Frogman

Author(s): Mike Lando


Plot
You are Ken Katarn, younger brother of the famous Kyle Katarn. You've just defected to the Rebels in the hopes of following in your brothers footsteps. You are assigned to the submarine R.A.S. Default as a frogman, and have just received notice that an Imperial shuttle has landed on the far side of the peninsula your ship is patrolling. Your job is to rescue the hostages the Imperials are holding.

Review
These new graphics are a lot like the level; an interesting attempt, but they fall short.
This level has an interesting premise. The author has apprently gotten sick of being Kyle all the time and introduced his brother, Ken. That's fun, and it allows him to write a decent story. However, because he doesn't carry through with the same amount of detail in the level as he puts into the story, the whole thing is pretty much a bust.

For one thing, the level is incredibly short. And there's not even a single puzzle for you to deal with. Your path is set, you follow the route, grab the hostages, and in about 60 seconds you're all done. Not what I'd call a good use of my time.

The author describes this as his attempt to see if the teleporter chutes could be used in a realistic manner. He suceeds in finding some interesting ways to use them, but it's very obvious when they're applied, so it spoils any realism he might have otherwise established.

Overall
54%Aside from the interesting use of the teleporter chutes, this level really isn't worth your time. If you're a author looking for some ideas on the use of the chutes, you might take a look. Otherwise don't bother.


Tech Specs
Level(s) replaced: SECBASE
Difficulty Settings: No
New BMs: No
New FMEs: Yes
New WAXs: No
New 3DOs: No
New VOCs: Yes
New GMDs: No
New LFDs: No
New VUEs: No
Base: New level created from scratch.
Editor(s) used: Dark Forge
Known Bugs: Author mentions some clipping; I didn't see any.
Download Frogman.


Frogman Modified

Author(s): Ales Ptacek

Review
This is a modification of the original level reviewed above. The author has taken the story and parts of the level and integrated them with his own new ideas. I have to say that the final outcome is less than exceptional.

The only thing the author has really done to this level is increase the filesize to gigantic proportions. His additions to the level while possibly interesting are also unbelieveably unnecessary, serving only to make the level longer, more difficult and rather nauseating. There are hundreds of people for you to mow down and almost all of them utilize multiple logics. My own personal opinion on multiple logics is that it's good if used properly. That certainly doesn't happen here. You also never understand exactly what's going on. You're so busy shooting and running that you don't have time to take a look at the base or the setup. Which may have been the author's intention because when I took a longer look the second time through the architecture and texturing left much to be desired. You also might notice that the author has managed to squeeze in just about every new texture, droid and 3DO he thought he might be able to get away with. As it is, 2 AT-STs, 2 skyhoppers and 2 landspeeders in a large hanger make the computer come to a near complete stop.

Overall
35%What it all really boils down to is that the new author has managed to make this level run from just small and lousy to huge, slow, and even worse than the original. The first one was an interesting look at chutes and not much else. This one goes way beyond reason; if you're going to rework a level, make it better, not worse.


Tech Specs
Level(s) replaced: SECBASE
Difficulty Settings: No
New BMs: Yes
New FMEs: Yes
New WAXs: Yes
New 3DOs: Yes
New VOCs: Yes
New GMDs: No
New LFDs: No
New VUEs: No
Base: Modified level created using the original Frogman
Editor(s) used: DFUSE 1.00
Known Bugs: Huge amounts of slowdown when the 3DOs and enemies get piled on.
Download Frogman Modified. (frogmod.zip, 629k)


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These pages originally created and maintained by Geoffrey Elliott, c. 1997.
Last Updated February 13, 2004