A mod for Quake, based upon Arcane Dimensions. In Peril you play as Robyn, the Daughter of one of the Ranger's who were first sent in through the Slip-gates.
An epic unforgettable journey of Quake.
An amazing achievement!
I had a LOT of fun with this. Despite a few bugs and inconsistencies, it is an enormous and varied experience, with a ton of fun setpieces and encounters. I thought that some of the levels felt bigger and emptier than they needed to be (and I could have done without the maze), but they were in the minority. Extra kudos for the art design, especially later on!
I just finished the first level and already have to say, this is totally deligthful. The retro surrealist feeling of this city is so wonderful, it's so gigantic, it feels like how I imagined walking through the world from GTA 2 or sommething like this as a child...
I can't put into words how nostalgic yet fresh this feels, how the attention to detail puts it all together and how many cool ideas were just in this first level alone. The occasional atmospheric soundtracks, the easter eggs, the awesome traversal mechanics throughout, it's just mindboggingly awesome and while there are still problems of course this is definitely already my absolute number one mod out there. Just this first level alone shows how much love was put into creating this and I just wanted to thank you for your work. A trip down memory lane is always appreciated, but combined with new and modern stuff like this level design, man, that's rare and absolutely awesome.
Had a little trouble to get it to work, crashed darkplaces and official remaster for me, got it to work in vkQuake, but lifts and flying vehicles damaged me a lot when standing still and did not work properly. Otherwise pathfinding sometimes is not that well done, especially when sometimes places look to similiar to another and I forget where I was coming from or where I need to go.
But those are just minor nitpicks that you hopefully will address one day and even if not this is absolute great material.
I am so hyped about the rest now and will come back here once I have more to say.
Just thank you for making and releasing this. It's great.
My praise:
First, this mod is very well detailed. I didn't feel like any places had cut corners. If there is one strength this mod has it would definitely be the high level of detail.
I will admit however the use of flat textures for detailing does take one out of the experience, and is usually something I would expect from Doom modding, not Quake, but where it matters it shines through.
Second, this mod is insane. It took me a few weeks to finish it because this mod is just that long.
Third, I love the location variety. You visit cities, underground areas, underwater areas, space stations, medieval villages, medieval castles, lovecraftian towns, lovecraftian castles, ancient tombs, swamps, treehouses and pirate ships. It may not be cohesive narratively but I enjoyed how each area is unique and memorable based on its theme alone.
My criticisms:
First, for as detailed, vast and large as the levels are, it needs to be more focused. A lot of areas are there for the player to explore but they don't flow easily, leading to a lot of backtracking and getting lost. I think this sort of level design isn't bad but it just doesn't work well for Quake. I can see what the author was trying with various paths but I got frustrated more than I was fascinated while exploring.
There's also some sections that require you to destroy something in order to progress. In a narrow closed off area that's fine, but in a wide open space? Not fine.
I don't like Maze. I had to cheat to complete it just because I lost my patience.
Second, as I mentioned, the narrative isn't that cohesive. All this time I kept wondering: what am I actually doing? Why did I decide to just leave my apartment, kill some eldritch monstrosities then come back to my destroyed apartment? Would have loved some more backstory tbh.
It was especially disappointing when after finishing everything you're just booted back to the first level.
Neutral:
The combat and weapons are serviceable. There were some memorable encounters, but it could have been worse. I finished this on nightmare and to me combat leans more on good but not great. Lots of health and ammo however and I am biased to a fault to giving players more ammo and health.
Overall, I would say play this mod if you want to experience a very detailed world. Just be prepared to get lost every once in a while.
Balgorg, I salute you for this insane undertaking.
As of this writing, for all its faults, this mod is underrated.