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Legacy of Chaos
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Name: Legacy of Chaos Author: Sirius (with some minor contributions from Darkhorse) Type: Single-player or Co-operative Level count: 3 Date: 27 June 2005 Introduction Legacy of Chaos was conceived only a few weeks ago as a kind of 'dump' for all the old material Darkhorse and I had collected; myself having a much greater share of older levels and robot designs that had never previously seen use in any released set. The only complication was that some of the levels were not really completed; some had been designed for different sets or roles that never eventuated. Thus I had to put in some work to add a few final bits - theoretically - to the levels I felt weren't complete enough to do their job. However, because of the quick-and-dirty nature of the project, I did not even bother to attempt a storyline for this small set as I did for Apocalyptic Factor. Although such a feature would doubtlessly add some interest, it is not worth the considerable time investment even such a short story would entail, especially since it still needs to be a full story arc with an introduction and conclusion, despite this being compressed into three levels. Furthermore, this was not the intent of this project; it was intended more as a retrospective into my - and to some small extent Darkhorse's - past work, with some small hint of what is yet to come. Such is the nature of the title of the set, a phrase I invented in probably all of two minutes. The 'Legacy' bit is obvious - it refers to the older nature of the material involved, and hints at the long time we have spent designing levels to date - while the 'Chaos' just came in there because, really, that is what Descent is all about, plus it rounds off the name to make it sound like it actually says something. :) There is, perhaps, also another meaning to the term legacy, which is more the traditional meaning of what is left behind after something comes to its conclusion. While it is quite unlikely to be my last project for Descent - I have several more ideas somewhere in the pipeline - it is true, perhaps, that the style of design prominently featured in this set is over for now. Most of these levels and robots were just designed off some wild idea, as it were, with little concern about theme or the bigger picture, or any of that; this design philosophy is something I no longer tend to follow, instead trying to design things for a specific purpose, and with some set theme in mind. If that makes any sense. It is not that such an ad-hoc approach to design is inherently bad, but I do feel interesting results may come of exploring something more holistic. Naturally, as a kind of collection of unused odds and ends, one could expect this material to seem somewhat disconnected. However, that is not really true here; the work was mostly incomplete enough to allow me to add a fairly natural progression to the levels, from the basic robots and weapons reminiscent of the first few levels of Descent 1, to the more high-powered weapons and deadly robots seen later on in the D2 campaign. I have taken, to some extent, my own view on which weapons are more powerful and should come later, however; the Helix comes later than the Omega, for example. (Or at least more easily. You can only control the player's run through the mine so much, and they may not get to things in the order you expected. But I do what I can.) In terms of a visual theme, though, yes, it does seem somewhat disconnected. But that is part of the set's charm. :) Gameplay Being a short set, total completion within an hour is quite possible. Legacy of Chaos is, then, also suited to co-operative games without requiring players to have time for, effectively, a marathon effort to reach the last levels. A word of warning though; although these levels will run on any version of Descent 2 1.1 and up, they are not necessarily designed to perform reliably in a multiplayer environment. In some cases I have taken measures to ensure a level can always be completed, but I have not completely eliminated mandatory control panel-type or one-shot triggers. Ideally these should not exist, as if network loss is present, it can result in the level being uncompletable for some players; however, a number of the levels here were designed, basically, before I really thought about that much. These sorts of triggers are, however, kept to a minimum. Most triggers are fly-through and repeatable; if it fails to register the first time, just do it again. Now, about difficulty. I have tested every level on Hotshot difficulty and found it to be completable. This does not guarantee they will not be absurdly difficult, but it does guarantee you can do it, and furthermore without losing any lives. I have also tested the entire set on Rookie and completed it without much trouble. However, I cannot