I am not a programming person but I did a bunch of these back when and had fun making a mini mod
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eeee!!! I modified the Shambler so it can attack at from crazy distances, which is going to turn this idea I had for the final part of my level from an impossibility into an actualized thing!! my first mod 
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THE PUNISHMENT DUE
PUNishment, because all the level names are cute quake related puns. anyway i enjoyed this, but the first half more than the second half. the second half was a bunch of hubby levels, where you return to a central area after doing some task elsewhere… it was cool for one level, but i prefer more self-contained designs
also the final level has some VERY brutal sections, but it was satisfying when i passed them (it involved examining the area when i was dead). solid, worth a play
TERRA
aayyyy this mod is 2 shaggy 2 dope. some cool architecture, interesting combat design, great flow, fun surprises, and the final level is really cool. really my only complaints is that some of the level names are daft, and some of the levels are TOO traditional quake… they are really solid levels, but also feel dated.
overall though, is the best of the remaster mods i’ve played so far by a long shot, at least in my opinion. highly recommended
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you know you’re in for a good time when you see ‘by czg’
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Dimensions of the Machine, just got through a really tough level called Hell or Dark Water. Lots of traps, lots of enforcers and grunts, shamblers, hell knights and vores. It’s also got a sewer part that is labyrinthine but well done architecturally. Vicious traps near the end with pillars in a room of lava you have to jump between to reach the elevator to the exit, and the pillars are raising and lowering. You clear the vores off them first then when you start platforming they spawn in another vore and more enforcers.
Five more maps to go with this episode and they’re all bangers so far.
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There’s a Quakecast interview from a couple years back with czg and another mapper from MachineGames called Yoder.
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DotM, the Realm of the Cultists, two levels called Grave Machine and A Grave Mistake have a really cool gimmick to them I don’t want to spoil but feel the need to call out in particular.
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UNDERDARK OVERBRIGHT & COPPER
Another good mod, has a fun cthon battle… very solid design. there is a water level that’s actually pretty interesting and fun! there is a nice vertical climb bit! i’m getting tired of writing about these but luckily there is only honey left to play.
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HONEY
aaayyyy this is dope, especially the temple level. biiiggg open spaces with cool architecture. good secrets, lots of good combat and fun surprises. the rocket key mechanic in the temple level was cool.
i like the little narrative it has going, though it didnt really need text. i like the sense of humour in the story bits (the end is great) but it doesnt fit the actual levels which are serious. but whatever, it’s cute… would like to see an entire comedy mod from this author. and has there been mods that used the text messages in interesting ways?
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DIMENSION OF THE PAST
Had a much easier time with this than last time, probably because I just played a bunch of mods that are much harder. Still stingy on ammo, but you’re usually fine if you find the secrets.
So I enjoyed it and think it’s good but still don’t think it’s great… it lacks the mystique of the original levels it’s trying to emulate, and they’re too horizontal and boxy. but a fun extra.
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I finished Dimension of the Machine. It was good. A better Chton fight than the original, I think. Probably half the levels were daytime and outdoors. Some really cool architecture and a couple neat gimmicks. I loved the one level later on where it starts off medieval/wizard themed and then you’re transported to a space base where the grunts and enforcers are trapping the monsters from the other themes for some kind of science experiment. Good storytelling.
I also got the trophy for finishing E1M1 on nightmare without firing a shot. Took several tries but using the axe and grabbing the armors, the first megahealth and the quad damage made it doable and kind of fun.
Now I just need to get the trophy for doing E4M6 on nightmare without taking any damage. This one will be more of a challenge but I know I can save scum my way through it with enough patience.
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I know you mean the centerprint (and I think there was a Macbeth themed map that would drop some quotes) but there was a whole craze of this sort of stuff when clientside qc modding became a thing
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I can now playtest my map from beginning to end, triggering the final score board and everything. It takes about 8 minutes to complete, without many encounters or pickups placed, and with complete knowledge of what to do. I am expecting it should hit an ideal length.
I still need script one more event, but I am enjoying embracing the long delayed editing phase where I can go back and start polishing areas I kind of just blew through with the intention of coming back to them.
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27th February.
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Finally got out this very long blog post about making my map Nameless Revenge. I just hit a big milestone in its development and the time felt right to get this ready and push it out. The first part is just about the map and what it’s been like to work on. The second part is a bit of reflection on why am still doing it. And the third is theorizing on some stuff I studied in grad school and its relation to map making and the kind of map I am making.
I recorded a play-through of the map as it exists, which feels pretty fricken cool!
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the architecture at 5:09 in the playthrough is my favorite
are you sure about using the light fixture as the texture for all the buttons? I felt that they were slightly ambiguous looking and if I were playing a completed version of this level, blind, I might find myself stuck because they don’t read as buttons to me
your use of scrags is effective and I like the combinations of monsters you’ve chosen in each encounter. In the playthrough video, a lot of potential infighting moments to allow the player to save ammunition if they so choose. Also always fond of levels that loop back in on themselves.
I know that section of the level stood out partly because it was still grayboxed but I think when you start detailing, that bit should still be detailed in a way that draws the eye as it can act as foreshadowing of where the player will go
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Yes, thank you!! I plan to emphasize the connecting part of the loop to make players expect a satisfying return later on. So much of the texture work and lighting in that vid is totally totally totally functional rather than deliberate. But the lighting fixture textures on the buttons… I hadn’t realized those were lighting fixture textures, so I’ll be sure to change those lol. As I make several art passes on the earlier areas I’ll be studying the texture set some more and hopefully achieve some of these goals in the process. This like an alpha version of the map, I’d say.
Thanks for the compliments about the monster encounters. I like those scrags a lot, how they emerge from the shadows. I kind of just popped them in there so I am looking forward to being more deliberate about their positions and to build more encounters as well.
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I haven’t watched the video because i want to play the level without knowing anything about it when you release it
also i finished DIMENSION OF THE MACHINE which is still very good but didnt blow me away as much as it did before. it looks amazing, and is really solidy designed, but i think playing a bunch of more creative and daring mods just before it may have made it seem less impressive. especially TERRA, which i liked much more than this. i guess it makes sense they didnt want to get too crazy since it was for people who may have not played quake since it came out. but its still really good and more than worth playing!
i think i may have liked the new Quake 2 episode more, actually
my rankings:
QUAKE
SCOURGE OF ARMAGON
DIMENSION OF THE MACHINE
DISSOLUTION OF ETERNITY
DIMENSION OF THE PAST
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