First Strike once on Insane and TEW once on Ace as well. (The latter took a lot of save state abuse for the final few levels, but still...)

Not really sure if this is harder than TEW.  In some ways it is, and in others it isn't-- the last few levels are much more liberal with sniping Komodos and spawning Warlords, but Kalkis remain extremely rare throughout.  I held back on a lot of powerful weapons (no Gauss until the ice levels, for example!) and the levels that were converted from reactors to bosses could be pretty cramped, so I tried to include additional options as a backup for players who needed a little help in those areas.  The later levels are also designed to make you use your uber weapons more liberally, and there's plenty of spares.  As another possible challenge goal, the level set contains 25 Shaker Missiles in all, with the earliest one appearing in Secret Level 3.