Review by Lark

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: Bleached Diamondus
Level rating: 8
Rating
8.2

I’ll take the honor of giving this level a Tip (8.0 or higher).
Eyecandy is very good. There is nothing wrong there.
Gameplay is fun, and entertaining, but when you fall downwards toward the bases, you may accidently hit a tree, causing you to go back up.
Flow is nice; the level is easy to learn.
Layout is also good.
Ammo placement is okay; I’ve seen better.
Download: Yes.
Host this often: Occasionally, yes.[This review has been edited by labratkid]

Review by spazz

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: Bleached Diamondus
Level rating: 8
Rating
8.2

Hmmm, a nice tileset.

Good gameplay, only a bit sort, good use of Sucker Tubes. But it doesn’t matter if it is small, as it not get’s boring. Very good eyecandy and dark paths. No realy secrets, to bad. You can get easely to the Power-ups. Put more ammo in it. Good ideas for a small level. Oh well download and see. :)

Put with the other autors Evilmike with it, he has made the tileset![This review has been edited by spazz]

Review by BúññyÉlmér

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: A Two Level CTF Pack
Level rating: 8.4
Rating
9.2

Jungle

Gameplay : 1,8
Very good very good.

Choosen : 2
I dislike the tileset but its used very good here so it wont affect my rating, original and very good music.

Event placement : 1
And this really disapointed me, i guess there where to many power ups in the arena.

eyecandy: 2
This just deserves a 2 good use of the layers nice work. :)

general : 2

8,8 omg i havnt rated this high for age’s. Wel done.

Download ? you’l be sorry if you dont.

host ? yes and a duel or a teamatch in it woudnt be bad either.

term

The disapointing lvl i guess its after you see the jungle one, you expect another very good lvl.

Gameplay: 1,5

Choosen : 1,9
I dislike the tileset again but it wont affect my rating.

event placement : 1

eyecandy : 1,2
And this is what i mean comparing to the jungle lvl.

general : 2

7,6

Main download
Jungle : 8,8
term : 7,6
My rating is based on the jungle then, for the extra lvl you’l get 0,7 points[This review has been edited by BúññyÉlmér]

Review by blurredd

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: A Two Level CTF Pack
Level rating: 8.4
Rating
8.2

A Two Level CTF Pack review:

Jungle’s Edge

GAMEPLAY: Balanced. Nice flow. But 3rd layer tree area in middle not too favored.
EYE CANDY: Good and a little innovative.
CARROT PLACEMENT: Full energy carrot at top. Good enough.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Alright.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Somewhat often.

Termite Haven

GAMEPLAY: Pretty much balanced. Alright flow and layout. Got stuck once.
EYE CANDY: Above average. Maybe confusing, but not really.
CARROT PLACEMENT: No complaints.
AMMO PLACEMENT: Good enough for me.
HOST THIS OFTEN? Probably.

Overall review: I liked these two levels for the most part. The only thing is, Jungle’s Edge has that tree area in the center of the level that I didn’t like mainly because of all of the 3rd layer in it. And in Termite Haven, I liked it more when you were able to get the carrot easily from the right side (unless if there’s another route I haven’t noticed). This pack is almost an 8.5 except for the few flaws I saw. So 8.2 will be my rating.

BTW, if I were you, I would have moved the bases in Termite Haven back to where they were before I asked you to fix their positions for the contest. It seemed to work out better before.

Review by American

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: A Two Level CTF Pack
Level rating: 8.4
Rating
8.5

NOTE BEFORE REVIEWING: I would like to note that I like the new rules added to the top of the reviewing thingy. However, I feel the sudden urge to add both “yay this sucks” and “whee argh” into every review.

yay this sucks.
whee argh.

Now that I have that out of my system, the reviews of these two fantastic levels by FireSworD:

TERMITE HAVEN
TILESET/TILESET USE: The first level in this pack, FireSworD’s entry to BlurredD’s contest, uses the Beach tileset in very creative ways. Instead of the usual beach look, FireSworD instead used mainly only the wooden tiles. While one might think that this would turn out looking really bland, it does not. The level’s name describes the level very well. It contains a lot of wood that a termite might want to eat, which I assume is the inspiration for the naming. For a level only using a very select collection of tiles from a tileset, it looks quite good. The level’s background sort of makes the level perspective strange. The background of the level in proportion to the level makes it seem as if the area you are in is either quite big or you are quite small. If this was done in an attempt to make you feel as if you had the perspective of the termite, it was very well accomplished. A few of the “regular” Beach tiles such as the spikey creatures were used a few times, but it mostly is just the wooden planks. There were a few areas where the eyecandy felt kind of strange to me, but they were not significant. One thing I notice while playing is that there are a few areas where there is no boardwalk (no pun intended) above the tiles (hard to explain – go to POS 91,9). It looks strange touching the “inner” tile bug this is not a huge deal. A warning to players with older and slower computers: this level does not play nice with low detail, nor most other effects that one would turn off to conserve speed. 8-bit is fine, though. This level also uses ambient lighting, though I have found turning it off does not make the player miss all that much. Still, for best experience, I recommend low detail off, ambient lighting on, and textured backgrounds on. Good use of layers were made throughout this level and I could not spot any noticable tile bugs.
Pros: Really creatively done tileset usage. This level has fantastic eyecandy all around.
Cons: The “exposed” part is a bit weird, but that is not much of a big deal at all.
Rating: 8.7