guarantee that playing the set on Ace or Insane will not be nothing short of frustrating. I did make sure the robots did not start to do ridiculous things on such a difficulty, but they can be pretty tough anyway. What I will say is you simply cannot play this set on Insane with a 'fly-in- guns-blazing' attitude and expect to complete it (unless you're playing co-op of course). You'll just lose all your lives far too quickly. Naturally, the more players the easier the game will be; however, in a full 4-player co-op game you may find yourself somewhat short on weapons. I did try to provide a reasonable number, though. The Levels Level 1: Pyrite Station Overview: Pyrite Station is a fairly small level, something of a cross between Brimspark and Baloris Prime in theme. As the opening level of the set, it is not particularly difficult, but that isn't to say there are no nasty surprises. Do be wary of traps. If all else fails, you'll know what to avoid on the second pass... :) Age: Started in December 1998 or January 1999; thus six and a half years. Statistics: 388 cubes, 133 walls, 14 triggers, 189 objects, 52 textures. Construction notes: Pyrite Station was originally a level for the 'Redshift' single-player campaign I had had planned since at least a year before the release of Obsidian, and possibly somewhat further. This campaign, however, never saw the light of day, and Pyrite Station is the only surviving level out of about four that were built for the set. The first time it saw any kind of exposure was as an exhibition level for my application to the Ellusion Design team. I have no knowledge of exactly what the response was, but suffice it to say it and the robots within - several of which are also present in Legacy of Chaos - got me accepted on the first attempt. However, this phase of the level was also quite small. I believe only the area more or less directly between the start and the blue key was present; that is to say, the rooms to either side of the main room were not there at that point. These were added later, sometime around 2001. I don't remember exactly why any more; perhaps I intended to progress the set further. As the possibility of a short total-conversion set by myself and Darkhorse arose in 2003 or 4, I then started to look once more at Pyrite Station and try to finish it. It was at this point that I added most of the rest of the structure, from the spiral corridors upwards. Curiously, I stopped short of the final red door approach, even though the red area was itself present. These last two areas were added immediately after I restarted the project with the aim of final completion. This time, however, the aim is not a total conversion set, as Pyrite Station has been deemed unsuitable for the goals we have in mind. Because of its construction in stages, different parts of the level also have different inspirations and styles. Thus, in a single level it manages to feel somewhat disjointed, although each section has sufficient character to make it interesting. Level 2: Trident Smelting Colony Overview: A larger level than the first, the smelting colony is also more dangerous, and, as you may notice, has a fair sense of vertigo. The weapons get more powerful here, reaching from quad lasers and homing missiles up to the Gauss Cannon and Mercury missiles, and also at long last the afterburner. This level is painted in strong shades of red and black, and not least lava, making it perhaps most reminiscent of some parts of the Vertigo Series. While not as, perhaps, surprising as Pyrite Station tends to get, the traps set here can be just as lethal if you are not careful. Age: Started in February or March 2000; structure finished probably a month later. Five years. Statistics: 518 cubes, 115 walls, 16 triggers, 229 objects, 53 textures. Construction notes: Trident Smelting Colony was originally meant for Solrazor's 'Alpha Centauri' (from memory) set, meant as a 'next project' for Ellusion Design after Obsidian. Half of the intent was to have the now fairly large team quickly build a single-player set in the space of only a month or so, similar to Luke Schneider's remarkable six-week effort producing Entropy 2. My part of the project was this very level, Trident Smelting Colony. The idea was to have it wind up somewhat similar to the second level of Descent 2; a sprawling complex of moderate size. While, without much effort to specifically design the level to work like that, it was only marginally successful in this, it did a nice job of combining the distinctive sense of place of the Vertigo Series with the intricate yet clean-cut lines of the Entropy levels and Project: Mandrill. Trident Smelting Colony was indeed produced in such an ambitious timeframe. But few other designers were as quick off the mark. Eventually Alpha Centauri was scrapped in favour of the Descent Network's then- unfinished total conversion project, The Unknown Deep. Prior to this