19/03/2007 @21:48:57 ^22:30:22

High/Low 2

Here's the sequel to a previous map, well, it's more like a followup. Episode 2 style this time. Except for one thing it's pretty much an improvement. It looks just as good, which means in fact that it looks better because I think it's harder to make a good-looking episode 2 style map than episode 1. I think it plays slightly better as well - typically great layout, flows excellently, everything is just where you need it to be. Although the red key is absolutely trivial to grab out of sequence, so much so that it doesn't even feel like a speedrunning trick, in fact some people even mistook it for the correct route to take!

The only real trouble with High/Low 2 is there is a very noticable ZDoomism at the end that stops you finishing the map. Line 1757 is a stair builder linedef and so needs a tag. Then if you try to make the obvious fix it doesn't work because all the stair sectors are tagged 60 (and need to be, so another effect earlier in the map works) but they aren't in ascending numerical order. There are a few other little problems as well, due to lack of proper testing. I saw an imp stuck in a wall, some odd and quite unnecessary reject map bugs, and in the room with the two barons that rise up out of the floor, one of them is meant to teleport but it can happen that you teleport instead and end up stuck in a tiny holding chamber! Oh well.

I want to recommend this map but I can't because of the bugs. Without them it would be an early contender for map of the year. Top ten definitely.