WEAPON/ITEM PLACEMENT: Item placement was unsurprisingly well done. While there were a few areas where I found more ammo than others, item placement was well-balanced and overall very well done. Basic ammo was not given an inferior treatment and was placed both strategically and in areas players are likely to pass through. There are a few secrets in this level which contain ammo, but you will have to find those for yourself – it is part of the fun playing this. While the carrot is out in the open, it was well-placed. Weapon and item placement was overall quite impressive.
Pros: Everything was placed quite well.
Cons: Very minute amounts of ammunition clumping.
Rating: 8.5

ORIGINALITY: This is truly where this level shines. The level is not so original that it contains “never done before because it sucks” things but contains a lot of really great ideas. The level reminds me in some ways of Stripe’s better levels with the secrets and creative tileset use. Creativity in tileset use, as opposed to that in gameplay, is really this level’s forte. I am not aware of any instance where the Beach tileset has been used like this in the past, and would be surprised if there was any instance where it was used in that way, let alone used this well. The layering features in JCS were heavily used and, of course, used quite well. This level strikes the perfect balance – a lot of originality, but nothing that has never been done before just because no one likes it.
Pros: Extremely original tileset use.
Cons: Gameplay isn’t that original.
Rating: 8.7

GAMEPLAY/DESIGN:
Pros: Gameplay in this level was pretty good, though it did not live up to the same standards as its tileset use originality did. The level features a layout mixing a fairly standard placement of bases, etcetera, with a few secrets that keep the level new and interesting and provide alternative routes to those who are creative in play. While at first this level’s interesting approach may be overwhelming, after you get the hang of this level, playing in it is very enjoyable. Because of the used tileset, there are a few masking things that get annoying, but in general getting stuck was not a major problem (though it is pretty easy to do so if you really try.) Flow was good, though there were a few areas in which springs did not always line up as they should and did not produce the desired effect. Still, both layout and flow were well-done.
Pros: Good gameplay, layout.
Cons: A few masking issues.
Rating: 8.2

REPLAY VALUE: This level actually improves with play. At first glance, this level was a bit confusing, but after I got the hang of it, it was very fun to play. There are many routes that one can take to get from base to base so gameplay does not get stale. Also, the creative tileset use adds a lot to the replay value of the level as a whole. The use of the tileset, which I have never seen before, adds an interseting aspect to gameplay. No matter how many times I play the level, the look of it still does not get old. This is an excellent level to play many times, though any level can get boring after a while. This certainally is a fun, enjoyable level which can be played over and over without becoming old.
Pros: Not applicable.
Cons: Not applicable.
Rating: 8.5

OVERALL: As always, FireSworD has created a great level that is original but not in such a way that no one wants to play it. The creative use of the Beach tileset is something that I have never seen before, but I must say that I like it a lot. Tileset use and originality are not the only thing this level has going for it. The layout of it, gameplay, flow, and everything like that was also very, very nice. This is a fun level that will definitely not get old any time soon. Very good job.
Pros: Original and well-done.
Cons: There are no really overall complaints. That is, I have nothing that is so important it should be listed as an overall con. Look at the individual sections for an idea of the really small problems I encountered, none of which are very significant at all.
Rating: 8.7

I will review the other level shortly. My temporary rating DOES include the other level, which I have played but just need to write the review for.

