Phoenix Mission Pack 1, version 1.0: Released!

[Unpunished]

27DEC2016: Released v 1.0! Download link is below. I had a lot of fun making and playing through this and hopefully you will all enjoy it as much as I did.

Experimenting with a new file sharing method...let me know if you guys have any issues with this link. Also, if anybody finds any bugs that I or my testers missed, please let me know and I'll fix 'em in a jiffy. Thanks guys!

Download: https://app.box.com/s/cu67uu0oplfj6t1ab94il5vzg7y01cc7

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General Information
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Phoenix Mission Pack 1
By: 'Unpunished'
Play Time: Roughly 30 minutes.
Ideal Player Load: 1-4

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Brief Overview
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-Phoenix Security Group has been contracted to search for an artifact rumored to be located in a system whose planets have almost six times the Tarydium pull as Na Pali.

-This mission takes you to multiple environments on different planets, including the deserts of Adeva, the jungles of Kalindra, and the rocky underground passages of Raderri.

-The first map in the pack is 'AsteroidHub1'. From there, you will receive information on your mission.

-Every map (other than the hubs) has three secrets that you can find. Some are well hidden and require some strategy to get to, and others are hidden in plain sight. Try to find them all!

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Notes
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-There is a heavy emphasis here on complex jumping and avoiding various types of traps. This pack was designed with the veteran Unreal player in mind.

-Some of these maps are extremely dark; this is not an error or oversight, they are intended to be dark to add to the atmosphere. You may need to adjust your brightness slightly if you have serious problems. However, myself and many of those who tested this pack with me have had no issues.

-This map pack was very heavily inspired by the levels and story of Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft. It started out as just a few maps created while replaying the old Tomb Raider games, and eventually turned into a full-blown map pack. This is no way a remake or attempt to rebuild TR3 in Unreal, but consider it a loose adaptation into the world of Unreal and Phoenix Security Group!

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Screenshots
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Adevan Desert:
[img]http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad317/unpunreal/Desert.jpg[/img]

51-A Research Base (outside):
[img]http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad317/unpunreal/Base2.jpg[/img]

51-A Research Base (tomb excavation site):
[img]http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad317/unpunreal/Base1.jpg[/img]

Jungles of Kalindra (entrance to temple):
[img]http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad317/unpunreal/Jungle2.jpg[/img]

Jungles of Kalindra (water pillars):
[img]http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad317/unpunreal/Jungle1.jpg[/img]

Kalindra Temple Ruins:

[img]http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad317/unpunreal/Temple.jpg[/img]

New London Settlement:
[img]http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad317/unpunreal/Settlement.jpg[/img]

New London Underground:
[img]http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad317/unpunreal/Underground.jpg[/img]

R-X98 Surface:
[img]http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad317/unpunreal/Surface.jpg[/img]

R-X98 Chamber:
[img]http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad317/unpunreal/Chamber.jpg[/img]

[dustinechoes849]

Looks nice!
Excited to play it!

[Leo T_C_K]

I'm amazed at the rate you make new maps sometimes. I wish I had that much energy myself. I've been working on finishing e1l5c for half a year now which is not funny. It wasn;t as easy as other upsx rework maps because this one was highly ubnfinished and from earlier prototypes...but now it's almost done. Already has ending at least. And two implantgun puzzles.

[gopostal]

If you want to server test it privately just let me know. I'll set you up.

[yrex .]

Indeed...

Adevan Desert = Nevada Desert
51-A Research Base = Area 51
Jungles of Kalindra = Jungle
Kalindra Temple Ruins = Temple Ruins
New London Settlement = Thames Wharf
New London Underground = Aldwych
R-X98 Surface = RX Tech Mines
R-X98 Chamber = looks a bit like the boss level

TR3 was one of my favorite games, so I'm interested.

[Rubie]

Yes looks very nice to me can't wait to play that!

greets, rubie

[Unpunished]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Should release in the next couple days. Just doing as many nit-picky run-throughs as possible so I don't push out a messed up product for you fine folks.

@yrex: Good catch! You are absolutely correct. Was going for a Lost City of Tinnos feel in R-X98 Surface, which is very noticeable after a few translator messages. Keep in mind, these maps aren't direct remakes of their TR3 counterparts, just took some serious atmospheric influence from them. the game is definitely in my top 5 favorites of all time - always nice to meet another with such good taste.

@gopostal: Been running through it a few times on my server with a buddy. So far, so good. I appreciate the offer!

@Leo: Sometimes I get in a mode where all I do is make maps nonstop for hours on end, haha. It's extremely therapeutic to me and I've been going through some pretty crazy crap with work & personal life the past few weeks. Definitely needed an outlet, and this map pack was it! I do that a lot though, as far as starting a project and taking forever to finish it. That's why I just binge-map, because I know I'll never finish if I step away for too long. There's at least three maps right now on my computer that I stepped away from about eight months ago that will now never see the light of day, lol.

[Leo T_C_K]

I'm always interested to look at some unfinished maps, though right now I still have to catch up on testing something that will be released on 29th december.

[Prodozul]

I didn't get the chance to playthrough all of the levels, only went up to Kalindra Temple Ruins.

Adevan Desert - From what I can recall there was a fight with a Titan early on, which I felt was to early to go toe-to-toe with; maybe there were some secrets that I missed that could've helped out. Thankfully the player has all that open space to fight the Titan, and if they're smart they can have the Skaarj attack that Titan. My biggest beef with this level were the jumps, admittedly it took me almost 20 minutes to finish. I feel like those jumps were put there to extend the length of the level. What I feel could have worked better is instead of having that one large jumping puzzle you could've had a series of smaller jumps that would've lead to platforms that get smaller the further you go; and of course if the player fails to stick the landing then they fall into the river.

