Anthology

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 6:59 pm

OK, so it took about two and a half years by my reckoning to get through it, but what is the largest Descent level of all time is finally done! (At 5501 cubes from the XL limit of 6000, there is still some room to break the record, but it would take a while!)

Many of you will have seen screenshots I posted from time to time as I was working on this. I could post some more but really it'd be easier just to visit the page Diedel has kindly hosted here:
http://www.descent2.de/sirius.html#anthology
(You can also download the level by clicking on the orange link just above the first set of screenshots.)

Have fun! You will, of course, need D2X-XL to run the mission; I'd recommend updating before playing if you already have it, because there are some fairly recent bugfixes and feature releases that pertain to this level.

P.S. Please don't use this thread to gripe about XL; I will not appreciate it.

Pumo · Post by **Pumo** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 8:52 pm

I've seen a bit of it already, and i'm utterly impressed!

As always Sirius, you're a master of level design

(Applauses)

(although i've just seen a 4% approximately of the level, so i suppose it's even better as it advances from room to room, and that's pretty much!)

Sapphire Wolf · Post by **Sapphire Wolf** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:53 pm

This level is just... Wow, Super-duper amazing+astonishing*Outstanding=Rockin'. It is like the three realms of Descent, you know the first realm is the D1 realm and the 2nd realm is the D2 realm and the final realm is like the D3 realm. I am so in envy of your skills Sirius, but you still rock! \\m/

DarkFlameWolf · Post by **DarkFlameWolf** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 5:44 am

guess I'm a Descent god then, I got through that initial lava part with nothing but concussion and level 1 lasers! bwhahahahaha
Regardless, awesome level, still in 'part 1' and yet to see where the damn thing ends for part 2! LOL Great job.

Sapphire Wolf · Post by **Sapphire Wolf** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:03 am

One more thing:
This level took me like almost an hour to beat it. XD
But still, it looks great!

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:42 am

One hour for the entire level? w/o cheating? Killing (at least almost) every bot?

Not credible.

DarkHorse · Post by **DarkHorse** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:10 pm

I suppose it depends on the difficulty level, took me about three hours on Ace, never actually completed it on Insane.

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 12:14 pm

You must have just rushed through it, destroying everything while passing it.

It took me half an hour just to find my way back from the red key card to a red door ...

It took me 10 or 12 hours to beat the level (and as good as every robot in it). Ok, I did a lot of debugging and bug fixing while playing, but still ...

Rushing through this masterpiece is a waste of its beauty.

You really make me wonder whether there are people who have so much better an orientation in such a complex environment, and flying skills than I do.

Sapphire Wolf · Post by **Sapphire Wolf** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:20 pm

Okay, I admit! I played it on trainee, but I need to be more used to hotshot(as well as practice on that difficulty). Argh, I feel like a noob.

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:09 pm

Even on Trainee, it's interesting that you somehow managed to get through in an hour. When you fly through the level with no robots at all - and you know exactly where you're going - it takes something like 15-20 minutes to finish, even if you're just trying to go for the objectives.

I suppose it's realistic to be able to finish the level in an hour on Trainee with the robots in, then, but you'd have to be trying to speedrun it, surely?

Sapphire Wolf · Post by **Sapphire Wolf** » Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:27 pm

Yeah, I was in a rush to beat it. But this time, I'll take my time.

jshaner · Post by **jshaner** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:13 pm

I think that it is amazing that you broke through the barrier with it. The sky is the most impressing to me, as it is something i have never seen b4 in D2 (excluding Boiling Point, which had a standard skybox, no puns/complaints intended). Good Job!

The only thing i would add if i were you would be Descent 3 Sound effects to the robots in the 3rd section. That would make it more realistic and enhance the gameplay.

DarkFlameWolf · Post by **DarkFlameWolf** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 5:05 pm

I'm still lost in the Descent 2 section of it! X_X

Sapphire Wolf · Post by **Sapphire Wolf** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 5:29 pm

I've managed to pass the D1 area(in hotshot) and made it to the \"D2 realm\", unfortunitely I'm down to my last life in the D2 realm and badly damaged. Man I need to be more used to hotshot more often.

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 12:15 am

jshaner wrote:The only thing i would add if i were you would be Descent 3 Sound effects to the robots in the 3rd section. That would make it more realistic and enhance the gameplay.

I would have done this if it were possible, but last I checked, you still can't go that far.

@ all: Thanks for the feedback - and just keep trying, you'll get there eventually...

I found once you have the Gauss you're for the most part out of the woods.

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 4:11 am

I told Sirius to make it harder for coop ...

Sirius,

how about making an extra coop version from the split levels mission I had sent you? You didn't seem to like it, did you?

jshaner · Post by **jshaner** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:35 pm

So indeed that you cannot edit one of the hog, etc. files where the robot sounds are located? arrg....

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:58 pm

sure ya can. Was done all the time back in the day. ...well not All the time.

Sirius · Post by **Sirius** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:10 pm

I haven't really given it much thought Diedel... it's something that may be worth doing, but there are a few other things I have to deal with first.

P.S. Yes, I could probably edit the sound files... the problem is that the changes would then affect all the other missions you have too. I'd also need to isolate sound clips that aren't used anywhere else in the level, which is a bit of a chore considering every single weapon, and 90% of the robots, in the game are used.

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:36 pm

Sounds are loaded at program start, so you cannot currently temporarily replace standard sounds with custom sounds from a hog file with D2X-XL.

jshaner · Post by **jshaner** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:21 pm

So you can't assign sounds to certain models/robot without affecting others?

Diedel · Post by **Diedel** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:09 am

Exactly.

Wheeze87 · Post by **Wheeze87** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 7:52 pm

This level is amazing, and i;ve only just got into the D2 bit!!! Bring it on robots!!! Taste my lazer.... haha!
thanks for making such a fun level sirius!

Sapphire Wolf · Post by **Sapphire Wolf** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:37 pm

*bumpage of a 4 months old thread alert*
Anywho, I beaten Anthology on Hotshot without cheats, and yes, I died too many times(though I got extra lives before I got a gameover. I now declare this level a great but monsterous level on hotshot or higher.

DarkFlameWolf · Post by **DarkFlameWolf** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 5:23 am

still cannot find my way around the descent 2 section to even beat it.

Anthology

Anthology

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