Stijn
14 Nov 2008, 18:06
Featured
7
The level screenshot is pretty misleading since when seeing it you might conclude that this level is symmetrical. But it isn’t! Which is good since symmetrical levels are only half as cool (hehe) as those that aren’t.
Anyway, this is a nice level. Nothing special really, but overall it plays nicely (save for a few hijinks here and there). There’s a balancing issue where it is really easy to get from blue to red (take the path at the top of the level and drop down straight onto the base at the right) but less easy and certainly more time-consuming to go the other way around. This of course makes things unfair. Likewise the placement of the seeker/bouncer powerup relative to both bases might be a bit biased towards blue but it’s a small difference only and won’t be much of a problem in casual play.
Apart from that I was bugged by the blue spring at (30,20) which breaks the flow when running up or down that slope. I’d have placed the spring somewhere else so that it doesn’t obstruct the path. I wasn’t quite sure about the water either as it slows you down a lot but it’s only a small part of the level so it’s not much of a problem and can be covered with 2 or 3 jumps. There’s also a warp in the bottom right corner which I think is a very poor way to cover up a dead end.
Eyecandy is pretty scarce, there’s no glaring tilebugs or anything but that’s about it. The background looks nice, but you’ve got to give the tileset palette credit for that, not the level author. There’s a few waterfalls there, which go together nicely with the bit of water at the bottom and the rain, but all in all it’s nothing spectacular and could certainly use some more spicing up. Again, it isn’t exactly bad and there’s a thing to say for minimalism, but I expected a bit more.
Download this? I don’t know, if you like CTF then it really can’t hurt and for public servers this might be fun to play a few times, though there are a lot more spectacular levels out there. For more serious matches however I think it’s not well-balanced enough.
Slaz
22 Nov 2008, 09:54
7
As promised, I’ll review Master Sven’s new level in pretty detail. I’ve clearly loved levels made with the Diamondus tileset over the past so it won’t be that hard. Atleast we’re seeing the ‘new’ Diamondus conversion in this one..
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is very ‘pathway’ like and doesn’t have any serious originality. A first game in this level will clearly show the fastest paths quickly and none of the pickups are requiring any move or action that I’d call special. Overal a nice flow of gameplay, that’s seen in many other similar CTF levels though.
EYECANDY
Eyecandy is kind of ‘Diamondussed’ without any imaginated fill ups that could be done with the tileset. In my opinion, that’s more than good enough because it feels like you’re playing a classic Diamondus level. Including the background and the gradient, which are similar to the one in the shipped levels. The use of water (real event and eyecandy) has been done well and doesn’t interupt with the style.
EVENT PLACEMENT
Not too much to say about this. Ammo is done good enough, I’d have done it a little different though, but that’s based on my personal opinion on ‘weapon balance’ amd such. Carrots are fine, though I’m no fan of them, maybe one of them could have been removed but then again, that’s my own opinion. Also, the warp at the bottom right appears to ‘warp’ to the opposite direction through a base, which enables a flagholder to score through a warp.. :p
RATING
I suppose by hosting this level now and then, you could have some fun. It’s not unlike many other CTF levels, but still a casual, medium to small CTF level that feels kind of classic. Download recommended and a 7.0 for you! ;)
PT32
25 Jan 2012, 18:43 (edited 25 Jan 12, 18:45)
6
Meh. This level was all right, I suppose.
After all, it WAS playable. It DID have a few good routes, and enough ammo was present for New Diamondus Bay to be decently enjoyable.
Unfortunately, that’s about all it was in my mind.
NDB was very sparse, in terms of creative or innovative eyecandy. Almost entirely baseline stuff was used, and I’d be hard pressed to point to something that was truly original. The Toaster Tower on the far right served little or no purpose, and it was relatively easy to get the powerup placed in the wall.
Likewise, the music used (JJ1’s Diamondus) didn’t work at all for me. It was far too mild, and significantly detracted from my enjoyment of New Diamondus Bay. The first appropriate song that came to my mind when I played the level was FlyingIndian.s3m. In fact, I almost caught myself muting the in-game music and loading FI in my music player. It would’ve worked quite nicely.
So, what can be said in the end? New Diamondus Bay by master sven was a great opportunity, but I feel like it fell a little short. I don’t like to be the bad guy and downrate an upload, but somebody has to do it.
Neutral DL rec.
Skele
30 Sep 2009, 09:35
9
Hmm 1st i want say awsome xD
eyecandy:9
i love water with trees soo :P
gameplay:9
i love the way how we run around xD
orignalty:8.0
very cool way to put seeks :P i love it!
so total:8.7 :D
@ Slaz: the warp you are talking about only did that in a previous not uploaded version of this level, I have replaced the warp target.
Capture the flag, by 