Review by Blackraptor

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: A Two Level CTF Pack
Level rating: 8.4
Rating
8.2

Yay this sucks ;P j/k
Well, Fs strikes again with some nifty CTF levels. One, Termite Haven, which was entered in BlurredD’s contest. Also, one strangely funny thing is the music an-path (filename) was the same music I wasted time downloading from ModPlug just a few hours ago, and here it appears. Strange….Anywyas, back to the review:

Termite Haven:
The name is very creative, when I first heard it on the forums in BlurredD’s CTF contest winners post i thought this would use some new custom tileset or something. But it actually uses the beach set….The music fits the name and level, great choice. The eyecandy, although people may complain that it confuses the foreground a bit, is awesome. Never have I seen a level using the beach set be similar to this. Great work FS, the eyecandy amazed me in ways I cannot explain. It looked exactly like a nest for termites! All that wood and stuff, the eyecandy is certainly at/near its best! The tileset use is also great, maybe one or two things I thought could of been improved more, but nevertheless it is definately above average showing what you can do w/the beach set. Ammo placement was ok, not great or anything, but it was fine for the level. Though i may reccomend you to ‘mix’ the ammo a bit, because u usually have toaster ammo all together in a pattern, or RF ammo in a pattern all together, but never seeker AND RF in a pattern together, get what I mean. Although this wont drastically change your mark, it will add a bit more creativity to the ammo placement in the level. Gameplay was ok, in the previous version I remember there being a warp which annoyed me a bit, but i cant seem to find it and I think its been switched with a combination of a oneway or a spring. The gameplay was a little bumpy in some places, but it was fine. There was also another warp, the one near the RF, which i didnt like. Some people may not know that the warp is there, and may accidentally hit it before getting the RF powerup they wanted. And, the warp leads to a sector near the seeker powerup (very near), so the player can gain 2 powerups almost at once (if he/she is equipped with an electroblaster at the time). Other than that, i dont have much more to mention about gameplay. Layout was fine, no comment.
Pros(+): Great eyecandy, practically everything above average
Cons(-): Some things annoyed me a bit, eyecandy may confuse, ammo could be better.
Rating for level: I’d rate this level an 8.2, since the eyecadny is near 10, ammo is around 7, gameplay is too and music is good, the level is fun to play and great to look at.

Jungle’s Edge:
The name is also creative, the music is a bit strange, but its ok. I have seen this level hosted by the name of something like Demented Jungle or something. Anyways, the backround really impressed me, I havent seen a backround like it I think. Its almost as good as Termite Haven, it might even be better. All im sure is that the eyecandy in this level definately deserves top marks. Great foreground, amazing backround etc. Tileset use is once again great, I havent a problem with it, except for those strange and partially ugly leaves floating in midair for no reason. Those big ones. The placement of stuff is ok, carrot placed well. Ammo has the same problem as the previous level, needs a bit more creativity. Gameplay is ok, there isnt much to be said about it. some springs needed to be changed into ones that bounce you a bit higher, and i found out that if youre travelling under the log under your own base holding the opposite flag, u score a point. This makes it hard to defend the base, since players will have to cover both inside the log and around the base. Im sure this wasnt done intentionally, but it could have. Layout is ok, some places roomier than others, but there isnt any one tiled passages or stuff(if there was, it didnt bother me) and everything is fine with layout.
Pros(+): Creativity in eyecandy, great backround, layout good, has the material to be a great level.
Cons(-): Ammo lacks more ‘mixing’, some minor problems.
rating for level: probably 8, since the level has great eyecandy and tile use, above average gameplay and layout and average ammo placement. I liked it a bit less than the previous one though, so an 8.

FINAL RATING FOR UPLOADED FILE: 8.2, since these are some of the best levels around and they should be downloaded by people. Great work FS, these are some nifty levels.
Final comments: These levels completely rock, good music, fun to play. They might even make itin Anniversary Bash 5 CTF, who knows. Good job, these levels are a work of art! Definately deserves a strong download reccomendation!

Review by DaPete10

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: A Two Level CTF Pack
Level rating: 8.4
Rating
7.5

Yay! I got to review first.

Here’s something you should know about these lvls: the eyecandy rocks, but it lacks gameplay, example there is one spring positioned that will keep you stuck in that position. Try to avoid it. Music is good as well, and eyecandy, as I mentioned before, RULES.

LEVLS
Termite haven is Beach with the boat cabins as the interior of the house and some background tiles for a picture hanging on the wall. The Hor Red Spring is stuck in a position that can trap you there for a while. Avoid that 24/7. The other one I haven’t played.

—Final Score—
I give u a 7.5 because of the first level, Termite haven, but deducted some of the score due to the spring trap. I may start playing this on my server, if it’s ok with u!

—PS—
The 7.5 goes to BlurredD, who I like to call (BlurredD). I’ll see u round all

—Some more, last minute info—
I have made an edit of this level so you don’t need to worry about the spring trap.

(Personal attack edit. -Trafton)[This review has been edited by Trafton AT]

Review by JechT

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: High Volume CTF
Level rating: 8.5
Rating
8.7

This is a excellant form of CTF! I have seen it many times in JJ2. This is avery good level but a few things:

  • The tileset is way overused
  • the ammo is placed 6/10 But well placed

and thats about it!!

