Mazz 5 - where did it all go wrong?
- Baron LeDant
- Posts: 364
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:14 pm
Urgh. I just lost a long review to an accidental window-closure. I may recreate it, but the short version follows:
Mazz V, while an entertaining map, is sorely lacking in comparison to Mazz IV. Somewhere along the line it stopped being creative and started being campy.
~J
Mazz V, while an entertaining map, is sorely lacking in comparison to Mazz IV. Somewhere along the line it stopped being creative and started being campy.
~J
Failure: when your best just isn't good enough.
- :) Da Cid (: McCl
- Posts: 380
- Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2005 9:45 pm
- Location: Perth Australia.
Hmm, I don't like mazz being an actual kick ass wizard either.Archer wrote:Urgh. I just lost a long review to an accidental window-closure. I may recreate it, but the short version follows:
Mazz V, while an entertaining map, is sorely lacking in comparison to Mazz IV. Somewhere along the line it stopped being creative and started being campy.
~J
Oh yeah and I hate that demos get kills with their own satchels, those bastards.
I bah to you sir!
(jk, just giving you a hard time
- :) Da Cid (: McCl
- Posts: 380
- Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2005 9:45 pm
- Location: Perth Australia.
- Lord Thanos
- Posts: 61
- Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2004 2:11 am
- Location: Somewhere in the northern reaches...
Personally, I find Mazzarin's Demise 5 to be the best rendition to date. Not only do the new enemies create interesting challenges, but they also force the player to adopt strategies they may never have thought of in the past. Playing the map solo, on normal difficulty, I found it to be a stimulating and intriguing experience. Whilst Mazzarin 4 was simply a case of survival, the new hero units, Kelleck especially, make Mazzarin's Demise 5 more tactically interesting, being that the choice of powers becomes a very important one. Although I never have the time to finish the map in one sitting, I always enjoy picking up where I left off.
My one and only complaint is that Mazzarin lacks his own animated model. Kelleck gets one, but not the archmage himself? We already have a basis for his appearance, provided by the artists who worked on Myth 3, so why has it been so difficult to model/animate Mazzarin, if I might ask? Aside from that, Mazzarin was supposed to have been one of the most powerful human dreamweavers ever conceived, capable of invoking sorceries the likes of which had never been seen. Yet he himself does not get an array of spells to choose from? Strange, at best.
The new enemies do beg the question as to why they never again appear in Bahl'al's future conquests, although it may be argued that they were bound into service much like the fetch, and, perhaps due to the great losses suffered in the battle against Mazzarin, the Watcher lost the allegiance of these allies? It still seems odd.
All in all, Mazzarin's Demise 5 is a spectacular achievement, one that should be praised by all who have the privelege of playing it. Do not mock the work of these great men, especially when the fault lies in your strategems and not in their map-making.
My one and only complaint is that Mazzarin lacks his own animated model. Kelleck gets one, but not the archmage himself? We already have a basis for his appearance, provided by the artists who worked on Myth 3, so why has it been so difficult to model/animate Mazzarin, if I might ask? Aside from that, Mazzarin was supposed to have been one of the most powerful human dreamweavers ever conceived, capable of invoking sorceries the likes of which had never been seen. Yet he himself does not get an array of spells to choose from? Strange, at best.
The new enemies do beg the question as to why they never again appear in Bahl'al's future conquests, although it may be argued that they were bound into service much like the fetch, and, perhaps due to the great losses suffered in the battle against Mazzarin, the Watcher lost the allegiance of these allies? It still seems odd.
All in all, Mazzarin's Demise 5 is a spectacular achievement, one that should be praised by all who have the privelege of playing it. Do not mock the work of these great men, especially when the fault lies in your strategems and not in their map-making.
Thanos A.K.A "Ravanosh"
Archer, all the Mazz maps are campy. Heck, every map I ever made is camp -'tis just my style to be over the top. Any creativity I can instill lies in the gameplay, which if nothing else in Mazz V, is varied and complex. But hey, I know there is no way I can make something that will appeal to everyone's tastes; even some of the beta testers prefer older versions of Mazzarin's Demise. Too bad about your review though. I would have like to read it.
Thanos, you're too kind; it's embarressing.
Mazzarin doesn't have his own model because there was no one with the free time to make one. The new units on Mazz V were originally intended for another Magma plugin, "Laws of Evil", but I had the good fortune to be allowed to show them off on Mazz V first.
