Author Topic: RELEASE - Shrouding the Light  (Read 74934 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline ionia23

  • 26
  • "YES, I did finally see 'The Matrix' 12 years late
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
I still have yet to fire up STL, though I've downloaded it and all the components from FSPort to make it work.  I'm stoked.  Blaise Russel is easily a top-notch campaign maker :)  I loved your other camps very very much.
"Why does it want me to say my name?"

 

Offline Lightspeed

  • Light Years Ahead
  • 212
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
A satisfied customer: Shrouding the Light.

First off: You left me, once again, completely stunned. Absolutely brilliant overall. In fact, i'll try to make a more or less detailed review :)

MOD Content - 7.2 (out of 10)

The additional MOD content is of very good quality. The graphical stuff still has it's problems: The Leviathan is pointing to some old, ugly model, instead of the high-poly Leviathan (ShineLT4.0 onwards), various missile and laser effects are sub-optimal. However, most of those issues can be fixed easily and in relatively little time. Another problem is the lack of envmaps for all the ships, not your fault of course, though. :)
The new content (concerning weapons and ships) is superbly balanced, not something common with most campaigns here, and the upgrades to the weapons from FS1 feel like LOGICAL, IMPROVED updates of the weapon. They are both fair, adequate for their time, and reasonably improved. Your MOD encouraged me to choose from the new variety of missiles and weapons - something almost no campaign made me do as of yet. Two thumbs up for the stats. The backgrounds are composed more or less nicely (although we only get to see two different systems ;) ), use of background planets and suns is appropriate. (i.e. correctly placed for transparencies, colour matching, etc.)

Story Line / Content - 9.3

Good and complex background story, magnificently told and worked out. The transistion cutscenes (though the HUD is still a SCP issue) are absolutely stunning, and create more ambient than most CUTSCENES could even do. They're excellent, and if there'd be voice acting with them, they would (by far) surpass even Volitions own cutscenes. The story itself is consistant, and well told in the command briefings, briefings, and through pilot chatter. The pilot interactions are interesting, and got me hooked throughout the campaign. I understand the problem with Vasudan names, though i'd still have liked if the pilots had recieved some names as well as their designations. Nevertheless, by keeping the same squad throughout the  whole campaign this does not matter as much. There was a great variety in the missions (even more so than in HomeSick), and there was absolutely no mission that got annoying or that wasn't exciting play-time. The difficulty level was great - it was a bit of a challenge, yet every mission was perfectly beatable and absolutely no mission got to the frustrated level of the thousand replays :) The missions were fairly balanced from start to finish.
There were absolutely no major mission design problems, and a lot of use was made from SCP's new range of features. I was pleasantly surprised to find use of turning off glowmaps in the campaign, as well as some other SCP only features. Long story cut short: Excellent plot brought to the player by magnificent "cutscenes", well-designed missions and realistically written command briefings/debriefings.

Audio - 9.4

The music tracks of FS1 were chosen in a very atmospheric and fitting way. The music really added to the plot, and it was great to have the story underlined with suitable music. Especially the cutscenes were vitally improved by the music tracks. Two thumbs up for this.

Replay Value - 8.3

Absolutely a campaign you can play various times - there's several missions that leave certain decisions to the player, effectively creating variety for each replay. Also, ship states will be ported appropriately from mission to mission, so you will experience different difficulty levels, based on how well you managed to cover your targets in the last mission. Also, the mission is just too great to remain unplayed after a while.

This would give a total of 8.55 on the rating, but I feel it needs to be incremented by another 1.25 points for its excellent sytle. The way the various open ends from FS1 and the start of FS2 were perfectly expanded - the use of the technology was excellent. Everything felt "right" when playing this MOD. It was more "FreeSpace" than even HomeSick, or the main campaigns. If this would have been an official new part of Freespace (Say Freespace 3) I would certainly NOT have been disappointed. It was professional quality all around, and it provided long lasting fun and entertainment. Thank you for your wonderful work. Thank you for bringing us Shrouding the Light.

Overall rating: 9.8 / 10

Result: Download and play this immediately. It is just as much (if not even more) fun as HomeSick. It is the best thing I have played in a long, long time.

Sa Vasuda, B.R.
Modern man is the missing link between ape and human being.

 

Offline Night Hammer

  • I Can't FRED
  • 29
  • You'll shoot your eye out...
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
Im gonna hafta agree w/Lightie, best campaign ive played in quite a while. Im not gonna get as in depth as him but this gets a:yes: :yes:
Stop... Hammertime :hammer:

 

Offline Blaise Russel

  • Campaign King
  • 29
    • http://mysite.freeserve.com/sbre/index.html
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
Heh, thank you for the feedback and everything. Much appreciated.

I'll probably re-do STL at some point in the future... after I've made it up to TVWP. :nervous:

Quote
Sa Vasuda, B.R.


En Taro Adun, Lightspeed!

 

Offline Lightspeed

  • Light Years Ahead
  • 212
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
Xal dosst i'dol tlu du'ased a ussta wiles, Blaise Russel.
Modern man is the missing link between ape and human being.

 

Offline Mad Bomber

  • Booooom
  • 210
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
After hijacking my work connection to download FSOpen and transfer it via USB-key to home, I ended up playing the game for the first time.

I must say, it is superb so far... I've never seen a cutscene done that way in FS ;7

Already it seems very good. It's nostalgic to use those old Avengers :)

But I can't get past the first mission because it won't let me warp out... (rummages around in SCP forum for possible fixes/info)

(edit) Ah there's a fix. Never mind. :)
« Last Edit: September 15, 2004, 08:46:41 am by 51 »
"What the hell!? I've got a Snuffleupagus on my scanners! The Snuffleupagus is active!"