the only successful TC project had been Plutonian Outbreak 2, and perhaps DNet felt it was their turn. Sadly, TUD never eventuated either; after endless delays actually getting anything done, the project was scrapped and never heard of again. But I kept this level for future reference. As it turned out, barely any changes needed to be made save a few re-alignments and the addition of some robots and weapons to the level, making it a good candidate for Legacy of Chaos. Level 3: Incineration Facility Overview: The incineration facility is a huge, tall mass of tunnels spiralling up from lava pits at the very bottom to the reactor chamber above. By far the most dangerous level, the weapons available also reach a peak here. While not particularly devious, there are more nasty surprises as the level goes on, and they become gradually more dangerous. You'll want to be careful here; keep a lookout for blind corners and mysteriously locked secret doors. Age: Uncertain but began no earlier than 1999; thus maximum of six years. Statistics: 785 cubes, 240 walls, 21 triggers, 289 objects, 44 textures. Construction notes: First and foremost, Incineration Facility was not originally my level; Darkhorse began it, although exactly what the context was, we have no idea any more. It could have been a level for Alpha Centauri, or for Redshift, or even intended as a stand-alone single-player level somewhat like Diffusion. What is more certain, however, is that it was meant as a small, but nasty secret level. Unlike the others in this set, it contained robots of some sort from the start (Pyrite Station used to also, but I must have removed them since the submission to the Ellusion Design team). It also contained two secret exits. However, unlike the others Incineration Facility did not seem complete enough for inclusion in the set, so I decided to extend it and 'finish' it so to speak. (Strictly speaking, it was complete before, just small.) This proved to be a quite difficult task, as Darkhorse has a number of different design techniques from myself. In the end I tried to - mostly - emulate his texturing approach, while creating new areas in the spirit of the pre-existing level and taking ideas mostly from his other works. These were, mainly, levels from the Apocalyptic Factor set, principally levels 3, 5, 7 and 14. A smaller degree of inspiration for the boss room came from levels 4 and 20 of Descent 2. Interestingly, the original area - pretty much everything beneath the white corridor except the blue key room - is virtually unchanged save for a handful of texture alterations and re-alignments. I worked around the existing level to add decks above this, even to the extent I kept the original triggers and door colours intact. The rest of it was meant to be a fairly small addition to turn this level into a small, final 'boss level'. Thus I aimed for a simple design of a few keycards to grab followed by the boss room. It sort of succeeded. The design is simple enough, but the size definitely isn't; instead of only somewhat extending it - I'd expected by 40% or so initially - I tripled the cube count. Most of this is probably taken up by some fairly sophisticated structures and just the plain mass of cubes surrounding the boss room. Thus, it actually ranks as one of the largest levels I've built to date. The result is rather interesting: the sense of place in the level is undeniable, and the move from the lava pits up through a mezzanine deck to the boss room exterior doesn't seem like as much of a featureless journey as many levels end up being. You always know where you are, and it can be interesting just trying to figure out how far you can see sometimes. The Robots (Note, the names tend to be more often than not inspired by working titles, rather than implying the intended function of the robot. Because that would require something of a storyline. :)) Name: Blue Cutter Droid Weapons: Two pulse rock cutters First appears: Level 1 Threat: Minimal Overview: Not much more than a minor nuisance, and pretty weak; a single concussion missile is more than enough to kill this critter. Nonetheless, what it lacks in firepower it tries to make up in sheer aggression, and in large enough groups it can be something to watch out for. Construction notes: I'm not sure where this robot came from, but was probably one of the many robots I made for Redshift but never actually put anywhere. (Robots from that set feature quite prominently here.) It isn't particularly pretty, but isn't too bad for a Polytron design. Name: Red Cutter Droid Weapons: TI stream system First appears: Level 1 Threat: Low Overview: Bigger than its blue relative, quite a different shape, and really similar in its role to the PEST from Descent 2. Except it actually fires quite a lot. Thus, it's not so easy to dodge, but nothing special either; it isn't particularly durable, just somewhat harder than the blue cutter. Construction