I have a question about Cryptic Passage for the locals...

Daedalus · Post by **Daedalus** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 07:13 pm

Greetings men (and possibly Hellen)! I remember some time ago how all you guys were so fond of Cryptic Passage. One of you was Gila, I remember.

Thus I must ask you, what did you guys actually see in Cryptic Passage? I don't mind it, it's nice and smooth, but I do have the following complaints :

1.) Okay, firstly, some levels are very clever in structure, others are relatively primitive.

2.) It's almost clockwork; I don't mind it from time to time, but it's almost like every time you get a key, you can go back around a corner shooting and hit the enemies that have spawned.

3.) Almost every level has the same 'find the button - open the door, repeat' feel to it. It gets a bit repetative.

So, I don't dislike it or anything, but what do you guys think made Cryptic Passage special?

Post by **DustyStyx** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 08:12 pm

I second ÐÐ' statements.

mouth · Post by **mouth** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 08:30 pm

Well, I liked it. Few reasons:

1. There's only so many Blood addons
2. It was better than LOI addon
3. Boggy Creek was pretty wicked, and so was the Opera House.
4. It kept the good ol' Blood feel, and it stayed consistent.
5. Someting in it kept you drawn to it, making u play it till u finish it, unlike LOI, in which I lost interest after an hour or so (even though it has like 10 episodes in total)
6. Level design was better than 90% of the Blood levels u find on the Internet. Level design was better than 90% of the new 3d fps games that 'the market' throws in every once in a while.
7. It was Blood again....

Daedalus · Post by **Daedalus** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 09:31 pm

Well, Mouth, you see, I'm not comparing it to any usermade stuff, but I'm just pointing out that, for me, certain parts of Cryptic Passage feel more like a chore, whereas Blood's campaign feels more like a journey.

Daedolon · Post by **Daedolon** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 12:34 am

One word, mood. The brilliant placing of the few enemies the addon had made it the most perfect episode Blood ever saw. I always wanted to ponder around these perfect, almost painting-like scenery with no rush to kill anyone. Maybe sort out a puzzle or two, then occasionally fight one or two monsters.

I'm not much of a writer, but I hope some of you will catch my idea.

Gila · Post by **Gila** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 06:34 am

1.) Okay, firstly, some levels are very clever in structure, others are relatively primitive.

true to some extent, but overall the design of the whole 10 maps rivals that of a episode 1 of blood. no wonder CP got "better levels than the original!" taglines in the reviews.

2.) It's almost clockwork; I don't mind it from time to time, but it's almost like every time you get a key, you can go back around a corner shooting and hit the enemies that have spawned.

oh really? it's blood we're talking about. like blood didn't have that 'respawn when player triggers something far away' stuff.

3.) Almost every level has the same 'find the button - open the door, repeat' feel to it. It gets a bit repetative.

oh really? (again). it's f*** 3d build fps game here - of course you will be finding keys and pushing the buttons.

So, I don't dislike it or anything, but what do you guys think made Cryptic Passage special?

amazing level design with a little (not overdone) touch of fresh new textures that didn't destroy the feel and mood.

certain parts of Cryptic Passage feel more like a chore, whereas Blood's campaign feels more like a journey

i disagree again, it does feel consistent and levels flow flawlessly one into another. amazing job.

i can say only one bad thing about it - the buggy secret counters. man, and those secret areas!! now there are some really awesome secret areas in this addon..... f***' love 'em.

CP is PURE level design - they couldn't add any other things (no new monsters, no new ai/weapons, ect) so they were kinda stressed to outshine everything by level design.

i consider it to be on par with Q1's Scourge of Armagon which is often considered to be one of the best exp. packs EVER made to this day.

(*sigh* if only CP had a second 10level episode...)

Post by **DustyStyx** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 04:08 pm

Gila wrote:
2.) It's almost clockwork; I don't mind it from time to time, but it's almost like every time you get a key, you can go back around a corner shooting and hit the enemies that have spawned.
oh really? it's blood we're talking about. like blood didn't have that 'respawn when player triggers something far away' stuff.

This really is my #1 complaint about Cryptic Passage.

Blood used the "re-spawn a group of monsters" verry selectivly. I can only think of one definate situation, being in e1m3, where you have to exit the train and get the Super Secret

I seem to remember 2 or maybe 3 times when Monolith would spawn stuff in Blood, but over all they went with the "pick-up an item and we'll drop away a falls wall and have zombies swarm you!" philosophy.

Sunstorm really went overboard with the whole "spawn a group of baddies" and honestly I think they were just being lazy if they coudln't be more creative about it.

Personaly, I rank Gods, Bloodlines and even ÐÐ's Sin Campain as better addons to Blood.

Gila · Post by **Gila** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 07:12 pm

bloodlines is great but they went for too much and they destroyed everything and it looks half-assed. gods is pure crap as well as loi. don't get me wrong they have couple of nice levels but overall it's just average usermade s***.

cryptic passage is quality. i can't believe so many people dislike it or don't like it enough. :)

Daedalus · Post by **Daedalus** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 09:47 pm

Sheesh, no need to get worked up, Gila. I'm not shooting it down, I'm just comparing it to Blood.

Post by **DustyStyx** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 09:55 pm

I'll agree with you in that CP is a better addon than LoI, but I never brought that up as an item of comparison. I still have to say that Gods is far and away better than CP.

When you call Gods "pure crap" I have to conclude that either you've not played the same addon as I have or you've never actualy played it all the way through. Maybe you gave up half way through the seccond mission beause you thought it was to hard or something.

Daedalus · Post by **Daedalus** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:18 pm

If I may interject before this gets ugly...

The Gods campaign is difficult, but it's not for everyone. A Bloodite might not like the style as there is very little combat and normal Blood thinking. However! The level structure varies from very amateur to excellent (ahem... think Metal God), but it is definately not the thing to play if you're looking for Blood style gaming. This is just a great puzzle campaign moulded from Blood.

That is all. Thank you. Peace.

Gila · Post by **Gila** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:24 pm

gods is way different from my expectations of what a proper addon for a game should be. and i still think that it has crappy level design. cryptic passage rules. but i'm repeating myself over again so i'll be quiet now, i think you've all got my opinion. ;)

Daedalus · Post by **Daedalus** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 11:26 pm

gods is way different from my expectations of what a proper addon for a game should be. and i still think that it has crappy level design. cryptic passage rules. but i'm repeating myself over again so i'll be quiet now, i think you've all got my opinion.

I think we all heard you loud and clearly, Sir.

Number II · Post by **Number II** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 04:15 pm

Apart from the instant spawning, I think Cryptic is good. I can tell that it's not Monolith, but the design is interesting.

But there's way too much ammo around, even for Extra Crispy. I'd remove half the shotgun and flare ammo from the levels.

Necrosis · Post by **Necrosis** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 11:05 pm

Heh... I'm still working towards Cryptic Passage. I commented once (other site) that I've beaten Extra Crispy too many times to count, but this is episodes 1-4. For some reason, I really neglect The Postmortem and Cryptic Passage.

Also, can anyone link to LOI, Gods and Sin? It might be a good idea to get everything everyone's talking about so I can comment on everything.