 

Offline Kosh

  • A year behind what's funny
  • 210
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
I've only completed the first mission so far, but I am experiencing a bit of a problem (most likely user error). Whenever I fire my Avenger's, the laser bolts don't show up for some reason. I have all of the necessary file in the correct places. The only flag that is checked that could possibly affect it is the -jpgtga flag. Any ideas anyone?
"The reason for this is that the original Fortran got so convoluted and extensive (10's of millions of lines of code) that no-one can actually figure out how it works, there's a massive project going on to decode the original Fortran and write a more modern system, but until then, the UK communication network is actually relying heavily on 35 year old Fortran that nobody understands." - Flipside

Brain I/O error
Replace and press any key

 

Offline Taristin

  • Snipes
  • 213
  • BlueScalie
    • Skelkwank Shipyards
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
Damn the Roc. And my incompetance in an Anubis!  That mission is hard!
Freelance Modeler | Amateur Artist

 

Offline Kosh

  • A year behind what's funny
  • 210
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
It was even harder for me because I couldn't see where my shots were going (unless they hit something). :p
"The reason for this is that the original Fortran got so convoluted and extensive (10's of millions of lines of code) that no-one can actually figure out how it works, there's a massive project going on to decode the original Fortran and write a more modern system, but until then, the UK communication network is actually relying heavily on 35 year old Fortran that nobody understands." - Flipside

Brain I/O error
Replace and press any key

 

Offline Night Hammer

  • I Can't FRED
  • 29
  • You'll shoot your eye out...
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
yeah i had that problem too, i just changed em to subachs....same damage rating n all
Stop... Hammertime :hammer:

 
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
Quote
Originally posted by Night Hammer
yeah i had that problem too, i just changed em to subachs....same damage rating n all


YES! I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE!!!

Whew. I was afraid to post because I thought it was just me :)

 
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
Admins, where are you? This man needs a custom title and maybe even a highlight, ASAP!

Grade A work as always, BR. You're work never ceases to impress :)
Carpe Diem Poste Crastinus

"When life gives you lemons...
Blind people with them..."

"Yah, dude, penises rock." Turambar

FUKOOOOV!

 

Offline Kosh

  • A year behind what's funny
  • 210
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
So, how is it going to be fixed?
"The reason for this is that the original Fortran got so convoluted and extensive (10's of millions of lines of code) that no-one can actually figure out how it works, there's a massive project going on to decode the original Fortran and write a more modern system, but until then, the UK communication network is actually relying heavily on 35 year old Fortran that nobody understands." - Flipside

Brain I/O error
Replace and press any key

 

Offline Goober5000

  • HLP Loremaster
  • 214
    • Goober5000 Productions
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
Quote
Originally posted by Kosh
I've only completed the first mission so far, but I am experiencing a bit of a problem (most likely user error). Whenever I fire my Avenger's, the laser bolts don't show up for some reason. I have all of the necessary file in the correct places. The only flag that is checked that could possibly affect it is the -jpgtga flag. Any ideas anyone?
Blaise Russel forgot to mention in his first post that you need Lightspeed's weapon effects in addition to his nebulae. :)

 
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
Saved by Goober! Downloading.

 

Offline Kosh

  • A year behind what's funny
  • 210
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
That might explain a few things. Thanks Goober.
"The reason for this is that the original Fortran got so convoluted and extensive (10's of millions of lines of code) that no-one can actually figure out how it works, there's a massive project going on to decode the original Fortran and write a more modern system, but until then, the UK communication network is actually relying heavily on 35 year old Fortran that nobody understands." - Flipside

Brain I/O error
Replace and press any key

 

Offline übermetroid

  • Current Father Of Samus
  • 28
  • He who dares wins.
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
Hey, this is cool!  I really like it.  :D

The main ship hall is amazing!
"This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time."

 

Offline StratComm

  • The POFressor
  • 212
  • Cameron Crazy
    • http://www.geocities.com/cek_83/index.html
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
Why hasn't this been sticified/newsed/highlighted?  It's not everyday that a good campaign comes out.
who needs a signature? ;)
It's not much of an excuse for a website, but my stuff can be found here

"Holding the last thread on a page comes with an inherent danger, especially when you are edit-happy with your posts.  For you can easily continue editing in points without ever noticing that someone else could have refuted them." ~Me, on my posting behavior

Last edited by StratComm on 08-23-2027 at 08:34 PM

 

Offline Goober5000

  • HLP Loremaster
  • 214
    • Goober5000 Productions
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
Quote
Originally posted by Lightspeed
The new content (concerning weapons and ships) is superbly balanced, not something common with most campaigns here, and the upgrades to the weapons from FS1 feel like LOGICAL, IMPROVED updates of the weapon. They are both fair, adequate for their time, and reasonably improved. Your MOD encouraged me to choose from the new variety of missiles and weapons - something almost no campaign made me do as of yet. Two thumbs up for the stats.
Correction - the new weapons (Fang, Havoc, Barracuda) were created by the FSPort, not Blaise Russel.  Galemp developed them for his Vasudan Imperium campaign (currently in suspended development), and they have been available in the FSPort main download for several versions now.

Just making sure all the credit goes to the right people. :)
« Last Edit: September 16, 2004, 01:16:21 am by 561 »

 
RELEASE - Shrouding the Light
I tried to play it, but then my Freespace Open froze on the second mission! I should never have looked back at the Dervish exploding!!!

PS - I suspect this to be a fault in the strength of my computer, rather than in Freespace Open itself.