Thread:Deathstalker666/@comment-1915529-20140702204420/@comment-3547390-20141213234502

Q2 mostly is how you described it, a bunch of carbon-copy rooms with the same textures. That is why the best map of that pack stood out even though it was nothing special at all.

Dark Hour could be described in such a fashion perhaps. That definitely would describe Abstractions (the geometry makes it looks a lot more involved than it actually is), Arena (the map I thought of initially when you said that), Army Arena (this map is a lot more than the other two, it is two cubes!), Demented (the whole level is basically on three floors in a cube room), and Dogring (basically the definition of that statement). Still, that is only half of the levels, meaning you must be incorrect with your statement.

Battle at Home looks like it could be this, but it consists of corridors underneath the structure. Crypt is basically the cube if you made it into a couple corridors. Fleshville is the cube made into different looking rooms, the same could be said for Gauntlet. Mezza is basically a bunch of corridors, not exactly sure if it forms a cube or not due to its twisty nature. That means only 9 of 10 are made with some sort of cube design in mind, so Dark Hour is a lot more involved than you thought! Of course, you said for the most part, but I am trying to make some sort of point here.

I can tolerate Dark Hour's level design to be honest. There are numerous flaws, especially balance issues (the levels have this thing where they start out wickedly cruel and then get really easy). Many of the levels have corrupted soundtracks, only a few have exits which create a sense of continuity, and there is usually no difference between Single and Multiplayer in terms of placement. Still, for all the rough edges, Dark Hour is brilliant after touching Q2. I mean, look at Dogring, that is basically one room and has 3 textures, 2 more than the normal Q2 map. We even have a level where the whole point is throw together as many different textures as is possible (Abstractions), perhaps in some sort of subtle statement that "At least we aren't another Q2". Most Dark Hour maps I have some sort of idea where I am in the map as they aren't just carbon copies. Basically, Dark Hour could be someone's first attempt at level designing, while Q2 is so horrible I could imagine an absolute noob could do better with level design software.

Crypt has a staircase with holes large enough to see lava underneath it. Even though it can be a pain alerting everything upon leaving the first room, having weapons in places that make them rather useless, and having a Shambler charge at you with basically your only protection being a thin beam, the level tries to put detail into it that was totally missing in Q2. Regardless of opinions about the different levels, I also have to give this team credit for actually trying, something I wouldn't say about Q2.

Basically.... I think I can see the good in everything due to Q2. Q2 has taught me that there can always be worse. I think I find Dark Hour decent due to it not being another Q2. See, I've been traumatized, and now nothing can ever look as bad to me. When you write detailed walkthroughs for levels that are absolutely terrible, forcing you to spend time in a level you would otherwise wish to skip, and have to do 100 of them (so many of which are basically carbon copies) you get a very different experience from someone who simply played the levels (or, as most people probably did, play 1 and return it). I didn't even think of how Dark Hour was cube-based until you mentioned it, simply due to something like Dogring looking nothing like what you would see in Q2.