The Mazzarin's Demise series was certainly never meant to be an accurate portrayl of Myth history. Not only do I suck at story telling, but being accurate would hamper a lot of the things I wanted to do gameplay-wise.
Still, it is possible to make interpertations anyway. The otherworldy creatures Bahl'al conjured may be similar to Fetch, with the difference that the spell used to open a portal to their world could only be used every few millenium when the postion of celestial bodies are in the right alignment. Bahl'al used this timing to his advantage in planning his assault on Mazzarin.
Finally, Mazzarin has nearly twenty different powerful magical spells he can use - provided he finds the right power crystals first.
And man, I can't imagine trying to play through this map solo. You should really try it online with a big group as it's much more fun that way.
Edited By ChrisP on 1126165546
Thanos, you're too kind; it's embarressing.
Mazzarin doesn't have his own model because there was no one with the free time to make one. The new units on Mazz V were originally intended for another Magma plugin, "Laws of Evil", but I had the good fortune to be allowed to show them off on Mazz V first.
The Mazzarin's Demise series was certainly never meant to be an accurate portrayl of Myth history. Not only do I suck at story telling, but being accurate would hamper a lot of the things I wanted to do gameplay-wise.
Still, it is possible to make interpertations anyway. The otherworldy creatures Bahl'al conjured may be similar to Fetch, with the difference that the spell used to open a portal to their world could only be used every few millenium when the postion of celestial bodies are in the right alignment. Bahl'al used this timing to his advantage in planning his assault on Mazzarin.
Finally, Mazzarin has nearly twenty different powerful magical spells he can use - provided he finds the right power crystals first.
And man, I can't imagine trying to play through this map solo. You should really try it online with a big group as it's much more fun that way.
Edited By ChrisP on 1126165546
- William Wallet
- Posts: 1494
- Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 9:40 am
- Location: Perth Australia
- Contact:
Cid and I just tried Legendary twice, on our own. Made it half an hour through both times, then got pwned.
I only have one complaint about Mazz 5 because the rest of it is fricking awesome.
The mesh got bigger by one submesh, correct?
It looks enlarged, somehow... to me it looks a little pixelated or whatever. I mean all Myth colourmaps are because of the low resolution. But this one looks a little crude in the upsize...
It would've been cool to see a totally new sort of colourmap thrown over the old one as a template or whatever...
But seriously. Mazz 5 is awesome, it'd have to be if the only complaint I have is a bit of pixelation in the colourmap. GJ ChrisP and team.
I only have one complaint about Mazz 5 because the rest of it is fricking awesome.
The mesh got bigger by one submesh, correct?
It looks enlarged, somehow... to me it looks a little pixelated or whatever. I mean all Myth colourmaps are because of the low resolution. But this one looks a little crude in the upsize...
It would've been cool to see a totally new sort of colourmap thrown over the old one as a template or whatever...
But seriously. Mazz 5 is awesome, it'd have to be if the only complaint I have is a bit of pixelation in the colourmap. GJ ChrisP and team.
Okay I got the models but now I'm too dumb to do anything with 'em
only real problem i have with mazz V is it's too freaking long to finish
1hour or a bit more fighting untill watcher comes is ok, but if you have to fight 2 hours to reach black thrall it's just plain annoying when you die and have to start it all over
not to mention the impact it has on your social life :/
1hour or a bit more fighting untill watcher comes is ok, but if you have to fight 2 hours to reach black thrall it's just plain annoying when you die and have to start it all over
not to mention the impact it has on your social life :/
- William Wallet
- Posts: 1494
- Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 9:40 am
- Location: Perth Australia
- Contact:
Aye, at first I saw the long game times as an extreme downside to this plugin.
However, you do get more Myth for your buck with this plugin.
I remember back in the day, I'd get up every Saturday morning to play with the Sloths, whoever was on... and I'd be WAITING AND WAITING AND WAITING between each game because we'd wait for more people to show, or for someone to download a plugin, or for someone to get a coffee...
Not with Mazz. With Mazz there's a bit of a wait at the start, then BAM. Solid-Myth for a couple of hours, guarantee.
However, you do get more Myth for your buck with this plugin.
I remember back in the day, I'd get up every Saturday morning to play with the Sloths, whoever was on... and I'd be WAITING AND WAITING AND WAITING between each game because we'd wait for more people to show, or for someone to download a plugin, or for someone to get a coffee...
Not with Mazz. With Mazz there's a bit of a wait at the start, then BAM. Solid-Myth for a couple of hours, guarantee.
Okay I got the models but now I'm too dumb to do anything with 'em