notes: I think this one actually came from Alpha Centauri, but it's a tough call. Not sure whether it would have made it in, because although it has an interesting appearance, in some ways it is a LITTLE goofy. :) Nonetheless, I still liked it enough to put it in here... mainly because anything would do. Name: Laser Spider Weapons: Xenon lasers First appears: Level 1 Threat: Low Overview: A cross between the quad-laser-toting PTMC Defense Robots of Descent 1 and the PIG robots of Descent 2. In appearance it probably more resembles the D1 version. Nothing particularly nasty as far as weapons go; however, it does have enough armour to stick around a fair while. Construction notes: One of my most complex Polytron designs, and probably looks about as good as one could get them. While in terms of submodels it is hardly efficient, some sacrifices have to be made... Again, tough to say where it came from. I suspect it was intended for Redshift though. Name: Flash Sprite Weapons: Flash missile system First appears: Level 1 Threat: Low, but it makes other robots worse Overview: Vaguely similar to the Sidearm Modula of D2 but bigger and meaner. Partially because it fires more missiles; also because it's tough enough to actually be difficult to kill. There's nothing more annoying than having one of these jump in your face and start trying to blind you when you're already busy enough trying to dodge those concussion missiles from that robot ahead, thank you very much. Construction notes: One of Darkhorse's robots, and he isn't particularly proud of it. Nonetheless, although the design is simplicity itself, it is somewhat unique, and reasonably cool for a small thing such as this. Probably the robot in this set I hate the most though. It isn't really dangerous, but flash missiles are really quite annoying. To make it even worse, it is actually pretty hard to see these things because of the narrow profile. Name: Cloaked Slasher Weapons: Diamond-plated swingarms, cloaking system First appears: Level 1 Threat: Low Overview: Not terribly dangerous, but it can chip away at your shields slowly, and every little bit counts. Thanks to the cloak, it can also be a problem to get rid of. Construction notes: One of the first robots I applied Krags' JTool utility to, with fairly dramatic results; the swingarms would actually animate properly now. The original 'Mech was probably destined for the Alpha Centauri set also. Name: E-Bandit Mark 2 Weapons: Energy dispersion system First appears: Level 1 Threat: Moderate Overview: Although certainly nothing to worry about by itself, having one of these sneaking up behind you in a dogfight can put you in trouble faster than you might think. You can't fight with no guns. Construction notes: Kind of cool... I think it was the last robot I made for the Alpha Centauri set, but that is again mostly a guess. However, it is fairly mediocre a design, fundamentally, compared to the E-Bandit due to the rather inferior joints and the use of the limited Polytron tool. Name: Blue BPER Weapons: Phase energy system and concussion missile launcher First appears: Level 1 Threat: Moderate Overview: The last of the level 1 robots, the blue BPER is fairly similar to the mech it takes its namesake from, except it throws concussion missiles into the mix as well, taking it from a minor nuisance to a fairly powerful little machine. It's more than tough enough to survive a fair deal of kicking around also; elimination should be a priority. Construction notes: I'm dead certain this robot made it into the Pyrite Station Ellusion Design saw. One of the more interesting tricks you can pull with Polytron, because it incidentally doesn't some across looking limited, as anything made with the tool usually winds up doing. Name: Vulcan Gunslinger Weapons: Rapid-fire vulcan cannon system First appears: Level 2 Threat: High Overview: While the vulcan cannon does comparatively little damage a shot, this mech just keeps it coming. Long range and high damage makes it costly not to notice this one. Construction notes: Another mech originally from Pyrite Station. Not as pretty as the Blue BPER, but not too bad. Could do with some more distinctive design. Name: Class 2 Platform, Mark 2 Weapons: Dual concussion missile system First appears: Level 2 Threat: Very high Overview: Yes, the Blue BPER does fire concussion missiles. But not this many. The Class 2 Platform spits them out like no tomorrow and never lays off; in groups the pain just gets worse. Whatever you do, keep your distance; you can't afford to catch too many shots, even indirectly. Construction notes: I quite liked how this one turned out. It actually looks the part of a successor to a classic D1 robot, even having somewhat more detail. One of the more recent of most of the robots in this set. Name: Green Demon Weapons: Dual homing missile system First appears: Level 2 Threat: Very high Overview: Take the revised Class 2 Platform, wind