Good job

Review by American

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: High Volume CTF
Level rating: 8.5
Rating
8.7

I had a big, long review written for this and my computer, as it often does when I am writing reviews, crashed. So I’ll have to write a semi-short review on this level. This is a very good capture the flag level by FireSworD. It uses the fairly often used tileset Tube Electric Night in a way that you would not expect to see it used. It is hard to describe in just a review, so I won’t. You’ll have to play the level for yourself to get what I’m trying to say. Level flow and navigation is one of the absolute best aspects of this level. The level’s flow is outstanding. I rarely found myself bumping in to anything and nearly never wished that something was located elsewhere. There were a few minor qualms I had, but none were major enough to deserve mention.

GAMEPLAY
Flow: Flow was, as I mentioned, excellent. The springs were used very well in conjunction with the natural ground-based navigation and flow, and everything was very good here.
Layout: Layout was fairly standard with bases at opposite diagnol ends of the level and a warp at each end. The layout served the level well.

EYECANDY
Tileset use: Tileset use was good. There wasn’t a huge amount of “new” uses, but it was different enough to hold my attention.
Tile errors: I did not notice any plain tile errors. There were a few things that looked slightly off, but again, there weren’t enough to make much difference at all.

CTF ONLY
Balance: Balance was very good. Neither team had any unfair advantage that I could tell.
Flag Bug: The level sort of looks like it could have flag bug, but I could not cause it in testing.

CONCLUSION
This is an excellent level with great flow and good eyecandy. This level should be hosted often and probably will be. I can see that it will become a “classic” level of sorts.

+ PROS: Excellent flow, good eyecandy, all-around a great level.

- CONS: The eyecandy wasn’t ultra-amazing or new, but there isn’t any major con to speak of.

VERDICT: An 8.7 and download recommendation. This is simply one of the best Capture the Flag levels out there. I recommend everyone download this immediately. A fantastic level that is sure to become a classic.

Review by blurredd

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: High Volume CTF
Level rating: 8.5
Rating
8.2

Probably FS’s best level so far. I’ll explain:

GAMEPLAY:

Even though this level has bases at opposite corners, it’s balanced for the most part. The warp near each base helps balance it. The layout is simple and easy enough to get from base to base. It almost reminds me of Happy Semiconductor CTF, which is a little strange since FS doesn’t like that level a whole lot (though IMO it still owns). Nevertheless, I’m not going to go into much more detail, but the gameplay’s good and that’s all that really counts.

EYE CANDY:

Definitely above average. I liked this feature the most in this level. The 3rd and 4th layers looked good, but the BG layers were a break from the ordinary. You can definitely tell some effort was put into the eye candy.

CARROT AND AMMO PLACEMENT:

There’s a full energy carrot placed somewhat between the two bases—nothing wrong with this. And for some added strategy, you could jump down to get it from above, or swipe it from beneath with a copter. There’s also some good ammo and powerup placement, not to mention TNT for a little bblair feel. Everything is good here.

HOST THIS OFTEN?

I would say so. I enjoyed the brief time I played this level online (even though I was losing the whole time). 8.2 is my rating.

Review by JmaN FoR

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: High Volume CTF
Level rating: 8.5
Rating
8.7

HoLLa.
Firesword…..You did a good job. ;p I like it. It would be great for 2 on 2 duels. ;p GJ. Peace EaZZiE.

Review by Blackraptor

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: High Volume CTF
Level rating: 8.5
Rating
8.5

A CTF level by firesword. Lets review it shall we?

The music choice for the level is common, but fits. It would of been more interesting if a new tune was used, but the music fits. The backround of this level was interesting. At first, i didnt like it much, but as i played more i noticed that it added feeling and excitement into the level, unlike those dull orginal tubelectirc levels with those overused backrounds etc. The level was hard to navigate at first, but the more you play the more you get used to the layout. The eycandy sometimes annoyed me, but was well done. The ammo placement was good, al though i reccomend the seeker powerup should of been in a wall like the other 2 that i found, or you should of switched spots of the bouncer and seeker pu, because its hard avoiding powered seekerz. Anyways, the ammo was placed creativly and i have no problem with it. The full energy carrot was well placed, in the middle of the level. The bases were placed well, but i feel blue has the advantage(all the powerups are more quicker accesible by the blue team, in my opinion). Other than that, the level is fun to play, and i reccomend it to you. Great job firesword.

Review by White Rabbit

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: High Volume CTF
Level rating: 8.5
Rating
8.2

Good level for duels and 2 on 2s. Nice gameplay and carrot placement… Not so much eyecandy… an 8.2.

