Installment 15 of an ongoing series. Christmas theme - grab it in time for the holidays!
A Shapes Updater for Yota Part 14 - gives you a new moon landscape in full color.
Installment 14 of an ongoing series.
Installment 13 of an ongoing series.
Installment 12 of an ongoing series. This may be the end of an era. (Or, it may just be bad fish.) In any case, I'm posting this chapter without a full run-through - something that hasn't happened for a long, long time. I made it about three-quarters of the way through the first level, and experienced what other Marathon players have reported, but what I've never seen personally before - a nausea that gets worse the longer you play. I don't know if that means that this level is more REAL than others, or if I've just become allergic to Marathon - but out of fairness to the author, I'm putting it out now, rather than holding onto it for a weakness of MINE. What I've seen of it is quite good; the standard Yota-style tricks (keep an eye open for hidden passageways, sometimes the switch you need is beyond them), the mapmaking continues to impress. Hopefully this is a passing phase.
Installment 11 of an ongoing series. Three levels, a lot of gameplay. Sometimes frustrating; there are plenty of suicide traps. (Multiple saves...) Eye candy continues to improve from chapter to chapter... but this one has some problems with Pfhortran, the scripting language for Aleph One. You'll almost certainly notice some... oddities as you go, and in a couple of cases, you risk having to start over by re-entering an area you already finished. (This happened to me, far from a save... I lost about 2 hours.) There are some VERY tricky spots - watch your map at all times, and if you feel like you're stuck, run your head into a wall - literally. (Trust me - it'll help.) On balance, a very enjoyable romp... even with the caveats.
7 maps, 2 already released, 5 new. Wide range of sizes - what they have in common is their use of huge numbers of polys (and views that would crash Infinity in an instant). Heavy on the map complexity, light on stuff like lighting and sounds... but you should find a map in here for most tastes.
A relatively simple netmap with a couple of Forge tricks in it (hence the name). One of them (a simulated ramp) would KILL Infinity... so make sure you're using Aleph One before you try opening this. The second trick is pretty cool to look at . Tricks aside, the level is pretty straightforward, with a couple of levels, and places to hide.
Installment 10 of an ongoing series. Two levels this time. Emphasis is on puzzles... you need to use your map, and your head. You need to save frequently - there are LOTS of traps. (They're planned.) If you get caught, your only option is to restart from the last save - so make sure you HAVE that last save. The second level pushes Aleph One's ability to show LOTS of polygons pretty hard - there are areas that caused slowdowns on a 733 MHz G4 (how far we've come!). Some really innovative stuff here - it's a good pair of maps, even if it will have you pulling your hair out at times. :)
A shapes patcher that will make your health and oxygen bars somewhat translucent - Aqua-like, if you will. Works under Infinity or Aleph One (or M2, for that matter).
A Sounds patcher for the Yota Saga maps. The first three segments of this series used the Infinity Sounds file, but all subsequent installments have used a custom Sounds file. This patcher, designed to be applied to a virgin Sounds file, replaces all old versions, and provides 16-bit as well as 8-bit sounds for the series.
Installment 8 of an ongoing series. This one has some caveats. The third level has a baddie which can be taken down with one kind of ammo, and one kind only... and you have VERY FEW ROUNDS to spare. The first time through (well, okay, the first time I actually figured out what I was supposed to be doing), I ran out with one nasty to go... and that's enough; I had to start over, since my saved game was already low on ammo. (I had attempted to shoot through an opening that was blocked; the firing animation looked like breaking glass to me, so I fired again. Two wasted rounds... that's all it took.) Except for this glitch, though, that last level is hard, but a lot of fun. The first two levels are shorter, and with less fighting... but pretty nonetheless. Lots of tricks, as usual. As with all the Yota segments, the readme for this one warns that you should use 8-bt sounds... but the author has since created a 16-bit sound installer for all the Yota chapters (except the first 3, which use the standard Infinity sounds file).
Very cool - realistic (falling) snow. A single-level map, more to show off the snow than anything else (though the map plays fine, as a bonus) - requires Aleph One. Check this out!
Installment 7 of an ongoing series - you NEED the shapes patch from Part 4 (supplied in this download) for this to work. Two levels, this time... but the first level is mostly story development. (Be careful about shooting on this level.) It took me a while to figure out how to get off the first level - the last terminal is NOT intuitive. (Keep tabbing - you'll find it.) Once again, filled with eye candy (lighting/shapes tricks) - the chain-operated door is pretty cool. Play it through!
Installment 6 of a pretty good ongoing series. This one's focused on jumping. Grenade jumping, primarily... but you NEED rockets in at least 2 places. Gravity has been dropped just enough to make it all work nicely... I had a blast (literally). Special effects, as usual, are well-used - I especially liked the implementation of the Battle Cat's Split Poly technology. And there's a section, near the end of the level, that couldn't be done in Infinity - there are just too many lines in view. (Very cool floors, though.) A film is included, if you get stuck - I didn't look at it, but the readme says it shows the best way through the level. This series continues to impress!
The fifth installment of a work in progress. This one requires the shapes and sounds released with Part 4 - grab that if you don't have it already. You're suddenly on a pirate ship... and all the baddies are pastel. (Don't think for a minute that they're wusses, though - they'll kick your butt if you let 'em.) Lots of 'find the next switch' puzzles - level construction is pretty nice (you get teased with open areas before they're actually open), but be careful - the ending's a doozy.
Installment 4 of an ongoing series. (This needs to be played in order.) This one's 3 levels... but the first one's pretty short.) Take your time with level 2... there's a LOT to discover, even though the threat factor's pretty low. (I'd say nonexistent... but kill a few bobs, and you'll be in trouble.) Level 3... well, all I can say is he did a good job. Go play. (In case it's not clear: I had a great time playing this map. I don't want to spoil any of it for you.)
The third of 20 levels, to be played in order. The two-week schedule has been bumped up a bit - apparently the next chapter is gonna take a while. This one's quite a bit tougher, puzzle-wise, than the last two. (Baddie-wise, too.) Lots to kill, not all that much to do it with, and lots of places to fall down. Several of the critical switches are in unlikely places - if you're totally stuck, look around in map mode, and you might see likely alcoves. (The map's quite dark - at least one switch needed to be shot totally blind, at least on my computer.) This one'll take you a bit longer than the last two...
The second of 20 levels, to be played in order. (The plan is a release every two weeks - he's on schedule.) Again, ammo is sparse, and again, mapmaking is quite good. Puzzles aren't too tough, though monster placement has moved strongly in the 'Rear Admiral' direction - lots of ambushes. The 'boss' battle is a rough one - though I discovered after I was done that there was an easier way. (Pays to read the readme...) All in all, a rollicking good time! Looking forward to chapter 3.
The first of 20 levels, to be played in order. (The plan, at the moment, is to release one every two weeks.) Straightforward gameplay, new AI (could use a spellchecker), nice mapmaking. Too many baddies just standing around (though I was happy - the ammo's relatively sparse, so the fact that I could see baddies before they saw me made life a bit easier)... but a good start to a long scenario. Here's hoping that the rest of the chapters follow the plan!