the firing rate down - just slightly - and give the missiles homing devices, and the Green Demon is, more or less, what you have. A big old brute which seems to last forever, and seems to live for nothing but subjecting your shields to terrible cruelty while it does. Don't even get close to this thing. Construction notes: A funny one because I don't actually remember building it. I do remember that it was a concept I once had, but had no idea until I started taking stock of all the spare robots I had that I actually put it into form. However, thanks to its fairly stocky appearance, it seemed the perfect candidate for the homing-missile-lobbing Super Hulk replacement for this set. Name: Boarshead Mark 2 Weapons: Plasma cannon system, smart missile launcher First appears: Level 3 Threat: Very high Overview: Not dangerous because it fires particularly fast, or locks you from a mile away... no, this robot is mainly dangerous because it lobs brutally overpowered warheads from close range. Add to that the fact that it's small enough to give you trouble hitting or seeing it in time, and is virtually impossible to surprise, and this mech will have you rounding corners with great caution. Construction notes: The second of Darkhorse's mechs here; not so surprisingly he doesn't like this one much either! I sort of have to sympathise, though; it really is a bit ugly. But ugly never mattered when you are more worried about belting the living daylights out of it before it does the same to you. Not the kind of time you'll spend looking at it much. Name: Phoenix Hawk Weapons: Rapid-fire phoenix cannon system First appears: Level 3 Threat: High Overview: Actually, this is something of a 'bonus mech'. It isn't particularly dangerous; although it fires Phoenix at a rate nothing short of ridiculous, it can barely aim it, and mainly serves to cause you to run away, hopefully into something nastier. It is, however, fairly tough, despite its large size, and does enough damage that you don't really want it behind you. Because some of those shots will still hit. Construction notes: Unique in this set in that it's the only mech constructed with Truespace. Yes, the name does sound like a rip-off of a mech out of BattleTech, but that's more coincidence than anything else as it's really a function of its weapon system and appearance. Thanks, not surprisingly, to Truespace, the Phoenix Hawk is far and away the best-looking robot in the set. Then again, I also built it no less than a week ago, so it's not so surprising either... I have had a fair bit of practice. Name: Diablo Weapons: Dual gauss cannon system, mercury missile launcher Appears: Level 2 Threat: Extreme Overview: The mini-boss 'Diablo' is something you really don't want to get close to, because he just won't miss. And with all that gauss and mercury missile fire, you're going to be dead pretty quickly if you play it that way. Your best hope is to pin him from range and not let up; unfortunately, since he has a weapon you don't yet, there is only so much you can do. But keep moving. Construction notes: Made specifically for Trident Smelting Colony, as a part of Alpha Centauri. The engine on Diablo is a little strange, but it was something of an experiment on what I could get out of Polytron, I think. Not a bad design but could probably have been a lot better with more advanced tools. Name: Baal Weapons: Rapid-fire concussion missile system, enhanced mercury missile launcher Appears: Level 3 Threat: Extreme (It's a boss, duh) Overview: If Diablo had any flaws, Baal certainly doesn't; you simply cannot stop him firing, even if you do pin him down, and he has more than enough armour to take that kind of beating and kill you afterward anyway. Because of his fully-powered rapid-fire concussion missile system and mercury missiles that travel every bit as fast, and sting every bit as hard, as your own, he can kill you in literally two seconds flat if you don't keep moving. And that really is the only option. Construction notes: Really, really funny looking guy. Darkhorse built this robot and at the time was quite impressed with just how evil-looking it managed to be. Doesn't like it so much any more since it is still, truth be told, simplistic; nonetheless it's an interesting example of what Descent 2 robots can look like if you want them to. Conclusion While not a particularly large level set, Legacy of Chaos should give you a nice showcase of the unreleased extra stuff I have worked on in the past, and probably some degree of insight into what is to come. Even if you don't really care about that, it should still give plenty of fun over a short break. And now it's past 3 am, and I wish I had this thing finished already. :) Just have fun with the set... I can promise it'll be a good challenge. Don't be afraid to knock the skill level down a bit if it seems absurd. Enjoy! - Sirius
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