Prodeus Map WIP 1

No name for this yet, still figuring out the arenas and how the map will flow together. It's going good so far, I'm really enjoying the editor.

Prodeus

I've found this still fairly recent revival of fast paced, arena styled fps games (aka boomer shooters) to all feel a bit same-y. Nothing has really managed to grab my full attention since Dusk came out, that is, until I played Prodeus. I put off trying it for awhile as I thought it looked too much like other games coming out to warrant the price. But, being very bored one day I decided to give it a try and found it to be one of the most promising and fun indie fps games currently being made.

Prodeus is what I would describe as being a Doom 2016 clone wearing and OG Doom costume. Enemies and weapons and sprite based with the world bein crafted out of simple BSP. Levels consist of you fighting through hordes of enemies, grabbing keys, and finding the level exit. Pretty simple sounding, however the way that levels intertwine on themselves creates a flow that feels amazing to play through. It's all crafted in a way that the player never feels lost or is left wondering what to do. The campaign is masterfully created and is one of the best out of the boomer shooter revival, all while not even being done yet.

The weapons all feel and sound punchy and powerful, every weapon feels like it has a context in which it excels. Enemies explode into a dazzling array of pixelated viscera and leave behind trails of red splat when shot. The amount of blood particles can feel a little overwhelming at times but it never becomes an issue, enemies are still pretty definable behind all the red mist.

There's also a level editor and built in level sharing system all very similar to Mario maker. A lot of the user levels are really good and they regular pluck out the best under a search category called staff picks. I'm not sure how I feel about having the levels be in such an enclosed system considering a minor server issue could result in not being able to play levels, but I'm glad there is an editor and a possible near limitless amount of content to play. 

VERY fun, worth the money.

A Few Level Layouts

 Here are a few layouts I made which didn't pan out. 

This one was going to be a quick CTF level. Felt too small and had sightline issues. Pretty boring overall.

This was going to be the start of a HL2 EP2 level in which a player navigates through a cave to find an underground Combine base. I never really sat down the actually make the map. Might still make it?

CS:GO style map for Pavlov. I hate Unreal BSP so I only made about half of it before I decided to stop. May try and make a CS:GO map with it? Not sure yet.

Another Pavlov map that died because the tools suck. Was going to be a western style level overlooking a cliff face. 

A CTF level that I made today. The middle section felt bad and I don't really feel like fixing it.

Intsakill Arena Writeup

Instakill Arena was created for a gamemode I made modeled after Quake's Instagib. In this gamemode players are given weapons that can eliminate other players with a single shot. I wanted to create a level that allowed players to maneuver around the map quickly and gain advantage over other players though quick thinking. I decided that a level taking elements from Quake's Longest Yard, as seen below, would work the best.

My level from a similar angle.

What I ended creating is Instakill Arena, a 4 player symmetrical layout split between 5 floating islands. Players have to use an array of teleports and jump pads to navigate around, below is an image denoting the destinations that they take you too.

The Red dotted lines are jump pads with the X's being their landing locations.

Solid lines are teleports, with the circles being the entrances and arrows being where they exit too.

 The use of jumppads and teleporters offer players high maneuverability at a risk. Each has a set destination, meaning that a player with a familiarity of the level will have some idea of how to counter someone using one to try and gain an advantage. 

For example, if a player where to take the orange teleport in the screenshot above they'd be sent to the jump pad sending them to the smaller mid island. A player seeing this on the lower island could then take one of the yellow teleporters to gain a sightline on the landing player.

Can be played on Core