Ok so, first off saying I’m aware this is a demo, but what I’m rating and giving feedback on is the demo that’s here, not what the demo could be, and since it’s not a wip I’m guessing that’s what you want people to do
I wanna first say this map pack on paper, like at a base conceptual level is pretty cool, and there’s ideas that if fleshed out could be awesome
The escape sequence at the end was a cool idea (loved the lil cubicles lmao)
The flooding and castle sections have potential too, and a lot of the level design is at the very least like, serviceable, nothing about this demo like doesn’t function.
But that also doesn’t mean I think it’s well…exactly….good?
The biggest issue in this pack BY FAR is the music, it ranges from falling into the background, to not really enjoyable, to genuinely ear grating
And I’m saying this as someone who likes songs off of Sonic 4, and likes the classic tracks in forces
The first stage was the worst of it by far, genuinely could not stand that, after it got a little less grating, but it never got good, or stopped hurting the experience
I feel like melodically these COULD be good songs, like there IS something good there but it’s drowned in god awful faux genesis production that fails to understand what makes Genesis music sound like that, or use accurate instruments, in combination with what I think is the biggest problem, the amount of either out of key melodies, or detuned instruments, I’m not sure if it’s a case of just putting notes down with no key guide, or the instruments themselves being out of key but it makes it genuinely unbearable to listen to, and even when it is like…okay…it’s still just okay.
I’m not even saying this production style can’t work (even though I don’t think it’s a great idea) like I enjoy press factory act 1
But at its BEST this music sounds like someone making a funny bad midi version of a good song, it’s VERY rare id genuinely prefer something just use existing music instead of having a custom soundtrack but this is that exception
Okay so, the actual levels, I think are kind of mixed???
There’s a lot of just…single walls surrounding a location….and kind of an over reliance on vanilla textures despite the concept of this pack not really working super well with that
Like you have to tell me this is a soda thing…like there is no way I’d ever guess that otherwise, that soda slide for example? I would just think it was polluted water.
But I’m willing to accept that this pack doesn’t look amazing, or do a lot with its concept, because there are cool things
The aforementioned setpieces, while definitely not the best possible execution, show cool ideas. But it feels like when there are cool ideas they aren’t fleshed out.
The escape sequence in concept is really cool, things like the cubicles, or that section when you see an earlier level are EXACTLY what I think this pack does well, but there’s no timer or urgency, it doesn’t feel like I “just got out” because I very clearly could’ve just sat there and nothing would’ve happened, and if something would’ve and I didn’t know well….thats a different issue lmao.
The actual level design here is serviceable, sometimes it can be pretty annoying and obtuse, others it’s just kinda whatever
But I think this, in combination with the music, and everything else just lead to an experience that’s not that enjoyable.
I don’t think this pack is beyond salvaging, but I think it needs a TON of work, it might be a good idea to trim it down to what’s here, make those levels REALLY good, and then go on from there.
I was making maps in a similar way before, and all I can say is just practice, playtest, and get feedback.
What you’re trying to do here could be great, but it requires a LOT more than what’s here.
