Topic: The Violet Caves -- New D1 SP Level

[Kaiaatzl]

My first finished D1 level.  Kind of in the style of Descent Vignettes, I followed most of DarkFlameWolf's instructions for Vignettes when I built it despite not building it for the mission.

More general information about the level:
Game: D1
Modes
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Singleplayer: Yes
Coop: Not yet, but planned
Anarchy: No
Size: Rather large, over 700 cubes, though much of that is detail.
Map Theme: Blue and purple alien caves, if you can call that a theme.
Custom textures: No
Custom robots: No, unless you play it with Wolfie's TEW mod in D2X-XL
Custom music: Yes, in D2X-XL (ogg format).  It is possible to use it in D1X-Rebirth too, though not as easy.
Screenshot:

Download link:
The Violet Caves

[Scyphi]

K, played through it, it's a fairly nicely built level. Like the eye-candy.

My only real complaint is that it seemed a little liberal with the powerups. Seeing that the level has a future as a co-op level, I suppose this was intended, but for just one player, it actually took the edge off the challenge a little.

[Kaiaatzl]

There are a lot of smart missiles aren't there...
The idea was to give the player enough weapons but make the robots tough... that way it requires fighting skill rather than searching skill.
Also if you're using D2X-XL there's a bug where the most dangerous matcen in the level doesn't activate (yeah...) it's supposed to make cloaked drillers once you have the yellow key.

I've got another comment saying that it was so tough that the person couldn't beat it at their normal difficulty (hotshot).  I was able to beat it on hotshot and on ace if I got lucky-- but I have the advantage of having made the level in the first place.

What difficulty did you play on?  I'd guess from your comment you're a better player than me.

[Sapphirus]

Look, I was meant to say is that it's not hard in general it's hard for me because of those homing missiles in XL are impossible for me to dodge. 
Maybe I lost my skills on Hotshot.

[Kaiaatzl]

Yeah homing missiles in XL are harder than in Rebirth too, so I suppose it could be easier for someone with Rebirth (though the fact that that one matcen does activate in Rebirth kind of balanced it when I compared the two).

[karx-elf-erx]

if you're using D2X-XL there's a bug where the most dangerous matcen in the level doesn't activate

It does for me.

[Kaiaatzl]

Ok, then maybe it's only a bug on my PC... in any case that's good news.

[Darkflamewolf]

Well then, maybe its a bug for me too that is similar to Wazzazzle matcen bug. Where in secret level 1 of Vignettes, the matcens near the reactor spit out what they SHOULD (drillers, super hulks, etc.) in Rebirth, but in D2x-XL, they spawn Fusion hulks, which is what I originally had them set to before I changed them. Its weird.

[Pumo]

It may be related to D2X-XL cache data then.
Delete all data on the cache folder of D2X-XL and see if it still happens.

[TechPro]

Look, I was meant to say is that it's not hard in general it's hard for me because of those homing missiles in XL are impossible for me to dodge. 
Maybe I lost my skills on Hotshot.

It's adjustable (to a certain extent).  Check your settings.

[Scyphi]

I played it in Rebirth, as D2X-XL is not a viable option for the computer I was using to play it. And no, I'm not a better player, in fact, I'm probably just the opposite, and was in fact playing on a difficulty lower than Hotshot. But still, in my experience, a decently built level is difficult on any difficulty setting.

Dunno why I had such an easy time when others didn't, though. Maybe I just got lucky.

Still, whatever the case, I again stand by what I said before. I think there are just a few too many powerful weapons lying around. Cutting back a little alone on that probably will be sufficient. Beyond that, though, the level's great.

Cloaked driller matcen...I don't remember encountering such a matcen...where was it exactly?