51-A Research Base - Gonna be honest I don't remember much from this level, I only remember that the planet seemed incredibly unforgiving and that there was one segment where you hit a switch and the Skaarj start to swarm the base leading to a lot of close quarter combat; which I absolutely loved.

Jungles of Kalindra (entrance) - This is where I started to notice that the difficulty was picking up, there was a lack of health which made me think about how to approach engagements. The swimming segments were a nice breather and I really enjoyed exploring the temples and completing that small puzzle.

Jungles of Kalindra (water pillars) - This level was pretty short and gave me some trouble, if I remember right there were a lot of Kralls and Brutes; the latter threw me for a loop just because a couple of the areas were small.

Kalindra Temple Ruins - This is where I stopped, and I only stopped because something came up. Anyways the darkness for me was not a problem, I felt it was well done and added to the atmosphere. Also you did a great job with placing the pupae, it forced me to rely on listening for anything that might pop up around the corner. The only thing I did not like about this level were the flies; I found them annoying because after getting jumped by a couple of pupae and running really low on health this damn things come out of the ceiling and just start hovering... judging... waiting for me to screw up.

When I have more time I will certainly go back and finish the pack. The set pieces were very nice, I especially liked the Adevan Desert since it was the most colorful level. Also the Hub was a nice feature it gave me some backstory and put me back on track for the next level.

[Turboman.]

I played this map a few months ago, wanted to post in this thread, but somehow never got around doing so, shame on me!

Now i've played it again i thought i'd give my thoughts on it all, especially since it's quite rare that we get mappacks this size nowadays, so kudo's to that and keep up the good work!

I really liked the varied environments in this mappack, the hub where you gather your gear and get your briefings was nice.
And personally i found the Jungles of Kalindra to be the best looking map in the pack, you don't see that many jungle environments in unreal after all, i even recognize the TR3 influences in there
If i have to give some criticism i have to say that health is quite scarce throughout these maps, and in the beginning ammo can really be an issue as well, at some points i was stuck with a DP and

[makemeunreal]

Well, I've got to congratulate you on this one. Enjoyed every minute of it!
Hope you will have that second pack released!

10 out of 10.

[Unpunished]

Hey, guys!

I really appreciate all the awesome feedback, and super glad you guys enjoyed this.

I actually completed Mission Pack 2 and started Mission Pack 3, just never got around to releasing the second one. I'll put it together here in the next couple days, take some screenshots, and throw it up on the forums!

You guys are great, and this community continuously impresses the hell out of me - there's such a loyalty to this game that definitely bonds us all together.

Keep it Unreal!

-Unpunished

[Sat42]

Hey, guys!

I really appreciate all the awesome feedback, and super glad you guys enjoyed this.

Keep it Unreal!

-Unpunished

Hi Unpunished!

I just wanted to let you know that you will also find people interested in your works and willing to provide feedback over at UnrealSP.org, in fact we have a Project Presentation section (link: [url]http://www.unrealsp.org/viewforum.php?f=4[/url]) where you can create new threads for your mission packs (like here) - and that will garner some attention, believe me!

I actually shared the news regarding your Phoenix Mission Packs here:
[url]http://www.unrealsp.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4274[/url]
but refrained from creating a new topic in Project Presentation, because I want to give the author a chance to do that himself

Hope to see you around, and good luck with Phoenix Mission Pack 3!!

[Unpunished]

Hi Unpunished!

I just wanted to let you know that you will also find people interested in your works and willing to provide feedback over at UnrealSP.org, in fact we have a Project Presentation section (link: [url]http://www.unrealsp.org/viewforum.php?f=4[/url]) where you can create new threads for your mission packs (like here) - and that will garner some attention, believe me!

I actually shared the news regarding your Phoenix Mission Packs here:
[url]http://www.unrealsp.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4274[/url]
but refrained from creating a new topic in Project Presentation, because I want to give the author a chance to do that himself

Hope to see you around, and good luck with Phoenix Mission Pack 3!!

Hey there!

Sorry I've been a bit MIA these past few months. I really appreciate you putting the good word out on UnrealSP for me! I've been insanely busy all year and unfortunately have had very little time to do anything hobby-wise.

One of these days I'll get around to posting this on UnrealSP as well, with screenshots and a co-op compatible version of PHXMP2. Again I really appreciate your support and communication!

I'll for sure be celebrating Unreal's 20th anniversary next spring, so you'll definitely see me around during that time

-Unpunished

[Sat42]

Hi Unpunished!

I just wanted to let you know that you will also find people interested in your works and willing to provide feedback over at UnrealSP.org, in fact we have a Project Presentation section (link: [url]http://www.unrealsp.org/viewforum.php?f=4[/url]) where you can create new threads for your mission packs (like here) - and that will garner some attention, believe me!

I actually shared the news regarding your Phoenix Mission Packs here:
[url]http://www.unrealsp.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4274[/url]
but refrained from creating a new topic in Project Presentation, because I want to give the author a chance to do that himself

Hope to see you around, and good luck with Phoenix Mission Pack 3!!

Hey there!

Sorry I've been a bit MIA these past few months. I really appreciate you putting the good word out on UnrealSP for me! I've been insanely busy all year and unfortunately have had very little time to do anything hobby-wise.

One of these days I'll get around to posting this on UnrealSP as well, with screenshots and a co-op compatible version of PHXMP2. Again I really appreciate your support and communication!

I'll for sure be celebrating Unreal's 20th anniversary next spring, so you'll definitely see me around during that time

-Unpunished

Excellent, good to hear! Will be around myself and looking forward to seeing you then!
Cheers!