Review by Shen

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: Higher Fragging Rate
Level rating: 8
Rating
8

Higher Fragging Rate uses DethMan’s 7th Lava Fall tileset, and in my opinion it makes good use of it. It’s meant to be industrial, in a factory of some sort – it has a vertical scrolling background looking like some sort of elevator with the city buildings behind it. The eyecandy was great, and I didn’t see any out-of-place tiles or anything – it was all there. However, some more variation would’ve been nice.

The level is based on battle1 and reminds you a lot of it. You have to get to a warp or fall to get most of the ammo, and what ammo there is in the main building you have to jump to get. The main area is fairly linear – you fall down a tube thing at first, then take one of two routes to get down to the bottom right hand corner to get to a warp that places you back at the start again. There is another area off the main area connected by a sucker tube which isn’t hard to find, which houses some more ammo and powerups. However I found it sometimes hard to move around or see where I was going.

The music is good and suits the level well, with a metallically factory apocalypsey type theme. This level has tried to be strategic but hasn’t quite reached it yet – the level was linear with you always having to go back to the same areas, and the ammo was good but scarce. I don’t think this will cause a higher fragging rate; it does have some enclosed areas (i.e. when you’re falling). But this is still a good level, with lots of good points, and could make a fun battle :)

Review by JJ Tublear

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: Higher Fragging Rate
Level rating: 8
Rating
7.5

Short Comments
Good Eye Candy
Fair Gameplay
Good weapons amount
Good weapon variety
Bad Direction

Review
This level is pretty good. Mostly I didn’t like the idea of having to fall down everytime for the ammo. You should’ve added more springs. Otherwise it’s fairly small, but the right size for a battle level. And remove the copter and put an airboard or Flyboyy carrot, copters get screwed up easily.

Review by American

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: Higher Fragging Rate
Level rating: 8
Rating
8.5

“Higher Fragging Rate” was intended to bring some strategy into the fairly strategy-deprived world of battle levels. This is a step in the right direction, but there are a few more steps before battle is truly a strategy-heavy mode. The level may be gameplay-centric, but it is not short on gameplay. It has an elevator-ish background with a foreground that is sort of industrial (it uses 7th Lava Fall by Dethman, which usually ends up either looking like a city or some sort of factory, this time it is a factory.) Weapon placement is good, but not amazing. The flow is good, but there are some places where it is hard to move around. It did, at times, remind me a lot of battle1, with a lot less ammo. It’s definitely worth a download and the eight point two I’m giving it. Great job, FireSworD.[This review has been edited by Trafton AT]

Review by Violet CLM

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: Higher Fragging Rate
Level rating: 8
Rating
8

Interesting. This level does indeed feel like Battle1 now and then.
I’m not quite sure how to describe it.. there’s a lower area, and an upper area you warp to from the lower area, and there are pits to get down to the lower area. Also on the far side of the upper area there’s a tube to another area.. yeah..
..as I said, it’s kind of hard to describe.

Eyecandy’s ok, if not all that much variation, gameplay looks good, design is good, not sure if this would really lead to a higher ‘fragging’ rate, but oh well.

Review by Blackraptor

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: GaLaXiuS
Level rating: 7.9
Rating
8.5

Ok, to start of this review i will talk about eyecandy and tielset use first.

The eyecandy is really good, shows that the author knows how to use the tielset very well. The ammo placement is ok, nice place to put seeker pu, and the sucker tube use is ok. The base placement could of been much worse, but also a bit better, its kinda anoying going on the suckers over and over again because you keep missing the base. Well, the thing that caught my attention most was most likely eyecandy, it ruxored.
Download reccomedation

Review by Stilettø

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: GaLaXiuS
Level rating: 7.9
Rating
9

Great level
huh Bouncer pu? :P only found rf and seeks Fast to Navigate Around i like it

Download Recommedation!!

Review by Spotty

Posted:
Posted more than 20 years ago
For: GaLaXiuS
Level rating: 7.9
Rating
7.7

Yes another great ctf lev by Fs.
If this was a tileset that had eyecandy like one of agamas this would be a very high rated level. None the less fs has done a good job with the tileset on this lev. The Bases are interesting, and originality always scores points. The level is pretty good for gameplay. You can go through the lev without having something stop you (things like that are just evil .. yes : P)
Ammo and stuff well placed. Just the eyecandy that lacks in some places. Thats more with the tileset anyhow though, the layer 5 (im guessing) in the bases is well done, so I wouldn’t rate eyecandy low, just not super high.
In Summary this is a fun and good lev by fs.

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