Your fav and least fav Quake levels/episode?

Yes, it is another Quake thread.

There have been a lot of "what is your fav Doom level" threads, but no (that I remember) "which are your fav" Quake levels thread.

My fav episodes are the first and the third one. I love the level design in the first episode and the dark theme in the third one. I HATE episode 4 because the levels just feel dull and drag on for too long.

My level would probably be E1M2. Don't know why, I just like that level a lot for some reason. Perhaps its because it one of the first levels that you play and thus there is a lot of nostalgia attached to it.

So, which Quake level and/or episode is your favorite?

Quake's good, we get it.

I couldn't get enough of Azure Agony in E4 back when. It's been a while though, I'd have to play through again and let you know.

The Wizard's Manse can go suck a fat dick.

Technician said:

Quake's good, we get it.

Five Quake threads on page one. No surprises who each of their authors are.

I don't really have a favorite(s), I enjoyed playing all of them. There's something cool in every map, be it the layout, the physics, or general atmosphere. But I played a lot more DM/CTF than SP, so maybe that colored my view of the game. In fact, I played all the maps on DM servers first (in whatever order they came up), and only after a long time did I actually try and beat the whole game in SP. Maybe this was a result of first playing the hell out of qtest on LAN with some friends. The SP stuff just seemed like a "bonus" part, rather than the central attraction.

DoomUK said:

Five Quake threads on page one.

Perhaps some of them should be merged?

Perhaps stop making so many goddamn Quake-related topics in rapid succession. There's a reason topics often branch off multiple times from their original discussions; not every particular facet of a topic is worthy of a new thread.

Maybe I should make another one of those Your True Opinion On... threads I used to make, one all about Quake.


Or I could stop spamming EE for today.

A lot of Quake maps get awesome once you turn the gamma all the way down. Darkness gets oppressive.

TheCupboard said:

A lot of Quake maps get awesome once you turn the gamma all the way down. Darkness gets oppressive.

It also means you can't see anything...which is one of the things that Doom 3 got bashed for.

I personally like dark maps, but no when they become so dark that you can't even see where you are going.

Can't remember much about the maps but I have good recollections from Episode 3. E4 had annoying moments but the later maps were alright.

I liked Quake in-general all around. All levels and all episodes were awesome and were plenty varied. The expansions (like Shrak) were pretty cool too.

Speaking of Quake, I've been thinking of updating Marc Pullen's QDOOM mod to support actual models+skins+textures instead of his low-res sprite rips. I'm not sure how people would take it though. Seems all the comments on /idgames are of end users bitching about the sprites. And, of course, updating things like the dynamic lighting and weather effects (EDGE has matured a lot since then).

Chu said:

Speaking of Quake, I've been thinking of updating Marc Pullen's QDOOM mod to support actual models+skins+textures instead of his low-res sprite rips. I'm not sure how people would take it though. Seems all the comments on /idgames are of end users bitching about the sprites. And, of course, updating things like the dynamic lighting and weather effects (EDGE has matured a lot since then).

Do it.

The main problem of QDoom lies not in the sprite monsters or lack of effects, but in the bland levels.

Like in Doom, it's hard to have an objective opinion and still favour an episode. So let's see:

Episode 1: mostly Tim Willits, I believe McGee did the metal levels. Most memorable because of shareware, but also because it had to introduce you to the Quake world, so it contains a bit of everything. I love the atmosphere of E1M5, the level where you start in front of a castle guarded by Knights. I find E1M3 (the demo 1 level) a bit of a drag, even if it has an incredible amount of heavy monsters on Hard skill.

Episode 2: John Romero, but I find it too standard. Just your typical medieval castles with lots of water and mossy walls. Very conservative with monster design, as typical with Quake. Levels just not memorable.

Episode 3: mostly by American McGee, it has a very characteristic 'hellish' architecture, but its levels are ultra-small. The only memorable level is that one with the wind tunnels (by Willits?), but that seems more of a concept level.

Episode 4: Sandy Petersen. Real cool with all the exotic monster usage, but like the rest of Quake, very little stands out.

Vanilla Quake is quite forgettable. It's the Mission Packs which matter.

Da Werecat said:

The main problem of QDoom lies not in the sprite monsters or lack of effects, but in the bland levels.

I've heard this before. I've been contemplating starting a re-vitalize project, though. So much more can be done with it now, at least with seasoned level designers behind it. Also, looks less bland now. Not that blandness was an issue, but colors just looked really washed out.

printz said:

Episode 3: mostly by American McGee, it has a very characteristic 'hellish' architecture, but its levels are ultra-small. The only memorable level is that one with the wind tunnels (by Willits?), but that seems more of a concept level.

The Wind Tunnels plays like a gimmicky secret level, doesn't it? In fact, in the pre-release beta it is a secret level! Episode 3 was considerably shuffled around for the final game. Why was The Haunted Halls (which in the beta is E3M4, and, hilariously, just barely started) deemed a better candidate than The Wind Tunnels for the secret slot? That's something only the Wizards of Id can explain, I guess.